(Thanks to noobsdog for help with extispicy details, ltlconf, Riochix, and DragonWriter17 - RIP ;) but also to FireTigerLily who unwittingly named the Isle, and anyone else who's read or reviewed, you mean so much to me. I love ye all, arrrr!)
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"Kennedy…wake up…please!", squealed Willow as she snatched the drenched and silent figure from the arms of Oz who knelt in reverential silence, paralyzed by his sorrow which unsheathed its malevolent blade and pierced his heart 'til its hilt, engraved with despair's foul art, crack'd his chest.
"Miss…s-she…..she…be dead", Xander forced from his quiversome lips as she scratched at his wiry mutton chops.
"Nay, do not say such things…. I will not let her….quick, fetch me coppered pipe and tobacco!", yelled the redheaded maid as a gruff authoritarian commandeered her timid being. She threw her sodden locks of flame back and let the pasty faced buccaneer drop to the deck with a dull thud as the gentle curve of skull met the still of wetted timber as Willow fought with tempered will to turn Kennedy over on to her front.
Though The Slayer was tempest harrowed and billow tossed, the crew felt not the sharp lash of the storm as they watched the slumped form of their First Mate who would no more bless them with her heart-warming laugh nor the defence offered by her blade. As the pirate flopped over 'til her curvaceous breasts were pressed firm to the deck Willow knelt on her back as she fumbled with the poorly stitched buttons on Kennedy's britches, but as her bony knees, well scuffed from years at blacking the grate and shining her Mistress' shoes, pushed into the back of the latina a low slung groan slithered free from the buccaneer.
"K-Ken?", coughed Xander as he felt his burning tears be swallowed into the fraying material of his eye patch.
The mighty ship listed and pitched as Willow's body once more rose and lunged into the ribs of Kennedy as there, just a touch above a murmur, spilled sound from her blue lips.
The maid's head whipped round in the retreating gloom of the storm to see Kennedy splutter and cough up nary a gallon or so as she clawed for breath to plump her endowments to which her blouse clung tight.
"W..W…Will?", the pirate gasped as the maid slid off and cradled the Latinas head on her lap wiping her twists of hair away from her pale face.
"I-I be here", said the maid who felt not the chill of her dampen clothes as a beacon of joy flamed within her as her lips arced into a most blessed smile.
"By the oil of lamb! Ye scared us most badly, Ken", sighed Xander with relief as he looked down with his sored eye.
Though the sea still crashed around them the storm seemed to lose its lustre for malevolence with waves cresting barely to the wale of the gundeck, as if the good Lord had been appeased by the actions of Willow who had proved herself to be one to tap the casket of home spun valour.
"I…I…", Kennedy coughed and choked as her lungs purged themselves of Poseidon's gift, her head held on the taut thighs of Willow who no longer knew if her eyes stung with the lash of rain or the froth of tears.
"Anya, help me take Ken t'the Cap'n's cabin", yelled Spike as he reached forth to haul the latina to her feet.
"I…nay! I-I am Cap'n an'… I-I need to b-be at the helm for..", she coughed hard as the salt lined her innards well and drained her of all strength.
"Mr Gunn has the helm Ken, he came down from the riggin' an' shoved me aside t'take charge", said Xander with a touch of hurt but as his solitary eye gazed up to the burly negro who gritted his teeth hard and held firm the wheel which fought to spin, he could not help but admire Mr Gunn's courage and determination which was comparable to any who ranked above him.
"B-but…", started the latina as Spike helped her to shaky legs but was cut off by a most insistent plea.
"Nay Ken, ye need to rest a while. To Faith's cabin with ye"
"Wait", stopped Warren as he unlashed his aching body from the creaking capstan, "If Faith sees Ken like this, surely it will vex her more, the Cap'n needs no such distress to add to her pains"
"Aye, well thought….but what do we….", mused Xander for he saw how frail Kennedy had become as her usually cherry bloomed face was gaunt and harried.
"Take her to my cabin, let me tend to her", snapped Willow as she snuffed out her manners and minding of her station as she grasped well to a strength she knew not she possessed.
"N-nay…I need to be at the helm...my helm", grunted Kennedy as she fought to free her limpen arms from the grip of her comrades but with her strength near sapped she could do little but flail helpless as penned in guinea fowl.
"Ken, listen to me", said Spike with determined scowl, "Ye have done us all proud, see….the storm's cruel eye has passed…ye did it"
"B-but I…"
"Nay more Ken, ye need yer rest", he insisted and scooped under her arm to help her below decks. Kennedy's legs shook well as she trundled down the wooden steps, her grip barely able to steady her on the lanyards but she soon found herself, in all her sodden and fading glory, on the edge of the bed in Willow's cabin as the redhead draped a warm blanket around the shivering pirate who refused to wrench her glare from the timbers of the floor.
"I sees ye need a touch o'rum", smiled Spike as he pulled out his hip flask and popped it's silvered cap with his scarred thumb.
"Nay, Sir. She needs a warming drink", protested Willow as she poured out some tea, still warm from Andrew's earlier delivery, and helped Kennedy's rigid fingers clasp it well.
"But this be warm enough", said Spike with confusion as he drowned his own shivers with a sharp swig of grog.
"Sir, I said nay!", snipped Willow as she held the dainty china cup, though chipped it had served well the Doge of Genoa from whence it were purloined with brazen courage and fortitude, and held it to Kennedy's lips, which still held a shade of blue 'pon them, who sipped it gently feeling the soothing of her throat which burnt well with her purging of lung water.
"Fairs enough then. But I must ask Miss, why were ye tryin' to unbreech Ken?", asked the Englishman as his cocked his woven castor on his misshapen head.
"'Tis the way to save a drown'd soul"
"Eh?", he countered confused.
"Do you not know Sir? All along the banks of the Thames there be copper pipes of about a foot in length, you light tobacco in one end and slide the other up her….well….rear….", said Willow as she blushed heavily, "…a-and the smoke pushes the water from them. 'Tis a common practice ", she shrugged wondering why such common medical procedures should be held forth for debate.
"Aye, I heard o'such nonsense…but I be damn'd afore…."
"Spike, ye minsey shanked cully. We need ye here!", came the gruff bellow from the topside shaking him from his brief sanctuary.
"Sorry Miss, I must go…..Ken, rest easy, hear me?", Spike said as he wrapped his soaked oilskins around his shoulders and set forth back into the yielding bluster.
Willow's arm seemed reluctant to withdraw from its draped position around Kennedy's shoulders as the pirate, most bedraggled and crestfallen, shifted uneasily under the warm and kind embrace.
"Kennedy…what is wrong? Why be you so saddened?"
"I…I failed", she replied a bare notch above the shamed whisper of a wick'd child.
"In what way?"
"I let my heart rule my head….I abandoned the helm…..I abandoned my crew…..I failed as Cap'n", said Kennedy as she could not bear to wrench her glare from her boots, the cup in her shivering hands near drained.
"I-I would not see such heroism as a failing, y-you risked your life to save me, and I thank thee for it", said the maid with a softening tone.
"But I failed at that too…", snapped Kennedy as her gusto reconstituted within her, "I…I be nothin' compared t'Faith". Her mournful tone weighed heavy in the dank of the cabin as her words quivered greatly as if her tongue was snared by a tearful wake.
Though the fear and panic of the moment had ebbed silently away, Willow felt not her shyness return with the soul eroding sheen she was most comforted by, a bound now echoed within her heart, one that she knew not from whence it came. She reached forward and slid a thin finger under the dripping chin of Kennedy and steered her eyes 'til they met with her own soft orbs.
"Ken, do not think like that. You may not be all that she is…. but you are your own person and should be proud for being so brave and so giving as to risk your life for someone like m-me and…"
"Ken? Y-ye called me Ken", said the latina as her lips betrayed her melancholy as they twitched into the faint ghost of a smile.
"Sorry…..I mean Kennedy", said Willow as she pulled her arm away, suddenly swathing herself in the fraying cloak of timidity.
"N-no…I like it", rushed Kennedy as she feared she had offended the redheaded beauty. Her hands dropped the cup which crack'd on the cabin floor and snared Willow's own dampened palms.
Willow's rush of heady strength had now fleeted and as she wheezed heavy, her breath caught by the barbs of romanticism, she could feel the ache of her ribs and back where the purple of bruises did swarm and gather despoiling her fair skin.
"I know you think of yourself as wallowing in Faith's shadow but you are a most exceptional person and I…I admire thee for it. You were most gallant in trying to save me"
"And I could not even do that, ye had to save me!"
"And be that what irks you so badly? That a lowly m-maid rescued such a strong buccaneer?"
"Nay, 'tis naught like that, I think not of ye as lowly and ne'er I will…it be….I am not in the manner of thanking many…but I do thank ye m'Lady….I owe ye my life", said Kennedy as she swallowed her pride though it seemed a most jagged emotion to digest.
"K-Ken…I….I cannot explain what drove me to such determination to save you…er us…but as you lay on the deck…silent…cold…I….I felt such torments prick at my heart. The t-thought of ne'er seeing your smile or holding your hand again….tell me please, why do I think such things? W-what is wrong with me?", asked Willow with an increasingly fragile voice.
Kennedy's fingers, warming well and held of hostile shiverings, intertwined with the shy maids as if ivy finding root, and squeezed.
"Will….'tis naught wrong with hearing the melody of yer own heart. I know….for when I saw ye swept overboard….my own soul felt the same anguish"
"Ken..I…"
"It be alright m'Lady….d-do ye wish me to kiss ye?", said Kennedy in a slight purr.
"Nay"
"Oh", replied the pirate as her smile washed away.
"I…I wish to k-kiss thee"
Kennedy's heart roared as the maid moved her head forward and pressed her lips to the pirates own, which had now taken on a pinkish tinge, as Willow's eyes flittered shut as her head swam in the veiled eroticism of the moment but she willed herself not to faint away as before.
As their breath trailed away and their lips parted the fading roar of the storm meant little to them, but just feet above them stood the sodden crew of pirates who still felt the reel of the hull and the pounding of the thick grey rain. But the full lash of the storm had relented as if the tidal whims of the Gods had been beaten into submission, as if they stood in their celestial haven in awe of the fierce determination of this crew of scurrilous cut-throats.
"So where is this Tabula Rasa anyways?", asked Anya as Warren heaved the liggers askew to lessen their breadth.
"Alas, I cannot recall", he replied with a shrug.
"Then how will we find it? Mayhaps we should forego such notions as we will only end in a watery grave or at the mercies of some heathen wench", she whined as she forced a hand through her twisted locks and wrung the water from its sodden tendrils.
"Nay, Ken has steered us right an' we must get t'this witch… for I fear Faith will not last such agonies much longer", snorted Marcie in defence as her leather gloves finally relinquished its death grip on the shining Star of David which hung loose around her neck. She cast an anguished eye towards the cabin where, as the roar of the storm veiled the mewls of pain of the Captain, Marcie feared for the woman who had confided in her such intimacies that if ever her tongue were to loose through grog, the very name of Captain Faith Lehane would be stripped of all terror.
Satsu dragged herself across the deck, her deformed feet twisted and bent under her in the small heeled shoes which splashed across the waterlogged decks, though the thunder of the squall had lessened the rain still angled down with fecund menace.
"No Dawnie, do not look", said Buffy as she held the young girl tightly hiding her face from the pained bucks of Faith, the small sobs racked Dawn's body as the tears of the youngster soaked into Buffy's gown. The lips of the Lady were stretched tight as she fought to keep her own fears within.
"Gahh", cried Satsu as she stumbled through the door of the cabin, her crimson dress bedecked with black lace was slit to the succulent thigh and her hair dishevelled and brittle with stray lashings of gentleman's relish.
"Miss, w-what do you mean with this intrusion?", asked Buffy as she backed away slightly from the ships concubine who had traded her chastity for coin many moons ago and thought little of it.
"I hear Faith not good….I thought I could…..oh, I see ye like ropey-ropey", grinned Satsu through a flash of teeth which were browned by the draw of smoke and chipped via the throes of pleasure.
"W-what do you mean", asked Buffy as she waded within embarrassments estuary.
"Ropey ropey", said Satsu as she nodded towards the prone pirate writhing on the bed soaked in sweat, bound and gagged with the roughness of hempen line. "But Faith ne'er like being tied, she like to tie me when her fingers made tickles down low afore her fist…."
"Miss! There is a child present!", snapped Buffy as she tried to cover Dawn's ears from being soiled with the crudity about to slip forth from the Asian woman's much used mouth.
"Pah, Dawnie sleep in cabin here. She has seen much when I visit Faith….right Dawnie?"
The tongueless girl broke her embrace with Buffy and wiped her sore eyes as she nodded, she looked at the mask of shock being bore by the Lady and Dawn wondered why she should be so alarmed with the admittance of pleasure, that carnal delights could be trothed to sin.
"B-but 'tis not right for one so young to be e-exposed thusly", stammered Buffy as she stared on at Satsu who had crossed o'er to the bed and trailed a bejewelled finger along the slick taut stomach of the Captain.
"If Dawnie will grow up like Faith then she need to know how to make lady happy…..she need to know licky spanky", smirked the woman of oft bared gusset as she ran her cracking fingernails ever southwards circling the ravages of scars on Faith's naked form.
"Miss! I warn thee to keep a civil tongue", snipped Buffy as, for reasons she could not fathom, her ire grew more venomous as the concubine toyed with the bound freebooter.
"Aye….I should put my tongue to better use…..unless ye want go first?"
"W-w-what?", squeaked Buffy as alarm mingled with her indignation and clouded her soft eyes.
"I see how ye look at Faith….ye have her tied so….why not kissy-kissy on her yummy lips?", smirked Satsu as she flickered her tongue in and out if serpents taunt.
"Y-y-you….I…I…I….", spluttered out the Lady as her face flushed a fierce scarlet, "How c-can ye talk of such intimacies…..F-Faith is near scissored from this mortal coil, s-see how she languishes so"
"No matter….I know how to make happy times with her, it will soothe her"
Buffy's mouth dropped open as her eyes felt defiled with such heathen notions as Satsu ran her thumb along the throbbing lower lips of Faith which glistened in the dim light splaying from the lanterns which swung with the rhythms of the sea. Satsu puckered her lips and rolled her tongue as she lowered her face to the dampened crevice of the ailing Captain, but afore she could taste any sweetened gift Satsu felt the hard crack of the cabin floor as Buffy screamed and pushed her away in a heap of torn silk and guttural snarl.
"Get off of her, harlot!"
"What be wrong with ye? I no charge Faith this time", snorted the concubine as she rushed back to her feet and held her face mere inches from the charmingly bitter scowl of Buffy.
"H-how can you speak so freely of such d-decadence? H-have you no conscience, Miss?"
"Like Faith always say "Conscience may not stop your actions, merely your enjoyment of them", so if she suffers… I can make joy come quick"
"H-how can ye be so…so….so vile! Faith be ailing most greatly and ye think of…of…atrocities bestowed only by those of Gomorrah's ilk?", Buffy said with an anger fusing her very bones, she knew not why she had become so territorial as if she were but a beast defending its domain.
"Pfft, I will charge ye but a shilling if ye wish to watch…maybe learn something if ye are to be her licky-licky", said Satsu with a cruelty infested snaking of the lips into a smile which sickened the Lady in a way she had ne'er felt afore.
"How dare you! Your filthiness and impiety hath no place in the company of a lady. Now leave this cabin before I lose myself to temper's whim", said Buffy, her cheeks as pink as Caribbean dusk as the words of Satsu plundered her heart, for even though they be most foul they carried with them airs of legitimacy.
"Be ye threatening me? And what can a fawning hasty witted clackdish like ye….ow!", Satsu squealed as she felt a fierce stinging weft through her cheek from where Buffy, casting off her reticent deportment, slapped her hard and sliced the stodgy air of the cabin with the hearty ring of flesh 'pon flesh.
"Why ye mamsy toothed bitch!", roared back the concubine as she lunged forward and gripped well to a clump of Buffy's wilted hair yanking hard.
"Get off you maggot snuffed harpy!", screamed back Buffy as she too clasped hair into her fists and within an instant the two were locked within a tumult of wails and jerking bodies as they fell to the cabin floor rolling at odds with the swell of The Slayer.
"Bawdy crooked blakesman!", yelled back Satsu as hair was uprooted and braiding torn as their limbs entangled in the struggle, but Buffy had been engulfed within the swirl of enragement so as her face felt the sting of open palm she noticed not the tear of her decolletage which unleashed her fine bosom which jiggled and swung freely.
"You flaxen thieved strumpet!", retorted Buffy as she descended headlong and without hesitance into the pit of primal exuberance and clamped her teeth around the gin based pimples of Satsu's nose and bit firm until the concubine squealed in pained surrender.
"What the…oh, this time I know I am dead an' in heaven", wheezed out Xander as he burst open the heavy wooden door of the cabin and saw the tangled bodies splayed out amongst ribbons of torn dress and welting skin.
"Xander…she is gone mad", wailed Satsu as Buffy loosened her teeth and let the weeping concubine reel back.
"Be gone you foul wench o' shivey cunny!", blasted Buffy in return as she gave full broadside with words she knew not she had at her disposal but a fuming had enrichened her very being and cared not that such language would have her feel the birch of Mr Travers if she were back in London.
"Miss Summers…be ye….ye…oh", Xander sighed as his codlings perked up as if tickled by a fanciful breeze seeing the twist of Buffy's limbs punctuated by the glare of her lily hued breasts.
"You get out of here you, bitch!", yelled Buffy to the retreating form of Satsu but as she raised to her feet she caught Xander's singular gaze not rising above her chest. She dropped her own sightings until her eyes blossomed wide seeing her state of undress, "I….oh, Sir. Look away!"
"I..oh….I….", he stammered as he clamped his eye shut but even without sight Xander could almost feel the burning blush of Buffy's cheeks as she snatched up the dampen sheet from the floor to shield her shame.
"Xander….I demand satisfaction", said Satsu as she held her sore and reddened nosetip which bore angered toothmarks which would take the passing of many hours 'til it faded for Buffy had near split skin.
"Indeed, and damn the she that first cries hold…enough.I think you be the last person to demand anything….for you are but a whore!", snarled Buffy.
"Aye.…and?", replied Satsu with a raised eyebrow.
"Miss Summers, I…I am sorry to say but Satsu be right. By the laws of the sea if two aboard a ship break into fisticuffs then they must settle it next time we reach land…..by sword or by pistol", gulped Xander as he knew well the articles of piracy 'pon which The Slayer prided itself on adhering to.
"To the death?"
"What? Nay, the first to draw blood doth win", said Xander hoping that Buffy could find a little comfort in it but the Articles were most rigid and set in stony heart, and even though he knew Buffy would have to face judgment he feared the forthcoming fight.
"I accept….I cut you good, slag", snorted Satsu as the one eyed pirate hauled her from the cabin and back into the dregs of the storm which had faded fast, though the wind still raped the rigging and the lilt of the ship still swayed hard, they had ridden the worst and ahead, within the hour, they would find still waters.
As the door slammed shut with a mighty boom Buffy felt her wrath snuffed out in but the passing of a moment, as she slumped down on the edge of the bed a sudden fear swept through her and tears did cluster.
"D-did I just agree to a…a…a d-duel? T-take up sword and…..oh Lord, please…not again", she sobbed as her head slumped down as if pumped full with lead and her heart ached with a sorrow she had pleaded to stay to buried. A choking breath coiled deep in Buffy's breast as her sparkling tears ran down her stinging cheeks which bore the handprint of the ships concubine, she held a small hand to her face as dread unearthed its tentacles and constricted her very soul 'til she shook with terror. A terror whose truth she could not unburden herself of.
A small cough clattered out past a mangled tongue making Buffy raise her woeful head and bear her mask of sadness unto Dawn. But 'pon the face of the youngling was neither a grimace of disdain nor a sneer of contempt from a pirate but the small and sympathetic smile of a young girl who too knew the savagery of loss. Dawn reached forward with a lace trimmed handkerchief bearing the initials of a near forgotten foe and dabbed tenderly at the salty droplets unleashed from Buffy's eyes.
"Th-thankyou Dawn", Buffy said softly as the young girl sat beside on her the softness of the bed and held her hand, it was a cold and somewhat clammy hand but such a gentle offering shimmered within Buffy's heart and she gripped back and let slip a shaky smile.
"Oh", said the young cut-throat as she saw the tear of Buffy's dress which spilled out her indecency though covered with the well spun cotton of the sheet. Dawn sprang from the bed and drew open the oaken chest carved with the Wilkins family crest and plunged her hands into the mass of material drawing forth clothing of Faith's which had been purloined and bartered for from many distant lands and shattered hull.
Dawn held up one of Faith's shirts, though stained with rum and singed following the run-in with the dey of Tunis who offered pardon in return for setting fire pikes to the hulls of the Spanish corsairs who plundered his homeland, and handed it to Buffy along with velvet britches, weskit and boots.
"Thankyou Dawn", said Buffy greatly humbled at the kindness of such a girl. A girl damn'd to the gallows if ever her fiancé were to catch them, such thoughts disturbed Buffy greatly for surely a man of such gallant heart could be honourable in his mercies to one so young.
Dawn smiled back softly as she took a piece of charcoal and wrote on the side of her picture of frolicking narwhals.
'I do not like Satsu, Faith deserfes better than her. She shood have the love of a nice Lady. Thankyou for being nice to Faith, B'
"B? Oh, you heard Faith call me that?", asked Buffy with a blush as she looked at the poor writing skills of the young girl.
Dawn nodded back as if her head were but a palm caught in lofted breeze, briefly casting a snook to her sister whom she had been promised would ne'er lower her topsail in surrender.
"Well you may call me it too, sweetheart", said Buffy with a sniffle as she took the clothes into her arms and stood up still holding the sheet to her naked curves. Her tears had stifled and though she still was burdened most greatly with her sorrows Buffy pushes them aside for, as she caught the sight of Faith biting down hard on the knot of rope 'tween her teeth, she knew that such worries were of a piffling stance compared to the delirious agonies of the Captain.
Buffy turned her back and slipped from her tattered gown 'til she stood in naught but her finely tailored bloomers of lilac colourings, which stretched from the recess of her navel to the midst of her thigh, she could see in the casting of the mirror that Dawn had turned her head to give the Lady a sliver of privacy. But as the reflection shone back Buffy could not help but crack a small smile for the young girl had put her hands over Faith's eyes. Though Faith was still but a murderous scallywag of the seas she had instilled enough morality in Dawn that a true Lady should be treated as one.
Dawn held her hand firm over her ailing sisters face as she bucked and pulled on the restraints, but the youngling would not let her fingers slip as Buffy slid the high cut shirt of voluminous sleeves over her body. Though Dawn knew not whether the sudden burst of writhing from Faith was through the wake of pain or the desire to glimpse a smattering of skin unladen with the smothering of cloth.
"So Dawnie, do you think I look presentable?", asked Buffy as she quickly finished dressing and slipped the knee high boots on smoothing down the plum coloured knee britches which were tightly cut to accentuate the swish of the leg contained therein.
Dawn smiled back and nodded as Buffy tied her hair back loosely with a strip of white ribbon and fastened the last of the gleaming brass buttons on the weskit which hugged her middle well. Dawn took the fallen sheet and flicked it out to gently lay 'pon Faith's nakedness as if a flurry of snow covering plumpened hillocks.
"Thankyou Dawnie, you are such a fine young woman", Buffy replied as she tied the cravat edged with a froth of Mechlin lace and let its half bow hang limp, she craned her head round as Dawn once more took charcoal to the rough of parchment which crackled as she wrote.
'You look very pretty Miss…..Faith would say so too'
Buffy blushed heavily as she thought she could see the rise of Faith's bosom sharpen 'pon seeing the dashing yet graceful swathe that she cut in the Captain's clothing. Though Buffy was stripped of her elegant dresses and tinted rouge and was now dressed as if she were but a scurrilous, albeit chivalrous, pirate, she somehow felt freer than she had in the longest of times. Though surrounded by wanted men and women and had even descended into brawling with a common prostitute, Buffy could not help the flourish of joy from within her as she felt as if Faith had pluck'd a naïve wastrel from the seas and unshackled her to begin a life she was yet to live.
Dawn once more wrote on the parchment and held it up with a quizzical frown, 'Do you like Faith?'
The lady gasped as she looked in the eyes of the youngling which stood on a vulnerable perch for Buffy feared that her tongue would betray her with the truths that were blossoming in her heart.
Truths she found increasingly hard to decry as fearful wickedness.
Before Buffy could stammer out an answer they heard a mighty cry from above decks.
"Land ho!", yelled Johnathan from his place lashed to the crossbeam as he squinted against the cry of rain.
"It be Tabula Rasa!", cried Lorne as he scooped up spyglass to the crags jettying out from the distant call of the horizon.
"But I thought ye said it would not under our prow 'til five bells?", shouted back Anya with confused brow.
"I fear I be not ze seaman that Faith is, but luck has charmed us zo we should accept it, ja?"
"Aye", yelled Mr Gunn as she span the wheel three degrees larboard, "Marcie…give word to loose canvas as soon as ye see fit"
"Aye, aye Sir", she replied as she grasped the rigging and hauled herself up to the lofts of the ship.
"An' with the mercy of the Lord we will feel land 'neath us in but two hours", Mr Gunn grinned as he cast an eye back to the Captain's cabin, "Just hold on Faith….please"
.
.
Meanwhile, in the Royal Navy stronghold of Port Swaffham
"Joyce, you know I would ne'er betray your confidence so please continue", implored Adelle as she put a hand on her knee in quiet comfort.
"I-I found this letter from my Henry, h-he told of his lust a wandering and…a-and he hath another child. A daughter", the widow said with anguish for she knew not whether to pity the child or despise her for she be the product of her husband's foul treachery.
"Good Lord, have you an inkling of who she be?"
"Indeed, it….it be our serving girl, Willow. I always thought Henry to be of philanthropists mettle to keep with us a woman who was great with child, and when she passed Henry insisted that the girl be treated well, to be educated and retained even though a many number of workhouses awaited her"
"Willow? Oh yes, is she not the maid to your Elizabeth?", asked Adelle as she poured them both a cup of tea to steady Joyce's fraught.
"Yes, she and Buffy have been close for so long but I never knew why they had such a kinship. But now I know they are of the same loins…..I fear…."
"Fear what?"
"W-what if Henry's wanderings did not cease with her? There are many servants on our estates we have treated well….such as Kendra. Though she were orphaned long ago Henry made sure Kendra was well looked after and when she became of age we took her on as my ladies maid….but what if she is of Henry's loins too? To have but a slave within our family! I-I know not what to do"
"I always thought it be strange that so many of your serving girls be so unblemished", observed Adelle as she sipped from the gilded edge of the patterned tea cup shipped in from New Amsterdam at great expense to the late Governor.
"What do you mean, Adelle?"
"The chances of being employed in fine households are greatly improved if the serving girls bear pockmarked and damaged skin showing that the underlings of the house had already survived the terrible sweep of the pox and so would not succumb nor transmit the disease further. I have seen it many times when I was employed as Governess to many of the finest families both in Bristol and in the New World"
"I see, but that bothers me little for now not only is my Elizabeth lost at sea….now I have a half daughter who is also at the mercy of the waves and hordes of vicious pirates and…..oh Adelle, I do apologise. Here I be telling of my distress when you still suffer such pains", Joyce said sadly seeing the unshed tears gathering in her friend's eyes.
"Fear not Joyce, I have long since admitted that my heart will ne'er heal, but I will always cling to whatever slivers of hope that bring me comfort", replied Adelle with a sad smile which, after near twenty years, still felt fresh sliced with grief's sickle.
"But after so long…you still hold vigil for hope?"
"Indeed, as a mother you should know how when all is darkness in your life….hope is the one salvation to grasp for"
"I-I know", said Joyce wearily as she had prayed for many long nights in the days since word of Buffy's abduction had reached her. Those same prayers filled with hope that Captain Finn would find her and bring her home safely for he truly be a man of the Navy. A man of honour.
"But tell me Adelle, how did you cope when your own daughter was lost?"
"Not lost…stolen"
"But I thought…"
"Nay…Joyce I must tell you….I have not been a good friend to you. I have ne'er told you the whole truth, nor the whole story", said Adelle with a wringing of the stomach as, after all this time, she needed to unburden herself.
"What do you mean?"
"I…I am not a Lady. I have no lands, no titles….and no monies. Joyce, I am near destitute", she said with a low head that hurt her deeply.
"B-but I…why?"
"If I say I am a Lady then others will treat me as a Lady, with respect and dignity as you have. If I told you I was….no more than a saddler's wife, would you have brought me into your home as a friend? I think not"
"I…I…oh..", said Joyce as she realised the truth of her friends words.
"My husband, God rest his soul, was the finest saddler in all England. His leatherwork adorned the saddles of Kings and Cardinals alike and we made great monies from his talents, oh my beloved Viktor, how I miss him. I admit that some were surprised at our love for a few years separated us but I loved him like no other and have ne'er taken another to my chamber", she broke off sadly for even after all these years her heart still wore the cruel stitching of a mourner.
"I do not understand, how did you lose all if you were well to do in England?"
"We decided to make a new life in the New World with our baby daughter. When we were ready to sail from Kerrick's rough coast my sister fell ill with the pox so I hurried back to Liverpool to be by her bedside, but I wanted not my husband and daughter to be exposed to such ravages of disease and so insisted they stay in the Emerald Isle 'til I returned. But afore I could….the town were attacked by filthy pirates and he perished under their damnable swords"
"I am so sorry Adelle"
"When first I heard of his demise….the reports said….. I was told that my baby was tied in a hessian sack and tossed overboard as if little more than soiled mutton", said Adelle with such vengeful anger tracing her words that Joyce flinched back.
"Oh my Lord", gasped Joyce that the life of an infant meant such little consequence to the vermin of the seas.
"After that my heart was blackened as pitch and cared not for anything but to find the monster responsible and make him pay. I sold all I had and traded on the title of being a Lady to hopefully lure the cad from his hiding, I crossed the seas near a dozen times but ne'er were we crossed by them. I paid great monies to pirate, privateer and gallowsman alike to find out the truth of where they made port. I scoured every gaol and court for word about who slaughtered my family so callously, I bribed many officials to stay their hand of execution for another morn until I could question them but in Bristol I happened across one rogue who told me different tale. He had turned King's evidence on his Captain who had strayed into piracy in return for his life, he swore on the bible that his words were truth. He said that my baby was not killed but taken and traded….bartered for as if but a mere trinket! "
"Oh Adelle, I can only imagine your pain and hatred for all pirates. Do you know the scoundrel who took your baby and slew your husband?", asked Joyce as she put a hand of comfort on her friends shaking hands.
"'Twas a pirate who went by the name of El Primero. He had fresh turned 'gainst his King, after he burnt the town of Kerrick to the ground his ship made port in the colonies and traded my baby to a drunken harlot so she could avoid gaol or the gallows for the judge in Boston at the time was most lenient on new mothers saying it would be a greater sin to part a mother from a child. My darling child used as a bargaining chip for 'tis said that this Captain thought it a greater and more amusing cruelty to sell the child into a life of misery rather than bestow a swift death. Since then I have spent near every penny I have trying to find her, though the harlot in Boston is long since dead I heard tell that my child took to the sea….each night I pray that a friendly tide will bring her back to me but after twenty years….", Adelle trailed off sadly.
"Ma'am, be everything alright?", asked Kendra as she came into the room worried at the tone of words bandied about in the morning room.
"Yes Kendra, please leave us", said Joyce as Adelle shielded her tearful visage from the sallow eyes of the serving girl.
"Yes Ma'am", replied the young girl as she bobbed a curtsy and scampered back to the pantry.
Adelle breathed heavy and steadied her unravelling woe with a sip of lemon infused tea.
"When my monies ran dry I became a Governess in Virginia but raising the happy children of others only compounded my misery so I fled to this isle where a Lady is afforded leniency and need not pay her bills on time. I know that it most likely my daughter perished many moons ago but I just wish to know where she is buried so I can grieve my last for her. To finally sleep without those innocent doe eyes haunting my dreams, I just wish I knew where I could lay wreath for her…for my darling Caroline"
"Oh my dear Adelle, I had no idea you suffered such cruelties. Why did you not trust in me to tell me your horrors?", said Joyce sadly as she watched her friend dab her tears away.
"I am so sorry Joyce, I wanted not to tarnish our friendship with your pity. I can ne'er apologise enough for betraying your trust all this time…I understand if you wish to cast me from your house and henceforth call me not your friend…"
"Adelle, friends are more than just monies and titles. Now my friend", Joyce enthused with a soft smile, "I insist you come and live with me here"
"Here? But why? I am not in the habit of accepting charity"
"Pish and tosh my dear, this is such an empty house with only I and the servants now. I would much cherish having like-minded company to spend my days with, please Adelle. I am burgeoned with sorrow and it would be a great boon to me to come and stay for I doth need your comfort more than I care to admit. But fear not for your secret remains with me… Lady DeWitt"
.
.
Back aboard The Slayer
"Good work Mr Gunn, very good work", smiled Lorne as he relieved the Bo'sun at the helm, "Though I do miss the whipstaff"
"The wh-whipstaff? Be that an instrument of punishment Sir, for it sounds most terrible", gasped Buffy as she took in the fresh air for the first time in many an hour for she heard the great rattle of chain tumble from the ship as they made anchor on the far side of Tabula Rasa, the only place to make port as it was an inhospitable crag of rocks with but one stretch of sand to make shore.
"Nein Fraulein, 'til these years past ve ne'er had a wheel with which t'steer. The whipstaff were a vertical wooden rod attached t'the tiller, 'tis how I learned to steer a ship. These new-fangled wheels still be at odds wi'' me", Lorne smiled with a light smile to mask his heavy heart.
"Oh, that is good", replied the blonde woman awkwardly as she sat on the bulwarks which were still much dampened from the storm, the light breeze feathered her hair behind her and she inhaled deeply to scurry away the webs in her eyes.
"Miss Summers, I have brought ye a little fodder. It must a stretching of the hours since last ye ate", said Andrew quietly as he handed the young woman a simple tin plate and offered a warm smile.
"Thankyou Sir, but what in Gideon's name is it?", asked Buffy looking at the platter before her.
"'Tis two slices of bread with meat inbetween. It be something Faith came up with when drunk one night, it has no name and even though Faith and Dawn love it so…..I cannot see it catching on", scoffed Andrew as he returned meekly to his galley.
Spike puffed uneasily on his clay pipe as he watched Andrew slither away below decks and as much as his disgust reared and bucked within his mind Spike could not still his soul. For his heart had been tethered these two days past and he wished not to feel such stirrings for the young man but as the former Kingsman watched the sorrow on Andrew's face he could not but feel the pang of guilt echo within him.
"Mr Harris?", asked Buffy as she bit into the breaded treat and shrugged as it did not taste of the foulness she expected though it still crack'd with its staleness.
"I told ye Miss, call me Xander"
"Yes, sorry. But tell me Sir, you have been at sea long?
"Aye"
"A-and you have you found great wealth in your endeavours outside the law? Do you find yourself one of fortune's unworthy minions?"
"'Tis hard to say as every port we nest in we spend coin like it were our last day on earth, but I still have every coin I were gifted for the loss o' my eye. One hundred pieces of eight", Xander smiled.
"R-really? Faith did compensate you for your woundings?"
"Aye, do ye know of Black Bart Roberts? Hung this past winter he was"
"Indeed, 'twas in the Times and a great cheer did ring out in Hyde Park that day", said Buffy with a sudden ease for though Willow had frowned upon her she had read with vigour the exploits and deathly justice of those bound to the seas.
"Well it were he who set forth the articles of piracy, but it were Faith who insisted he added about compensation for loss o' limb or eye. Oh, she were mighty enraged when she found out ol' Black Bart had changed it to pieces of eight or a number o' slaves"
"Really?"
"Aye, so I gots my gold, no slave were ever offered though. Not that I would accept one, ye know well how we feel about that on The Slayer", said Xander for even though he lost his eye in a mere child's game Faith still paid him well and set forth protecting his repute as much as she protected his life.
"S-so if…in this duel with Satsu…if…if….I…were to lose eye or finger or…"
"The Cap'n has the word of the day an' hour of any duels, so 'til Faith is righted think no more of it, Miss", said Xander with the mimic of a genuine smile.
"I-I will try. But about this woman…the witch….you know her well?"
"Aye, I have known Tara for….ooh, Lord knows how long but she is…well…she sees things, she knows things that no God fearing soul should know"
"Oh, like the Wise Woman of Putney?"
"Who?"
"It matters not", said Buffy shaking her head.
"Xander, be ye finished yet?", asked Lorne as he came athwartships releasing the Cox'n from the awkward converse.
"Aye, should be sturdy enough", the one eyed buccaneer gloated as he showed the makeshift stretcher made of a hammock lashed 'tween two oars.
"Sehr gut, mein friend. Come, let us to work", said the German whose back ached dreadfully as he ushered Xander into the cabin where their comrades gathered round Faith's body which was so deep set in the throes of agony that the rope around her wrists had wrenched her skin 'til the rope soaked with her blood.
"So how shalt we rouse the Cap'n? I fear if we loose her binds then….", said Oz as he swayed a little for his head was now fuddled with rum.
"Let me", said Mr Gunn as he stepped forward 'til he gazed down on Faith's grimace of agony, "Forgive me, Cap'n"
The butt of his flintlock slammed down hard on Faith's head knocking sense and waking from her, she slumped into the pillow as her notched teeth rattled so.
"Sir, y-you barbarian!", yelled Buffy in alarm.
"'Tis the only way to get her ashore without her harming…..and as for barbarian….more than ye know", the negro said with a wry wink alluding to his past.
"Oz, be she alright?", asked Kennedy as the Doctor pressed his hand to the dark locks of the Captain.
"Aye, a little blood but a head that hard can take a knock or two. But let us hurry afore she stirs", replied Oz as he unbound the twisted lines from Faith's limbs and wrapped her in the soiled sheet before Kennedy and Xander lay her on the stretcher.
As they carried her out and lowered Faith into the longboats the crew scurried around, some seeking pistol and shot, some sought the armour of the Good Book to fend 'gainst the pagan monsters who inhabited the Isle Of The Fire Lily.
"Miss Buffy! Y-you are dressed as some slovenly creature o' the tides", gasped Willow as she clambered back topside, her heart still pounding with the gentle affectations from Kennedy but as she saw the wear of her Mistress she felt swathed in a panic.
"Will, be that my dress?"
"I…I…I be so sorry Miss, I-I had no other dress to wear, p-please bear me no ill wish, Miss", blustered out Willow as she wrapped her arms around the tightly pulled corsetry of the lemon yellow dress with glittering golden stitching and the trickle of lace at the elbow length sleeves. The petticoats swished out wide as the maid danced nervously from foot to foot, her bustle rustling well with its silken bow swaying well in the whip of the breeze.
"Think nothing of it, it doth suit you well"
"I...oh.…thankyou Miss, but let us get you dressed too for if I am to…."
"Willow, fear not. 'Tis only for my own dress was ruined and these were all at hand", said Buffy as she smoothed down the front of her weskit and fluffed at the swell of her lacy cravat.
"B-but you have another fine gown in our cabin, come with me Miss Buffy and we will get you properly attired and….", fussed the maid as she reached for Buffy's hand.
"Nay Will, though I may not pass muster at Colonel Whedon's moonlight regatta dressed as such, I must admit….. they are more comfortable", said the lady with a slight blush rosying her cheeks.
"I….Miss…..what….oh..", coughed out the maid but seeing the resolve set on the face of her Mistress the shy redhead retreated in her insistence.
"Miss, be ye coming?", asked Spike with a gesture of his hand towards the longboat which was tillered by Xander, whereas Anya and Mr Gunn held firm the stretcher across its peaked bow.
"Y-you are asking me to come ashore? T-to meet the witch?", said Buffy surprised that the Englishman would think her close enough company to Faith's heart that she should be present in her last hours.
"I insist Miss, but fear not Tara for we have cutlass an' shot enough to protect ye", he said averting his blue eyes.
"Very well, be you coming Willow?", Buffy said back as she inched towards the moorings.
"N-nay Miss Buffy, with your permission I wish to stay on board"
"Are you sure?", asked Buffy as she looked around to her friend who seemed strangely dazed and bore a flushing of the cheek.
"Yes Miss Buffy, I-I have no wish to mingle with a witch, such creatures are most loathsome", nodded the maid who tried to not let her eyes flicker to the de facto Captain who leant over the gratings letting her derriere flex in her tight pantaloons of browning leather.
"Be that the only reason?", smirked her Mistress as she placed a tricorn atop her head at a most jaunty angle.
"W-what do you mean, Miss?"
"I heard how you saved Kennedy's life, you are braver than I e'er imagined and I salute you for it my beloved friend. You….you really are sweetened on her are you not?", said Buffy who still felt the shivers of earlier when her serving girl had told her the truth of her wetting. She had lost so much but the loss of her only friend would surely sever her heart with angered blow, Buffy loved her gentle friend and wished not to cause her more anguish so thought it nobler as to not mention the forthcoming engagement with the mono-browed prostitute who was keeping well out of sight.
"Miss Buffy I…I am so sorry but I…"
"Nay sweet Will, no apologies for the heart is a wild and untamed beast and you need to heed its call. I just feel sorry for that irksome coal scamp back in London for he liked you, did he not?", scoffed Buffy as she took her maids clammy hands into her own.
"Who? Oh you mean Mr Stinson, he was most odious in his manner and I cannot see why any woman would e'er want to accept his pitching of woo", scoffed Willow recalling the vile advances of the man whose sooty handprints had tarnished many a bustle of the ladies of London.
"Miss, come now", Spike said as he took Buffy roughly by the arm and hurried her aboard the longboat which rose and fell in the swell of the tide, placing her aft where she gripped well to the wooden sides.
"Be ye coming Oz?", asked Mr Gunn seeing the topered Doctor lean on the bulshanks as he cast them off.
"Nay, I have not the stomach for heresy this day", he replied with a faint slur to his words.
"Xander ye better take care o' Faith or else ye will answer to me", growled Kennedy for, as much as it pained her, she would stay behind to man the helm for she was Captain once more and she had made a silent oath ne'er to fail her crew again.
"Aye, of course", he called back as he took oar into his callused hand.
The oars plunged into the water and they rowed for this kiss of sand 'neath its narrow hull as Kennedy watched on with worried eyes because for Willow she would risk her life…..but for Faith she would gladly give it.
.
.
Meanwhile, many leagues away in the seas off The Exumas
"Captain Boyd Langton at your service, Sir. Welcome aboard the Casa De Bonecas", said the tall man as he struck a fine salute, his well-trimmed fingers lining along the fiercely straight brim of his hat which bore the foppish feathered plumes of a dandy which sat greatly at odds with the stern man who wore it with pride. He was well reputed to be a gentleman of little levity and ruled his ship with an iron will, though it be undermanned and overgunned 'twas still as fine a frigate as any in the Portuguese Navy .
"Thankyou Captain", replied Captain Finn as they clasped hands in a firm handshake. "Fine ship you have here, though I fear it be too far after the heads"
"Aye Sir, I be agreeing with ye", said Mr Langton for he knew his crooked bow sat too low in the water.
"Shall we then?", said the Captain wishing to escape the ferocious glare of Apollo's golden gift.
"Aye, aye Sir. We have been waiting for you, I trust you bring glad tidings", asked Mr Langton as he motioned for the newly appointed Commander of the Caribbean Navy to head to his cabin.
"Indeed I do, I trust that he is already aboard then?", asked Mr Finn as he nodded his peaked brow towards the HMS Jericho which sat off the starboard bow in all its battered glory.
"Yes Sir, Captain Jack Harper came aboard near an hour ago and has been inspecting my men. I must say Sir that I felt most aggrieved that the British Navy trust so little in their allies that such inspections be necessary", said Mr Langton as he walked with ramrod straight back across his spotless decks. Though Mr Langton was born to a fine Portuguese family his mother was of London stock and so bestowed upon him a name which would betray his heritage but allow him access to the courts of London and the New World.
"Sir, I know well of Mr Harper's repute and he is a man of honour so think nothing of his little indiscretions", smiled Mr Finn as he entered the Captain's cabin.
The three ships lay in quiet anchor with canvas lowered and cannon ready for they were indeed a vulnerable force. Since Governor Summers perished at the hands of Spanish rogues the Lord High Admiralty feared an attack on the Florida mainland amidst rumours of King Philippe's Navy massing a great fleet in secrecy. The British Navy ordered more support off the Keys and so distributed their ships along the coastline of the New World leaving but ten ships in the harbour of New Swaffham which would usually house at least thirty frigates and sloops.
But the fort of New Swaffham could ne'er be breeched even by the largest of Spanish armada's and so felt no fears when Captain Finn sent the remainder of their ships to track down his bride-to-be, with four ships sailing west and three sent south.
"Sir", said Mr Harper as he stood firm to attention and snapped off a somewhat sloppy salute.
"Mr Harper, good to see you again. I see you have yet to shave good Sir"
"My apologies Sir, 'tis been a devil of a time getting here", replied Captain Jack Harper as he scraped a hand across his squared chin.
"It excuses not your state Mr Harper, but 'tis not the time for trivialities, let us on with business", said Mr Finn as crossed the oaken table and let his eyes scour the map unfurled 'pon it.
"Aye Sir, let us be with speed for I wish to attend to my wife", smirked Mr Langton as he set his hat down and poured forth three glasses of fine Madeira wine, his well won medals tinkling against the breast of his mauve tailcoat whose brass buttons shone with gleaming dignity.
"Is she still being somewhat reluctant to abide with you in your chamber?"
"Aye Mr Harper, 'tis been six months since we wed and still she bears such hostility. 'Pon those first nights she would claw and kick as if she were possessed by evil spirits but once I forced myself on her she would cease her battling, but I do keep her locked up and without clothes for I fear for my John Thomas"
"Good gad man, I fear you are being too tender with her for alas she is not your horse, merely your wife", snorted Captain Harper as he sipped the fine drink from the long stemmed glass.
"I have oft taken birch to her but even after her welts and bruises have bloomed and I lie with her she refuses to succumb to my lustings. Merely laying there as if a sack of soiled oats, when I plunder her nook most creatively she does naught but weep though on occasion she does whisper the word 'Nwangi', though I know not what it means. You know these girls from Tunis, 'tis probably a curse"
"If she is no harpy of the boudoir then why did you choose her as wife, Sir?"
"She was a gift, I sank the flagship of Don Luis Bezoar when I snared him entering the Guadalquivir estuary en route to Seville and I was honoured to attend his Majesty in Lisbon who was most grateful, there he gifted to me one of his serving girls which he was traded from the Sultan of Tunis as a gesture of good faith. 'Twas most strange that a serving girl to his Majesty would remain in chains but for reasons I am not given to understand His Majesty gave her to me as a wife on the condition that she not find the solace of death until late in life and had borne me many offspring."
"Well I suggest a firmer course with the good lady"
"I have thought of using the crop to tame such a mare but she surely is a stubborn beast, but I find your advice to be most intriguing. Very well, this very night I shall take my belt to my Jasmine and show her just who is her Lord and Master now", said Mr Langton as he clinked glasses with Mr Harper.
"Gentlemen?", said Mr Finn tiring of the facile nature of their converse.
"Sir, I apologise. I speak of my bride when your own is in the hands of that cur of the tides", said Captain Langton with a touch of shame.
"Aye, I have heard tell that time in the close company of Captain Lehane can make a damsel hungered of the mind and so lay with her", scoffed Mr Harper for he truly be a man of a much narrowed mind and a heart burgeoned with bigots sheen, for he saw women who sought solace within the lap of another Lady to be most low, he esteemed them no higher than Turks or Jews.
"I know of her by repute alone, though one must recognize her as the finest Mistress o' the sail that England in her age beheld", said Mr Langton with a quiver of admiration.
"Gentlemen please!", snapped Captain Finn capturing their attentions once more.
"I apologise Sir… er…you said you had word of your bride", said Mr Harper as he drained his glass and set about pouring another.
"Aye, I fear greatly for my Elizabeth but I know where she hath been taken…..here", said Captain Finn as he pointed to a well inked map where his finger, bearing the seal of his new office, pressed to an empty space nestled within a cluster of islands.
"But Sir, there be nothing there"
"But there is….an isle called Tabula Rasa. There we shall find my bride and The Slayer, there is but one cove - one place upon which to land. We will wait for them off the reefs to the north and once they make sail we can trap that damnable crew and wipe them out"
"And of Captain Lehane?", asked Mr Harper for he had clashed broadside with her in the past and his buttocks bore the scars thereof, he wished most heartily to see the rogue swing and restore order and trade to the colonies and to quell this reactionary nonsense about freeing slaves.
"He that takes her first may have his way with her for a night and a day. After that she will face justice….and then death"
"I will be most cheered to see her swing at the gallows", smiled Mr Langton.
"Aye…gallows", smirked Mr Finn knowing that Faith would ne'er reach the courts of the Bahamas for she would perish in agony long before violent justice was meted down to her.
"Sir?", asked Mr Harper wondering of the Commander's furtive answer.
"Nevermind. But fear not men, I shall return to my ship and you two follow in its wake….we must hurry for this isle is far and I know not the lay of the tides in these islands."
"Aye, aye Sir", both men saluted back as Captain Finn drained his glass and placed it delicately back on the table.
"Sir", began Mr Langton, "I must ask, the movements of The Slayer are shrouded in such secrecy, how do you know of their whereabouts?"
"Let us just say….a little bird told me", said Captain Finn with a wide smile as he knew that soon he would have his prize.
And with luck, a new bride and the most dreaded pirate of the Caribbean in chains too.
.
.
On the shores of Tabula Rasa
The sky, though still washed with greying hues, now sat still, sated at the carnage it unleashed 'pon the mortals 'neath its glower. A penitent canvas to receive both the love-struck prayers of the noblesse and the bitter whispers of those bound to the sordid bordellos within earshot of the Vatican.
"Mr Gunn, do you fear what such heathen ways may unfold?", asked Buffy as they set foot onto the soft crunch of sand and hauled the stretcher aloft as they hurried from the quiet of the beach and into the grasping swathes of undergrowth.
"Nay Miss, for there is no other God than Allah and Mohammed is his messenger. Though the encroach of Christendom to my homeland in the time of my father's sent many fleeing into heathen ways, my devotion hath never wilted. If this Tara be of evil tidings then I will think little to dispatch her to hell, but if she truly is Faith's only chance….then may God have mercy on us"
"You speak of Allah as if he is more than devils visage on holy words", said Buffy wondering how such heretics could live with a whole heart.
"Allah is the God of Ibrahim, the same God as you worship", snorted Mr Gunn as the one thing that religious folk despise more than a heathen are those who worship the same God…but in a different way.
Buffy simply dropped her peeling eyes and walked on with bitten footpads, but as they trudged into the dank and choking undergrowth of the isle the crew felt a sudden chill as they were enveloped by the cacophony of the wild. Scores of flightless birds shrilled from darkened nooks and primates, deep in gestation, cackled and howled from hidden boughs, but as the crew slashed through the suffocating undergrowth with mattock and cutlass a sudden silence befell the scene.
They stopped in their tracks as a hush consumed the sickly air all around them, Anya's eyes flicked towards the lofty eaves and gulped heavy for she had merely head the tales of this witch and ne'er set foot on this isle before, the deafening quiet compounded her fears as she clasped her pistol's butt still nestling in her bandolier.
"Raahhhh!", came the blood curdling growl of impending doom, it shrieked out over pointed teeth accompanied by fiery red eyes and skin of loosened and scabrous qualities. Branches crack'd like a volley of shot as a monster surely borne of Medusa's cruelty tore through the trees towards them with a primal menace.
Spike and Anya leapt back and drew pistols on instinct letting the stretcher crash to the ground sending up plumes of soft soil around the ailing Captain who stirred not as the crew crowded round the beloved freebooter ready to defend her.
"A demon! A demon!", squealed Buffy as she leapt behind Xander in terror as this hideous beast of a man bore his long fingernails smeared with blood and flecks of coal.
"It's not a demon… it's Clem", said Xander with a roll of his eye.
"What does it want?", Buffy squeaked out sheepishly as she took in the creature before her who bore such monstrous features that his very existence would be an affront to the Lord.
"Sorry Clem, she's not used to th' likes o' ye", smiled Xander as he reached forward with his hand to shake.
"Oh, is that you Xander? How are ye m'boy?", Clem chuckled as he dropped his façade of rage and forced his torn lip into a resemblance of a grin.
"I be most well thank ye, but we have little time for pleasantries. I-it's Faith…"
"What be wrong with her?", the hulking man of sagging skin and deformed features said as his eyes washed with sorrows veil 'pon seeing the Captain so well sickled, "Oh dear Lord in heaven"
"Stay back fiend", snapped Anya, whose mind would always groan for the love of pfennig and sheckel, as within the blink of a cheetah's eye she pulled her dagger forth in front of Clem who shot forward in panic as he saw the fallen pirate on the stretcher.
"Out my way girl", he snarled making her flinch as her blade sliced his forearm but he noticed it not.
"Oh Faith, my swee…w-what happened to her?", asked Clem with a quivering voice and a pounding heart.
"I will explain as we go…we must get to Tara now. Is she still here?", replied Xander coaxing the lumbering man away.
"Where else would she be?", asked Clem as he wrapped his tattered rags around his body a little closer.
"I see your point….but please, only ye can find her home in this godforsaken place", implored Xander as he waved his hand around to the dense jungle surrounding them.
"Then take her up m'laddies, an' let us go", replied Clem as he turned on his heels and limped away into the thick trees and vines which harangued their every beleaguered step which soon gave way to the slew of a dark and menacing swamp.
The thick mud lunged at their boots seemingly trying to drag the buccaneers down into the mire and in the barren branches above them sat skulls and sun bleached bones formed into parodies of human contortion as heavy set spiders cast great webs of silvery strands across them. They clunked together in the stodgy air singing out a melody of dark portent, the bones hollowed out and catching the wind so they cried as if infested with the haunted souls of a hundred vanquished mariners.
Buffy felt most fretful at being lured deeper onto the Isle but she knew not whether to fear or pity this man who bore afflictions which, even in the Book of Revelations, no mortal should have to suffer. As Xander and Clem lead the way the stretcher was hauled up and for reasons unknown, in this place of such harrowing repute, Buffy took Faith's hand into her own for comfort. But she was most unsure as to whether she was giving or receiving solace.
"Mr Gunn", said Buffy in an aching whisper as she swatted at the fury of mosquitos jabbing at her skin, "This man….who is he?"
"Well the tale goes that Clem were once Cox'n on The Ascension, he were brought here by Cap'n Wilkins when he started showing the first signs of leprosy"
"A l-leper? But why is he here?", she asked holding her crucifix tight for she feared leprosy greatly for she had only once witnessed its cruel wake in the backstreets of London.
"The witch….Tara. She has powers and potions which keep him alive and makes him suffer little though she cannot cure him, or so I have been told. He protects her and his very presence keeps those struck with idle curiosity away, for the rumours of a witch who doth cavort with demons who is protected by a murderous leper….well, only those who are cast as loon or depraved would e'er set foot on this Isle", said Mr Gunn as his arms began to ache as they crossed the deadly water which crept up to near knee high, with Anya slashing her sword at the dark stretch of swamp, as if clouded by devils fume, where snakes did slide across its bubbling surface.
Buffy looked on at the fast moving creature whose robes were of such disrepair that no pauper ready for the grave would e'er be shrouded in such garments as an attending man of the cloth would find it an abomination to send a soul to the Lord in such clothing. But as the shuffling man slopped his way through the swamp occasionally turning back to check on suffering Captain, Buffy could see that hidden in this mist of deformity sat a vaguely human face which twisted with a dark melancholy, though his eyes burned like demons glare Buffy could see them doused by the furrowing of tears.
Even in the thick heat a low mist crept across the swamp where growls and hiss danced over its mottled skin like it was a primordial den of evil which gifted only death. The crew forced their legs through the soup of spawn and twigs where the desiccated bodies of dead hummingbirds floated in silence, a place where superstition was law and blood was sovereign, forsaken by heaven and sought by heathen.
"Hurry, we be almost there", said Xander as they pushed forth and there, buried 'gainst the side of a fallen tree, sat a hut which billowed with twists of purpling smoke.
'Twas little more than a hovel forged of stick and mud with the skins of manys the beast stretched out across its opening. As Buffy gulped hard she felt heartened that her fears were too shown in the faces of her compadres as even Mr Gunn felt a shiver in his limbs at seeing the dilapidated home which bred within him a new meaning for squalor.
"Tara….'tis I….an' I bring guests", shouted Clem as he used what was left of his hand to move open the drying skins and stepped forward into the den.
"I told ye….this witch will kill us all. We should flee before we all end up but stewed bones, or mayhaps with a hex cast on us", said Anya with an unholy knotting of her innards made her near dampen her britches.
"Come in…all of ye", said Clem and, after crossing themselves well, the crew and their guest stepped forward.
As they passed through the entrance Buffy's eyes threatened to spill from her head as she saw the leathery skin on display around the doorframe, the shrunken heads well weathered with their eyes and mouths stitched together with strips of dried intestine.
The crew set foot into the shack and, there in the gloom, caught twixt shadows and serpents alike, sat a haunched figure in robes which even the lowliest of vagabonds would cast aside. She moved slowly and her face covered with a veil as she breathed in the smoke of the henbane and rottichom which clouded her mind.
"Tara?", called out Xander slightly fearful of the yellow snake she stroked in her hands. Her long chipped nails slowly scratching of the scales of the venomous creature.
"I knew it be ye", whispered Tara in a scratchy drawl as she let the snake slither free and curl 'neath her resting place.
"Aye…..a-and….er, be thee well?"
"Aye", she said back over her shoulder as she picked up scorched twig and swirled her cauldron which sent out smells which made eyes burn and manhoods wilt.
"A-and…er… how is Miss Kitty?", he asked warily.
"Miss Kitty? Y-you have a kitty cat?", Buffy suddenly piped up for she reasoned that no-one who kept as sweet a pet as a cat could be saturated in evil, "Here puss-puss….here…er, Miss, where is your kitty?"
"Ye be standing in her", chuckled Tara as she could hear Buffy start to gag for as the Lady looked down she could see her boots were caked in intestine, fur and blood where the cat was strung out.
"I…I…oh my god", coughed Buffy as she covered her mouth trying to coax her bile to stay internal.
"W-why?", asked Mr Gunn as he caught Buffy who scampered back in panic.
"I knew ye be coming…she had the answers I doth need….", said Tara as she stood up and crossed over to the splayed corpse of her pet, falling to her knees she cast aside her veil and plunged her fingers into the mass of gore. She snapped the ribs apart with a sickening crack and pulled forth the liver letting it dribble 'tween her bony fingers, her eyes scanned its outer edges and Tara's hands trembled as she whispered into the organ which slid o'er her lips sending blood and muscle tumbling down her chin.
"S-stay back…I warn thee", stammered Anya as she held out her pistol in hands which shook as if she were being coerced by the bride of Be'elzebub himself.
"Treachery awaits thee….all of ye…..vengeance will come on swift tides….love will seek ye first….but death will follow….", Tara sneered in the dim shafts of light which broke through the crack'd mud walls to show her hunched back and long straggles of once golden hair.
"I…oh…right", said Xander as he bit his lips hard for he too felt the surge of his last meal creeping up his throat.
"Do I make thee uncomfortable Xander?", tittered Tara as she crossed back across the mud strewn hovel threw the liver into the cauldron.
"I…well….er…nay"
"Liar. So what brings ye to my door once more. It be not that disease ye got from that native girl…"
"Nay, it be Faith"
"Lord, it's not the clap again is it?", scoffed Tara in return.
"Nay, much worse. She were shot with an arrow…"
"So? She's been shot with much worse….remember Sierra?", quizzed the witch as she foraged within the broken wooden chest in one corner salvaged from a Flemish skillet which met its end on the jagged reef off Tabula Rasa. Its mere seven survivors soon cursing their fortune as within a week all were skinned and their heads in the process of being shrunken.
"Aye, but this be not the time for that", Xander shuddered with terror struck pallor recalling how Faith received the large scar on her stomach, "The arrow was poisoned….with Mary's Blood"
"By Hades whim, why did ye not say", snapped Tara in fear as she span round, "Let me see her…now!"
As the crew parted to show the Captain on the makeshift stretcher Tara shuffled forward and felt the cold skin of Faith, hauled her lids open and hissed at the eyes which were near swirls of black. The witch threw her cowl back and a chorus of gasps rang out as the crew could now see the hideous scars running across Tara's face, deep ravines of crimson pain sliced along her cheeks and forehead, one eye stitched shut from where it had been torn from her head. Buffy felt a tear slither free as she took in the scars despoiling such a pretty face, though the blade which had torn at Tara's flesh in a frenzy of anger had long since fallen silent, she bore a silent scream which would sound out for all time.
"How long has it been since she was poisoned?", asked the witch as she looked down at the whey faced buccaneer who was starting to stir once more. Faith's gaunt ribs near piercing her skin as she battled fiercely for each breath.
"N-near two days or so", said Mr Gunn as his fears of this witch and her heathen cruelties were paled by his need for Faith's salvation.
"And still she lives? Sheckle me, even with a will like hers I have seldom seen someone greet two sunrises acting as host to Mary's Blood"
"S-so ye can save her?", asked Buffy with tones of mercy.
"Aye, but we must act fast. On the shelf there, fetch me those two jars, Clem get me the claws of a sea serpent and seven petals of the fire lily, the red ones", said Tara as she took a knife and sliced at her forearm letting a trail of blood pour into a bowl before throwing in leaves and roots of unknown names.
"Christ Jesu, deliver us!", coughed Anya in awe and alarm.
"Now Spike, what have ye in way of payment?", the haggard witch asked as a scarlet trickle ran down her arm.
"We…..have….do ye really ask for it?", said the Englishman with regret rattling within his words.
"Faith is near death, I will do all I can to save her and save her I will…but something like this requires the highest you can offer", said Tara as she licked her lips.
"Fine, ye can have my first born", sighed Anya from the doorway as she feared press further into the home of a witch.
"What? Nay, I have no need of such things. Spike, ye know what I ask for"
"Ye know well none us can pay it…..save one", he replied as he pulled Buffy forward and thrust her into the narrow sight of the witch.
"What be you doing, Sir?", asked Buffy as she felt the eye of Tara run all over her.
"Paying her", said Spike with a strange tone.
"B-but I have no monies", said Buffy with brows disfigured by confused angles.
"What in Aphrodite's name would I spend coin on?", said Tara as she stared forward, "Nay, the payment I ask for is….. the flower of a maiden"
Buffy's eyes shot open as a sickening rush thunder'd through her as she looked at the crew of The Slayer and then down to Faith whose gasps for breath were now echoed with a deathly rattle.
"Y-y-you want my…my….", Buffy gasped as her hands crossed over her blessed fundament, a delicate and fragrant bloom which she had sworn to both God and her mother would not be pluck'd 'til her wedding night
"It be your choice Miss, your virtue…..or Faith's life!"