I recognized the voice that was quickly becoming no more than a nuisance to me and only glanced up for a moment to acknowledge Carbonale’s presence, now filling the doorway of my cabin. “How I run my ship isn’t your concern. That boy’s well-being isn’t either, Carbonale.” I rose slowly from my chair and straightened the maps I’d been going over all morning.
“Apologies, Captain, and please, call me Maddox. Have I interrupted something?”
After I drew a deep breath and blew out the urge to split his cast iron skull once and for all, I answered, “I have business to attend to and your lingering in my doorway isn’t only an interruption, it’s an impediment to my ability to do my job.” I lifted my spyglass from my desk and moved towards him like a charging bull. He wisely moved aside. His boot-steps fell behind me as I headed through the passageway towards the quarterdeck.
“If I may ask but a moment of your time, Captain, to inquire as to whether or not you’re planning to attack that merchant ship?”
Without even the slightest pause in my stride, I answered, “Carbonale, as I informed you twenty paces ago, what I do or don’t do is none of your concern.” I found some adolescent joy in addressing him solely by his surname. It was an obvious annoyance to the young man.
“For a career navy man, you’re running this a bit by the seat, I see.”
“Let’s just say I’m weighing my options. Pay attention and perhaps you’ll learn how a real captain runs a ship.”
“She’s a merchantman all right, Captain.” Miles pointed in the direction of the ship as I joined him at the gunnel.
“Do we know who she is and for whom she sails?”
“It appears she’s the York’s Keep. Her course and features match the information you have in the log. She’s got some swivels that could smack us around a bit, should her captain become suspicious once we come alongside.”
“Well, then.” I slapped his big shoulder and smiled. “Let us not give him a reason to worry.”
Miles rubbed his newly clean-shaven jaw. “Your decision to continue to enforce the Royal Navy rules had a reason after all—at least for now.”
“Signal we intend to come alongside for a routine visit.” I nodded.
“Aye, Captain.” Miles went off to prepare as we inched our way closer.
“Sir, do you think there will be a lot of fighting?” Adam asked.
I placed my hand on the boy’s shoulder and smiled. “Doubtful. As far as they are concerned, we’re a ship of the Royal Navy out on a mission of some sort and only making a routine inspection, or we’re looking to buy some provisions.”
“Oh.” He lowered his head.
I laughed. “Don’t look so disappointed. Unfortunately, there may be plenty of fighting in the future, you can be certain of that.” He smiled and returned to watching Gimby, his favorite pastime, until I was ready to relay my orders. If I were to base Adam’s value on his sheer loyalty, I knew the boy would make a fine sailor someday. The red welt on his cheek was fading but the pain it caused lingered in me like I’d swallowed a meal of rancid pork every time I saw it.
“Aye, deception. Good plan,” Carbonale said.
“My fight isn’t with the crew of that ship, unless it becomes necessary,” I stated.
“Revenge on the owners of the ship and her cargo, perhaps?”
Carbonale stepped to my side and I noticed the nodding of his head at the edge of my vision. His acknowledgement of my plans apparently brought with it the approval of my private war. I walked down the gangway to the main deck, encouraging the men to remain as calm as we would on any other inspection visit, but to be prepared to take the ship on my signal if necessary.
“What signal, Captain?” asked one recent young recruit to the crew.
“When my pistol is aimed at their captain’s head…or he is lying dead at my feet.”
Another man laughed. “The usual then, Cap’n.”
“Yes, McKay. The usual.” I pounded his back with a chuckle. The rest of the crew laughed as well. No matter the duty, it was imperative that they were all aware of our position in any situation. They were accustomed to and appreciated the order of things, as did I. In our new state of affairs, the affirmative participation of my crew was now even more important than ever before. Pirate or sailor, we still had business to take care of.
“Captain, come aboard!” the captain of the merchant ship called as the gangplanks were lowered and I accepted his welcome, accompanied by Miles.
“Captain,” I nodded. “Has your trip from the colonies been uneventful to date?”
The pudgy man laughed. “The weather has been fair and the seas calm. The York’s Keep has given us very little to be concerned about, Captain…?”
“Captain Gabriel Wallace and this is Lieutenant Miles Jacobs.”
“Oh yes, my apologies. I am Captain Ronald Marigold.” He extended a bejeweled hand.
By the time my gun was pressed to his temple, Miles had two pistols aimed at the crew.
“Who wants to die first? That’s easy…right, gents? The first man who moves,” Miles said.
The merchant sailors stood down and moved no more than to blink, as my men from the Majesty’s Venture dropped several more planks and hurried aboard, heavily armed.
“What is the meaning of this?” Marigold asked.
“A simple and quiet affair, as long as everyone cooperates,” I said. “Gentlemen, if you’d be so kind as to relieve yourselves of your weapons.”
Upon their hesitation, Miles shouted, “Drop them, before we drop you where you stand and feed your bloody carcasses to the sharks!”
“Load all goods from the York’s Keep onto the Majesty’s Venture; all ammunitions, including any ship-repair materials. All that is to remain is enough food and water for the crew to arrive safely in London.”
“I’ve never heard of such piratical tactics from any respectable navy captain in all my days at sea. Gentlemen of Her Majesty’s fleet behaving like no more than…than common pirates!”
I lowered my weapon and glared at Marigold. “Pirates, you say? No, it’s far worse—I am vengeance.” As I turned from him to oversee the transfer of the cargo, Marigold clamped onto my arm.
“Captain!” Miles shouted.
The dagger in Marigold’s soft fingers was flashing toward me. I dashed out of the way and the blade sliced only the air between us. A second later, I snatched the fool by his coat and rammed his head into the mainmast, splitting his scalp wide open and dropping his body on the deck.
“I wanted this peaceful!” I bellowed as I paced furiously in front of the men of the York’s Keep. “Choose now. Do what you’re told and live, or follow your foolish captain’s lead and die. Should you choose death, I assure you, it will come swiftly upon my order!”
Sweat dripped from beneath my wool tricorn hat. I ripped it from my head and hurled it across the gap between the ships. I could feel the sun setting the damp redness of my hair aflame.
“Captain.” Miles nodded in the direction of the York’s Keep’s doctor, who knelt at the side of his lifeless captain and shook his head.
“He’s dead as a result of his own foolishness and any other man who makes the same choice will land at his side. I never lay uncertain hands on a man who aims to kill me,” I said as I leapt onto the plank and started back over to the Majesty’s Venture. I turned back with one last directive, “Mister Jacobs, should any of that crew choose death, it will be by my hand.”
I turned to see Carbonale eyeing me as he leaned on the gunnel. “That was interesting.”
“I’m pleased you enjoyed it,” I responded.
“You’re not a simple man at all, Captain. I’d have to say you’re one of the most complex gentlemen I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. If I’m speaking my true mind, I’m actually looking forward to learning more.” He grinned. “It seems Naval Captain Gabriel Wallace stayed behind in London.”
“Just be grateful you weren’t left behind in London, Carbonale,” I
said as I leapt onto the main deck without as much as a glance in his direction. “Why don’t you make good use of yourself and keep an eye on Miles’s back?”
By nightfall, we’d relieved the York’s Keep of her hull full of tobacco and hemp and turned our thoughts to Boston. That was, until our discussion was interrupted by a light tapping and the opening of my cabin door.
“Captain, a word with ye, if I may,” Gimby said, standing in the doorway. Miles and I had gathered the manifest of the York’s Keep and had nearly completed our tally of the haul.
“I believe we’re finished here, Captain. Mister Gimby, he’s all yours,” Miles said as he stood and placed his hat on his head.
“No, I mean ta say, please stay, Mister Jacobs. I believe your input in what I’m about to propose will be of some importance.” Gimby entered the cabin and removed his hat as he closed the door.
“Well, this seems either a grave or sensitive matter. Take a seat, Mister Gimby.” Shifting my mind from affairs of cargo and shares, I sat the log aside and gave the man my full attention. Miles pulled a chair beside Gimby and waited with me for the man to speak. Gimby rarely approached me privately over any matter. The tips of my fingers tapped out my curiosity until he spoke.
“Articles, sir,” he said.
“Articles? What do you mean?” I asked.
“We’ve a crew of men, some we’ve taken on just today, who ain’t navy men no more. Now our crew, the one’s who’s been in yer service, understand our ways but these new gents, they’s gonna need ta know the rules.”
“Do you mean articles of agreement?” Miles asked, turning in his seat to face Gimby.
“That’s exactly what I’m sayin’. Not that we’s pirates, sir, but there’s already grumbling out there as to who’s who and what-not.”
“The man has a valid point, Gabriel. We need something in writing; a list of basic rules, so to speak.” Miles looked over at me to gauge my thoughts as I leaned back and folded my arms. “I’ve heard that aboard pirate ships, every man is equal. They have a captain, first mate, and the like, but all men must abide by the same rules, lest they’d most likely kill each other.”
“All pirate crews have ‘em, Cap’n. That’s just how it’s done.” Gimby looked over at Miles and then back at me and nodded.
I leaned forward, pulled a clean sheet of parchment from the log and dipped my quill. “Well, then; I suppose we’d better get to work. Once we’re through, Mister Gimby, order every man to join us on the quarterdeck for the reading, voting upon and signing of these articles. I want no man to misunderstand what’s expected of him. Equal or not, there can be no equality without acknowledgment by way of them making their mark. Now, let’s put our three melons together and get this done tonight. We’ll not see the sun rise without every man aboard knowing his rights, as well as the rights of his brothers. Adam?”
“Aye, sir!” the boy exclaimed, pushing open my cabin door.
“Have our evening meal brought in, as well as a pitcher of ale.”
The next morning, my young navigator, Phillip Montgomery, plotted the course to Boston with me. Throughout our voyage, the young former lieutenant, Carbonale, not only made himself useful, he tossed off his fancy coat and left as much, if not more, sweat on my decks than any man aboard. I had to confess to Miles, after watching him race up the ratlines and walk the yards, I wouldn’t mind keeping the lad on and bypass Boston altogether, as long as he could keep his big mouth shut. Regardless of my doubts about offering Maddox the opportunity to stay on, within forty-two days of almost completely uneventful sail, save for a few brief and welcome downpours of fresh water, we made port in Boston, Massachusetts on Tuesday, November tenth, seventeen-hundred and five.
Five
“Captain Wallace, I am eternally in your debt,” Carbonale said and offered his hand to me. “Thanks to you, I remain alive and whole and you’ve safely delivered me to Boston. Dare I say, I believe myself a better man for having sailed with you.”
The vigor of his handshake didn’t come as a complete surprise. Despite what I’d assessed as an entitled and lazy nature at first, I remembered the strength and fortitude the young man displayed the night of Hawthorne’s demise and the dedication he’d shown for the past month. However, in this new and bustling atmosphere, an ocean away from the noose awaiting him, I imagined his only concern was his next romantic conquest and the physical labor required to raise a woman’s skirts.
Once the ship was secured and my watch given their orders, several of us made our way into town under the cover of a cool, cloudy coastal evening, to a tavern off of the main street that I’d frequented on previous excursions to Boston. In a symbolic attempt to cast off our former lives, I’d taken the lead in discarding my Royal Navy uniform somewhere half-way between London and America. By nightfall, the Atlantic Ocean was littered in red and blue.
We were sick of cured ham and potatoes and I was curious to find out how it felt to be someone else for a while. After the taking of York’s Keep, I believed we were all someone else, anyway. When I addressed the crew following the pillaging of her goods, the change in us all was evident. No more formalities and salutes—I had forbidden them. We were all equal now, with our own minds and decisions to make. These men weren’t pirates in the ways I’d heard and seen them but they weren’t the honorable, well-groomed lads who’d previously followed my orders without so much as a blink, either. They still looked to me for direction but now, with the knowledge that under our new banner of community and equality they stood to gain more wealth then they’d ever dreamed, working for themselves was an option none of them could refuse. They took to this new life as if living unbridled by society had always smoldered within them, awaiting freedom to fan the flames. The tossing off of our uniforms was no more than a symbol of what lay ahead. We also threw off the stringent and often-times debilitating weight of doing someone else’s bidding. We were all free men…and live free we did.
The tavern was dark and the rugged and lined faces of strangers sitting around the tables glowed orange by lantern light. Then it occurred to me; we were strangers, too.
“As much as it pains me to admit it, I think I’m losing a good man. Once you set aside your annoying habit of sticking your nose where it needn’t be, as well as your pretentious airs and got down to work, you did indeed prove my assumptions about you to be false.”
“Please, Captain, don’t flatter me into someone I’m not. A month at sea among only men brought on a terrible case of boredom. Besides, a man needs fresh air and recreation, no? I love the sea and sailing. It’s good for a man’s body, as well as his soul.” He flashed a toothy smile at me from across the table and leaned back in his chair to show off his peacock feathers again.
Although set back on a side street, judging by the number of patrons, as well as their dining choices, the tavern appeared to be among the best in Boston. We chose the steak, which was the best I’d eaten in my life. Judging by Maddox’s appetite and the sounds he made with each bite that passed his lips, I assumed my guest for dinner was quite satisfied as well.
With my personal business now out of the way via the stripping of the York’s Keep, I felt strangely at ease with myself and gave in to the notion to relax and enjoy my company, which oddly enough, I was allowing myself to feel cordial with.
“So, Maddox, this is just my opinion but you may need to find a tailor before your wardrobe embarrasses you during your next altercation with a jealous husband.”
“Excellent suggestion, my friend but I hate to disappoint you. I have no intentions of finding myself ensnared in any further romantic adventures that might bring about an early death.” He chuckled as he pointed his knife at me as an extension of his hand when he spoke. “As for the Lady Agatha Hawthorne—because I’m certain that a man of your rank and professionalism has been wondering why I’d entangle myself in such an affair—that was simply a matter of two old friends reuniting for some…remembrances, shall we say.” He winked up from his plate.
“You and she knew each other before?”
He nodded as he moaned over his steak again, and chewed and swallowed it before answering. “She was the younger sister of a good friend of mine whom I was blessed to see blossom with gifts any man would desire.” He raised his tankard of ale at me and the lantern illuminated the smile in his green eyes, making them glow even brighter with obvious memories.
“Did you know she was married to the Admiral?”
He set his tankard down slowly and lowered his brow. “No. On that fact, I will swear my life. I only knew she had moved and I’d lost contact with her. We weren’t in love, if that’s what you’re asking, so it wasn’t as if we shared lovelorn correspondence and I thought to set off and drag her back. In retrospect, when I ran into her again in London when I was reassigned to your ship, I suppose I should have known something was amiss. Her clothing was expensive…too expensive. However, I had witnessed the elevation of several young women of lower birth who were shall we say, gifted in other ways and ultimately became rather well-supported.”
“A mistress?”
Again he paused to chew and point his knife as he spoke; now lowering his tone. “I do confess you read me well, Captain. However, her clothing and jewels were far too expensive and well beyond anything a mistress could, or should, possess. My deep regret in the whole matter is that in my eagerness to reunite with the lady, I allowed myself to go blind to everything that covered the alabaster skin that I’d hardly known I’d missed, until I saw her again. Alas,” he said pushing back from the table. “I should have known better. Now a man is dead.” Those glowing green eyes now went dark as he leaned out of the lantern light and opened his waistcoat.
“Did she attempt to persuade you to stay?” I inquired, as I wiped my lips with a napkin and took a long swig of ale.
Again, the toothy white smile and deeply dimpled cheeks appeared and I watched two waitresses swoon and giggle at the sight from across the room. “There were attempts,” he cocked his curly black head to the side and noticed the attention paid him as well and nodded. “But I had plans of my own for the future and a woman, least of all someone’s mistress and God forbid, wife, is not a permanent part of it.”
AMBER WAKE: Gabriel Falling (The Razor's Adventures Pirate Tales) Page 4