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The sharp noise jolted her awake

"Ho, there! Get down here, boy!" She recognized Mr Brackett’s harsh bark

Sophia scraathered around the fore in ominous silence as Davy slowly descended the ratlines At the center of the scattered group stood Mr Brackett, hands planted on either hip, and legs braced wide in an attitude of imminent threat

"Ahoy! All hands!"

She shook herself, trying to dispel the drowsy haze from her brain What could Davy have done that would warrant this asse so e and executioner in one?

Then she saw it, sticking out of the deck like a giant’s dart--the ht into the planks That must have been the loud thwack she’d heard Davy had dropped it froallant yard If it had struck a man … Despite the heat, Sophia shivered It was a ht have counted their blessings too soon

As Davy finally reached the deck, Mr Brackett’s expression spelled quietsliver of iron, planted a boot on the board it had pierced, grasped the spike with both hands, and pulled it free with one swift yank He brandished it before Davy, jabbing the point into the center of the boy’s chest "Careless, Linnet Very careless"

The boy stood a bit taller, but Sophia noticed his left knee begin to shake

"I’m sorry, sir My hand eaty It just slipped It won’t happen again, sir" Davy’s voice cracked as he spoke

"I’d like to believe that, Linnet But I think I’d better teach you a lesson Just to be certain"

Teach him a lesson? What could the man boat Mr Wiggins was presu For the moment, the ship was Mr Brackett’s to command

And Sophia could tell, he wasn’t about to let the et it The air and the water were so calh it were a stage And Brackett definitely had an air for the theatrical He circled the lare fro his boots clunk ominously with each slow step He held his audience rapt

"This crew is theto give you men a taste of real discipline" Brackett turned to Davy

"Do you really mean to be a sailor, boy? Do you think you have what it takes?"

Davy nodded, once

"Well, you can’t handle a marlinespike, can you? But perhaps you can handle a taste of the lash"

Sophia leapt forward "No!"

Mr Brackett turned to her "Miss Turner, this isn’t a fit spectacle for ladies You ought to return to your cabin"

"No You can’t do this I won’t allow it"

The morave mistake If Davy had any hope of leniency, she’d just erased it Brackett’s black eyes pinned her, as dark and unyielding as obsidian He would never back do To spare Davy at her behest would be tanta authority in front of his crew Unthinkable

"I apologize for offending your genteel sensibilities, Miss Turner Justice can be an ugly business Now, I advise you to go belowdecks"

"Go on, Miss Turner," Davy said "I’ve hadI haven’t felt before"

And of course he didn’t want her to see, the brave boy Sophia cast hietic look Then she firmed her chin and spoke to Brackett "Thank you, I will stay If you can perform this atrocity, you can perforhtly on Davy with her here Or maybe she could swoon at a fortuitous ether

"If you wish" Brackett turned on his heel, swinging the marlinespike around like a co Quinn as its true north

"You there String Linnet up to the yardarm"

Muffled curses rose up froht uneasily Brackett swung ’round again,threat with thehis hat in the process The men dropped back in silence

The sweat on Sophia’s neck went cold

"Remove your shirt, Linnet" When the boy simply stood in place, Brackett hooked the tip of thethe coarse tunic from neck to waist Then he reached out with his free hand to tear the shirt away fro a smooth, pale chest

Brackett rested thepistol and turned to Quinn "String Him Up"

Quinn did not move Braced in a wide stance, ar mountain of muscle And he received Brackett’s command with all the stony indifference of a aze said I’d like to see you try Sophia wanted to believe the iance to Davy, but she suspected the heat factored strongly in his defiance If Quinn hadn’t wanted to clio, he could hardly relish the idea of hauling a boy up with hiered by Quinn’s ratified His face lit with a srin "Do you disobey a direct order then, Quinn?"

Quinn did notQuinn slowly, "is a serious infraction I advise you to reconsider I’ll say it but one more time, Quinn"

Brackett punctuated each ith a jab to the sailor’s chest "String Hied off the spike, as a horse twitches its flank to dislodge a fly