“Thank you so much,” Farren choked back tears as he shook the doctor’s hand. The boys reluctantly left the infirmary and closed the door behind them.
“”Look, we’ve been pretty lucky so far, maybe we should not press our chances. Perhaps we should just go back to the bilge and avoid getting caught,” suggested Aeolus.
“You’re right. We’ve found what we came for. I’m just so … so happy that he’s ok,” replied Farren as they continued down the corridor. “I was really wor…,” he stopped as Aeolus grabbed his arm and dragged him against the wall.
“Wh..,” Aeolus covered his mouth and signalled for silence. Farren frowned and then he heard it too ... voices up ahead coming from the Admiral’s quarters.
They slowly moved as close as they dared to the large oak panelled door and strained to make out what they were saying.
“ … don’t understand this vendetta against the Nemesis, Admiral.”
“It’s personal, James.”
“But …”
“Look, alright, if you must know, many years ago my best friend was a Navy Lieutenant named Renato. He betrayed me and the Navy in a battle. Turns out he was a traitorous pirate all along. Last I heard he was on the Nem …”
Then the conversation became a bit too muffled for the boys to make out.
“… find it without the other half of the map?” they heard the Lieutenant ask.
“Look, I don’t know James. People have been chasing the treasure from that blasted ship for ages. The map’s pretty useless without the other half. I’d bet your life it’s somewhere on the Nemesis though.”
“But I thought we were supposed to be attacking the blasted Spanish galleons,” suggested the Lieutenant.
“Are you questioning my judgement, lad?”
“No, sir, wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Look, I’ve searched for that ship too long to let it slip from my grasp right now when it’s almost in my hands. Besides, if I find the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, then we’ll have our Spanish treasure without the hassle of slaughtering those pesky Spanish.”
“How far …”
But Farren did not hear the rest of the conversation because Aeolus grabbed his arm and dragged him off. They gradually made their way below deck.
“Did you hear that?” asked Aeolus when they were back in the underbelly of the ship. “It’s a treasure map!”
“Well, half a treasure map,” Farren paused. “Aeolus, I’m not worried about the treasure, it’s my Nanna. She’s stuck on that ship. That’s why we’ve come out all this way. They took her, and I don’t know what to do. Peter’s normally the one who knows what to do.” Farren sat in the sludge with his head between his knees.
Aeolus put his hand on Farren’s shoulder.
“We’ll think of something. At least we are headed in the right direction and we are certainly better equipped than when we first met them. If we catch them, maybe we’ll have a chance to find your Nanna.”
“Amongst other things,” Aeolus thought to himself.
“Thanks,” Farren replied.
“Alright you two,” the Lieutenant stood in the doorway and the moment was lost, “Food.”
...
Up on deck the mood was sombre. The unfortunate sailor who had assisted Peter was still swinging in the breeze above their heads and may have contributed to the lack of merriment. But Farren felt there was something more - a lack of soul, perhaps. They seemed like men whose hope had been beaten out of them. He looked around at the crestfallen faces, listened to the quiet murmuring and sighed. Farren went with Aeolus to get a bowl of liquid with a few pieces of flavourless, two month old salted meat with some wilted vegetables floating around with it. They found a relatively quiet spot away from the crew, sat on the deck and tried to force their food down.
“This is worse than on your ship,” Farren exclaimed.
“Everyone knows that the navy is the worst. Worst food, worst captains, worst pay, worst conditions.”
“So why do people join?”
“Most don’t have a choice. Press-ganged at the docks or a sense of honour and duty to serve their country or a dreamer,” Aeolus smirked.
“But if it’s so bad here why don’t they complain or rebel?” asked Farren.
With a smile Aeolus said, “Ahh, Farren my friend you still have a lot to learn. If you complain then you can see above us what the Admiral does to people who step out of line. As for mutiny, these are men who believe themselves to be honourable. They wouldn’t dream of betraying a captain, let alone an admiral. Why then they would be no better than pirates - chased by the law until your dying day! Now you see why I was on that ship.”
“But Peter told me you helped us because you wanted some adventure and a chance to make money.”
Aeolus’ eyes narrowed, then he smiled, “Of course, who doesn’t? But that doesn’t mean I want to be a pirate. I have my honour too, you know!”
They continued their meal in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
...
The Nemesis silently ploughed through the darkness. Renard knocked softly on the captain’s door and then entered. The room was covered in maps and navigational instruments. The captain’s back was facing the door and, with an outstretched hand, a knife was casually being tossed in the air and caught again. Renard noticed that the captain’s cloak was slightly to one side and he could just make out a hollow indentation low down in the tunic. The captain turned and the view was lost.
“Renard, how may I assist?”
“Captain, it seems we ‘ave a leak and our supplies are running low. We may need to go ashore soon. If I may say, if we ‘adn’t wasted time ‘unting for the map and taking the old woman – we could ‘ave got supplies back in that town.”
“Renard, you of all people should know the importance of the map.”
“But the woman?”
“It’s … personal. Besides, she may prove a useful bargaining tool.”
“The crew voted you captain, I trust you. What about the other ‘alf of the map? ‘Ow do we make sure that we don’t ‘ave another ‘problem’ like Aron?” Renard spat.
“I have safeguarded it. Do not worry Renard. Can we afford to risk not stopping?”
“In short, non.”
The captain leaned over the maps that were strewn over the table.
“There is an island near here. Tell the helmsman to head for it. Then take a small landing party to get what we need. But make it quick.”
“Oui, captain,” Renard swivelled on his heel and exited the room.
The pirate captain stared out the window. This was a frustrating setback to say the least.
Chapter 9
Trapped
The Admiral paced impatiently on the deck. He could sense he was so close to the Nemesis, but they remained tantalisingly out of reach. He knew that one false move, one wrong turn, and they would slip his grasp again. The Admiral smirked. He longed to see the expression on the pirate captain’s face when they met again. This time, the Admiral thought, I’ll finish the job and you won’t be so lucky!
Farren and Aeolus were below, having been told to assist the cook. The kitchen was a small, cramped room beneath the deck. The cook, who was known to the crew as ‘Cookie’, was a wiry thin man with a long beard that was constantly being dipped into whatever food he was concocting. As a result, it contained a history of almost every meal he prepared, was an off-brown colour and had a smell that was indescribable.
“Righ’ boys, let’s get a meal on the way. Farren, peel the potatoes and Aeolus, wash the salt off the meat and cut off any of the really rotten bits,” he said as he madly chopped at a variety of limp vegetables. As it seemed better, albeit only just, than dragging liquid sewage around the ship, the boys got to work.
...
“Ship, sir,” came the call from the crow's nest, “I spot a ship!”
Admiral Douglas Fairclough put the telescope to his eye. He could just make out the vague outline of
a ship that was in close proximity to what appeared to be an island. It had to be the Nemesis – it just had to be!
“Right – battle stations NOW! Move it before I keelhaul the lot of you!” he screamed. “James, tell the fleet to spread out. We need to corner that ship. I don’t want anyone escaping this time!”
The sailors bustled around the ship like a disturbed ants’ nest. The bulkheads were hooked up, the officers’ furniture was removed to the hold, the sails were secured whilst safety nets were erected to catch anything, or one, that fell from above. Wet sand was sprinkled on the deck and fire buckets were filled. The gun captains went to the storerooms and collected the rifles. All the sailors began to tie handkerchiefs to their ears to block out the impending noise of the cannons. The doctor, who now only had the still unconscious Peter in the room, began laying out bandages and saws.
Farren and Aeolus looked up in alarm and began to leave the kitchen, but Cookie stopped them.
“Boys, we don’t stop. Your place is not up there.”
Reluctantly they went back to work.
...
Chad and five of the crew were in a rowboat making their way to the island. Aboard the Nemesis, Renard was looking through the spyglass.
“Captain, it looks like the navy fleet is coming.”
“Hmmm, Chad is too close to the island and too important. I think it looks like we have no choice. We can’t defeat four navy man-o-wars.”
There was silence as the captain thought.
“If we can’t outfight them, we can definitely out think them. Renard, get the oil. It’s time.”
“Oui, captain.”
A large barrel of oil was brought from below deck. A group of sailors hefted it over the edge and tipped the contents into the water. Renard then turned the large wheel and the Nemesis moved closer to the island.
The crew primed the cannons and grabbed their weapons. They moved swiftly and methodically, each man aware of his role.
Renard smiled as he watched the crew. They worked as a team, their camaraderie forged by their time at sea. But, he pondered, for the most part, these were outcasts. They did not fit in to the Navy’s rigid dictatorship. Nor was the repetitive drudgery of merchant life for them. This was the life that had chosen them, for better or for worse. Even I, he thought, would not be here if it were not for my fellow countrymen. His knuckles whitened as he gripped his sabre.
...
The row boat slid ashore. Chad and the five crew members hopped out of the small craft and dragged it a short way up the beach. Although he was not blessed with the most nimble of minds, Chad had seen the navy fleet and had realised the urgency of his mission. He grabbed the large axe out of the boat and began marching across the beach. He turned back to his comrades, who were trailing in his wake, “I get wood, you get food. Be quick.”
As Chad swung his axe in a devastating arc, the trunk of the tree shattered into splinters and it fell to the ground. He picked it up as if it were a twig and carried it back across the beach. The five sailors quickly discovered coconuts and a supply of fresh water. However, they were not the only ones making new discoveries. A large python, not content with its earlier meal, was lurking nearby. Its tongue flicked out and caught the scent of the nearby men. It quickly slithered through the undergrowth towards its next prey. Closer and closer it got. It detected the heat from a nearby creature and raised its head to strike.
“Oh my god!” screamed one of the sailors as it spotted the enormous snake poised to strike.
Chad started to run. He had surprising speed for a man of his size.
The snake opened its mouth. The curved teeth glistened in the sun. It leapt….
Chad threw the axe.
It spun through the air.
The pirate began to turn in horror.
The snake could almost taste the warm flesh.
And then …
The axe quivered in the sand.
The snake’s teeth dragged down the man’s leg.
He screamed in pain.
… blackness.
...
The Admiral smiled. He always thought that the pirate captain was a complete buffoon and here was the proof. Facing four of His Majesty’s finest, surely you would make a run for it? But no. This captain, if it was possible to still use that term, heads straight for the island! Douglas Fairclough was not normally a gambling man, but at that moment, he would put a hefty wager that, this time, there was no way out for his previously elusive quarry.
...
The other four sailors stared at Chad.
“Move,” he grunted. “We in hurry.”
He walked over to the axe and picked it up.
Chad wiped the blood off on the sand, and with barely a glance at the two halves of the enormous snake, turned and made his way back to the beach.
The pirate, who had faced numerous terrors and close calls in his time, shook and quivered as the blood slowly dripped down his leg.
“That was too close,” he thought.
...
The Navy man of war bore down on the Nemesis as it hugged the island shore. The pirates could see three other ships. Two were making their way around the island in an attempt to cut off their escape and the other only just trailed in the closest ship’s wake. The Nemesis hugged as close as possible to the island, in a desperate attempt to rendezvous with the much needed supplies.
...
Chad looked at the rowboat, laden with tree trunks, coconuts and water. He realised that it would not take them all. So two of the pirates clambered aboard and Chad and the other three crew members pushed the row boat out into the water. The Nemesis was not far off the shore but they all could see that the Navy ship was closing fast. Chad hoped that the captain had a plan because this did not look good.
...
Admiral Douglas Fairclough watched as the ship ahead of him steadily gained on the Nemesis. The pirate vessel was staying close to the shore, so he had ordered the other two man of wars to approach the island from the other side. For the first time in many years he was feeling a little nervous. It all seemed too … easy.
He approached the helmsman.
“Steer a wide course around the island so as to block off any escape,” he said in a low voice.
“Yes, Admiral,” the man replied.
...
Below deck, Farren and Aeolus had managed to escape the kitchen, through the excuse of the desperate need for a toilet break. There was a guard at the top of the stairs leading to the deck so, disappointed, they found a porthole near the cannons. From there, they could make out the other Navy man of war that was bearing down on the Nemesis. Behind the two ships, they could make out the shape of an island.
...
The rowing boat was almost at the Nemesis. Renard could see clearly the man of war bearing down on them, and another behind it which was angling out to block a retreat. He knew that time was running out, since he had seen the other two man of wars make their way around the island some time ago. “This is going to be tight,” he thought. The captain arrived at his side and looked out at the approaching rowboat.
“Aaghh,” the captain cried in frustration, “Trust Chad to stay back. Renard, Chad is too important. We have to wait.”
“I am sorry Captain, we cannot do that. You know as well as I do that the Navy will be upon us before then. We must get away.”
The pirate captain stood on the deck fuming.
“Let’s enlighten them first. It may give us the time we need.”
Renard walked over to the side of the deck and saw the navy readying for battle. He looked carefully at the position of the man of war. He waited a short while and then he calmly picked up a bow and three arrows, with cloth wrapped around their tips. Then, using a nearby torch, he set them alight. He pulled the bow taught and then released.
The flaming arrows flew through the air …
...
On board the Navy man of war the captain was screaming at the crew who were
staring at him.
“C’mon you lazy dogs! Get those cannons ready! We finally have them right where we want them!”
The captain was slightly puzzled to see that the crew was still staring at him open mouthed. “I don’t believe it,” he thought, “I’m going to have to flog the whole crew.”
He then turned, as if in slow motion, and saw the flaming arrows flying towards the ship.
He laughed.
“A couple of arrows. Please. We are too far away for them to hit us. Now BACK TO WORK!”
PLLSH
The flaming bundle hit the ocean…
FOOMP
… and immediately ignited the oil that sloshed around, creating a wall of fire that rushed towards the ship.
The captain stared gaping as the inferno raced towards the ship.
“oh,” he said in a small voice.
BOOOM!
The fire ignited the stores of gunpowder on the ship and, with a deafening roar, it exploded into a million fragments.
...
The Admiral watched in horror as the ship, and his hopes, were instantly destroyed.
PHHRIK
“Aagh!” The Admiral yelled as a splinter lodged in his cheek. He ducked as shrapnel bombarded the vessel.
PHHMP! PHHMP! PHHMP!
It grew quiet and he slowly stood up and surveyed the damage.
Jagged bits of wood were embedded in the deck, masts and crew. Blood began to pool as it spurted out of some of the unluckier crew members. Some of the bodies began to twitch.
He went over to James, who had a piece of wood lodged into his arm.
“James, we have to catch that ship!”
“Sir,” he grimaced.
He turned to the Nemesis. It still appeared anchored. He saw a row boat just leave the pirate ship. The Admiral looked over at the island and noticed that there were still three of the pirates left behind.
Treasure Lost Page 7