Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) (19 page)

“Bring it in,” called back a voice on
shore.

Jeff was debating the merits of trying
to take on two men in the water and reveal his presence to the
others on shore versus trying to swim to shore without being
detected when a plan came to mind. He took a deep breath and ducked
under the water, swimming toward the man closest to him. In the dim
moonlight and through the blur of the water, he could just make out
the man’s form ahead of him. He closed the distance quickly and
lashed out at the man’s leg with his sword. “Ahhhh!” the man
screamed out as he struggled to remain upright. Jeff slashed again,
this time at the man’s midsection, before retreating to the cover
of the boat to take a breath.

The man clutched at the boat to hold
himself up. “What be yer problem?” Jeff heard the other man
ask.

“I… be bit…shark!” the man gasped with
horror. Jeff took another deep breath and swam toward the second
man who was now frozen with fear.

“I’m getting’ in the boat,” he said as
he turned to try to get a grip on the hull to pull himself in. But
before he could leap for the safety of the boat, Jeff slashed him
across the legs and then ran him through. The man gasped as he
staggered forward and then fell face first into the water. Jeff
swam back once again to conceal himself behind the
longboat.

“What be happenin’?” called out a
voice from shore.

“Sh… Shark!” the man at the boat
managed to yell back. The man struggled to try to pull himself into
the boat, but he was too late. Once again, Jeff submerged and
delivered two more deep cuts to the man’s legs before thrusting his
sword through the man’s abdomen. The man lost his grip on the boat
and collapsed into the water.

Realizing that the large amount of
blood in the water might soon attract a real shark, Jeff cautiously
retrieved his pistol from the boat and decided to make his way up
the shore to be able to flank the remaining would-be ambushers.
Further inland, he could hear gunfire and the screams of men and
women as the raid was still in progress. From the sounds of things,
Craig and his crew were repeating their atrocities of Cabra
Cachonda. Jeff swam parallel to the shore until he figured it was
safe enough to try to make land. As the water grew thin, he crawled
toward land staying as low as possible while scanning the shore for
any movement. Satisfied that there was nobody waiting for him, he
rose to his feet and as quietly as possible slogged the remaining
way to the beach.

By now, things in the town
appeared to be quieting down. Jeff figured that soon the raiding
party would be hauling their spoils back to the longboats. When he
had spotted the ambush boat leaving for shore, it looked like there
were eight men in it. Those eight plus three others including Craig
himself in the raiding party would not be enough to safely take on
both of the other crews. Jeff guessed that they must be planning to
ambush them one by one as they carried the loot to the boats and he
quickly realized his best bet was to ambush the ambushers and try
to alert the crews of the
Wench
and
The
Crow
as to what was
happening. Jeff was hopeful that Jenny was safely ashore and she
too had figured out Captain Craig’s plan.

Jeff made his way slowly through the
trees, following the lights and sounds coming from the town a short
distance ahead. Somewhere here he expected to find one or more of
Craig’s men lying in wait for the raiding party to pass by. Then he
saw him. Crouched down in the shadows just inside the trees along
the path to the beach was a man with his sword drawn. Jeff scanned
the area carefully looking for others. With no other men in sight,
Jeff slowly crept forward and took a position behind a tree about
20 feet from the man. Jeff peeked out from behind the tree and
watched the man intently. Voices from the path made Jeff and his
quarry both sink back into the shadows.

Craig and Coxen were once again
arguing loudly. “Ye have gone soft, Coxen! Me men just be havin’ a
little fun and ye want to be guardian o’ the peasants.”

“Craig, your men are as reckless and
stupid as you are. We had to fight much longer and harder tonight
than we should have because you and your men couldn’t leave the
villagers alone. Instead of a handful of drunk soldiers, we wound
up fighting the whole town!”

“Aye! And we won and now be takin’ all
of value this shithole has, not settling for merely a bit o’
Spanish payroll and a silver tea set from the Governor’s
house.”

“What of value did you steal from
those people? A bit of rum, some worthless jewelry?” Coxen
demanded.

“Aye, and the wenches be most
entertainin’, or at least would ha’ been if ye an yer men had not
interfered!” Craig answered.

“You and your men are barbarians,
Craig!”

“Aye, but we be FUN barbarians! When
did ye become such an old wench, Coxen?”

Jeff watched the men through the
trees. As the Captains’ voices faded down the path, a line of men
loaded down with crates and sacks followed them. Jeff could see the
man in the trees shifting his weight, apparently to ready himself
to pick off the last man in line. Jeff crept forward slightly and
prepared himself to close the distance quickly when the man made
his move. As Jeff saw the last man in the line pass by, the man in
the trees slipped out onto the path and Jeff quickly followed. The
would-be ambusher crept forward with his sword poised to attack,
but Jeff struck first, grabbing the man by the hair and ripping his
sword across his throat from behind. The man made a slight gurgling
noise as he fell to the ground. The other Stevens, who had been the
target of the ambush, continued down the path toward the beach,
apparently none the wiser.

Just then, another of Craig’s ambush
party emerged from the trees on the other side of the path and
charged at Jeff. Jeff raised his sword to defend himself, but the
man suddenly lurched forward and fell face-first at his feet. A
large knife protruded from between the man’s shoulder blades and
Jeff looked up to see Jenny smiling at him from the trees. “Nice
shot!” he whispered to her as she stepped forward and retrieved her
knife. “Come on, we need to catch up to the line!” Jeff said. He
and Jenny took off running down the path. As they rounded a curve,
they could see another of Craig’s men stepping out of the trees
behind the other Stevens. “Snap!” the sound rang out as Jeff
stepped on a small branch lying on the path and the would-be
ambusher spun around with his sword at the ready. “I’ll take him.
You stay with the line!” Jeff said as he raised his sword and ran
directly at the man. Jenny ran past them as the two men’s swords
clanged together between them.

Jeff and his opponent circled each
other. Down the path, there was shouting followed by an exchange of
several gunshots. “Jenny!” Jeff screamed to himself. But his worry
over her safety would have to wait. His opponent suddenly advanced
on him, slicing hard at him repeatedly, but Jeff’s training served
him well and he was able to parry the blows.

His opponent stepped back, apparently
surprised by Jeff’s skill. “Not bad, mate. I should like to test ye
some more, but I’m afraid I haven’t the time,” he said as he pulled
his flintlock and leveled it at Jeff.

Jeff flinched as the shot rang in his
ears, and he searched his body for the pain of the wound, but there
was none. The man in front of him collapsed on the ground and Jeff
looked up to see the other Stevens standing just down the path
holding a smoking flintlock. “Thanks!” Jeff exclaimed with
relief.

“Think nothing o’ it Mr. Greene. I owe
ye a debt of thanks fer havin’ me back up the path.”

“You knew?” “Aye, the Captain had
warned us to be on guard. I seen ‘im comin’ but then I seen ye
comin’ up behind that first one and knew ye ‘ad ‘im. I plays like I
be unawares so they stick to their plan an’ not attack all at once.
Less chance o’ anyone o’ us getting hurt.”

“Good thinking,” Jeff nodded with
approval.

“Now, come wit’ me, Mr. Greene, the
Captain’s waitin’.”

Jeff walked toward the
other Stevens and the two men made their way down the path to the
beach. Along the way, they passed three lifeless bodies, who the
other Stevens identified as all being Captain Craig’s men. When
they reached the beach, there stood a half-circle of the men from
the
Wandering Wench
and the
Crow
. In front of them were Captain Craig and his two remaining
men, now on their knees with their hands behind their heads with
several guns pointed at them. Captain Coxen turned to greet Jeff,
“Ah Mr. Greene, very good work! Mr. Robinson tells me that
the
Wench
is
safe.

“Yes, Captain. We left her
in Mr. Harrison’s capable hands. Captain Jamison, I regret to
inform you that it appears that
The
Crow
was taken over by
Craig’s men.”

Jamison took a step toward Craig and
kicked him in the chest, knocking him onto his back, “Craig, you
scalawag! I’ll see that you hang for your treachery!”

Coxen spoke up, “Aye, we
can take him and his men to the
Wench
and hang them there for his
crew aboard
The
Crow
and the
Booty
to see.”

As men stepped forward to bind the
hands of Captain Craig and his men, Jeff spoke up, “If I may make a
couple of suggestions, Captains...”

“Aye, Mr. Greene?” Coxen replied.
“Captain Craig’s crew doesn’t strike me as the types who are going
to give up without a fight, so rather than tip our hand, it might
be best to let them think everything is going according to their
plan.”

“Aye, there’s some sense in that,”
Captain Jamison agreed, “But how do you propose to get my ship
back?”

Jeff continued, “Captain
Craig has a rather distinctive look. We can use that to our
advantage. If one of us were to dress up like him and row out
to
The
Crow
, it would be tough for his men
to tell that it wasn’t him in the dark. Then our imposter distracts
them with unloading cargo while another boat comes from the other
side of the ship with a boarding party. By the time they figure out
what’s happening, it will be too late.”

“Aye, a good plan,” Jamison agreed as
Coxen nodded his approval. “It’s settled then, but who will be
posing as Captain Craig?”

Jeff cleared his throat and said with
his best Captain Craig impression, “I be thinkin’ I could do
it.”

“Well, I’ll be! Ye sounded just like
him!” Jamison said as several men chuckled.

“Very good then,” Coxen chimed in, “We
should load a long boat with some of the spoils of the raid and get
Mr. Greene decked out in Craig’s finery.”

While some of the men set about
loading one of the longboats, others set about stripping Craig of
his hat, eye patch, and clothes. Jeff began putting on his costume
as Craig knelt naked in the sand with his hands and feet bound,
staring at him in stony silence. Jeff hesitated for a moment when
it came time to put on the eye patch as he looked into the dark
hole in Craig’s skull where his eye used to be. After killing
Craig’s men in the bloody fashion he had, it seemed odd to Jeff
that he’d be creeped out by the idea of putting the patch over his
eye, but the disguise had been his idea after all, so he pushed his
queasiness aside and slid the patch on his head.

“With the shadow from the hat, he be
the spittin’ image,” Crabtree commented.

“Aye, except for one thing,” Jenny
said as she stepped forward and moved the patch over Jeff’s other
eye. “Craig’s men might have noticed that the patch was on the
wrong side.”

“Good that you have such an eye for
detail, Robinson,” Jeff quipped to the groans and laughter of the
group.

Several men helped Jeff
shove off and he rowed steadily towards the ships that were
silhouetted against the night sky. Not far behind him was one boat
filled with Jamison and several of his men, all eager to retake
their ship and to punish Craig’s men for their betrayal, and a
second boat of crew from the
Wench
, headed out to reinforce
Harrison’s security on their ship.

A short time later, Jeff
was within hailing distance of
The
Crow
. “Ahoy! Hold yer
fire! It be Captain Craig,” Jeff called out to the ship in his best
Captain Craig voice.

From the deck of the ship, a voice
called back, “Ahoy, Captain! Yer plan be perfect. The fools ne’er
knew what hit ‘em!”

“Aye, and now that Coxen and Jamison
be dead, the ships and the spoils o’ the raid be all ours,” Jeff
replied, pulling closer and closer to the ship, “Now look alive and
ye get this cargo stowed. More be on its way.”

Jeff tied off the longboat
alongside
The
Crow
and climbed up the cargo net as
two crewmen climbed down and started handing up sacks and crates to
the two men on deck. Jeff made sure to stand in the shadows as the
men worked. He kept watch on them as the longboat with Jamison and
his men approached quietly from the other side of the ship. Craig’s
men were so occupied with unloading the longboat that they didn’t
see Jamison’s men boarding the ship until it was too late. Some of
Jamison’s men quickly surrounded the two men on deck, while two
with rifles took positions on the rail with their sites on the men
in the longboat. “Surrender now and I’ll give consideration to
sparing your lives,” Jamison said quietly so as not to alert any of
Craig’s men who might be on the
Grand
Booty
as to what was happening. One of the
men on deck reached for his sword and was quickly cut down by one
of Jamison’s men. The rest of Craig’s men immediately
surrendered.