Port of Errors (21 page)

Getting right to the point without further hesitation, Captain Stirvin explained, “I was informed you were supplying information to someone in exchange for profit. Please tell me it is not true. I have had enough with such treachery!”

“I was not exchanging any such information,” confirmed Kenneth wholeheartedly. “And I can assure you that I’ve received no such remittance!”

Captain Stirvin called out to an awaiting guard, “Bring in Mr. Rubio!” The guard stepped into the tavern with Alfonso Rubio, who was now in shackles. “This man also denies receiving any such information,” said Captain Stirvin, “But he did not deny the fact that the two of you did meet. Is this not the man you spoke with in secret? Was there not an exchange of information; some sort of currency for documentation?” following complete silence, Captain Stirvin grabbed Alfonso by the collar and brought him close, jerking him about in front of Kenneth. “Alfonso Rubio is a wanted smuggler and thief. He will do anything for anyone for the right amount. He deals with pirates and other such filth every day.”

Kenneth spoke up quickly. “I am no traitor, Captain!”

“Mr. Davis,” ordered Captain Stirvin, “take this man,” referring to Alfonso, “back to the ship at once and lock him up. See to it that all the men are assembled and ready. No one is to leave the ship for the remainder of our stay!”

“Aye, Sir!” replied Garland, without question as he turned and walked out as instructed.

Captain Stirvin turned back to Kenneth, “If you received no money, you must have the document. Where is it?”

“
It is only a letter from a woman that I am courting. That is all. I swear. That’s it.”

“Let me see this letter for myself,” he demanded.

“
I can’t,” persisted Kenneth. “But I swear to you, I’ve done no wrong.”

“Then if it is what you say, why do you appear so afraid? Do you not understand the consequences, Kenneth? I have no idea what kind of information you have been sharing and I must know!”

Captain Stirvin ordered Kenneth to be searched. He found the letter and read it. It was just a letter of affection from his love, Marisa Delatori. Nonetheless, it was an unauthorized correspondence from Spain. But, it mattered not in the eyes of Captain Stirvin. Captain Stirvin then ordered his guards to place Kenneth under arrest.

“I’ve done nothing wrong. Yet you hold a woman prisoner aboard your vessel when the articles clearly state it is a violation of the law. You, Sir, are nothing but a hypocrite! In kidnapping Isabel, you are just as guilty, but you can’t see that. You won’t see that!”

Kenneth was quickly escorted back to the ship where he was locked up. In an adjacent cell sat Alfonso Rubio, the very man who manipulated the correspondence between Marisa and Kenneth.

Alfonso laughed. “You should have been more careful, mi compañero.” said Alfonso, speaking through the bars between them. “But for all your running around in secret, you are indeed more naïve than I gave you credit for. There are more pirates aboard this ship than those hunted by Stirvin. At least amongst pirates, there is no more than one face per – eh,
varón
– per man. There is no pretend in any one character, no falseness. Even if they are liars or disloyal, the label is worn upon the sleeve and everyone knows it and accepted it. It is only when they are on the side of the government that they grow a second face and wear it where it cannot be seen.”

“What do you mean by
there are more pirates on this ship
? I am not a pirate. I am not a traitor to my country.”

The doors leading to the cells suddenly opened with authoritative force, cutting Alfonso off in his explanation. Captain Stirvin emerged from the small dark and claustrophobic path into the confinement area.

“We will finish our little discussion later,” stated Alfonso to Kenneth at a whisper’s pitch as Captain Stirvin approached.

Kenneth quickly stood at attention, still loyal to his unwavering and uncomprehending captain. Walking up to Kenneth’s cell in complete frustration and holding onto one of the many surrounding bars, Captain Stirvin looked shamefully upon him.

“Why did you have to go and do this?” asked Captain Stirvin. “Why could you not wait? You could have called on me for direction. You should know have known better!”

“What would you have said to me?” replied Kenneth. “Already, one war has kept us separated and yet another looms to keep us apart forever. I do not have the luxury of loving someone who lives within boundaries set by Kings and Queens. Love has no boundaries, Captain!”

Alfonso just listened on, entertained by the conversation, smiling with indulgent satisfaction.

“I am sick and tired of my highest-ranking officers disobeying my orders and setting examples to the rest of the men of such illegality – illegality of what appears to be of even
treasonous proport
ions
! What has happened to loyalty, Kenneth? I cannot lead a crew with officers upon which I cannot rely. You have gone behind my back and broken a major law!”

“How can you stand there and accuse me when you, yourself, have broken a major law? You have placed a woman aboard a ship belonging to the Royal Navy? The law I have broken, fails in comparison. Does it not?”

“The needs of the Royal Navy, Kenneth, far outweigh the laws of our lands. What I have broken can mend a nation. My actions were necessary and urgent to the security of Queen or Country. What I have done will eventually lead to the safety of our lands! To what great end have your actions been to the security of our nation? Other than treasonous, what have your actions done for our Queen?
All for a woman
?”

“I love her and that is all, Captain. Do I not have the right, same as any, to love? Is there some great law against pursuing a happy ending? I am not consorting with the enemy!”

“You have knowingly committed a crime against the crown in a time of war! Can love not wait the length?”

“Captain, I was only following my heart. Where is the wrong in that?”

“I cannot let such a thing as this go unpunished or I lose the respect of my entire crew; I lose the respect of my countrymen. If I am to one day assume the role of Admiral, I cannot have such a reputation. I am sorry, Kenneth, but my hands are tied. And I will not be disobeyed so blatantly!”

“We have never spoken of it, but I have heard that you are very happily married. Is this true?” Captain Stirvin nodded in agreement, inciting Kenneth to follow up with an additional question. “Do you not love her this very moment?”

“Of course I love my wife!” he replied sharply. “But that is not the point here.”

“If you knew you would never see her again, would you not cross all obstacles and boundaries in your path to see her one last time, whether right or wrong?”

“Yes I would, Kenneth. But I would also be willing to pay the consequences. I am angered that you felt the need to do such a thing, but I also have admiration for your courage to risk everything for this woman. However, I will not have that admiration blur my judgment and you will be tried for those actions and face the consequences.”

“You are a lucky man to have a woman that you can love unreservedly and without complication. I’ve loved Marisa for a long time, yet I’ve never been able to hold her in my arms or look into her eyes with that kind of sentiment. We were only children when we met and became close friends. It was only after we grew to know each other over years of writing back and forth that we fell in love. The words she writes to me are amazing. But I would much rather hear them from her own lips.”

Captain Stirvin, not knowing how to reply, departed the brig, leaving Kenneth with Alfonso once again. Alfonso smiled his disgusting smile and stated, “Love. What is love but an addiction that makes an individual do what he would otherwise never do? It blurs the boundaries of a man’s devotion to anything else. It is an irrational craving that produces no gain. The only sensible addiction is ganas de la joya, no? –
desire for treasure
.”

“Mr. Rubio, Marisa is my treasure,” replied Kenneth. He then insisted, “But I will not speak to you of love. What were you saying about pirates aboard this ship? Are there traitors, other than Mr. Hall and William Guile that Captain Stirvin should know about?”

“No, Mr. Lunt. It is your captain who hides a second face. How else do you think he managed to find the type of men, outside his precious navy, who would be callus and willing enough to take Isabel from her home and bring her aboard this ship?” Alfonso then laughed at the suggested hypocrisy and irony of the situation. “Stirvin has you locked up for dealing with a man like me when it was he who used my services to break the law – for, as he says, Queen and Country.”

Chapter XIV

The sun hadn’t yet risen, as the Weeping Lady sailed toward the London Harbor. Scurvy’s Letter of Marquee had brought him this far and he thought himself lucky to have so easily managed his way to England under the current conditions of law. But Captain Stirvin had seen fit to assure his safety as a legal privateer until Black-Hearted’s capture.

“Down the anchor!” shouted Scurvy. Although the Weeping Lady was built to carry upwards of seventy men, she only carried thirty-five this day. Scurvy wasn’t willing to chance much attention. When the Weeping Lady finally docked, Scurvy hand-picked Bones, Edward, Gunner, Eric and Stephen; they were to accompany him in to London to help carry out his mission. “The rest of you maggots,” he addressed as usual, “stand ready for a very quick departure.”

“Who goes there?” shouted the harbor guard, “I say who goes there?”

The reply came as he walked out into the dim light. “Scurvy Shaw, Lieutenant.”

“I’m not a Lieutenant Mr. Shaw. What sort of business have you on my dock at this hour?” he said, continuing on with a snide snicker and sneer, “Have you Black-Hearted in your custody already?”

“For your information, we’ve news that Black-Hearted is planning to take Lady Stirvin hostage –
tonight
. You must inform your commanding officer at once.”

“And how did you come across this information, Mr. Shaw and not the captain himself?”

“I happen to run in the sort of circles that would have a man such as yourself in cuffs and chains for the rest of your life. I hear many a thing that would otherwise not reach the captains ears but by my lips alone. I am no fool, mate. But the man I be lookin’ at would be the greater fool not to inform his commanding officer at once, but rather continue squabbling about.”

“Right, I’ll inform the chief officer, but if you are wrong about this, I’ll have your head, Sir.”

“Understood, Mate. Now get on with it, will you? Go and fetch the good chief.”

The harbor guard returned to Scurvy’s ship with the commanding officer, who was in the company of about a dozen officers. Taking the matter seriously, the commanding officer probed Scurvy for more information. After relating all that he wished to divulge, Scurvy asked if he could supply them with a dozen more men. Scurvy’s men included those previously mentioned plus six more, who, in Scurvy’s mind, were
expendable
.

“Keep a ready eye,” said Scurvy, keeping them nervous and anxiously stressed. “If this is to happen at all, it is to happen in the dark.” Since the sun hadn’t yet risen, everyone was over conscious and eager.

When they reached the Stirvin’s estate, Scurvy suggested, “Me and my men will keep watch outside of these walls, commander, while you and yours tend to the Lady. I’d hate to spook her with the look of my indignant men.”

“I will make the decisions and give the orders Captain Shaw. You’ll mind your own tasks on my orders. This is not your ship and rabble.”

“Right, sorry about that,
Sir
. Just a bit of habit being captain and all.”

Looking to the men in his company, the commanding officer repeated Scurvy’s suggestion, taking his own men to the door. As Scurvy watched from without the walls, the door opened to Lady Stirvin herself, who then allowed them entrance. Leaving two men at the entry way outside, the commanding officer respectfully stepped in with the rest of his men.

Pointing them out one by one, Scurvy gave an order to his more expendable crewmembers. “Listen here,” he began. “I need you to walk over to that entry and kindly offer your assistance. When you come close enough, I want you to kill them. Don’t allow them to call for help; their voices must be silenced if you’re to keep your presence undetected by those within the residence. The moment you take out the guards, you’ll have to burst in and startle them into confusion; start shootin’ and killin’ the lot of them. Just don’t hurt the lady. You do this and you’ll have your reward.”

Scurvy’s expendables soon approached the entrance very cautiously, walking up to the two guards, whose mindset was substantially relaxed since Scurvy’s men were, as they saw it, ally’s with them; the guards were more annoyed than defensive. Without warning, Scurvy’s expendables simply slit their throats, keeping the attack silent to that point. The door was partially open, allowing them quick and quiet access. The shooting began almost immediately. When the shots ceased, Scurvy and the rest of his men approached the front door. With the sound of tinkling blades tangled in battle echoing through, several servants burst through the front door to the outside, where Scurvy and his men quickly silenced their escape. He wanted no witnesses to his underhanded plan.

When Scurvy and his trusted men stepped up to the entry way, the door was wide open. Positioning himself so as not to be seen by those inside, he took a quick peek and could see one of his expendables holding Lady Stirvin, who was screaming in a panic. Scurvy and his trusted men stood just outside the room, while four expendables took on the two remaining officers. When the last officer had fallen and only three expendables remained, Scurvy and his trusted men strategically entered the room, charging in as though coming to the rescue. With their guns blazing, they killed all but one of the expendables. Shocked that Scurvy had so blatantly set him up, the last remaining expendable pulled Lady Stirvin tight and close, shielding his body from certain death. But Scurvy needed to keep the scene as real as possible, proving to Lady Stirvin that they were there on a mission to save her, leading her to go with them without a fight.