The Pirate Vortex: Elizabeth Latimer, Pirate Hunter (Book One)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: You Might Try Stealing The Key

The plan was lame, half-assed, but it was all Liz could think to do. Get to the Spanish Town jail at St. Jago de la Vega, then worry about breaking Rackham out. If worse came to worse, she would use her feminine wiles—like they did in the movies—to get in to see him.

     Horses weren’t a problem. There were horses tied up all over town, and Daniel was not only a clever sea robber, but he knew the ropes on land as well. He nabbed two horses, a black and white spotted mare and a brown stallion. He made her and Wang share the mare. Liz wasn’t sure Wang should be coming with them after his injury, but all of his actions proved that he was ready and raring to go. There was only one problem. Liz could sail, scuba dive, fence like Jack Sparrow and even climb rigging if her life depended on it. But she had never ridden a horse.

     It couldn’t be that hard. She stroked the mare and the mare nuzzled her. So far so good.

     Liz saddled up and Wang got behind her. But when the mare took off, Liz couldn’t control her no matter how hard she dug in her knees.

     Ouch, not like that, the mare complained, bucking her legs.

     By the time Liz managed to rein the horse in, her butt was black and blue, and Wang was cursing at her. Daniel, who had followed at her tail, pulled back on the reins and swung the stallion around to check its high spirits.

     “Get behind me,” Wang told Liz, “or we’ll be dead before we get to Rackham. I’ll drive.”

     Daniel laughed, reared his horse like he’d been born on one, and galloped into the night. Liz scowled at Daniel’s vanishing, swashbuckling back. Pirates, she thought bitterly. She got off the mare and resaddled herself behind Wang.

     Why? Liz silently asked the mare.

     The mare loosened her muscles. Watch and learn.

     Wang was not only the most awesome free runner in Victoria’s film-making history, but he also knew how to handle a horse. On occasion, his stunt spots required him to show off his horsemanship. “Comes with the territory,” Wang told her, not wanting her to feel bad.

     He dug in his heels and the mare leaped forward.

     The darkness and unlit road to St. Jago de la Vega hid their movements. Daniel was way out ahead of them and didn’t slow to a canter until they reached the outskirts of town. When Liz and Wang caught up to Daniel, they were already near the prison gates. Liz signalled for Wang to curb their horse to a trot. She tugged on Wang’s shirt for him to rein in to a complete halt. She studied the small stone building that gleamed in the starlight. Beside the gate was a strangely inappropriate jasmine bush with white flowers.

     Two armed guards blocked their entry into the jail.

     Liz bit her lip. Prison breaks were not her best thing. In fact, she’d never had to participate in one, no less be the fearless leader.

     “Hide the horses,” Liz whispered, sliding off the back of the mare and moving into a grotto of thin oleander trees.

     Daniel motioned for Wang to tether the horses behind a cluster of shrubs. Liz pointed up. She wanted Wang up the thickest of the trees, swift as a mouse, to play lookout, while she and Daniel figured out a way to get inside.

     Daniel stood in front of her, a smug smile on his lips, waiting for orders.

     “Well?” he said.

     “Why do you stand there with that annoying sneer on your face? Can’t you see that breaking Jack Rackham out of prison is impossible?” Liz complained.