Overboard!

by Michael White

  Although the foliage was not too wild Neep could see that the three men were beginning to tire under the hot sun as they continued east and so Neep stood forward and took the machete from Mister Doornail and began to cut his way through the jungle. For the next hour they rotated so that every one of them had some time off from clearing a path. Neep had removed his shirt as he had helped, secure in the knowledge that any man swinging a machete must definitely not wear any upper garments at all.

  Daisy however, did not help out but kept her eyes and ears open, scouring the jungle for any sounds at all. Yet there were none. Just the distant rumbling of the volcano and the occasional shaking of the ground. After another hour had passed Daisy drew a stop and the four men all fell to the floor, the sweat running down their chests as they stopped for breath.

  Daisy passed a canteen of water around.

  “Thank you.” Said Neep as it came to his turn for a swig of the lukewarm water.

  “You are filling out rather, Neep.” Winked Daisy as she held the bottle out for him, “Not quite the beanpole you used to be.” The other three pirates chuckled quietly to themselves whilst Neep looked on, blushing furiously.

  “How much further would you think?” He asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

  “I would say that within the next hour we should find the start of the bay where the Torta Di Frutta is anchored and we should have a clear view from there as to what Jenkins is up to through the telescope.” Said Daisy, standing to indicate that she was ready to move off once again. They redistributed the machetes and continued on their way, Mister Bucket, Mister Coil and Mister Doornail chopping their way through the jungle.

  Neep was not very surprised to find that Daisy was particularly accurate with their position, for in just under an hour the rocky beach began to change, white sand now drifting down to the sea as the sweep of the bay began to head off to the north. They slowed their pace as the coastline of the island opened up before them, and from their hiding place in the jungle the Torta Di Frutta came in sight, and the bay before it.

  Even without the telescope Neep could see that Jenkins had not been idle since his arrival. There were three rowing boats heading to and from the ship to shore, their round trip staggered for maximum efficiency. As Neep looked he could see one boat on the beach, one being rowed towards the beach, and another just reaching Jenkins's ship. Each rowing boat seemed to be fully loaded, though from this distance Neep could not tell with what. He then glanced at the beach, where Jenkins crew were carrying something from the shoreline towards the cliffs. Again, it was difficult to tell not just how many crew were there, but what they were carrying too. Neep glanced at the cliff and gasped, for what he saw there was extremely visible, and therefore probably enormous.

  At the centre of the bay amongst several what looked like ruined wooden scaffolds the foliage had been cut back as it sloped towards the cliff. The cliff however had been shaped; carved. In the centre of the rock face was a huge door, reaching up what Neep thought must have been a good ninety feet. In the far right edge of the door was what must have been a large triangular carving, and as Neep stared at it he realised that he was looking at a keyhole that must have been the size of a man. The door was firmly closed however, and as he watched he saw that there seemed to be many boxes stacked at the foot of it.

  Daisy gasped beside him, and dropping the telescope handed it to him. Neep squinted and raised the telescope to his eye, pointing it at the ship first. He saw that the Torta Di Frutta was a hive of activity, the ship’s deck being crowded by what looked like every crew member working on pulling small barrels up from the hold. Neep recognised it now. Gunpowder. As he watched he realised that what looked like the entire crew were concentrating on running as much gunpowder ashore as they possibly could.

  Neep followed the boats ashore to the door, noting that the gunpowder was being stacked against the huge door which Neep now saw was as enormous as he had first thought.

  “Looks like the door is locked.” said Neep and he heard Daisy whisper in agreement. Neep also noticed that there seemed to be very few crew members ashore, the vast majority of them still being aboard the Torta Di Frutta, obviously moving the gunpowder from the hold to the deck and into the rowing boats. Neep counted no more than a dozen pirates on the shore, but as he squinted through the telescope he could see quite clearly the figure of Jenkins striding back and forth up the beach impatiently.

  The beach seemed to be littered with strange wooden structures that had obviously not borne the passage of time or the weather terribly well; there were curious wooden piers and what looked like a raised platform flanked by a set of wooden steps. They looked old; sun bleached and unsafe. What their actual purpose was it was difficult to tell. He dropped the telescope and passed it to Mister Bucket to have a look.

  “What now?” asked Neep as Mister Bucket, Mister Coil and Mister Doornail passed the telescope amongst themselves muttering darkly as they did so. Daisy seemed to be lost in thought.

  “Let’s get a little nearer.” she smiled, “I need to see just how deep that bay is. I can tell by the rowing boats if I can get nearer. I would suggest that we sheathe the machetes however.” The three pirates did this and began to push forward through the undergrowth as slowly as they were able. They walked for some ten minutes, keeping hidden as they did so, yet also staying very close together. They were much nearer to the beach when Mister Coil suddenly held up his hand. Everyone instantly stopped.

  Mister Coil pointed at the ground and they all gathered around as the pirate pointed silently to what was without doubt a boot print in the ground. They all began to edge slowly back in the opposite direction, Mister Coil now leading them by a good ten foot as if transfixed by the sight of the footprint.

  “Far enough.” said Daisy, “We will turn around n….”

  The sound of a flintlock pistol sounded out across the jungle and Coil fell heavily to the ground, blood flying through the air from his chest. Instantly they all fell to the ground, Mister Coil some ten foot in front of them where he had fallen, unmoving.

  “Mister Coil!” Hissed Neep and getting no response slowly crawled towards the fallen pirate.

  “Neep!” hissed Daisy “Where the hell are you going?” Neep ignored her however, crawling forward through the undergrowth. From somewhere near shouting could be heard. Somehow one of the voices sounded familiar to Neep. Reaching Mister Coil Neep reached out and placing his hand on the man’s wrist shook his head to those behind him.

  “He’s gone.” whispered Neep and he saw Daisy silently curse.

  “Get back here Neep!” She said quietly, but Neep was already removing the gunpowder and shot pouch from the dead man’s belt, followed by his flintlock pistol. From nearby he could hear the sound of people approaching through the jungle.

  “Fan out! Fan out!” shouted a voice from nearby. Neep recognised it but could not place the voice. It was certainly not Jenkins, or Lex, or the cook for that matter. It must have been…. Neep suddenly smiled.

  “Rum!” shouted Neep at the top of his voice and from the foliage to his right about thirty feet away there was a sudden shout.

  “Yo ho ho!” Came the reply and Neep reacted instantly, firing the flintlock in that direction, but above head height. He did not want to kill anyone unless he had to. He just wanted them to keep their heads down while they all escaped.

  “Down!” came the same voice as Neep sprinted back to where the other pirates were waiting and then they turned and fled, heading back the way they had come. There was a small gap, afforded to them by Neep’s shot but then the sound of pursuit began.

  Neep ducked as a shot exploded against a palm tree trunk close to his head, crouching a little more as he ran, Daisy leading the way but at the same time looking back over her shoulder sporadically as they ran, ensuring everyone was keeping up. There was another boom of a flintlock and Mister Doornail dropped to the floor like a dead weight.

  “Aim for the red shirts!”
Neep heard from behind him and as he did so there was another shot and Mister Bucke flew through the air and he fell to the ground, blood seeping through his shirt, his face cold and expressionless. Neep made to slow down.

  “Leave them!” shouted Daisy, grabbing Neep by the arm, “There is nothing that you can do for them! Run as fast as you can!”

  Neep did not need telling again. Grabbing Daisy’s hand, he took off like a gazelle, dragging her through the jungle as fast as he could. Daisy found herself struggling to keep up, but still onward they raced, now hitting the path they had previously cut through the jungle.

  “Rum!” shouted Neep, and from far away behind them he heard, “Yo ho ho!”

  Still on they raced, but as they did so Neep suddenly veered off to the north, dragging Daisy with him as he went. Putting all of his strength into it, he threw the pistol off into the jungle in that direction, the sounds of pursuit now heading that way too.

  “Rum!” he shouted again, and this time the response was much further away; distant almost. The foliage was beginning to darken now as evening fell, and slowly and carefully Neep moved back to an easterly path, kicking and refolding the vegetation back behind them as they went, walking backwards.

  “Good thinking, Neep.” Whispered Daisy, “And good shot before. It gave us time to escape.”

  “Not for Mister Bucket, Mister Coil or Mister Doornail.” Said Neep bitterly, though for some strange reason he could not get out of his head a vision of their red shirts.

  “I know.” said Daisy as they stopped combing back the plant leaves and turned and ran west again. “Three more lives to lay at the feet of Captain Jenkins.” She said as they raced on, darkness beginning to loom as they flew through the jungle.

  They forged onwards for some five minutes before they stopped, out of breath.

  “Rum!” shouted Neep and there was no response at all.

  “Extremely well done, Neep.” said Daisy, leaning forward, hands on knees, panting for breath, “We didn’t want them to see the Magpie. Your little decoy seems to have sent them in the wrong direction.”

  “Nevertheless Jenkins will be on his guard now.” said Neep. “Once they realise they have lost us they will be straight back to Jenkins to report that we are here.”

  “Well Jenkins seems to be rather concentrating on getting that door open.” laughed Daisy, her breath nearly returning to normal.

  “I wonder what is behind it?” said Neep, excitement colouring his voice.

  “Never mind that.” said Daisy. “We have to deal with the Torta Di Frutta first.”

  “You have a plan?” laughed Neep.

  “Maybe.” she smiled. “I need to speak with Mister Dormouse. I need him to make me a bow and arrow. Come. Let us get back to the ship.”

  “A bow and arrow?” Laughed Neep, but Daisy was already moving.

  The rowing boat was but a further twenty minute’s walk away, the boat itself now nearly concealed by the encroaching darkness. Daisy climbed aboard and remembering the sharks, Neep strode only a little way into the sea before leaping in himself as he felt the boat start to sway with the current. They both took an oar and slowly eased themselves into the sea. The waters again seemed to be disturbed by passing sharks, and progress was slow, but soon the Magpie loomed up from the darkness.

  They were home.

  Chapter 28

  ~ Cannonballs at Dawn~

  Pre-dawn. Pirates moved all over the Magpie, covering anything that made a sound in cloth, muffling the entire ship. Neep watched the people he could see, noting that none of them wore shoes in compliance with Daisy’s orders, though the pitch black darkness did not show him much of the ship. Upon their return to the Magpie Daisy had gathered her crew about her, her eyes gleaming in anticipation. She had explained to the crew what she had seen; described the mysterious door and Jenkins’s transportation of the gunpowder to the shore.

  “I can determine from the rowing boats passage to the shore more or less the depth of the water in the bay. The Torta Di Frutta sits deeper in the water than the Magpie. That means we have extra manoeuvrability. Yet the firepower of Jenkins’s ship is considerable - two stands of thirty-two cannons. Thirty-two pounders too.” Someone in the crowd whistled, and Boom smiled jealously. Our two stands of twenty pounders are considerably less.” Daisy paused. Silence lay across the deck like a shadow on the face of the moon.

  “Yet if we can get close enough then the Torta Di Frutta would have to reconfigure it’s cannons to reach us. If we can get under their guns we may just have a chance of success. It is all about speed.” There were mutters running around the crew. “How long would it take Jenkins to adjust his cannons if we were close, Mister Boom?” asked Daisy and the old bombardier rubbed his chin.

  “No more than a minute and a half.” he said carefully, “Perhaps less. It depends on the efficiency of his crew.”

  “That would give us how many shots at him?” asked Daisy.

  “Broadside of one stand, about three shots I would say.” said Boom. “At a push. Two certainly.”

  “Then make them count.” Whispered Daisy, “I shall see if we can distract the Torta Di Frutta a little longer to give you a few extra moments.” And with that the crew were set to work to muffle anything on the ship that would make a sound. Mister Dormouse was set to work to create a bow and three arrows, a task that he set to immediately with relish, and Ensephilephtor Boom strode the gun decks, polishing and then re-polishing, making ready for the fight to come.

  Very early in the morning, with darkness still obscuring all but the tip of the smoking volcano the Magpie began to move. Daisy had waited for the very last moment for the moon to disappear behind clouds that hung on the horizon like a clarion call to battle. The night was now pitch black as the ship moved slowly forward, the sails carefully unfurled to catch the breeze yet not to flap in the wind.

  Neep stood on the quarterdeck with Daisy and Bones, hardly daring to breathe. He wondered how Daisy knew where not only the shoreline was, but the Torta Di Frutta’s position as well, but she remained calm, whispering commands to the helmsman as the ship edged forward around the island.

  Neep grinned calmly as across the water a faint glow showed the lanterns lit on Jenkins’s ship, and across the distance there came the loud ringing of four bells and the sound of someone on the ship across the bay calling the time.

  “Steady.” Whispered Daisy to the helmsman as every pirate on the Magpie stood tensed, not daring to move as through the darkness on the starboard side the furled sails and high masts of the Torta Di Frutta slowly began to appear in the gloom.

  Neep had already seen the cannon hatches being opened. He knew that Boom would already have the cannons primed and ready, the powder boys standing close to hand ready to reload and fire again, and another time too if they had the time before the Torta Di Frutta turned its deadly fire power upon them.

  Slowly the Magpie drew nearer.

  Daisy flinched as suddenly the moon appeared from behind the clouds, illuminating the ocean. Neep felt his breath stop. Suddenly from across the water there came the sound of an alarm being rung, and shouts coming from the other ship.

  “Ship off the port bow!” Came the call and Daisy instantly discarded any pretence of silence. Yet they needed to be nearer. Just a little. From the ground before her she picked up the bow Dormouse had made for her, dipped one of the arrows in a bucket of pitch she had prepared and struck a flint, setting the arrow aflame. She stood firmly on the deck and took aim. Seconds later a fire arrow flew through the air and across the water before falling uselessly into the sea.

  “Damn!” muttered Daisy, taking the second arrow and firing it. This time the arrow stuck in the furled top sails of the Torta Di Frutta, and flames began to lick about the canvas tied there. “Yes!” shouted Daisy as all eyes on the Torta Di Frutta suddenly turned away from the approaching ship and towards the flames up in the mast. The Magpie increased speed.

  It was enough.

  “
Fire, Mister Boom!” screamed Daisy and Neep braced himself as the Magpie’s cannons sounded, shaking the ship underfoot, the air filling with great clouds of smoke. From the gun deck Neep heard Boom shouting orders, the cannons already being prepared to fire again.

  There was a deafening sound of impact from the Torta Di Frutta, and men’s screams, but when the smoke cleared Jenkins’s ship hardly looked damaged at all, the main hull being battered with a few planks missing, but no major structural damage was apparent at all.

  “By the sea…” muttered Daisy and suddenly the Torta Di Frutta’s cannons sounded, the noise deafening and the Magpie’s front mast was smashed into splinters, falling to the deck all around, the sails flapping down with the ruined wood. Pulleys and rope fell like rain, pirates trying to dodge the falling debris that rained down upon the ship.

  As if in response Boom fired again, and once more, when the smoke cleared the hull of the Torta Di Frutta looked scorched, and there were signs of impact, but nothing significant that would threaten Jenkin’s ship. This time the Torta Di Frutta fired again, but the bombardment flew over the ship, far too high.

  “They will have to realign and lower their cannons.” shouted Bones. “We have about a minute and a half or we’re dead!”

  “Our attacks are hardly damaging them!” shouted Daisy as Boom fired again, and once more when the smoke cleared the Torta Di Frutta was still intact.

  “It’s the cage.” said Neep, remembering his time on the ship. “The hull has a metal cage, especially around the gun decks. Jenkins said it helped protect the ship.”

  “We need to do something!” yelled Daisy.