Pirated Love (26 page)

It was at least an hour until they came close enough to make out that it was a merchantman out of Spain and as hard as it was for Tina, she resisted the urge to take it, as she knew her men wanted to.  Leading their own merchant fleet, she knew the four ships with her would question her if she went pirating even though several of their own crew from her grandfather’s ships were former pirates.  It was tempting though. The merchantman was slower than their own ship, their entire fleet was faster, and it was running deep which meant a full cargo.  It was then that the prevailing winds shifted and they all got a good dose of the smell indicating what the ship was carrying.

Tina immediately began steering wide of the slave ship in disgust.  She knew why the ship was running low in the water now.  It was carrying a cargo of humans, probably for the Americas where slaves fetched prime rates.  In return they would carry cotton and other necessities to Europe or England and from there they would carry things that they could trade in Africa for more slaves.  It was called the triangle trade and periodically it also included slaves taken to the Caribbean for rum.  She shook her head in disgust as they made a wide berth around the slave ship.  Her crew understood why, as they too had gotten a strong smell from the human suffering that went on in the ship.  Many had been in prison themselves, with steel manacles that man put on them, and hated the slave trade as much as Tina did.

Claire watched the ship.  They had passed many ships on their slow, southerly route around the huge land mass that was Africa.  She had smelled other ships that carried the same cargo and understood why Tina did not want anything like it.  It smelled of disease, heartbreak, and human indignity.  That they were treated as nothing but cargo tended to upset many of them and the crew was ominously quiet as they went by. 

They were well away from the ship when they heard the distinct booming sound of cannon fire behind them and looking back, could see that one of their other ships in the fleet had opened fire on the slave ship. 

“Turn about!” Tina ordered immediately and men quickly ran to the sails as James swung the wheel to bring their own ship about to help or stop the fight that would ensue.

The slave ship was not equipped with the cannons that Tina and her fellow ships were, but still could hold its own against the traders it dealt with to obtain the slaves or to keep other ships from stealing their valuable cargo.  It was putting up a valiant fight, but the ship that had fired had aimed directly below the bow, or front of the ship, at the water line and it was causing leakage that would soon sink the slave ship.  The crew of the ship, after trying to fight off the offending ship and missing, soon were putting themselves to sea in long-boats that would allow them to make the coast, abandoning their cargo to the depths of the ocean.

“Prepare to board!” Tina called, and she saw that two of her fellow ships had followed to engage in the fight that had not really been a fight at all.  “Prepare to take on passengers,” she ordered, and several immediately understood her intent.

The ship was sinking rapidly, the hole from the cannonball and the forward momentum of the ship causing it to take on water at an impressive rate.  It was the reason the crew had abandoned it, but Tina and her crew used grappling hooks and were soon alongside.  “Hurry!” she called to her men who understood what she was trying to do.

“No, you’ll drown with them,” Claire called frantically, but she was not heard by the men yelling and heading for the ship to free what slaves they could from the shackles that would draw them down with their ship.

Using hammers, swords, and whatever else they could, as the keys were long gone with the crew, they began to strike at the shackles and pushed the confused men, women, and even children from their bonds and up onto the upper deck.  They were terrified and did not speak the languages that the crew tried on them.  Another ship pulled alongside, and with grappling hooks, was soon secure against the quickly-sinking ship which they would shortly have to abandon.  They too began to run below to help free the cargo that was panicking.

Men began to shove the slaves onto the ships.  Claire and others gestured as the slaves, finally realizing they were on a sinking ship, began to crawl across the ship they were on to the ones floating next to them.  Women and children began to come from the bowels of the ship looking confused and scared.  The Blackamoor from Tina’s ship began speaking to them, but being from a totally different part of Africa, they did not understand and he was quite frightening in his dark countenance, stripped to the waist and shouting.  Many likened him to a god and quickly went to their knees and began saluting him.  They were surprised when men, him included, roughly pulled them to their feet and pushed them towards the other ships.

It was pandemonium and soon the shouts changed to, “Get off, she is going down!” and other such admonitions as sailors from both ships began to stream out of the holds with as many slaves as they could push with them.  Grappling hooks were quickly dislodged and still people were coming out and running in panic as they did not understand the danger they were in from the sea.

“Where is Tina?” Claire called, but was not heard above the melee; Sir Barkley was making a lot of noise barking at the people, scaring the blacks.  “Where is the captain?” she tried again.  She could not see the distinctive red hair among the mass of people streaming between the ships.  Had she missed her?

Screams could be heard below decks on the doomed ship and still occasional men, women, and even children could be seen popping up on deck and looking about, confused.  Their fellow slaves called to them from both ships as the grappling hooks were finally released.  Many dove for the safety of the two ships if they understood what was happening, but still some stood about looking frightened and stunned, from the deck of the ship going down.  The waters began to swirl on the main deck about the ankles of those still standing there.

“Where is the captain?” Claire screamed at her own crew, who looked about helplessly as they tried to locate their mates.

Just then the ship tilted forward at an extreme angle and the screams slowly stopped from below.  As the water swirled across the ship, several heads bobbed up and among them was a redhead who swam strongly for her own ship.  Hands grabbed at her in desperation and she agilely fought with them, hand to hand, having to keep them from drowning her with them.  She was grabbed at time and again and along with a couple of her own crew members, swam for their ship so that the resulting suction from the ship sinking would not take them down.  The Jacob’s ladder was thrown over the side to help up those shipmates, including the captain, as well as the few blacks who could swim and had realized that the ships in the area were their only help.  They were all quickly on board as the crew helped them up.

Tina, along with the others, spit out a lot of seawater after they were on board.  Once she made eye contact with Claire, and they both knew they were all right, she gave an order.  “After the Salty Brine!” she called, naming the ship that had fired.  Her crew knew she would want to speak with the captain of that ship.  Looking about, they saw that one of their other ships was taking the crew of the slave ship aboard their own.  She was glad.  She did not want them to drown as had the poor souls they had been unable to save.  There had been so much confusion aboard the slave ship.  As she looked about her own ship and saw the many eyes looking about in fear, she knew at least these poor souls were saved.

“Anyone speak their lingo?” she called out in English, French, and then in Spanish.

The Blackamoor was attempting to speak to them in the various African dialects he knew, but when Tina looked at him, he shook his head.  Either they were from the deep bowels of Africa and knew a language like no other they had heard, or they were too frightened to answer at the moment.

“Frank!” she called as she saw him, and he quickly came from where he was trying to get the former slaves to sit on deck.  He saluted her as he came up.  “Check our crew.  I want to know if we lost any,” she ordered.  He immediately nodded and began to look around for those who had gone across and started asking questions.

Tina headed to her cabin to change for the anticipated meeting between her and the captain of the Salty Brine.  Her own clothes were plastered to her body and while she was frequently wet from the salt spray that rose up from sailing the mighty ship, she did not appreciate the rough salt water against her clothes and skin.

“Thank God you are okay,” Claire said, coming into the cabin with Sir Barkley as Tina stripped.  “I did not see you.  Why did you not come up sooner?” she asked, feeling the fear anew.

Tina rubbed the salt water from her body with a washcloth of fresh water.  She did not have time for a bath, but needed the feel of the fresh, clean water against her.  She looked up with concealed pleasure when Claire came into their cabin.  Sir Barkley came over to thoroughly sniff her while she washed.  Thinking over the question, she answered as she changed.  “There were so many we were trying to save, but they did not understand and it was chaos,” she said sadly, as she remembered.  Striking their manacles or the chains that held them prisoner, they did not understand that the ship was sinking, that they were free.  As the water rose, they panicked and grabbed at the whites trying to free them.  Already, the screams from down below were being muffled by the waters.  They were manacled head to foot and stacked; there were just so many in so small a space for them to free.  It was a sight she never wanted to see again.

“Ahoy the Salty Brine!” Tina heard the call from up above.  She quickly changed out of the last of her wet clothes including the bindings that normally held her breasts in check.  There was no time to bind them again and she slipped into a man’s flowing shirt, pulled on her pants, and grabbed for her belt.  She belted on her knife and her sword and quickly tied back her red hair that needed a brush.

Claire felt the familiar tightening in her gut at how attractive Tina looked, but she was so serious.  This was not the time to make a comment.  After Tina pulled her boots on, she followed her out.  She had not been wearing boots when she was in her shortened clothes and that had turned out for the good.

Claire was on deck as they came alongside the Salty Brine.  Normally, they would not chance the ships colliding, but she could see the waters were relatively calm and James had brought them close enough that they could weigh anchor and not have to send a boat across for the captain.  She fixed the crew that were above deck on the other ship with a decidedly angry look as she waited for the captain and his first mate to make an appearance.  As the captain of the lead ship, as the leader of this expedition, Tina was in charge of the five ships.  She had certain rules she felt must be followed by everyone and everyone alike.

Tina had no idea how like a Viking goddess she looked with her bright red hair, her chest heaving from her rush to be up there on deck when they met, and her attire becoming to her inherent good looks.  She looked fierce, beautiful, and intimidating all at once.

Many of the blacks who were still confused about what was going on in the transfer from their old ship to this new one were awestruck.  Many realized that they had been saved, but many also realized how many had died going down in the other ship.  Seeing this woman obviously in charge, and her odd attire, it struck fear in some of their superstitious hearts.  Never having seen a white man until weeks ago, and having never seen a white woman, they were scared by her.  Seeing the white-haired woman behind her, they began murmuring.  Red hair and white hair were not common in their world.  Seeing white hair, short white hair at that, on what was obviously a young woman with no signs of an elderly one beneath, was very strange to them.  The murmuring amongst them increased.

“Captain Richly for you, Captain,” one of her men introduced him.

Tina had met him many times before they all sailed of course.  She had thought him a steady man of good, sound judgment.

“You know my first mate of course,” he indicated the man with him, who saluted her and clicked his heels together.

Tina was silently amused at this particular form of respect, but nothing showed on her face right now.  “Follow me,” she ordered, and turned to escort them to her cabin.  What she had to say was not for public consumption.  Every one of her men and the sailors on the Salty Brine were watching avidly, wondering at this meeting she had initiated.  Tina caught the eye of her first officer James and tilted her head; he nodded in reply.  She glanced at two of her other sailors and with a motion of her hand, they followed behind the little group.  The two ships bobbed about ten feet apart, men standing and using poles to keep them from crashing into each other as they waited.

As Tina entered her cabin, the men looked curiously about.  It was still a masculine cabin despite the fact that they knew two women resided within it.  Everyone had met Captain Bettina Carmichaels Beauchene and her ‘friend’ as she was introduced, Lady Claire Von Hagen, back at Count Beauchene’s castle.

Tina signaled that they should seat themselves and they waited until she sat, first out of respect to her captaincy, second due to the fact that she was a woman.  James joined Captain Richly and his first mate at the table with her, shutting the door where two of her crew stood on guard behind him.

“Captain Richly, did you give the order to fire on that slaver?” she began, looking him dead in the eye.

He thought about lying for a second, but then a certain belligerence took him.  How dare this...this
unnatural
woman question him?  “I did!” he responded with an attitude guaranteed to anger anyone.