Read The Dagger X (The Dagger Chronicles) Online
Authors: Brian Eames
Chapter 23: Arriving in Jamaica
For
all the lucky teachers
who
chuckle,
champion,
and cheer;
who take such pleasure
in the “work” they do,
that depositing a paycheck
sometimes feels larcenous.
And especially for teachers
Jane Pepperdene
and Steve Sigur;
it is hard to believe what with all they gave
that they still likely got more back.
A tale of friends and fiends, uncharted islands and dim-lit caverns, glittering gold and ghastly greed, crocodiles and cunning, sharks and shipmates, pirates and pawns, heroes and hangmen, slavery and salvation, and just plain good and evil.
FAMILY, BY WAY OF FALMOUTH, ENGLAND
Christopher (Kitto) | | son of Frederick and Mercy, formerly clubfooted, age twelve years |
Elias (Duck) | | half brother to Kitto, age six years |
Sarah (Mum) | | Duck’s mother, Kitto’s stepmother |
William Quick | | captain of the |
KITTO’S FRIENDS AND PEERS
Ontoquas | | girl from the Wampanoag tribe, escaped slave and resident of Spice Island |
Van | | member of the |
Akin | | formerly enslaved boy, age eleven years |
Julius | | Van’s pet monkey |
PIRATES
Alexandre Exquemelin (also known as X) | | pirate captain, former associate of Henry Morgan |
Roger Fowler | | Exquemelin’s first mate |
Quid, Little John, Black Dog, Pelota, Xavier, Pickle, Coop, Robbie | | crew members |
Pippin | | Exquemelin’s pet crocodile |
FROM JAMAICA
Mercy | | Kitto’s mother by birth, deceased |
Henry Morgan | | admiral of the Brethren of the Coast, buccaneer, lieutenant governor of Jamaica |
Captain John Morris | | privateer, longtime associate of Morgan |
Spider | | Morris’s first mate |
Dame Bethany | | old friend of William Quick and Kitto’s mother, supporter of runaway slaves, owner of rooming house in Port Royal |
Nanny | | former slave, leader of a maroon colony |
Dumaka | | escaping slave |
Tom Peet | | sailor who befriends Duck on journey to Jamaica |
Vernon Sims | | jailer at Port Royal prison |
IN CUBA
The Honorable Ernesto Delgado | | judge who condemns Exquemelin and his crew |
Padre Alberto | | Cardinal Priest of the Roman Catholic Church, Father of the artist Asalto |