Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) (7 page)

Task completed, he made his way to the
far end of the deck where the crew was bringing the longboats
alongside and lowering the cargo net over the side of the hull. Not
knowing exactly what he should do, if anything, Jeff stood out of
the way. Crabtree was bent over the rail securing the longboats and
looked up at him. “Make yourself useful and inform the Captain that
we be ready to shove off.”

Jeff nodded and approached the
Captain’s door. Before he could knock, Coxen opened the door and
stepped out. “I trust we are ready, Mr. Greene.”

“Yes, Captain.” “Very good.” The two
men walked back across the deck. “Mr. Greene, Mr. Robinson, and Mr.
Graves, you are with me. Mr. Crabtree, Mr. Stevens, and the other
Mr. Stevens you shall follow in the second boat.

“Aye, Captain,” the men replied in
unison.

The Captain climbed down the cargo net
into the bow of the first longboat. Graves and Robinson motioned
for Jeff to go next. As he made it into the boat, the Captain
instructed, “You shall ride in the bow, Graves and Robinson shall
row, and I shall steer.” Jeff took his place in the bow of the boat
as Graves and Robinson climbed in and took their positions at the
oars. The men quickly took their positions in the second boat and
both boats pushed off from the ship.

The seas were calm and the trip over
to Port Royal went quickly. There were several boats of varying
sizes tied up to the docks in the harbor, but the Captain passed
them by. “We shall bring the boats up on the beach, Mr. Crabtree,”
the Captain shouted to the second boat. “It should make for a
shorter distance to carry the supplies.”

“Aye, Captain,” Crabtree
acknowledged.

As they approached the shore, Jeff and
the others jumped out in the shallow water to pull the boats up
onto the sand. “Welcome to Port Royal, Mr. Greene!” the Captain
said with a smile. The Captain led the group toward the small row
of buildings that made up the town of Port Royal. As they
approached the first building, the Captain announced, “We shall
replenish our supplies here at the mercantile. It will take us a
few trips to load the boats and at least three trips with the boats
to restock the ship.” The group entered the building through a
rickety door that barely clung to its hinges.

“Captain Coxen! Good to see you!” said
a tall, thin man who stood behind the front counter.

“My good Mr. Franklin, how have you
been?” the Captain inquired.

“Good, thank you, though could use
some more business as I hope ye be here to bring me.”

“Aye,” Nodded the Captain, pulling a
piece of paper from his coat. Coxen handed the paper to Franklin
and said, “I trust you can supply all of this?”

“Aye,” nodded the shopkeeper, “Except
for the salted pork. I don’t have as much as ye require. I can make
it up in dried goat meat if that be acceptable.”

“Aye, that will have to do,” the
Captain nodded in agreement.

“New crewman?” Franklin asked, nodding
at Jeff.

“A guest on my ship who came to us in
the storm. It remains to be seen whether he shall join the crew.
Mr. Greene, meet Mr. Franklin.”

“My pleasure, Mr. Franklin,” Jeff
said, bowing. Franklin bowed in return.

“Well, Mr. Greene, if ye choose to
stay in Port Royal and ye need employment, I could use a
stockman.”

“What happened to your other stockman?
Thomas wasn’t it?” the Captain inquired.

“He got into a row at the tavern last
week and the other fellow cut his throat. A pity. Though he was not
so brilliant, Thomas was a strong lad and very
trustworthy.”

“A pity indeed,” the Captain agreed.
“Well, Mr. Greene, if you decide to stay in Port Royal, you could
do worse than to work for Mr. Franklin.”

“Yes, I shall keep your offer in mind,
Mr. Franklin. Thank you.”

“Ye might not thank me if you take the
job,” Franklin replied. “It is backbreaking work, but I make up for
it with low wages,” he said with a laugh. “Speaking of backbreaking
work, we should get started with your order, Captain.”

“Aye,” the Captain agreed.

Franklin set about leading the men
through the stacks of merchandise and directing what to pull out.
“Mr. Greene will be needing some clothing as well,” the Captain
said.

Franklin motioned Jeff to a large
chest. “There should be something fer ye in there, Mr. Greene. Pull
out what ye like.” Jeff rummaged through the chest and found a
couple of sets of simple clothes to fit him as the others finished
assembling the supplies. Judging from the large wooden crates and
burlap sacks they had gathered, Jeff knew there was going to be
some hard work ahead to get the items back to the boats.

“Ye be welcome to use my wagon,
Captain, but my mule ran off and ye would have to move the wagon
yourselves, so it might be easier to just carry your
supplies.”

“
Aye, everyone carry what
you can and make for the boats,” the Captain ordered. Jeff tucked
his new clothes inside his shirt, squatted down, and hoisted three
sacks of dried beans onto his shoulder before struggling to his
feet.

“Not bad, Mr. Greene,” Graves said,
holding 2 sacks on his own shoulder. I took ye for a bit o’ a
priss, like Robinson here, since neither o’ ye has a proper
beard!”

“Fuck you, Graves!” Robinson
shouted.

“Best be careful what ye say ‘bout
Robinson, Mr. Graves,” Crabtree warned, “He does prepare your
meals!”

“Just jokin’, Robinson. I meant no
offense!” Graves quickly spoke up.

“Shut your mouth and let’s
get these loads to the boats,” Robinson growled back. Crabtree led
the group down to the boats and they carefully stacked the supplies
so that the loads were as balanced as possible before heading back
to the mercantile for more. After a few trips back and forth, the
boats were full and the crew struggled to push them back onto the
water for the trip back to the
Wandering
Wench
. The trip back seemed to take much
longer and the oarsmen on both boats had a much more difficult time
rowing the heavy loads. When they finally reached the ship, the
entire crew pitched in to offload the cargo before the boats headed
to shore once more.

In all, it took four such trips to
re-supply the ship. In addition to loading and unloading, Jeff took
a turn at one of the oars for two of the trips and by the time the
job was complete, he was exhausted, soaked with sweat, and the
burning in his muscles was matched only by the burning in the parts
of his skin that had been left exposed to the tropical sun. The
rest of the landing party was in about the same shape, except for
the Captain who had not participated in any of the lifting or
rowing, and whose clothing provided substantial protection from
sunburn. “A good day’s work, men!” the Captain exclaimed. “If you
can summon the strength for one more trip to shore, I’ll cover your
expenses at the tavern for the evening.”

“Huzzah!” shouted Crabtree, who was
also slightly more energetic than the others for not having done
any of the rowing. Jeff and the others were more subdued, but
nonetheless all were up for one more trip to shore. Though
exhausted, Jeff was looking forward to visiting the tavern, if for
no other reason than perhaps he could learn more about the storm
that had brought him to this time and maybe figure out how to get
back. Jeff volunteered to take one of the oars and Robinson and
Graves argued over who would take the other before the Captain
stepped in and assigned the duty to Graves.

The boats reached the shore and the
crew tumbled out to follow the Captain to the tavern. As they
approached, the smell of smoke and food wafted through the air and
the sounds of raucous partying reached Jeff’s ears. The group
walked through the swinging doors of the tavern and the smell of
body odor and liquor mixed with the smoke and food to make a
strong, but surprisingly not unpleasant scent. Coming in from the
bright sunlight, it took Jeff’s eyes a few moments to adjust to the
dim light in the tavern. Though the furnishings were more rustic
and the clothing was of course of a different style, Jeff was
surprised at how similar the environment seemed to the dive bars of
his own time.

The Captain walked over to a large
rectangular table that was already occupied by four rough-looking
men, who glared at him as he approached. The Captain placed his
hands on the table and leaned over. A short discussion with the men
followed, with the 4 men breaking into hearty laughter, but then
falling silent before nodding their heads. It was too far away in
the noise of the tavern for Jeff to hear what was said, but in
short order, the men stood up and took their drinks over to another
table.

The Captain beckoned Jeff and the rest
of the group to take their seats. Jeff sat down next to the Captain
and Robinson sat beside him, as the others filled in the rest of
the seats with Crabtree and Graves across from Jeff and the two
Stevens across from each other at the other end of the
table.

“What was that all about?” Jeff
asked.

The captain smiled, “I told them that
if they didn’t move from my table I’d have you beat the four of
them senseless.”

“I guess your crew has quite the
reputation,” Jeff nodded.

“Oh, not the crew, I told them
specifically that my new crewman – you - would personally beat them
senseless if they did not move. That’s when they
laughed.”

“You told them what?!”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Greene, I added that
you were quite the fighter and they had the option of you beating
them senseless, or I could buy them a bottle of rum apiece. That’s
when they moved!” Jeff sighed with relief as the others at the
table laughed.

The Captain looked around. “Where’s
the serving wench when you need her?” Spying a stout, dark-skinned
woman delivering drinks to another table, the Captain motioned for
her to come over. “A pint of rum for each of my crew and what have
you to eat?”

“We have beans and rice with salt pork
and fish in banana leaf,” the wench replied.

“Good, bring a portion of each fit for
all of us.” The woman nodded and quickly left the table, getting
repeatedly groped as she made her way across the room. At the other
tables, groups of men were engaged in a variety of activities
ranging from storytelling, to games of chance involving dice or
cards, to carousing with the handful of women in the room. The
serving wench quickly delivered the rum and once again made her way
across the tavern while being repeatedly groped. “Drink up, men.
You’ve earned it!” the Captain shouted.

A well-endowed woman wearing a yellow
cleavage-baring dress approached the Captain and wrapped her arms
around him from behind. “Well, if it isn’t Captain Coxen! I had
hoped to see you again before you sailed.” she exclaimed
happily.

“Mary! The love of my life – or at
least my love of the moment!”

“Shall we, Captain?” she
asked.

“Aye! Excuse me men, Miss Mary and I
have some important business to attend to. But carry on and enjoy
yourselves as you please. I shall instruct the proprietor of this
fine establishment that your charges are mine.” The Captain arose
from the table and walked through the tavern with his arm around
Mary, exiting through a door in the back.

“Just so I’m clear,” Jeff began, “Mary
is a…”

“She be a whore,” Crabtree
interjected. “A very talented whore, which is why she be the
Captain’s favorite of all the whores in Port Royal,” he added, just
as the serving wench managed to push her way to the table with a
large platter holding their food and eating utensils. Jeff and the
others eagerly dug into the food. Although simple, the food proved
to be quite tasty and the hungry crew quickly devoured
it.

Crabtree stood up from the table and
said, “Well men, now that me belly’s full, methinks it’s time I
found me own whore.”

“Aye, me too!” said the two Stevens in
unison as they arose and followed Crabtree to the back
exit.

“What about you, gentlemen?” Jeff
asked, mainly of Graves but including Robinson so as to maintain
her cover.

“I’ll head back there in a little
while,” Graves replied, “I need to wait until me belly’s not so
full.”

“Same for me,” Robinson
replied.

At that moment, an attractive
red-haired woman in green dress appeared from the back door and
made her way over to the table. “Which of ye be Mr. Greene?” she
inquired.

“That’s me,” Jeff replied.

“Captain Coxen sent me with his
compliments. If you’ll come with me…”

“Uh, that was very kind of the
Captain, but no thank you.” Jeff said.

“No? Am I not pleasing to you? Perhaps
you would prefer one with different hair?” “No, no, you’re very
beautiful. It’s just that I, uh, I would be taking too much
advantage of the Captain’s generosity!”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, quite sure, but thank you
anyway.”

“Very well,” she said as she turned
and exited at the back of the tavern.