Go West, Young Pirate
Chapter One"Listen well, for I break a vow to tell you this. Marco Pollo was the keeper of a terrible secret. He burdened me with it in the hour of his death." Brother Varo said inside of the Queen's library at Saint Bonobo's Abbey.
We had come to Monquista to find a lead on Marco Pollo's map to El Dorado, in the form of his last words to the Unicorn standing in front of me and my trusted associates.
"Pollo spoke of El Dorado. He said no one must ever go back there – Powers sleep in El Dorado that could destroy the entire Spiral if they awaken."
"He spoke of his map, whispering that Christopher Clark, his navigator, kept it safe in Cool Ranch, the land of Pollo's birth. This helps you?"
"I've been to Cool Ranch – the Stormgate's near Flotsam." Jack Russell, one of my trusted associates and an old friend of my deceased parents, spoke up.
We thanked Varo and headed back to our ship, the Aquila. We sailed west to the Stormgate to Skull Island. Once we had passed through safely, we sailed south to Flotsam Skyway.
As the Aquila neared the Stormgate, I pressed the Windstone in the center of the pilot's wheel, and the Aquila was surrounded by a transparent force field that protected the ship from the winds of the Stormgate.
But even with the Windstone's protection, Stormgates presented difficult circumstances for a sailor to work in, so a sailor's first time on the top deck in a Stormgate was like an initiation rite
Rena issued orders for tacking to the men, while I constantly adjusted the Aquila according to the winds. As we reached the bottom of the Stormgate, we all tied ourselves to the Aquila, and she leaned forward as we entered, so that the deck was nearly vertical while the winds howled in our ears.
My eyes were closed and my heart was beating rapidly, as if it were trying to achieve a lifetime's worth of heartbeats before what could be the end, but then the Aquila suddenly righted herself.
As I opened my eyes, it was as if we were traveling through a dark tunnel illuminated by the light at the end and the sky blue auroras surrounding us like a loose glowing braid.
As we neared the light at the end and entered the Stormgate on the other side, the deck went almost vertical again as the wind howled in our ears, but then the Aquila righted herself, and as we were out of reach of the Stormgate, I breathed a sigh of relief.
As we drew closer to a town built atop flat plateaus, our gunnery officers, the Clutterbuck brothers, David and Richard opened the bulkhead doors at the base of the main mast, and the men poured out from below decks to resume their posts.
My first mate, Rena Raden was flipping through the pages of an atlas written by our friend and landlord, Nikolai Volkov.
"That town over there's called Cooper's Roost." Rena said to me as she pointed towards the town.
"Let's make port there. I could use a cool drink in this heat, and it is breakfast." I said. We dropped anchor in the docks of Cooper's Roost, where as I and my trusted associates stepped onto the wooden dock, I spotted a Rooster deputy walking down the dock.
As we approached him, the deputy called out: "Well howdy, strangers!"
"If you don't mind me asking, my friends and I are looking for Christopher Clark." I said as the deputy drew to a stop in front of us.
"Looking for Clark, you say? Can't say I know him. I'm new here myself. I just transferred in from Tumbleweed." The deputy answered.
"Head on over to the Silver Spur Saloon, at the end of Main Street. Talk to Miss Jane, she'll steer you right."
We nodded our thanks as we walked into town. We soon found the Silver Spur Saloon, with a silver spur painted on a sign above the two wooden doors leading inside.
We entered the saloon, where several of the townsfolk were scattered all around the room, eating and drinking at the round wooden tables.
As my trusted associates spread out, I sat down at the bar, where a Canary wearing an apron over a brown dress was wiping down tankards.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but I'm looking for a Miss Jane." I said. The Canary smiled as she slid down a tankard down the counter. "Well, you've found her. What can I do for you, stranger?"
"My name's Matt Exeter, and my friends and I are looking for Christopher Clark." I answered as I caught the tankard and peered inside to see that it was coffee.
"You're looking for Christopher Clark? Well, I hope you brought a shovel. He's dead and buried, you see." Miss Jane answered.
I guess my face must've fallen, because then Miss Jane said: "Don't fret! Old Mr. Clark has a son, Merriweather, who still lives right here in Cooper's Roost. Maybe he can help you."
"Head outside, turn left at the blacksmith's, then cross the stone bridge to the bluff. That's where the old Clark Place is. You can't miss it."
I nodded in thanks. "My friends and I'll head there after breakfast."
"Would you like a hen-fruit stir and long sweetening?" Miss Jane asked. I nodded a bit unsurely, and ten minutes later, Miss Jane returned from the kitchen with a plate of pancakes with molasses.
After we had eaten, I thanked Miss Jane for the meals and left some money on the counter to pay for it, and I and my trusted associates walked up to the old Clark Place.
We walked up to the doorway, where Rena knocked on the door, and after a minute or so had passed, she then tried to twist the doorknob.
"The door is locked. Clark's not here." Rena said.
"Wait, there's a note. What's it say?" Bonnie Anne, one of my trusted associates, said as she gestured for us to step off the doormat so she could lift it up to reveal the note.
Bonnie picked up the note and began to read aloud. "Not at home. Please direct all inquiries to Dr. Elmore Coop, Cooper's Roost – Merriweather Clark."
"We passed a Dr. Coop's office back on Main Street. Let's get to it!" Ratbeard, another one of my trusted associates, said. We headed back to Main Street, where we found a whitewashed building with a sign saying: "Dr. Coop's Office."
We opened the door to find a middle-aged Chicken wearing glasses working at a desk. "Excuse us, but the note at the Clark Place said to come find Dr. Coop."
"Isn't Merriweather back yet?" The Chicken asked as he looked up from his paperwork. I shook my head. "I'm afraid not."
"I've known Merriweather his whole life. He's a dear boy, but absentminded. The lad's off taking weather readings and whatnot." Dr. Coop said.
"If I had to guess, I'd say he's visiting his professor friend – ah, what's his name… Murgatroyd! That's him! Down in Arroyo Grande."
"He should have been back by now. I hope he hasn't gotten into any trouble. If you could find him and tell him to come home, I'd be much obliged."
I nodded as we left the doctor's office to round up the men. We boarded the Aquila to sail southeast to Arroyo Grande, a grand canyon where a town had been built atop a great bridge that connected the two sides of the canyon.
"I bet we can find a way down into the canyon in Junction." Rena said as she pointed to the town. We dropped anchor, and I and my trusted associates soon found lifts with two platforms, one up in Junction, and one down in the canyon, manned by a Chicken.
"Are you strangers looking to get down into the canyon? Just step aboard the lift and I'll lower you down." The Chicken said.
We stepped aboard the platform, and the Chicken pulled a lever to lower us down, while at the same time lifting up the platform on the canyon floor.
We stepped off the platform onto the canyon floor, where a creek flowed beside a camp with its fire still burning. A Dog wearing gentlemen's clothing sat in front of the fire.
"Excuse me sir, but we're looking for Merriweather Clark." I said to the Dog.
"Clark? Ah yes, that charming Chicken fellow! He was here, not long ago. Gone now, I'm afraid – off experimenting." Professor Murgatroyd said.
"As I recall, he said he was on his way to Big Sky Country, something about the Bison Burial Ground. Look for him there."
"Thank you, professor." I said. We headed back to the Aquila, where we sailed northwest into Cooper's Roost Skyway, and the Bison Burial Ground came into view, a plateau with a dock for the Bison's ships.
As I and my trusted associates stepped onto the dock and went further into the burial grounds, near the entrance of a cave, we heard a scream.
"Help me!" A female voice cried.
"She's in the cave! Hurry, guys!" Rena said as she drew her sword. We followed her into the cave, where torches were suddenly lighted to reveal a Chicken in a nurse's uniform restrained by a Bison warrior.
More Bison warriors wielding tomahawks and bows entered the lit part of the cave, where they surrounded us with their weapons raised, and I along with Bonnie and Emmett, a newly made lieutenant, fired our guns in an opening volley.
As four Bison fell, stunned, one Bison warrior swung his two tomahawks at me, and I leapt out of the way. He swung his two tomahawks again, but this time I caught them with the flat of my sword.
I kicked him in the stomach, and then slammed the flat of my blade into his head, knocking him out. Another Bison aimed his bow towards me, and I leapt out of the way of his arrow.
I returned fire with Gunnery and after the archer was knocked out, I saw Rena knock out another Bison warrior.
Those of us with swords were covering Bonnie and Emmett while they reloaded, and our resident hoodoo expert, Old Scratch summoned bones from the earth to act as floating clubs.
I quickly reloaded my pistol to stun another Bison warrior from behind, and Rena threw a smoke bomb in the midst of the Bison warriors, and she ran into the smoke. When the smoke dispersed, she was surrounded by unconscious Bison. "That's the last of them!"
"Spirits of my grandfathers arise! Defeat all who pillage this sacred place!" The Bison warrior restraining the Chicken nurse shouted. "Spirits of my grandfathers arise! Defeat all who pillage this sacred place!"
"Help me, please!" The Chicken nurse cried as ghosts taking the shape of Bison rose out of the ground to block us.
"Old Scratch, you're up!" I said. Old Scratch nodded as he ran forward and waved his staff. He summoned giant ghostly skeletal hands to restrain the Bison ghosts so he could blast them with purple lightning.
In a finishing move, Old Scratch waved his staff again, summoning a giant floating skull to breathe purple mist onto the Bison, and as the skeletal hands let go, the Bison ghosts fell to the ground and sank back into the earth, defeated, but Old Scratch looked exhausted.
"Spirits of my grandfathers' pets arise! Defeat all who pillage this sacred place!" The Bison warrior restraining the Chicken nurse shouted. Four ghostly jackalopes with the bodies of jackrabbits and the antlers of deer rose out of the ground, with the leader twice as big as the rest of them.
The lead jackalopes made strange noises as he and his fellow jackalopes hopped towards us.
"I… I not see that coming, captain my captain." Old Scratch said.
"Me neither." I agreed.
"The Bison must be getting desperate if he needs to summon jackrabbits with antlers to beat us." Rena said to me. "Let's go!"
Author's Note: This first chapter was a bit of recap of the story for me, and my writing may have gotten a little rusty, but thanks for reading!