by Ryan Gilbert
“What about the bloke do ye remember?” asked Clint.
Straining to remember, Julia said, “If he is who I think he is, than there’s not really much to remember. He was just like any other man in the government… greedy and conniving. That’s probably the one reason why Captain Kidd isn’t here today. He fell into the trap of believing Coote and Hunter.”
Riggs shrugged his shoulders. The Red Sky had fought against people who were driven mad with greed. He did not need to look any further than Garrett, his mutinous former crewmate. The man had nearly brought about the destruction of the ship and the crew. The only difference between him and Coote was that he was a bloodthirsty pirate while Coote was a politician.
“Are we supposed to be scared by this measly little man?” asked Coral Jack, snatching the rum away from Clint.
“Even I seem scarier than him,” said Valera.
“Coote wasn’t one who you should be scared of, but we should be wary of him. Robert Hunter, on the other hand, is far worse…. far, far worse. Whenever soldiers would come to the house, they would sometimes tell stories about him, and all of the stories were enough to make me sick. I’d nearly forgotten about them, but the description of the man himself will stick with me forever. He is deceptive and manipulative, like a snake. One time, it was said he won a battle by killing the opposing general in the middle of negotiations. I heard one man say that he watched Hunter torture a man without a single bit of emotion on his face. Perhaps they were just rumors, but it’d be smart to believe them.”
Looking around, Riggs saw that his crew was as still as a rock. Some of them had their jaws hanging open as Julia explained the situation. They were speechless.
“What’s with all of ye? A little afraid of the Navy now, are we?” he asked.
As the heads started to nod, Riggs said, “We’ve gone against the Navy before, and we’re still standin’. Nothin’s goin’ to change that.”
For a couple seconds, nobody responded to their captain. There was not one person who knew what to say until Eli got to his feet.
“Captain, with all due respect… Commodore Hamond doesn’t even sound like he can hold a candle to Hunter. This man seems like he could kill us all over a cup o’ tea.”
Standing to look his crewmate straight in the eyes, Riggs said, “I think we could take ‘im. Does anybody here remember Ororis? We fought against her, and she had magic on her side. What happened? She’s a rottin’ corpse at the bottom of the sea while we’re still livin’ lives of adventure. If we can kill Ororis, then we can take Hunter.”
Julia grabbed him by the hand and said, “You can’t take this man lightly, Riggs. Eli’s right. He’s nothing like my father. There are worse people in the Navy. Trust me on this.”
Riggs simply scoffed at the warning. With as much as he loved Julia, he knew that she could be overly cautious. He was not about to let that stop him from pursuing Captain Kidd’s treasure. That was the dream of every pirate, and it was not going to slip through his fingers.
“Chart a course for New York. We’ve got some treasure that needs some findin’,” said the Captain, rolling up the letters and stuffing them in his coat pocket.
After dismissing the crew, he made his way to the rail. Grabbing a rope, he hauled himself onto it and took a seat, watching the moonlight bounce off of the rippling waves. He tried to reflect and relax a little, but Julia’s words just kept repeating in his head. She had to be exaggerating. Surely, nobody could match the destructive power of Commodore Hamond when the Red Sky had first kidnapped his daughter. It was just not possible.
“Are you ready to take back your post, Commodore?”
“Quite ready, sir.”
Hamond and Admiral Carter were reaching the final stages of preparation for their business in New York. So far, the Commodore had successfully maintained the façade of hating the pirates. No one, not even the Admiral, had seen through it.
Together, the two men made their way down to the docks, surveying the battalion of soldiers marching to the ship. The Commodore could see that they were stout young men, ready to fight for the Crown. Deep down in his heart, he prayed that they would not encounter the Red Sky. If they did, the pirates would be destroyed. These men were trained to feel no remorse. To them, pirates were criminals and threats to society, and nothing more.
“Hamond, are you not paying attention?” asked the Admiral, snapping the Commodore back to reality.
“My apologies, sir. I was just… thinking about my daughter.”
Carter rested a hand on the Commodore’s shoulder. There was genuine care and concern in his gesture. Hamond could see it in his face. He knew what it was like to lose a child, and he did not want it to happen to a fellow officer of the Navy.
“We’ll find her, Commodore. You have my word. We’ll make sure those pirates never kidnap, steal, or kill ever again. They will taste our blades by the end of this voyage, I promise you.”
That was exactly why Commodore Hamond was frightened. With Admiral Carter in charge, that promise would most likely come true.
“I don’t mean to question you, sir, but how are we going to catch the pirates? I’ve chased them before, and the Red Sky is much faster than any of our ships.”
The Admiral chuckled. It was a bit unnerving for the Commodore. Whatever Carter had up his sleeve was not going to be good.
“My dear boy, we don’t need to chase them.”
By now, the two had reached the dock and started weaving between sailors and soldiers. Once they got through the crowd, Carter stopped, commanding Hamond’s full attention.
He continued, “We just need to find them, Commodore.”
Hamond’s eyes immediately followed the Admiral’s finger as it pointed the way toward the ship at the end of the dock. It towered over the other ships moored at the port. It seemed even larger than the Magistrate before it.
“With one hundred guns and the passion of the Crown behind it, that ship can face any challenger and destroy it. I’ve never met a pirate that could survive an onslaught from my vessel,” said Admiral Carter.
Taking Hamond by the shoulder, Carter led him towards the ship.
“Commodore, I present to you the HMS Salvation.”
At that moment, the grievousness of the situation made itself clear. If that ship ever encountered the pirates, the Red Sky would be nothing more than cannon fodder.
With a prideful look on his face, Admiral Carter said, “With this kind of force behind us, we will find those pirates…”
Raising his hand in front of the Commodore’s face, he clenched it into a fist, like he was throttling someone by the neck.
“… and we will destroy them.”
CHAPTER FOUR
For many long days, the Red Sky had to battle against the weather to reach New York. Waves crashed onto the deck of the ship, nearly knocking the pirates into the churning waters of the storm. With each towering wall of water, luck seemed to be on the crew’s side as they managed to stay onboard the ship. The days blended with the nights as the storm raged, unceasingly pounding the pirates with its mighty blows. Nobody slept. Droplets of sweat mingled with the rain that pelted the pirates’ bodies. It was almost as if someone… or something… did not want them to find Captain Kidd’s treasure.
With each brief glimpse of the stars through the storm clouds, Riggs tried to keep the ship facing north. The storm forced the ship every which way, spinning the wheel faster than the Captain could handle. Gritting his teeth, he planted his feet against the soaked deck and desperately tried to keep the ship steady.
Stumbling to the bottom of the stairs, Clint shouted, “How much longer will this storm go on?”
“Ain’t got a clue, mate,” Riggs yelled over the tempest.
“Any orders, Captain?”
“Trim those sails and make sure they don’t break loose. We need to keep the ship under control if we want to make it there in one piece.”
“Aye, Riggs,” Clint replied, immediately knoc
ked to his knees by a wave.
Torrents of seawater crashed across the deck, throwing the crew this way and that. Riggs could hear his men cursing at the gods, only to be cut off by another onslaught of water.
“Why couldn’t the treasure be somewhere close?” grumbled Coral Jack.
“Ye know it wouldn’t…” Clint started to say just as a wave hit him, “… *cough* *cough* it wouldn’t be that easy, ye imbecile.”
The rest of the night followed the same pattern. A monstrous wave would hit the deck, sending the pirates tumbling across the ship, and they would have to hurry to their feet to better prepare the Red Sky for nature’s next assault. It was almost torturous for the crew to even stay on deck. The wind beat against their faces and the cold rain bit into their already soaked skin. Through the storm, the pirates proved their worth, but it was tough. The most sleep anyone had had in the last three days had been five hours. Riggs could see they were exhausted, but the allure of legendary treasure kept them going.
Suddenly, after several days of nonstop rain, the crew heard something they had thought they would never hear again.
Silence. Nothing but the gentle lapping of tiny waves against the side of the ship.
The remnants of the last wave poured over the side of the Red Sky. The rain slowly dissipated. The ocean became calm.
The storm had finally stopped.
Nearly every single one of the pirates walked over to the closest rail and looked out over the sea. In minutes, Mother Nature had gone from trying to kill them to finally making it an easy voyage. Riggs looked up at the morning sun peeking out from behind the clouds. It was a welcome sight to behold. The crew would have cheered, but all of their energy had been sucked from their bodies by the storm.
As he turned around, Riggs noticed something. It looked like a very thin strip of black on the horizon. With the naked eye, the Captain could not even tell what it was. Turning his back to the glare of the sun, he took a spyglass and tried to find out the object’s identity.
Once he put the glass to his eye, he could tell the black strip was land. Even with the sun casting shadows, he could decipher some trees and beaches from the darkly colored mass.
“Is that it, Captain? Is that New York?” asked Coral Jack, tired, but still somewhat excited.
After some thought, Riggs replied, “I can’t say. It could be, but we’re too far away to know for sure.”
“Should we sail closer then?”
“I don’t know if we…”
“Do you want me to swim up and take a look?” Valera interrupted, ready to change her legs into fins should Riggs give the order.
The Captain could not even get a word out of his mouth before someone else asked, “How long until we start searching fer the treasure?”
With that, the floodgates opened. All at once, the crew started bombarding their captain with questions. They wanted the answers to questions that Riggs could not even begin to answer. Nothing was even certain to him yet.
The Captain raised his hands and shouted, “Will all of ye shut your mouths?”
The questions did not cease.
“Shut up!”
The crew just got louder. With an irritated huff, Riggs motioned to Ripper to try and quiet the crowd of pirates.
BANG
Once the Jamaican shot his pistol in the air, the crew became silent. It was sudden enough to shock them and get them to stop talking.
“Thank ye, Ripper. Now that I have your attention, let me make one thing perfectly clear. I don’t know where we are. It could be New York. It could not be New York. We’ll just have to find out.”
The pirates started to bicker, but Ripper held up his guns once again, and they quieted down. Riggs took advantage of the calm so he could take another peek through the spyglass and actually focus on the land. As he strained to see, he hoped that he could pick out some sort of landmark and identify it. To his utter distress, he could not. The sun was still too low in the sky. The light made the land seem too flat to make out any details.
As he moved the spyglass along the strip of land, Riggs noticed something white dart in front of his vision. It stood out from the dark land, the sun reflecting off the canvas. What he had seen were the white sails of a ship.
Riggs felt a shock run through his body as he put away the spyglass. His first instinct was to prepare his crew to attack. If that ship was a Navy vessel, then the pirates would surely be doomed. With the exhaustion plaguing their bodies, none of them were in any shape to be fighting. When he opened his mouth to give the order, Riggs heard a tiny voice in the back of his head, stopping him for the moment.
“What’d ye see, Captain?” asked Clint, confused by Riggs’ expression.
Before he said anything else, Riggs looked through the spyglass one last time. The ship looked small, definitely not large enough to actually put up a fight against the Red Sky. It did not have the markings of a ship in the Navy. The portholes for the cannons were not even open. Perhaps a different course of action was a better option than attacking.
“Ship ahoy. Run up the sails and drop the anchor,” he ordered.
“But Captain… ain’t we fighting ‘em?” asked Clint.
Hurrying down the stairs, Riggs replied, “We want to know where we are. Here’s our chance. Now where’s ol’ One-Eye?”
“Right here, Captain. What do ye need?” said Petey, right behind Riggs.
“See if ye can find a Union Jack somewhere. Much as it pains me to be flyin’ that flag on the Sky, we need it for the ruse.”
“I’ll have one in a moment, Riggs,” said the old man, rushing below deck as fast as he could.
As Riggs hurried about the ship directing the crew on what to do during the encounter, Julia tried to keep up with him to find out what was happening.
“Riggs?”
“Not right now, love. I’m sort o’ busy here.”
“Riggs, just tell me your plan,” she said, following him through the crowd of men.
“We’re goin’ to pretend we’re just regular sailors. There’s not goin’ to be any skull and crossbones or cannons or rum… sadly. If we don’t pose a threat, they’ll hopefully stay calm.”
“I certainly hope you’re right, Riggs,” said Julia, grabbing his hand.
The crew hoisted the Union Jack into the air as the other ship sailed closer. The red, white, and blue flag stood out on the ship like a lightning bolt in a thunderstorm. It was a bit unnerving for the pirates to watch an English flag take the place of their battle-scarred piece of cloth, even if it was just temporary.
With the ship approaching fast, Riggs motioned to Julia and Valera to hide in his cabin. The crew could not pass as being regular sailors if there were women onboard, and the Red Sky certainly did not look like a passenger ship.
Riggs held his breath as the white sails grew larger. None of the men held out their guns or swords. They had to appear to be as approachable as possible. The other ship was smaller than the pirate ship, but the Captain had heard of smaller vessels destroying monstrous ships before. Luckily for the pirates, the other ship began making preparations to stop. They did not even suspect a thing.
When the ship was right next to the Red Sky, Riggs heard a man’s voice shout, “Ahoy there. What business have you here?”
Riggs yelled back, “Beggin’ yer pardon, mate, but we’re a lost ship. We can’t seem to find our way. Permission to come aboard?”
There was no response for a couple of seconds. Riggs and his crew held their breath in anticipation, their hands itching to grab their swords and guns if the situation turned troublesome.
After a long pause, the man said, “Granted.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Riggs made his way down to the deck. He laid a hand on Clint’s shoulder, subtly pulling his navigator along with him.
“Something you want me to help with, Captain?” Clint asked with a cynical tone in his voice.
“Aye. You’re goin’ over to that ship with me.”
/> “Why’s it got to be me?” he asked, trying to mask his discomfort.
Giving his friend a somewhat reassuring pat on the shoulder, Riggs replied, “Mate… ‘cause I asked ye to. Now come along.”
“As ye wish, Captain,” Clint said begrudgingly.
Directing his attention to the rest of the crew, Riggs needed to make sure that nothing occurred to startle the people on the other ship. The last thing that the pirates needed was a battle when they could hardly load a cannon.
“Not a shot unless I give a signal. Understand?” he whispered to his crewmembers.
They nodded, further hiding their pistols in the folds of their clothes.
The Captain and Clint rowed a longboat over to the other ship. It was intimidating, but it got Riggs’ heart pumping. Looking up at the ship, he saw close to twenty people just watching him and his crewmate approach the ship. The strange part was that it was not just men. There were women and children staring over the rail as well. He could almost feel their eyes watching his every move. As he climbed up the ladder, he noticed the crowd part to let someone through.
Almost as soon as he placed a foot on the deck, he was greeted by a stout, middle-aged man whom Riggs could only assume was the captain. He looked rugged, but cheerful. A black beard covered his sunburnt face. The poor sailor had no idea he was face to face with an outlaw.
“And what would your name be, son?” he said.
“Captain Robert… Striker,” Riggs said, trying to conceal his true identity.
“A pleasure to meet you, Captain Striker. Welcome aboard the Headhunter. Now, what is it you require?”
Following the man to his cabin, Riggs said, “Me and my ship just got out of a storm and I can’t tell where in the bloody hell we are.”
The man chuckled and stroked his beard, saying, “I’ve got a map and charts just through these doors. Do come in.”
Riggs stepped into the cabin and was taken aback by how pristine the room was. Even Commodore Hamond’s cabin on the HMS Magistrate had not been this lavish. It had a bright and welcoming feel to it, much like the captain himself.