Port of Errors (24 page)

“What happened, Mr. Black?” asked Captain Stirvin, pulling him on to his feet. “What happened to my wife? Has Scurvy taken her?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, holding his aching head. “I can’t remember. I just blacked-out.” Placing his hands on his head, he took in a deep breath and continued, “I think someone hit me over the head. I feel kind of dizzy. I don’t know what happened.”

“Scurvy took her,” assumed Captain Stirvin. “Scurvy took my wife! He knocked you unconscious and killed the others. Come! We must find him.”

“But, how?” questioned Mr. Black, still lightheaded from the assault. “He must be miles away by now. We’ll never find him without help and even then it might take several months.”

“I know where he’s going. Black-Hearted will be there too.”

Captain Stirvin directed Garland to assist Mr. Black in following him to the Crimson Reef. When Captain Stirvin arrived at the harbor, a stranger approached him with a great sense of urgency. Although Captain Stirvin was in a dreadful hurry to reach the Crimson Reef, the stranger explained that he had dire news. “There has been an attempt to abduct Lady Stirvin. I can assure you that she is safe. You must come with me; I can take you to her.”

“But, it’s Lady Stirvin, Captain.” Blowing him off, allowing the latecomer to stress, Captain Stirvin just left him in his confusion and worry.

Meeting with Admiral Flynn and a few other captains to discuss Black-Hearted’s cunning invitation to battle, Captain Stirvin explained the situation, pertaining to both his wife and Isabel. After no more than an hour of preparations, Captain Stirvin was finally boarded his vessel. He was in such a great hurry; he did not resupply the vessel as needed.

With commanding orders, Captain Stirvin shouted, “Weigh anchor and Ready the guns! We set sail for Raven Bridges and to war!”

As Captain Stirvin’s crew hoisted the main sails and pulled up anchor, even the winds seemed to catch the pulse of war, filling their sails and hurrying them urgently along. Several other ships followed close behind; the Sentry, the London, and William’s Revenge, and all were willing to sacrifice their lives to stop the terrible reign of Black-Hearted on the high seas. Admiral Flynn saw this as an opportunity for Captain Stirvin to show his abilities, proving to Queen Anne that he would make the best replacement as Admiral upon his retirement. But this time, the battle was not for Queen and Country, but for Katherine and revenge. Captain Stirvin was ready to fight!

Chapter XV

Father Morgan had a great deal to worry about. There was too much at stake to come out of hiding, though he knew there were more lives on the line.

“If I confront Stirvin about who I really am,” confessed Father Morgan, “I’ll be found out and Averton will be sure to come for me. He’ll kill me and my son. He’ll burn down the Brier Wood. And then he’ll think about getting his revenge. I’m too old and I cannot defend against such reckless and unstoppable hatred.”

“You should not fear Death. You need only fear God. Have you learned nothing, Morgan?”

“Aden, I was an evil man. I will be judged of God and that is a fact. The longer I live, the more chance I have for redemption. Aden, you have no idea what I have done; no, not to the fullest extent.”

“You forget that I do, Henry. Remember, I was there.”

Father Morgan’s countenance changed, as he glanced up to Mayor Longfellow. “I’ve done much worse than what you have seen. Worse than you can imagine.” He lowered his head. “Worse than I can bear to say.”

“I know you Henry. Your heart has changed for the better. Always remember that it is better to be a once wicked man pressing forward than a lifelong man of God walking in the wrong direction. It’s where your heart is that matters.”

“God could not forget what I have done,” snapped Father Morgan, in retort. “What I know he has witnessed, he could never forgive.”

“It is worse to deny God his forgiving power than never to ask. He has said he will forgive the penitent. Do you not believe his words?”

Just then, Sterling Wade, Father Morgan’s adoptive son, walked in, “What’s going on?”

“Morgan will not go.”

“Father,” replied Sterling, “from what you have taught me, not to go would be a selfish act. You will feel this guilt for the rest of your life; guilt for what lives could have been saved by simply going. You don’t want to have such a great regret.”

“I’ve killed enough! I’ve looted and murdered and committed sin beyond that which I can say! And now I must go and possibly shed even more blood?”

“You’re not going to plunder and murder,” continued Sterling. “You are going to defend lives, even at the cost of your own. Haven’t you wished for such an opportunity in the past two decades?”

“And death it’ll be, for if I am killed, I’ve certainly lost me soul.”

“It’s a sacrifice worth taking. To die for such a cause, believing that you may save another at the cost of your own life! A just God has to take that into consideration.”

“With the exception of Sterling,” added Mayor Longfellow. “We have all felt the same guilt these many years. But hiding will not make it disappear. Even in hiding we can’t escape the fact that we’ve done what we’ve done. Sooner or later we will have to pay the price! I for one would much rather pay for it in this life, than the next. How are you willing to pay – in service or denial?”

Father Morgan just sat in silence as he pondered his options.

“After you committed these many crimes,” continued Mayor Longfellow, in a soft-spoken voice. “King Charles fully pardoned you, did he not? You were made Governor of Jamaica and still you continued to sin. God almost took you once by way of illness. You swore to Father Whittaker that you would follow God for the rest of your days, if he would only grant you a longer life to pay for your crimes. Well as you can clearly see, he has. Nineteen years so far! Not many men have lived to such an age. After your life was threatened, your men risked theirs to bring you to the Brier Wood. God’s been watching over you and you still can’t recognize it.”

“The Great Henry Morgan,” stated Mayor Longfellow, “now a cowering old fool! If you cannot see God’s hand in your life, you are a fool.”

“And no Father of mine,” stated Sterling angrily and without thinking.

“You’ll watch your tongue,” shouted Mayor Longfellow, in defense of his good friend. “We would’ve all been damned if it wasn’t for this man.”

Bringing the argument to an end, Father Morgan stood up and in the excitement, he broke wind. “Give me rest and leave me to my thoughts. In the mornin’ you’ll know my final decision. Now, leave me be!”

As they departed, Mayor Longfellow replied, “We are all willing to go and die if necessary! We, too, need this sacrifice, Henry.”

After lying on his bed, deep in thought, for about twenty minutes, Father Morgan stood up and walked to the fireplace in the next room. Strangely, a young boy, maybe nine years old, stood in the center of the room, staring at him.

“What are you doing?” asked the child.

Shaken from the unexpected voice, he turned. “Whose child be you and what are you doing here at this hour? You should be at home asleep, child.”

“You cannot help me. Why’ve you come in me home?” Father Morgan looked and saw that the door was locked. “How did you find your way in, lad? How long have you been here?”

“Shouldn’t you be more concerned about you right now?” inquired the young lad. “We all die. Do you really want to leave this world knowing you could’ve done something right for a change, but didn’t? Believe me; dying with regret is the worst fate of all. You don’t want to live with regret and guilt forever! Do you know what
forever
is like? I’ve seen grown men cry and they
never
stop.
Not ever
!”

“How do you know what I’m feeling? Longfellow put you up to this?” Father Morgan stood up and waddled over to the window to take a peek. As he looked back to question the young lad, the boy was nowhere to be found. “Lad?” he called. “Me lad?” Father Morgan checked all the rooms but found no one. The door was still locked from the inside. Father Morgan tried to dismiss the thought. “I must be going mad.” However the words of the young boy stuck. Father Morgan pondered on his words as he lay again in bed. He dozed off so fast and slept so well that when he awoke in the morning he was refreshed and ready for whatever the day was to bring.

He sat at the edge of his bed in the same clothes he’d worn the previous day, shoes and all. There, sitting at the foot of his bed was a cross, wrapped in papyrus. A chill crawled up his back when he realized he hadn’t placed it there and no one else was around to do so. In that moment he knew what he had to do. Father Morgan grabbed the cross, threw on his hat and walked to the front door.

Just outside Father Morgan’s door stood Sterling and Mayor Longfellow. Behind them were over twenty men, the youngest being about fifty-three years of age, aside from Sterling Wade, who was barely sixteen.

“Shall we go?” asked Sterling.

After a brief silence, Father Morgan smiled in the affirmative. “Aye, we shall! Now fetch the supplies and food for our departure,” he ordered, “We’re to leave at once!”

Sterling turned to the crew, “You heard the man! Fetch the food and supplies! Meet back here in two hours!”

When they were finally ready for departure they set out for the only ship the village claimed, which was docked at the St. Petersborough harbor and actually owned by Father Morgan. He named the vessel, the Brier Sea, after the village. As they walked toward St. Petersborough, the little boy that Father Morgan had spoken with the night before stood there waving him on with a glowing smile. Father Morgan walked over and asked, “I never did get your name, me lad. What’s your name?”

Pulling on his garment, the boy wished to speak in his ear. Father Morgan knelt, as the young lad whispered his curious answer. “Thank you,” said Father Morgan in a sincere heartfelt gratitude. And the men of the Brier Sea happily continued on their way.

“Whose child is that?” asked Mayor Longfellow

“I’m really not sure, but we had a meaningful discussion last night and you can thank the child for my decision to go.” Father Morgan turned to wave good-bye and found that the boy had gone just as quickly as the night before.

Once they reached the Brier Sea, they loaded the food and supply. The crew consisted of a tight bunch of senile, almost deaf and arthritic men. But they were fearless and skilled.

“We need a good young Captain,” said Father Morgan, looking to the geriatric crew. “I’m too old now. I break wind more than I break necks these days.” Looking to Sterling, Father Morgan whispered, “You’ll do just fine, Captain.”

Shocked at the honor, Sterling declined, “I’ve never captained a ship before. I’ve never even sailed.”

The crew was too old to hear what Father Morgan was talking to Sterling about. “You’ll do fine. All you need to do is yell out the orders. But remember to yell loud. We can’t hear a thing. We’ll take care of the rest. Trust me.” Turning to the crew, Father Morgan addressed them, “This will be your new commander, Captain Sterling Wade!”

Slowly the cheers sounded until the entire crew knew what was going on. Father Morgan told Sterling what needed to be said, before setting sail. And then Sterling bellowed out his first commands as captain. “Weigh anchor! And hoist the mainsail. We’re going to…” he paused for a moment, asking Father Morgan, “Where are we going?”

Scratching his head and looking down, he thought for only a moment. “Raven Bridges, but says you – ‘
set sail for Raven Bridges’
.”

“Set sail for Raven Bridges!” shouted Sterling, ever so innocently.

Sterling, Father Morgan and Mayor Longfellow went to the Captain’s quarters to discuss the articles of the Brier Sea. They drew them up and had everyone sign. A few of the older senile men put up a small fight assuming they were being pressed into service. Once everything was resolved, the articles were proudly hung over the cabin door, just below the quarterdeck for all to read.

Chapter XVI

Scurvy soon arrived at Raven Bridges, where Black-Hearted patiently awaited. Scurvy wasted no time, ordering Gunner, “Bring the wench to the main.”

The Rogue, being a frigate, was much bigger and therefore rose higher in the sea than the Weeping Lady. Ordering a ladder to Scurvy’s schooner below, Black-Hearted called for Katherine to be brought to his ship. Boarding the Rogue, Gunner, Stephen and Eric led the way, followed up the latter by Katherine. Gunner and Eric assisted Katherine through the gunnel gate and onto the deck floor, restraining her from moving freely.

“I expect we’ll soon have company,” stated Scurvy, as he finally stepped on deck. “I’m sure they’re not far behind.

“Good,” replied Black-Hearted. “Run into any problems?”

Interrupting their dialogue, Lady Stirvin emotionally yelled, “You will have the most egregious problem of your life if you do anything to me!”

“We ran into a few bumps in the road,” replied Scurvy, ignoring Lady Stirvin’s outburst. “Nothing we couldn’t manage. Though, we did bring the Lady in one piece, did we not?”

“Do you know what my husband is going to do when he gets his hands on you?” Wheezing from exhaust, she stated, “You’re going to be hanged and shot and beheaded and, and you will be sorry. I swear it!”

Laughing aloud at Lady Stirvin’s empty threats, Black-Hearted replied, “Wow, all that just for me, huh?”

“You will let me go, Sir. Let me go!” Breaking-down, Katherine could take no more, as she began to sob and struggle in vain to free herself from Gunner and Eric.