The Pirate's Yuletide Treasure

By Katherine Bone

NEW COVER, and expanded novella coming soon!

 

It's a dark and snowy Christmas Eve, and the roads are almost impassable. Canterbury's inns are full, but the local brothel's door stands open, and Frau Klaus welcomes all who come seeking shelter. Gather with stranded travelers around her Tannenbaum as secrets, holiday tales, and a story of love, like this one, are shared.

 

Cassia Beaugre Ransome has taken refuge at Klaus Haus to celebrate the season as she does every year on the anniversary of being rescued from customs officials. As a way of saying thank you, she and her husband, Ansell, deliver smuggled supplies to Frau Klaus and her staff. While Cassia awaits Ansell's arrival, and fearing his capture, she tells a yarn about three ships and yuletide miracles while longing for one of her own.

 

The Pirate's Yuletide Treasure is a short story inspired by The Canterbury Tales and the Great London Fog and Frost of 1813. Heavy snowfall blankets Canterbury, forcing travelers paying their respects to Archbishop Thomas Becket indoors on Christmas Eve. It's the snowiest winter recorded in the last three hundred years, a storm considered by newspapers to be the worst to hit the British Isles since 1795, cutting the city off for at least six days and forcing holidaymakers to beg for lodging.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seas the Day Publishing
• Release date: Feb 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9780998657318

Katherine Bone

Bestselling Historical romance author Katherine Bone has been passionate about history since she had the opportunity to travel to various Army bases, castles, battlegrounds, and cathedrals as an Army brat turned officer's wife. Now she lives in the south where she writes about rogues, rebels and rakes, aka pirates, lords, captains, duty, honor, and country and the happily-ever-afters every alpha male and damsel deserve. Katherine would love to hear from you, dear readers! Send her an signal flag at: [e-mail] or join her on deck via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Katherine-Bones-Official-Fan-Page/134578253291785, or Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/katherinelbone. If you'd like to hear about Katherine's adventures and new book offers, join her newsletter here: http://www.katherinebone.com/contact/.

Book preview

The Pirate’s Yuletide Treasure

Contents

Foreword

Title Page

Also Available

1. The Pirate’s Yuletide Treasure

A Sprig of Mistletoe

Copyright

Dedication

2. Chapter 1

About the Author

Foreword

The Pirate’s Yuletide Treasure is inspired by The Canterbury Tales and the Great London Fog and Frost of 1813. During the snowiest winter recorded in the last three hundred years, a storm considered by newspapers to be the worst to hit the British Isles since 1795, heavy snow fell on Canterbury, cutting the city off for at least six days.

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This short story was initially part of A Christmas Brothel, A Set of Canterbury Tales, including eighteen short stories by various authors and titled The Pirate’s Yuletide Haven. Proceeds from this anthology were donated to Toys 4 Tots in 2018.

The Pirate’s Yuletide Treasure

A Short Story

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BY

KATHERINE BONE

Copyright

License and Copyright Notes

A Pirate’s Yuletide Treasure

Copyright © 2017 by Katherine Bone

Seas the Day Publishing

Cover Design by Wicked Smart Designs

Editing by Double Vision Editorial

ISBN: 978-0-9986573-1-8

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means—except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews—without written permission.

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The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

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This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

For more information: [e-mail]

www.katherinebone.com

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Dedication

A wife is a man’s help and consolation, His terrestrial paradise and salvation. So obedient and virtuous is she, They cannot help but live in unity. One flesh are they, and one flesh, I guess, Has but one heart, in joy and in distress.

The Merchant’s Tale, The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

The Pirate’s Yuletide Treasure

Canterbury, Christmas 1813

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Cassia Ransome stood on the widow’s walk above Klaus Haus, searching the silvery streets of Canterbury for her husband. After being threatened by excise men, Ansell and his band of pirates had gone to hide their contraband in a spacious crypt below Chapel House in Whitstable. They had promised to meet her after they’d sown the crop, but night had fallen and the worst winter storm Kent had ever seen was ravaging the city. The roads were blanketed with snow, and the ill-timed weather made traveling across the countryside hazardous to smugglers and regular folk alike. Surely customs officials were not on the hunt in these conditions. A wave of nervousness crashed into her.

Or are they?

She could only pray that Ansell would be able to elude them if, in fact, they