Chapter 28 – Tricks at Sea
March 27, 1660

We pulled out the next morning and headed southwest on a precise course for Noord, however my crew, with nothing to do was forced to find their own ways to keep themselves busy. I set Ella and Monica to the task of making me new clothes from the materials I acquired for the task, then left them to their work.

One thing that amused me was Merida and her brothers setting up a plank on the forecastle at the middle of the day when they went off their watch. It was as I suspected it to be, a target for Merida to practice her shooting, even giving them leave to shoot from the quarterdeck to the forecastle as long as they made sure no crew were between them. After watching Merida for a couple of shots and the various accuracy she had with her rifles, I went down and got one of my pistols from my cabin and my kit, vowing I'd make a new baldric that would allow me to carry everything with me at all times before long as I ascended to the main deck with my pockets full.

"You cannae shoot a pistol this range," Merida said as I readied my weapon.

"Care to make a wager?" I asked her and she scoffed at me.

"Against what?" she said as she leaned on her rifle.

"How much you prepared to lose?" I asked her as I held the pistol at the ready.

"Hamish?" Merida said as she turned to her brothers. "Cough up ya numpties. No easier wage was ever made than this one."

"I got maybe one piece," the lad said as he patted his pockets. The other two just shook their heads and shrugged, and I could hear their elder sister scowl at them.

"Fine bunch o' lads ye are," Merida scoffed at them. "Ye know I'm the best shot around an' he's usin a pistol versus me musket!"

"Blootered an' hoores is the way to go," another of the lads said to make the others laugh.

"Yer bum's oot the wandae, ye know that?" she told the pair to make them laugh more. "Fine, I got maybe four pieces me own self."

"So, maybe five?" I said adding it altogether. "That's almost not worth the price of the shot we'll be using."

"Aye," Merida agreed. "But it's all I got."

"How about this for a wager," I said as I gave her a smirk. "I'll bet you a hundred pieces you can't match me shot for shot into that plank against you keeping my bed warm until we reach Noord."

"Ye be on," she said confidantly. "Be the easiest hundred pieces I ever made."

"So you think," I said as I cocked then leveled the pistol. I aimed the gun carefully, aiming for the large dark colored knot and fired, my bullet dropping a few inches but thudding into the wood to leave her slack jawed.

"That be impossible!" she cried out as the crew looked at me in awe.

"Your turn," I told her and she huffed as she took aim as I reloaded. I palmed my homemade bullet into the barrel after she hit the target, not wanting her to see how it was done and keep the secret if I could.

What followed was a game of back and forth for eight shots, hers wandering around the top of the board while mine were somewhat tightly grouped two inches under the knothole in a palm sized space. Every shot made Merida madder that my pistol was more accurate than her musket until she finally gave me a dark look.

"Ye enchanted the gun?" she asked me as I fired my next round into the board and hit. "Even I cannae hit the target that well."

"Then my next shot I'll use your musket," I told her and she gave me an evil grin. She took her shot, barely nicking the board before handing her musket to me. I loaded it with gunpowder from my own flask, but Merida handed me one of her own leaden shot. I pulled out one of my bullets to compare the size, finding them equal thankfully and loaded my own bullet down the barrel and pocketing her shot but the eagle eyed redhead noticed something afoot as she watched me. After priming the pan, and earing the hammer back, I took aim for the knot, sighting down the barrel like an arrow and fired, the knothole disappearing as my bullet ripped it out of the board.

"Now, mine," I said as I handed her my pistol. She took the pistol and loaded it with powder, but when I went to pull out a bullet from my pocket, I pulled out her lead ball and handed it to her. She loaded it without thought, ramming it home in the barrel before priming the pan and earing the hammer back, but there was no new mark on the board as was kept up with by Timon during our duel.

"How in the name of bloody Hades are you so good?" she asked me as we swapped weapons.

"Just am," I said as I looked at the board again. "You even fired my weapon so you know it's not enchanted to hit every time."

"There's somethin' afoot here," she said as she looked incredulously at the board.

"I hope you find it," I told her as I moved for the stairs.

"Ye sure ye wanna ride this one into battle!" one of the triplets called but the resounding sound of a slap left no doubt that Merida hadn't taken that one well as I continued on down to my cabin. My accuracy was the talk of the ship for the rest of the day and I even found Merida examining the remains of my bullets later that evening but the things were so smashed from hitting the board they offered no help to her.

So it was that as the night fell upon us and the ship nestled in for a quiet night of slow steaming as all but the mainsail was secured for the night and Merida headed to my cabin as the ship to ready herself for bed that night. I let her go, knowing full well she really wanted to search my cabin for the secret to my unerring accuracy. With a smile, I let her go ahead with her own plans as I buttoned the ship down for the night and knowing full well she'd never figure out the dowel and play-dough trick that made the more modern looking bullet I used. The last five I had were safely tucked in my pocket and those I hid in the navigational desk before going down to my personal cabin.

"Making yourself at home?" I questioned as I saw Merida stripping out of her clothes. For as long as she'd been out of sight, she certainly had time to strip and make herself comfortable so I knew she'd searching my cabin.

"I know it was a trick," Merida stated as she she began removing her linen top to set atop her vest to leave her bare chested. Merida, it appeared, was going to sleep in the buff. "I just hadnae figured out how ye did it."

"There is no trick," I told her as I removed my own boots and set them aside. "Everything I use to make my shot is still in this room."

"Pistols are nae as accurate as a musket," she countered with a stern look as she slipped her pants off her ample hips.

"That is not true," I countered as I took in her nude state before she slipped under the covers before quickly stripping myself. "If that were true, cannon would be far more accurate than musket due to sheer size."

"That's because of..." she said as she got an idea in her head. She quickly bolted from under the covers to my desk where I'd lain the pistol before inspecting it in the wan light coming from the stern lamps. "Rifling. I shouldae known."

"Not something you're musket has?" I said and she shook her head and laid the pistol back on the desk.

"Da bought me first musket when I was but a wee girl," Merida said as we climbed into bed. "Ma hated the idea so da bought it cheap when ma wasna with him. Short wee thing it was, but he taught me to use it an' I got so good I was tha best shot in the Highlands."

"There's always someone better," I reminded her as I snuggled close to her. "I'm not the best captain by any stretch of the imagination, but I am likely better than many we'll face."

"Ye did take down Hook," she pointed out. "I thought ye were daft for trying."

"We got lucky," I told her. "We didn't have any tactical advantage and if not for Simba's good toss and the catch of the grappling line, Hook would have blown by and raked us with chainshot at his leisure. Even then, it was close."

"Shootin' fish in a barrel, more likely," she scoffed. "Tha close, an' so still? Me brother's coulda hit them."

"Hmm," I said as I enjoyed the warmth of her body and the soft rolling of the ship in the waves. "So, why did you go sailing?"

"Me ma wanted me to get married," she said and then scoffed before turning to face me. "An' the men she wanted to marry me off to? Fine lairds they might be one day, paying homage to the King of England, but not me."

"Free spirit?" I asked and she nodded, lifting a leg and tucking it over mine as she snuggled in close, my hardening manhood emboldened by her forwardness.

"Care to know how free?" she asked me and I rolled her over on her back and inserted myself in between her legs as I mounted her. Her chuckle was light and playful as she reached down and guided me home inside her, her legs wrapping around my waist and pulling me in deep into her tight embrace. Hard and ready to go, I give Merida my all until I filled her with my seed, both of us hot and sweaty afterward where we passed out from exhaustion.