The Pirate Raiders

by C. G. Mosley

  “Put both of your grubby paws up, very slowly,” I ordered in a stern voice. They both obliged, but Albert started to turn around to face me. “Albert, I’d keep that nose pointed east, mate--unless of course you’d like to lose it.”

  “You’ll hang for this,” he replied back through clenched teeth.

  “Gentlemen, no one is hanging tonight,” Gordon, now on his feet and holding a blunderbuss, replied. “Throw any weapons you’ve got onto the street.” Both guards glanced silently at each other. It was obvious they were contemplating trying something stupid. “You only get one warning,” Gordon stated, reading their thoughts. There was another moment of hesitation. Gordon pulled back the hammer on the blunderbuss. This time the guards hurriedly threw pistols and swords onto the street.

  “I want both of you to slowly exit the carriage,” I commanded. This time there was no verbal response from Albert. Both of the guards did as they were told.

  “Walk into the graveyard,” Gordon ordered and again they did as they were told.

  He then snatched a ring of keys off a loop on Albert’s pants and tossed it to me. I made my way down onto the carriage’s red cushioned seat and just as I was about to grab a side rail and swing around to release Andy Bonnet, our plan began to unravel. I noticed a redcoat on horseback rounding the corner at Tower Street. As soon as I saw him, I froze, hoping deep down that if I was still enough and quiet enough he wouldn’t see me. For a brief moment, it seemed that my silent prayers would work. He didn’t even give me a passing glance and prepared to turn toward York Street. But then Albert noticed him too.

  “Jail break!” he barked. “Jail break!”

  The red coat turned toward us and immediately realized what was happening. He held two fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. I could hear at least two more horses galloping from somewhere out of view, probably further down York Street.

  I glanced in Gordon’s direction but there was no need for me to beckon him. He was already climbing on board the carriage.

  “Quickly, grab the reigns!”

  As soon as Gordon had the carriage moving, I grabbed the side rail and swung around to unlock the prison door. I took a quick glance behind us and saw what I expected. Three red coats were thundering toward us, their horses in full sprint. I forced myself to look away and put my focus back on the key ring. There were at least ten different keys to choose from on the ring. I estimated that I only had enough time to try about three of them before the red coats caught up to us. I jabbed the first key into the hole…it didn’t work. I tried another key with the same frustrating result. A pair of shackled hands suddenly poked out from between the bars of the door’s window. I peered into the carriage and realized the hands belonged to Andy Bonnett. His head was covered with a black bag, and I could hear him speak, but the sound was so muffled I was unable to understand what he was saying. I thrust the ring of keys into his hands.

  “Here mate,” I shouted. “Get your shackles off and then work on getting this door open. I’ve got bigger problems right now.”

  Apparently Andy understood because he wasted no time yanking the keys into the carriage with him.

  There was a sudden thunderous boom from the road behind us followed immediately by a clang and a spark of light off the handrail I was holding onto. The shot had been fired from the soldier nearest to me, but fortunately his aim was off.

  For lack of a better term, it scared the hell out of me. I involuntarily let go of the rail for a brief instant, but it was a long enough moment to almost kill me. I fell toward the ground but managed to grab one of the metal steps below the door on the way down. I hung on to the steps as if my life depended on it, and considering the fact that my legs were now being dragged dangerously close to the rear wheels of the carriage, my life really did depend on it. I started to pull myself back up, but immediately stopped when I noticed a horse galloping a few feet away from me. I glanced up at the rider and was greeted with a pistol pointed toward my head. I was a sitting duck. There was nothing I could do but close my eyes and wait on my imminent death.

  I heard a loud explosion, but the death I expected never came. I opened my eyes and saw my attacker rolling across the dusty street behind us. His now rider-less horse veered away and disappeared onto another street. I looked up and was surprised to see Gordon peering down at me from around the front corner of the carriage, the blunderbuss smoking in his right hand. I gave him a nod of gratitude and then immediately went back to work pulling myself up. I knew there were two more soldiers on horseback approaching and if I was going to have any chance at dealing with them I had to get back on my feet.

  The carriage door suddenly swung open and a helping hand appeared in my line of sight. Without hesitation, I took Andy’s hand—his tiny, boyish hand—and after a few moments of exertion I found myself lying on the inside of the prison carriage, at least temporarily safe from our pursuers. I got my first look at Andy and although the wide-brimmed hat he was wearing obscured some of his face, it was still plain to see he was only a lad, no more than seventeen or eighteen at the most.

  “Are you alright sir?” he asked me, very politely.

  “I am lad, thanks a lot for the help.” I tossed him one of my pistols and some shot. “Reload and get ready, this may get a bit nasty,” I told him as I prepared my own weapon.

  “We’re approaching the court house!” Gordon yelled from outside. “We need to get in position!”

  “Be right there!” I shouted back to him. Andy had just rammed a ball down the barrel of his pistol when I grabbed his arm. He looked up at me, wide-eyed with fear etched all over his dirty face. “Andy, have you ever shot a man?”

  He said nothing, but shook his head side to side.

  Wonderful, I thought. It was starting to make sense why Captain Trimble marooned the pathetic lad.

  I poked my head out the door to get a quick glance of the redcoats chasing us. Two horses were side by side and only a few feet behind us. They were certainly capable of pulling alongside us; however, the unknown plotting that was going on inside the carriage seemed to encourage a cautious pursuit for the moment. The blunderbuss Gordon had used to dispose of one of their fellow soldiers was obviously still fresh on their minds as well. One of them spotted me peeking and began to shout furious curses at me. I was unable to resist the urge to quickly stick my tongue out at him in reply. I didn’t wait for a response and pulled my head back in to safety. Andy stared at me, awaiting instructions.

  “Andy, all I need you to do is follow me to the roof of the carriage. I don’t really care how you do it. You’ve got a pistol, use the shot wisely,” I said. He stared at me, obviously unsure if he was up to the task. “Please, Andy,” I pleaded. “We have to get to the roof if we’re going to escape tonight.”

  He seemed to straighten up a bit, and nodded. The weight of the situation was apparently sinking in. He could either do what I said, or he was going to die.

  I moved toward the door again, but paused as an idea came to mind. I looked over at Andy, and then down at his feet.

  “What?” he asked fearfully.

  “Give me one of your shoes,” I replied.

  He squinted at me, opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. He then reached down and handed me his right shoe without further hesitation. I took the shoe by the toe and slowly thrust it out the door.

  As expected, a loud explosion was heard and the shoe jerked out of my grasp when the shot hit it.

  “There, I just made them waste one shot,” I shouted as I darted out the door. “Please move quickly!” I grabbed the side rail and frantically pulled and clawed my way to the roof of the carriage. Another thunderous blast rang out. The proximity of the sound immediately told me it originated from Andy. I took a quick glance to the rear of the carriage and saw another red coat rolling across High Street. I allowed myself a brief smile, and then pulled my own pistol out. I planned on disposing of the remaining soldier, but unfortunately he wasn’t in my line of sight. A
ndy’s hand slapped at the roof, he was trying to find something to grab on to. I returned the pistol to its holster and grabbed the far side of the carriage with my right hand. I grabbed Andy’s hand with my left and pulled him up with all the strength I could muster. He was lighter than I anticipated, but my shoulder still burned with pain as I pulled. He finally managed to get a leg up on to the roof and rolled on top of me. Gordon still had the carriage moving at a fast pace, and it was obvious Andy had not taken the time to tighten his hat snugly on his head as I had done earlier. The wind promptly blew the wide-brimmed hat off his head and I finally was able to see all of Andy’s face. I have no idea for sure how my expression looked, but there was no doubt my jaw dropped open at what I saw. Andy winced as the hat blew away.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I shouted.

  “I’m sorry, but I just bloody met you!” Andy shouted back.

  “Captain, will you please hurry the hell up!” Gordon shouted from the front seat. “We’re going downhill and we’ve almost reached the cliffs!”

  I shook my head in disbelief once more, and then glared at Andy again. “I’ll deal with this later,” I barked. “You stay down as low as you can right here.”

  Andy said nothing but rolled off of me and laid as flat as humanly possible in response. I crawled to the front of the carriage and slid down into the seat beside Gordon.

  “There’s one more redcoat back there,” I said. “Keep the horses headed straight and true. I’ll take care of the harness.”

  I hung my body off the front of the carriage and suddenly felt that I was in the most danger I’d been in the entire night. I could literally feel the power of the horses in front of me as they kicked up dirt and other debris in my face as they galloped at full speed. I hadn’t anticipated this, and it was hard enough to see in the dark without having dirt kicked in my face too. I retrieved a knife from my belt and then carefully placed the hilt into my mouth. I bit down hard to ensure I didn’t drop it and then began reaching frantically for the traces connecting the horse’s harnesses to the carriage. My hand finally found the chains and I felt my way along the cool metal links until I felt the connecting leather straps. I wasted no time slicing through the straps, which in turn released the horses.

  “Gordon, release the reigns!”

  He did as I commanded. The horses were apparently aware of their impending doom because they wasted no time veering off our current heading and disappeared into the darkness. Now the only thing ahead of us was a few hundred feet of earth that ended abruptly with at least a five hundred foot drop into the Atlantic Ocean.

  I quickly climbed back into the seat and followed Gordon who was already pulling his body up on the roof. Once we were both on the roof, Gordon glanced at Andy, did a double take, and then glanced at me.

  “Who the bloody hell is this?” he shouted.

  “Andy Bonnet of course,” I answered.

  “Actually, my name is Andrea,” Andy corrected us. “How do you do?” she asked nonchalantly, her long blonde hair flowing wildly in the wind.

  The look of confusion on Gordon’s face no doubt matched my own, but this was no time to discuss the fact that Andy—Andrea, was in fact a woman. I refocused my attention on the vast openness beyond the cliffs ahead. The carriage seemed to be picking up speed as it progressed down the hill.

  “Okay, this is it,” I yelled. “As soon as the carriage goes off the cliff, jump off and get as far away from it as you can. We don’t want this thing crashing on top of us and trapping us under the water.”

  Gordon nodded as he knew what to expect, Andrea on the other hand had a look of complete terror wash over her dirty face.

  “Are you sure about this?” she screamed.

  “No, of course not,” I answered.

  For a moment it seemed her fear subsided and was replaced by anger. However, that moment was short lived as the prison carriage launched off the cliff like it had been fired from a twelve-pounder.

  The ground beneath us disappeared and was replaced immediately with a large canvas of ocean. We managed to push our bodies away from the falling block of iron on wheels, and the fall seemed to take minutes rather than seconds. I must confess that I expected to hear Andrea screaming on the way down, and maybe she was, but I would’ve never been able to hear it over Gordon’s own high pitched wailing.

  I finally made contact with the water, feet first, and my body tore through the sea as smoothly as an arrow. I plunged so far down I half expected my boots to hit the sandy bottom at any second. When the sensation of earth under my feet never came, I made my way back to the surface in a much slower fashion than I’d experienced on the way down. It was an eerie feeling, swimming in total blackness, and for a moment it occurred to me that there was no way to be certain if I was even swimming up or down. I allowed my instincts to guide me and when I finally did burst through the wall of water and back into the cool night air, my attention immediately turned toward finding Gordon and Andrea.

  “Gordon!” I shouted. “Andrea, are you there?”

  I heard a gurgling, followed by an odd splashing sound. I looked behind me just in time to see the rear corner of the prison carriage disappear beneath the calm waters.

  “Sir,” I heard Andrea shout. “Sir, I’m over here!”

  I saw her treading water even further out than where I’d seen the carriage sink. As I swam toward her I looked both directions for any sign of Gordon. I didn’t see or hear any sign of him and just as I was beginning to worry I heard another voice that wasn’t Gordon’s, but it was a voice I knew well.

  “That was a hell of a ride Cap’n,” Langley called out from somewhere to my right. My eyes finally adjusted enough to the darkness to make out the silhouette of a small rowboat drifting toward Andrea.

  “Yes, it was quite fun actually,” I replied.

  Langley had come through for me, just as he always did. Gordon doubted him, but I did not. The thought brought on the realization that I still had not located Gordon. I did my best to quell the spark of panic that was trying desperately to ignite.

  “Langley, have you seen Gordon?”

  “I’ve got him, Cap’n. He’s a lucky swab, he is. He was knocked out cold when I found him floating on the surface, probably popped his head on that carriage.”

  I was somewhat alarmed at this news, but at the same time Langley’s tone didn’t sound very concerned. This eased my mind a little as I swam to the boat. Langley was pulling Andrea on board as I pulled myself on board behind him. I crawled toward Gordon and quickly put my ear to his chest. There was a heartbeat and his chest moved up and down…he was breathing. I turned my attention to his head and I found a nice lump just above his right eyebrow at the hairline. There was a small cut as well, but little blood to speak of. Langley was right; he was indeed a lucky man tonight.

  “Langley, to the cave…quickly!”

  “Who are you gentlemen?” Andrea asked suddenly.

  I turned to face her and figured now was as good a time as any to tell her.

  “My dear, the man who is currently napping is Gordon Littleton. Our rescuer there is Oliver Langley. I am the notorious Captain Redd Reeves,” I said gleefully.

  There was no mistaking her puzzled expression, even in the darkness. “You’re who?” was the response.

  I snorted and was unsure as to whether I should be offended or embarrassed.

  “You seriously have never heard of me?”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

  I rolled my eyes; fully aware of the fact she’d be unable to see it. “I suppose it doesn’t matter right now dear. What does matter is this: were you or were you not recently among the crew of Captain Winston Trimble?”

  There was a long silence and all that could be heard was the subtle splashing that resulted from Langley’s steady rowing.

  “Captain Trimble marooned me…left me for dead,” she said finally. Her tone suggested that she was genuinely hurt by what Trimble had done to her. I knew she
was young, but I found it difficult to understand how she did not realize how incredibly lucky she was to have not suffered a worse fate at the hands of such a sadistic mad man.

  “Andrea, marooning a man—or in your case a woman—is a terrible fate for any pirate. But frankly I’m surprise Trimble let you off so easy.”

  She said nothing in response.

  “What I’d really like to know,” I continued. “Is how does a young lass like yourself end up on board a bloody pirate ship? And not just any pirate ship…you wound up on the most feared pirate ship of the entire world. Tell me, how does that happen dearie?”

  I could hear her sniffling and it suddenly became apparent that the woman was crying. I was taken aback; I didn’t know what to say. How did a woman like Andrea become a pirate? She clearly didn’t have the stomach for it.

  “The way it happens,” she began through the sobs. “The way it happened to me is…Captain Trimble is my father,” she said abruptly. Andrea then planted her face in her hands and the tears flowed aplenty.

  Chapter 4 :

  The sea seemed as much a part of Oliver Langley as his arms and legs. He could guide a ship (or in this case a row boat) through the darkness with as much precision as he could through the brightest of days. As strange as it sounds, the instincts that seemed to guide him were even sharper after he’d drank a few pints of rum. It was hard for me to see anything in the moonless summer night, and all I could do was trust Langley to get us to our destination with enough haste to evade the inevitable swarm of red coats that would soon begin searching the water for survivors.

  I wondered if they would be smart enough to realize that our dangerous escape was all part of a well-executed plan. Obviously, it was my hope that they would believe it was an escape plot that went terribly wrong. There would no doubt be confusion early on, but I knew as soon as they examined the cut leather straps that had once connected the horses to the carriage, it would then become apparent that they were dealing with a daring escape plan instead of a foiled one.