Chapter 18
March 17, 1660

Pulling into port days later and another three ledgers heavier, I did as I said I'd do and stood by the helm to be more easily seen while Hercules worked aloft to help bring the ship in faster. As expected Megara was waiting on the pier for me as we pulled in and docked, moving to where the gangplank was to be lowered and holding her belly with both arms while wearing a broad smile. I knew what it meant, but her smile was wiped clean off her face when Hercules swung down to land next to me.

"Hercules!" Megara exclaimed as she caught sight of her husband. Without word or pause she ran to him and threw herself into his arms, large racking sobs shaking her small frame. I bowed my head, knowing then she'd made her choice as Hercules picked the sobbing woman up and carried her down the gangplank. I watched them go, soon feeling a pair of eyes on me as I turned to find Phil staring daggers at me.

"There is no way in Hades she knew we would be on this ship," he grouched at me. "And the way she was holding her belly tells me she's pregnant, but not with Hercules's kid."

"Guilty on both counts," I admitted to the pissed off man. "And she didn't choose me. She went right back to him."

"You?" the man sputtered. "You had Hercules aboard the entire time knowing who he was?"

"From the moment he said his name," I told the man sadly. "I also knew that there was no way forward with Megara knowing he was alive so I did the only decent thing I can, return him home and walk away."

"That's not so easy," Phil told me, his voice softening as he began to understand. "Every time you two see each other, you're going to think of what you had together."

"Then as soon as the new governor is appointed in Saint Martin, I'll go there," I told the man. "I don't imagine Hercules will continue to sail with me knowing I'd been with his wife."

"That's a lot to ask of a man," Phil agreed. "Still, I wonder if Viola still has that good mead at the tavern."

"One way to find out," I told him as I gestured to the gang plank. "Keep them safe, Phil."

"May you have fair winds and a following sea and long may your big jib draw," Phil said with a salute as he walked off down the gangplank. That last part of that greeting brought my eyebrows up as I'd never heard it before, but the first part was well known to me. Shaking my head, I put it out of my mind as I turned to the crew and their expectant faces.

"I need two volunteers," I told the crew who looked suddenly unsure. "These two will help me escort the prisoners to the governor's mansion before being released to their own conscience."

"I'll do it," Aladdin said as he stepped forward, followed quickly by Jasmine.

"Alright," I told the pair. "Fetch the governor and his wife, make sure you tie his wrists securely before bringing him out."

"Aye, sir," Aladdin said as he and Jasmine made their way below.

"Those with coin can go ashore, but be back by eight bells in the morning or risk being left behind," I told them to a general cheer. They then filed off the ship in a bunch as I went to my cabin where I donned my uniform coat and got the logbooks from captured and sunk ships before exiting the cabin to find Aladdin and Jasmine with the prisoners in tow waiting for me, heading off together for the governor's mansion.

The moment I set foot in the house, Simmons took the ledgers from me as he eyed the two prisoners, a smile quirking his lip as he escorted us into the governor's study. Eugene looked worse for wear with one leg propped up on a divan, said leg encased in a wooden splint and tied securely with rope as if it were broken and being healed.

"Major Hunt," Eugene said cordially as I bowed to him in respect.

"May I present the French governor, Adam Labit of Montserrat and his wife," I said as I gestured to my prisoners.

"Governor?" Eugene said as his eyebrows shot up. "You sacked Montserrat?"

"I captured him aboard a pinnace bound to Montserrat," I told Eugene. "Since we are at war, and the governor an agent of the king..."

"He's a perfectly valid military target," Eugene conceded. "Very well done."

"I also count ten ledgers with him, sire," Simmons added.

"Ten?" Eugene said as he relaxed into his chair. "You have been busy. Simmons, summon the guard to take Governor Labit and his wife into custody and secure them well. We'll send word to Montserrat to ransom them back to their government."

"Aye, my lord," Simmons said as he left. It didn't take long for the guards to arrive and take the prisoners and I could release Aladdin and Jasmine to their own devices as well, leaving Eugene and I to talk.

"Ten ships and a governor as well," Eugene commented as he stood from his chair and hobbled on a crutch to his desk. "That makes you the perfect candidate for a dangerous task."

"You have something special for me?" I asked him, a knot of worry curling in my stomach.

"King Frederick has decided that the many reports of the dreaded pirate known as Hook be dealt with," Eugene told me and I suddenly felt like a man who drank bad milk.

"Have the reports included he fields a large brig of war carrying a full sixteen cannon broadside?" I asked him.

"It has," Eugene conceded. "My best military officers say it would take a frigate to capture such a vessel successfully."

"Or a fast ship and a company of soldiers," I countered as I thought of taking the Surprise, now the Buxom Wench. "Say a company of soldiers aboard the Wench and throw caution to the wind."

"That's what I was thinking," Eugene told me. "I know you can take a ship and you've proven a capable commander, but Hook has made himself a prime target to the king and given me wide latitude in dealing with this threat to our interests."

"How wide a latitude?" I asked him as thoughts of bounty filled my head. I didn't have anything to lose but my life, such as it was.

"The ledgers you brought in, plus capturing the governor of Montserrat as well?" Eugene said then smiled. "I can successfully promote you to the rank of colonel on that alone. Bring me proof that Hook has been nullified? I'll not only promote you to the rank of admiral but grant you five hundred acres of land on my island."

"A land grant?" I said as I remembered a similar notion mentioned once in a movie. The Patriot with Mel Gibson I believe where General Lord Cornwallis was laying out his land grant from King George. "The startings of making me a lord?"

"It would be," Eugene conceded, "And the next step of a successful privateer such as yourself. Most privateers I've met and dealt with take a ship or three then lose either their nerve or their ship."

"A company of men," I mused as I thought it over, especially the use of trained fighters such as soldiers against more sailing aligned mariners who took ships mostly through shock and awe and the use of cannon. A company of men would do well for me if I could but nullify Hook at the beginning.

"Very well, governor," I said as I forced a smile. "I accept."

"When do you plan to leave out again?" Eugene asked me.

"On the morrow," I said as the sound of footsteps entering the room made me turn to find Rapunzel entering with a white baldric for my uniform in her hand

"Simmons said someone was getting promoted today," she said as she stopped beside me.

"Rapunzel," Eugene said with a wan smile. "That'd be the newly minted Colonel Hunt, here."

"Quite the capable commander, are we?" Rapunzel said as she slipped the baldric under my right epaulet to hang from that shoulder and across my chest before fastening it at my hip.

"He's fielded his share of battles," Eugene informed her. "More so than many of the king's own."

"Well you must come to the ball tonight," Rapunzel said as she moved to stand beside her husband. "We've had to delay the spring gala because Eugene couldn't stay on his horse."

"That horse had a mind of its own," Eugene groused.

"That's why I love ships," I told him with a smirk. "They tend to stay underfoot unless, like young Hercules, a powder monkey takes a cannon blast of grapeshot and drops the candle into the gunpowder barrel."

"That would be speculation," Eugene countered.

"Confirmed," I told him. "I rescued Hercules from an island south west of here who informed me of what happened. Thankfully he and most of his crew were blown clear of the ship, some with injuries. Of the survivors, only Hercules and his quarter-master Philoctetes were able to make it to shore that I know of. The rest fell into the clutches of the pirate, Hook."

"Wait," Rapunzel said as she looked confused. "If you rescued Hercules does that mean..."

"He and Megara are back together and I have no date for the ball," I finished for her.

"Oh, you can be my dance partner, then," Rapunzel said as she seemingly brushed aside the pain of the moment. "My husband here has injured himself and can't lead the dance."

"It wasn't intentional," Eugene countered as Rapunzel gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Well, I better go ready my dress for tonight then," Rapunzel said as she moved for the door. "I'll see you tonight, colonel."

Maybe it was something in the way she moved or maybe it was the way she said colonel, but I suddenly had a feeling she was flirting with me as she sashayed out of the room to parts unknown. It also left me wondering about her intentions, but Eugene seemed to have missed it as I looked at him and saw him with his eyes closed while he rubbed at his temple.

"Where were we?" Eugene asked as he finally opened his eyes. Deciding that if he didn't mention it was best to let it lie, I moved back to the topic of Hook.

"We were discussing Hook," I told him.

"Right," Eugene said dryly. "I'll have Admiral Bodinson round up a company of men to go with you. I assume you'll want to pack as many aboard your ship as you can?"

"I do," I informed him. "Even if I have to pack them in the hold."

"I'll have them meet you at your ship early in the morning, then," Eugene said as he finally looked up. "And don't worry about my wife. If you want to skip the ball..."

"I just don't want to seem too forward with another man's wife," I informed him. "I know dancing to some is considered an intimate moment..."

"I would say she's set her mind to dance tonight," he said with a wan smile. "Either with you or with me."

"Not on that busted leg," I regarded him. "Besides, if I don't play for her tonight I fully expect her to commandeer a ship and hunt me down."

"She might," Eugene said with a chuckle. "She talked about your last performance for weeks."

"Then I'm glad it was enjoyed," I said as I stepped backwards. "If that'll be all, governor, I need to make preparations for the morrow."

"As do I," Eugene said as I turned and left my head abuzz with thoughts of preparations to be made. First and foremost, I needed to take down Hook fast and dirty to quell his crew's morale as fast as possible, and at seeing a display in a store window had the mother of all lightbulbs ignite overhead as a pair of dueling pistols caught my eye. I knew from long lessons in history that the smoothbore weapons were largely considered inaccurate in my time, especially at range, but I also knew a few tricks that wouldn't be developed for nearly two hundred years.

Rushing back to the ship to get my personal funds, I bought the exquisitely detailed pistols and set about making a bullet mold to cast my own bullets. Taking a file and a dowel of wood that was snug in the barrel, I whittled what could be considered the first rifle bullet with a long tip in as close to a thirty-ought-six round as I could, hoping its elongated design would create a good screw effect and keep it on target. Then, going back to lessons learned in grade school, made my on play-dough with flour, lemon juice, salt and vegetable oil gained from the apothecary in which I used my wooden dowel bullet to make a mold before pouring molten led into the cavity where it quickly cooled into a usable bullet. I then loaded a pistol with the new bullet where it shaved a little of the lead off, common on the black powder pistol I had once owned, before taking it up on deck.

Moving to the side of the ship, I then took aim at a passing sea gull and lining up the barrel with the bird much as an archer and his arrow before firing, the sea gull dead from a bullet wound in its chest. A nearby stray dog jumped into the water and fetched the bird, likely for its next meal and brought the bird back to land where it then dined making me smile at seeing the animal feast on the carcass, and I smiled a wicked smile. If I could get close enough to Hook I could end the fight before it began, all I'd have to do is get close enough to use it.

However, with the setting sun I knew I wouldn't get the chance to do more anymore tonight as I put everything away and cleaned myself up for the ball tonight. Taking a moment, I polished my gorget and boots to better present myself tonight before starting for the mansion, hoping to lose myself for one night in making myself merry, for tomorrow I sailed back towards the Virgin Islands to find Hook.