A Sea Too Far (22 page)

During the four day voyage from Nassau, Mary spent considerable time with Warren teaching him to fight with a sword. Together they practiced offensive moves with the blade and the defensive counter moves necessary to ward off a well delivered blow.

Warren learned quickly, and before long he was able to match Mary’s considerable skill with the weapon.

Calico Jack stood smiling on the stern castle as he watched the two young pirates hone their fighting skills. “Ye be quite an accomplished swordsman, laddie,” the captain remarked after witnessing a prolonged vigorous exchange of blows. “I be glad ye be one of me crew rather than an opponent.”

Warren waved his acknowledgement of the compliment. “Much credit should go to my teacher,” he said pointing to Mary.

Mary laughed. “I taught him everything he knows,” she said. “But not everything I know.”

* * *

“There be a ship departing Port Royal, captain,” shouted the lookout high in the mast of
Vanity
. “Five miles ahead.”

“What type of ship?” Calico Jack called aloft from his position behind the steering wheel on the raised stern castle.

The lookout stared for several seconds through his spyglass. “She carries the flag of Spain,” he yelled. “Me thinks she be a heavily laden merchant ship headed across the sea.”

“Charge the cannons, lads,” Calico Jack ordered. “Raise me banner. We’re going to take this ship and all the bounty she carries.”

A large, black rectangular flag unfurled high in the mast. A smiling skull with white teeth and huge black holes for eyes snapped open in the breeze. A pair of crossed swords with sharp points slashed across the banner below the death’s head.

Anne Bonny climbed down the steps from the stern castle. She was festooned with pistols and swords. “Be thee ready for some adventure?” she said with a twinkle in her eye as she approached Mary and Warren. The two young pirates had gone below to arm themselves after Calico Jack had announced his intentions.

Mary had a pistol tucked in the waist of her pants and a sword in her hand. Warren held a short-handled axe that one of the sailors had loaned him for the encounter. The sword he had liberated from the French sailor aboard
Marseilles
had been left aboard
Queen Anne’s Revenge
.

Twenty other pirates of Calico Jack’s crew were preparing to climb aboard the merchant ship with various cutlasses and firearms.

Conchshell paced the main deck with nervous anticipation. The Labrador recognized the deliberate preparations for battle and recalled the last attack on the French ship with the accompanying flurry of cannon shot and excitement.

Calico Jack turned the helm over to the ship’s boatswain and joined the boarding party on the deck. The captain was holding a sword in each hand. He assembled the crew as
Vanity
closed quickly on its prey.

“There be no need for injury if we show resolve and courage early in the fight,” he warned. “Four cannons will fire when we approach. Throw the grapples hard and true. Secure the Spanish ship quickly so there be no delay in boarding. When the lines be fast, we jump with aggression to the other deck.”

Anne Bonny nervously checked her pistols to be certain they were properly loaded. “How many battles have ye had?” she asked Mary. “This be me first. Ye remember I told ye that me pathetic husband James fancied himself a pirate, but we never went to sea.”

Mary placed a comforting hand on Anne’s shoulder. “This be me seventh boarding,” she said. “Me advice is to stay with Calico Jack and fight together, back to back, so nobody can sneak up behind.”

“Is that what ye and Warren are going to do?” Anne asked. “Fight together?”

“Aye,” Mary replied. “And be aggressive like the captain said. In all me battles with Blackbeard, we first scared the other sailors with our yelling and sword waving when we jumped aboard their ship, and they usually gave up right away when they realized resistance was futile.”

The Spanish ship loomed larger as the swifter
Vanity
closed the distance between the two vessels. Sailors aboard the merchant ship scrambled about the deck, attempting to adjust the sails and increase speed to avoid the feared confrontation. The display of Calico Jack Rackman’s pirate flag left no doubt as to the intensions of
Vanity’s
crew.

“Stand by the grapples,” Calico Jack shouted when
Vanity
was less than one hundred yards from its target.

The pirate boatswain guided
Vanity
alongside the Spanish ship. “Luff the main sail,” he screamed over the rushing water that was tumbling past the hull.

“Fire the two forward cannons,” Calico Jack ordered.

Two explosions sounded from the forward section of
Vanity’s
main deck. Smoke mushroomed into the air as the twin cannons leaped back on their wheels in recoil from the powerful ignition of gunpowder.

Mary and Warren were able to follow the arc of the two iron balls as they flew across the space between the rushing ships. Wood planking in the aft section of the Spanish ship shattered. Splinters spiraled into the air. Shouts of panic and fear sounded from the benighted sailors aboard the vessel under siege.

The distance between the attacking pirate ship and the merchant vessel closed to less than fifty yards.

“Luff the main again, lads,” called the boatswain. “Bring us to the same speed.”

Pirates eased the lines holding the corners of the square main sail. More wind escaped the confines of the straining canvas, slowing
Vanity’s
forward motion.

“Fire the two aft cannons,” Captain Jack ordered.

A second pair of booming detonations shook the timbers of
Vanity.
The pirates manning the firing cannons jumped smartly out of the way of the leaping mortars as they recoiled.

The damaged aft corner of the merchant ship’s raised stern castle collapsed under the barrage of the two flying cannonballs. A gaping hole appeared high in the hull, and Mary and Warren were able to see the structural ribbing inside the captain’s quarters.

“Heave the grapples!” Calico Jack shouted as the two ships closed together and the screeching sound of scraping wood permeated the smoky air on the main deck of both ships. “Make fast the lines.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Warren said to Mary as they prepared to jump from
Vanity
to the Spanish merchant ship. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Mary felt a twinge of warmth in her heart as she heard the young pirate’s comforting words. She was the experienced fighter. She was older and more mature. But Warren was assuming a protective role. The young woman realized she didn’t resent Warren’s assumption of leadership; she rather liked his assertiveness.

* * *

Warren jumped to
Vanity’s
railing and leaped across the yawning chasm between the two ships. He remembered to ignore the perils of falling between the rounded sides of the vessels and likely being crushed or drowned. His concentration on the jump was total.

Mary flew through the air a second after Warren. She landed on the merchant ship’s deck and quickly positioned herself to the young pirate’s side.

Twenty other heavily armed members of Captain Jack Rackman’s crew joined them.

Anne Bonny and Calico Jack vaulted to the Spanish vessel’s deck simultaneously. Both pirates began advancing toward a grouping of the merchant crew who were brandishing swords in a defensive posture. Jack let out a scream and slashed the air wildly.

“Drop thy swords,” he shouted.

Anne Bonny continued to press forward. One of the Spanish sailors raised his sword and stepped from the gathering. “You be a woman,” he guffawed. “I drop me sword for no woman.”

The Spaniard chopped twice at the air with his gleaming blade, aiming for Anne’s neck.

Anne struggled to raise her weapon in time to ward off the two well-placed blows. With each slash by the Spanish sailor, the sound of the steel blades crashing together rang sharply in the smoky air. Anne’s arm vibrated wildly under the impact of her opponent’s powerful strike. Her wrist bent uncomfortably with the weight of her own weapon. She feared she might drop the sword before she had ever struck a blow.

The Spaniard sensed his superiority over the slighter, weaker, woman. A vicious smile crossed his face. He reared back and prepared to plunge his blade into Anne’s unprotected chest. His sword thrust forward. The tip rushed toward Anne Bonny’s pounding heart.

The sharp point never reached its target. Warren’s axe crashed down on the piercing blade and drove it into the deck between Anne’s trembling feet.

An instant later the tip of Mary’s long sword came to rest on the Spaniard’s throat. A single drop of blood appeared at the man’s neck.

“Cease thy fighting,” Mary said simply. “We be interested in thy booty, not thy life.”

Anne Bonny’s knees wobbled with fright. A sheen of perspiration burst forth on her upper lip. Her stomach roiled, and she tasted bile in her throat. She grabbed the pistol from her waist and pointed it at the helpless Spanish sailor.

“Nay, Anne,” Mary said hastily. “He be defeated. Don’t shoot.”

Anne pulled the trigger on the Blunderbuss. The hammer descended. The flint scratched down the steel frizzon. Sparks flew toward the small quantity of gunpowder in the pan. The powder in the pan flashed and flew through the tiny hole in the pistol toward the full charge of gunpowder in the barrel.

The gunpowder in the barrel failed to ignite.

“Misfire!” Anne cursed.

The Spaniard’s eyes burst wide with amazement. A tortured smile of disbelief crossed his face.

Mary took the Spanish sailor’s sword from his shaking hand and handed it to Warren. She turned to Anne. “Hold thy sword against his neck,” she instructed the fledging pirate. “Not too hard. I vouch this man has had enough of the fight for one day.”

Warren and Mary crossed the deck of the Spanish ship together. A group of three sailors formed a tight half circle and raised their weapons in defiance.

Mary turned her shoulders and advanced on the men, swinging her weapon with dexterity and skill. Warren positioned himself to protect her exposed back. He mimicked Mary’s experienced motions with the sword taken from the first Spaniard.

One of the Spanish sailors thrust his weapon forward and challenged Warren. The young pirate watched the man’s eyes as Mary had instructed during their many hours of practice while sailing from Nassau.

The Spaniard swung his blade from his right shoulder.

Warren curled his sword over his opponent’s weapon and swept it away so that it was no longer a threat.

The Spanish sailor countered with a slash from his left shoulder, slicing the weapon backhand toward Warren’s right side.

Warren looped his sword under the oncoming weapon and snapped his wrist upward. His blade locked beneath his foe’s sword. He raised his arm quickly. Warren’s clever, powerful thrush surprised the Spaniard. The merchant sailor’s weapon jumped from his grasp and flew into the air, landing harmlessly on the deck with a clatter.

Mary skillfully parried two half-hearted thrusts by the other men. “Ye be no sword fighters,” she said simply. “Cease thy efforts and live another day.”

The men dropped their weapons.

Around the main deck, the rest of the Spanish sailors retired their swords. Captain Calico Jack’s pirates gathered the weapons and began to transfer them to
Vanity
across a plank that had been laid between the two vessels.

Conchshell was the first to cross the plank. She dashed to Warren’s side and slid to a halt at his feet. Her tongue hung happily from her mouth as her rapid breathing began to slow. The sounds of the firing cannons and the clashing of steel blade against steel blade had excited the Labrador. She loved the action and the thrill of the two ships slamming together to join in battle.

But the dog was most happy to find her best friend and master alive and well after the encounter.

~35~
 

Warren and Mary sat on
Vanity’s
main deck with their backs against the forecastle bulkhead. The pirate ship was anchored off Point Negril, Jamaica. The sails were furled and the crew was busy dividing up the huge stash of treasure taken from the Spanish merchant ship.

Sacks of gold coins and doubloons had been discovered in the captain’s cabin. An enormous collection of elaborate necklaces of emeralds and jade were found in a wooded chest hidden in a forward locker. Gold rings and intricate crucifixes were mixed in the rich find. Two dozen barrels of dark rum were also liberated from the Spanish ship before it was released to continue its journey.

The damage to the rear section of the ship was above the waterline and would not impede the ability of the vessel to make way. The Spanish captain might experience some salt spray if the seas built, or some discomfort if rain slanted at a certain angle, but the ship could safely make for a port to effect proper repairs.

The sword Mary had taken from Anne’s foe was lying beside Warren. The young pirate was loathe to part with the spoil of victory which had served him so well in the brief fight with the Spanish sailor.

“I like the feel of this sword,” he remarked to Mary. “Can I keep it? Is it mine now?”

“Aye,” Mary said. “Ye earned it fair and square by thy actions in the battle. No one can doubt the sword be thine to keep. Others in the crew saw ye fight with courage and skill.”

Calico Jack approached the couple with a large leather pouch held in each of his hands. “I be proud of ye both,” he said. “Ye fought bravely and well. This be thy reward for ye efforts. One full share for each of thee.”

Warren took the bulging pouch offered by the captain. He loosened the leather string that gathered the neck closed and stretched the pouch open. Bright flashes of gold gleamed before his eyes. He dipped his fingers into the treasure trove and lifted several large doubloons into the air.

“These are heavy,” he remarked to Mary as he weighed them experimentally in his hand. “They’re beautiful.”

Mary smiled at the young pirate’s obvious excitement with his first share of captured booty. “What else be in thy pouch?” she asked as she stroked Conchshell’s head between the ears. The blonde Labrador was snoozing peacefully beside Mary, her head resting in the young woman’s lap.