Usual disclaimers. but the last disclaimer for this story!
***
Louis looked at Mary disappointedly. Although she was beautiful to look at and great in bed she really had no clue at all with regards to real life. He would have to get her off the ship and set her up somewhere in a small house if he wanted to keep her. They had taken a number of ships on their journey westwards, and had spent a few days terrorising the Cayman Islands before continuing to Mexico. They were in no hurry and could not resist the temptation of violence.
"But why can I not leave the cabin?" Mary demanded once again.
"The men out there are rough Mary," he tried to explain for the fifteenth time in as many days. Even in Tortuga he had been forced to fight for her and he knew that if he was not careful to keep her out of sight then she would discover just how rough they could be. "If you move from this cabin I cannot guarantee your safety!" The men had taken and killed several local women the other week, a pleasure he had joined in with, but the thought of them touching her turned him cold. She was his, his alone, and would remain so.
Mary jumped as a heavy fist knocked upon the door. "Captain!" Henri Nevers announced. "We're coming up on the island..."
"One moment..." Louis carefully took the map from his pocket, spreading it out on the table and looking closely at the route through the shoals. "As soon as we have this treasure Mary I will set you up in a house in New Orleans - you will be safer there!"
"But..." she cried. Life with Louis was not turning out how she had hoped. "I don't speak French!" she protested.
Louis kissed her. "You will learn Mary and I will help you. New Orleans is our home port after all." He smiled. "Look, you will have a grand house, servants and all you desire... but right now I have to go!" He folded the map carefully again and strode quickly out onto deck, locking the door behind him. He made his way up to the wheel.
"Captain," Henri Nevers nodded.
"Nevers," he replied, eyeing the closeness of the shoals with alarm. A break could be seen in them, just where the map showed there to be one. "Take her in easy," he ordered. "You have command until we are clear..."
"Aye Captain," Henri acknowledged as he ordered the crew into the rigging to furl the sails. "Ready the boat!" he ordered, turning to Louis. "We take this slow Captain, nice and slow..."
A number of the crew climbed down into the boat, one of them leaning over the side with a lead line, taking soundings as they carefully inched forwards. The minutes dragged until a cry went up. "Drop anchor! She's levelling out!"
The crew onboard dropped the anchor, bringing the ship to a halt. "Circle an' find us that channel!" Henri ordered.
But however hard they searched the channel could not be found. Eventually Henri called them back. "It is no good Captain, there is no channel..."
"The map clearly shows a channel!" Louis argued. "It must be there!"
"Captain, it is not!" Henri protested. "We've taken soundings along the entire length of the shoals... there is no way through!"
Louis puzzled, sighing in exasperation. "Circle to the other side of the island - we will see if there is another way ashore," Louis ordered tersely, returning to the cabin. This was not becoming a good day.
***
Louis found that the following day was little better, and the two days following that even worse. Despite circling the island several times no way could be found past the shoals to the safety of the beach beyond. Louis looked at the map in despair. "There must be some way through!" Henri Nevers looked over his shoulder at the map. "Captain, may I borrow your spy glass?" he asked, walking out on deck and scanning the distant shore. Very quickly he returned. "Captain! The bay is not there..."
"Nevers?" Louis frowned, unsure what he meant.
"Captain, the map shows a route through the shoals and a bay behind - but there is no route nor is there a bay..."
"But..." Louis gasped in disbelief.
"Captain! There is no bay! The map is a fake!" he hissed.
Louis Lact looked at him in disbelief. "It cannot be!"
"A fake?" Angry mutterings went up around the deck and the crew advanced on the cabin.
"Where did you get the map?" Henri demanded. "Where?"
"Grove's study!" he shouted. "He had it framed on the wall..."
"So you took more than just his wife," Henri sneered. "Perhaps she'll prove more bountiful than that map!"
Louis looked at him in shock, realising that yet again there was mutiny aboard the Catalyntie, except this time he was the one facing it.
***
Jack waited quietly off the west tip of Cuba, quartering the Yucatan Channel in his search for the Catalyntie. They had made good time but he hoped they had not already left the area. Jack had heard rumours of atrocities in the Cayman Islands and he realised that the French ship had not hurried westwards.
"Captain!" John Mallory shouted from atop the mast, Jack's precious spy glass held tightly in his hands. "Captain, sail ho! It's her!" He began to climb down.
The deck erupted into activity as he ordered the cannons readied. "An' man th' sweeps!" He smiled as he saw Catherine rush up on deck, climbing up to the wheel.
"Do you need me for anything?" she asked, moving aside as John handed Jack back his spyglass. "Booth, take th' wheel..." Jack smiled as he walked towards her. "I'd like yer t' sit this one out luv. With luck we'll take them without too much of a fight - we outnumber an' outgun th' Catalyntie easily..."
"But..." she protested.
"If we need yer then shoot with yer pistol, okay?" He smiled teasingly. "An' when we get Mary I promise yer can personally lock 'er in th' brig... savvy?"
She stood on tiptoe, kissing him. "Aye, savvy!" She would take great pleasure in slamming the door on the bitch.
Jack peered through his spyglass at the Catalyntie. "Careless!" he muttered. "Careless!" She was taking another ship but it appeared had failed to keep a proper lookout - and the Black Pearl crept closer.
*** Boom!
Jack smiled contentedly as the starboard cannons fired with satisfying precision, only the first falling slightly short as the distance closed. The Catalyntie lurched under the assault and he could see her crew looking towards them in panic. His own crew quickly reloaded and a second volley slammed into the French ship, her side now too damaged to be able to fire in response. He supposed that he could turn and fire the port guns at them too, but Jack wanted to take Louis alive if at all possible... and there was also the problem of Mary.
He nodded to Oran, turning to shout at the crew. "Prepare t' board!" He smiled as he saw Catherine readying her pistol, knowing she would be watching over him. Grabbing a line, he drew his sword and swung across to the smaller ship which was listing badly. "Hawker! Hallam! Th' powder store!"
Jack fought his way to the main cabin, seeking Louis and Mary... but there was no sign of them and no sign of the Catalyntie's crew surrendering. He grabbed the collar of one nearby as the man spilled his life blood onto the deck. "Where is Lact an' th' woman?" he snarled.
The man just chuckled, blood trickling from his lips.
"Tell me!" Jack shouted, drawing his pistol. "Tell me an' I'll ease yer passin'!"
Eyes slowly focused on the pistol in understanding, smiling. "We marooned 'em," he whispered.
"Where?" Jack demanded, tightening his grip on the man's collar with rage. "Where are they?" But the pirate just smiled, a thin trickle of blood escaping his mouth as he slumped backwards, dead in Jack's hands.
"Damn!" Jack cursed, dropping the body with a thud on the deck. "Damn!"
"Captain?" Joshamee Gibbs limped to his side, a nasty gash on his leg bleeding heavily.
Jack looked at him. "Get that seen to Gibbs!" he ordered. "Get everyone back to th' Pearl an' blow this wreck!" He glanced across to the merchant ship - nobody stirred. "Blow 'em both!"
Angrily he swung back to the Black Pearl to find Catherine waiting for him. She looked at him questioningly but did not speak. "They marooned 'em!" he cursed. "An' before yer ask, I don't know where!" She blinked, as astounded by the revelation as by his foul mood. The crew would be treading carefully for a while.
***
Once all of the crew were back onboard, Jack ordered the Black Pearl moved to a safe distance, watching with satisfaction. They had lost seven crew in the fight and Gibbs would limp for quite some time whilst his leg healed. After holding a brief service for those that died, Jack returned to his cabin, scanning his charts for any nearby islands. But despite remaining in the region for another fortnight and searching every island for them, no sign was found of Louis Lact or Mary.
Jack sat despondently in the cabin, swigging rum as he watched the sunset through the stern windows.
"What now then?" Catherine asked, walking up behind him and placing her hand on his shoulder.
Jack sighed heavily. "There's nothing more we can do... they could be dead, they cold be alive. I've survived two maroonings so it is possible..." He took another swig of the rum. "I guess we'll have t' head back t' Tortuga an' tell the Old Man. At least the Catalyntie is destroyed..."
"Can we visit Theo and Charlotte before we go there?"
Jack looked up at her smiling, putting his rum to one side as he pulled her onto his lap. "Aye, I'm sure we can stop in Port au Prince along the way..." He held her close, burying his head in her hair. He frowned, his hands clenching as he thought of Louis and Mary, hating not knowing for certain they were dead. He wondered if Louis had been man enough to shoot the both of them... but even Jean Claude had not been able to answer that for him.
"Jack?" Catherine noticed his distraction and looked at him worriedly. "What is the matter?"
"Eh, oh nothin' luv..." he smiled not wanting to worry her.
"Jack!" Catherine struggled from his lap, standing before him. "Tell me, please?"
"It's nothin' - honest! I was just wonderin' about things - this, yer brother, th' Governor..." He looked up at her grinning. "It'd be right nice not to have someone trying t' kill us yer know!"
"Well right now the only person you have to worry about is me!" Catherine smiled, teasing. "And if you're not in that bunk in two minutes I'll be the one killing you!"
Jack laughed, as she led him to their bunk, her hands and her body a welcome distraction to his earlier brooding thoughts. But later, as he lay in the darkness holding her sleeping body, the thoughts returned... were they truly dead? He sighed heavily - only God knew if they were and he worried how the Governor would take the news. He was grateful that it would be Theodore's position to inform him for he feared it would not be well received.
***
Okay - that is the end of this particular story... but Mul and I have roughed out a plot for a fourth story. Here is a teaser for you all.
***
Teaser from Kitty Groves - The Spense Solution.
Thomas Spense stared at the letter in disbelief, pacing before the fireplace angrily. He was furious that Theodore had not even had the courtesy to return to Port Royal to inform him to his face but had sent the news in a brief, and somewhat terse, letter. If the news was to be believed, his daughter, Mary, had been marooned with her pirate lover and despite extensive searching for her by the Black Pearl was to be presumed dead.
Rosamund looked at her husband warily, placing her needlework beside her on the settee. Thomas had been behaving strangely lately, as if an intense anger burned within, and she was very worried about him. "Thomas?" she asked cautiously. "What is the matter? It is not bad news, is it?"
Silently he handed her the letter, barely giving her time to grasp the paper before resuming his pacing. He watched her face as she read. Rosamund gasped in disbelief, her hand flying to her mouth. "No!" she gasped. "It cannot be!"
"I will see the Commodore immediately," he informed her, "and I will insist that the HMS Gauntlet is readied and that a thorough search for our daughter is made. I refuse to believe the word of Groves and that pirate that she is dead!" He looked at his wife as she started to cry. "And I will demand that the Commodore himself leads the search... we will find her, I promise you Rosamund," he vowed, adding silently to himself that he would have revenge on the Sparrows for he was sure that somehow everything was their fault.
***
You want more... then review!
***
Louis looked at Mary disappointedly. Although she was beautiful to look at and great in bed she really had no clue at all with regards to real life. He would have to get her off the ship and set her up somewhere in a small house if he wanted to keep her. They had taken a number of ships on their journey westwards, and had spent a few days terrorising the Cayman Islands before continuing to Mexico. They were in no hurry and could not resist the temptation of violence.
"But why can I not leave the cabin?" Mary demanded once again.
"The men out there are rough Mary," he tried to explain for the fifteenth time in as many days. Even in Tortuga he had been forced to fight for her and he knew that if he was not careful to keep her out of sight then she would discover just how rough they could be. "If you move from this cabin I cannot guarantee your safety!" The men had taken and killed several local women the other week, a pleasure he had joined in with, but the thought of them touching her turned him cold. She was his, his alone, and would remain so.
Mary jumped as a heavy fist knocked upon the door. "Captain!" Henri Nevers announced. "We're coming up on the island..."
"One moment..." Louis carefully took the map from his pocket, spreading it out on the table and looking closely at the route through the shoals. "As soon as we have this treasure Mary I will set you up in a house in New Orleans - you will be safer there!"
"But..." she cried. Life with Louis was not turning out how she had hoped. "I don't speak French!" she protested.
Louis kissed her. "You will learn Mary and I will help you. New Orleans is our home port after all." He smiled. "Look, you will have a grand house, servants and all you desire... but right now I have to go!" He folded the map carefully again and strode quickly out onto deck, locking the door behind him. He made his way up to the wheel.
"Captain," Henri Nevers nodded.
"Nevers," he replied, eyeing the closeness of the shoals with alarm. A break could be seen in them, just where the map showed there to be one. "Take her in easy," he ordered. "You have command until we are clear..."
"Aye Captain," Henri acknowledged as he ordered the crew into the rigging to furl the sails. "Ready the boat!" he ordered, turning to Louis. "We take this slow Captain, nice and slow..."
A number of the crew climbed down into the boat, one of them leaning over the side with a lead line, taking soundings as they carefully inched forwards. The minutes dragged until a cry went up. "Drop anchor! She's levelling out!"
The crew onboard dropped the anchor, bringing the ship to a halt. "Circle an' find us that channel!" Henri ordered.
But however hard they searched the channel could not be found. Eventually Henri called them back. "It is no good Captain, there is no channel..."
"The map clearly shows a channel!" Louis argued. "It must be there!"
"Captain, it is not!" Henri protested. "We've taken soundings along the entire length of the shoals... there is no way through!"
Louis puzzled, sighing in exasperation. "Circle to the other side of the island - we will see if there is another way ashore," Louis ordered tersely, returning to the cabin. This was not becoming a good day.
***
Louis found that the following day was little better, and the two days following that even worse. Despite circling the island several times no way could be found past the shoals to the safety of the beach beyond. Louis looked at the map in despair. "There must be some way through!" Henri Nevers looked over his shoulder at the map. "Captain, may I borrow your spy glass?" he asked, walking out on deck and scanning the distant shore. Very quickly he returned. "Captain! The bay is not there..."
"Nevers?" Louis frowned, unsure what he meant.
"Captain, the map shows a route through the shoals and a bay behind - but there is no route nor is there a bay..."
"But..." Louis gasped in disbelief.
"Captain! There is no bay! The map is a fake!" he hissed.
Louis Lact looked at him in disbelief. "It cannot be!"
"A fake?" Angry mutterings went up around the deck and the crew advanced on the cabin.
"Where did you get the map?" Henri demanded. "Where?"
"Grove's study!" he shouted. "He had it framed on the wall..."
"So you took more than just his wife," Henri sneered. "Perhaps she'll prove more bountiful than that map!"
Louis looked at him in shock, realising that yet again there was mutiny aboard the Catalyntie, except this time he was the one facing it.
***
Jack waited quietly off the west tip of Cuba, quartering the Yucatan Channel in his search for the Catalyntie. They had made good time but he hoped they had not already left the area. Jack had heard rumours of atrocities in the Cayman Islands and he realised that the French ship had not hurried westwards.
"Captain!" John Mallory shouted from atop the mast, Jack's precious spy glass held tightly in his hands. "Captain, sail ho! It's her!" He began to climb down.
The deck erupted into activity as he ordered the cannons readied. "An' man th' sweeps!" He smiled as he saw Catherine rush up on deck, climbing up to the wheel.
"Do you need me for anything?" she asked, moving aside as John handed Jack back his spyglass. "Booth, take th' wheel..." Jack smiled as he walked towards her. "I'd like yer t' sit this one out luv. With luck we'll take them without too much of a fight - we outnumber an' outgun th' Catalyntie easily..."
"But..." she protested.
"If we need yer then shoot with yer pistol, okay?" He smiled teasingly. "An' when we get Mary I promise yer can personally lock 'er in th' brig... savvy?"
She stood on tiptoe, kissing him. "Aye, savvy!" She would take great pleasure in slamming the door on the bitch.
Jack peered through his spyglass at the Catalyntie. "Careless!" he muttered. "Careless!" She was taking another ship but it appeared had failed to keep a proper lookout - and the Black Pearl crept closer.
*** Boom!
Jack smiled contentedly as the starboard cannons fired with satisfying precision, only the first falling slightly short as the distance closed. The Catalyntie lurched under the assault and he could see her crew looking towards them in panic. His own crew quickly reloaded and a second volley slammed into the French ship, her side now too damaged to be able to fire in response. He supposed that he could turn and fire the port guns at them too, but Jack wanted to take Louis alive if at all possible... and there was also the problem of Mary.
He nodded to Oran, turning to shout at the crew. "Prepare t' board!" He smiled as he saw Catherine readying her pistol, knowing she would be watching over him. Grabbing a line, he drew his sword and swung across to the smaller ship which was listing badly. "Hawker! Hallam! Th' powder store!"
Jack fought his way to the main cabin, seeking Louis and Mary... but there was no sign of them and no sign of the Catalyntie's crew surrendering. He grabbed the collar of one nearby as the man spilled his life blood onto the deck. "Where is Lact an' th' woman?" he snarled.
The man just chuckled, blood trickling from his lips.
"Tell me!" Jack shouted, drawing his pistol. "Tell me an' I'll ease yer passin'!"
Eyes slowly focused on the pistol in understanding, smiling. "We marooned 'em," he whispered.
"Where?" Jack demanded, tightening his grip on the man's collar with rage. "Where are they?" But the pirate just smiled, a thin trickle of blood escaping his mouth as he slumped backwards, dead in Jack's hands.
"Damn!" Jack cursed, dropping the body with a thud on the deck. "Damn!"
"Captain?" Joshamee Gibbs limped to his side, a nasty gash on his leg bleeding heavily.
Jack looked at him. "Get that seen to Gibbs!" he ordered. "Get everyone back to th' Pearl an' blow this wreck!" He glanced across to the merchant ship - nobody stirred. "Blow 'em both!"
Angrily he swung back to the Black Pearl to find Catherine waiting for him. She looked at him questioningly but did not speak. "They marooned 'em!" he cursed. "An' before yer ask, I don't know where!" She blinked, as astounded by the revelation as by his foul mood. The crew would be treading carefully for a while.
***
Once all of the crew were back onboard, Jack ordered the Black Pearl moved to a safe distance, watching with satisfaction. They had lost seven crew in the fight and Gibbs would limp for quite some time whilst his leg healed. After holding a brief service for those that died, Jack returned to his cabin, scanning his charts for any nearby islands. But despite remaining in the region for another fortnight and searching every island for them, no sign was found of Louis Lact or Mary.
Jack sat despondently in the cabin, swigging rum as he watched the sunset through the stern windows.
"What now then?" Catherine asked, walking up behind him and placing her hand on his shoulder.
Jack sighed heavily. "There's nothing more we can do... they could be dead, they cold be alive. I've survived two maroonings so it is possible..." He took another swig of the rum. "I guess we'll have t' head back t' Tortuga an' tell the Old Man. At least the Catalyntie is destroyed..."
"Can we visit Theo and Charlotte before we go there?"
Jack looked up at her smiling, putting his rum to one side as he pulled her onto his lap. "Aye, I'm sure we can stop in Port au Prince along the way..." He held her close, burying his head in her hair. He frowned, his hands clenching as he thought of Louis and Mary, hating not knowing for certain they were dead. He wondered if Louis had been man enough to shoot the both of them... but even Jean Claude had not been able to answer that for him.
"Jack?" Catherine noticed his distraction and looked at him worriedly. "What is the matter?"
"Eh, oh nothin' luv..." he smiled not wanting to worry her.
"Jack!" Catherine struggled from his lap, standing before him. "Tell me, please?"
"It's nothin' - honest! I was just wonderin' about things - this, yer brother, th' Governor..." He looked up at her grinning. "It'd be right nice not to have someone trying t' kill us yer know!"
"Well right now the only person you have to worry about is me!" Catherine smiled, teasing. "And if you're not in that bunk in two minutes I'll be the one killing you!"
Jack laughed, as she led him to their bunk, her hands and her body a welcome distraction to his earlier brooding thoughts. But later, as he lay in the darkness holding her sleeping body, the thoughts returned... were they truly dead? He sighed heavily - only God knew if they were and he worried how the Governor would take the news. He was grateful that it would be Theodore's position to inform him for he feared it would not be well received.
***
Okay - that is the end of this particular story... but Mul and I have roughed out a plot for a fourth story. Here is a teaser for you all.
***
Teaser from Kitty Groves - The Spense Solution.
Thomas Spense stared at the letter in disbelief, pacing before the fireplace angrily. He was furious that Theodore had not even had the courtesy to return to Port Royal to inform him to his face but had sent the news in a brief, and somewhat terse, letter. If the news was to be believed, his daughter, Mary, had been marooned with her pirate lover and despite extensive searching for her by the Black Pearl was to be presumed dead.
Rosamund looked at her husband warily, placing her needlework beside her on the settee. Thomas had been behaving strangely lately, as if an intense anger burned within, and she was very worried about him. "Thomas?" she asked cautiously. "What is the matter? It is not bad news, is it?"
Silently he handed her the letter, barely giving her time to grasp the paper before resuming his pacing. He watched her face as she read. Rosamund gasped in disbelief, her hand flying to her mouth. "No!" she gasped. "It cannot be!"
"I will see the Commodore immediately," he informed her, "and I will insist that the HMS Gauntlet is readied and that a thorough search for our daughter is made. I refuse to believe the word of Groves and that pirate that she is dead!" He looked at his wife as she started to cry. "And I will demand that the Commodore himself leads the search... we will find her, I promise you Rosamund," he vowed, adding silently to himself that he would have revenge on the Sparrows for he was sure that somehow everything was their fault.
***
You want more... then review!