Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) (14 page)

“Aye,” Coxen nodded. “There certainly
are those in my profession who have a taste for blood and mayhem.
In my younger days, I did as well. But I see myself as a
businessman now. Violence is sometimes necessary, but it reduces
profits. Those who rape and pillage inevitably gain a reputation
for such and they meet much more resistance from the settlers
themselves than we do. We have a reputation for attacking only the
governors and their military guards. We avoid harming or stealing
from the settlers for the most part, so they do not fight us. Those
who pillage indiscriminately are fools. The settlers have little to
take besides perhaps their women, but friendly wenches are readily
available in any port. It makes no sense to provoke the settlers to
fight when there is so little for us to gain by it.”

“Makes sense to me,” Jeff
agreed.

Just then, there was a knock at the
door. “Enter,” the Captain responded.

Robinson came in carrying a pot of
stew and eating utensils for the two men. As she set the food on
the table, she winced. “Oh no! Harrison’s salve?” she asked,
holding her nose.

“Aye,” the Captain nodded.

“Will you be moving to a bunk not so
close to mine tonight, Mr. Greene?” she asked hopefully.

“Aww!” Jeff exclaimed. “Don’t you like
me anymore?”

“You I like,” she replied, “But that
horrid salve will quickly make me forget that!”

“I’ll try to get at least most of it
off before I bunk down tonight,” Jeff said.

“See that you do!” Robinson exclaimed
nasally, still holding her nose as she exited the cabin.

“So turtle stew, eh?” Jeff said eyeing
the pot with some reservation.

“It is one of Robinson’s specialties,”
said Coxen as he ladled some into his bowl.

“It just seems wrong to be eating sea
turtle. They’re an endangered species in my time,” Jeff
explained.

“Well, Mr. Greene, they are plentiful
now and they make for a splendid stew. Try some!”

Jeff served himself a bowl and
cautiously took a bite. “I have to admit it is pretty
good.”

The two men ate hungrily and washed
the stew down with mugs of rum before the Captain brought out his
pipes for a smoke. Jeff was now comfortable with the process and
although he didn’t really enjoy the taste of the smoke, on this
occasion the smell of it was a welcome cover up for the smell of
Harrison’s salve. The Captain shared a few tales of previous raids
as they smoked, and although the thought of getting back to his own
time was always in the back of his mind, Jeff was thankful to have
met up with the Captain and his crew. As they finished their pipes,
the Captain turned to Jeff and said, “I should take my leave of you
now, Mr. Greene. I need to catch a few winks of sleep before I
relieve Mr. Crabtree at the wheel.”

Jeff nodded and stood up. “Until
tomorrow, then, Captain. Good night.”

“Good night, Mr. Greene.”

Jeff stepped out on the deck and a
cool breeze hit his face. It was now fully dark and for a moment
Jeff stared up at the moon and stars that shone bright in the
blackness. “I have a gift for you, Mr. Greene,” Jenny said as she
approached with a bucket and rag in hand. “Actually it’s more of a
gift for me and the rest of the crew,” she said, handing him the
bucket.

Jeff chuckled as he accepted the gift.
“I can take a hint. I’ll wash off the salve.” Jeff pulled off his
shirt and noticed the blood on it from where he had wiped his face
after Harrison’s sword lesson. As he dipped the rag in the water,
Jeff said, “Could I trouble you for a slice of lime? As much as I
know it will hurt, I probably should try to disinfect the cut on my
nose.” Jenny nodded.

“I’ll get you a piece of lime while
you scrub yourself. Do a good job won’t you?” she said as she
headed for the galley.

Jeff washed his shoulders thoroughly
and although the salve had done its job, he was relieved to get rid
of the smell. As he finished, Jenny returned. “Your lime, Mr.
Greene.”

“Thanks. Here goes nothing…” Jeff
squeezed and rubbed the lime on his nose. “Ahhh!” he exclaimed as
the acidic juice made its way into the cut. “Wow! That sucks even
worse than I thought it would!”

“Sucks?” Jenny inquired.

“That’s an expression from my time. It
means it’s unpleasant.”

Jenny looked around and leaned toward
him so as not to be overheard, “Strange, ‘sucks’ means something
quite different in our time. Perhaps sometime I can
demonstrate…”

“That’s a different kind of suck!”
Jeff replied in a hushed tone, “And you’re a terrible
tease!”

“Actually, I rather think I’m quite a
good tease,” Jenny whispered before stepping back. “That’s better
then,” she said resuming her normal voice. “We’ll all sleep better
without that foul salve stinking up the cabin,” she said before
taking back the bucket and rag and departing below deck.

Jeff leaned up against the rail and
looked up at the sky once more. ‘Mr. Robinson’ definitely knew how
to get under his skin. He didn’t want to get too attached to her in
the event that he did get the opportunity to get back to his own
time, but it was becoming difficult to keep his developing feelings
for her at bay. After a few minutes of enjoying the night sky, he
decided it was time to try to get some sleep. As he entered the
cabin, many of the men were already in their bunks and several were
snoring. Jenny was lying on her bunk facing his as he laid down.
She smiled at him in the dim light and he smiled back. “Sleep well,
Mr. Greene.”

“Sleep well, Je… Robinson!”

“Shut yer traps!” someone called out
from the other side of the cabin.

Jeff awoke at dawn and joined the
other crewmen as they piled out onto the deck. The Captain was back
at the helm and it was just getting light. On the horizon, Jeff
could see two other ships that he assumed must be the ones they
were meeting. He went below to the galley and Robinson was busy
serving up food and grog to a line of crewmen. She gave him a
slight wink as she handed him his meal and a coconut in place of
the usual mug of grog. He quickly sliced off the top of the coconut
and took a seat at the dining table with several other members of
the crew who were all too busy gulping down breakfast to engage in
anything but the most cursory of communication.

Upon finishing his food and taking the
last swig of coconut water, he made his way back on deck. By now,
the sun was well up and the other ships were much more visible in
the distance. He still could not see land, but reasoned that it
could not be too far away if the ships were going to commence with
a raid that same day. The rest of the crew was taking their various
posts and preparing to rendezvous with the Brethren ships. Jeff
looked up at the Captain who seemed to be intent on steering the
ship and decided it would be best if he simply stood someplace out
of the way.

Less than half an hour
later, the Captain sailed alongside the other ships and gave the
order to furl the sails and drop anchor. At their angle of
approach, Jeff could only see the name painted across the stern of
one of the ships,
The
Crow
. Jeff could see men piling into
longboats at each of the other two ships and soon they were making
their way toward the
Wandering
Wench
. When the first of the longboats
came alongside, the men quickly climbed aboard and were greeted
warmly by Captain Coxen. “Captain Jamison, welcome! You look well,
other than your face, of course!”

“And you, Captain Coxen. Looking as
fat as ever!” The two men laughed as they embraced before Coxen
yelled out for Robinson to bring up rum and grog for Jamison and
his men.

As Jenny delivered the
refreshments, the longboat from the other ship arrived. As the men
climbed aboard, Coxen and Jamison welcomed Captain Craig. To Jeff,
Craig was the first really pirate-looking pirate he had come
across. While the others certainly didn’t look out of place as
17
^th
century sailors, Craig was full-on storybook pirate with his
thick black beard, tri-cornered hat, and a patch over his left eye.
After the initial greetings, the three Captains retreated to
Coxen’s cabin while the crewmen from all three ships drank and
became better acquainted.

Jeff watched from a
distance as the crews interacted. Most of them obviously knew each
other, although Jamison’s crew was much friendlier with the crew of
the
Wench
than
was Craig’s crew. Eventually, Crabtree noticed Jeff standing off to
the side and called him over to make introductions. “Mr. Greene be
the newest member of our crew an’ he be takin’ over from Graves as
our ship’s surgeon. If not for he and Robinson, we might ha’ been
taken by the Spaniards. Mr. Greene, tell our visitors how ye made
fools o’ those Spanish dogs!”

The men gathered around Jeff as he
told how he and Robinson had sabotaged the Spanish ships. Most of
the visitors seemed impressed by Jeff’s ingenuity and bravery, but
a couple of Craig’s men were not convinced. “Sounds like a fairy
story to me,” one of them grumbled.

“Aye!” another growled, “No one swims
in the ocean and comes back to tell o’ it.”

Crabtree stepped in before Jeff could
say anything. “I seen it with me own eyes, and it all be true.” Not
wanting to start a fight with Crabtree, the naysayers quickly
quieted down. The men resumed drinking and catching up on the
latest news for much of the day before the three Captains emerged
together from Coxen’s cabin and called the men to
attention.

Coxen took the lead in announcing the
plans for the raid. “Men, we shall sail just after sunset for Cabra
Cachonda. We should reach our anchorage within a few hours and from
there each ship will send a raiding party in the longboats. Drink
up the last of your rum and grog now and prepare for the raid. The
men gulped down whatever was left in their mugs and the crews
separated as Jamison and Craig and their men returned to their
ships. Coxen gathered the crew and announced the members of the
raiding party. As he already knew, Jeff was to stay aboard the ship
along with Robinson and a handful of other crewmen to guard the
ship and to assist with loading cargo when the raiding party
returned.

A short time later, the sun sank below
the horizon and the Captain gave the order to haul anchor and set
sail. Jeff watched with curiosity as the Captain repeatedly
consulted his simple navigational instruments. It was amazing that
the Captains could even get close to their intended destination
sailing in the dark. After some time under sail, Jeff spotted what
appeared to be firelight in the distance. Shortly thereafter, the
Captain had Crabtree signal the other ships with a small lantern
and then quietly relay the order to furl the sails and drop
anchor.

The men assigned to the raiding party
lined up at the rail and quickly boarded the longboats. In the
moonlight, Jeff could see the same activity occurring on the nearby
ships and the longboats quickly joined up and headed toward the
firelights on shore. As they had been instructed, Jeff, Robinson,
and the others took positions on the rails to keep watch. Jeff was
glad to be positioned so that he could keep an eye out toward shore
as well. He watched the longboats disappear in the darkness and a
short time later heard faint sounds of commotion coming from shore.
The raid was on! While he had mixed feelings about being involved
with what was essentially armed robbery and perhaps even killing,
it was undeniably exciting and he could feel his heart pounding in
his chest as he imagined what was happening ashore.

Suddenly, there were
flashes of light followed shortly after with the sounds of gunfire.
From the appearance and sound of things, there was quite a fierce
battle taking place. The gunfire continued off and on for several
minutes. The small points of firelight soon erupted into large
blazes that lit the night sky. The remainder of the crew on
the
Wandering Wench
now joined Jeff at the rail and watched in silence as the
fires grew and distant screams carried across the water. Robinson
was the first to speak. “Prepare the rifles and take positions on
the rail!” Jeff lingered for a moment at the rail watching the
shore in disbelief before following the others down to the cargo
hold. He grabbed a rifle and a pouch of powder and ammunition and
ran back on deck. In the distance, he could see the shadows of
approaching longboats silhouetted against the fires still blazing
on shore. Jeff prepared the flint on his rifle and crouched down at
the rail. It seemed like hours as he watched the longboats
approach, not knowing who they carried. To his relief, he finally
heard Captain Coxen’s voice yelling angrily as other voices yelled
back in the darkness. While things had obviously gone horribly
wrong, Coxen at least was apparently alive and well.

As the longboats neared the ship, Jeff
could make out what was being said between Captain Coxen and the
other voices. “You and your men are idiots, Craig!”

“Fuck ye, Coxen. I had heard rumors ye
had gone soft, but I did not believe it. Now I have seen it with me
own eyes!”

“Soft?!” Coxen yelled. Perhaps you
should repeat that within reach of my arms and we’ll see who is
soft! Being intelligent is not being soft! Your stupidity has cost
us severely on this night and will cost us more in time to
come.”