The following quotation is from one of the movie versions of Treasure Island.
Dick: "But what about the captain? And Squire Trelawney? What are we to do about them, anyhow?"
Israel Hands: "We'll cut their throats for 'em, we will. Besides, there's some of them needs killin', say I."
John Silver: "Israel's right, lad. Dead men tell no tales."
Legrace: I heard a quote by SK that his writing is the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries. Eww! shudders Leo Tolstoy he is not! But then, who is? ;-)
Needs Killin'
Onboard the Walrus, several long hours had passed since the boarding party from the Surprise had taken the ship. Nearly midmorning and sailing south along the western coast of the island, Tom Pullings noted in distaste that the lazy crew was still abed and the next watch had not come on deck without being roused. The whole crew, every man, was taking the opportunity to steal more sleep and thus leaving the ship vulnerable.
Rose stood facing Captain Gerald Bantam who had been first mate to her father. There had been little chance that she would survive this action without the men discovering her felonious heritage, and the captain's remarks had exposed her secret. No way to avoid it, really; now, she had to deal with this man on terms he would understand.
"Sir, I am taking this ship. Temporarily. You may be for me or you may be against me, but when you hear what I have to say, you may agree to aid me."
"Take the ship?" he repeated as a look of anger and stubbornness filled his eyes. "By thunder, I'll skin you from the neck! I'm cap'n here, by election."
"And you will be again after I have concluded my business. Or not." She drew out one of her pistols and cocked it, and the man's eyes followed the movements of her hands. "Whether you live or die matters not a whit to me, but you never crossed me, so I'll kill you myself instead of leaving you for Flint's spirit."
His eyes snapped up to hers in shock. "Flint's spirit?" he replied, looking shocked and frightened.
Without speaking, she regarded him soberly for several long seconds. "When I deserted, I swore I'd never return to this accursed ship and I meant it. Do you think I break that vow lightly? Do you think I'd be here, risking my life, for anything less?"
Dead pale, the man cast about with wide eyes as if the ghost of his old master would creep up behind him any instant.
"At the moment, he has no reason to spare a thought for you, unless you cross him," she warned. Then she turned to Tom. "Rouse the crew."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied calmly. "Clayton, Manning, that's all hands."
The two men replied, "Aye, sir," and moved down off the quarterdeck. "All hands on deck!" they bawled. "All hands on deck!"
The ensuing chaos was painful for the naval men to watch. A hundred bleary-eyed men, many of them still half-drunk from the evening before, stumbled over each other to reach the deck. There was no great hurry and muttered oaths and obscenities was more the rule than the exception. Some of them came aware of the tall woman standing with Captain Bantam and stared agape. There were more than a few that recognized her, Tom could see. Keeping his expression cold and as fierce as he could, he silently prayed that she would be able to play her part to the end.
The staggering lines of men gathered with no apparent order. Rose waited until they had ceased most of their grumbling and looked up to the quarterdeck. When most of their attention was focusing, she leapt up on the railing and extended her left foot. Tugging a little on the leg of her loose tarry trousers, she showed them the little tattoo of a rose above her ankle. The sound of men's voices expressing disbelief and talking to each other matched the gaping expressions of the fools who stood staring at her like as many sheep.
"You know what that means," she remarked in a voice that seemed at once conversational yet carried to all of the men. "Some of you knew me in my youth. Some of you were my shipmates for many long years. I have my own ship now and two little nippers grown into fine seafaring lads. I have no reason to be here among you, and I was completely content until a few months ago."
There was absolute silence as they stared at her. Something in her voice, something both casual and threatening, compelled them to listen and remain quiet.
"You know Flint died badly – blue in the face as the rum took him. Once he was gone, his spirit still walked the Earth."
Some of the men shivered and a few made the sign of the cross. Now there was talk amongst them – quick furtive whispers and oaths of burgeoning fear and some disbelief.
"He first came to me in the dark of night." She paused and looked around at them with a serious light in her eyes. "I had not seen him in twelve years, and word of his death had not reached me. I was filled with fear. Imagine yourself alone and roused from sleep during the graveyard watch and waking to the sight and sound of Flint's ghost".
"He done cursed you when you jumped ship," called one grizzled old seadog with three yellowed teeth left in his mouth.
"he certainly did, and you may imagine, terror struck me. At first, I though he wanted to revenge himself on me. In life and in death, however, I am his child and he meant me no harm. At that moment, however, it was of little comfort to me. How difficult it was for me to recover!
"He waited for me to grow calm with his usual impatience and bad grace, and I did, eventually. That is when he told me why he had come. It was a simple thing, really: he wanted me to kill the Lubber."
Now, the reaction was louder and more widespread. Men were suffering from headaches and the fantastic story was making them ache even more.
"You know Flint had business with the Lubber. What you don't know is that shortly before his death, Flint discovered that he… that he had killed his first grandchild."
Her hesitation, the wavering her voice, had been instantaneous and not everyone noticed. In fact, Tom could see with grim satisfaction, the incredible news, the news of Flint, overshadowed almost all else.
"Maybe he thought that our estrangement meant that he could injure me and mine without Flint retaliating. Maybe the Lubber thought a girl child was worthless. Whatever his reason, the granddaughter was torn from me too early, the child called after his Lily. Now, Flint will have his revenge."
Again, there was silence. Having learned to assess the mood of a crew by mere observation, Tom thought they were overwhelmed by the information. The news that the sacrificed child had been called after Flint's beloved Lily seemed to affect them: they seemed to have sobered up with remarkable alacrity and now stood staring at the woman who had told the tale, the armed dangerous woman whom many of them had learned to fear.
"Flint will have his vengeance, I can assure you. Each man here has a decision to make: to stand with Flint's spirit or to stand against him. The Lubber has promised you riches and more, but he is marked for death and won't live to pay you. As for Flint, he laughs and sends you this message:
Not one man of his crew alive
That went to sea with seventy-five."
In the silence following, Tom could see they were, for the most part, terrified. It was true, she had been right: they feared Flint in life and in death. More than that, in his absence, the person of Rose Flint held the ability to motivate them by means of their own fear, and she was well aware of exactly how it could be accomplished.
"As for me, well, you know well enough that there's never been a man looked me between the eyes and seen a good day afterwards. I'll see you all to Davy Jones as easily as Flint would." Her hand went to the hilt of the light blade she wore. "Any man who stands against me, I'll pin him to the mast with this cutlass and hang him from the yardarm by his thumbs and use him for musket practice. Take a cutlass, him that dares, and I'll see the color of his inside."
With that, she glared at them, daring any of them to challenge her. Tom already had his pistols in his hands, but there was no challenge. The tale and the threats had worked. Whether it was fear of Flint or fear of Rose (or more probably a combination of both, he thought), he knew not, but they would follow her.
For now, at least.