Just when things finally seemed to become normal and peaceful, she had to go out and arrange this behind his back!

“Alice, make for shore! It’s dangerous!” he shouted, ignoring the protest from both his own crew and that of Alice’s boat. The smugness of Alice and the other women only added to his indignation.

But when the ex-sailor showed up at his side, Tobias finally let it go – partly because there was indeed nothing he could do and the rest of the crew relied on him pulling his weight, and partly because the sailor looked pretty strong and it seemed wiser not to provoke him. “Right. Sorry.” He moved back to his original position.

But just then there was a splash back in the harbour, just out enough for Tobias to see that his brother had fallen into the water. Tobias ran to the side of the boat again. “Nathan! Someone get ‘im!” he shouted anxiously.

Ha! There was another poor bastard thrown from the boat!

Edwin's laughter carried between his fits of splashing, jarring and loud like a jackal. Every time his head went under, it devolved into a harsh gurgling sound just to be spit out when he surfaced again.

So close! They were so close they could probably hop onto that damned boat in front of them, like the pirates of old!

“Alice! Did you hear that!” she yipped, grinning ear to ear. “It’s dangerous! You better jump out and swim back!”

Her grin fell when she saw Alice staring forlornly at some Longbottom-… ah. That Longbottom. If that ship didn’t capsize itself first, maybe she could drown him afterward.

Eagerly, she got a grip on the rope and tightened the sail, grinning once more. Could they …?

So, so close!

“Aye aye, captain!” Mehmet grinned, stumbling on sea-naive legs without a single fuck to spare.

He could breathe! Who cared about trivial things like walking when the breeze was this crisp! Mehmet took the wheel and braced against it.

“They’re doing good!” Mehmet reassured over his shoulder to Tobias, completely misunderstanding his indignation. “So good they’re gonna catch up with us if we aren’t careful.”

Had Robert seen him? Nah. Harry already knew he was hiding in there, but Harry was practically hired help. Roderick stuffed himself back under the chair, letting out a moan when the ship bumped too hard.

What the hell was Alice doing!? They were going to lose the race and miss out on the money because of her! Will ran to his father's abandoned position and tried to work for two when the horn sounded and his father was still shouting. Ugh! His friends were watching too!

Ben grimaced at the lady shouting back at him and Lory's smug face. He shouted for Alice to get off that boat until it sunk in that they were falling behind, even on them. He moved back to his position. "Elijah! Grab that rope and pull!" he ordered. Women on a boat was bad luck. Losing to them... He would never recover.

What was the world coming to?

Now that they were all in position, they were catching up on the fallen women ship fast

Noah's eyes locked with Alice's only briefly, before he heard a shout and splash and looked over to see what happened Oops.

But before he could feel too guilty, the boom swung back in his direction when the boat swayed. He fell flat on his stomach to avoid being hit. From his safe position he could see another man flying off the boat.

Uh. Fuck this. He was staying down. He lay flat with his arms covering his head and waited for it to be over. The boom and sail still swung dangerously overhead.

Ha! They were moving and already catching up on Darius and his team of workhouse indigents! Robert rolled up his sleeves so that he could be more effective at standing by and shouting at the fishermen to work harder.

"Mind t' rudder, ser!" shouted one of them shouted back.

The what? Robert turned to Harry. "Harry! Mind that rudder!"

When they passed Darius boat, Robert leaned over the hull and pointed at his older brother. "Ha ha!"

Hey. If Darius' boat capsized, he'd be closer to being the heir.

Darius glared at his brother and grabbed a bottle that was on the ship, whether it was his or the other man's didn't matter. He wanted to chuck it at his head. Flashes of a fallen coach driver was the only thing that stopped him. He gestured with his other hand, "Even if I lose this race. I will win the fortune and you'll be on the street!" He shouted at him.

He turned back and immediately called for the men to get the boat moving.