“Yer a bleedin’ giant. Two to one ain’t soundin’ fair for our boys.”

“Oh, come now . . .”

“Three maybe.”

“Three it is.”

Jeremy had probably agreed too quickly because one of the pirates snickered, “But four’s a nice even number, I’m thinkin’.”

Jack could see that Jeremy hadn’t expected that, so his reply was deliberately insulting. “It’s a cowardly number, but if that’s what you think of your fellows, so be it.”

That got him some nasty looks, but more pirates started appearing on deck, and the three who had haggled with Jeremy went over to confer with them. Jacqueline started counting heads, but it wasn’t necessary. Mortimer came up the lower-deck stairs last and stood where Damon could see him, nodding and giving the signal that all the pirates were present. She saw Dr. Death, still wearing sinister black. She hadn’t seen him since he’d treated Damon’s wound. His deathly pale complexion was proof of his dislike of the sun. Next to him was Bart Satin, still carrying four pistols tucked in the waistband of his britches. She hoped that particular troublemaker would be one of Jeremy’s contenders. And Scar Face and the other pirate who’d snuck into Damon’s cabin to get a good look at her were laughing at the notion that Jeremy thought he could take down four of their brethren.

The rest of Lacross’s men, all flamboyantly dressed and heavily armed, blended into one gang. She tensed when most of the pirates started toward Jeremy. The normal sailors got out of the way, many of them climbing the masts for a better view, though others gathered around with the pirates for a closer view of the fight that was about to get under way. She wished they would help her brother instead, but she supposed their not taking sides was better than helping the wrong side.

She gasped when she heard her brother say, “Five? Really? No brave lads among you a’tall?”

“No stupid lads.”

She ran back to Damon. “You have to stop this. Now the challenge is up to five against one.”

He gave her a grave look and a nod of agreement and pulled her forward to take the wheel. “Just until I get this under control,” he said before she could ask, and he started down the stairs.

It was the first time he was trusting her with the wheel, but he’d picked a lousy time to do it because she didn’t have a good view of the main deck from there. But no sooner had he started down the stairs than Mr. Thomson came up the other set that led to the quarterdeck. Looking tired but quite awake now, the helmsman was hurrying toward her, and the moment he reached her, she ran after Damon.

She’d only just bumped into his back when she heard Jeremy tell the prospective fighters, “Four, and you get to pick. Five and I pick. You decide, but keep in mind, there’s at least one of you that I could flick over with a finger.”

That got some laughter out of the pirates, and the shortest one among them had gone red in the face. But Jeremy’s solution solved the numbers problem because the pirates chose the first option, and Damon turned around to whisper, “All eyes are on your brother. Now go lock yourself in the cabin.”

Before the fight even began? She would have laughed at the suggestion if he didn’t look so serious, so she merely reminded him, “That wasn’t the deal.”

He swore under his breath, something about stubbornness, but said, “You’ll stay behind me, and the very moment I crack someone’s head, you run to the cabin.”

Mortimer pushed his way through to the center of the ring of pirates that was forming around Jeremy and ordered, “The contenders must hand over their weapons to me. This is going to be a—somewhat fair fight.” But by the time five pistols and two daggers were dropped by his feet, he added, “Bloody hell, I need a sack,” which drew even more laughter.

Still, he managed to stuff seven pistols around his waist and picked up the eight daggers from the four pirates who had stepped forward to participate. Finally, he raised his hand and said, “On your mark—”

One of them threw a punch at Jeremy before Mortimer could finish. The blond got out of the way and joined Percy behind the ring of onlookers, slipping him one of the pistols.

“Four is still a lousy number,” Jacqueline whispered to Damon.

“Your brother must not think so, but you know him better than I. Can he do it?”

“Certainly—but he might not get in those missed swings we were counting on.”

Three more swings toward Jeremy, all three misses. Jeremy was playing with them, apparently. Jack wished she had a better view, but at least she could still see her brother, taller than all the others, to know that he was enjoying himself!

But then Jeremy took his first swing at the pirate who was trying to slip behind him. A bystander went down instead and Jeremy complained, “Now see what you’ve done. That’s what happens when you don’t stay in front of me.”

Jacqueline started to worry. Jeremy might have all their attention on him, but he should have taken down one of the four contenders first so he’d just have to face a manageable three, especially when the four could converge on him. She hoped he didn’t think pirates would actually fight fairly. But she realized when another bystander went down that having the four contenders still standing was possibly keeping anyone else from interfering yet, if they planned to.

Two down, thirteen to go, and what was Damon waiting for? He wasn’t. He hit the man in front of him with the butt of his pistol, helping him to the deck so his fall wouldn’t make much noise. That was her cue to leave and she did, running back up to the quarterdeck and straight to the short set of steps leading down to Damon’s cabin. Instead of going inside the cabin, she turned to the center railing in front of his cabin.

It was the perfect place to watch the fight because it provided an unobstructed view of the main deck and was only a few feet from Damon’s cabin. She could still get behind his locked door if she had to, but she didn’t think she’d have to since she also had a good view of both stairways leading up to the quarterdeck. If any of the pirates broke away from the fight on the main deck and headed toward her, she’d see it. She even put her hand in her pocket so she could quickly reach the little pistol if she needed it.

Damon and Mortimer were quietly but quickly disabling pirates on the edge of the crowd. Percy wasn’t. He’d stuck his pistol in the back of one pirate and had given him a warning that was keeping him quiet. One was better than none for old Percy. The three armed sailors who’d been guarding Jeremy earlier had also taken out three pirates. When one of the pirates noticed what was happening, he shouted a warning, which set off the mayhem.