Episode 13 - Dark Water Victory
By now, Green Eye's Brig had managed to limp further east along the coast - back towards the port of Tortuga. The Captain stood on the Bridge and watched through his spyglass as his cousins' ship was swamped with invading marines.
"Poor ol' Greenbeard - guess we bit off more 'n we could Tew on this 'ere occasion" he whispered to himself.
In the water, the cry's of Excaliber's remaining crew sent shivers through to the soul of the Lieutenant. One by one his poor men where being plucked beneath the surface by hungry sharks which had began a feeding frenzy. Excaliber himself had managed to stay atop a large piece of debris, and he tried desperately to keep from toppling into the bloodied water.
In the mean time, the boarding action on Greenbeard's Brig was well underway and Admiral Tew had put many of the pirates to the sword as his men secured the vessel.
Tew had an officer pinned up against the ships railing, "Where be yer Cap'n?" he growled, as he held his blade to the throat of Greenbeard's quivering first mate.
"He... he's below deck - in tha hold.... with the prisoners....." replied the terrified officer.
Tew looked puzzled, "Prisoners? What prisoners?" he asked.
In the hold of the ship, Greenbeard stood with two pistols pointed at the heads of Iguana Jack and Captain Mako who were still tied together and gagged, "Yew two lucky bastids 'r gonna be me ticket out 'o 'ere" he whispered.
With sweat pouring down his face, he listened as the commotion back on deck died down leaving an eerie silence. He'd lost a lot of blood from his wounds and he found it difficult to stand, so crouching behind his two prisoners, he wrapped a makeshift bandage around his injuries and waited.
Back amongst the debris, only Excaliber and one surviving crewman remained in the shark-infested waters. The two men clung on for dear life as several large fins began to circle them.
"Tis a right fine mess we's gotten us-selves inta 'ere, matey!" shouted the Lieutenant to his panic stricken companion.
"Aye, Sir - that we as, that we as..." replied the crewman, as he tried to stay calm.
"So lad, got any idea's?" asked the Lieutenant, also trying to conceal his fear.
The sailor said nothing. He was too busy watching another large fin approach.
In the Brigs' hold, Greenbeard watched as the flame of a lantern began to flicker.
Just then, a creak of oakwood broke the silence as very slowly, one by one, footsteps could be heard in the far corner.
Greenbeard quietly moved towards the two prisoners.
Iggy and Mako struggled with the ropes for a moment, but stopped as their captor placed his pistols against the back of their heads.
In a quiet whisper, Greenbeard gave a menacing warning to his two prisoners, "Not a murmur from yew two - else ye be tasting lead."
The footsteps stopped and Greenbeard peered into the dark corner where the wooden steps lead up to the deck. The lantern light grew fainter…
After a few anxious seconds, the Captain broke his silence. "Who it be?" he called.
There was no reply.
Another few uneasy moments passed, and again Greenbeard called out, "Who's thar?"
A few seconds later the footsteps resumed and slowly grew louder as the person moved towards him and his prisoners.
Raising a pistol to the air, Greenbeard pulled back the hammer and pointed it into the darkness.
Just then, a familiar image appeared from the shadow and called out, "Don't shoot! - it's me!", but in his panic, Greenbeard fired - hitting the man point blank in the chest as the lantern light finally flickered out leaving nothing but pitch blackness and the lingering smell of gunpowder in the stale air.
Meanwhile, in the water, Excaliber and his crewman had spotted an empty rowboat aimlessly drifting amongst the debris.
"How far do ye reckon it 'be?" asked the Lieutenant as he motioned towards the boat.
"About a hundred yards, Sir" replied the sailor.
Excaliber looked across to the boat again and then over to the grappled Insurrection and pirate Brig, four hundred yards away.
"Well, lad. We has one of three choices," he said, "Either we stays 'ere till tha sharks finish us off, or we can try'n get that thar rowboat 'n make good our escape"
"What's tha third choice, Sir?" asked the puzzled sailor.
"Well matey, we could signal tha Insurrection 'n hope those blaggards 'ill fish us out 'o the brine… But we'd probably end up walkin' their plank anyhow" replied the Lieutenant.
"So in other words, we has one choice..." called the sailor as he continued watching the circling sharks.
"Aye lad, we has… So get yer good fer nottin', flea infested, pox ridden, disease carryin', scurvy carcass over thar 'n bring that thar rowboat 'ere! - THAT'S AN ORDER!" barked Excaliber - much to the sailors horror.
In the hold of the Brig, Greenbeard had finally succumbed to his injuries and passed out due to blood loss.
Down the wooden steps came several more men, all carrying lanterns that re-illuminated the room, and at the far end of the hold, the body of Greenbeard's first mate lay on the floor with a gaping pistol shot wound in his chest. Greenbeard's unconscious body lay beside the corpse.
"Glad I sent that swab down first!" said Tew as he stood over the first mates' corpse. He gave his two mates a wry smile and removed their gags.
Twenty minutes later...
Admiral Tew stood back on the deck of Greenbeard's captured Brig. His marines had made short work of the enemy crew and were rounding up the prisoners.
Iggy and Mako appeared. "Admiral, these bastids attacked Tortuga yesterday. Tha Gov'nor has put a handsome bounty on thar scurvy heads!" explained Mako.
Tew looked on with glee, "Arrr, looks like we've killed two birds wit one stone!" he gleefully remarked.
"Aye mate, not only have we captured Iggy's sworn enemy, but we can collect a fine reward fer tha Git too - if'n 'e lives..." replied Mako, with a smile.
Iggy stepped forward, "Now wait just a damn minute!" he said, "I aint been chasing this Git ta perdition's edge just ta hand him over ta someone else! I want's tha swab ta pay fer what 'e did to me brother..." he called.
"Iggy, mate - It don't make ney difference whose rope tha swab swings from - tha end result is tha same..." replied Tew.
"Aye, Tews right," said Mako, "Greenbeard is gonna be swinging from a yardarm soon - so why not hand him over ta Gov'nor Jon ta do tha honours 'n claim us that thar reward 'e offered?" he added.
Just then, one of Tew's officers approached, "Sir, we've spotted survivors in tha water - a few hundred yards astern" he said.
The Admiral made his way up to the Bridge and scanned the floating debris through his spyglass.
"Ok, when we've finished wit this lil' lot, escort tha prisoners back to tha Insurrection 'n scuttle this 'ere piece 'o junk," he ordered, "then send someone over ta fish them sorry buggers outta tha brine" he added.
"Aye Sir" replied the officer as he prepared a few men to sink the pirate Brig.
Meanwhile, in the Margarita tavern...
Coggy and Captain Maggie had enjoyed numerous bottles of rum together. Their drinking session had lasted a couple of hours and even though both officers were a tad drunk, neither had let their guard down.
Raising his tankard for the last time, Coggy wished his companion fairwinds and a safe journey back to the Sisterhood Island. "May Neptune guide yew in yer journey home, Cap'n Maggie. I have no doubt dat we'll meet again one day" he said, with a sly grin as he bid her farewell.
"Aye, Cap'n Coggy, ye can bet yee'll be seein' 'n hearin' a lot more 'o Captain Maggie and tha Sisterhood from now on! Fairwinds to ye and good luck in whatever scurvy plans ye be up to!" replied Maggie as she gave an equally sly grin.
On returning to the Grim Reaper, Coggy had decided to keep his French guest on board for a while longer. Creed had some useful knowledge and the Frenchman knew revealing it all at once would end his usefulness to the pirates all too quickly.
After Coggy and NavyRum had returned to the ship with the provisions, the Grim Reaper and Baron Boat soon set sail once more. The pirates wanted to reach Curacao within the next ten days and wait for the rendezvous with Admiral Tew, and the time spent in port would come in useful for refitting the ships and more importantly, engaging in some drinkin' 'n whorin' to boost crew morale.
Cog stood on deck with Davey Jones, talking about Captain Creed. "Mate, did ye find out what happened to yer parrot?" he asked.
Davey looked a little disgruntled, "Nah, tha French bastid seys 'e knows nottin' bout it, nor me wife fer that matter. Thar must be more than one Creed sailin' these waters cos this bugger is way too sophisticated ta run off wit MY hag" he replied.
"Maybe tha poor swab we saw hanging in Cartagena wus tha one?" commented Coggy.
Creed approached and cautiously greeted his two hosts, "I hear you wanted to see me, Captain Cognito." he said.
"Aye, 'appen I does." replied Cog.
Coggy still hadn't managed to get the full story of Creed's recent skirmish and he quickly grew impatient at the Frenchman's evasiveness. "Tell me bout yer recent battle and I'll consider yer request fer joinin' up wit us" he said.
Creed looked uneasy and a little reluctant to explain what happened. "My good Captain, yew would not believe me if'n I told you!" he said, trying not to let the other crewmembers overhear the conversation.
Coggy leaned forward a little, "Mate, I's heard some weird tings in me time sailin' these waters. Whatever ye has ta say won't be a shock ta ol' Cogs ears, that's fer sure." he said, reassuringly.
Creed again looked around and finally began to explain what had happened two days earlier.
"Well Sir, we'd just left Cumana a few days back when all of a sudden - out of nowhere - comes three ships! They be Sloops - faster than the wind and as silent as death itself, they were."
The concern on Creeds face grew as he recounted his encounter.
"Who were they?" asked a curious Coggy.
"Well, Captain, I be a little reluctant to say on the account you'd think I was insane" replied Creed, with growing concern.
Coggy didn't reply. He just gave Creed a menacing look and made him aware of his growing impatience.
Creed again looked around to make sure no one was listening in.
"They were - that is - they be, ermmm......" he reluctantly mumbled.
"WHO? FER NEPTUNE'S SAKE!" snapped Cog.
"WIMMIN'!" called Creed, as he gave a startled jump and quickly looked around hoping no one had heard.
All of a sudden an eerie silence descended across the ship as the crew briefly stopped what they were doing and looked at Coggy and Creed.
Cog scratched his chin and thought for a moment.
"So twas tha Sisterhood after all, eh?" he said, as he slowly made his way down to the deck, still in deep thought.
Creed was left standing on the Bridge and watched as the crew finally went back to work.
Seeing his opportunity, he quickly followed Coggy down the steps and asked, "So what about my request? I don't have a ship no more, but it looks to me you're planning something big..."
but before he could finish, Coggy interrupted him with the words, "Aye, Creed, yer in" as he disappeared below decks still in deep thought.
The Frenchman stood on the deck and smiled.