It takes a while to get everything together. Stede and the crew go here and there, visiting little islands, engaging in a little light theft and building supplies. Stede conceals his identity, and it appears to be generally accepted that Stede Bonnet is dead. He contrives to ask, wherever they go, about his ship and of course about Ed.
And everywhere they go, the answer is the same. The Revenge, and Blackbeard, have vanished.
Months pass. Stede - aided by Lucius - devises a neat little scheme, a new pirating method altogether. Lucius has decided he is more of a landlubber, and this works rather nicely with the plan, which requires a presence in Bridgetown and the ability to take detailed notes. Stede takes charge of the seaward side, and with the crew, plus Mooney and Nails, the operation begins to come together.
He wishes Ed were here so he could tell him all about it. But he recalls their first idea: to test Ed's remorse. If, when, they find Ed, they must keep calm. This will be easy for Lucius, who has arrived at peak cynicism, and difficult for Stede, who still holds out hope that Lucius has been exaggerating.
Stede and his crew work day (sometimes) and night (usually) to gather a full crew, purchase seagoing supplies, and eventually, capture a ship, which Stede names the Redemption.
Stede uses various aliases, none of which he likes as much as the Gentleman Pirate. But his method becomes somewhat notorious among the criminal classes, and without any of them intending it, he and the crew acquire a mystique not seen in the Caribbean since the glory days of Captain Kidd, Henry Every, and Blackbeard himself.
And at last, at last, Stede hears news from his spies about a ship matching the description of the Revenge.
THE GALLEON
The stranger is hard and cold and dressed in a ridiculous mask, and Ed cannot take his eyes off him.
They have departed the Spanish galleon and, under the stranger's command, joined Ed's ship. Ed instructs his crew to stand down at the sight of their captain being led aboard in chains. Izzy Hands and Jim, deemed the most dangerous, are taken to the brig. The rest are free, under the eye of the masked man's crew.
"Captain," says Frenchie, sidling up to the foot of the main mast. Ed, leaning on the warm timber, is watching the stranger take readings of the sea and sky, and expertly consult the Revenge's fancifully-housed binnacle.
"Yeah." Without looking round Ed knows that the weather will stay calm above water, but that the undercurrent in these parts will cause any ship left untethered to drift, as the galleon had, towards the main shipping routes. He likes a precision instrument as well as the next man, but there's no substitute for a sailor's instinct.
"Our friend over there -" Frenchie nods at the stranger and gives him a cheesy fake smile - "wants a tour of our cargo hold."
"Does he indeed." Ed's gaze has not wavered.
"He reckons the famous Blackbeard must have some pretty good treasure on board."
Ed frowns. "He'd be right."
"What shall I tell him? Only - he doesn't look the type you can refuse."
"I guess not. All right. Tell him I'll take him round if he cuts me loose." Ed bares his teeth. "Tell him I promise not to hurt him."
The stranger, when Frenchie reaches him, turns and gives Ed a slow raise of the hand. The deal has been accepted.
The man must be a fool. Even without his weapons, Ed could take him, and two or three of his men, without much trouble. He'd have control of his ship again, rip off this madman's mask, and throttle the whole truth out of him.
But then, where would be the fun in that?