Entry 8: 1670

by D S S Atkinson

drearily out into the mist.

  “I would rather have never known this place existed, Harvey. It makes no sense to a rational mind, I don’t know why I am here, I am no pirate, I cannot kill a man, I’m an inventor. I should have stayed in Port Royal with Damien,” he huffed “for all the good that would have done me.”

  “Why did you come, bos’n?” He stared for a moment into oblivion before answering.

  “It is rare in life that you come across people whom you lay the trust of your life in. I sail the sea with Rike because he is like a brother to me, and where he goes I follow, but this island, this is like nothing I have ever known or seen, nor would I wish to see again.” He turned about to rest his back against the ship’s starboard before the faintest smile appeared on his face. “When my wife and I were young we had a beautiful little house that sat upon a corroding cliff face on the sea’s shore. In the summer we would rest outside, and in the evenings the colliding temperatures would cause mists to gather across our small piece of land. We would sit in silence staring out at the setting sun, just enjoying the moment.” The boatswain released a quiet sigh, “how I miss her.”

  ‘Twas most warming to hear Sollertis’ story, yet what was for a brief moment more relieving was to see that as he spoke, the mists abruptly resided and the sunlight of the morning poured most magnificently in through the cannon holes in the orlop. It immediately felt as though the draining grip of the mist loosened as a great mirth surged through me, an enormous smile appeared on my face and I looked at Sollertis who himself without reason began laughing.

  As I sat with Sollertis seemingly unable to control myself from smiling, I heard faint eruptions rip out from some distance away from Roselyn, or so I thought. The boatswain’s heavy laughter concealed the blasts as I hastily lifted a hand to capture Sollertis’ attention, yet he was oblivious. In a moment of horror that caused me to duck to the floor of the orlop a cannon ball burst through the derelict woodwork of Roselyn’s starboard striking Sollertis to the back of the skull. I am sure his head nearly became detached from his neck as blood and bone sprayed out across the orlop deck. I hunched up on my hands and knees and threw up at the sight, what was left of him fell limply to the deck of the orlop, no longer recognisable.

  It sounded as though an infinity of cannons erupted in that brief moment and I still become lost in woeful thoughts of how the boatswain was taken from us, ‘twas most horrific. As the cannon balls began to splinter and burst through the wood of Roselyn I heard cries from Aran Fox coming from above.

  “We're under fire! To your stations, lads! There’s five of them upon us!”

  ‘Twas sheer misfortune that the very place we should sail clear of the consuming fog would be where the Spanish galleons were waiting. I crawled to the hatchway that lead to the sleeping chambers and lifted it with a struggle.

  “Lads! Be up an’ ready! We be under siege! ‘urry to your stations!” Breathing heavily I lifted myself up from the deck of the orlop, though I ducked to the floor again as another flurry of cannon balls thundered into the captain’s beauty causing splinters to spray out in the air and the sound of cracking wood to resonate throughout the ship. The sounds of the black pearls striking the sides of her body echoed within the orlop and in disbelief I looked out through a portside cannon hole. I could see three Spanish galleons and nothing but open ocean where we had left the mist of the island, the smoke of their cannon fire was still rising into the sky above the great blue.

  We were surrounded, yet I nor any man aboard ship was going to let the captain’s princess fall without a fight. I lifted myself up from the woodwork and rushed to the hatchway of the upper deck. Many of the bewildered crew had begun to emerge from the lower decks and with caution the cannoneers began readying themselves to return fire.

  “Be wary, men!” I yelled as yet another torrent of cannon fire thundered away across the tranquil Caribbean Sea. “Sollertis!” I called out instinctively, though as the realisation of his death struck me I immediately felt lost and alone. I rushed to the helm of the vessel as a few of the crew prepared the cannons for fire on top deck. “Samuels, steer us towards one o’ the bastards. If we be goin’ down we certainly ain’t goin’ alone.”

  “Aye, sir, where be the capt’n, sir?” Yet another roar of cannon hail exploded into the air surrounding our vessel and every pirate I could see ducked for cover, I laid upon the deck’s surface and crawled with haste towards the captain’s chamber. As I made my way I saw the orlop hatchway lift open and as it did it was abruptly stricken by a black pearl causing the woodwork to spray across the deck, the head of Austin, which after some moments of hesitation cautiously appeared from the hatchway was missed by an immeasurably short distance. Rising up from the now open gap he made eye contact with me.

  “We be ready to fire, sir!” He cried out though his voice was drowned by the sound of roaring cannons.

  “You do not need mi permission! Fire all that you can!” He disappeared and it was momentarily relieving to hear our own cannons begin firing, though the pleasure was certainly not a great one.

  I pushed Captain Rike’s chamber door open. Splintering wood hailed over the lady’s upper deck. Attempting to prevent it from raining down upon me I squatted in the captain’s doorway, he was sat staring lifelessly at the walls of his quarters, despite all the cannon fire that showered down around him and his ship.

  “Captain, we need you, sir!” My words did nothing to capture his attention though briefly after I spoke an almighty crash shook the ceiling of his chamber and he slowly stood up from his chair.

  “Go, lad, I shall be behind you.” We nodded to one another and I turned about to leave the quarters, keeping low I rushed back to the orlop hatchway and made my way beneath to assist the crew in returning fire however our efforts appeared useless. The cannons of the Spanish vessels had by now scarcely left any of Roselyn’s woodwork untouched as their pearls fell like hail, and as I looked about in disbelief I heard a heavy thud at the hatchway opening to the upper deck. A hand sprawled out lifelessly across the gap where the hatch had once been and I immediately made haste to discover the identity of another lost crew mate.

  I climbed the ladder and pulled the corpse of Aran Fox down into the orlop, as I looked about ship I saw Captain Rike walking up the starboard gangway of his wreckage’s upper deck, ignoring all the dangers of the Spanish galleons endless bombardments. Another spray of cannon fire ripped through the centre of our vessel and what was left of the small paddle boats were propelled into the air. I jumped up through the gap and rushed towards Rike who walked aimlessly without care seemingly in a dream. I did not notice it at the time yet the more I recollect the clearer it seems to ring out in my mind the voice of Austin calling out to Adams to bring him the remaining bomb from Sollertis’ chamber.

  As I rushed towards Rike and pushed him to the ground to prevent harm from coming to the man a thunderous flare louder than anything I had heard in my lifetime erupted violently from beneath the upper deck. I recall the outburst rip fire upwards from the ship’s interior with such force the entire woodwork of the deck violently jumped upwards causing the primary mast of the ship to be torn away from the woodwork and cogs that held it secure to the deck.

  As I fell to the floor with Rike my memory turned to blackness. The blast knocked me unconscious and most certainly killed what was left of our crew. The entirety of Roselyn’s orlop was blown apart and her primary mast would have without a doubt collapsed her in upon herself. The very weapon that had saved us not so long ago had destroyed us in an identical event of violence that I truly do not understand how I survived.

  I awoke to a heavy weight pressed on my chest and the heat of the sun burning my face. I opened my eyes to find a large male pushing a large boot into my upper body, my arms were bound in chains and I was surrounded by men in dark blue uniforms that looked quite unlike anything a pirate of my crew would wear.

  The male who held his foot to me bent over blocking the light of the sun out with
his head, he stared at me with his small eyes whilst his hand played with an enormous moustache that looked most ridiculous on his cowardly face. He did not say a word to me, but stared into my eyes for some time. At once he released his foot and said something in a language I did not understand, however five of his men unlocked my chains and grasped me, placing some material over my head, I did not struggle for it would have been futile to resist.

  They dragged me down into what I quickly assumed to be the orlop of the ship which was considerably larger than Roselyn’s, as they removed the cloth from my face I glimpsed outside the room to the far end of the deck. There were three doors at the other end of the ship, they each had small gaps in them through which steel bars ran. A man dressed in the same blue uniform as the other men on ship stood clearly guarding them and awaiting orders.

  ‘Tis within the very chamber the men left me that I currently reside, what I have seen since I awoke upon this ship puts my mind in a doubtless state that my life is finished, though I know not of any other of my crew’s fates other than that of my captain’s.

  Whilst I am not spoken to a wooden blockade is put over the bars of the room’s primary light