Vampirates: Tide of Terror Read Free

all, she had been “rescued” by a ship of vampires — or rather Vampirates — and lived to tell the tale. In spite of her crewmates’ urging, Grace had said very little about what she had endured aboard that ship. She had only confided in Connor and, though he had steadfastly kept his sister’s secrets, he had hinted that she had faced some truly horrific situations on board. It was understandable that he wanted to protect her from further trauma.
    “You mustn’t worry about her,” Cate said to Connor. “She’s as tough as the leather on my sword hilt.”
    Connor smiled, but only faintly. “She’s my sister, Cate. She’s all I have left in the world.”
    “Na-hah, buddy,” said Bart, reaching out a hand to Bart’s shoulder. “What about us?”
    “Yeah,” added Jez, digging Connor in the ribs. “What about the Three Buccaneers?”
    “All for one and one for all!” added Bart.
    “Very original,” said Cate, with a sigh.
    But their clowning had done the trick. Connor was smiling again.
    “All right, lads,” Cate said, “I’m off to make the final preparations for attack.”
    “Yes, sir !” Bart said, saluting her.
    Cate tried to frown but she couldn’t stop the laughter breaking through. “Enough of your cheek, Mister Pearce. Any more lip and you’ll be on toilet duty tonight, while the rest of us are off to Ma Kettle’s.” She turned and walked away, before another wave of laughter broke through her serious demeanor.
    “Ohh, I love it when she gets all uppity,” said Bart to his mates.
    Connor rolled his eyes at Jez.
    “Come on, Connor,” Jez said, “let’s leave Mister Pearce here to his lovesick fantasies while we get on with some serious rapier maneuvers.”
    “You’re on,” agreed Connor.
    After spending the morning cleaning swords, Grace Tempest was in need of a good wash herself. She scrubbed away at her hands and arms but, though she managed to get rid of most of the grime, she couldn’t extinguish the smell of oil and metal. Oh well, she’d just have to let it wear off, she decided. Bidding farewell to her fellows, she headed back down to her cabin for a well-earned break. As she walked down the corridor, she could hear the pirates on the top deck getting ready for the attack. Connor would be among them. She felt an instinctive wave of nerves for him. After three months, it was still strange to think of her twin brother as a pirate prodigy.
    Sometimes, she wondered at the way things had turned out. After their father’s death, there had been nothing left for them in Crescent Moon Bay — nothing save a life of drudgery at the orphanage or being adopted by the lunatic bank manager, Lachlan Busby, and his demented wife, Loretta. And so they had taken to the ocean in their old boat, Louisiana Lady , not exactly sure where they were heading, but certain that wherever they ended up would be better than what they left behind.
    Neither one of them could have ever imagined what lay ahead though, thought Grace, pushing open the door to her small cabin. Her brother had been rescued by this pirate ship. And as for her, well, she had been brought to the Vampirates — creatures she had only heard of in the strange shanty her dad had sung to both twins.
I’ll tell you a tale of Vampirates,
A tale as old as true.
Yea, I’ll sing you a song of an ancient ship,
And its mighty fearsome crew.
Yea, I’ll sing you a song of an ancient ship,
That sails the oceans blue . . .
That haunts the oceans blue.
    As many times as they had heard the shanty, they had never thought that the ship might actually exist. But it did! And she had found herself on board, coming face to face — or rather, face to mask — with its enigmatic captain.
They say that the captain, he wears a veil
So as to curtail your fright
At his death-pale skin
And his lifeless eyes
And his teeth as sharp as night.
Oh, they say that the captain, he wears a veil
And his eyes never see the light.
    The captain did not wear a veil,