Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) (20 page)

After Craig’s men were
disarmed and bound, gagged, and secured below deck, Captain Jamison
turned to Jeff, “Many thanks, Mr. Greene, for returning me my ship!
Would you be so good as to employ a similar ruse to allow us to
board the
Grand Booty
to secure her as well?

“Aye,” Jeff replied, still mimicking
Captain Craig, “It be me pleasure!”

“Be careful, Mr. Greene,” Jamison
cautioned with a chuckle, “If you are too convincing as Captain
Craig, a member of my crew is likely to shoot you!”

“Aye… I mean, yes! You’re point is
well-taken, Captain,” Jeff replied, breaking character
temporarily.

Jamison’s crew re-loaded
some of the cargo back into Jeff’s longboat and prepared their guns
to board the
Grand
Booty
. Soon Jeff was rowing across to
Craig’s ship and once again was back in character pretending to be
Craig himself. “Ahoy! It be yer Captain!” he called out. There was
no response. “Ahoy!” he called out again as he came closer, but
there was still no response. Jeff was uneasy as he tied the
longboat alongside the ship. He could not imagine that Craig had
left his own ship unattended, but perhaps he had been forced to in
order to have enough men to stage the ambush on shore in addition
to taking over the other two ships. But then again, it was quite
possible that there were men on the ship who were aware of what was
happening and were lying in wait on the deck above.

Jeff cautiously climbed up the net and
peeked over the rail. The ship appeared to be deserted, so he
jumped onto the deck. He drew his pistol as he scanned the shadows
of the ship. “Ahoy, it be the Captain!” he called out again. From
his position, he could see the longboat with the boarding party
just pulling up to the other side of the ship. Then from the
shadows of the far corner of the deck, Jeff heard a sound that made
his heart jump. “MMMMNNGH! SNAAHHGHHH!”

Jeff nearly burst out laughing when he
realized it was someone snoring. He made his way quietly across the
deck towards the noise. There, lying propped against each other was
two of Craig’s men passed out with a jug of rum lying next to them.
Jeff carefully crept over to the rail where the first of Jamison’s
men were just boarding the ship. “They’re asleep,” he whispered,
pointing in the direction of the sleeping men.

When Captain Jamison and all of his
men were aboard, they quickly searched the rest of the ship to make
sure the sleeping men were the only ones on board. When the all
clear was given, Jamison’s men surrounded the sleeping pair and
Jeff stepped forward and yelled in his best Captain Craig voice,
“What be the meanin’ o’ this, ye lazy dogs?!” One of the men opened
an eye and immediately jumped to his feet, while the man who was
leaning against him crashed onto the deck, still
unconscious.

“Captain, sir! I beg yer forgiveness!”
Jeff laughed as he pulled off his hat and eye patch, “Don’t worry,
I’m not really the Captain. You’re not in trouble.” The man sighed
and smiled with relief. “Oh, wait, maybe you are!” Jeff corrected
himself as the man suddenly realized that the men surrounding him
with their weapons drawn were not from his crew.

“Captain Jamison, I j…j…just be
f…f…following C…C…Captain C…C…Craig’s orders, sir,” the man
stammered with fear.

“Mr. Pope is it?” Jamison
inquired.

“Aye, sir!” “Don’t worry Mr. Pope, you
and your mates will all be treated fairly.”

“Thank you sir!”

“Each of you will be given
a fair trial before we hang you!” Jamison yelled angrily. “Get
these men out of my sight!” Jamison bellowed. Jamison’s men bound
Pope’s hands and dragged him below deck along with his
still-unconscious crewmate. Jamison assigned four of his men to
stay aboard the
Booty
before announcing, “We should be getting back to shore now.
There is still much work to be done tonight.”

Jeff joined Jamison and
his crew in the longboat and after stopping off at the
Wench
to assure that all
was secure and to pick up an additional boat for cargo, they
quickly made their way back to shore. Captain Coxen greeted them as
they came ashore. “I trust that you have retaken
The
Crow
and have secured Craig’s vessel?”

“Aye, Mr.Greene’s plan
worked very well. They put up very little resistance, other than
the resistance of the two men on the
Booty
to being awakened!” Jamison
exclaimed with a laugh. The men from the
Wandering Wench
had already loaded
the two longboats on the beach and had gathered the remaining
spoils from the raid on the beach.

Jamison nodded at Craig and his men,
who looked as if they had taken a bit of a beating since last he’d
seen them. “Did they cause you trouble?”

“No,” Coxen replied, “But I did have
some difficulty restraining the men from having a bit of fun with
them.”

“Well, John, do you want to hang them
here, or take them back to one of the ships?” Jamison
asked.

Coxen replied, “I was thinking that
some of Craig’s men may be salvageable as crew, and if we are to
sail with all three ships, we shall need them. If we take Craig
back and hang him in front of his men, that will give them fair
warning of what awaits traitors in our midst and then we can give
them an opportunity to swear their loyalty to us.”

Jamison nodded with approval. “So be
it. Now, as the night grows short, we should get back to the ships
and prepare to be underway before the Spanish fleet shows
up”.

The crews loaded up the
remaining cargo from the raid and headed out to their ships. By the
time the longboats were unloaded and the prisoners were locked away
securely, it was nearly dawn. But as tired as the crews were, there
was no time for rest. The smoke rising on shore from the fires
Craig’s men had set during the raid would be a beacon to any
Spanish warships in the area, so it was necessary to set sail as
soon as possible. Since time was short, Coxen and Jamison opted to
delay the hanging of Captain Craig and instead assigned a skeleton
crew to man the
Grand Booty
until such time as a more permanent arrangement
could be made. The weary crews set to work hauling anchor and
unfurling the sails and the three ships set out for the island of
Utila, where the Brethren of the Coast had a long-established
stronghold.

By mid-morning, the ships
were well out to sea and Jeff and the rest of the crew of
the
Wandering Wench
was struggling to stay awake after the events of the night
before. Jeff had been busy for the first time in his role as ship’s
surgeon attending to a variety of minor injuries the crew had
sustained. Most of his patients wound up cursing him for his
efforts with his make-shift antiseptics. He couldn’t really blame
them as he knew only too well what lime juice felt like in a cut,
but it was better than developing a major infection, especially
since his antibiotics were just as make-shift. Jeff was just
finishing up in the infirmary when Captain Coxen gave the order for
the men to pair off and sleep in shifts as he himself turned over
the helm to Crabtree to grab a short nap.

Jeff tried to pair off with Jenny so
she could get some sleep, but as exhausted as she was, she was more
concerned about her food preparation duties than sleep. “Are you
going to prepare the meals for the crew?” she asked
Jeff.

“Sure, I can cook,” he replied, “You
get some sleep and by the time you wake up, I’ll have some food
waiting for you.” She looked at him doubtfully, but her fatigue
overwhelmed her better judgment and she reluctantly headed for her
bunk.

Jeff was pretty worn out too, but the
adrenaline from the life and death fights of the night before still
had him pretty wired. He made his way into the galley and looked
around at what he had to work with. Although in fact he was
actually a pretty good cook, that was in a modern kitchen with a
lot of pre-made starters that reduced the work and skill
requirements considerably. He decided to keep things relatively
simple and make a stew with vegetables and salted pork.

It took him a lot longer to cut up
enough vegetables and meat to fill the large pot than he had
originally anticipated, and he was just getting the pot on the fire
when Jenny entered the galley to take over. “Dare I look?” she said
as she lifted the lid on the pot.

“Well?” Jeff asked.

“It appears to be acceptable. I can
help it along as it begins to cook, but it is not a terrible
start.”

“Try to control your enthusiasm,” Jeff
said dryly.

Jenny smiled, “Make no mistake, I do
appreciate your efforts and allowing me to get some
sleep.”

She peeked out the door to make sure
nobody was coming before walking over to him and planting a quick
kiss on his lips, “Thankfully you’re a better lover than a
cook!”

“Well that goes without saying!” Jeff
said with a smile. “By the way, do you happen to have any secret
hideaways on Utila like the cave in Port Royal?”

“Perhaps,” Jenny replied coyly, “But
be off with you now. You need your sleep and I need to convert your
stew into something edible.” Jeff gave her a quick kiss on the
cheek before departing for his bunk.

Jeff awoke with a start as the noise
of the anchor being lowered groaned throughout the ship. He felt as
if he had just fallen asleep, but in reality it had been nearly
three hours. He groaned as he raised himself off of his cot. He was
pretty stiff and sore, and only now was the reality of his bloody
activities the night before starting to sink in. Killing Craig’s
men had been a necessity, but Jeff was more than a little disturbed
at how easily he had taken his blade to them. He tried to push the
thoughts from his mind as he made his way out on deck.

As he stepped out into the late
afternoon sun, he could see that the ships were anchored just off
shore from what looked like an old fort. “Welcome to Utila, Mr.
Greene!” Captain Coxen shouted down to him from the navigation
deck. Jeff made his way up to the Captain. “I hope that you are
rested, for there is a busy night ahead,” the Captain
said.

“Yes, I’m a bit stiff and sore, but
overall not too bad. What are the plans for tonight?” Jeff
inquired.

“We will be meeting
Captain Jamison on the
Grand Booty
and Captain Craig is to be hanged at sundown.
Then his remaining men will be given the choice to take an oath of
loyalty to join either our crew or Captain Jamison’s or to be
hanged with their Captain. Following the taking of the oaths of
those who wish to join us, we shall go ashore and celebrate the
success of our raids with other members of the
Brethren.”

“I see,” Jeff nodded, “If it is all
right with you, Captain, I’d like to skip the hanging and just join
in the celebration on shore.”

Coxen sighed, “I sense that you are
having some misgivings about the bloodiness of last night, and
truth be told, I do not relish it myself. Despite my differences
with Captain Craig, I will take no pleasure in his death, but he
has committed a serious crime against us and an even more serious
crime against Captain Jamison. Hanging is the required punishment
and I’m afraid your presence will be expected by Captain Jamison
and his crew. To not attend would be considered
disrespectful.”

“All right then,” Jeff agreed, “I will
come along.”

“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr.
Greene. Sundown is approaching and we must make ready.”

A short time later, Jeff
joined Captain Coxen, Jenny, and several other members of the crew
as they loaded into two longboats and made their way over to
the
Grand Booty
.
Captain Jamison and his crew were already aboard and they had
fashioned a simple gallows with a rope hanging down from the lowest
boom on the main mast so that the rope was swinging just above the
side rail. As the crews assembled, Captain Craig and his men were
dragged up from below deck with their hands and feet bound. Jeff
moved to the back of the group so he could look away without being
noticed and Jenny followed him.

“Bring Captain Craig forward!” Jamison
commanded. Two men grabbed Craig under the arms and pulled him to
the rail next to where the noose was gently swaying in the breeze.
Craig put up no resistance as Captain Jamison himself placed the
noose around his neck. “For the crime of treason against the
Brethren of the Coast, you are hereby sentenced to hang by the neck
until dead. Do you have any last words?” Craig stared back in
silence. “Place him on the rail!” The two men lifted Craig up and
held him in place so that his bound feet were perched on the rail.
“Now, with the authority of the Brethren of the Coast, I hereby
order the sentence to be carried out. May God have mercy on your
soul.” With that, the two men shoved Craig forward and he fell over
the side of the ship. In an instant, the rope came tight with a
snapping sound, and everything fell silent except for the breeze
and the soft squeaking noise the rope made on the boom as Craig’s
lifeless body swung back and forth against the hull of the
ship.