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"THEY&039;RE GOOD-THE BLOCKADE runners around these waters," Captain John Tre out at the darkness "They&039;re very, very good-the ht and the darkness They knohen to hts, when cloud cover erases even the stars" He turned and looked at Finn "But, of course, you chose the date"
The sea and the sky see off the earth&039;s surface into a stygian void of nothingness Setting out on the captain&039;s steah; the Key West lighthouse helped ships on both sides avoid calalow, heading north, and the ht created an eerie realm where even the truth and the horror of the war seemed of another world The stars, of course, were out there But cloud cover was blocking even their gentle light The world was one, water and air ht, Finn could well understand how the medieval population had believed that the world was flat
He&039;d been at sea enough to comprehend winds and tides; he&039;d kept a sht, the sky was deep velvet and blue-black, and the sea seelass sheet as vast as the endless dark heavens above theh Calloway had been apprised of his mission, Captain Tremblay had not been told any of the particulars, other than a Pinkerton was seeking a certain man, and he believed that he&039;d find hi both the Union navy seamen who plied these waters and the blockade runners the the blockade, but at this stage of the war,to risk the noose of the Union navy did so out of a sense of patriotis if you were alive Of course, there were those reckless would-be pirates illing to take a chance at anything, but at this stage of the gaht a losing battle in the hope of keeping the Confederacy alive long enough for the North to tire of the war before the South was completely decimated
"What makes you think yourhilass
"We intercepted colass, and still there was nothing to see but blackness
"About a blockade runner?" Tremblay asked He seemed puzzled, and then said, "Blockade runners are not often spies, except, of course, they will carry whatever information they acquire They&039;re seldom assassins"
"This one is an unusual circuh I don&039;t suppose that&039;s so unusual at this tiainst Lincoln, and he just happens to be a blockade runner, and since he&039;s able to move around quickly and coerous"
Finn hesitated aat Tremblay, but he was afraid that if they didn&039;t catch the oing to oes by the code na, and one of his conspirators was apprehended in the capital-with an incri correspondence"
"Many goodTens of thousands," Treether a conspiracy What fool puts that information in a letter?"
"Most of it was code, but we have code-breakers This Gator issupplies to the Jacksonville area-there are scores of inlets that connect with the St Johns River A Floridaa ing up arms procured in the Bahamas, and beef from the Keys His delivery ain entry close to the capital, possibly around northern Virginia or Maryland He&039;ll carry nothing but legal sales goods at that point, in case he&039;s stopped Once hethen as some kind of a sutler He has fellow conspirators in the North, ill supply him with arms when the time comes I don&039;t think he cares if he&039;s shot on the spot hies to kill President Lincoln That&039;s why it&039;s ioods to break the blockade Once he divests hinize him, detain hi hilass "Thank you, Captain"
Tremblay nodded He was an old-timer, a man who had spent his life in naval service His beard and hair hite, his eyes were blue and his stance was square and steady As he looked at Finn, he added, "We&039;ve lost ood ship to the Confederates, you know We had to scuttle three in the river up at Jacksonville just last Noveuns aboard as well, but they&039;re not fighters They keep theht and shallow for speed and the ability to slip through narrow channels and rivers But if we coht"
"Captain," Finn said, a note of bitter amusement in his voice "Do I look like a ht?"
Trerinned sheepishly "No, sir, you do not But fighting as a Pinkerton is different, of course, froht at sea"
"Don&039;t worry, Captain I&039;ve seen h the glass again Nothing His vision tended to be excellent, no ht But there was nothing to see, as yet
And, of course, this h overexertion than through laziness and bad surveillance
No y it took, Finn couldn&039;t let this Gator make his connections, definitely could not let him reach the capital and their leader No enerals, friends and fellow politicians warned him, President Lincoln was athe mall He invited his constituents to speak with him Quite simply, Lincoln believed to the core that if he was not available, then he was not serving anyone To try to change hie the very soul of the ently and with such love and admiration to protect
Finn didn&039;t know that he and others could prevail, not forever He did knoever, that there had been ht person to stop in a crowd That he had protected his charge on that particular day He didn&039;t necessarily face an assassin every time, but often someone bent on harassment, or ready to throw rotten food at the president, or to create a riot out of a rally He had done well so far, but it only took onetoward hi beneath her cloak
She had carried a scarf, he re but a shoorship
Yet, she had been so strange So beautiful, and so different, dangerousdangerous even if what she had produced had been a hand-knitted scarf She had wanted to get close to the president, and there had just been that strange difference about her?
He still had that narrow lock of her hair in his wallet And he still believed that she was out there somewhere, and that, one day, he would find her
Of course, noas here
And still thinking about his failure that day!
Finn chafed at this assign the president nearer to him; he was ready to stop a bullet for the man at any time He felt hi about the sea, and it was true-he had seen ood captain couldn&039;t begin to ined to stop a bloo threat before it could fully materialize
"You needn&039;t worry about me," Finn said "Whatever course is called, I will be ready"
"Bosun!" the captain called, looking to thethe night with his own spyglass "Any signs of life?"
"No, Captain, sir!" the sailor called back "Not a whisper as of yet!"
Captain Tre"
Finn narrowed his eyes suddenly, looking toward the shore He knew that they were in an area where ave way to rivers and ays They were now north in the Florida Keys, nearing the ave way to channels between the islands, where littlesilt and debris to become islands, and where trim, shallow-draft ships could easily disappear in the blink of an eye
"There!" Finn announced suddenly
"Where?"
"Therehugging the shore He must know of an inlet"
"Bosun!" the captain called
"Nothing I see nothing, sir!" called the lookout
"It&039;s there, believe me," Finn said "We didn&039;t see her, but she&039;s seen us, and she&039;s ducking through a channel now, heading for the gulf"
As Finn spoke, a break forht be new on this January night, so crisp and cool even, but with cloud cover gone, the sky seeht Perhaps God himself was on the side of the North, Finnbefore thehost ship, a stea away, her sails down but her ht
"Full speed ahead, sir!" Finn said
"Man your guns!" the captain bellowed
And the chase was on
TARA HAD BEGUN TO FEEL that her fears had been entirely unjustified They had set out with a light wind, cutting through the islands midway between Key West and the mainland and then out to the Atlantic, where they had run parallel with the coast A breeze had picked up, perfect for the sails, and for a while, she had gone to the cabin, far too restless for sleep, but determined to at least lie dohile
And it had been while she had been there, planning a route once she reached land, that she heard Richard&039;s anxious shout
"Union steamer starboard Down the sails! Steam poith all due speed!"
Tara jerked up and raced out to the deck Thedown the sails Richard was at the helain The Peace moved quickly Richard kne to avoid the reefs, and she was certain that he would head back into the inlets and perhaps the gulf, doing his best to ground the enelance as she hurried to hiunned," he said tersely, indicating the ene startsdo whatever you need to do to get out of here Even if you haven&039;t the strength to go far, you&039;ll knohere you can find shelter along the islands and the coast"
"I&039; to unned I have a few small cannons If I can&039;t outrun her"
"If you can&039;t outrun her, you surrender," Tara said, feeling a choking sensation in her throat "Richard, do you hear me? You surrender They don&039;t shoot down blockade runners in cold blood They&039;re trying to stop the flow of supplies, not ave her was one that clearly told her his thoughts
No In principle, the enemy was not out to commit murder
But this ar
And tempers flared and shots fired easily
"Men die in the camps," Richard said flatly
"And et out of here, now," he told her
"No"
"You&039;re stubborn!"
"I know my own resources" It was difficult to see the Union ship, but she could make out its ominous silhouette
"Take the hellass, looking over at the ene, I pray?" And then he swore, quickly looking at her apologetically "He rounded it He knows the ga"
"You&039;ll outrun him," Tara said with confidence-farFew people knew these waters like a native son
Save another native son
"I&039; for the channel Maybe there" Richard said
"You will outrun him," she repeated staunchly
But the echo of her words had barely died when the sound of a cannon booet, causing the water in their wake to burst froeyser
"That was too close," Richard murmured
"Damned close!" Lawrence said
"Aye, Grant You and Lawrence, man the rear cannon!" Richard commanded "Quickly We must pray for a strike and hobble here on the reef!"
His men scurried to do as bidden Before they could reach their posts belowdeck, a second volley came their way, closer this time The Peace shook in the water, the waves rose and Tara quickly grabbed hold of theto save yourself!" Richard said fir you!"
Richard stared at her in frustration and yelled out to his men below "Fire!"
A second later, their cannon fire boomed
Tara stared out at the enemy ship, relieved to see a small burst of fire explode near her aft section
"Direct hit, first volley!" she said