As Shamus sat on the deck with two other sailors in a triangle formation, a gasp went up from the crowd as all the silver rounds were slid into a pot. One of Shamus’s opponents wore a fancy gentleman’s blue hat. The other gambler was shirtless and only wore a hempen necklace tied with shells. The three men each had five dice in front of them on the deck and a worn, wooden cup. Holding each other's gazes, the three men collected the dice carefully, dropped them in their cups, and then wildly shook. A thunderous crack echoed above the waves lapping the bow of the Robin as all three men in unison slammed their cups down on the deck.
All eyes watched as the combatants peeked under their cups.
“Im'a open with 4 twos,” the shirtless man stated.
“Dar be 4 sixes on deck,” Shamus corrected, upping the ante.
“I will have to follow our shirtless friend’s lead," the top hat man countered with a confident smile and a well-educated English accent. "I believe there are 5 twos.”
“There are 6 twos on the floor,” the shirtless man offered with a grin.
“Ya two be weedy, crook-pated liars," Shamus screeched. "I am callin’ ya out!”
The three men lifted their cups revealing their dice so that the counting could begin.
The shirtless man had 4 twos.
The man wearing the top hat revealed 2 twos.
“Ya Bloody liars and cheats! ” Shamus cursed as he revealed he also had a die showing a two.
"Well that is seven," the educated gentleman informed Shamus. "Cast your die in, sir.”
“Fie! I can do numbers, ya clapper-clawed codpiece,” Shamus pouted as he tossed one of his die into the pot.
The men collected their dice but Shamus now only had 4 dice and the others still had 5. They shook their cups. Crack!
Shamus quickly lost two more obscenity-filled rounds and was now just down to two remaining dice. Although he was down in dice, the toothless pale man used the opportunity to study his opponents closely. The gentleman always opened with a bid with a bluff, lying about dice he did not have. He hoped his opponents would bid too high and then he could call their lie out. The other man seemed more honest except when he would toy with his necklace, a subtle tell. Shamus continued to cuss like a madman, but it was all theater now. He knew he had all the information he needed to quickly turn the game around.
Crack!
“I open with 4 threes,” the gentleman coolly stated.
Shamus immediately pounced on him and challenged, “You be a rank, flap-mouthed, lyin’ harpy! Call him out!"
“I think ya may be right," the shirtless man agreed with Shamus before turning to the gentleman. "You be a surly liar!”
The gentleman's mouth was slightly agape as he questioned, “It's opening bid. Are you sure you want to call?"
“Stop larkin' 'round," Shamus called out pointing at the gentleman's cup. "Show ya bloody dice.”
The business of turning cups began. Shamus's cup revealed he had 1 three. The shirtless sailor had 2 three's. The top hat man had none.
“Only 3 t’rees," Shamus howled in victory. "Cast ya die, ya puny, onion-eyed mammets!"
The game went back and forth with lies upon lies until all three men only had one die each. Shamus wondered if he should open with a lie or actually be honest and play his die true. Honest to his nature, he decided to lie. “I open with 1 five, ya sheep-bitin' louts” Shamus cooed happily.
The gentleman was frustrated losing so many dice to two such lowly characters and was becoming quickly disgusted with Shamus's outbursts.
Shamus snapped at the gentleman "Now make ya bet, ya mammerin' flap-mouthed eejit."
“Very well," the gentleman in the hat pompously conceded. "I have 1 six.”
The shirtless man quietly stated, “2 threes,” without fondling his necklace. Shamus's eyes widened. He knew he was holding a three and assumed if this man was not lying, he must also have a three.
“Ok, ya goatish, fool-born canker-blossoms." Shamus confidently proclaimed, "I am calling da bid spot on.” A hush fell over the very large crowd that had collected around the high stakes game. All eyes eagerly waited.
Shamus had a three. As Shamus predicted, the shirtless man also had a three. The top hat man told the truth and actually had a six.
The bid was spot on. Both of Shamus’ opponents grumbled. They cast their losing dice into the pot and the crowd erupted with roars and cheering.
Shamus could barely lift the pot full of silver and threatened the crew, “If any of ya dankish badgers touch this silver, I’ll run ya through and throw ya into da drink!”
The crowd laughed and made mock threats to steal Shamus's fortune when he slept. So happy to see a common man win, the crowd continued cheering and thumping the deck with their feet, howling and clapping, long after the shirtless man congratulated Shamus and the gentleman sulked off.
Only a few days were left of the crossing and to the crew's pleasure, it had been relatively uneventful. It was commonly known that crossing the ocean in early summer can be very treacherous because of the wild weather but the ship had been lucky to not have the ocean's wrath affect them. The crew attributed the good weather and good luck to the proper care given to the old sea rituals.
A bottle had been successfully smashed on the hull to ensure a safe return and a horseshoe was properly secured to the mast to keep storms away. A black cat was kept on board, ensuring the sailors would safely return home from sea and rum was generously poured on the deck and in the ocean to offer the sea god a bribe for safe passage. Most of the sailors wore earrings to prevent them from drowning and were properly tattooed for protection as well. The ship was adorned with a figurehead of a bare-breasted woman with a robin's head. This was so the naked woman could calm stormy seas, offer an eye to see the way to their destination and the robin's head was added so that unlettered sailors could easily identify the Robin. All these precautions convinced the sailors of safe passage. When a family of dolphins was spotted off starboard side swimming with the ship, the crew was confident that they and their ship were blessed.
The figurehead of the Robin
Pirates of Savannah Trilogy: Book One, Sold in Savannah - Young Adult Action Adventure Historical Fiction Page 12