Captain Kurogumo laughed bitterly. ‘Only the gods can save us now!’

‘Not if we make a sea anchor and heave-to.’

‘Are all gaijin such dumb sailors?’ snarled Captain Kurogumo contemptuously. ‘We’d be pulled under the water. Knocked down by the waves. Besides, the sea’s too deep to drop anchor.’

‘A sea anchor,’ corrected Jack, struggling to keep his feet as the ship suddenly lurched. ‘It anchors itself to the water, not the seabed.’

‘I’ve never heard of such a thing,’ snapped the captain, rapidly losing patience. ‘And we certainly don’t have one.’

‘I can make one,’ persisted Jack. ‘It’ll act as a brake … turn the bow into the waves … stabilize the ship against the wind. We’d go straight through the heart of the storm … but it’ll be over quicker.’

A wave broke over the stern and they were deluged in seawater. The safety line slipped through Jack’s fingers, but Cheng held firm and caught him behind. When the wave had passed, only the captain remained at the tiller.

‘If you keep running downwind, the Black Spider will pitch-pole!’ cried Jack. ‘The bow will bury itself in a wave! We’ll be thrown end over end! Your ship will be smashed to matchwood!’

Captain Kurogumo scowled at Jack. ‘Who do you think you are, gaijin? I’m the captain of this ship! I know what needs to be done – and we run from a storm this big.’ He called down to Tiger. ‘Throw them both in the cage.’

Ascending the steps, Tiger seized Jack and Cheng and began to drag them away. But at that moment the Black Spider crested a huge wave and hurtled down the other side. The ship nosedived into the bottom of the trough, the impact shattering the newly repaired starboard gunwale. The Black Spider spun towards the wind and heeled violently, on the verge of broaching. Jack, Cheng and Tiger were thrown against the stern’s bulwark. But miraculously, at the last second, the ship righted itself. Even so, Jack caught the grim expression on Captain Kurogumo’s face. They both recognized the Black Spider had reached its limit.

With their survival in the balance, Captain Kurogumo yelled to Jack, ‘Make the anchor!’ His eyes narrowed. ‘But don’t you dare trick me.’

Ordering Tiger to help the gaijin in whatever way he could, Captain Kurogumo focused all his strength on stopping the Black Spider from broaching again.

‘I need sail, rope and wood,’ Jack told Tiger.

‘In the hold,’ he replied gruffly.

Scrambling down to the main deck, Jack beckoned Miyuki and the others to follow them into the hold. Water poured in through the hatch and the floor was awash with displaced cargo.

Tiger pointed out the spare sailcloth. ‘And how much rope do you need?’

‘Ten times the ship’s length,’ replied Jack.

Tiger’s eyes widened in disbelief. ‘That’ll be all of it then.’