The pirates were trapped.
They could not escape.
If they moved from under the cover of their tables, the devil's fires would fall down upon them and they would burn in hell!
--------------------
Paddy O'Brian, one of the two pirates selected by James Silver to lead the other raiding parties, raised his musket and fired.
The man in front of him fell to the ground, the little musket ball having entered his forehead and buried itself deep into his brain.
The weapon that the man had carried and fired loudly in the air in warning, fell to the ground. Paddy hurried forward, and picked it up, turning it around and pointing it at the other men dressed in black that were now hurrying towards him.
Paddy was a clever man. He had noticed that just before the dead man had fired his weapon, he had depressed a small lever underneath it. With his own musket now spent, he hung it across his shoulders on its strap, and took hold of the dead man's musket with both hands.
As the other men in black ran towards them, he pulled the little lever underneath the barrel. The weapon kicked backwards like a horse, fire erupting from the barrel of the musket, its mouth roaring as loudly as three wild bears screaming at the same time. One of the oncoming men fell, and the others dispersed, disappearing into the night.
Paddy was spun around by the force of the beast in his hands. In fright, he depressed the lever again, and once again, the weapon kicked and roared, and more fire erupted from its mouth.
Two of the pirates beside him instantly dropped to the ground, blood pouring from their bodies. Paddy stared at the weapon in his arms in disbelief. He glanced back towards the two pirates he had just killed, then dropped the devil's weapon to the ground and ran.
Thirty minutes earlier, Paddy had left James Silver and led his men around the side of a building and found themselves in front of a field covered by metal carriages. He had once been to London and had seen the most advanced carriages of the day, but none of them compared to these. Whereas the carriages in London were made of wood, these were made of shiny metal. Instead of wooden wheels, the carriages sat upon solid wheels with black rims as thick as a human arm.
Lighted fires burned from several tall poles sticking out of the ground like ships masts, illuminating the carriages all around. There were green carriages, red carriages, purple ones, blue ones...every color you could image. Big carriages, small carriages, huge carriages with many, many wheels.
All the carriages had large, transparent windows which let you see directly in, giving the occupants no privacy at all. Strangely, all of the carriages were empty.
The carriages - there were at least a hundred of them - sat in the field, waiting for the horses to be brought to them and attached.
Paddy looked at the front of the carriages again: but where would you attach the horses to? Paddy could not see how this could be done.
Paddy and the other pirates stood on the edge of the field of carriages, staring dumbstruck at what they were seeing.
Slowly Paddy walked towards the first carriage. He looked inside. There was a small wheel at the front of this carriage, just in front of a seat.
He walked to the next carriage. It too had a wheel. As did the next carriage, and the others beside it.
In fact, as Paddy and the pirates advanced into the field and walked amongst the metal carriages, they saw that each carriage had its own wheel. It reminded Paddy of the helm of a ship.
So, were these boats or carriages?
The other pirates were peering through the windows of the carriages, some fascinated by what they were seeing, and others looking to see if there was anything inside that they should take back to the ship.
One of the men quite close to Paddy saw something that fascinated him, lying on the back seat of the carriage. He wanted it. He raised his musket and brought the base of it down heavily against the glass, which broke immediately upon impact.
Suddenly the air around them was filled with an incredibly loud scream, the like of which no man had ever heard before. For a second the pirates froze, staring at each other and looking for the source of the screaming.
The car itself had begun to flash with light, little candles on the sides of the carriage burning brightly one moment, and then extinguishing themselves again, but instantly relighting themselves again. Over and over again.
The pirates turned and ran, banging into the other metal carriages as they did so, which caused many of them to whine and scream and roar in sympathy with the others.
Within moments, the air was filled with the sound of a thousand banshees screaming and wailing. Filled with terror, fear and surprise, the pirates ran and hid in the trees surrounding the field, prostrating themselves flat on the ground so that the evil screaming spirits would not be able to see them.
From their position of concealment, they saw people in strange attire running out of the buildings towards the wailing carriages. The people - they were of many colors and appearances - talked excitedly together, whilst pointing their hands in the sky towards the carriages. Slowly the banshees stopped wailing, and the candles on the carriages stopped flashing. One by one the carriages went back to sleep, and the people began to disperse, disappearing back into the buildings from whence they came.
After a while, Paddy stood up and motioned for the other pirates to follow him. Cautiously the pirates began to stand up too, and slowly they emerged from the undergrowth and the trees. Paddy was worried that time was passing, and that soon they would have to return to the boats. Time was running out, and so far they had not found any food to take back with them.
The men crept forward, their cutlasses held out high in front of them in one hand, their muskets or pistols in the other.
Paddy knew the other men were as scared as he was. But he also knew they were hungry. He could tell just by looking at the quality of the buildings around him that there were rich pickings here aplenty if only they could be found.
Where would these people keep their food?
There was no choice but to break into the living quarters of the inhabitants of this place, and take the food from their tables and their larders.
He gathered the men around him and issued his instructions. There were thirteen people in his group. He split the men into six groups of two, and pointed at the buildings they should explore and attack. He would stand outside to direct and guide the men.
"Do not harm anyone, lest they attack you first, or unless ye are in jeopardy. Those are Cap'n Rob's orders. We only want food, water, and grog. Jewels, coin and rich clothing we do not need. Take only that which we can eat or drink! And there shall be no womanizing or whoring! Any man that takes pleasure with a woman will be left behind. Is that clear and understood!"
The men grunted agreement, separated and disappeared into three different buildings.
Moments later, he heard the first of the men banging on the doors to the dwellings within the buildings. The banging was followed by screaming and shouting, and slowly people began to emerge from the buildings, crying and screaming, many in different degrees of attire: some naked, others with clothes wrapped around them, or wearing strange looking tight fitting trousers and jackets.
The pirates soon followed, carrying meager amounts of rations, surprising Paddy in the lack of there being anything substantial. The pirates pushed through the screaming inhabitants, reporting back to Paddy with their insubstantial discoveries.
A small and pathetic pile of food began to grow on the ground in front of Paddy as the men dropped what they had found and went back into the buildings for more.
By now the inhabitants that had been displaced from the beds and houses were becoming less scared, and increasingly angry and more boisterous.
Paddy ordered some of his men to remain and corral the people into a circle and force them to lie down on the ground, and to enforce order before they lost control.
To set an example, Paddy lifted his pistol and fired a shot into the
air. For a second, everyone fell silent, and all eyes were on him. Then once again the women started to cry. In response, the pirates pushed and prodded them to lie down, brandishing their cutlasses at them and prodding them with the tips of their blades, commanding them to be quiet and not to protest. Slowly order was gradually enforced.
Unfortunately, the amount of food being recovered from their dwellings did not grow. Paddy was getting more desperate with every minute that passed.
In desperation, he grabbed a woman from the group lying flat on the ground and pulled her up by her hair.
"Woman, tell me where ye keep yer food? Explain to me why yer houses are empty? How do you feed yer men folk? Where do ye cook?"
The woman looked at him blankly. She was shaking from head to toe, and as the pirate held her, pushing the blade of the cutlass against her cheek, she soiled her clothing.
One of the men lying on the floor, slowly stood up, both his hands held up in an act of obvious submission, and requested to speak.
Paddy beckoned for him to come forward.
"Ye have something to say?"
"Yes. Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear you asking the lady about food? You want to know where our food is? Food? You want to know where we get our food from? From the restaurants, man. This is a holiday resort. We don't cook any fucking food in our bloody rooms or villas. We just go to the restaurants and choose anything we want! It's All Inclusive. We don't..."
"Take us to where you get your food from. Show us. Now!"
Paddy didn't understand everything the man was saying. He was using strange words, whose meaning were not known to Paddy, but he understood enough.
Paddy pulled out a ship's whistle and blew it, and within moments all the other pirates returned, emerging from out of their buildings and running towards him with pathetic amounts of food in their arms.
He ordered several of the pirates to force several of the men they had captured to pick up the pile of food they had collected and carry it down to the beach. It was not much, but it would help.
Then he instructed the rest of the pirates to form a circle around the inhabitants of the town that they had captured so far. Once everyone was ready, Paddy forced the man he had spoken with to lead them all to one of the 'Rest Orant's that he had spoken of.
They had only managed to move a hundred yards when two men in strange black clothing appeared in front of them, shouting for them to stop, and waving muskets in the air.
One of the men fired his musket at the sky, and it roared louder than any weapon that Paddy had ever heard before.
Paddy had fought in many battles, and had killed men often, both in skirmishes at sea, as well as on land.
He recognised the situation that was developing now. The other group of men with the more powerful muskets were vying for control. They looked well fed. Paddy's men were hungry and desperate.
Paddy raised his musket and fired.
The man opposing them fell to the ground. Dead.
After picking up the man's musket and firing it himself, killing another of the enemy and two of his own men, those that wanted to oppose him vanished into the night. Out of shock, fear and confusion, Paddy dropped the weapon in his hands and hurried forward, prodding the man who knew where the 'Rest Orant' was with his cutlass, and waving for the other pirates to follow with their captives.
Their captive led them to a large building that they entered through two palatial doors made of amazingly flat and clear glass. As they walked up to the doors, they opened magically by themselves, sliding backwards and receding on either side into the walls! Paddy stopped in his tracks, speechless with fear and wonder. He grabbed the man by the arm and instructed him to step backwards out of the building.
The doors closed before them.
This time Paddy took a step forward by himself and the doors slid open again, once more disappearing into recesses in the walls on either side, and allowing him entry.
Paddy stepped inside and quickly looked around to ensure that there were no servants or slaves on the inside who had opened the doors without him seeing them. There were none.
"What manner of trick is this?" Paddy asked, prodding their captive with his cutlass. "How is this done?"
"C'mon man. Don't be stupid. They’re electric doors! What, like, you've never seen electric doors before?"
" ‘Electrik’ doors? And who opens them? Tell me this?"
"You do, man. You step on that mat, and the doors know you want in, and the electric motors open the doors for you. Listen, I'm not a bloody engineer. They just work, okay. Accept it, this is the Twenty-First Century, man!"
The man laughed, and stepped through the doors and walked past Paddy. Immediately the doors closed again.
The other pirates were hesitating outside, too scared to walk through the doors.
Paddy waved at them, but none came forward. So Paddy swallowed hard and stepped back towards the doors, and they opened again. Paddy stared at them, and laughed nervously.
"This is powerful magic, indeed!"
He reached back and grabbed the arm of the nearest pirate, dragging him forwards. "Hurry men. Bring everyone inside. You stand here, Levi, and don't let the doors close again."
Paddy hurried after the man who had gone inside.
"Hey, Mister. Tell me what your name is!"
"Sandy Weiss."
"What century did you just say this is? And don't lie to me, lest I let you feel the cold of my steel as I run you through!"
"The Twenty-First Century, man. And like as if you didn't know!"
"The Twenty-First? Are you mad? This is the Seventeenth Century. The last year of the Seventeenth Century!"
"Yeah, right. Sure is. Whatever you say so, man. And when you get back to the real world, this year, in 2014, do you still want me to show you the restaurant, or what?"
"2014? Anno Domini? You jest!" Paddy said, prodding the man with the cutlass.
Sandy winced, immediately feeling his body to see if the blade had actually cut him or not.
"I kid you not, man! And what's with, like, all this funny speech, business? What country are you from anyway?"
"England."
"No kidding, man. My friend went there last year. He loved it! Do you know a Mr Carter? My friend stayed at his hotel in Poole?"
Paddy was taken aback. Actually, he did know a Mr Carter, but he was sixty years old, and he had never lived in Poole. "I don't think so..."
"Fine. Just thought I'd ask... Anyway, here is the restaurant. It won't be open for another ten minutes though. They are very strict..."
"Go in. Take everyone in with you. We need to find food now!"
Paddy stood aside and helped usher all their prisoners deeper into the building. The pirates filed in after them, brandishing their cutlasses menacingly to keep their captives moving forward in order.
As Paddy followed Sandy through another doorway into a massive hall, bigger than he had ever seen before, he was temporarily blinded by bright fires which shone down on them from the ceiling of the hall. The other pirates hesitated before going in, gathering at the doorway, and just pushing their prisoners in before them.
"Is that you Paddy O'Brian?" the voice of Mr Silver surprised them, coming from somewhere inside the hall.
"Silence!" Paddy shouted at his captives, who were all talking loudly inside the hall.
"Mr Silver? Is that you? Where are you?"
"We are under the tables. Command someone to extinguish the fires in the ceilings, immediately, so that we can come out. We are trapped!"
Sandy laughed, turned and stepped back towards the wall on the inside of the entrance to the grand hall. He pushed something on the wall, and the fires on the ceiling were instantly extinguished.
"What...?" Paddy said, stepping forward, and studying Sandy, reappraising him. "You have powers over the fires from hell? How did you manage this feat?"
"I just turned the bloody electric lights off man!"
"Elektrik Lights? Who i
s this god 'Elektrik' that can perform all this magic?"
"It's just lights man. Just lights. Look!", and Sandy reached forward again, switching the lights on once more. Immediately there were cries of shock and pain, as the pirates who were now emerging from under the tables, dived back down for more cover, some banging their heads in the process.
Paddy recoiled, looked up at the roof from where the fires burned, and then still watching them, he copied the actions that Sandy had just done: he pushed the little levers on the wall. The fires went out.
"Thanks be to God!" Silver shouted. "We are saved..."
But Paddy wasn't listening to Silver, and in amazement at his new found powers he pushed the levers on the wall one more time and once again the fires burned bright.
There were more sounds of anguish as the pirates dived under the tables again.
"Enough! Stop!" Silver shouted.
Paddy extinguished the fires once more, a smile growing on his face. He burst into laughter. Hurrying across to the table under which Silver was hiding, he laughed again loudly and said, "Mr Silver. You may come out now. I have conquered the fires of hell, and I have saved your wretched skin!"
Sandy stepped up beside Paddy, offering a hand to help up Mr Silver from his kneeling position on the floor.
"Are you guys for real?" he asked, half in amazement and half in confusion.
"For real, what?"
"Like, this is for a TV show, or Candid Camera or something?"
Silver and O'Brian looked at each other questioningly.
"I have no comprehension of what you speak, Mister." James Silver replied. "But I will tell you only that we are from the Sea Dancer, and that we seek food and water and grog. And you will help us find it, if you want to remain alive!"
"Look in the kitchen, then!" Sandy replied, pointing to the kitchen doors. "That place must be stuffed with anything you want."
"Wait! We will go together." Silver ordered, then shouted a command at the other pirates, telling them to push aside the tables in the center of the room, gather all their prisoners together, and make them all sit cross-legged on the floor, with their hands underneath their legs. Then Silver followed Sandy and Paddy through the door into the room beyond.
Time Ship (Book One): A Time Travel Romantic Adventure: The ideal Beach Book for reading on Holiday! Page 16