XX. Face Off
After some days, I had awoken from my uncomfortable position, when I heard feet scurrying down the ladder.
"How the bloody hell could you allow this to happen?!" A familiar voice complained. I knew that voice...it had to be—
"'Twas not what I expected, Sir." Another voice sounded like Martin.
Yet another man replied. "I knew not what to do." It appeared to be Archer.
"Every man aboard, every last one, was compromised—even your own arse! You should have known! Go—release them!" More footsteps.
I was overcome with relief when Archer unclasped me. I had become so stiff being tied to certain positions for such a time. My knees ached; my wrists felt swollen and contained markings and rusty cuts from the cuff that banned them. I wriggled my head in circles to get the "kinks" out. To stand again! "What—How—Was that—"
"No time for explanations." We both hurried up the ladder.
Kendall and Wingfield were already back on deck. I heard various voices shouting from on deck, perhaps in some sort of panic, and even surprise.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Shouted Sicklemore. "Who let you free?!"
"I could offer you a piece of my mind—" Kenny started toward him.
"Allow me first!" An angry Wingfield tried to push him aside. The two began arguing.
"You again?!" Sicklemore glared at me, then began musing. "I should've known. A bad penny always turns up."
"Always—indeed." Someone replied from behind him. Sicklemore turned to find a hooded man removing his cloak. More surprised shouting arose from the crew.
"Gosnold?!"
"Sicklemore, we meet again."
"A most unfortunate reunion." He mused, but suddenly added. "Or perhaps a most unfortunate ending!" He took out his sword and started toward him. However, "Phoenix" and "Owl" blocked his efforts.
"You'll have to get through the two of us first!" Remarked "Phoenix," while Wingfield remained firmly planted opposite Kendall.
"Come now, men. We must be civil. I welcome a challenge." The two moved after "Gryphon" raised his sword.
"Raven" and his challenger we truly going on with it, until they reached the edge of the deck. Eventually, Sicklemore's back was against the deck, his sword falling overboard.
"Avast, you bastard!"
Rather than surrender openly, he climbed atop the deck, with a haughty laugh and jumped. We watched as Sicklemore fell to the depths below. I heard wailing and a loud splash.
"Man overboard!" There was cheering afterward.
The crew had to choose between keeping Wingfield, promoting Martin, and Gosnold... .
Cheering ensued as our new Captain was announced. "Gryphon! Gryphon!"
The Captain bowed and held up a hand to silence the crowd. "Good day men. I'm much obliged. It gives me great pleasure to return and to serve you." A pause brought more cheers until he continued. "In the interim, I wish to meet with the following... ." The Captain held separate meetings with Wingfield Archer, Martin, and Kendall, before coming back to readdress the crew.
"Alright men, I hope Newport would be pleased to know order is restored. However, I am displeased that such a discord was allowed to occur and accrue. Therefore, I have an obligation to hold certain men responsible for putting the crew in danger of committing the illegal act of piracy... ."
What happened next was something none of us were prepared for: Martin and Archer were clasped and locked up for a period of reflection, until he deemed they could be restored to their positions. The Captain placed Wingfield as First Mate, while Kendall was reassigned to Second Mate, while other men were announced in the other officer positions in the interim. I, on the other hand remained Master Gunner.
As relieved and excited I was about his return, I was uncertain about approaching him. From a distance, he appeared to have his normal adventurous nature. Anticipating lingering tension, I decidedly went about my duties as normal.
Sooner or later, while I was restocking cannonballs, I heard footsteps and turned to see the Captain approaching me. "May I have a word with you?"
I nodded, with uncertainty. "Certainly, Sir." I wasn't sure how to address him. I tried to gauge his mood, but his diplomatic tone and neutral expression was a hard read. What could it be about?
We headed toward the Captain's Quarter's.
"There's something I wanted to discuss with you—"
Not that! "My sincerest apologizes, Sir. If I hadn't been an ass—"
With a quizzical expression, he asked. "What are you speaking of?"
Suddenly I was confused. "Pardon, I had thought you were referring to Cat—"
"Oh, I see... . No, that's not what I intended to discuss with you—actually, I hadn't thought about it until now... ." I could see while he was maintaining a civil composure, his tone indicated resentment. Why couldn't I have kept my mouth shut? "In any such matter, I was wondering how satisfied you were being Master Gunner?"
"Oh, I'm quite satisfied."
"Good. I wanted to discuss new tactics with you to share with the rest of the battalion. We'll be approaching the Azores soon, and there may still be a battle going on between the Spaniards and English." He appeared to have good ideas regarding where we should now position the cannons, etc., but he seemed to go about it rather hastily, it seemed. "We can discuss this more with the remainder later on, but for now, that will be all."
"Thank you, Sir." I wondered if we were really finished or if he was rushing me along to avoid a quarrel? I didn't want to wait to find out.
I went about my business, and couldn't sleep when nightfall came. I began swishing my sword in the air for practice. I was caught off guard when a sword came flying, piercing a barrel right beside me.
The owner pulled his sword out. "It appears, there are still issues left to resolve... . Mind if I join in?"
I raised our swords to signal we were ready to face off. We began sword fighting, just for the hell of it, each clash allowing us to release tension between us. Quite a few times, our swords would form circles in the air as neither one of us knocked the other's sword away. We'd each make joking remarks here and there, but neither of us were willing to surrender. Strangely we became more at ease—not concerned about what occurred around us, nor the gradual drops of rain. We eventually found ourselves dropping our swords and wrestling against the ground, until we both lay flat, laughing.
"What the bloody Hell was that all about?" I wondered.
"I don't know, John, but we haven't had a good laugh in quite some time." Then he added. "I taught you well, have I not?"
"I learned a few things." I winked.
We got up and decided it was a good time to smoke. Inasmuch as I recalled stopping when my pipe went overboard, the "withdrawal" effect was worse than I thought. We passed his pipe back and forth. Oh well. I'd quit smoking some other day.
Meanwhile, Bart was also telling me how he managed to sneak away from the Misuss. "The strangest things happen to a woman. Before she has a child, she nags the husband. Then once a newborn arrives she forgets about him and bonds with the baby. Being the restless man I am, I joined Earl Devereux and Raleigh's fleet to invade the Azores. It was quickly turning out to be a failure. While still on board, my friend Harry jokingly mentioned George Percy, the Earl of Northumberland's youngest brother had boarded one of the ships from the Neptune, apparently ill, hoping to find Newport or myself in England. But even his brother claimed he was delusional. I had an inkling something was amiss, and located Percy myself, to meet with him. It was then he told me what occurred. I decided 'twas best not to inform Newport, as 'twould be a considerable period before Percy could reach him, whist I was already at sea. I convinced Raleigh to locate the Neptune and send me back. I snuck aboard. Even so, I had already missed the relaxed atmosphere of the Neptune compared to the closed-off nature of the 'Gentlemen's Club' Raleigh and Devereux entertain." He paused before continuing. "Were you the one who sent Percy to find either Newport or I?"
"Indeed, I had," I responded quietly.
"I thought so. I couldn't imagine 'twas Percy's own doing... . That being the case, I have you to thank for ensuring the crew's well-being. Newport would be pleased."
"Thank you, Bart."
"On the other hand," he added, "that bloody whore became involved with my brother and may be with child. She is no longer my concern."
"Is he—"
He knew what I was going to ask. "With her reputation who knows? Unfortunately for him, she's still married. 'He,' unfortunately is in an asylum."
I nearly choked on the pipe I smoked. Such good times. We did a great deal of catching up that night... .