Felicity: An American Girl ROMANCE, Pt4,Ch7: Pirates of the North Atlantic!
Three days spent in the company of Noah Covington went fast, for there was always something to see in the port of . Felicity and her friends were given the grand tour, meeting plenty of affiable folks, Irish and English alike. Lettie and the rest of the crew of the Mercury Queen came ashore, the latter of which were seeking food and drink (but mostly drink), while Lettie walked about town with Felicity as the two of them talked in private- something which had Ben quietly concerned, for he had knew very well that Felicity took Lettie's advice to heart. Anything the mysterious dark girl told his fiance would always be taken into immediate consideration. But he did not say anything, nor let on that he was worried. His lack of faith in her had been one of the things that had nearly destroyed them forever. He would not lose faith in her ever again.
Noah found an enjoyable drinking buddy in Arthur Pratt. On the third and last night of their stay, Arthur and Ben went with him to his favorite watering hole, The Whale's Spout Tavern, to partake of the many tempting concoctions that were served there. Arthur and Noah emerged from The Whale's Spout an arm slug about each other's shoulders as they drunkenly slurred the verses to 'Whiskey, You're The Devil,' which would have been more discernable had they been in sync and not prone to fits of laughter, accusing each other of being 'off key.' Behind them came Ben, chuckling and grinning, himself only slightly buzzed. He had learned his lesson in imbibery while in the company of Light Horse Harry that the headache that follows a night of reckless revelry was not worth it. So he followed behind his two happily soused companions, prepared to catch one if he fell. Ben felt positive that Felicity would be proud of him for not intoxicating himself the way Arthur and Noah had, and that had him smiling all the way back to Noah's house.
On the third afternoon Felicity and her friends returned to the Mercury Queen, having been refreshed by their brief stay on land in good company. Felicity felt more and more restless knowing she was finally going home. Ben sensed her excitement and it made him happy. Returning to the ship neither one of them could sleep for knowing how much closer to home they were getting now that they were leaving Newfoundland.
Lord Eric said his goodbyes to his brother, whom he swore he would see again beofre too long, for it was not good to go so long without seeing one another, and Noah even expressed a desire to see England again, to pay respects to his and Eric's parents' gravesites and revisit the happiest places of their childhood. Eric had reminded them that the possibility of encountering French and American ships either patrolling or engaged in battle with the British navy along the American coast was great. He even expressed the likeliness of having to disembark at New York to continue the trip by carriage, a plan which Ben didn't seem so worried about, having become familiar with the territory between New York and Virginia during his time in the Legion.
What no one had expected was having certain visitors in the night after being away from harbor for two days.
Ben roused Felicity sometime before morning, urgently but gently shaking her shoulder and whispereing, "Lissie, wake up! I think something is happening!"
She woke without much trouble, blinking rapidly to clear her vision, an impulsive act which didn't really help much in a dimly lit cabin. She swallowed, found her vice and whipered, "What is it, Ben, do you know?"
"No," he whispered back, sounding very uncertain...and nervous. "The sounds of yelling woke me up. It is hard to make out what they're saying, but I think there's another ship out there. Getting close to ours, I think."
Felicity shivered a bit. "But were we not supposed to expect to meet other ships the closer we get to America?"
"Yes," he agreed, yet the hint of doubt lingered in his soft voice. "However, I don't think we were supposed to meet any this soon." He bit his bottom lip, thinking fast and intensely. Then he threw back his half of the blankets and made to move over Felicity on his way to the door. "I'm going to see what IS going on up there. Please, Lissie, stay here, all right?"
"Well, I suppose." With the light of the candle stub in the hanging lantern she watched him swiftly pull on his cavalry boots and cloak. "Just come back soon. Don't make me worry."
He flashed her a grin that made her heart start racing and the impulse to haul him back into the bed with her nearly unbearable, then he was quickly and quietly out the cabin door. Felicity sat there staring att he back of the door for a moment, her instincts rapidly coming to life and telling her that something was very wrong. She could feel like like a chill inside her body instead of outside. She flipped back her covers and got up, too. Bow that she was waking up quickly, she, too, could hear urgent, serious voices, and only snippets of words. "They," and "guns," and "pirates."
Pirates?
Without wasting any more time, Felicity scrambled up and reached for her cloak, but then stopped, her mind reeling. The pair of thick woollen breeches she had worn underneath her petticoats when the Mercury Queen was further north was half-hanging out of the trunk at the foot of the skinny bed. Her mind whirling like mad, she snatched them up and pulled them on beneath her shift. Thinking some more, she flipped up the trunk lid and messed around for one of Ben's white homespun shirts. Yes, that would do. Especially if what she thought was happening was indeed happening!
The steady, almost hypnotic rise and fall of the ship on steady waters was no longer a consideration to her movements she was so used to it by now. She slipped out the cabin door herrself as she tied her red mane back into a ponytail. Her strides were swift as she came to Elizabeth and Arthur's cabin and knocked sharply on the door. "Beth, its me, do open the door!"
It came open much faster than she had expected. Though her blond hair was mussed, Elizabeth was definitely awake and tensed. "Oh Felicity, I was just getting ready to come to you! Arthur woke me up saying her heard voices and that something was going on. There was no storm so I couldn't imagine why he was getting so worked up. He went to see what was going on." She stepped back and let her friend inside. "You're wearing breeches again?"
"Yes. I just had this insane urge to put them on. I think there might be pirates, Elizabeth-Ben went up top, too. If there are pirates trying to board this ship then I don't want him up there."
"Pirates? Oh Lord, I was afraid of this happening! I've had that fear all along! If that is the situation, then I do not want Arthur up there, Lissie! Hmmm... Do you suppose I should put on breeches, too? I still have the ones you gave me when it was cold."
"Yes, yes, do!" Felicity urged, feeling the need to pace, but this cabin wasn't any bigger than hers and Ben's. "Women are always told to stay below decks in situations like these while the men go up and try to fight. As women we have the right to defend ourselves and our loved ones, too! Get changed, Elizabeth. I am going to try to hear more about what is happening!"
"Oh do be careful, Lissie!" Elizabeth whispered worriedly as she started to put on her pair of secret breeches. The sounds of running feet pounded past their door and the girls exchanged a nervous look. Elizabeth shook her head as she worked with her clothing. "I hope this is just a big misunderstanding. We are so close to home!"
We're not really that close, thought Felicity wistfully, but she nodded in response. When the corridor was silent again, Felicity cracked open the door to peep out, but that did not do her much good: there was only one lantern hanging in the slender corridor, and it wasn't putting out very much light to see by either direction. But she slipped out nonetheless, Her shoes were a basic black-and-buckle, a less-clunky version of a man's shoe for house servants, but as lightweight as they were, she still couldn't help but make some stepping sounds as she neared the steps up to the main deck. A shaft of brighter light lit the darkness up the steps, indicating there were other well-lit lanterns and possibly torches up on deck. Moving slower, Felicity hung back in the shadows and listened.
"How many of them are there do you suppose?" asked a very nervous Arthur Pratt, obviously just outside the hatchway.
The reply came from an equally nervous . "I don't know-I can't tell."
"Oh come now, you can tell me," encouraged Arthur easily. "I shant tell anyone else-"
"I mean I cannot see them all, 'tis too dark out there," Licklighter told him tightly.
There was a chuckle. "He's the only one who can keep a sense of humor at a time like this." It was Ben!
Frantically Felicity wondered if she should go back and get Ben's cavalry pistol and bring it to him. She was torn between him having it to shoot with and the risk of it being taken from him and him getting shot with it! In the back of her mind she was cursing herself for being the type of woman who hated guns yet had a fascination for them at the same time! She was about to make some kind of subtle attention-getting sound, when another sound silenced that notion: the pow of a large firearm going off.
The ship shuddered and almost knocked her off balance. She heard Ben's voice again, with Arthur's, and to her dismay they sounded as if they had definitely moved away from the hatch opening. Calm, be calm! she demanded herself. 'Tis not as if you were being attacked by Reginald Forsythe, for God's sake. HE is roasting quite nicely in hell. 'Tis only pirates.
Somehow she didn't feel reassured.
More frantic voices shouted out, "They have a bloody cannon! How can we put up a fight if we don't have a cannon" and "They're aiming for the masts!" and "Can we outrun them?"
Felicity closed her eyes and shook her head. There was no way she could get up there to Ben without him paniking for her safety. She had to trust that he would be all right, that his military training would be of some asset to the situation. She herself needed to get back to Elizabeth and confirm what they had both dreaded. Like a cat she slipped away from the hatch and ran back to Elizabeth's cabin. Elizabeth was panting just as much as Felicity was though the wide-eyed blond hadn't been running.
"It's pirates," Felicity breathed reluctantly.
Elizabeth groaned half-angrily, half-fearfully. "What should we do, Lissie?"
"Not stay here, that is for certain. I'm not about to fall victim to anyone else, ever again! We are not helpless females..." She was thinking faster than she ever had before, the adrenaline speeding through her veins like wildfire. "If I only knew where Lettie was! I don't think this was her watch, so she might be in her cabin...damn!"
Elizabeth's mouth crinkled in an awkward smile. When Felicity looked at her curiously, she said, "Sorry. I'm not used to hearing you swear."
"Sorry, Beth. I just hate this!"
"Me too. Did you see or hear anything of Arthur and Ben?"
"Aye. They were both near the steps with when the pirates' cannon went off, and the cannonball must have hit something because we all felt the ship shudder, yet we are not sinking. When I heard their voices again they were further away." She bit her bottom lip nervously. "I know they went to help with whatever they could."
Elizabeth nodded her grim understanding. "What could these pirates possibly want from us? Most of what the ship was carrying was unloaded at for Noah!"
"Yes, but they dont know that. The Mercury Queen is a merchant vessel, not a warship. We do not have any cannons to fight back with, so boarding and taking over will not be a problem for them."
Something of a maniac plan was forming in Felicity's mind, for she grabbed Elizabeth's arm and said, "Yes! Come with me, Elizabeth! All the men are up on deck, or at least most of them. we must find and Lettie, if she is bellow decks at all. And you must be braver than you've ever been in your life, Beth!"
Elizabeth swallowed with determination. "I can do that. If I have learned anything from you in all our years of friendship, it is how to be brave for the people I love! Let us go!"
Felicity nodded curtly and turned back to the door. There was no sound outside, so Felicity assumed no one was out side in the corridor. With Elizabeth keeping close, she held her breath and moved quietly out into the hall...but turned right around and came face to face with Lettie, who clamped a hand right over Felicity's mouth, for a startled cry had been on its way out. Lettie's dark skin nearly blended in with the shadowy hall. The white of her turban and linen shirt were the only things that made her recognizable in the near-dark. She had a finger up to her lips to indicate immediate slience. Felicity sighed in relief and Lettie dropped her hand.
"We are being boarded, Felicity Merriman."
"Oh I was afriad of that," Elizabeth sighed behind Felicity's shoulder. "We might as well just-"
"No!" Felicity hissed quickly to her friends. "We are not going to be victims! I'm so glad you're here, Lettie, because I think I have a plan!"
Lettie grinned.
"First we must find -"
"Already here, lass," grumbled Mrs,Crisp, sounding more like her husband in an annoyed mood more than a frightened female. She had been right behind Lettie there in the hall.
"Good." Felicity gazed at Lettie evenly. "You and are well acquainted with the ship. So tell me, are there any guns about?"
Lettie nodded her approval and Eizabeth gulped nervously.
"Papa, papa!" shouted the voice of young Thomas from behind the four women. They all looked around in time to see the frightened young lad come running up to them, having just errupted from his and his father's cabin in a pitiful fright. He ran right up to Elizabeth and asked, "Where is Papa? He said he would come back but he hasn't! Where is he Miss Cole?"
Moved nearly to tears, Elizabeth stooped and picked the frightened recently-turned six year old up into her arms and said softly, "Ssshh, there now, Thom. He is most likely gone up top to see what he can do to help the shipmen. Don't you worry, all right? You are safe with us."
"I want Papa!" All the same, he buried his small face in Elizabeth's neck. In that moment Felicity realized that Elizabeth would make an exceptional mother someday soon. Elizabeth had the sweetened patience of a mother, the same calming effect and rationalization as a mother. It made Felicity cringe inside, knowing that she herself did not possess the same qualities. It made her both dislike her own self and feel thankful at the same time. Whatever was Ben going to think when she revealed her true thoughts to him?
But now was not the time to worry about it. She could already hear strangers' voices, loud and demanding, mingled with those she had come to be familiar with. Good God, let Ben be safe! I have just truly forgiven him! Oh please, keep all of our men safe! She slammed her fears back down with an obvious effort. "Mrs. Crisp, we mustn't waste any more time. If you have guns on board, we need them. I am going to get Ben's cavalry pistol. Where can I find you?"
was thinking fast, her ruddy, weather-worn face crinkled with concentration. "In the cargo hold, I suppose. Ye won't find anyone else down there."
"Excellent. I am going to fetch Ben's cavalry pistol!"
"Be careful, Lissie," Elizabeth told her worriedly.
"I will. The rest of you, go on." Felicity turned to go back to her and Ben's cabin when she sensed someone behind her. Lettie, of course. Not wanting to be left out of any action, Felicity assumed, smiling on the inside. Lettie stood watch while Felicity rumaged through Ben's things until she found gun, holster, powder horn and a handful of lead balls for ammunition. She worried that Ben might have a chance to come get his gun himself, and he might be worried if he didn't find it. But on the other hand, there would be no gun for him to use to make himself a threat to be shot at in return. All sorts of what-if's and if-only's knocked around her brain but she was determined to follow her plan.
"Hurry, Felicity Merriman," Lettie warned. "Strange men's voices are getting louder as they approach."
She hurried.
She and Lettie moved as fast as possible, trying not to make their retreating footfalls sound so loud on the wooden-planked deck. There was little light to see by except that from swaying canle-lit lanterns hanging from their hooks. The two of them went two decks down into the hold where most of Lord Eric's cargo was stored. Indeed, much of it had been unloaded at , leaving only what was needed for the crew. There were barrels of water and rum, wooden crates of what felicity assumed was food of some sort, a few large trunks. The ceiling was low and the deck not that spacious despite having unloaded a lot of its supplies, Shadowy figures moving at the other end of the hold made Felicity gasp and grab Lettie's arm.
"Its just us!" whispered shrilly. "Get over here! You had a plan, recall?"
Felicity and Lettie scurried over to the captain's wife, Elizabeth and Little Thomas, who had ceased crying, but looked worried nonetheless. Felicity steeled her nerves. "Yes, I have a plan, . This is where anything of value is being stored, correct?"
"Aye, lass. What's left of it all, anyway."
"But they do not know what we have, or what we do not have. But they will come down here to look for anything that they think will be of use to them, correct?'
nodded, following the red-head's line of thinking. "Aye."
"And they cannot all come at once, for that would leave the men up top unguarded, correct?"
"Aye!"
"So, logically, the main pirate, or captain or whatever he is called, would send only a small party to find out what we have, correct?"
"Aye!"
Ever-clever, Lettie put in suggestively, "They will very likely want the whole ship. Given what I have learned from the crew, pirates often take the ship as well as what is in it. A party of five might be sent down to see what there is, indeed. What do you propose, Felicity Merriman?"
Felicity considered all that Lettie said. "What do we have in ammunition, ?"
The older woman turned to the top of the crate beside her and picked up one musket, then two pistols. "Got powder and balls, too."
"Felicity," Elizabeth gulped nervously, "what are you thinking?"
She eyed Elizabeth with all raw honesty. "I am thinking that we...'disable' each pirate that enters, Beth." Elizabeth gaped as Lettie nodded approval, and felicity continued, "I don't want to shoot anyone, Beth, but if I have to, I will. I'd rather knock them unconscious, tie them up and stuff their mouths with cloth, but I will shoot them if I cannot stop them any other way. You don't have to handle a gun, Beth, if you do not want to, I'm not asking you to. But we do need rope now."
"Over there," told them, moving from the few crates they were clustered around. In the dim light of the overhead lantern's candle, they could barely make out the older woman picking up a big coil of hempen rope with both arms. "I have a knife in my apron, here, so I can start cutting some lengths to use."
"Excellent," Felicity murmered. "Is there anything heavy, so as to knock a person unconscious with?"
"My fist," Lettie replied with a crooked smile. "But if you mean for yourself, then how about this?" The dark girl stooped, picked up a weighty iron bar that looked like it was once part of a ship's hatch. It took both of Lettie's hands to weild it around in practice.
"Yes, that is good," Felicity told her, herself smiling wryly. "So is a musket barrel, if the musket is not being used." She turned again to watch , who was removing her small kitchen paring-knife from out of her apron pocket. "We need to get behind some of these stacked crates. Someone sit the lantern on that barrel over there so that we can see them when they come in and they cannot see us coming at them. Then we should get these guns loaded."
It was then that Elizabeth Cole realized just how much Felicity had been affected by her experiences with the Forsythes and her fight to get free of them. Violent gunplay was never supposed to be a part of a gentlewoman's upbringing, But then, they were fighting for their lives here, or would be soon enough. Elizabeth admired her nest friend's bravery and quick thinking, but it was also frightening the way Felicity regarded the guns as nothing upsetting at all. As if Felicity was used to handling them all of her life.
As if she actually enjoyed it.
'Twas Reginald Forsythe and his vile cousin that Elizabeth despised for this. Felicity had been thorugh some kind of hell that Elizabeth herself could not identify with but wished she could so that she could understand Felicity's plight even was absolutely aware that Felicity's actions were in hopes of saving them all, but the violence of it all was unsettling. Felicity herself moved and looked like some kind of woman-pirate who refused to back down from a fight. But, Elizabeth reminded herself, "here you are as well, clad in breeches and ready for action, too. You told Felicity that you could be brave, too, braver than you have in your life. You know you are not about to let anything stop this ship from getting you home to Williamsburg!
"Felicity," Elizabeth began in a steady voice,"shall I use a pistol or swing the bar?"
Grinning, Felicity handed her the iron bar. "I know you have a good arm for swinging. Remember all those times I told you that you looked like you were beating your mother's quilts to death when they were hanging outside to dry?"
Elizabeth managed a grin, too. "Yes! As I recall, I had been thinking about how mad Annabelle made me when she ordered me around."
"Well, think of how mad Annabelle made you if you hav eto hit one of those pirates!"
Asked little Thomas, "What can I do?"
"Here, lad," told him, taking his hand and pulling him over to the stacked crates she was kneeling behind. "Stick close to me and do exactly as I say. Here, hold this length of rope. We just might need to use it real quick."
The youngster nodded vigorously,seemingly more confident now that he had something to do to help defeat the bad men. looked to Felicity. "Now what?"
Felicity kneeled down behind a wide barrel of rum. "Now we wait!"
Up on deck Ben Davidson was miserable. It was beginning to get lighter and lighter as the sun came up in a mostly overcast sky, and he and the men of the Mercury Queen were all clustered on deck with a party of ten, maybe twelve, pirates holding pistols and/or swords most likely stolen from God only knows where on them. Lord Eric was behind him, dressed in homespun like himself, unrecognizeable as a duke. Arthur was on his left, quiet and still, as if holding his breath waiting for something to happen. Please, Lissie, do not come up top, he mentally pleaded. Stay where you are, love, and do not do anything brave. And please, Lord, do not allow these rough men to go below and look for...whatever it is they may want!
And then he hated himself for being so demanding. Did his cavalry training not prepare him for situations like this? Actually, no, it didn't, because Harry Lee never had them practice being help at bay by pirates. But here he was, a man of the Legion, a bloddy captain, and he was at the liberty of men who looked like they hadn't had a bath in, well, since the day they were born. They wore coats and had thick unruly facial hair, yet they seemed to be a group that were well put together, at least in terms of their attire, anyway. Despite superior sneers and taunting looks they dressed like they were important. Or simply fancied themselves to be, Ben corrected himself angrily.
Instinct was screaming at him to do something, anything to keep them from finding Felicity. And Elizabeth. Men like these were used to getting their way, apparently. He desperately tried to think of something, but nothing logical or risky enough was presenting itself at the moment. But he would die before he let any of them get a foul hand on his Felicity.
The leader called himself Captain Fleetfoot. He wore a plain black tricorn atop a mass of long, loose salt and pepper hair, but the hat had a long white feather stuck in its brim for some reason Ben didn't care to know about, and the man was big and strong-built for someone Ben reckoned to be in his fifties. Fleetfoot wore a long black cloak, black boots and wore a sabre at his side, one that looked to perhaps have belonged to a man of military rank, for Ben had seen pleanty of them in his army experience. Stolen, no doubt, Ben thought irately.
"Well, gentlemen!" bellowed Fleetfoot, gloved hands on hips as he faced them all, his back to Captain Crisp's quarters as he faced the crew of the Mercury Queen with gloating pride. "I thank you for the very little resistence you have shown in our, er, unexpected arrival on your fine vessel! As you know, times are hard for a man who lives on the sea, so we have taken it upon ourselves to ease our journey with the offerings your ship can provide!"
"We don' have anything," growled an indignant Captain Crisp, standing just in front of Ben and the rest of his crew. "We just unloaded at St,John's a few days ago. I get the feeling you followed us from there, didn't you?"
"Actually, no, Cap'n!" Fleetfoot replied with an amused gleam in his naturally narrow eyes. "We usually keep an eye out for the whalers, ye see. Out ship is a schooner, and a right speedy one at that, so that overtaking any other ship that looks of interest to us is quite simple, even with the cannon we have. You were wise to slow when we fired the warnin' shot!"
Crisp snorted in disgust. "What bloddy choice did we have? We have no weapons! We're not a warship, ye know."
"Ye don' say! But even a merchant ship that has parted ways with some of its load still has pickings! Ye got rum, Cap'n?"
"I aint sayin'!" Crisp stated firmly.
The men of Fleetfoot's crew that boarded wtih him guffawed and hoo-hooed their non-impressionment. Fleetfoot himself threw his head back and laughed throatily. "Well, now! Ye think ye're the first shipman to get testy with us? As it is, ye can't do nothin' but stand there and pout like a woman! Which reminds me, ye got any of 'em aboard?"
His crew jeered and whistled, much to Ben's dread.
Crisp folded his arms across his chest and just glared at the sly-eyed pirate, refusing to say any more. Beside him, Ben heartd Arthur gulp nervously.
"Eh, Cap'n? From the reaction I'm gettin', seems to me that ye do gots women aboard!"'
"I aint sayin," defied Crisp firmly.
"So I take it ye do, then."
"No, we don't!"
"An' I says ye do!" Fleetfoot beckoned to two of his closest men, two gangly under-fed looking fellows who clothes did not seem to fit them properly, and said,"Both o' ye go down an' see who ye can find. Bring 'em up here if'n ye do!"
"Aye sir!"
Ben fliched uncontrollably, his every instinct wanting to throw himself at the men to keep them from getting to Fellcity. She's not stupid, she will know what is going on. She and Elizabeth will hide. They are smart girls. They will both hide! Arthur and I will find a way to save them, I know we will!
But its just a damn ship, his subconscious nagged him in fear. A ship on the ocean. Where could there possibly be to hide?
Author's Babble: So I've been sick- again. Freakin' laryngitis, and do literally mean freakin' because it's been over two weeks and I've been doped up on antibiotics and antihistamines. If anyone out there has had laryngitis before, give a holler and tell me how you dealt with it. This whispering when I talk is getting old; its very irritating for someone who likes to yell. I yell because I care. Anyway, its good that the world didn't come to an end over the weekend, because I'm determined to get Felicity and Ben's wedding hurried up. I myself prophesize that the world cannot end until Kentucky beats Tennessee in college football. Har-dee-har-har. Ouch, it hurts to laugh! Damn swollen throat!
