by D. J. Holmes
Finding a cove that he is happy with, Black Beard and his crew hide their ship and drop anchor. Getting into their rowboats they row to a beach on the far end of Martinique.
As each pirate stands up and jumps out to the beach, a new sense of stability overcomes them.
“It sure seems good to have my feet on solid ground, captain.”
“Ahhh, I’m standing on something that doesn’t move.”
“How long are we going to stay here?”
Black Beard growls, “As long as it takes….”
Pragmatic Thomas questions, “What if it takes a long time until the ‘Mysterious’ appears again, captain? What are we going to do for food?”
Looking at Thomas, Black Beard answers sternly, “We’ll make camp on the beach. And Thomas, because you are the one who is so concerned about food, why don’t you take four of the crew with you and go to investigate what this island has to offer.” Walking toward the surf, Black Beard raises his hand to his forehead to shade his huge black eyes from the sun. “I’ll stay in camp and keep an eye open for the ‘Mysterious’ to show up.”
“Yes, Sir…”
***
On the other end of Martinique, Ian, his crew and the island women breathe a sigh of relief now that Black Beard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge has sailed by their island.
“Now that was a close one, my wife,” Ian says finally daring to breathe.
“Yes. Ian, why did you come in so fast? You could have crashed the ‘Mysterious’. You and your crew would have been hurt, we would have lost our ship and Black Beard would have found out where we live.”
At that very moment, Lucas and the doctor bring Jody out to the deck. “Ian, here is your daughter.”
Looking at them strangely, Grace questions, “Why is Jody being carried by the doctor?”
“A rogue wave rocked our ship while Jody was looking over the railing to watch the dolphins. She fell overboard.”
Shocked, Grace asks, “She what?”
“Grace, she’s safe now. But she needs you. That’s one of the reasons why we came in at such a fast clip.”
“Bring her here. I need to make sure that her lungs are dry,” Grace says with concern.
The doctor hands Jody, still weak from breathing in salt water, to her mother. Grace carries her to their home, sits her down by a fire and wraps her in blankets. Making a beef broth, she begins to slowly feed it to Jody. “How are you my Daughter?” she asks.
“I’m fine now Mother, but you should have seen Father. He ran across the deck of the ‘Mysterious’, grabbed a huge rope at the stern and jumped overboard to save me. In the water he looked for me for a long time. He even killed a shark that was swimming by us. After the shark was dead, even though father was running out of air, he kept looking for me. One dolphin brought him the rope he had jumped overboard with and another dolphin brought me to him.”
“How do you know all of this, Jody, if you were in the water?”
“Oh, my body was in the water, but I was with Daniel. He showed me everything that was happening on what he called a ‘monitor’. He said that I had to go back because my island sisters would need my strength.”
“You were with, Daniel?” Grace asked as her eyes widened.
Jody smiled. “Mother, he is so nice.”
“He is nice isn’t he… why don’t you rest for a while? Just lean your head back and put your feet up. But I don’t want you lying down just yet.”
“I won’t, Mother.”
Walking out to the island dining area in the middle of their small village, Grace finds Ian sitting with his head in his hands. Sensing the pain her husband is experiencing she sits down by him and puts her hand on his leg. “She’s going to be all right, Ian.”
As Ian looks up at his wife, Grace sees tears in his eyes. “I thought that I had lost our little jewel, Grace.”
Wrapping her arms around him, she whispers in his ear, “She was with Daniel, Ian. She saw everything that you did to save her.”
“She was with, Daniel?” he questions with shock.
“Yes. Just like Diana, when she had that terrible sickness at about the age that Jody is now.”
“Daniel healed both of them and sent them back to us?”
“Yes, my love. We are very blessed.”
Taking his wife’s hand, they both sit in silence, surrounded with a feeling of gratitude that Jody was returned to them. As the sun begins to set, their hearts are filled with love for each other and for their girls.
Looking out at the enormous waves that are starting to hit the beach, Ian notices how dark the sky is becoming, “Grace, look at that huge black cloud in the distance. Have you ever seen one so dark?”
“I haven’t. We had better warn everyone to get inside.”
***
On the far side of the island, a camp is being set up. Black Beard’s crew is too busy to look toward the sky. Thunder rumbles through the mountains, accentuated with lightning spreading its tentacles from one end of the sky to the other. Rain begins to fall from the sky in torrents.
Black Beard stands up, takes his hat off and holds out his arms, and as he raises his face to the sky, he opens his mouth.
“COME BACK OVER HERE, CAPTAIN! GET OUT OF THE RAIN!” members of his crew shout.
“I LOVE THE RAIN!” he shouts back. “Come to think of it, all of you get out here,” he motions to them. “You all need to get drenched in water I don’t want to have to smell you any longer.”
“But, Captain that rain is coming down too hard and too fast.”
“That’s exactly the point! DON’T ANY OF YOU QUESTION ME,” Black Beard yells as his eyes widen and his face becomes red. His dominating stature of a large six feet tall man, with muscles bulging on his arms and legs, intimidates his crew as they stare in his direction. All the while his long curly black hair becomes straight and even darker as the rain falls on the top of his head. A red scarf tied around his forehead and draping down to his right shoulder accentuates his sparkling black eyes and thick black eye brows as he demands, “MOVE NOW!” pointing directly at the spot where he wants them to stand.
The anger in their captain’s voice fills them with fear as they run out from under their shelter. Yet, even in fear they continue to complain, letting their captain know how they feel about being in the rain.
“Ouch. Can I go back to the shelter now?”
“EEE yow… That hurts!”
“What type of pirates are you anyway? This is rain! How can you be afraid of rain?” Turning around and looking at his men, he yells, “AND STOP DANCING AROUND FOR CRY-N-OUT-LOUD, NO WONDER I’M NOT THE MOST FEARED PIRATE IN THE CARIBBEAN ANY MORE!”
***
While Gray Wolf is still in the portal, he hears earsplitting claps of thunder. “What is that noise?” he asks, “I can see the light and hear the noise, but why am I stopped? I was moving, but something is clearly stopping me… I can push my hand into this clearness, but it won’t let me pass through it.”
A flash of lightning is so bright that Gray Wolf closes his eyes. “Wow! Now that was bright!” Quickly covering his ears with his hands as his forehead tightens, he adds, “And that noise is so loud that it really hurts my ears. What’s happening now? I feel like I’m being pushed somewhere.” A sense of falling feet first, overcomes him and he begins to yell as his arms rise above his head. “EEEEEEE…Watch out below…I can’t control where I’m going to land!”
Black Beard and his crew hear Gray Wolf’s cries. Looking to the sky, they see an object falling in their direction.
“What is it?” they question.
“I don’t know, but we had better move.”
As Black Beard and his crew quickly spread out, Gray Wolf lands on the sand, rolling into the middle of their circle and stops with his face directly planted in the sand. Finally raising his head up Gray Wolf says, “Ouch… Now that was something! This reminds me of what my father, Blue Cloud, told me about his best friend, Black Bear, and how he ha
d landed with his face in the sand after he jumped from a Hoo Doo in Goblin Valley.”
Laughing he continues. “Ha, ha, he was trying to fly, just like me…ha, ha, ha and I landed just like he did.” Considering what he had just said, he added, “actually, that kind of hurt, why am I laughing?”
Standing up and rubbing his bruises as he looks at Black Beard and his crew, he smiles, “I sure am glad that I didn’t land in your fire.”
After their eyes adjust and their expressions of fear return to normal, Black Beard and his crew begin to ask each other several questions.
“What is it?”
“It’s a young boy.”
“Where did he come from?”
“What a stupid question. You saw him, he fell from the sky.”
Finally, Black Beard says, “Be quiet, everyone.” Turning to Gray Wolf he asks, “Where did you come from?”
“All I know is that I was riding a fish that bucked me off, and then his tail pushed me through a portal,” Gray Wolf answered.
“What? You were riding a fish? Where were you when you were riding a fish?”
“I was in the Hall of Corridors.”
“What is a Hall of Corridors?”
“I don’t really know, I just walked down that hall with my brother, and then all of a sudden I was riding a fish. The next thing I knew I was pushed through the portal by its tail.”
Motioning for his crew to move away from Gray Wolf, Black Beard gathers them into a circle and head to head discuss what they feel about him. “This youngster must have hit his head. I’ve never heard of such things. Have any of you?”
“No Sir. Are you sure that he’s not crazy?”
Stroking his beard and glancing in Gray Wolf’s direction, Black Beard thinks to himself “Crazy? Hum, let me see.…”
Walking back over to Gray Wolf he asks, “You said that you were with your brother. Where is he?”
“Oh, Running Deer was pushed through another portal.”
“So, he’s not with you?”
“No.”
“What color is the sky?”
“Right now it’s very dark with lightning spread across the sky line.”
“What sound do you hear?”
“Oh, that’s Grandfather.”
“…Grandfather?”
“Yes, he’s always loud like that.”
Looking back at his crew Black Beard asks, “Well men, if it’s really Grandfather making all this noise, then why are you afraid of it?”
Looking in their direction also, Gray Wolf says, “My brother and I were afraid of the noise that grandfather makes.”
“Why be afraid? Doesn’t your grandfather love you?” Black Beard, questions.
“Yes, but he scared us.”
“Listen, maybe your grandfather can’t help all the noise that he makes. He’s not trying to scare you…and he’s not doing it on purpose. I know that this sounds strange for a pirate to say, but I want you to remember that your Grandfather loves you.”
“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” Gray Wolf said thoughtfully.
Turning to his crew, Black Beard states, “I don’t think that this boy is crazy. I’m going to take him on as our newest crew member.” Looking directly at each member of his crew he asks, “Do you understand what I am saying? I am going to take Gray Wolf as part of our crew. He’ll be my cabin boy. I’ll teach him to be one of the finest pirates that there has ever been. SOOOO, NONE OF YOU HAD BETTER SAY ANYTHING, OR DO ANYTHING TO HURT HIM…OR YOU WILL DEAL WITH ME!”
“Yes sir,” they chorus, shaking in their boots, always fearful of the captain when he uses that tone of voice.
Turning around and facing Gray Wolf he asks, “Is that your real name?”
“Yes. Gray Wolf is my name!”
“What a great name for a pirate.”
“What is a pirate?”
“I’ll teach you. And as the years go by, you’ll learn the answer to the question that you just asked.”
“Good. I learn quickly. What is the first thing that you would like me to do?”
Putting his hand on Gray Wolf’s shoulder, Black Beard explains. “We’re watching that side of the island over there. I need you to watch for any ship.…”
“What is a ship?”
Quietly the rest of the crew mumble between each other, “A pirate… and he doesn’t know what a ship is?”
Pointing to the Queen Anne’s Revenge, Black Beard patiently explains, “It looks something like this. Do you see how it floats on top of the water?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life!” he says with awe.
“Well, maybe you’ll see another one in just a few days,” Black Beard states as he sits Gray Wolf up to watch for the ‘Mysterious’.
Later that night, Thomas and the other crew members that Black Beard had sent for food come back from their investigation of their side of the island. “We couldn’t get very far because of the steep mountains and it took us this long because of the storm; we found a small cave and stayed in it…” Thinking for a couple of minutes Thomas comments, “I bet that all of you were out in the rain weren’t you?” He and the pirates that were with him start to laugh until Black Beard states.
“So you weren’t out in the rain?”
“No captain. We stayed nice and dry,” Thomas says with pride.
“So you stink as badly as you have for the last few days then?”
Smelling under his arms, Thomas says, “We stink? I can’t smell anything.”
“Well I can. You need to walk out into the waves over there and wash that stale odor off of you. The rest of us stood out in that storm and let the rain pour down on us.”
“We did find some food though, captain.…” Thomas finally notices Gray Wolf for the first time, gestures with his thumb toward the young man and asks, “Who is he?”
“He’s our newest crew member,” Black Beard announces.
“We need another crew member?”
Black Beard pulls out his gun and pointing it in Thomas’ direction says, “We’ll need one in just a minute if you keep questioning me.”
Thomas and his group of men put their hands up in front of them. Taking a step backward while smiling, they all say, “just a minute, captain. We were joking with you. He’ll make a great pirate!”
“Now, that’s what I wanted to hear!” Black Beard smiles, spins his gun around his trigger finger, and finally puts it away.
“I didn’t see him anywhere on the island when we arrived, captain. Where did he come from?”
“He fell from the sky!” Black Beard says as a matter of fact and with a great deal of pride as he looks at his newest crew member.
“…From the sky?”Thomas asks incredulously.
“Yes. He fell from the sky just before the end of that huge storm…” taking his eyes off Gray Wolf and looking directly at Thomas he adds, “the same storm that you hid from in a small cave where you stayed nice and dry,” the captain added sarcastically. “His name is Gray Wolf.” With the pride of a new father, Black Beard puts his arm around Gray Wolf adding, “Don’t you think that is the best name for a pirate that you have ever heard?”
“Yea, sure captain…Whatever you say.”
“He’s going to help us watch for the ‘‘Mysterious’.’”
“Well, that’s a great first job.” Patting his hand on one of the few logs on the beach Thomas says, “Come here, Gray Wolf. My name is Thomas. You can sit next to me.”
Black Beard pipes up, “Thomas, he’ll sit next to me!”
Thomas realizes that he is no longer the captain’s favorite and takes his place among the rest of the crew.
After several hours of watching the waves ebb and flow along with the empty horizon, boredom begins to sit in. The ‘Mysterious’ is nowhere to be found and the sun is going down. The fire has exhausted its fuel, and the flicker of light gradually diminishes. The eye lids of Black Beard and his crew begin to close, and finally eve
ryone falls into a deep sleep.
***
Diana has weathered the violent storm with her parents, the famous Pirate Ian, and his beautiful wife Grace, along with her younger sister, Jody.
Through the walls of their home, Diana can hear her parents talking.
“Lucas just showed me a poster that he had picked up on our trip. Look, it’s asking for Privateers. The English are recruiting Privateers to help them in their war against France and Spain. Our job will be to attack the French and Spanish ships and to take their cargo to create havoc among the fleet.”
“Isn’t that what you do now, Ian?” Grace says with a smile.
“Yes, but by working for the English we would get paid a salary along with taking the cargo from the ships. Then we could sell it as we always have, on the black market. The only problem is that we would have to leave tomorrow.”
“But Ian, you just got here. Can’t you stay with us for a while longer?”
“My sweet little woman, I don’t want to leave you.”
“Then why are you going to?”
“My true wish, Grace, would be to stay on this island every day of my life so that I could be with you. But the sad truth of life is that I need to make money for my family to live on. In order to make money I have to leave this island.”
“I just wish there was some other way, Ian.”
“If you know of one, just tell me Grace. My heart breaks every time I have to leave you.”
“My heart breaks as I see your ship disappear over the horizon. Isn’t there some way that you can stay a few days longer?”
“Not if I want to become a Privateer. I’ll need to leave as soon as possible before the rest of the Pirates understand what a great opportunity this is.”
“Go if you must, my love.”
“Grace, do you realize that as a Pirate we go against the law and as a Privateer we work with the law; yet under both, we do exactly the same thing. Strange isn’t it? We have enemies no matter which way we create havoc, this just pays better,” Ian answers with a smile. “And I’m an expert at it.”
“That you are Ian! I guess we had better get to sleep if you have to leave early tomorrow.”
Ian blows out the bed side candles. Sadness fills his heart, yet a strange excitement fills his head as he thinks of the possibilities of his anticipated new adventure. “Finally a legal way to provide for my family,” he thinks to himself.