Once the pirates had left and their ship began retreating, Catalina was once again reminded of the agonising pain in her leg. Her gaze turned distractedly to the main deck where the last members of the crew were busily falling back under the command of the Captain and attempting to salvage what they could of the burning ship. From her position above the deck, Catalina could see the fire was spreading ferociously without a hope of the crew stopping it or even merely containing it to the deck, it was quickly devouring everything on board, reaching into the cabins and climbing the masts. It was a devastating sight.
Captivated by the sight of the fire and the crew frantically trying to control it, Catalina felt helpless, unable to move, let alone assist them. It was then that the main mast was conquered. She could hear the wood splitting as the flames devoured it. Calling out to the crew, drawing their attention to it, Catalina warned the men below just in time before it came crashing to the deck, taking with it a large chunk of the starboard side.
Her shouts also alerted Thomas to her position and he joined her within seconds.
“Catalina? Come, on. Let’s get you off this ship. There’s no saving her now.” The sorrow in his voice was not hard to miss. Thomas had been on the Curious Jane since he’d been a boy of 12, working his way up through the ranks on the modest merchantman, earning the respect of his crewmates and the approval of the Captain. Catalina knew this from their many conversations of their after-dinner stroll across the decks. It had been six days since they had left the English harbour of Portsmouth and in this time, Thomas had opened up to her, as she had done to him. She knew he aspired to follow in the footsteps of his father and own his own trading company but she also knew that he loved this, now weakening, ship as his home, as it had been for the past 11 years, and that this was to be the present Captain’s final voyage before commencing his retirement. Thomas was to get the ship and subsequently be able to follow his dream. A dream that was now going up in smoke.
It was a sombre moment as he carried Catalina down the steps to the main deck. To her dismay, she realised there was only the one remaining lifeboat that was still sea-worthy, the rest lost to the flames. The crew gathered round and it was clear they would not all be able to cram into the small craft.
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