Justified Treason (Endless Horizon Pirate Stories, Book 1) (23 page)

The other one I met was named Hawk. His long hair was wildly frizzy as his full faced beard, and the hawk tattooed across his chest was hardly visib
le beneath all his chest hair. I didn’t meet the others, but Shark, who had also once sailed with me father, assured me that the members of his mangy group were fully willing to take on the deception at hand. Of course their hunger for The Lovers’ Treasure was a motivational factor.

Soon enough the mist cleared and the sun broke through the marine layer. Attempting to keep a casual appearance, the men waited patiently for the signal to attack. I stood at the helm attempting to tame the surge of angst that coursed through me veins, and Faron centered on the main deck looking incredibly composed. With the way Morley ran things, thar would be no time to negotiate, so we’d be taking up war with full intention to kill anyone willing to fight. Thar was only one chance to prevail, and if
’n the moment were lost, we would suffer a fate far worse than the common tyranny we were fighting to escape. Failure was not an option.

When Faron winked at me, I felt the splurge of energy strike me heart like a bullseye. It was time.

Like a tidal wave of angry men, we all lined up to charge against the crew that had intended to overthrow us at the prize. They hadn’t seen it coming and the shock on their faces even carried on into their growls of rebuttal. War struck the deck like a fire in a field, ravaging the villains with the hellish flames of our intent to conquer.

Morley and his closest few ran out to face the battle, but Pete and Marv teamed up to run a trip line across their path; dropping them all to the deck. The two Navy rejects that fought each other day and night took on the battle back to back, killing any one that crossed their paths.

Slicing through the first round of men that charged me, thar were two that I couldn’t quite reach and they surrounded me with their bloody swords, cursing me for the mutiny they knew I caused. The first one came near; I feinted against his weight and sunk under his sword to slash his side with me cutlass. He quickly fell over. Wilson wasn’t so easy. Much taller than me, ugly as sin, and white as a cave worm that never seen the light of day, he swung his sword like it was the hammer of Thor and the force of his will to kill me was a fervent reminder of the dreadful team we were up against. Morley’s men were threatening enough to be guarding the gates of hell.

With the rest of the deck raging in war, I knew me only hope against
Wilson was to use my lack of size as an advantage. Like a cat running from a dog, I dipped and dodged his fearsome blows, hoping to exhaust him. Soon enough he grabbed me by the neck and threw me up against the bulkhead. My head rang from the fearsome landing, but thar was no time fer pain. While throwing his arm back to intensify the might of his stab at me, I grabbed the dagger off me belt and stabbed him in the neck. Finishing his attempt to kill me with a weak and sloppy blow, I ran me cutlass through his side to guide him to the floor. 

After pulling out me cutlass, I grabbed the knife out of
Wilson’s neck and continued on in the fight. Aside from the musicians that were huddled together trembling with fear, thar were men fighting for their lives on both ends of the battle. For a while it was hard to tell who would prevail. As the bloody scene raged across the deck, many lives were lost, and the men that continued to fight found themselves trampling over the bodies of fallen men.

Soon enough, Faron captured and hogtied Nortty, and the survivors that surrendered were forced into a corner where Pete and Marin paced the border to keep them still. Shark, Marv, and Hawk surrounded Captain Morley, but I couldn’t let them take him down without inflictin’ me own personal revenge on him first. Shoving through the crowd, I swooped behind Morley’s swishing blade and tackled him to the deck, pummeling his face with a few solid punches before Faron yanked him away and tied him up next to Nortty.

The drive for freedom crossed with the fear of failure fueled the revolting team to a victory.
Wind of Glory
was ours. 

The opposed that weren’t killed were tied, and would later be given the option to join us, while Morley was chained to the mast without such fortune awaiting him. With the defeated crew whining and cursing from their binds, Faron paced before them, hooting like a savage in the jungle, “Who’s cowering now?”

Though he roared on to compliment his victorious crew, thar wasn’t much glory in our bloodstained appearance. Most of us were beaten with mild dings and cuts, but Perk had a hideous gut wound that had him looking pale as a ghost, while Planky had suffered a gunshot wound which left the lower half of his leg looking to be a loss. And of course, thar were many that hadn’t lived to share the pride in our boastful avail.

Walking over to Perkins to help John the Cook manage the wound, I looked over to see James smiling. He chuckled, “Not a bad turn out for a man that doesn’t like to gamble.”

Something ‘bout his comment struck me with a surprising humor, and I busted out with a ridiculous round of delirious laughter. Faron looked at me like I was insane and I felt like I was. Me unexpected amusement was cut short by the sound of a solemn gunfire. One of Morley’s men that we’d presumed dead revived with just enough life in him to raise his pistol, and his final shot sent James Thornton buckling over to his death. I sieged towards the bloody swab that shot James and sliced through him with me cutlass to be sure that he wouldn’t be acting up again. After I pulled out me bloody sword, I kicked his lifeless body and headed back over to focus me expiring energy on Perkins.

Perkins was coughing and shaking, struggling to talk. “Don’t worry ‘bout me old salty bones. I ‘ave had me day at sea. If
’n I don’t make it, at least I know I be square on me debt.”

Exhaling my distress I assured, “Thank ye, Perk. Yer more than even in me book.”

“I’ll tell Captain Bentley his boy is faring well when I get to the gates. Oh, and spend some of that loot for me, mate.” With my bloody hand under his head, Perkins breathed his last breath of life.

Death was a part of this life. I had faced it so many times I was mostly calloused to the grim occurrences, yet for some reason the sight of James Thornton lying lifeless on the deck struck a nerve. Blindly aiming for what he thought was the wide gate, he learned to appreciate the freedom and adventure in time to suffer the greatest risk. His shortlived story at sea reminded me how fleeting life could be and that it was only a matter of time ‘til I hit the deck for the last time.

Captain Flynn started collecting the weapons from the dead and hollered to the crew. “Good work, me hearties. Things will be sailing smoother from now on. While we’re cleaning up the mess, don’t forget to be thanking the men that fell to honor our accomplishment.”

We collected and cleaned all the weapons, wrapped the dead bodies in netting and tied them with chains before we threw them overboard. Only a few moments into his new life as captain, Faron Flynn worked alongside his crew as an honorable equal.

As my adrenaline simmered, I began to feel that me arm was burning in pain. I already knew I was bleeding, but it just dawned on me that me new coat was already destroyed. Of all the scrappy nattering things that would happen! I removed the blood covered coat and shirt while cursing the heat that blazed across me bare back, as much as I damned the sight of the wound that slashed across me right bicep. The deep cut was gushing blood in a way that almost made me nauseous. I untied the red sash I wore around me waist, sliced a piece of the fabric, and had Hawk help me tie it around the wound. As Shark walked by he complimented the artwork of me compass rose tattoo.

With me arm tied up, the blood flow began to slow, and I decided to give that black-spotted bilge
rat, Dedrick Morley, a visit. I found him tied up near the foremast with his hands behind his back, cursing up a storm, and kicking like an untamed horse.

Nortty was tied to the other side of the mast and was cursing the new crew for not informing him. “Nobody tells me anything! I do all I can to be fair to ye blasted swabs and all ye do is leave me out of the plans and tie me to the mast. Keep me on yer side! I am loyal to the sea and the captain of me ship. I will serve Captain Faron Flynn.”

Morley snarled like a fire breathing dragon. “Blast yer treasonous character all the way to hell, Norton Nortty Hensley. I should ‘ave killed yer arse long ago.”

Keeping Nortty tied to the mast for Faron to choose his fate, I neared the former captain of the
Wind of Glory
with a wicked grin on me face. He calmed his squirmy fit to spit at me. Repulsed by his vile gesture, I was tempted to kick him in his hugger-mugger face, but controlled me urge considering that he was tied.

He continued to fit until he fell over. “Ye bloody lying bastard, Bentley!”

Flopping around like a fish out of water, it looked as if his rage was strong enough to bust him out of his binds. Shoving him against the mast, I roped him to the pole and put me boot on his chest to hold him still. “I told ye I’d be taking ye to that treasure and that I will. The only difference is, we be switching roles. Once we get thar, it’ll be ye that’s not needed anymore, and it’ll be yer throat bleeding out instead of mine.”

I reached into his upper pocket to pull out the key to The Lovers’ Treasure and the son of a bitch tried to bite me. Pulling away before his gnarled teeth could sink into me skin, I put the key in me pocket and walked away.

After the mess was cleared, the conquering crew dragged Dedrick Morley to the brig. He kicked and flailed all the way down the narrow hall, and they dropped him at least three times. He cussed and bit like a rabid dog until Pete finally tied a rag around his face to keep his teeth from biting. Knowing that after months of loyal service he intended to kill them off at the final reward, the men seemed to enjoy the violent escort. After locking the chomping beasty away, we all met on deck to see what our new captain had planned.

X

Captain Faron Flynn stood on the quarterdeck to address his crew, and as he viewed the crowd of men that looked to him for command, I saw his face swell with a surge of excitement. Faron always had a sense of leadership, and though he had never actually captained a crew, he often ran and organized smaller groups during missions. He was fair and respectful to the men he worked with, so the crew looked forward to working under his lead. They listened quietly as he began his speech.

“As many of ye know, I took to this life at sea to evade the binds of indentured servitude, and I know many of ye ‘ave escaped similar fates. Some of ye were thrown out of the Navy after years of loyal service. Some of ye lost a hard worked job due to injury and a few of ye ‘ave escaped unjust punishments, abuse or slavery. To some it may be the only life ye’ve known, or ye might just be greedy for a prize. As rough as the life of a buccaneer can be, in most cases it’s a man’s last hope for survival and freedom, and freedom is exactly what I intend to supply for this crew.”

The vote on our heading led us to Tortuga where we planned to get ourselves a surgeon and build up our crew. Captain Flynn took Shark with him to the tavern to round up a few more men, and I helped Nortty to carry Planky into the doctor’s shoddy office. With the rest of our injured group wallowing in behind us, we had full intent of taking the doctor by force if he fussed ‘bout our measly loot, but turned out that Doctor William Harvey was also eager for the Lovers’ Treasure.

He agreed to come along for a portion of the prize, but as we carried Planky down the stairs, I saw the hint of a face peeking out the window of the doctor’s office. I informed Nortty of the eavesdropper, but the quartermaster grumbled, “Aye, he can take his peeping ears to the governor for all I care! Let’s get these bloody men back to the ship.”

Boarding the
Wind of Glory
well before sunset, everything went so smooth it seemed we had forgotten something.

Faron had only recruited a handful of men, but he brought them aboard carrying a mass of plundered goods. I laughed as I observed the items they were hauling. They had a set of matching chairs, a box of books, a bag of linens, a broom and a ridiculous vase. Captain Flynn dashed a brief introduction of the new crew members and sent them to drop the goods in his quarters. 

Doctor Harvey got straight to tending the wounds and insisted that I let him stitch the slash on me arm. Everyone was cleaned up quickly; everyone but Planky. Doctor Harvey explained that he would suffer the loss of the lower portion of his leg.

We were to subdue Planky with as much rum as possible before the operation began, and the doctor dished commands to guide us in support of the endeavor. Alden was sent to saw off a table leg and Marin was to pass the tools to the doctor. Pete gave Planky a strap of leather to bite on and was commanded to keep his head from thrashing in pain. Hawk and Marv held his arms and shoulders to the deck while Faron and I were to brace his legs.

Arguing over who would be holding the leg that was to be sawed off, Faron smiled as he remembered, “I’m the captain now. Ye’ll do as I command, I commandeth thee to be holding thy hack of a leg.”

We both laughed, and I did as me captain ordered.

The gory saw job was more treacherous than the bloody battle we just fought. As the doctor ran the saw through the meat below Planky’s knee, his screams of agony cut to me very soul, makin’ me feel as if’n I were the one under the doctor’s knife. Using all the muscle we had to force his body still while he squirmed in ridiculous amounts of pain, I tried to hold him with me hands, but it wasn’t enough. The doctor yelled at me to keep him still, and I had to throw me shin over his thigh and press with all me leg muscles and firm hands to hold him solid.