Chapter 35 – All Things Change
May 30, 1660

"She goes dancin' with the darkness to the Tennessee Waltz," I sang as I strummed my guitar to the famous Emmylou Harris song called the Tennessee Waltz and poured out my grief in to the simple, sorrowful melody of a man who lost his love to his best friend. "And I feel like I'm falling apart. And it's stronger than drink and it's deeper than sorrow, this darkness she left in my heart..."

"Captain," I heard as Monica knocked on the wardroom door. I stopped playing the mournful song and set my guitar aside before bidding her come in, a letter in hand. "I didnae mean to interrupt."

"It's alright," I told her as I stood to meet with the redhead and set the guitar aside. "What can I help you with?"

"A courier delivered this," she said as she handed the letter to me. Taking the letter, I found it was from a Don Vicento del Leon y Delgado in Limon, bringing a smile to my face that there was indeed a place with that name. I couldn't read the letter's wording, it all being in Spanish which made me remember that Don was a title in the Spanish courts, Opening the sealed by wax letter, I found his letter confirmed what Monica had told me, that the captain had been tasked with bringing willing women to his port at Limon to marry with the guards who were stationed there to watch over the slave labor that had been bought. Monica was welcome to come join should she wish, but that was her choice. I relayed the letter's message to the Irish woman, who seemed hesitant.

"I have a life here," she told me. "Friends and comfort."

"No one is making you leave," I told her as I caressed her cheek as she smiled warmly at me. "There's someone out there for you. You just have to find them."

"Yea," she said softly, a tear just beginning to glisten on her cheek. "Maybe this time it will be for love."

I watched her go, her hips sashaying with her steps and looking rather inviting in doing so. It made me wonder about seeking her out myself since she was now available, but I had to remind myself that I was no longer merely the captain of a boat but a baron given title and land. I needed a woman who could add to that political power if not add to my lands meaning I needed to marry well and not just an inviting piece of ass.

That didn't mean I couldn't keep a mistress, though I had little actual knowledge on that particular subject. I only had the vaguest ideas of nobility and their peculiarities but one I was sure of was that political marriages typically sucked as was shown on Game of Thrones meaning I could still woo Monica into my bed but she'd forever be a harlot and her children would likely be bastards.

"This is going to give me a headache," I growled as I moved to a window, seeing the sun still hanging in the sky as dark clouds started to dot the distant horizon. It was hours yet until dark, when the men would gather for a brew and would be easy to corral into signing on to work but getting out of here in the morning was beginning to look slim if a big storm blew in, but all I could do was hope for the best.

With nothing to do, and no longer feeling like playing my guitar, I left the wardroom to wander Saint Eustatius. I felt odd and weird as I hustled along attributing it at first to heartbreak and desire but then caught sight of a thin man with a crutch following me as I ducked down a narrow lane. I wasn't armed, not feeling the need in a friendly port, and the lack of a sword or pistol gnawed at me as I hurried along trying not to look as if I were hurrying.

"Not so fast," a voice called as I exited the lane to find Philoctetes standing there looking pissed with a sword in hand. I looked back to find the man with the crutch had vanished, so I breathed a sigh of relief in the moment that I was saved by a guy who would likely run me through given a chance, which he had.

"I figured you'd be with Megara given you didn't sail off with Hercules," I told the sour little man he raised the cutlass threateningly at me.

"If it weren't for this bum knee I probably would be," the man growled back. "Now, give me one good reason I shouldn't slit your throat here and now?"

"For what reason?" I told him. "Talking to Megara? Or getting her pregnant?"

"Both are good enough for me," he said, his sword tip just feet away.

"I didn't seek her out," I told him as I crossed my arms but kept the grip loose and not tight so I could try something. "She sought me out earlier today."

"Likely," he said as he held his sword steady. "And I thought you weren't coming back?"

"I had to report to the governor and sell some ships," I told him, the tip wavering a bit at the hint of the governor. "In the morning I leave for San Juan to attack shipping there if the coming storm doesn't keep me in harbor."

"So you aren't trying to make off with Megara?" he asked me and I shook my head.

"I did tell her goodbye when I did see her earlier, but she isn't mine," I told the man who finally lowered the sword.

"I don't suppose you can forgive an old fool," he said as he put his sword back on his belt.

"Nothing to forgive," I told him with a wan smile. "Though I should thank you."

"How's that?" he asked me as I looked down the lane to see nothing but buildgings.

"I had someone following me I didn't recognize," I told him as I turned back to him. "I think I'll head back to my ship and ready myself to sign on some crew tonight."

"Good luck," he said as he shook his head. "Lots of sailors already been signed on and not a lot left except a few booze hounds who wouldn't know an honest day's work if it announced itself."

"Then I'll have a quiet night at the tavern," I said as I turned to head back to the docks. Phil watched me go, staying where he was either in surprise I wasn't the monster he initially thought me to be or to watch my back for the stranger who was following me.

I made the ship without problem and retrieved my sword and a pistol whose weight I was glad to carry. With the ship's articles in hand, I made my way to the tavern for a repeat performance but as Phil had said, there weren't many sailors left to choose from. I did manage about fifteen, though I had a feeling a few of them were just in it for the rum.

As I was heading back to my ship by the light of a partial moon, I heard the thud of a man walking with the aid of a crutch and decided to make my move. After turning the corner that led straight to my ship, I pulled my pistol and put my thumb on the hammer, only cocking it as the man turned the corner so he had no forewarning of my intentions until it was too late.

"It isn't wise to follow a man," I told him as I drew a bead right between his eyes from six feet away.

"Forgive a man for being curious," he said, his brief look around telling him how screwed he was. "I heard you be the man who took Captain Hook prisoner?"

"I am," I told him though I held the gun steady on him. "And you look familiar."

"John Silver's the name," he said and I placed him as my blood ran cold.

"Long John Silver," I said and I saw the flash of fear in his eyes as I held resolute. "The famous scourge of the Spanish Main."

"I see you've heard of me," he said jovially as he leaned on his crutch, a brief look down confirmed he indeed had one leg after losing the other in a boarding action on a Spanish galleon with another famous pirate, Captain Flint. "I take it ye yerself served on a pirate ship?"

"Decidedly not," I said as I held the man at gunpoint. "I'm trying to decide whether or not I should take you prisoner or shoot you where you lean."

"Shoot me and hang," he said with a laugh. "I'm not wanted by any but the Spanish. I was at least smart enough not to make everyone an enemy."

"Then what do you want with me?" I asked him as I lowered, but didn't uncock,- the pistol.

"Ye bested Hook," he reiterated. "I came to parlay with him and ask his favor but I find his town empty and his ship no longer bearing his flag. When I ask what nation finally decided to send a fleet after him, I find it was one man with one wee ship. I had to see what kind of man could do that to such a once proud pirate, but I also see ye have the trappings of the gods on ye as well."

"Calypso," I told him and he spat to the side. "I see you know her name well enough."

"Enough to know not to meddle in her boons," he told me as he shifted on his crutch. "She'll leave ya hollow and wantin', beggin' for a release ye'll not find."

"Hollow and wanting sounds about right," I told him with a sigh. "If your not wanted by the Dutch and have no ill will with me, go your way then Long John, but be careful in approaching me in the future. If I think I might get a knife I'll kindly repay the favor even if I'm proven wrong in the end."

"Noted, yer lordship," he said as he turned and walked back around the corner.

I let him go, finally uncocking my pistol and hastily making my way back to the Empress and the safety it offered. Meeting a real legend like Long John Silver, even if I had the upper hand, wasn't on my list of things to do but it had left me shaking from adrenaline withdrawal and the desire to just go to bed. Slipping quietly aboard and past the two sailors quietly playing a dice game while they kept watch, I made my way into my private cabin where a woman lay under the covers. I didn't know which woman it was as I undressed in the darkness, my own desire at the moment wanted nothing more than to get under the cover and get some sleep. Slipping under the covers, I tucked in tight behind the nude woman and, after pulling her close, quickly fell asleep.