The Curse of Salamander Street Read Online Free

webbed in dew, decked for a spider queen and glistening in the fading light.
    Crane stood fast and stared as the Magenta drew alongside. Everyone to a man looked up as the two ships sailed slowly by. There, hanging from the yardarm, was the long-forgotten body of a man. In the sullen fog that surrounded the ship he could see that the sails had been torn through and burnt upon the masts. The deck was strewn with smouldering rocks, the remains of the comet that had exploded in the sky. As the ship drew closer, Crane began to smell the scent of death.
    ‘Make to!’ Crane shouted, as the crew stared on, not wanting to move. ‘The ship’s adrift without a crew and ours for the taking. Salvage, lads, salvage!’
    The words brought his men to life. Kate looked at the high yardarm and the dangling corpse on the empty ship that somehow made progress against the tide.
    ‘How can it go the other way against the sea?’ Kate asked quickly as Crane drew the cutlass from his belt.
    ‘It can’t, lass, that’s what makes it our quest to find out.’Crane sniggered, raising one eyebrow and creasing his lips with a thin smile. ‘Heave her to port and tie her on.’
    From above her head, two men swung from the mast across the open water, landing upon the other ship. Quickly they threw several ropes back to the Magenta and within minutes the two hulks were strapped together, drawn closer by a bevy of smugglers spinning the capstan.
    ‘Search it from end to end, every door and cabin. If you find anyone, bring them to me.’ There was the slightest hint of trepidation in his voice. Kate sensed his throat growl upon the words as if even Captain Jacob Crane expected the worst. ‘And cut him from the yardarm – dead men often tell the most tales.’
    Thomas went with the crew, clambering from the Magenta over the makeshift ramp that had been strapped across the divide between the two ships.
    ‘Captain,’ came the voice. ‘Best be seeing this for yourself.’
    Crane looked at Kate, sensing she could feel his foreboding. ‘You better stay here, lass. Can’t have you getting yourself into trouble.’ In three strides he had crossed the bridge and jumped from the steps to the other vessel. Kate followed and gawped through the fog at the gathering upon the far deck. She could hear their whispers as they glanced this way and that, unsure as to what could be listening.
    ‘Search it well,’ she heard Crane mutter as he looked back and forth, cutlass in hand. ‘Go stay with the girl, keep her safe.’
    Pulling up the collar of her sea-coat, she held on to the side rail as Crane’s first mate jumped aboard the Magenta and sauntered towards her.
    ‘What’s the fuss?’ Kate asked as he got near, resenting Crane thinking she couldn’t take care of herself. ‘Don’t need you to nanny me.’
    ‘If you’d seen what was over there you’d be glad of the company,’he replied as he took the pistol from his belt and half-cocked the hammer.
    ‘Then let me look – I’ve seen worse. I once saw a drowned man who’d been dead for a month, crabs had …’ She was stopped short as the man quickly put his hand to her mouth.
    ‘You’ve never seen death like that,’ he said quickly, in a hushed voice. ‘Whatever killed him wasn’t a man, nor a creature I’ve ever seen. There’s an empty ship in the middle of the Thames, the lamps are lit below and captain’s table set for two and not a soul to be found. You best be keeping your words to yourself and holding on to your breath for as long as you can.’
    ‘Empty ships don’t sail themselves,’ Kate snapped as she tried to push by him.
    ‘Don’t be thinking you’re going from here, lass. Crane told me to keep you on the Magenta and that I’ll do.’
    ‘Then tell me what’s going on,’ Kate protested as she pulled on his coat and kicked her feet against the bulwarks.
    ‘Let her come, Martin,’ shouted Crane from the deck of the other ship. ‘If she’s a mind to see the state of