4. My Name Was Captain Kidd
"My name was Captain Kidd, as I sailed, as I sailed,
My name was Captain Kidd, when I sailed,
My name was Captain Kidd and God's laws I did forbid,
And so wickedly I did, as I sailed."
- traditional
Night had truly fallen by the time they left Nassau. The air was still and the lights of the town faded on the horizon behind the Matthias as it crossed the calm sea like a drifting gull. The moon hung low, crossed occasionally by a sea bird of some kind as James stared at it from where he stood on the stern deck.
The atmosphere onboard was tense with anticipation, hushed conversations and muttering carried by the humid air. All eyes were cast out to sea, waiting to sight the William, the glow from the moon providing just enough light to carry out the necessary tasks and running of the ship.
As James took in the view of the moon, he became aware of someone stepping to stand beside him.
Whoever it was remained quiet for a moment, content in also gazing upon the moon. After a few moments, the stranger spoke. "How do you fare, James?" It was the distinctive soft-accented voice of Ludo.
James turned to look at the sailor who stood with his arms locked loosely behind his back, looking out on the horizon, his military posture causing James subconsciously straighten up a little.
"Aye, not bad, aside having only one good arm to fight with," James replied, chuckling a little under his breath and ignoring the dull, nauseating ache. "Yourself?
"Well, thankyou. Though... nervous if truth be told," Ludo said, a furrow settling in his brow, the moonlight giving him a gaunter appearance than previously.
"Nervous?" James gave him his full attention.
"Yes. Cowardly as it might be, this will be the most significant thing I've done since leaving the navy... and to be taking a Dutch ship..." He trailed off.
James nodded, going to fold his arms, but having to make do with bringing his right across his middle in a vague imitation, he spoke from with a wistful look. "The first one's the most terrifying. It's the point when you know you can't go back - but when it's done... you realize that under this daft sky, the ideas of a king living in a high tower somewhere back home matter very little. You are beholden to none and these are your skies and seas."
"Now, to find out if I have-haar op mijn tanden- how do you say..." He paused, trying to find the words to explain the phrase.
"Hair on your teeth. I've not heard that in a while." James mused, recalling the tongue of a buried memory.
Ludo looked up surprised that she understood what he had said. "You speak Dutch?"
"Spent a short while on a Dutch vessel in my younger days, vriend," James replied as the past glazed his eyes a little. He turned slightly to see Jack and Anne by the wheel, Anne leaned into his shoulder in one of their quieter moments. They whispered things to eachother that James couldn't make out, but decided he didn't want to.
Ludo followed his line of gaze. "They're an odd couple."
James grinned wryly. "Aye, he's a rat bastard and she's divine. Yet, it works. The way he looks at her..."
It was an honest observation, having watched their relationship develop overtime. From the first time Jack had tried to impress her and fallen off his stool, to the long courting of bringing Anne odd trinkets from his various escapades and now to the way his face seemed less haggard somehow as he held her at his side; James knew that they could only be parted by the greatest of misfortune, an unfavorable divine hand that would see one of them leave the world.
Though they had never said such words aloud in a wedding vow before a God that would likely shun them, 'til death do us part was their motif. It was just a shame that death was closer for them than it would be for a pastor most days.
"You have a sweetheart out there somewhere?"
James blinked, broken from his train of thought, only half hearing what Ludo had said. "What?"
"A woman, someone who watches the waves for your return," Ludo continued, turning back to the moon.
James paused, lowering his head a little and chose to speak of someone he had not spoken of in almost a decade. "Aye. Once. Somewhere in Brabant. She... is long buried." He stumbled on the pronoun for a moment, remembering to be careful.
Ludo immediately frowned. "I apologise for my boldness... and for your loss."
"It was many years ago now. She was Flemish," James smiled, awash with the face and voice of a love that would have been forever in any other time and place. "We settled together and ran an inn when we- I left the Dutch navy. What about you?"
Ludo stretched and inhaled. "I had a sweetheart once too. She died in childbirth while I was away, scouting the West Indies on a sloop."
"I'm sorry, lad," James slowly nodded his head.
"And here we are talking of things that the rest of the crew would mock, lest they hear us speaking," Ludo spoke even softer, gesturing to the rest of the ship. "With their want of an easy lay and simple pleasures..."
"Aye, but pay no mind. It's always a fine day to meet a countryman," James put his unburdened hand on Ludo's shoulder in solidarity, who in turn looked at the hand. He looked confused for a moment, the fingers were... slight, delicate but calloused. Before he could speak, a haggard brogue yelled from further down the ship distracted them.
"It's the William, Captain!"
There was a shuffling of feet and murmuring as the crew followed the pointed arm of another sailor and sure enough, on the western horizon, a black smudge sat atop the calm seas and visible above that, the slightest hint of Dutch colours on the sails.
Jack leant out of Anne's arms, moving to the edge of the stern deck, hand gripping the handle of his cutlass as it sat in it's holster. Seeing it with his own eyes, he dashed to the wheel.
"Foresail, headsail, lugl, jib, lateen! Give me everything she's got, lads!" Jack cried to the deck as he spun the wheel towards the west. Two and half score pairs of hands met the ropes.
"HEAVE!"
Ludo dashed down to the rigging, his shirt hanging from his wiry frame in the wind. James remained where he was, feeling a curious pang of sadness at not being fit to join them. It had been a while since he had felt vital to a crew, needed amongst his kind. To distract himself, he joined Jack and Anne at the wheel.
"What's the plan, Jack?" He said, steadying himself on the rail in front as the ship careened to the left.
"We ram them on the portside and bring them in for a dicey cuddle," Jack's eyes remained firmly on the horizon, ablaze with anticipation. "Raise the flag!"
A few hands moved to the ropes behind them and unfurled the black material. James watched as it caught the light breeze, it's design catching his eye. A skull in white sat in the center, complimented by two crossed swords below it and as it was hoisted for the first time, James smirked.
"A bit tacky, but it'll drive the point home. Lord help us if we're forever associated with something like that."
"Hey! It took me hours to design that, it did!" Jack called in his defense, almost looking hurt. Almost.
"And two weeks of sewing, you arse!" Anne turned to him, reminding him of his indecision and sudden changes of heart that had resulted in her sewing and unsewing constantly.
James nodded, reaching into his ammo pouch and counted 30 uneven lead balls. He had practiced reloading one-handed earlier on and found that tucking the pistol in the nook of the elbow of his injured arm and using the right to work around it proved fastest, giving him a square 8 seconds between shots. Of course, there was the risk that it would slip, catching the mechanism and he'd find himself with a bleeding hole in his side, maybe a fucked kidney. He hoped it would be time enough.
As he mulled it over, Anne appeared at his side.
"This is really it, isn't it Jim?" She breathed, eyes trained on the horizon as she tried to dry her sweaty palms on her dress.
"This is just another storm to weather, lass." Her hand looped into his and he gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"That it is," Jack spoke calmly from behind them, out of earshot of the crew, then he changed to a grandiose tone. "The swords are our lightning to strike the cunts down and the cannons will be the thunder that will make them fear every storm to come, for they'll always bloody remember the day that Captain Jack Rackham found the cowards."
James and Anne turned to him, eyebrows raised.
"Forgive me," he smirked, getting their point. "They'll always remember the day that Rackham, Kidd and Bonny found them. Pleased, ladies?"
They nodded in turn, James scowling at his turn of speech for a moment before they turned to face the horizon, the sails whipping in front of them.
A scant hour later, the Matthias had gained on the William considerably and though the William had tried to sail faster and harder into the night, the Matthias was now breaching into it's wake as panicked shouts and orders carried on the breeze from the other ship. The sky had clouded above them in the time it had taken to gain and the air around them crackled against their skin in the humid air.
"We're gaining, Captain! They're too heavily burdened to escape!" A sailor yelled from the fore of the ship, and Jack slowly smiled a wicked expression.
"Fire the chain shot!" Jack growled and raised a fist to the wind as it whipped up around him.
He had barely finished his request when the THUNK of the cannon fired, and the linked shot soared ahead, flying through the mainsail of the William, the material now flapping around as though pained to have been shot.
"It hit the sail, Captain, it'll slow her right down!"
"A fine shot!" Jack replied, steering alongside the William, watching as the enemy crew scattered for the cannons. They were running less than full capacity, prime for an easy victory. "Brace yourself, lads!"
The William opened fire, an unexpected volley that tore into the side of the Matthias, wood on the starboard side creaking and splintering nastily as a few cries of pain echoed in the air. The storm kicked up, thunder booming, masking the responding volley of the Matthias.
Anne caught James as he staggered in the wake of the blast, righting his footing. James nodded his appreciation with a "Thanks," but it was drowned by a thunder crack. They returned to holding the edge of the rail, waiting and watching.
Jack quickly looked up to Ludo who crouched behind a cannon, loading the next round.
"DUTCHIE! What's the damage?" Jack yelled pointing to him to lean over the rail on the side. Ludo nodded dutifully and ran to the edge as a round of gunfire blasted from the other ship.
"Kak!" Ludo yelled, a left step taking him out of the path of a musket ball that kissed the top of his ear, carrying on his path to the rail, before leaning himself over the edge. His eyes darted over the side. "Mostly aesthetic, Captain!"
"And the hold?!" Jack called back.
Before Ludo, could answer, James watched as the William suddenly veered closer to the sloop. "Ludo, watch out!"
There was a scraping of wood like nothing he had heard as the William collided with the Matthias diagonally, the ship swaying and sailers falling in the jarring motion. The ship was dragged to the right in a hard lean.
Everybody on the stern deck was thrown sideways, Jack thrown into the side of a barrel, while James and Anne were thrown to the floor awkwardly. James landed on his arm as he uncontrollably rolled, a stream of curses amidst a wave of agony emitted from his tongue.
As the ship steadied, Anne hauled herself onto her knees, the material there tearing as she scrambled over to James.
"Mary- Jim- are you-?" She helped him sit up, his face set in a rigid chagrin.
"I'm fine, Anne, you?" He growled through gritted teeth, adjusting his slung arm gently, trying not to vomit.
"Aye, and-" She turned to where Jack now lay motionless at an awkward angle by the barrel. "Shit, John!"
She now gained her feet running awkwardly to his side, rolling him over. "John?... John?!" She shook his shoulder, as the gunfire on both sides began, shouting and chaos abound.
James crawled over, pressing two fingers into Jack's neck, reaching for a pulse before yelling above the din. "He's fine, Anne, just out cold!"
"Thank God..." Anne mouthed, steadying herself.
"I don't think the lord's listening! Leave him for now!" James called as he looked above as boarding hooks sailed through the air from the William, catching in the rigging and the woodwork of the Matthias. "Move!" He pulled Anne to her feet, dragging her out of the way of a hook that landed squarely at the base of the wheel.
The ship swayed as the enemy crew began hauling, pulling the Matthias closer.
"Ready yourself, lass!" James yelled pulling his gun from his side, watching as the enemy sailors began launching themselves at the side of the ship, some swinging in from ropes.
Anne pulled out her sword as a man landed awkwardly behind James, who remained unaware that he had eyes upon him. Anne growled something unintelligible, something in the old Irish tongue and flew past James, driving her cutlass into the man's gut before he could react, twisting the blade as he staggered backwards, blood seeping from his mouth as he groaned. She drew the blade back swiftly and as he fell to his knees she kicked him squarely in the face and he fell back unmoving.
James looked at Anne for a split second as she remained tense, blood dripping from the blade across her dress. Hell and wonders.
"I suppose we're even for that," Anne said as she and James turned to main deck where men, an even amount of friend and foe began to fill the deck.
James cocked his pistol and lined the sight up with the back of the skull of an enemy sailor, her vision of him glowing red as she focused for a second before sending a solid few grams of mishapen lead through bone and brain matter.
Another who stood near the body as it fell, made for the portside steps, set on reaching Anne and James, covered in the blood of his shipmate.
The pair ran forward, Anne leading with cutlass drawn and she brought he blade against the man's own, the clang of metal ringing through her arm.
"A fookin' woman?! I'll rut you a new one tonight and then drink your blood, you bitch!"
Unphased and blinded by the sheer adrenaline flooding through her veins, she swung and was blocked again. This time the man swung for her and she darted out of the way, spinning on her toes as she whirled to the right of the barrel of James' gun as another shot rung out, the man's face exploding in a mess of bone shards and stringent flesh.
Anne and James continued to dispatch men in a similar fashion for a while, neither sure of the exact passage of time as it seemed to twist around them, a crack of thunder ringing and a sheet of rain launching down upon them. They fought their way to the bottom of the steps, reaching the vicinity of another of their crew as the skies emptied upon them, the occasional flash of lightning silhouetting the crew like a curious painting James had once seen in Blackbeard's possession.
James' eyes scanned around for a moment. Amidst all the men, he saw none who resembled Ludo. Shit. "David!" He put his hand on the shoulder of the man, who turned to him. "Where's Dutchie?!"
"He fell overboard between the ships when we collided, Jim-"
David gasped suddenly as the end of a sword appeared from his middle.
"Shit, shit, shit!" James put his hand on his gun, quickly realizing he had not reloaded since the last shot, as the man behind David withdrew his sword with a slippery sound, knocking the body aside. James' only hand had barely reached his sword when the burly man swung forward. He saw the blade cut across his vision, waiting for the sting.
It didn't come.
He opened his eyes, not realizing he had closed them. Anne stood before him, parrying the blows but staggering backwards as she did. He was built like a brick shithouse and his blows were knocking Anne off balance. James now drew his cutlass, ramming it into the thigh of the man who screamed, his blade flying forward and drawing itself across Anne's arm, cutting through cloth and flesh.
Anne cried out and swayed backward as another of their own crew rushed in to defend from another enemy who moved in on where they stood.
"Anne! Are you alright?!" James yelled, his gut twisting. If anything happened... this would be his fault. He had brought her here, convinced her to do this. All of this, all in the name of an idea, a flight of fancy, a-
"I'm fine, Jim! It's not deep!" She looked up at him, hair matted, rain dripping from her chin as blood seeped from her arm. She flexed it out, swinging the cutlass, wincing a little as it pulled on the flesh before her jaw set and she turned back to the fray with the sailor who had come to their aid.
James loaded another round and fired, taking out a further enemy.
"Anne, we're getting cut down by the guns! What's your orders?!" A sailor nearby yelled, pointing to the small decks that sat near the top of the masts of the William. Anne and James followed his line of sight, a flash of lightning illuminating the William, the imprint on his eyes blazing with a man wielding a rifle on each of the crow nests.
Anne looked down for a moment. "My orders?!"
"Shit...-" James blinked, aware of something else in his vision. He looked again. In the dark, barely visible, a man climbed the rigging from the opposite side of the William. He relaxed his eyes... a fleck of gold appearing amidst the ropes.
Ludo.
He scrambled up the rigging, gaining on the top decks, unbeknownst to the men atop that the Flemish man would soon be upon them. James felt a mix of relief followed by a pang of anxiety as he watched the wiry frame clamber upwards, a cutlass held between his teeth.
"Hunt goed, God zij met u," James whispered to the wind, before tucking his flintlock into his arm, reloading.
High above the William, Ludo clambered upwards, his muscles protesting with the added weight of his shirt and pants being soaked through with seawater. When the ships collided, he found himself spinning downwards and into the drink, drawn under the waves and under the William. He'd broken the surface on the far side of the enemy ship, a little way out, lucky to be alive and capable of swimming back to the vessels.
Now, he blinked sweat from his eyes, grunting around the cutlass in his mouth. Like the dark wasn't enough to contend with for his sight... he leant backwards, allowing the rain to wash over his face, relieving the salt-sting in his eyes before continuing the climb.
Seconds later, his hands gripped the edge of the crows nest and he hauled himself to eye level, the fray continuing below, shouts and curses echoing between cracks of thunder. Neither rifleman was aware he was up there with him, the rest of their shipmates swamped the Matthias leaving no-one but them aboard the William.
With a heave, he swung himself on to the deck, relieved to find some solid purchase and taking the cutlass from his mouth as he got himself to his feet, his jaw aching with the effort of keeping the blade there for the climb. Realizing he had no time to spare, he moved around the mast in the middle of the deck cautiously.
With his sword in one hand, he grabbed the first man from behind, hooking the man's neck into the crook of his elbow and pulling him backwards, silently choking him.
"Vergeef me, landgenoot," Ludo whispered, feeling a pang of guilt as the gasping Dutch sailor went limp in his arms. Ludo set him down, gently, the weight of what he had just done settling on his shoulders.
The rifle fell to the wood beside him, and Ludo picked it up lining up the sight with the other poor bastard.
A swift and true shot hit the man in the side of the neck and he staggered to the right and over the edge of the crow's nest, his body tumbling to the deck below. A horrific thump was heard above the din and Ludo avoided looking where he had landed.
Now, he knelt on one knee, steadying the rifle and reaching for the first man's ammo.
Down on the Matthias, Anne and James found themselves fighting back to back as they faced an enemy each. The rain continued to pour on them as they found themselves tiring. More of their own crew fell around them.
Anne blocked a swing from a gawky sailor, and James felt Anne's muscles move against his spine and instinctively, he spun and shot the man in the chest, dispatching him. James' back was now open to attack from the other man and Anne in turn spun, so they were once again back to back, blocking a lunge from a haggard sailor, twisting her arm around his and knocking the sword from it.
The haggard sailor looked stunned for a moment and Anne took the opportunity, stabbing him through the heart.
Out of the corner of his eye, James saw a tall man in a long blue regal coat enter the foray, and turned to find the Captain of the William with a long rapier. James had drawn his blade and as the Captain lunged forward, he blocked the shot but not enough to stop the long sword from dragging a small trail down the center of his chest, below where his arm remained tightly slung to his shoulder.
James cried out as the Captain took advantage of the damage and prepared to lunge again. Before he could reach James, a shot fired from high up and the Captain fell forward, first to his knees and then to his front, hit squarely in the back.
James staggered back a little, leaning against Anne, who leant back as their immediate foes fell before them.
Breathing heavily, James looked up through the rain and past the sail of the William to see a small cloud of smoke rising from the end of the rifle that Ludo wielded.
"You... you devil, you," James breathed thankfully, exhaustion racking his shoulders. He wildly saluted Ludo for a moment before looking to his left.
The now outnumbered crew of the William were slowly becoming aware that their captain was dead, and swords were dropped, hands raised in surrender.
"It's over, Jim," Anne said aloud as they slumped back against eachother for a moment, fearing that they might fall down otherwise. Lilith's daughters remained so for a few minutes, as the sky continued to fall around them, knowing that neither would fall while they were in eachother's company.
A short while later, the storm had eased, moving into the distance. The sky above lightened with the dawn as the storm clouds scattered and the moon shone, illuminating the edges of the clouds. The rain continued to fall lightly as the remaining crew of the Matthias gathered around the bound crew of the William. Six men remained from the Dutch ship, all on their knees with their heads hung low.
Jack had been hauled to the cabin to recover, only able to mumble vaguely through a concussion that would likely be enough to keep him in bed for a day or two.
Ludo looked at the crew of the William as he stood with Anne and James, his hands moving swiftly to bandage Anne's forearm. He nodded to where the prisoners were knelt and turned his head to James as he finished tying the bandage. "As the Captain is indisposed... What would you have us do with these men, Quartermaster?"
Anne nodded her thanks and now also looked expectantly at James. He hadn't officially be named quartermaster, but the crew seemed to respect him as a sailor, knowing him from word of mouth. It surprised him nonetheless when no-one moved to disagree with Ludo. Instead, Jack's crew looked to him as he looked upon the twenty or so faces illuminated in the moonlight, arms folded as they all waited.
"As is our way, they join us..." James took a stride towards the prisoners, drawing his cutlass to hang it loosely in one hand. "Or die. What say you?"
Immediately, five of the men agreed to join. Feeling relieved of the arduous task of dispatching perfectly good sailors, James turned to the last man, who remained silent as he knelt, graying hair hanging over his face, his eyes locked on James.
"Fuck you."
It was barely a whisper, but it resulted in a firm kick in the side from one of the crew. The man cried out and fell forward a little, swearing as he did, before looking up suddenly at James.
"I'd rather die than sail under a whore of a quartermaster." He spat at James' boots.
For a moment, James believed him to be talking of Anne, and so strode forward and grabbed the man by the throat with his good arm, bringing him up to eye level. "Watch your tongue, scurve. You're in no fucking position to-"
"No, you see... You're the whore," He whispered around the pressure on his windpipe, eyes going to James' chest and back up to his face, before rasping louder ensuring everyone could hear.
"Captain Kidd's a woman, you blind fucks!"
The crew recoiled.
Time stalled.
James could hear his own heartbeat in his ears as he slowly looked down to his chest, dropping the man and stepping backwards. Lifting his slung left arm forward as much as he could, he looked down through the gap to his chest and saw what the prisoner saw.
Below his left arm, his shirt and wraps had been cut open a way, the materials parting enough to bare a little flesh in the center of his chest, dried blood marked the edges of the wound. When the Captain of the William cut him it had now unwittingly revealed what he thought he'd never let known to anyone but those closest to him.
A murmur began amongst the crew, people shuffled as their eyes now looked upon the appearance of the soft flesh of a breast between the Quartermaster's shirt tatters. He felt Anne's hand touch the back of his arm, and sensed her tense for her sword. The two of them would be able to do nothing should this turn ugly; the two of them versus twenty five crew were most unfavourable odds.
James anxiously scanned their faces as they looked at him, judging, trying to make sense of what they saw before them.
"Jim..." Anne whispered, to her right as the tension in the air threatened to drown them both, the silence unending.
A few moments passed and nothing happened. Only the steady creak of the ship and the lapping of waves against the sides could be heard.
"Nu komt de aap uit de mouw."
Jarred, James looked to the owner of the voice. Ludo.
James expected to see an angry or confused expression but instead was met with surprisingly gentle eyes, perhaps bemused.
Most of the men only spoke English and their eyes turned to Ludo. James felt a brief moment of relief as he wasn't the center of their highly unwanted attention for a moment.
"It means, now the monkey's out of the sleeve. Like, cat out of the bag," He mumbled for a moment, before looking to James with eyes asking him to trust him. James nodded subtly, as Ludo straightened and walked into the center of the gathering.
"The bastard son of William Kidd, one of the finest pirates of our time and a shipmate of Blackbeard, no less, is a woman." Ludo stated broadly, in a jestful tone at first, gesturing a hand to James. "He has taken ships far greater than we can imagine, achieved what we could only lust for in our wildest dreams and killed many men to get there."
Ludo began to walk in a circle as he looked to each of the men in turn, holding their eyes as he spoke.
"We are all self-made men, albeit James more literally... Lads... We all fight against crown and throne for our own republic and if we follow the same fucking rules as His fucking Majesty, what's the point in any of what we do in our fight for our own governance?!"
Silence.
The prisoner laughed where he knelt and spat on the floor in front of Ludo. "You're about as dandy and queer as all of this, you fucking klootzak."
The crew murmured amongst themselves, glancing sideways at eachother and then back to James who now felt as though gravity was pulling him inside out. Shit, shit, shit.
The bound man spoke again, launching his head back as he looked around the crew. "Your bitch likes to play man. The only way she'd survive in this world is fucking witchcraft - and even a witch wouldn't have the balls to kill me." He laughed darkly, gaging the reaction. It fell short, the crew remaining silent as he looked around.
James' eyes honed in on the red cross sewn to his cumberbund. Subtle, but enough of a marker to a keen observer, Templar or Assassin. James only wished he had killed him in the earlier battle.
Nothing happened for a few more awkward and drawn out moments, when suddenly, James cracked the man around the jaw with a right hook. Something crunched and the prisoner screamed, leaning forward to spit the end of his tongue out that had caught between his teeth.
He drooled blood on the deck, whimpering, red staining the front of his shirt.
James stood tall, looking down at the pitiful man. This was going to go his way.
"The man with the pissy snake tattoo on the back of his neck?" He started as a whisper, addressing the man at first before continuning loud enough for everybody onboard. "I ended him with a shot to split his spine where he stood! A woman ended him. The one with the right ugly fucking beard? Anne ended him. A woman ended him. A pair of women, with three good arms between them ended a chunk of your pissing crew."
Anne looked up nervously. Where the fuck was James going with this?
The prisoner, spat blood, trying to talk but found himself incoherent with a newly broken jaw and a ruined tongue. He shook with rage as James knelt down suddenly, grabbing him by the jaw and pulling his face up. He shrieked through the pain and trembled while James held him there.
"A woman ended them." James hissed in his face, before whispering his name. "It's over, Joris."
With a brutal shove, James threw him to the side by the jaw as the prisoner screamed, curling into a fetal position as best he could with hands tied, blood pooling on the deck by his stood up turning away from the man for a moment.
"A woman ended you."
The crew jumped as James spun and shot him in the temple, Joris' body turning limp on the deck. For a moment, the men proceeded to whisper and mutter nervously, before James continued, turning to them.
"Lads, James Kidd died tonight along with the crew of the William." James spoke, smirking a little as he felt his voice matching Edward's bloody speech patterns. "My name... was Captain Kidd... James Kidd. I've always used it as I've sailed."
The crew looked confused. James met Anne's eyes now, beckoning her to listen as he spoke. If Anne was going to become as he was... he would have to become like her.
James reached upward with his hand, pulling his bandana from his head, the tie from his hair and allowing it to fall down, the rain sticking it to the sides of his face. With the same hand, he pulled his shirt aside, baring a little more flesh to the sailors. "My name is Mary Read... and if any of you take any bloody issue with that... well, you can fuck right off, lads!"
The crew, to Mary's surprise, cheered. As they whooped their approval, Mary stood stunned and she felt Anne beside her, in as much awe as she at the bizarreness of the situation. They both knew that so long the men were wealthy in coin and booze, anything went.
If you could see this, Thatch... Mary ruminated, wondering what the wise and batshit crazy man would say now. They'd often converse deeply on a thousand subjects - few knew that Thatch had been a wildy intelligent and well-versed fellow, only knowing him as a devil of the sea. She remembered choosing to be honest with when she joined his crew, her instinct leading her to see the gold about him as he walked and talked.
She had motioned to Thatch one night, long long ago, that James was not a he, in between loading supplies to the ship. He had raised an eyebrow before pointing to the barrel in her arms. "That's all very well, but are you going to load that barrel on to the ship?"
"Aye, Captain!" She had been so keen to impress him.
"Good lad," He had winked at her before pulling himself to her ear to impart his message and to keep the conversation hushed. "Between this world and the one below... or the one above, should you find yourself so lucky... you'll not be measured by your tits, but by the thumper behind them."
A young Scottish sailor piped up, interrupting Mary's stream of memory. "It's always been superstitious, having a woman on the crew. Yet... none have e'er done it. We won today, and it has nay served us ill!"
The crew cheered again, tired but elated.
"Your orders, Quartermasters Read and Bonny?" Ludo stood with his arms folded as the cheers died down, wearing a warm smile. "The Matthias is too damaged from the fight to be of use and beyond what we can afford to repair, nor can we spare the men to sail both well."
"Quartermaster?" Anne's eyes were wide and she processed this quickly, now addressing the crew. Mary watched from the side, seeing the spark ignite in her eyes. "We have taken what we need from the Matthias - we burn her, leave no trace!" She then cast a respectful hand to their fallen crewmates, who had been respectfully wrapped up with what material they could spare. "At dawn, we send our brothers to the world below. After that... onwards to Nassau to make ourselves wealthy!"
The crew cheered again and headed to move the cargo from the Matthias to the William. Mary turned about and headed up the steps to the stern deck of the William, Anne close behind. From a higher vantage point, she was a beautiful ship - a few hands longer than the Jackdaw and with twice the guns.
Neither of them moved for the wheel. Mary then coughed gently and gestured to her arm. "Anne, I can't handle her-"
"I'm going to steer this beast?" Anne's jaw hung slack for a moment, before she grinned, excited at the prospect. "Well, alright then!"
Mary waited. Anne shuffled awkwardly.
"Would you maybe... tell me how?"
"Of course."
"It's just, I don't want to break the ship!" Anne explained nervously.
"You won't," Mary laughed watching as Anne stood before the wheel, the sky lightening closer to dawn.
As she began explaining the art of steering a ship like the William to Anne, she found herself glancing at the morning star as it burned a hole in the sky, the storm all but gone with the night. She didn't know too much about what came after with everything she'd learnt since joining the Assassins - it had all been hard to swallow at first.
A childhood spent going to church - though perhaps not as fervently as Anne's upbringing - followed by finding a place with the Assassins had brought in to question the Good Book. The verses about pearly gates and judgement and all of those things that seemed so silly now, like they were a drunk sailor's telling of a court hearing, one confused version of events that were so strange and above what even the Assassins - and Templars - could begin to comprehend.
Whatever it was that lay beyond - the world above, the below, the sea, the sky... she could not define it; but all she knew now was that somewhere, Thatch could see her... and he was proud.
Sorry for the delay and thank you for making it this far! There's more to come soon. They've got a shiny ship, but what now? ;o) I'll be writing the next part over the weekend as I have a short break from studying.