Gunpowder & Gold (Justified Treason, Book 4): Endless Horizon Pirate Stories

by Cristi Taijeron

  “Mariposa de Oro?” Charlie squawked. She had been talking to Marty about other things, but this mention had obviously caught her interest.

  “The Golden Butterfly.” Flynn smiled wickedly. “Reid’s been looking for another ship to take up the rear, and as busy as he is with his other work, he asked me to find him the crew best fit for the job. Not only will your Wicked Rose fit the bill just fine, but with you at the helm, I reckon the three of us could take over the world.”

  I felt my lips curl with a similar grin. The idea of regaining my crew’s faith in our future excited me beyond the petty issues I had with James Reid.

  “That we could.” We smashed our mugs together. “So what’s the plan?”

  “All right.” Flynn leaned in closer. “We’re to meet him here, early March. Got to be in ship shape and ready to sail out by the fifteenth. And that’s all I know for now.”

  “That’s all I need to know to bring the matter to vote.” I reached over the table to shake hands with my mate, assuring him that my vote was in his favor.

  “Hallelujah!” Charlie hooted. “I knew you would pull it off, Bentley! And you, Faron Flynn.” She tossed him a cigarro. “Normally you just irritate me, but right now I like you a bit.”

  “Ah, the tales I’ve heard of Bentley’s Black Rose make me think you aren’t quite as annoying as you used to be, either.” He lit the cigarro she had given him.

  As Charlie lit her own, Mary squealed, “Oh! Charlie Bentley smokes now?”

  “That’s right.” Charlie exhaled her smoke in the O shaped puffs that she was so proud of. “I choked like a dying duck the first time, but I now enjoy the flavor. It’s relaxing. But I don’t want to relax right now.” Shooting up from her lounged position, she began unlacing her shirt. “I want to show you my tattoo.”

  Tugging her shirt back, she showed her friend the black rose on her chest. Both Faron and Mary’s eyes widened with shock, but Faron was the first one to comment. “I can’t see it all, show me more.”

  “You dirty dog!” Mary covered his eyes. Once Charlie laced up, Mary pulled a hookah out of her duffle and started packing the bowl with hashish. “Tell you what, Charlie. I’ve picked up a few new habits myself.” She passed the hookah over. “Have a taste.”

  Charlie waved her hands. “No thank you. My opium days are over.”

  Mary took the first hit herself. With a smooth exhale, she said, “This is Moroccan hashish. Similar effects as opium, but not as intense, and it gets me feeling all giggly. Lord knows I could use a good laugh after the hell I’ve been through.”

  Quickly persuaded by her friend’s offer, Charlie took the pipe. “What the hell have you been through since I last saw you, Mary?”

  “The usual hard day’s work. Sailing, stealing, spending. Sailing, stealing, spending. But robbing the Spanish is no easy feat.” She dramatically wiped her forehead.

  Flynn interjected, “Aye, but we aren’t sharing that shit with the crown no more. We’re sailing under the black again and the loot’s all ours.”

  I held my bottle up to meet his. “Cheers to that, mate. I wasn’t fond of sharing with them blokes, either.”

  Mary’s eyes widened. “Sharing or not, I can’t believe the amount of gold we have acquired. Shit, I didn’t even know what to do with it all. Once we got to Port Royal—where most of the men emptied their pockets in the first few nights—I realized I just don’t want that many things.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I got some new clothes, including this pretty plum-colored coat, but I put the rest ashore with James Reid’s banker.”

  “So you’re trusting that bastard with your loot and your future?” I squinted at Flynn while accepting my turn with the hookah.

  Marty barked her dissatisfaction over my interference regarding her money, but Flynn spoke over her, “I don’t trust him any more than I trust anyone I use to get what I have to get. Do you know something I don’t know about him?”

  Not wanting to tell the pathetic story, I said, “I had my own problem with him years ago, but nothing worth forsaking this opportunity for. Just keep your eyes open, mate.” I exhaled the flavorful smoke.

  “I always do.” Flynn snatched the hookah away from me and handed it to Mary to reload for him.

  As the buzz hit my head, I chuckled, “It’s been a while since I’ve smoked this shit. I forgot how much I like it.”

  “I like it, too.” Charlie clapped. “I want to grow the plant in my garden when we retire.”

  “Just as long as you don’t start growing poppy flowers.” I poked her arm.

  “I just might.” She smiled slyly at me.

  Flynn coughed. “I’ll teach you how to grow anything you want. I spent most of my life working in the fields, and I’ll tell you, mate, I grow the best potatoes ever known to man.”

  “He does.” Mary exhaled her smoke. “When we retire he is going to grow them for me so I can make him potato soup on Friday nights.”

  “I’m never retiring,” Flynn sneered.

  “You can’t have it all, Faron Flynn.” Mary playfully punched his arm. “Piracy or potato soup. Choices, choices.”

  He stroked his goatee, heavy in thought until Charlie started asking him about farming.

  High as the clouds, we carried on into the night, drinking, smoking and playing cards with our ladies on our laps. Charlie won every damned game, Mary kept the hookah packed and moving around the circle, and Flynn had me laughing so hard my gut was aching.

  Enjoying the good company without thought for the time, I was surprised when I saw the golden rays of sunlight illuminating the stern windows. Squinting at the unexpected ray of light, I scratched my head. “Well, shit. That happened fast.”

  “Goddamn it.” Flynn stood up. “Now it’s going to be all hot and shit while I sleep.” He picked Mary up in his arms. “You can fan me like a king while I snore.”

  “Yes, your majesty,” Mary giggled.

  “It’s been fun, Bentley,” Faron said as he carried Marty towards the door. She blew kisses to Charlie and told her she loved her until the door closed behind them.

  Stripping down to my breeches, I flopped down in bed. “Don’t wake me until noon.”

  Without bothering to change, Charlie got into bed beside me. “If I am awake by then. I truly like this hashish. I want to smoke it every day.”

  “Ah, Charlie, you’re too much. Drinking and smoking and getting tattoos.”

  “Yes, I want another tattoo, too.” She snuggled against my chest.

  “What the hell else kind of tattoo do you want?”

  “Maybe I will have your compass rose inked. Just a little one.” She snickered like a little witch.

  I laughed, too.

  We continued with our delirious humor until eventually she fell asleep. With her soft breath breezing on my chest, I ran my hands through her hair and thought about our future. It seemed everything was on course, but the prize we were after would be no easy treat, and the thought of having my little hellcat beside me during such a raid wasn’t resting well on my soul. My mind ran wild with all the dreadful possibilities—keeping me awake for what seemed like hours—until I finally tried to wake her. “Charlie.” I kissed her forehead.

  “Yes, my love?” she mumbled.

  “Why don’t you wait ashore for me during this raid?”

  “Why don’t you stick a load of round shot up your arse?” she responded without opening her eyes. “I am just as free as you are, Sterling Bentley, and I choose to go wherever you go. Plus, it’s double the gold if we go together.”

  X

  Rounding up my crew of drunken dissidents was as hard as herding cats. The sun was nearly setting by the time me and Charlie managed to get all eighty-five of them standing at attention on the main deck. Once we got their drunk and belligerent arses quiet, I said, “Good Lord. The lot of you looks like you were raised from the dirt you died in—and smell worse than the dead, I’m sure. I take that as a sign of loot well spent.”

  While
they shared the sinful debaucheries they’d indulged in over the past two weeks—some of which made me laugh, while others made me wince—I chuckled to myself about their crude reports.

  Waving my hands to tame their rowdy shouts, I said, “I didn’t call you together for you to tell me what you stuck where or how little you paid to do so, but to let you know we have a new heading to vote on.”

  After hushing the ohs and ahs, I informed them of my meeting with Faron Flynn—who more than half of them knew and revered. The vote to join him and Black James Reid to take down Mariposa de Oro, was unanimous.

  Glad to hear the outcome of the vote, I said, “I like the idea rather well myself. Now, I want to ask you this: how many of you have fought against the Spanish?”

  Though the men who had experienced that type of war before were few, their roar was boastful.

  “All right. Then the brave and bawdy few of you can stand beside me while I warn the virgins of the perils ahead. Merchants are easy, cowering to our black flag—weeping while we rob them blind, but not the Spanish, no. They fight tooth and nail from the moment we come close enough to bite, until the time we invade their decks with our swords and fists. For if they return to Spain with an empty hold, they’ll pay the difference with blood from their own necks. With all of that in mind, I need to know who’s up for taking on a group like that?”

  The shouts of their agreement were so loud, and so powerful, I could smell the foulness of their breath as it blew past me.

  Feeling my lips lift into a proud smile, I said, “As you know, it’s my greatest fancy to wage war on those bloody Dons and I’m glad to see that we agree to take on the risk at hand.”

  After I explained the timeline we were dealing with, the men who had spent their loot voted to hunt down an easy prize to hold us over. The meeting closed with everyone agreeing to get back to sea first thing in the morning.

  As the crewmen rowed ashore for their last night on the town, Flynn came across the boarding plank to greet me. Sitting on a barrel, he chomped into an apple. “Sounds like that went well.”

  “Well enough.” I took my shirt off and wiped my sweaty forehead with it. “You know, I never wanted to take this position, but it isn’t so bad leading these dogs.”

  “Damn better than being led by one of them,” Flynn chuckled.

  “That’s for sure.” I stroked my goatee. “Want to help me mount my new guns?”

  “There isn’t much else I’d rather do.” He hopped off the barrel. “Are these the beauties you were going to trade that map for?”

  “Aye. Black Rose sweet talked that toothless Frenchman into selling them to us for far less than they’re worth. She said a few things to him in French that had him so dreamy eyed, I don’t think he could see the shit he was giving away.”

  “It pays to have a woman on your side every now and then,” Flynn said as he threw his apple core overboard.

  While we discussed the best place to mount the guns, Marty and Charlie approached us.

  “We’re going to town,” Charlie said.

  “Just you two?” I asked, feeling my face wince with worry.

  “Pablo will be joining us,” Mary giggled as she ruffled the feathers of the parrot perched on her shoulder.

  “Don’t worry, love,” Charlie attempted to reassure me. “We’ll stick with the crew and we won’t be gone long. I want to get some new clothes.”

  “But you just got new clothes yesterday.” I flicked the sleeve of her clean ivory shirt.

  “I know. But unlike you, I like to change my outfit every now and then. So I’m going to buy a coat I saw at Mister Bernard’s place.”

  I didn’t like the idea one bit, but I didn’t feel like going, or hearing her rant about how she was just as free as I was. “You’ll be back before midnight or I’ll burn that town down looking for you.” I kissed her cheek.

  “We’ll be fine and shall return well before midnight.” She kissed me and went on her way.

  Watching them row off, I said to Flynn, “They look just like blokes from afar.”

  “Fight as well as them, too.” Flynn scratched his head. “Honestly, I’m beginning to think that beauty of mine is stronger than I am.”

  Intrigued by the confused expression on his face, I chuckled, “Did she throw another knife at your cock or something?”

  “I’d rather tell you that was the case, but in fact…” He sat back down. The serious tone he took drew me in to sit down as well. After taking a deep breath, he said, “We lost a baby a few months back. She carried him for five months, but that was all.” He lowered his head. “I was there when he was born, Bentley. I held her hand while she screamed and cried getting him out, knowing damned well it was too early. And I held her as she wept when he didn’t make it. She hasn’t said a word about it since I buried him, but I hear her crying in the night, and I often catch her staring into space looking all sad. It bothers her more than she’ll let on, and I don’t like seeing her hurt that way, especially knowing there isn’t anything I can do about it. And well, I didn’t like burying my boy, either. The whole thing was like a shitty nightmare I can’t seem to wake up from.”

  “I’m sorry, mate.” I patted his back, not sure of what else to say.

  “Ah, I know it isn’t a good subject, but I haven’t told no one else a thing about it, and well, you’re one of the only friends I got, mate.”

  “Likewise. I don’t know shit about that shit, but I can listen.”

  “Thanks for that.” He took a drink. “I suppose that’s all the listening I need. So, let’s get these guns mounted in case we have to blast that shithole town to bits after midnight.”

  As I pulled the sheet of canvas off of my new guns, Copper, who had been sleeping facedown on the deck, opened one eye and grumbled, “Do I hear someone talking about my bitches?”

  Slowly stroking the barrel of one of his bitches, I taunted, “You mean these sweet, sultry beauties?”

  With his fat face plastered to the planks, Copper hummed, “Aye. They sure are pretty. Anna and Agatha. I’ll dream about ramming them real good.” He lifted the ram rod, then lowered his face and closed his eyes.

  I kicked at his side. “Wake up, big boy. If’n you want to do the ramming, you can help with the mounting. I’m testing them out tonight.”

  Drinking and insulting each other as we worked, the time passed quickly, and before long we were ready to fire the gun. There was plenty of open space off the starboard, so we readied Agatha for the test. The band played a suspenseful tune while Copper gave her a sexually animated ramming. The way he hummed and caressed her barrel had me thinking he’d be swimming in wet dreams of Agatha next time he passed out on deck.

  With everything ready, Copper stared out at the blackened sea like he hated it and snarled, “Die, bitch.”

  The music built with tension as he primed, aimed, and then fired the gun. As Agatha spit her fire across the sea, we all hooted and howled like wild animals running free in the jungle. Elated from the excitement of the gunfire, we shot her two more times. While loading her for a third, I noticed a longboat rowing in from the portside. Hoping it was Charlie and Marty, I walked in that direction. Upon further inspection, I saw that the men were passing wenches around as they rowed.

  “Whores,” Flynn grumbled, sounding just as annoyed as I was.

  A group of my crewmen—along with a few unfamiliar faces—climbed up to the deck with half naked whores in tow. Even as irritated as I was, I laughed when Corky yelled at the band, “Play us something saucy!”

  “Aye! Something romantic-like,” the large, black haired man I didn’t recognize shouted as he flipped up the skirts of one of the whores.

  Busying myself by cleaning the deck, I paid no mind to the loud and rowdy festivities, but my negligent attitude was rudely interrupted when one of the sluts charged at me with an angry scowl on her familiar face.

  Just as I opened my mouth to greet Ysabel, the lying, cheating cobbler, or cobbler’s wife—whatev
er the hell she truly was I still had no clue—she slapped me across the face. “Damn you, Sterling Bentley.”

  Grabbing my searing cheek, I laughed. “Nice to see you, too, sweetheart.”

  “Don’t sweetheart me, you filthy dog,” she shrieked with her Spanish accent. “I never thought I’d see you again, but I dream many times of slapping your lying face.” She tried to whack me again, but this time I grabbed her arm.

  Hearing Flynn laughing at me, I held her still and laughed myself. “Shit, woman. That was so damned long ago, you can’t still be mad.”

  “Of course I am mad! After you betrayed me, Sancho threw me out. I’ve been on the streets selling my sex to survive ever since!”

  I backed her against the mast. “Ah, I didn’t betray shit. If I’d a known you were married I would have just stole the shoes and went on my way without the sex and dinner.”

  “Those stupid shoes and your lousy sex cost me my livelihood!”

  “Lousy?” Pressing my body closer to hers, I rumbled a saucy whisper, “You know you loved it as much as I did.”

  I went on to remind her about the things we’d done on the wooden floor of Sancho’s Shoe Store. The agreeable grin that lit her face had me thinking she was done slapping me around, but her pleasant expression was quickly chased away by a hateful scowl. “No. No! You will not trick me again.”

  She started cursing me in Spanish as she flailed her arms. While I fought to contain her, the bitch spit in my face.

  Appalled by her vile action, I shoved her away from me. “You filthy rotten slut.”

  The crazed wench tried to swing her talons at my face. I pulled my gun. “Back up, bitch. If you come near me again I’ll solve all your life’s woes with a musket ball.”

  Ysabel froze in her tracks, but the black haired, unfamiliar man yanked her by the arm. “That’s my whore and you can’t shoot her. I paid too much for her.”