Two of the frightened sailors both yelled, “He did!” as they pointed with their heads to the man in the middle.
“I ordered the cannon to be fired and I wish I had time for another shot at you pirates!” The slaver in the middle arrogantly exclaimed.
Margie screamed and snatched Isaac’s blunderbuss out of his hands. Before anyone could stop her, she held the firelock to his face and pulled the trigger.
CLICK. BOOM!The large mouthed gun erupted in a huge cloud of gray. When the smoke cleared it revealed a headless body.
“Fuck me! Crazy bitch blew his face right off!” one of the other two men yelled as the third pissed his pantaloons.
“Wait! Wait!” one of the restrained men begged, "I was just following orders. I am a good man. I am innocent."
“Innocent?! You piece of dog shit. You loaded the cannon that killed my three wonderful children! You think you're not responsible if you just load the weapon and pack the powder? You should’ve had the courage to not follow an evil order. Good men following evil orders are still evil, you son of a whore!” Margie yelled. She grabbed two pistols from April's belt and unloaded them into the man’s eyes. The bullets pierced on both sides and brain matter splattered back out of his gaping eye sockets.
The remaining man wept out load, “Please, show mercy! I should have had the courage to say no to the master gunner, but I didn’t. I am a coward. Please, do not kill me.”
April stepped in front of Margie as she pulled her knife to kill the remaining assailant. “These were your children and by right, these men’s lives are yours to take, but consider mercy and a less hasty decision. Instead seek for restitution to your family. It might feel good to kill this man but that doesn’t help you raise and feed the rest of your children. Consider, instead, restitution. This man will work and serve your family until you feel you have been made whole, which might never happen. We will make this man work to replace the labors and profits your children would have contributed to your family.”
Margie stomped back and forth fingering her knife, thinking out loud and reasoning, “I want to kill him and send him to hell to get raped by devils. You know that’s what happens to children murderers, they get arse fucked by devils! Captain, what you said rang true in me ear. Take him over to the ship and tie him up until after I bury my children. But I will kill him later if I change my mind!”
“Thank you for your mercy! I will make this right. I am so sorry,” the man cried as Isaac dragged him across the gangplank. Margie followed Isaac, kicking the man and warning him to hold his tongue.
April turned her attention to the slave ship captain. “You stole these men and did unspeakable things to them. We are here to free them and if you behave, you can take your ship and sail off when we be done. Do you understand?”
The terrified captain nodded his head in understanding.
The tattooed woman ordered Teresa, “Go fetch Mingo. He is an African man with tribal scars all over his face.” The Greek or Italian, brown-haired woman nodded and ran to retrieve Mingo, returning with him in short time.
Audrey cut in, “Mingo speaks almost every African dialect and has been teaching me. He is definitely the best choice, Captain."
A tall black man stood in front of the captain and asked, “ What you have me do?”
“I want you to translate my message and make these slaves understand. Okay, open the hatch to the cargo bay.”
Mr. Michael and Mr. James flung the hatch open and vomited on each other. The putrid smell overtook the lovers before they could get away from the hatch. Even Shamus, with his disgusting odor, was repulsed. Screams and yells erupted from the hole.
"Mingo, would you shout this down into the hold?" April asked. “We are here to rescue you. Please do not attack us, you are safe. You will be free to go back home. If you have no home to return to, then please consider working for us on our ship.”
Mingo had to yell a few times until the frightened slaves quieted down and listened. It took some time to yell the message in so many dialects. Shouting of excitement resonated up the hatch.
“They understand, captain! They ready!” Mingo smiled.
“Get the gangplanks ready for the Robin and the Vendetta. Okay, lower the ladder.”
Mingo lowered the ladder down, but nobody came up.
“What the hell is going on here?” April demanded.
“Captain, they all still be chained,” Mingo said.
“Give me the keys now!” she threatened the slave ship captain.
The captain complied and then April threw them to Patrick, "Go down and unlock them with Mingo."
Patrick and Mingo wrapped a cloth around their mouths and noses and descended into the dark, ammonia-filled hole. Patrick’s eyes immediately burned and the smell brought back terrifying memories of the king’s debtors’ prison back in London. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust until he realized there was no floor. It was shoulder-to-shoulder filled with bodies chained to the floor. Patrick wanted to vomit, but could not find an open space on the deck. Many of the slaves were locked down with one long chain. Mingo had seen this before when he was a slave and he knew how the chains and locks worked.
Slaves screamed and begged to be released first. Mingo carefully stepped over bodies and unlocked the chain. Patrick pulled the long strand up and the prisoners tried to jump to their feet. So weak and malnourished were they that many of them had to be lifted out of the shit and piss soaked floor. Their skin was raw from urine burn and some were missing patches of flesh that stuck to the deck when they pulled them up. Mingo and Patrick slowly helped them up the ladder one by one while Shamus and Sam helped from the topside.
The Robin’s crew expected to see elated throngs of captives pouring out of the hatch in excitement. Instead, they saw a sad and depressing site of men, women, and children too weak to walk. Sam Scurvy helped a man take very painful steps up the gangplank. He sympathized with his scurvy pain. It reminded him of his long walk to the Robin all those years ago. The process took hours and April was growing irate from watching this parade of skeletons slowly board her ships.
The crew imagines how the slaves should come out of the hold
Patrick reported back to April, “I would say there are about one hundred and thirty that we saved, Captain. They are all aboard and are ready to depart, but there are about fifteen dead bodies that had been chained to the live ones. I also saw some of the mothers refuse to leave the bodies of their dead children and they carried the corpses to the Vendetta.”
Anger came across the captain’s face, “Husband, throw these prisoners in the same hold they made these slaves live in.” The Robin’s crew started forcing the prisoners down the hatch.
“I thought you said I could sail away and you would leave us in peace?!” the slave ship captain yelled.
“I changed my mind after seeing what you did to these poor souls. I will leave you with your lives, but I am giving your ship to these slaves for restitution. Because of your crimes against them, you owe them much more than the price of that ship. Count your blessings I don’t let them press you into being their slaves! Now climb down in the hold with all those rotting bodies ya killed,” April commanded and trained a flintlock on the men.
Mr. James and Mr. Michael battened down the cargo hatch after the prisoners were loaded.
“Ya should chain ‘em to da shite covered floor like dey done to dose fookin’ Africans,” Shamus snapped.
“I want guards on the hatches. Audrey, where is an isolated island we can maroon these men on?” the tattooed woman questioned.
“Hmmm...there is an island close to Charles Towne that would work. I will show Sam where on the chart,” Audrey answered.
“Very good. Let us dump these slavers, clean up and feed these poor souls. Nina and Teresa, you are in charge of nursing them back to strength. Find Rose, she still speaks many African dialects and should come in useful”
April walked up to her husband, “I think they will make a
fine crew. Who better to embrace the ideas of liberty than a group of former slaves?" She reached out and handed him the wooden king from the chess set. She smiled at him and announced, “I rather like this game called ‘chess.’ I think I am supposed to say ‘checkmate’ now!”
* * *
All members of the three ships watched as the crew of the slave ship swam to the shore. April showed mercy by giving them some barrels of fresh water till they collected their own rain water. She also sent them off with some fishing hooks, bait, and a few knives.
“Muster all three crews and the ex-slaves as well,” April command her husband. She had decided she would train Patrick as her quartermaster and even made up a title position she bestowed on him called Master Strategist. It took some time to bind the three ships together so all ears could hear. Mingo and the whore Rose would translate the captain’s words to the freed men. The boatswain’s whistle blew and the crew started to settle down.
“All, quiet down! Admiral Read wishes to address her crew,” Patrick barked out.
“Admiral?” she whispered to her husband.
“I know. I don’t have the same seafaring knowledge as you, but I am pretty sure you call anyone who commands more than one ship an admiral,” her new quartermaster replied.
She smiled at him, “I think you be right, my wolf.”
“I be going to explain to ya the rules of this small fleet. Unlike the rumors ya hear in pub tales, most real pirate ships are not run by an iron fist. Each of ya crew gets a vote on major decisions. If ya don’t like the way the vote went down and ya are uncomfortable with it, ya will be free to leave the fleet and rejoin us when you're comfortable. Unlike military vessels, you are free to leave anytime ya want. We are trying to create something so special that ya don’t want to leave. This fleet will be a symbol of freedom to the world. We will not interact with each other using force or threats. I want this to be the only place on this world you can be truly free. Ya will get paid for work. If ya lazy and don’t contribute to the crew, then ya won’t have silver to eat.
“We will not be the pirates of old. They were hunted down and murdered because they got too greedy and attacked everyone they saw. We will not steal from other innocent sailors. The only vessels we will take will be that of the government's; vessels who owe us restitution and payback for all the damage they have done to our lives. These military vessels were paid for by money they stole from us and the lives of our loved ones who they murdered. We will take all of our stolen money back that we can.
“To the slaves we liberated, I offer ya this. I will give ya the slave ship to return to your home but if you have nothing to go back to, I ask you to join our fleet of liberty. You will be free men, treated as equals and you can help us free more slave ships. We will train you and pay you well.
“We also will offer you access to a security fund for your injuries if you choose. A portion of every share you take in will be placed in a central fund. The quartermaster has a list of the amounts ya be paid if ya injured. Ya get as much as six hundred pieces of eight for a leg all the way down to one hundred pieces of eight for an eye. Yar welcome to see the list anytime.
“Even the captain can be removed if the crew loses faith in me. If ya vote me out, I will step down and find a place in the crew. Ya have till the end of the day to decide if ya want to live by these customs. Ya are here on your own free will and accord and we will drop ya off in Charles Towne if yar not interested in my offer. That is all.”
She stepped down and the decks erupted with chatter. The chatter went on all night long and even until sun up.
The boatswain’s whistle blew the next day and the crews mustered to deck. The new quartermaster spoke up, “Now is the time to choose! Board the ship you want to work on!”
The crew scrambled around. The Africans were moving much better. Their full bellies and the sunshine agreed well with them. After a few minutes, the crews were set. Patrick counted the heads.
“What is the headcount, Quartermaster? How many Africans will be leaving with the slave ship?” the admiral asked.
“The count is thirty-two. Then there are eighty-seven new crewmembers: thirty-seven to the Robin and fifty to the Vendetta,” the quartermaster replied.
“Let us make sure they are properly trained and wish them well. Get to training!” April belted.
The crews pitched in to help with the training and to give the African vessel a chance.
“Admiral, why do ya keep calling us 'pirates' instead of ‘privateers’? Pirates are associated with stealing, theft and brutality, but privateering has the legitimacy of the king behind it.” Sam Scurvy asked.
“You answered yar own question. This fleet is to show the world we don’t need a government to live in peace. It doesn’t make sense to seek out some king's blessing so we can steal and not actually call it stealing. No, the word ‘privateering’ is associated with begging a government for permission. Instead, we be the ‘Pirates of Savannah’. Arrrrrr!”
Chapter 24
Hunting Pirates
Heather went through her mother’s belongings and was taken aback when she opened the leather bag containing Archibald’s books. She pulled out Locke’s tome and surveyed it. The cover was splattered with her father’s dried blood and the book was worn. She carried the bag to April and showed her, “Do you think the crew would enjoy being read these books?”
April smiled and replied, “That is a dandy of an idea. I would be honored to hold them for you until you want them back.”
“I think my father would be so happy to know that a multitude of ears will be hearing the messages from out of these illegal book that he died for,” Heather replied.
She pulled the books out of the bag and noticed something was wadded up on the bottom. She dug around and pulled out a group of yellow and black strips of fabric. “Oh, look here. It is Father's armbands for his meetings,” she said as she pressed them to her face. Her eyes suddenly brightened and she announced, “I am keeping these. I have an idea for them.”
A few days passed and each night the Robin and the Vendetta would be lashed together. April would pick a chapter in one of the books and read it loudly so both crews could hear. Mingo and Rose translated so even the African crews could enjoy it and discuss the ideas of liberty. Much like a meeting of the Freeman Society, a passage would be read and it would be opened up for discussion. Heated debate and ideological arguing could be heard most nights. The crew loved the new tradition.
One night, Heather finally revealed her surprise project she had been working on. “Admiral, I present this to you to remind people to enlighten themselves. I made this with the set of Father’s collection of arm bands he used in his meetings.”
April unfolded the cloth and it revealed black and yellow colors, set at a diagonal. She saw the hand-woven fabric and figured this must be a flag. “I thought that Archibald’s Vendetta needed its own proper jack,” Heather said as she smiled.
“I love it,” April said softly, placing a reassuring hand on Heather’s shoulder. “Let us raise this in proper ceremony tonight!” she commanded.
Miss Darden ran up and interrupted them, “Admiral, your cat is having kittens! I have counted four black ones in total.”
“Aye! Very good, lass. That should counter any bad luck from having a baby born at sea on our barky. A baby black kitten should balance a new born.”
Sam Scurvy cut in, “Ya know, I have been sailing me whole life and never heard of these traditions. I thinks you make some of these up.”
The admiral snapped back, “You must have sailed different waters then, or ya would know how rituals be done proper!”
***
One year had past at sea and the crew's numbers grew. When the fleet dropped off William, they increased their ranks with some disgruntled Scots. They managed to find like-minded individuals everywhere. Every smuggling run they would pick up new sailors. Profits had been exceptional and the crew was happy. Miss Darden had expanded her floa
ting brothel idea and recruited new prostitutes so, of course, April recruited many more black cats. A healthy profit was being made due to her clever ideas of new ways to whore.
The Admiral had also used the same ruse Patrick had created to liberate three other slave ships. She knew she could not keep using it because word of her little fleet of outcasts was spreading quickly. The freed slaves bolstered her numbers and the ships were finally at respectable numbers. April started spending large amounts of time training Nina and Audrey in the ways of commanding a ship.
One thing the admiral was very strict about was drilling. Many months of intense drilling took place during that time period. The gunners could fire the cannons, reload and fire again in just over a minute. Some of the ex-slaves became excellent shots with the long muskets. Many of the Africans fashioned traditional spears and clubs and were deadly proficient with them. April trained the officers in the art of blade play. Each was given a cutlass and was expected to practice daily. In just a few months of hard work, Sam and Patrick had become decent swordsmen.
All things were going very well until a rum running to Savannah. During one of the Robin's late night deliveries to the secret pirate tunnels, the admiral was delivered a message. The messenger told her Byron Kingsley had been chasing them for a year and that he finally convinced the board of trustees to take out a British man-of-war to hunt the fleet down. He was only hunting the Vendetta, as he did not know about the Robin. He saw the Vendetta fleeing in Cape Fear and had his sights on her ever since.
April called a meeting with her officers that night to discuss the situation. “What are our options, gentlemen? We are making a fortune staying local and smuggling, but the risk is great. We could move our operation to South America but it won’t be nearly as profitable. I am looking for ideas.”
Sam Scurvy spoke up, “I vote for running. Even with both our vessels at full guns, we would need a miracle to take a man-of-war.”
Pirates of Savannah: The Complete Trilogy - Colonial Historical Fiction Action Adventure (Pirates of Savannah (Adult Version)) Page 35