Justified Treason (Endless Horizon Pirate Stories, Book 1) (35 page)

George and Peter seemed amused by me humor, but Mark was stiff as a board.

Continuing to drink as I finished dressing, the rum quickly diluted me mind. Once I was dressed, I looked at me unfamiliar reflection in the mirror. Hell, I looked like someone Charlie could be seen in public with. Me face was finally clean and shaved the way I liked it, leaving just the sideburns and goatee, and I had also combed through me tangled hair except for the matted braid that I kept to use as a tie.

The long blue baroque coat had a white paisley pattern lining the edge of the gold fastens, and the long black waistcoat was embroidered with gold accents. I liked the black cavalier style hat with the white feather in the band, but I felt like an artless minnow without me weapons lining me attire. Smiling with sarcastic pride, I commented to the guards, “Elite, huh?” I ran me hands down the extravagant white collar, and belched before I slurred, “Imagine the attention I’d be gettin’ from the wenches lookin’ like this.”

Peter and George laughed and assured me that I was just as vile as ever.

Honestly, I found their comments just as amusing as me own, and the outrage Mark displayed over his partners’ enjoyments was probably me favorite part of the situation. Aye, the awkward gunpoint escort had turned out to be rather entertaining.

As they walked me out in cuffs, I laughed to meself
about when the governor said,
I will not allow a man of such disheveled appearance be the marking point of my glory. I have more class than that.
Yet thar was something about handcuffs and gunpoint that seemed to detour the image of class, especially when the
marking point
of his glory was now drunk as a salty pirate.

It was me full intention to make the rum last me, but somehow I managed to finish off most of the bottle. I ended up stumbling between the guards as they led me down the dock towards the
Vera Rose
. Being so distraught over the situation with Charlie, I was all too eager for the buzz I knew would fog me mind, and as I staggered along the dock, I found me mind light, me body buzzing, and me thoughts shallow with humor. Seemed I found just the relief I needed at the bottom of that bottle.

My drunken fumble was quickly disrupted when I noticed Mary Daley standing on the dock. She looked to be drunk as well. Her dress and her demeanor were terribly seductive, and her saucy appearance lit a fire in my belly. Her flirtatious intent with the laborers had me quite confused, until I realized what was going on…

From me cursed binds, I was able to watch the commandeering of the
Wind of Glory
. I’d never tried so hard to manage a straight face, but I was determined to keep Mark, Peter and George distracted while Captain Flynn snuck his crew onto the ship. As much as I longed to break loose and go with them, their plan was running silently smooth, and if’n I caused a fuss they all would ‘ave also ended up in shackles.

Nearin’ the gangplank of the
Vera Rose
, Mark barked that he had about enough of me sarcastic remarks and the bastard kicked me square in me back. The blow caught me off guard, and the aggravation of his heel thrashing against me spine set me back on course for the rage I’d been attempting to keep at bay. 

Peter and George kept me from falling over, but with the fury of hell rising from me core, I broke free from their grip and turned to attack Mark. I don’t think he expected me to defend meself, so when me boot racked across his side, he fell over. I proceeded to kick the holy hell out of him while he was down, while also bashin’ at Peter and George with me shoulders as they worked to contain me.

Mark quickly rose to his feet and threw me down; me face scraped against the wood of the dock, but I swiftly rolled over to me back. Peter tried to jump on top of me to control me rage, but I kicked at him with both feet and flung him off the dock. I heard him fall into the water as Mark kicked me across the side. Before I knew it we were mangled in a bunch, rolling around on the ground as I did what I could to fight with me hands cuffed. I bet they wished they were allowed to shoot me.

The brawl paid off as a helpful distraction for Captain Flynn, since the laborers were just as enthralled with me fit as they were with Mary’s ploy. The wild wrestling match also helped to slow the prison guards as they tried to stomp over us. I grabbed one by his ankle to pull him down into the fight, and a few others tripped on him, quickly joining our ridiculous dog pile.

Soon enough, George pinned me down and threw his knee into me back. As he smashed me face against the wooden dock, I saw Faron lift Mary to the deck. Once the
Wind of Glory
made way, I heard Captain Flynn’s loud and rowdy voice holler, “It’s been fun boys.”

Holy shipwreck, I envied his freedom.

As the
Wind of Glory
took off, the bevy of fumbling guards lunged out of our pile and attempted to shoot after the ship. I laughed as the defeated men cursed the success of the filthy pirates, but Mark kicked me again. “Laugh all you want, you son of a bitch. You’re still trapped.”

As exhilarating as it was watching me crew escape, the rat bastard was right; I was still damned by their trap. I knew the governor ordered the guards to keep me alive at all cost, but I was bloody well pushing me luck. For the first time in me life, I had something else to be living for, so I decided to stay still under George’s knee. “Just go on and resume yer generous escort that I should be thankful for.”

Mark yanked me up by me collar and cursed me character all the way up the gangplank. I chuckled to meself as he mumbled to his men about how one can never trust a pirate.

Once we got to the brig, Mark threw me into the darkened cell, and between me drunken stumbles from the rum and the throbbing adrenaline from the fight, I fell over. They laughed at me as I hit the ground, but their mockery didn’t bother me half as much as the sound of the cell door locking behind me.

On their way up the stairs the guards cursed me as the lowly pirate that I be, but George came back and offered to remove me handcuffs. Of course I accepted, and as he reached through the bars to unclamp me, he said something I never would ‘ave expected. “It’s a shame to see a man so great in the art of the sea waste his talents with such savage behavior. I’ve seen your charts, Mister Bentley; you’ve been granted with a gift that only God himself could offer. I might think you’d let your fine hand earn you a better place in the world.”

Without sayin’ a word, I growled like the beast they claimed me to be.

Leaning against the wooden wall to let my adrenaline rush simmer, I felt me breath calming and me blood pressure subsiding. My mind began to clear of me ravenous daze, and it seemed that the outburst had cleared my body of the pent up rage I was harboring. Finally feeling calm, I began to think over the unexpected mania of everything that just happened…

Aside from getting meself beat up by Royal Guards, I was thrilled to see me mateys had escaped the bars and the gallows. Though I had no idea where they were headed, I
was just glad to see them free. How the hell did Oliver Langston end up with the crew, and how did I not notice what a beauty Mary Daley was? Damn. I was certainly impressed by her promiscuous distraction, but I wondered what led her to join the group. That left me worrying ‘bout where me Charlie was, and I hoped she would never ‘ave cause to create that sort of diversion. I preferred to think her affection was solely for me, even though I knew she was with that blasted old Lawrence at the moment.

As if
’n that thought wasn’t irritating enough, I also found meself dwelling over the comment George had made. For some reason it bothered the hell out of me. Me father used to say the same sort of things, and while wallowing in the darken cell, I attempted to think about my future.

I could very well be using me skill to establish a better name for meself, yet I used it to maintain the savage behavior of me reckless way of life instead. I enjoyed the thrill of the unexpected, I thrived on the excitement of the chaos, and I refused to allow me freedom to anyone’s command but me own. Yes, thar were times I faced entrapment by the law or by someone else’s greed, but the art of me skill and the fire in me soul had kept me alive for this long; I hardly saw a reason to make a change. It might be a short life, but it would always be me own. Thar was no other life for me. 

My thoughts were distracted by the need for sleep. The end of the long miserable day found me drunk as hell and sore as could be. My face, head, and back hurt, ached, and throbbed. Takin’ off me heavy coat, I bunched it up to use as a pillow, and I laid down on the wooden floor of yet another locked jail cell. As I lay thar feeling the ship sway easily over the rolling water, I realized that this was the longest imprisonment I ever faced. The creaking timbers sang to me like a lullaby, and I wondered when in the hell I’d be free to sail the seas on me own accord. 

Before long, the aches in me body and the worries in me mind were overcome with blazing thoughts about Charlie. When would I get that saucy piratess back in me arms? Thoughts ‘bout her pretty smile and her smoldering kiss raced through me mind. Remembering the heat in her touch inspired me blood to flow faster, hotter, and far more wild. Damn that woman could set me on fire! Aye, but would she even want to be with me after all the hell she just went through? I’d understand if
’n she didn’t, but I bloody well hoped she did. I wanted more of her and not just her foxy little body; I wanted all of her. No matter what was to happen next, Charlie Bentley would always be me sweetest dream.

X

I awoke to the feel of the ship moving. Even though I slept on a hard wooden floor it was the best night of sleep I had in a while. The bright light of day beaming in the shot hole clarified the time was hours past sunrise, and since I was usually up with the dawn, I was surprised to ‘ave slept for so long. Me body must ‘ave needed it.

Sittin’ up to stretch, I decided to read from the Bible in me pocket to pass the time. As I flipped through the pages, I remembered likin’ the Book of Psalms, and when opening it to a random page, me eyes set sight on a rather appropriate verse. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.”

Aye. I walked through that valley every day of me audacious life.

Me mind flashed over the things Jeremiah explained to me as he was teaching me to read, and I remembered him saying how God was always thar, waiting patiently for us to come to our senses, and I wondered if I’d ever come to mine.

I hadn’t managed a prayer for quite some time, but after all the things that I’d experienced lately, I figured it was time to check in. Knowin’ I hardly deserved the Creator’s pardon, I simply thanked God for keeping me alive so long anyways. Then I prayed for God to keep Charlie safe. For she did deserve all the good things the Creator had to offer. 

Just then, a few men I didn’t recognize came to haul me upstairs. I stood up to meet the men at the bars and as they unlocked me cell I smiled to greet them. “Good morning, mateys. Ye sleep good as I did?”

The men looked at me in shock. I was sure they had heard nothing but vile tales of this ferocious buccaneer, yet I spoke to them with ridiculous charm. Though me body was still sore from the fight, I was clean, well-rested, and in oddly good spirits considering me predicament. Still havin’ no idea where
Wind of Glory
was headed or what Charlie was doing, I found a great peace in knowin’ I was on me way to the deck where I would see the horizon.

As the crewmen chained me to the mast, I looked around at the ocean as if I was a free man. The misty perfume of my turquoise mistress seduced me senses. She was glistening in her dazzling shades of aqua, and the sun was shining warmly on her face. The breeze was blowing sweetly, and me spirit lifted with the wind.

I knew these seas and the skies that covered them like a lover’s face. The stars of the night, the sunlight of the day, and the casted shadows were all but waypoints on me map. The ocean water flowed like me own blood, and the rising and falling of the tide mirrored me heartbeat. My senses intertwined with the elements around me, and I came alive in their intensity. Though I was shackled to the ship, I knew I was a master of the sea and just as me tattoo explained, me heart would lead me to freedom. Now I knew Charlie was me freedom. Just like The Lovers’ Treasure and every other secret shore I had charted in me mind, I intended to navigate me way back to her. Dead reckon.

Chapter 16

Only a Mask

As told by Charlotte Wetherby

T
he sound of Margret’s raspy voice penetrated my dream. “Wake up, Miss Charlotte. Wake up.” Alarmed by the panic in her tone, I sat up from my comfortable bed and looked around the room in awe. With the bright light of day illuminating the scene before me, the room I had always called my own suddenly seemed like a place I had only seen in a dream.

Further confused by the sight of Lawrence Braddock sleeping on my chaise lounge, I slipped out of bed, walked over to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. “
Lawrence, wake up. Margret is going mad.”