Broadsword

by R. W. Hughes

  It was at this point that George again blew his hunting horn; the piercing blast could be heard against the din of battle and crack of musket and pistols.

  It brought Hugh MacKay and his men from the quarter deck and Paul Aberach his son, Ian, and their fellow Mathowson clansman from the forecastle deck into the hand-to-hand fighting on the main deck, leaving John MaKay and Captain Mclintosh managing to keep the raw recruits continuing spasmodic firing at the pirate ship with loaded muskets supplied by the Highlanders’ wives. Another blast from the blunderbuss created a gap in the throng of pirates, plus another scattered volley from the raw recruits into those who were queuing to board the merchant ship sent the rest diving for cover.

  This gave him the opportunity he had been waiting for. With Douglas leading the way and the MacKay brothers, Alick and Andra, on either side of him, his broadsword in one hand and carrying a small keg of gunpowder under his other arm, they charged for the gap. Trampling the wounded pirates under foot and cutting down others that tried to obstruct their passage, they forced their way below to the where the slaves were seated in rows resting wearily on their oars.

  There were only four pirates below with the slaves, these were possibly the overseers and were quickly dealt with by Douglas and the MacKay brothers, but Andra MacKay took a cutlass blow across the neck and died in his brother’s arms.

  ‘The stink here reminds me of that prison ship,’ shouted Douglas as he forced the iron peg from the ships timbers and released the chain that ran through a loop on a clasp on the slaves’ ankles.

  ‘You men now have a choice,’ he shouted above the noise from the deck above, and standing on a small platform built around the main mast to which was strapped the large drum used by the slave master to beat out the rhythm for the rowers. ‘If you want your freedom take what weapons you can find and leave this dungeon, and fight your way through the pirates to the merchant ship, because shortly this ship goes to the bottom of the sea,’ lifting the keg of powder to emphasise his point.

  The slaves needed no encouragement. Taking the weapons of the four dead pirates and anything else that they could use, they flocked to the short flight stairs that George and his three companions had just descended. They were met in the process by three of the pirates coming down the stairs who had followed George into the hold. They cut down the first two slaves, but the charging mass of humanity overwhelmed them, and taking their weapons left their broken bodies at the foot of the stairs, as the human wave of slaves continued up the gangway and burst on to the deck at the rear of the pirates. Six of the pirates were overwhelmed and cut down or cudgelled to death and their weapons also taken before the rest realised what was happening.

  This attack on their rear forced the pirates to concentrate on this new danger to deal with the threat of the slaves easing the pressure on the Highlanders on the transport ship. The Highlanders and new recruits, now relieved from the pressure of the pirates, followed the shouted instructions of Captain Mclintosh, and took up their positions back on the higher decks, again loading and firing their muskets.

  As the exodus of the slaves continued, George took his dirk and slashed the skin of the drum and placed the keg of gunpowder at its base, then with a flick of his wrist of flint on steel, he lit the short fuse that projected from the wooden keg.

  ‘The most appropriate spot to hide the keg and hopefully remove the main mast and put a hole in the pirate ship’s hull!’ he shouted to Douglas as the fuse spluttered into life.

  He then took time to load both his pistols before following Douglas, who had dragged the four men taken from the raid on the village of Scullomie, to one side as the rest of the slaves rushed passed him. Douglas stopped George.

  ‘The Scullomie men say the women and children were kept in this section of the boat and I have just heard the distinctive cry of a child,’ he said. ‘There it is again, it’s coming from behind that boarded section below the stairs.’ Douglas used his broadsword to prise several loose boards away and exposed three figures and two small children huddled together. ‘Come! Come quickly there is no time to spare!’ he shouted, and tenderly helped the women and children out of the cupboard.

  ‘Where is Alick!’ George asked enquiringly of Douglas looking around.

  ‘He led the slaves in attacking the pirates; there was no stopping him he was after revenge for the death of his brother.’

  George just nodded there was no one more than himself who understood the unquenchable driving force that was the thirst for revenge.

  But his primary concern now was to leave this pirate ship as quickly as possible before the slow fuse reached the powder, and with Douglas leading the way and with the women and children shielded by the four villagers and himself bringing up the rear, they climbed the staircase to the deck.

  What confronted George as they emerged from the semi darkness of the hold onto the bright daylight of the pirate ship’s main deck, was the pirates and their ex-slaves in deadly combat and he could see that the pirates had been forced from the main deck of merchant ship back onto their own vessel to counter the attack of the slaves. Man-to-man the slaves were no match for the vicious experienced fighters who made up the crew of the pirate ship, but what they lacked in skills was made up by the urge to inflict some sort of pain on those men standing in front of them who had brutalised them for so many years. And their sheer numbers were forcing the pirates backwards. Sliding on the deck now made slippery by the blood spilled by the savage conflict of the two opposing sides, Douglas was driving forward towards the handrail of their ship. The four released Highland villagers protecting their flanks and George covering their rear, the group was making slow but steady progress on the outskirts of the main battle. That is until they were spotted by the captain of the pirates from his raised position on the Galiot’s wheel deck.

  He immediately screamed instructions and a group of pirates left the main fight and streamed towards George and Douglas forcing them away from the two ship’s level handrails and towards a corner at the rear of the pirate ship, giving them no access on or escape to the high sides of the merchant vessel looming above them.

  Two of the villagers had been lost to the pirates and the remaining two men were suffering several gashes and cuts from the cutlasses of their opponents. Douglas after his long stretch in the prison ship was lacking in stamina and George had now moved to the front of the group to take the brunt of the forthcoming pirate attack, broadsword in one hand and dirk in the other.

  As their numbers built up in front of him, and encouraged by the screaming instructions from the buccaneer officer, the pirates, many of whom had been in the previous conflict and knew the capabilities and ferocity of the Highlanders as fighters, were building up their courage to charge. With a great yell, the pirates started to move forward as one, and George trapped in a corner with his small group prepared to sell his life dearly and take as many of the enemy with him as possible.

  A dull explosion which shook the ships timbers followed by a plume of black smoke that billowed from the several open hatches, engulfed the group of pirates facing George, and caused them to stop in their tracks. Taking the opportunity, he stepped quickly forward and swung his sword catching the pirate leader unprepared, and even though the man tried to deflect the blow with his cutlass, the power of George’s blow was so fierce it still found its target, the man screamed as the sharp blade sliced through his arm above the elbow leaving it loosely hanging by a few tendons. At the same time, a volley of musket shots fired from the merchant ship’s quarterdeck riddled the rear of their ranks. A second-in-command of the pirates advanced towards George and raised his pistol. The unmistakable crack of the rifled musket could be heard above the rest of the turmoil of battle and the pirate officer collapsed to the deck, a neat hole in his forehead.

  This was followed by several large glass bottles thrown from the quarterdeck that burst on impact with the hard wooden deck of the pirate
ship showering the pirates with the clear liquid. Looking up, George could make out the bright red- headed figure of Fiona in the process of throwing an oil filled lantern into the midst of the pirates, before being dragged down behind the safety of the mattresses by one of the other crofters’ wives, just before the pirates in front of him peppered the quarterdeck with pistol and musket fire.

  As the lantern burst on the hard deck the flames exploded spreading to where ever the clear fluid had landed, along the deck, on the superstructure and on the pirate’s clothes and hair. There was panic amongst the pirates as several of their numbers were encased in flames, screaming as they threw themselves into the sea, to douse the flames burning their bodies, and others franticly trying to batter the flames from their burning clothes. Taking the opportunity during the confusion and panic amongst the ranks of pirates, he led his small party to the hand rail, and helped by Paul and Ian Aberach, they all re-boarded the galleon.

  ‘Remove the grappling hooks!’ he shouted, and while the muskets from the galleon kept the pirates at bay, he proceeded to throw the chains nearest to him overboard, the rest of the chains quickly followed. And as Captain Murphy crew dropped the merchant ship’s sails, the two vessels quickly started to part.

  One of the pirates wearing a bright red turban jumped the widening gap and landed on the deck several yards in front of George, who grabbing a large shield shaped targe lying on the deck and sword in hand advanced to meet him.

  The first blow from the pirate was deflected by the targe held by George, but then the pirate grabbed the top edge of the shield and pulled it downwards, at the same time thrusting his cutlass towards his opponent’s throat, but his razor-sharp weapon stopped several inches short of its target as George stepped quickly backwards. The pirate’s opponent was a seasoned fighter with the broadsword, and had already delivering a fatal upward lunge with the longer weapon that had penetrated the stomach and lower chest of the red turbaned pirate.

  ‘That is for young Alick MacQue!’ he shouted as Douglas heaved the wounded pirate lieutenant over the ship’s hand rail and into the sea.

  As the ships drifted further apart, he watched helplessly at the rest of the slaves who were now fighting a losing battle against the more experienced pirates, and realising that their transport to freedom was swiftly departing. Those that could swim were jumping overboard and attempting to make their way after the galleon. The rest also jumped overboard preferring to drown, rather than be returned to the wretched existence of a slave. Continuous fire from the Highlanders’ muskets from behind their protection of the straw mattresses and another blast from the blunderbuss kept the pirates from attempting to re-board the galleon and away from loading their ship’s cannons. And as the sails filled in the fresh breeze, the gap between the ships lengthened until the range was too far for the muskets.

  ‘They’re pulling the ship around by using the oars themselves,’ shouted Captain Murphy from the poop deck to George, and then continued shouting further instructions to the helmsman to change course slightly in order to gain slightly more wind in the sails.

  ‘They’re pulling around to give us a broadside with their cannon,’ said Captain Mclintosh standing beside George and Douglas on the main deck as he looked through his telescope. ‘And their ship is listing badly; your charge worked, George, and their ship his holed, but trouble is if they manage a broadside from their cannon, it could cause us a lot of damage.

  George looked up at the crow’s nest from his position on the main deck calculating the distance between the ships, then started to climb the rigging up the nearby mast. Panting with the exertion, he joined Peter Robinson in the crow’s nest on the main mast.

  ‘Do you have any shot and powder left, Peter?’ he gasped as he wedged in beside the ex-sharpshooter.

  ‘Aye! I have three balls and powder, and it’s a grand accurate gun you have here, Lieutenant MacKay. I could’na get a shot at the pirate captain, he knew we were up here and kept behind his ship’s mast.’

  He handed the musket to George who proceeded to load the weapon before looking down from his high vantage point to the deck of the Galiot pirate ship.

  The pirate captain, now that he was out of range of the muskets from the galleon, was in full view, shouting orders to his men as they struggled to bring his boat broadside of the retreating merchant ship. The advantage of George’s rifled musket over the smooth standard weapon was it had sights, so taking careful aim and making an allowance for the drop of the shot, he waited until the pirate captain was square on in his sights, before pulling the trigger.

  The musket fire from the galleon, now they were out of range had stopped, and all the men were standing on the decks silently watching the sluggish movement of the Galiot, as yard by yard it manoeuvred into position.

  The sharp unmistaken crack of the rifled musket made several of the bystanders jump and look up towards the crow’s nest. But George only had eyes for the pirate captain, who heard the shot and had time to observe the puff of black smoke before the smooth iron ball hit him square in the chest, knocking him from his pedestal at his ship’s helm and on to his deck. The pirate made several attempts to rise before finally collapsing, his own blood adding to the rest that now covered the deck of his sinking ship.

  Quickly reloading, he looked for another target, but the pirates had all dived for cover, except two men loading the cannon that would be the first to bear on the now swiftly moving merchant ship.

  ‘One more cutthroat less,’ he said aloud, as his shot took out another pirate and sent his companion diving for cover behind the cannon. Another shot from the musket that rattled off the barrel of the cannon sent several of the braver pirates who thought they were out of range again scuttling for cover.

  Having used all the powder and shot and the pirate ship now out of range even for the rifled musket, George made his way back down the mast to the galleon’s main deck.

  ‘Take what cover you can,’ the shout came from Captain Murphy at helm of the ship and was taken up and repeated by the bosun situated below him on the quarter deck. ‘They’ve brought their boat around, and we are now in range of their starboard cannons,’ shouted the ship’s captain.

  No sooner had the men around the guard rail moved to the far side of the ship, and the ladies, including Fiona, had been sent to find refuge below. A loud series of four explosions one after the other indicated the firing of the cannons as they came to bear on the galleon. George, along with Douglas and Captain Mclintosh, were sheltering behind the straw mattresses, which would have provided little cover from a cannon ball, only from flying debris.

  At each loud crack of the cannon, it was followed seconds later by the shot that whistled harmlessly overhead, leaving neat holes punctured in the ship’s taut sails.

  ‘Their ship is listing badly,’ shouted George as he looked through his spyglass at the enemy ship. ‘They must have taken in a lot of water and can’t lower the barrels of their cannons. Their cannons are starting to roll back and they can’t hold them.’

  Both Douglas and Captain Mclintosh had now joined him at the guard rail, and he handed his spyglass to Douglas.

  ‘Yes, and if they managed to drag their ship round to use their port cannons, they will be pointing into the sea,’ shouted Douglas excitingly.

  ‘They are also taking their vengeance out on those poor souls trying to swim towards us,’ voiced Captain Mclintosh as the sound of musket fire carried across the water from the pirate ship.

  ‘Captain Murphy!’ shouted George lower the longboat and see if we can save some of those men from a watery grave.’

  By the time the longboat had been lowered, the galleon was now out of cannon range of the floundering pirate ship and Captain Murphy had altered his course slightly so there was only the enemy ship’s bow now facing them.

  ‘Their boat is levelled up now,’ shouted Douglas still watching the Galiot with George
’s spyglass. ‘But it’s low in the water.’

  ‘That’s because of all the water in its hold,’ said Captain Murphy as he joined them. ‘They have probably patched up the hole in their hull, but they are in no condition to pose a threat to us. They will try and slink back to their base and be praying they don’t hit any rough weather on their journey. Your leader, Lieutenant MacKay, has given them a good drubbing on two occasions and they’re scampering off with their tail between their legs. I see he’s also managed to save a few of the slaves.’ He pointed to where George was returning with thirteen of the pirates’ prisoners in the ship’s longboat.

  Twenty-Seven

  ‘Sail on the port side,’ the shout came from Peter Robinson still in the crow’s nest. And all eyes turned to where the one legged ex-royal naval gunner was pointing.

  ‘It’s the transport ship,’ exclaimed Douglas.

  ‘No! There’s a sail beyond the transport ship,’ said Captain Murphy from the rigging where he had moved for a better view with his spyglass.

  Now that the immediate danger from the pirate ship was over, the women had returned on deck and were dressing the many cuts and deep gashes sustained by the men during the engagement. The rest of the able-bodied soldiers were stacking the dead bodies of their comrades in a neat row on the ship’s main deck. George boarded the galleon and passed the ex-slaves over to the women to have their wounds treated also.

  ‘There’s another ship behind our transport vessel,’ said Douglas as George approached him. As he looked in the direction Douglas was pointing, he could see the transport ship which was now just a few miles away, but a short distance behind he could make out the sails of another boat.

  ‘Is the transport ship being chased?’ George shouted to the captain, dreading the thought of another pirate ship in the area.