Usual disclaimers… woe is me!
Thanks for all the reviews, and especial thanks to Blacklabel and Pendragginink for correctly remembering where the cartographer reference came from. I knew I wasn't going senile… oi – I heard that thought, Ani!
Chapter 31 – Moonlight Revenge
Jack fired, his shot taking the Welshman through his forehead, nodding to himself as he saw his enemy slump to the ground with a look of disbelief still on his face. "Throw this offal overboard!" he ordered, casting down the spent pistol and picking up his own precious weapon. He smiled darkly as the men hurried to obey before turning back to the locked doors of the master cabin… his cabin. "Yer can unlock th' doors now, Giselle," he called.
The whore unlocked them, throwing the doors open wide. She squealed in shock as she saw Jack in his skeletal form. He walked past her and into the shade. "'It's nothin' t' be afraid of," he assured her as she slowly overcame the fright enough to throw herself delightedly into his now fleshed arms.
"Everyone thought yer dead!" she cried, turning and hugging Joshamee as he too entered the cabin. "I won't ask what all this bony stuff is about… I can guess, but it's good t' have yer all back!"
Joshamee cleared his throat. "Err, Jack?" he began. "Jem came up with a suggestion an' I think it bears considering." He paused as Jack turned to look at him, before continuing slowly. "We know we don't have enough men t' crew the Pearl and the Revenge properly – especially if we meet up with the Crow or the Navy…"
"And…" Jack pressed, wishing his quartermaster would get on with it.
"Well, Jem says that Giselle hid him from Corbin whilst he was in Tortuga and that there might be others who'd like to hit back against the Crow when we find her."
Jack looked at him thoughtfully, fingering his braids as he turned to Giselle. "Well?" he finally said. "Are there?"
"There are some," she admitted, "an' more who sailed with Corbin as he offered them little choice…"
Jack grunted. "I can appreciate that," he agreed. "How many d' yer think yer can find?"
"Fifteen… maybe even twenty if they're not too drunk," she shrugged.
Jack considered the numbers. It was a risk, but he really needed more men as soon as he could and he did not want to leave Bessie and the children undefended for too long. "All right," he agreed. "Take Joshamee with yer an' find as many as yer can that can be trusted. I'll not have any man that worked willingly fer Corbin, or took part in th' attack on the Pearl – even if they were unwillin'." She nodded. "Be as quick as yer can." He turned, looking at the men waiting his orders just outside of the doors. "Mark, Henry, Lucas – I want yer t' get back t' the Revenge an' bring her carefully into harbour here. Anchor alongside. I want Bessie an' th' children safe as quickly as possible."
The three men nodded, quickly turning and lowering one of the ship's boats into the water. There was little point getting another soaking when they were only just beginning to dry out.
"Bessie is here?" Giselle asked. "She is well?"
Jack smiled. "Aye, she is well as are th' children."
"Constance will be delighted to hear that," she beamed. Edmund Morgan's widow had been sheltered by the whores following her eviction from her home on the death of her husband and, despite the treatment meted to her by Corbin's men, had proved surprisingly resilient to her situation, mothering many of the whores and they loved her for it. She had often wondered what had happened to Bessie and Giselle was delighted to be able to take the news to her.
"Well th' quicker yer find me some men, th' quicker yer can tell her…" Jack retorted, shooing her from the cabin. For a moment he stood alone, surveying what was his again, and realising sadly how much he would have to do to erase all sign of it's previous occupant.
"Captain," Paul Barker stood in the doorway. "I ordered the forward anchor lowered again… we were beginning to drift."
Jack nodded, having been too distracted himself to have given the order. "Good," he said. "Now we wait fer Bessie."
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Bessie listened quietly to the soft splash of oars approaching. She had paced the cabin for over an hour before creeping out onto deck and looking for the men to return, unable to bear the wait any longer. Leaning over the ship's rail, she squinted into the darkness, just able to make out three forms in a row boat. As the distance closed, she was able to make out the forms to be that of Mark, Henry and Lucas. The boat bumped against the hull and she caught the line they threw up to her, fastening it securely.
The three men quickly scrambled up onto deck. "We won!" Henry said excitedly, grabbing Bessie and twirling her around before hugging her tightly. "Jack wants us t' sail into Tortuga harbour an' sit alongside the Black Pearl…"
"But won't that be…" she began, worrying.
"Captain is takin' on more men," Lucas explained. "Giselle knows some who have a grudge against Corbin who'll likely sign th' ship's articles…"
"And then…" Bessie pressed.
"Then we sail to the Isla de Muerta, remove this curse an' all is right with the world!" he grinned. Bessie looked up at him doubtfully. "It will be fine… when has th' Captain ever been wrong?"
She bit her tongue, nodding, realising that Henry did not really have the time to stand and listen to the occasions that Jack had, indeed, been wrong. He turned to the others. "Lucas, Mark, give me a hand to haul this boat up an' we can make way…"
"I best go sit with the children," Bessie smiled. "They'll worry if they wake and we're moving if I'm not there…"
Henry nodded, still grinning as he secured the boat with the others. She quietly shut the doors, leaving the men to their tasks, watching quietly from the small stern gallery as the stern anchor slowly raised and, as the sails were quickly unfurled, Bessie's Revenge slipped smoothly from the bay towards Tortuga harbour.
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Because you've been good, there are two chapters today! And before anybody asks, there was no moon when the three men returned to Bessie's Revenge so they were fleshed.
