Go West, Young Pirate
Chapter Four"Ugh! They didn't just name the place for its looks. The whole cave is crawling with scorpions! Watch your step!" Bonnie cried as we stumbled across a swarm of large scorpions in the cave at Scorpion Rock.
One scorpion swung its tail at my leg, and it managed to rip a tear in my pants. I stunned it with my pistol and then crushed it underneath my boot.
Ratbeard stomped a hole through a scorpion with his peg leg, and then used his boot to remove the scorpion's body, still impaled on his peg leg.
Ratbeard cleaved through another scorpion with his cutlass, and I cut off the tail of another with my sword. The others had moved to take care of the other scorpions creeping up behind us, so it was just the two of us.
I kicked another scorpion away and stabbed another one, and one scorpion managed to grab hold of Ratbeard's peg leg with its claw, and Ratbeard was trying to shake it off.
I fired my pistol, and the scorpion was blasted off into its fellow arachnids. Ratbeard nodded his thanks as he swiped at another scorpion.
Then, skeletal cowboys armed with revolvers came from deeper within the cave, and I immediately turned my attentions to them while Ratbeard covered me from the scorpions.
I fired my last two pistols, stunning two of the skeletal cowboys, and engaged the rest with my sword. Jack, the closest one to us, ran to help me with his cutlass, and he decapitated one skeletal cowboy, sending his skull flying into the others.
Jack picked up the skeletal cowboy's revolver and fired at the skeletal cowboys until it was empty, then dropped it so he could deliver a critical two-handed strike into the skull of another skeletal cowboy.
Jack tripped another skeletal cowboy and stabbed him in the eye socket, while I defeated another hurrying to reload.
As I swung my sword at another skeletal cowboy, he managed to fire a wild shot that caught Jack in the shoulder, sending him reeling back with his left arm incapacitated.
I chopped off his attacker's hand and then slammed the flat of my blade so hard into his skull that it was sent flying into the wall.
A giant skeletal hand then emerged from the cave's roof, snatched up some scorpions, and tossed them onto the skeletal cowboys. "Thank you, Scratch!"
There was some more gunfire from behind us, and scorpions and skeletons alike were stunned by Bonnie and Emmett.
Rena ran to help us at the front lines, and after a few more minutes, the few remaining scorpions scuttled off from the scattered bones.
We took a few minutes to clean our wounds with the clear water inside the cave, and dress them with bandages Rena had brought.
I was content with Ratbeard, the least injured of us, leading the way, and he stopped us as we came to a bend in the cave, and he peered behind the wall.
"I spy something under that bone heap, but that big lady scorpion seems to have laid claim to it." Ratbeard said.
I took a deep breath as I reloaded my pistols. "Well, I don't care how big that scorpion is- OH MY TITANS!"
A huge purple scorpion the size of a fishing boat stood in front of a large pile of bones, and she hissed at us and snapped her claws. "Well, at least we know how the cowboys came to an end."
She scuttled towards us with the speed of a charging bull, and she smashed the stalagmites that came in her way. All four of my pistol shots struck the same leg, but it didn't seem to affect her movement much.
As she spotted me, she hissed and snapped her claws, but I used a broken stalagmite as a springboard onto her fairly flat back, where I now had her tail to contend with.
Her tail lunged forward, and I rolled out of the way, and her tail just stopped short of her back. I wasn't so lucky the next time though, as the barbed tail left a light gash that stretched from my stomach to my chest, and I could already feel sharp, unpleasant stings around the wound.
As the tail lunged again, the edge of my sword found a chink in her armor, and it managed to pass clean through, and the tip of the tail bounced onto the floor.
The scorpion shrieked and she bucked me off, and I crawled behind some rocks. Already, I could feel myself drifting into unconsciousness. "If I don't become scorpion food, every man aboard the Aquila will have an extra three silver coins and an extra ration of Yum…"
"Matt, Matt, wake up!" A familiar voice cried. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up to find myself shirtless, the wound across my torso already cleaned and dressed by Rena, who was kneeling next to me. My shirt and coat were folded neatly next to me, and Rena helped me to put them on.
As we slowly walked to join the others, Rena gave me a brief report on what happened after I passed out. She had thrown a smoke bomb into the mouth of the scorpion, forcing her to keep it open so that Jack and Ratbeard could stab it in the mouth while Old Scratch restrained her with hoodoo.
"Ah ha, it's a chest – the map must be in here…" Ratbeard said as we drew closer. He opened the unlocked chest and peered inside. "It's gone! There's nothing here but this note."
"To the craven coward Christopher Clark,
Marco Pollo sought to hide his precious map from me, but he has failed! I have taken his ship, his gold, and his map. And now I'll take El Dorado for good measure!
Sincerely,
Captain Blood"
"I've never heard of Captain Blood." Bonnie remarked as Ratbeard finished reading aloud.
"I have: 'tis a dark name, of a dread pirate with strong mojo. But where to find him or him treasure I do not know." Old Scratch answered.
"Captain Blood and the Clarks were enemies. Merriweather may be able to help." Rena said. We returned to the Aquila, where I was laid in a hammock in the sick bay, and told in no uncertain terms by Rena to stay put while we sailed back to Cooper's Roost.
It was just before waking hours as we arrived at Cooper's Roost. We walked up to the Clark place, where Merriweather opened the door and invited us inside, where we then told him what happened.
"Stolen? I can't believe it! My father buried the map in the first place to keep it away from Captain Blood." Merriweather cried. "You've got to get that map back, no matter the cost!"
"Sadly I don't know very much about Captain Blood. He was an infamous pirate, but they say he died when I was a boy."
"Blood had a hidden lair somewhere in Cool Ranch, and I don't believe it was ever found. It stands to reason that the map should still be there!"
"Go talk to Sheriff Cogburn at the jail. He's kept the law in Cooper's Roost for forty years, and may know more about Captain Blood."
We nodded in thanks as we left and headed for the sheriff's office, which was open, I noted approvingly. We entered the sheriff's office to find a middle-aged Rooster, still in good shape, contemplating the wanted posters up on the wall from his desk.
"Excuse me, sir, but do you know anything about Captain Blood?" I asked.
"Well sure, I know of him. That viper sacked Cooper's Roost twice!" Sheriff Cogburn said.
"Then do you know where his hideout and treasure is?" I asked.
"How am I supposed to know where his hideout is? You think if I found Captain Blood's treasure, I'd be here talking to whippersnappers like you?" Sheriff Cogburn snapped. I guess it was pretty stupid to ask.
"I can't help you. You want to talk to Wild Bill, over at the Silver Spur. He knows the ins and outs of Cool Ranch better than anyone."
My stomach rumbled. "Well, we'll be able to hit two birds with one stone, at any rate. Let's go get something to eat."
We walked into the open Silver Spur Saloon, where a Peacock dressed in a red waistcoat over a white shirt, and an apron tied around his waist was standing behind the counter.
"Would you like some cackleberries and some overland trout?" The Peacock asked gruffly. I slowly nodded and he went into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he returned with a plateful of eggs and bacon, along with a glass of water. I nodded my thanks and began eating.
After I had finished my meal, I spoke up. "I've been told that Wild Bill could tell me about Captain Blood."
"Captain Blood. Now there's a name. Years after his death, he still casts a long shadow." The Peacock, apparently Wild Bill, said thoughtfully as he took my plate and glass. "I spent my youth looking for Captain Blood's hidden lair, and sadly I never found it."
"There are hundreds of legends about Captain Blood. The historian, Argleston, I reckon he's heard them all. He's right over there." Wild Bill said as he pointed to the only other patron that wasn't a part of my crew: an elderly Dog with glasses enjoying an early breakfast of stew and toast.
I nodded as I left some money on the counter to pay for my meal. I walked over and sat down across from Argleston, who had finished his breakfast.
Miss Jane took his plate and glass away, and Argleston smiled kindly at me. "Greetings young Wizard - I mean, Pirate! I beg your pardon, old habits and all that. What can I do for you?"
"I want to know more about Captain Blood." I answered.
"Captain Blood, you say? Captain Barnabus Blood is one of the most infamous pirates in history. I have his picture here." Argleston said as he produced an old photo from his jacket.
The photo was of a man entering his sixties with long greasy hair, a black eye patch, a hook for hand, and a sword, dressed in a three-cornered hat and coat scowling at the camera, showing off his stellar smile of crooked yellow teeth.
"Some say Blood was so evil, Death wouldn't claim him. He stole all the gold Marco Pollo brought back from El Dorado, and hid it here in Cool Ranch!" Argleston said.
"I've no idea where Captain Blood's secret lair might be – the confounded thing's a secret! I can think of only one person who might know…"
"The surest method of finding Captain Blood's lair is to find the legendary masked hero who defeated Captain Blood: El Toro. Not an easy man to find…"
"Who's El Toro, sir?" I asked.
"El Toro is the protector of Santo Pollo village. It so happens I've been corresponding with Dr. Diaz, a scientist who lives in Santo Pollo." Argleston answered.
"I'll give you papers that will get you into Santo Pollo Skyway. Would you be so good as to deliver this letter to Diaz for me?"
"Of course I will. Have you paid your bill yet?" I asked. Argleston shook his head just as Miss Jane arrived with the bill, and before he could reach for his wallet, my coins clattered onto the table.
"Thank you, sir." I said to Argleston before standing up to leave. The others had already finished their breakfasts, and we hurried back to the Aquila, where I retook my post at the helm, with Rena beside me at my left.
"Santo Pollo Skyway is to the northwest." Rena said as she looked at the atlas written by our friend and landlord, Nikolai Volkov.
I nodded as the white sails of the Aquila unfurled. "Set sail for Santo Pollo!"