Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) (26 page)

“So you didn’t enjoy your encounter
with the crab our first time together?” she asked with a
giggle.

“No, I think it would be best to avoid
crabs of all kinds when it comes to sex,” Jeff chuckled, “Now, I
don’t know about you, but I think I better get off this bed before
it draws blood! Care to join me on the floor?”

Jeff and Jenny carefully climbed off
the bed and spread out a blanket on the floor. The two laid down
beside each other and while the floor was pretty hard to lie on, it
was better than getting jabbed from all angles on the bed. Jenny
snuggled up against Jeff and kissed him softly. The two quickly
became engaged in the throes of passion. Some time and several
bruises and abrasions dealt to them by the hard, rough floor later,
the two rolled onto their backs to catch their breath.

Jeff awoke with a start as the pins
and needles sensation in his arm jabbed him to consciousness. After
the vigorous workout on the floor, he and Jenny had fallen asleep
with his arm around her. At some point she had shifted her position
and was now cutting off the circulation in his arm. The orange glow
of sunset shined through the window in a way that made Jeff think
of his bedroom back home and it took a moment for him to realize
where, and when, he was.

Jeff tried to slide his arm out from
under Jenny without disturbing her, but she opened her eyes and
smiled at him. “Trying to sneak away, Mr. Greene?” she asked
sleepily.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you, but
I needed to get circulation back in my arm.”

“No matter,” she replied, “I think I’d
like some supper now anyway.”

The two found their clothes in the
dimming light and got dressed. Jeff looked around the room and
asked, “How are we going to man-up your face? There’s no grease or
mud or anything.”

“I brought this from the ship,” Jenny
said as she pulled a small can from her pocket. A bit of ash and
grease from the galley should do it.” She smeared some of the black
mixture on her face and Jeff nodded his approval. The walked out of
the room and made their way down the stairs. A large, overweight
man was at the front desk, but was so engaged in a plate of chicken
and a bottle of rum that he made no notice of the pair as they
walked out of the hotel.

“So, a tavern then?” Jeff inquired as
they hit the street.

“Well, the food at the taverns is
fine, but I was thinking we could sample the food from the street
vendors,” Jenny suggested.

“Fine with me,” he replied, “You lead
the way.” The two made their way back towards the docks and arrived
at a small line of wooden carts that had been converted into
open-air kitchens. Sailors, prostitutes, and all manner of
townspeople crowded the carts to buy food. Several rats weaved
fearlessly through the crowd eating scraps that had been dropped
and would occasionally go for a big score directly from one of the
carts before being chased away with knives, cleavers, and any of a
variety of blunt objects the cart owners had on hand.

Although the entire scene
would have been shut down immediately by a modern day health
inspector, by now Jeff was quite used to the less than sanitary
conditions of the 17
^th
century and he had thankfully become relatively
immune to food borne illness. Jeff and Jenny bought a sampling of
the local fare, as well as a bottle of grog to share, and walked to
the end of a nearby dock to eat and watch the remnants of the
sunset.

“This is pretty good,” Jeff commented
between bites.

“Aye,” Jenny agreed, “Port Royal has
the best food of any of the places I’ve been.”

By the time they had finished eating,
the sun had sunk below the horizon and it was getting dark. Jenny
rose to her feet, “Come on, there’s a shop I want to go. We’ll have
to hurry to make it before they close!”

Jeff jumped up and followed her as she
walked quickly up the dock. “What kind of shop?” Jeff asked as he
caught up beside her.

“They sell pastries, but I don’t care
about that. They make a drink of chocolate and that is what I
want!” she explained with excitement.

After running the gauntlet of
prostitutes and drunks, they finally arrived at the shop. As they
walked in the door, a man looked up from sweeping the floor. “I be
just about to close. I’m afraid I don’t have much left fer ye,” the
man said.

“Do you have any chocolate drink?”
Jenny asked hopefully.

“Aye, a little. Methinks it be enough
fer two.”

“We shall gladly take whatever you
have left,” Jenny said with a smile. The man stopped sweeping and
walked behind the counter.

“I sell most o’ this to the ladies,”
he said as he picked up a pot and scraped the remaining contents
into a jar, “It be a bit strange for not one, but two men to have a
taste fer it.”

“We’re ahead of our time,” Jeff
replied.

Jenny pulled out a few coins and paid
the man. “Enjoy yer chocolate!” the man shouted after them as they
walked out.

Jenny eagerly took several sips of the
thick liquid before handing the jar to Jeff. She watched for his
reaction as he took his first sip. “Well?” she asked.

“It’s good,” he nodded.

“As good as S&M’s?”

“M&M’s,” Jeff corrected, “And yes,
it’s as good as M&M’s. So, what do you want to do
next?”

Jenny thought for a moment. “Want to
try to get lucky?” she asked.

“Sure, but don’t you want to explore
town a bit more before we go back to the hotel?” Jeff
asked.

“
What?” Jenny replied with
a confused look.

“Did I miss something?” Jeff
asked.

“I want to go to the gambling parlor.
I don’t want to go back to the hotel yet!” Jenny
exclaimed.

“Oh,” Jeff replied, “That’s what you
meant by get lucky! I thought you were talking about… something
else.”

“Like what?” Jenny asked.

“Well, in my time, the expression
‘getting lucky’ means having sex.”

“Mr. Greene! Is that all you think
about?!” she exclaimed, pretending to be shocked.

“Well, yeah,” Jeff admitted, “But in
this case, I just misunderstood. In any event, gambling it
is!”

Jenny led Jeff down a side street. As
they approached the gambling parlor, sounds of music and rowdy
people greeted them. They stepped inside the smoke-filled room and
Jeff squinted in the dim light to take in the scene. There were
seven round tables at which each had at least 4 or 5 men seated
around them. At two of the tables there was some type of card game
going on and the other tables were all playing a dice game he had
not seen before that at first glance looked like craps. A dozen or
so women circulated through the room. Some were obviously bar maids
while others appeared to be prostitutes waiting to service the
lucky winners. Jenny turned to Jeff and said, “I want to play
hazard,” she said as she walked toward a table in the back that had
empty seats.

“Hazard?” Jeff asked as he followed
her.

“The dice game,” she
explained.

But before they could take their
seats, a loud argument broke out at one of the card games. “Ye be
nothin’ but a filthy rook!” a large, angry man bellowed as he stood
up and upended the table, sending cards and money flying through
the air. An even larger man slowly rose from his chair and swatted
the heavy table aside with one hand as he stepped forward toward
his accuser.

“Do not be callin’ me a rook! I ha’ no
need o’ cheatin’ when I be playin’ one as STUPID as ye!”

Jeff leaned over to Jenny, “Perhaps we
should find another gambling parlor.”

“A sound thought,” she nodded in
agreement.

But before they could make their way
to the door, the fists had already started flying and in a moment
the entire parlor erupted into one big brawl. Jeff and Jenny tried
to stay outside the fray as they inched toward the door, but it was
not to be. A rough looking man stepped up to Jeff and took a swing
at his head. Fortunately, Jeff saw it coming and was able to block
the punch before sending his attacker flying backward with a kick
to his chest. Jenny was not so lucky and she was blindsided by an
errant punch meant for someone else that sent her stumbling
backward before landing flat on her butt. She was more surprised
than hurt as Jeff helped her to her feet.

By now bottles were flying through the
air and several groups of combatants had blocked the path to the
door. “Let’s circle back around the other way,” Jeff suggested as
he led Jenny toward the back of the room. Bottles shattered against
the wall as they made their way around the outer edges of the
fighting. As they neared the front window, the two men who had
initiated the fight crashed through it onto the street. Jeff
grabbed a broken table leg and cleared away some of the broken
glass around the window’s edges before he and Jenny made their exit
through it. The two big men were rolling around on the street
smeared in their own blood flowing from the cuts from the window
glass - still cursing each other and exchanging punches as Jeff and
Jenny headed for more peaceful surroundings.

“Do you know of another gambling
house?” Jeff asked once they were well clear of the
fight.

“Yes, but perhaps it would be best to
go back to the hotel. I’m still a bit dizzy from that punch,” she
replied.

Other than the now familiar
propositions from the prostitutes, the walk back to the hotel was
uneventful. They walked in the door of the hotel and the obese man
from earlier was now passed out at the front desk. They made their
way upstairs. The hallway was now lit with several dim kerosene
lamps that were hung on the doors. Jeff grabbed the lamp and
brought it into the room before turning up the flame to inspect
Jenny’s face. “Nice black eye!” he exclaimed, “From the swelling,
it looks like you took a pretty good punch.”

“I’ve had much worse,” Jenny assured
him.

“Anything I can do to make it better?”
Jeff asked.

“You can start with a massage on my
shoulders and I’ll see what else I can think of,” she replied
seductively.

An hour or so later - after the
shoulder massage and everything else Jenny was able to think of,
the two fell asleep on the floor, still finding it more comfortable
than the bed. Just before dawn they were awakened by a distant
rooster crowing. “We need to get back to the ships,” Jenny said as
Jeff stood up stiffly and tried to work out the kinks. They dressed
quickly and Jenny walked down first to drop off the key. Jeff
exited the hotel while the clerk was occupied with her and waited
for her on the hotel’s porch.

The sky was just getting
light when they arrived back at the docks. Most of the crew had not
yet made it back and the few that had were still stinking drunk.
Captain Jamison appeared on the deck of
The
Crow
and called down to them, “Good morning, gentlemen. Come
aboard and eat while we wait for the others. We shall be leaving
the
Grand Booty
here with a few men until the repairs can be completed and we
shall resume our business without her for the time being. We set
sail in an hour, so come and fill your bellies and prepare to get
to work!” Jeff and Jenny quickly made their way onboard
The
Crow
, while the others gradually
dragged themselves to their feet and stumbled their way onto the
deck. As they ate, other hung over members of the crew staggered
aboard here and there. By the time Jeff and Jenny were finished
eating, everyone was back on the ship and Captain Jamison gave the
order to cast off.

After a short sail out of
the harbor, they met up with the
Wandering
Wench
. Captain Jamison and a few of his
men joined the members of Coxen’s crew in the longboat over to
the
Wench
. While
the Captains planned their next raid, Jeff checked up on his
patients and Jenny went to work attending to the galley. While
finishing up in the infirmary, Jeff could hear preparations on deck
to make sail. Curious as to their destination, he made his way on
deck. Captain Jamison had already boarded a longboat back to
The
Crow
and Captain Coxen was standing on the navigation
deck overseeing the preparations to sail.

Jeff climbed the steps to
the navigation deck and Coxen greeted him warmly, “Ah, Mr. Greene,
good to see you! Since we will need to return soon to Port Royal to
retrieve the
Grand
Booty
, we have decided to make a short
sail to Cuba to raid a few villages on the Eastern Coast. The
Spanish have their hands full with the French incursions into
Hispaniola and have left Eastern Cuba relatively undefended. The
villages are poor, but their governors live in relative luxury, so
there is profit to be had with little risk.”

Jeff nodded, “Sounds like a good plan.
Perhaps I can even join the raiding party this time?” Jeff asked
hopefully.

“Perhaps. Getting a bit restless are
you, Mr. Greene?” the Captain said with a knowing smile.