Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) (27 page)

“A bit, yes, Captain. It’s just that I
always seem to be stuck on the ship waiting to tend to any
injuries. Just for a change, I’d like to get closer to the action.”
“It is not a good policy to have the ship’s surgeon placed at risk,
but I do see your point. I am not promising anything, but I will
consider having you join us on at least one of the
raids.”

“Thank you Captain.”

“Now, please excuse me Mr. Greene, it
is time to get underway.

The
Wandering Wench
and
The Crow
set out for
Cuba and the ships were within sight of land just as the sun
started to sink in the sky. After checking his charts and
positioning and some signaling back and forth with Captain Jamison,
the ships set a course for their first intended target, a village
called Pueblo Carcel. Jeff had just finished cleaning the infirmary
again for lack of anything better to do when Mr. Graves came for
him, “The Captain sent me to fetch ye, Mr. Greene.”

“Thank you, Mr. Graves.” Jeff headed
out on deck with growing excitement, hoping that the Captain was
going to include him in the raid.

As he stepped onto the navigation
deck, the Captain was standing at the wheel and waved him over.
“Mr. Greene, I have considered your interest in joining the raid,
and I think I can accommodate you – on one condition.”

“Yes, Captain, what’s your
condition?”

“You must promise me that you will not
get yourself hurt or killed.”

Jeff smiled, “I will do my best,
Captain.”

“Very well then, Mr. Greene. We shall
be anchoring soon. Be sure to eat a good supper and then prepare
yourself for the raid. See Mr. Harrison about a pistol and the
necessary ammunition and be sure your sword is sharp.”

“Yes Captain, and thank
you!”

“You are welcome Mr. Greene, but
remember, if you get yourself killed, the punishment will be most
severe!”

“Yes, Captain, I will keep that in
mind!”

Jeff found Mr. Harrison who supplied
him with a pistol and a supply of powder and ammunition. The two
men then joined the rest of the crew in line for dinner in the
galley. As Jenny served him a plate, she noticed the pistol stuck
in his belt. “Are you to join the raiding party, Mr.
Greene?”

“Yes, the Captain is permitting me to
go along on this one.”

“Good for you! Do try to not get
yourself killed,” she said with a slight smile.

“As I told the Captain, I will do my
best!” he replied.

Jeff and several of the
other men ate quickly on deck by the fading light of sunset. When
he finished eating, Jeff set about sharpening his sword and
anxiously awaited the raid. Shortly after darkness fell, the ships
reached Pueblo Carcel and dropped anchor. Jeff was already waiting
at the rail when the Captain gathered the rest of the raiding party
and placed Crabtree in command of the ship. Coxen, Jeff, and
several other men loaded into the longboats. They met up with the
longboats from
The
Crow
before heading toward the
village. Although the distance to shore was not that far, a strong
headwind had come up from out of the North which stirred up the
waves and made for a slow, rough, wet row to the beach.

The longboats finally made it to shore
and Jeff and the others jumped out and pulled them up onto the
sand. So far, it seemed as though they had not been detected and
the men quietly assembled before Captains Coxen and Jamison led
them up a narrow path toward the faint lights visible through the
trees. Coxen took the lead and after a short walk, he held up his
hand to signal the others to stop. The trail had ended in a
clearing where there were several small huts with the flickering
glow of firelight emanating from within. A small group of men could
be seen sitting around a ground fire, but otherwise the village was
quiet.

Captain Coxen pointed at Harrison and
the two Stevens and motioned for them to advance on the group while
the rest of the raiding party remained cloaked in the shadows. Jeff
watched as the three men silently crept up on the group around the
fire. Their presence was only noticed when Harrison stepped forward
into the firelight and cocked his pistol. The villagers immediately
raised their hands and all started talking at once. Jeff couldn’t
make out what they were saying, but he guessed it was probably
Spanish for “Don’t shoot!” Harrison and the two Stevens were
holding their guns on them but also appeared to be trying to settle
the men down.

Harrison waved to the Captain and the
rest of the raiding party advanced. As they approached, Jeff heard
one of the villagers say, “…en la Colina.”

Harrison spoke, “Captain, I do not
think the villagers be givin’ us any trouble. They not be havin’
much fondness fer the governor. They say the governor’s house and
the barracks for the Spanish soldiers be up the trail atop the
hill.”

“Cuantas soldadas?” Coxen asked of the
men.

“Seis,” one spoke up.

“Good, only six soldiers. Hopefully
this shall be as easy as it would seem. Captain Jamison, what say
you to leaving a few men here to keep an eye on the villagers and
the rest of us can take the governor’s house?”

Jamison agreed, “Aye, Captain Coxen,
it shall be done. Scarborough, Givens, Wesley, and Smith, you men
shall stay here and make sure the villagers do not interfere. And
Smith, if there are any women about, you stay away from
them!”

“But Captain…” Smith began.

“That’s an order Mr.
Smith!”

“Aye, Captain,” Smith replied
dejectedly.

Jamison continued, “Mr. Scarborough,
let these men know that as long as the villagers cooperate, they
and their possessions will be left untouched.”

“Aye, Captain,” Scarborough
acknowledged before relaying the Captain’s words to the
men.

Captain Coxen took the lead and the
rest of the raiding party moved quickly up the path. As they
approached the top of the hill, Coxen slowed their advance. Ahead
Jeff could see a dim light shining through a second-floor window in
what he guessed to be the governor’s house. The light colored stone
wall around it stood out from the surrounding darkness and there
was a large wooden gate in the center.

Coxen instructed Harrison and the two
Stevens to take to the trees and advance to the far side of the
gate, while Jamison sent his men around to take positions on the
near side and back wall. Coxen, Jeff and the remaining members of
the raiding party cautiously moved toward the gate. The soldiers
were apparently not watching the perimeter as the raiding party
walked right up to the gate without any noise from within nor any
other sign that they had been spotted. Coxen pushed against the
gate, and to his surprise, it swung open, but in so doing, let out
a loud creaking noise. From somewhere within the compound, muffled
voices could be heard. The raiding party quickly moved through the
gate and spread out to hide in the shadows. Jeff was at Captain
Coxen’s side when light poured out from an opening door on an
outbuilding near the gate and a Spanish soldier walked out with a
pistol in his hand.

The soldier was still night-blind and
squinted against the darkness as he slowly approached their hiding
place in the shadows next to a small tree inside the gate. The
man’s night vision was developing just as he came face to barrel
with Coxen’s gun. “Silencio,” Coxen whispered as he raised a finger
to his mouth. Jeff stepped up and relieved the man of his gun. “Si
coopera, no matarle. Comprendo?” Coxen said quietly to the soldier,
who nodded in agreement. “Regreso,” the Captain said as he motioned
for the man to head back to the building.

The man hesitated for a moment, but
with both Coxen and Jeff now holding pistols on him, he decided to
comply. As they walked toward the building, Coxen waved for the
others inside the gate to follow. As they reached the door to the
building, Coxen grabbed the man by the shoulder and whispered,
“Alto!” As the other pirates gathered behind them at the door, the
Captain whispered to the soldier, “Abierto!” As the man opened the
door, Captain Coxen shoved him through it and burst through the
door with Jeff, Captain Jamison and several other men right behind
him. The three other soldiers in the building were taken completely
by surprise and put up no resistance when faced with the multiple
pistols aimed at them.

“Tie them up and gag them, men. There
are still two unaccounted for, so look alive,” Jamison
ordered.

Coxen stepped up to the man who they
had ambushed by the gate and asked, “Donde los otros?” The man
looked over at his comrades who were being bound and gagged before
looking up at Coxen with silent defiance. “Blindfold them and we’ll
find the others on our own!” the Captain ordered. Once the three
other men were blindfolded, Coxen leaned in, and whispered in the
man’s ear, “Donde los otros?” he asked again with a menacing
tone.

The man mouthed back the words, “En la
casa,” as he gestured with his head toward the main
house.

Captain Coxen stepped back. “Mr. Pike,
gag and blindfold this man and remain here on guard.”

“Aye, Captain!”

“Captain Jamison, shall we take the
house?” Coxen inquired.

“By all means,” Jamison nodded, “You
lead the way, John.” The men quickly filed out of the guard house
behind Captain Coxen. The flickering firelight within the main
house made it clearly visible through the darkness. On Coxen’s
signal, the men fanned out to surround the house and slowly closed
in. As they moved closer, a lone sentry illuminated by the
moonlight could be seen on the second floor.

The ground floor was cloaked in
shadows, and although they knew there was probably a sentry
patrolling there, he could not be seen. In a moment, any doubts
about the presence of a guard on the ground floor were eliminated
when a voice from out of the darkness shouted, “Alto!” and a muzzle
flash briefly revealed the position of the soldier near the front
door of the house. There was a brief exchange of gunfire between
the pirates and the two guards, but the Spanish soldiers quickly
succumbed to the superior numbers and better aim of the raiding
party.

After the men had time to reload their
guns, Coxen carefully advanced through the front door of the house
with Captain Jamison and Jeff and several other men right behind.
They moved quickly through the first floor of the house and found
only a maid from the village hiding in terror beneath the dining
table. Although she did not appear to be a threat, Coxen ordered
her bound to a chair until the raid was complete.

Just as they had finished securing the
first floor, one of Jamison’s men dragged in a shirtless man who
was limping badly. “I found me this bloke after ‘e jump out the
back window. Think ‘e broke him leg.”

Jamison walked over and grabbed ahold
of the man’s hand and held it to the light to reveal large gold
rings on each finger. “Ah, the governor no doubt!” exclaimed
Captain Jamison, as he proceeded to yank the rings from the man’s
fingers.

“Aye,” Coxen agreed, “Shall we see if
there are any more occupants on the second floor?”

“Lead on, Captain Coxen,” Jamison
said, gesturing toward the stairs. Jeff followed Jamison and Coxen
as they crept up the stairs with several men behind them. On the
second floor, they fanned out to search the rooms.

Jeff was first in the door of what
turned out to be the bedroom. There, tied spread-eagled on the bed
was a naked woman. As he moved closer, Jeff could see the fear in
her eyes and he tried to reassure her with what broken Spanish he
could remember, “Esta bien. No esta… en peligro. Tranquilo.” When
he got next to the bed, he pulled out his knife to cut her loose,
and she started screaming. “No, no! Tranquilo! Cuchillo es por la
cuello!”

“I think you mean por la cuerda, not
la cuello. Unless you intended to tell this poor woman the knife
was for her neck and not for the rope!” Captain Coxen corrected as
he entered the room. “Perhaps I should handle this, Mr. Greene,”
the Captain said, trying to speak over the woman’s
screams.

“Please do, Captain,” Jeff said as he
stepped back from the bed. Coxen quickly managed to calm the woman
down. By now, Captain Jamison and several other men were filing
into the room, which set the frightened woman off again. Jamison
quickly ordered everyone out of the room while Captain Coxen
reassured the woman that no harm would come to her.

Jeff joined Captain Jamison and the
others in searching the rooms for valuables. Jeff entered what he
figured to be the governor’s office and made his way to the large
ornate desk that sat in the middle of the room. He rummaged through
the drawers and found a small assortment of rings and other
jewelry. When he got to the left side bottom drawer, it appeared to
be either locked or stuck, and Jeff pulled his knife to try to
jimmy it open. He soon realized that the drawer was neither locked
nor stuck, it was just difficult to slide open because it was so
heavy.

In addition to miscellaneous papers,
there were several small sacks. Jeff picked one up and his heart
raced as he immediately recognized the heft and jingle of coins. He
untied the strap at the top of the sack and carefully poured the
contents out on the desktop. It was even better than he had
imagined – the coins were all gold! He pulled the other sacks from
the drawer and peeked inside each one. They all appeared to be
filled with gold coins. In all, there were a dozen bags, each
holding 15 to 20 large coins. He collected the coin sacks together
and placed them into the burlap sack he had been issued for the
raid. He was so excited by his find that he almost forgot to check
the bottom drawer on the right side of the desk. Once again the
drawer was heavy, and Jeff’s excitement grew. This drawer had even
more coin purses in it, and again all of them appeared to be filled
with gold coins. Just as Jeff finished loading the purses into his
sack, Captain Coxen called out, “Mr. Greene, come here, you need to
see this!” Jeff tied the sack closed and threw it over his shoulder
and only then noticed the first sack of coins was still poured out
on the desk. He quickly scooped them back into their sack and
shoved it in his pocket as Coxen yelled for him again.