Home From The Sea (41 page)
Authors: Mel Keegan
“And the prize?”
Jim wondered.
“While we’re gone?”
“Right back in the cellar wall,” Toby said darkly, “where it was hidden every day you lived here and never suspected a thing. It can stay there while we buy a ship, outfit an expedition. Yes?”
“All right.”
Jim sat back and rubbed his face, wondering if he might be dreaming and at any moment he would wake and find himself alone, whiling away his days, his years, in the sanctuary that had become a prison. He managed a shaky chuckle. “So, I’m about to buy a treasure map from an old rummy, am I?”
“You could do much worse.” Toby echoed his
humor
.
“And until all this comes to pass we’re here at The Raven, putting right the damage.” Jim wiped the smile off his face. “The locals already know you as a balladsinger. Even Doctor John’s heard of
you,
and
one
story in particular! You know you’ll be singing for your supper, to keep them happy and stop tongues wagging.”
“I know enough songs to amuse them for months,” Toby said easily. “Supper’s not the half of it.
There’s
a few sweet hours to be cherished between supper and breakfast, and no one the wiser if only we’re careful.”
And a great deal to be explored, discovered, Jim thought, before they took on the world outside, seized it, shook it, made it give them what they wanted. He reached over for the rum bottle and topped off Toby’s mug. “To the future,” he toasted, holding his cup for Toby to touch his own to it.
“To Diego Monteras and Fernando, wherever they are.”
“To Jim Fairley and Toby Trelane,” Toby added, “wherever they may be in a year, and ten years, or twenty.”
“Aye,” Jim said readily, “I do believe I’ll drink to that.”
Preview:
FORTUNES OF WAR
In the spring of 1588 two young men fell in love: an Irish mercenary serving the Spanish ambassador in London, and the son of an English earl. Then Dermot
Channon
must leave England when the embassy is expelled just prior to the onset of war, and Robin despairs of ever seeing him again. Seven years pass, and when Robin's brother is kidnapped for ransom in Panama in the years following the war between England and Spain, Robin sets sail with a fleet commanded by Francis Drake, hoping to bring home his brother. But soon enough the ship on which Robin is
traveling
is sunk by privateers — pirates led by none other than Dermot
Channon
. Reunited by a cruel twist of fate, the two men embark with passion on a series of swashbuckling adventures around the Spanish Main.
Novel length: 150,000 words
Rated: R (18+; sex, violence, language)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9750884-9-4
Publication date: August 2005
Publisher: DreamCraft
Price: $9.99 – ebook (also avail. in paper)
Cover: Jade
Peview
:
DANGEROUS MOONLIGHT
In the style and spirit of HOME FROM THE SEAS comes this rollicking gay historical set in 1727 ... in the world of highwaymen, of duels fought over
honor
, fortunes won and lost at the gaming tables, and romance that fairly sizzles Harry
Trevellion
was well bred and would have been a gentleman if his father’s estate had not been lost ... and Nicholas Grey is the
favorite
son of a wealthy man, who was born ‘on the wrong side of the blanket’ quite by chance! Nick’s brother, Paul, is a wastrel, a scoundrel who is only waiting for their frail old father to pass away. He’ll ruin the family ... and he scorns his illegitimate half-brother, though Nicholas is doing difficult, dangerous work for their father.
Nick’s job is to courier
jewelry
safely between manufacturer and client ... and it’s only a matter of time before he runs into the irresistible rogue, Harry
Trevellion
. The two share a stormy relationship until the day Paul
Rosewarne
has been waiting for arrives: the master of
Rosewarne
Hall passes on ... and the quirks of an old man’s last will and testament put Nicholas behind bars.
It’s a world of swords, pistol duels, midnight chases, deceit and sheer sensuality, in a time when fortunes could still be made ... and lost. If you loved Mel’s other
historicals
, including FORTUNES OF WAR and THE DECEIVERS, don’t miss this one!
Novel length: 205,000 words
Rated: R (18+; sex, violence, language)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9758080-5-4
Publication date: July 2006
Publisher: DreamCraft
Price: $9.99 –
ebook
(
also avail. in paper)
Cover: Jade
Preview:
THE DECEIVERS
Mel Keegan is back at sea in the days of tall ships and high
adventure ...
It’s an age when sail and steam are technologies in collision, and the thousand-year tradition of the tall ships is coming to an end. Men like Bill Ryan and Jim Hale are caught in the jaws of change, in a world where survival depends on raw courage, strength and a willingness to take terrible risks
1862, on the east coast of England: the railway is the death knell of the coastal shipping trade, and many small lines like
Eastcoast
Packet won’t survive. Jim Hale is about to inherit
Eastcoast
and the schooner Spindrift ... if he and Captain Bill Ryan can first survive the explosive violence of the North Sea storms, and the vicious schemes of the
shipwrecker
, Nathan Kerr. Always a dangerous man, Kerr has a score to settle with Jim – and with Ryan, who has allied himself to
Eastcoast
. For men who have the courage to be lovers in this time, and this place, the struggle is dire, the rewards astonishing.
Meticulously researched, fabulously detailed, THE DECEIVERS will be treasured by any reader who loved HOME FROM THE SEA and DANGEROUS MOONLIGHT.
Novel length: 125,000 words
Rated: R (18+; sex, violence, language)
ISBN-13: 0-9750884-2-4
Publication date: August 2003
Publisher: DreamCraft
Price: $9.99 – ebook (also avail. in paper)
Cover: Jade