A/N: Chapter 3 is up. I'm enjoying writing this so expect another update soon. Although I should be working on my other ones too… oh well…
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.
Hoist the Colors: Chapter 3
The Fire and the Traitors
Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
The mate was fixed by the bosun's pike
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
And cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped by fingers ten;
And there they lay, all good dead men
Like break o'day in a boozing ken
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Colleen crooned, her Welsh accent heavy from the gin the crew had shared in a small celebration. No one knew what anyone was celebrating but the liquor was welcome company anyway.
The crew of the Pendennis sat hunched over their mugs and tankards in the cozy galley of the ship. In reality no one was celebrating, everyone was just passing the time, and passing further into the despair that alcohol can bring upon you if not drunken with the right attitude. Colleen especially, she had been thinking about Gabriel lately and about everything they'd done together as children, and how it'd been three years not hearing from him.
"So Colleen," Bea said suddenly jerking Colleen out from within herself. "What's your answer?"
They had been playing a drinking game that had slowly descended into simply drinking and asking personal questions of each other. The entire crew was involved including the captain, but none of them were really interested anymore.
"What was the question again?" Colleen asked.
Bea sighed obviously annoyed, "Have you ever been in love?"
Colleen was taken aback by the question's undeniable skill for reading her mind.
"Yes." She replied slowly, "Yes, once… a long time ago." There was finality in her voice, as if she'd made up her mind about something.
In fact, that was exactly what had transpired. With that statement Colleen had answered a question she had been asking herself. Was Gabriel, the boy she'd fallen for all those years ago, really worth waiting for? And more importantly, did she really still love him or was she just telling herself that? So upon answering Bea she'd figured something out for herself. She decided that Gabriel, though she had once loved him, was not coming back, and that she should move on.
"Really Colli?" Enid gasped. "Tell us about it!!"
"Well…" Colleen groaned, the subject was painful enough to think about, never mind talk about.
"Colleen, really now that you have us interested you have to tell us." Bea said.
Colleen sighed before starting to talk. "I met him when I was about nine. I was running from my brothers and his friends as usual. They were
torturing me, again as usual, and I ran out into the street and through the town with them chasing me the entire way, something that was not as per usual. Before I knew it I was backed into an alley with the boys bearing down on me. Of course I was ready to fight at this point and was already planning it out. When suddenly, there was someone behind the boys. 'Let her go.' The person said. At this point everyone's eyes focused on this person. He wasn't tall at the time or all that good looking but he was gutsy, and obviously had a sense of chivalry, and he was aiming a pistol right at my brother's head... After that day we became the best of friends, and eventually he told me he loved me. That was the last time I ever saw him… You see he got old enough, and joined the Royal Navy, he failed at that and joined on as a sailor on Captain Kidd's privateering crew. He wrote me letters, sent me souvenirs from ports he visited… for about a year. I figure he's dead, or all the 'romance' we once shared a childish-crush on his part… so that's the story of my once-true-love…"
When Colleen finished everyone was silent. None of them had had any idea of anything like this ever occurring to her, nor ever heard of this mysterious boy.
"What was his name?" Captain Killigrew asked when no one else would speak, too sad to say anything.
Colleen didn't reply for a long time. The finally she said ever so softly, in a voice just above a whisper, "Gabriel, his name was Gabriel. And that's the thing that got me I think… he had the name of an angel, 'my Guardian Angel,' I used to call him…"
After this the party broke up and reported to their various duties for the night. Colleen and Bea were on first watch, so they made their way up to the crow's nest and sat in it lazily. Colleen sang another tune, and Bea whittled with her knife in an old piece of barrel wood. Eventually Hannah came up to join them, after being thoroughly sick overboard.
"Colleen?" she asked quietly. "Did all that stuff you said tonight really happen to you?"
Colleen nodded slightly, keeping up her tune. Her gaze slowly shifted from the horizon, to the stars above them. And her thoughts drifted to another time, another place, a time when she wasn't a pirate, and was still a girl.
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Colleen woke with a start, her long light brown hair was cast about her face and shoulders and sun glinting off the honey colored highlights in her hair. The fifteen year old girl eased her arms out from under her pillow and rolled over with a yawn and a stretch. She put her hand to her head and squeezed her eyes shut against the sun light hitting her full in the eyes.
'You forgot to close the drapes again.' She chided herself. Then her mind exploded when she realized what day it was and how late it must be.
She flew out of her bed and to her wash basin, splashing her face with the water. Then she tore to her wardrobe and threw out the dress she's planned to wear for this day, it was blue and yellow and Gabriel's favorite. Peeping her head out of her door for an instant she spied one of her family's maids and called over to her.
"Nam," she called, "Will you help me dress?"
Nancy Ridgedale was actually her nurse from her childhood, and was still a maid at the Killigrew estate. Colleen and her brothers had been a terror when they were younger, but Nancy or Nam as the children called her adored them all regardless. She was a round woman, but very tall, so she could be all sugar and softness, and then turn to daunting and intimidating.
The older woman sighed and toddled into Colleen's room helping her into her chemise, corset, and to get her various petticoats and eventually the dress itself situated on Colleen's small frame. Colleen squirmed and struggled asking if Nam could please hurry or Colleen would miss the send off. Nam just tutted and continued to lace Colleen into her clothing.
Finally, after what seemed like hours to Colleen, Nam was done, and Colleen shot out of her room as fast as she could in her painful shoes through the halls of her family's house and down through the kitchen where her mother stopped her.
"And where might you be off to in such a hurry?" the woman said not looking up from the newspaper she was reading. Colleen's mother was a modern one, finding all the latest fashions, insisting on being up to date on all the latest news, and yet she still insisted on Colleen acting like a caged bird, or rather a bird with its wings already clipped.
"To the docks Mum." Colleen replied, "Gabriel's ship is leaving port today… I'd like to say good-bye."
"Without having breakfast?" her mother said putting down her newspaper.
"I'm afraid I must," said Colleen, putting on the air of being proper for just a moment, "But you see their ship is leaving at high tide which is less than a half an hour away, so you see mother, I'm afraid I must go, but I promise to sit and do needle-point and take tea with you as soon as I return."
"How long are you planning on being gone?!" her mother exclaimed, tea was still almost half the day away.
"Uh, well…" Colleen stuttered, "I meant that I would be back in time for it so no need to fret." Colleen slipped out the door before another word could leave her mother's mouth.
The only thing that kept her from sprinting to the dock was the fact that she was wearing painful shoes. Her home was located on the outskirts of Cardiff and she had spent many hours just playing in the fields of the Killigrew estate. The Killigrews were situated all over Wales' coast line, Colleen just happened to be born into the part of the family that lived here. She had many cousins in the area including Bea and Enid.
Colleen finally made it into town and to the tavern that Gabriel had asked her to meet him at. Once inside she found a seat in the back and waited for him to show up. She was very self-conscious about her appearance, a fairly wealthy girl, in a fairly lowly tavern. She had to chase away several men before Gabriel finally showed up.
"Colleen!" he said upon seeing her.
"Gabriel!" she called back standing. "I was beginning to worry that I'd missed you!"
"No, you're right on time." He reassured her. "Come, this isn't where I wanted to take you."
He then ushered her out of the tavern and through the streets of Cardiff until he came to a small house wedged in between two larger ones. It was made of dark weathered wood and the panes of glass were waved. Gabriel led her to the front door and knocked three times.
"Gabriel, is this--?" Colleen whispered. In all the years she'd known him, never had Colleen seen Gabriel's home or met his family.
"My house? Yes." He replied just before an elderly woman still in her nightgown answered the door. She had a round face and spectacles on top of her head and night cap.
"Who's there?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"It's me Grandma, Gabriel." Gabriel replied softly.
"Why can't I see you?" the old woman asked. Gabriel sighed and reached forward bringing the spectacles onto his grandmother's eyes. "Oh! There you are!" she cried with delight. "And who is this?" the old woman asked catching sight of Colleen.
"This, Grandmother," Gabriel said, pulling Colleen forward by her elbow. "Is my best friend, Colleen Killigrew."
The old woman stared knowingly at her and then turned to wink at Gabriel before letting them both in.
Colleen was introduced to Gabriel's two sisters, and brother and to his father, his mother had passed away several years ago, which was what had caused them to move to Cardiff, that and their grandmother's failing eyesight.
After a few hours of talking and a brief lunch, Gabriel said it was time for him to go to the docks. He said tearful good-bye to his family and then he and Colleen left his house and walked to the docks, hand in hand.
"You know I was beginning to think they didn't exist with how you never introduced me…" Colleen said jokingly.
"I'm sorry, it just never seemed like the right time to me." He replied.
There was a comfortable silence until they reached the dock where many farewells were being said. When Gabriel turned to Colleen and said:
"Now I'd offer to walk you home, but you probably wouldn't accept it."
"No, I want to see you off proper." She replied.
"Colleen," Gabriel said, and licked his lips hesitantly, he moved them to a bench outside of a store and took her hands in his own. "I'd, I-I-I want, I'd like to tell you something."
"Yes?"
"Colleen, I…" He sighed, looked at his feet, looked back at Colleen, then looked at the sky and sighed again, then looked back to Colleen. "I love you."
"What?" Was all Colleen could manage to say.
"I love you." He said again, more confidently this time, "I didn't want to leave without telling you… since there is a chance I may never come back."
"Oh Gabriel…" Colleen sighed, "You're so down-right pessimistic!" Then she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.
When she finished she leaned back a little and Gabriel smiled into her eyes and pulled her back in again, kissing her harder this time, more passionate, and less appropriately for the public setting they were in.
"I love you too." She whispered when he pulled away again.
They both stood and walked toward the dock knowing Gabriel had to leave. He signed his name onto the crew's book and then turned back to Colleen again before boarding.
"Here," He said simply, pushing a letter into Colleen's hands, his forehead was resting on hers. "something to read if you ever miss me. I'll write to tell you of my adventures and send them when we make port. Expect the next one in few months."
With that he hugged her and turned pulled away shouldering a sack of clothing and other belongings.
"Wait!" Colleen cried running up to him. Gabriel turned only to have Colleen nearly knock him off his feet, throwing her arms around him and kissing him hard on the lips. He returned the kiss with equal intensity before pulling away again. This time Colleen slipped something into his hand, her gold locket.
Colleen watched his ship leave port, and walked home by herself, grinning like a fool. Gabriel loved her. Nothing for the next few days could put her in a foul mood. Gabriel loved her. And he did send her letters. Over the next year and a half Colleen received parcels from Gabriel, often a dozen letters or so, plus a little trinket from the port they'd gone to. The parcel's stopped around the same time Colleen began sailing on the Pendennis, she'd taken her favorite of the letters with her and left the rest at home. But now, she wasn't so sure that Gabriel did in fact love her, it certainly didn't seem that way. The only two possible explanations were, he was dead, or he had found another girl. Both of which meant she should move on.
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The stars above them swayed with the rock of the ship and Colleen's gaze passed from them to the lights on the decks of the other ships. Her gaze lingered on the Fortune, and she found herself thinking of this most recent voyage, and the friends she'd made on it, as well as how little she'd seen of Kidd's crew.
'I should ask him,' she thought, 'what fate Gabriel had… it might finally give me some closure.'
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Meanwhile on board the Adventure Galleon, the trappings of treachery were being put into place. The East India Trading Company had told Kidd to sabotage the mission, to kill as many of the pirates as possible, to take out as many ships, not to let the Pirate Lord of the North China Sea get to the Brethren Court, and most importantly, to tell them where the Brethren Court was being held. And Kidd was about to begin to meet his end of the bargain.
Captain William Kidd added the finishing touched to the letter to his wife and sealed it, intending to post it upon landfall. Then he headed out on deck where all of his crewmen were currently assembled.
Robert Lamley, Kidd's first-mate stepped forward and said, "The crew is ready when you are Captain." He was a young man, older than Gabriel, but not by much. He had shoulder length curly brown hair that was frequently tied back in a typical stylish ponytail. He was tall, taller than Kidd, with brown eyes, and a friendly attitude. Although he was a stickler for order, being a failed military officer, and could be forceful when he so desired.
"Thank you Mr. Lamley." The Captain said, "Tonight boys, we must do what is necessary, even though it may not be what we want… Alright everyone, to the longboats, we attack the Pendennis. First, sneak aboard with grappling hooks through the gun ports to keep the watch from seeing us. Once inside, set fire to as much of it as you can, and if possible, rig the powder magazine. Give no regard for the fact that they're women, they would most likely do the same to us given our situation."
"But what if they wouldn't?" a man named Starkey remarked.
"Well, we can't afford to think like that…" Kidd replied after a while. No one's heart was in this mission, not even the Captain's and everyone could tell. Something about killing these people, their people, was wrong, even given they're predicament.
Finally the crew was underway, laying low, and hardly rowing the longboats so as to not create any noise or waves. They were trying to be as stealthy as possible to steal onto a ship that was little more than a sloop.
Gabriel peered guiltily at the ship, as if the beautiful figure head was blaming him, sensing the imminent danger it was in, sensing its very-near doom, sensing that he was betraying the very person he loved most in the world. He had never felt so frightened or cowardly in his life, and he didn't know why. Gabriel had once been very brave, courageous, and daring, or at least pretended to be. But in the last few years he seemed to have grown overly cautious, and then over time cowardly. Even just thinking of Colleen, and what she would think of him now shamed and terrified him.
Perhaps it had been the military training he'd received during his short stay upon a navy vessel that had broken his spirit. He had once thought that the navy would prepare him to become a leader, and a man worthy of wedding one of the Killigrews. Instead it had broken him in to a life of abuse, strict rules, and the fear of the shame of being named a coward even though you really are. Somewhere inside him Gabriel still could feel his true nature lurking beneath the surface, but the haunting memory of his first lashing had scarred him and made it clear that the navy didn't want leaders, they wanted pawns. So that was what Gabriel had become in order to stay alive, and it shamed him. Now he would take an order, no matter how much he didn't agree with it, and see in out until the needs of his commander were met.
'I've lost all chance of ever being with her…' he thought as the long boats drifted closer to the ship, 'she's probably forgotten about me anyway. Oh well, it's for the better I supposed, I wouldn't want me the way I am now.'
The crew of the Adventure Galleon pulled up alongside the ship and they threw grappling hooks into the gun ports and began to pull themselves up and in. Once inside the crew broke into groups each set to different tasks, several went to stealing provisions off the ship and stuffing them into bags to bring back to the longboats. Others went farther below deck into the powder magazine and began to set a charge to blow. A few others began to see to it that a good fire was being prepared.
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On board the Fortune Thomas Diggles walked on deck. Leaning out over the railing his gaze turned to the Pendennis, he was about to turn away and go back under when he realized something was wrong. There were longboats alongside the ship and people were climbing in through the gun ports.
"That can't be right." He muttered and he went up to Corner who was manning the helm. "Can I use the spy-glass?" he asked urgently.
"May I, Thomas, may I use the spy-glass." Corner said not even looking at him.
"MAY I use the spy-glass, Corner?"
"I dunno Thomas why do you need it?" The man drawled.
"Just give it to me you yellow-livered dog, this is important!"
Corner had never seen Thomas get that agitated so he handed over the spy-glass and Thomas turned back to the Pendennis. Through it he saw things that were not good. Men were throwing bags into the longboats, and several were carrying torches on the way up. Before he knew it he could see smoke coming from the gun ports. He dashed into the Captain's Quarters and immediately wished he hadn't.
"THOMAS!!" Anne raged, before chasing the boy on deck wielding a fire-poker and clad in a sheet.
"I'm sorry, Captain! It's just the Pendennis! It's under attack!" he said between hits.
Jack stormed on deck in his unbuttoned trousers a minute later and grabbed the spy-glass from Thomas.
"Mother and child…" he whispered, "The boy's right Anne!"
By this time the entire crew had assembled on deck to investigate the screeching noise they'd all heard. But were only greeted by angry orders to fire off a cannon in the direction of the Pendennis in an attempt to wake the women of the crew up. As the shot rang off the men of the longboats were alerted as well, and set to work faster. They dropped their torches in the nearest place that would catch and then bolted for their escape.
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Colleen woke with a start, a loud cannon shot had woken her from the alcohol induced slumber. Bea and Hannah were stirring next to her as well. Looking down over the rail of the crow's nest she saw something that made her heart stop. Smoke billowing from the gun ports. Colleen immediately started screaming at the top of her lungs for everyone to wake up. She flew down the rigging and into the Captain's quarters.
"Captain!" she screamed, "Wake up! Someone's set fire to the ship!"
Captain Killigrew was awake in an instant. "Quick, Colleen! Wake everyone up! Prepare the longboats; grab anything we will need, leave anything else. On the double girl, on the double!"
Colleen raced through the ship waking everyone and telling them to grab their weapons and make for the longboats. Some woke more easily than others, but eventually Colleen made it to her own bunk and grabbed her collection of weapons and quickly opened her sea-chest, she grabbed her letters from Gabriel stuffed them in her vest pocket, and her jewelry in the other, leaving her extra clothes and items behind. She hurried back to the stairs several panes of glass from lanterns shattering in her face due to the intense heat of the fire now billowing around her. She made it on deck just as the second longboat was being prepared to lower and she clambered in quickly, with everyone inside shouting at her to hurry. Once in the water the two boats made for the other ships who were also alerted by the cannon fire.
Colleen's boat made for the Fortune and the crew was greeted on board by cups of water, warm blankets and words of concern and encouragement. At least they were all alive.
Colleen clambered on board and looked around almost helplessly, in about thirty seconds she had lost the one place she could ever really call home. Looking back to the ship it was almost completely engulfed in flames now, then the fire hit the powder magazine and there was a loud boom as the ship's hull was blow to ruins. Colleen flinched at this and stood staring at the broken fire-eaten wreck now about to sink to the bottom of the Atlantic.
Suddenly Colleen felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Thomas looking at her sorrow etched onto his face. Colleen's tears finally escaped her eyes and she threw herself into his arms, Thomas looked surprised and tried to calm the crying girl down.
Captain Rackham was already making after the ship and crew responsible for the treachery. "Full canvas! All hands prepare to fire on the Adventure Galleon, she can't outrun us. Be prepared to board and take prisoners. If anyone resists, kill them immediately!"
Several cannons were fired in the direction of the Adventure Galleon which was now trying to make its get away. However Colleen only had eyes for the burning mass of wood that had once been her ship. The main mast had snapped and fallen into the dark waters surrounding it; already she could see it was taking on water at the stern. Perhaps that was from the powder magazine blowing a hole in the hull. But that was not the problem, because slowly ever so slowly at first, the ship began to slip under the waves, then in picked up speed until the burned wood snapped and cracked in two. The bow of the ship lingered afloat for a moment, the bow sprit staring into the heavens one last time before gliding beneath the waves. The only traces of their gallant ship left were the burning scraps of flotsam where the Pendennis had once proudly sailed.
Colleen felt her tears hot on her cheeks again and a sense of vengeance curl in her belly, as a blanket wrapped itself around her shoulders and a mug of spiced rum was pressed into her hands. The Killigrews were ushered to the galley of the ship and were told to let the crew of the Fortune, and the other crews take on Kidd, after all, they'd had a trying night already.
The Fortune, Black Dragon, and the Queen Anne's Revenge had the Adventure Galleon out-manned, out-gunned, and out-run in a matter of minutes. Yet the crew still put up a fight, knowing that their ship was shallower in draft and land was close by. In an attempt to lose the other ships they sailed a little too close to shore and ran aground along a reef. Rackham and the other captains were forced to send out long boats to rescue the drowning mutineers. Most of the crew had been killed, only seven of the twenty-three man crew made it into the brig of the Fortune.
When the crew was dragged on board they stood and faced the people they had betrayed most fiercely. Colleen stood with Bea, Enid, and Gert, the others of the Pendennis had rowed to the Black Dragon. So the four were forced to face the betrayers alone, and almost uninhibited.
Captain Kidd had survived, and he was the first to be paraded to the brig, then two other men Van der Heul the Dutchman, and Owens an Englishman, first mate Robert Lamley, came next, along with Barleycorn and Starkey. One of the last men to be dragged from the sea was Gabriel Loffe. When he was pulled up from the long boat and onto the deck he stumbled and hit the deck face first. Upon kneeling he locked eyes with none other than Colleen. Gabriel's expression went to sheer agony upon seeing her, but Colleen's went from a brief moment of joy at seeing him, then to a horrible second of realization and pain, then finally to utter hatred.
Colleen lunged forward with an inhuman cry of rage. She dragged Gabriel to his feet and punched him back down, then flew at him again beating him, clawing at him, kicking him, anything that could express the feeling that was tearing at her heart at the moment. All the time swearing at him in Welsh. If it hadn't been for several crew members of the Fortune pulling her back she may have killed him then and there.
"Colleen, wait!" they said to her, "We're bringing them to the Brethren Court for trial! You'll have your justice I promise you!"
She stared at him through wild eyes, as he struggled to stand. His lip was bleeding and one eye was beginning to show signs of a bruise. His cheek was also swollen from her punches. All he could manage to gasp before being led below deck was:
"I'm sorry."
Colleen then straightened and brushed herself off. When she turned back to the crews they had a look of sheer shock on their faces.
"Colleen, was that--?" Bea started.
"Gabriel Loffe." She replied curtly, "The cur who claimed to love me…"
A/N: Taa daaaaa! Hope you enjoyed it. It took me a while to figure out how to make this chapter longer when I was writing it, cause I was done and it was much shorter than the others, so I threw in the flashback.
Next Chapter: Doldrums, and what's this? More treachery! Oh no!