Desperately Seeking Sally
Chapter Nine"Captain, you continue to amaze me. Sally, your Majesty. This is a momentous meeting indeed." Catbeard said as we all stood aboard the Catspaw. "Your majesty, I am overwhelmed to meet you at last. I see my plan…"
"It was MY plan!" Napoleguin said.
"The plan worked perfectly. Meow, I love it when a plan comes together, don't you know. Nothing left to do but collect my fee! Well, there's a little to do." Catbeard said.
"Captain, go return fair Mabel to her father, Governor Stanley. I'm sure there will be a reward. I certainly can't go, I'm far too infamous!"
"I'm to… go free? My spirit is hardened to endure years of peril and hardship among a gang of pirates! Is it not to be?" Mabel asked as she stood aboard the quarterdeck, and we shook our heads. "Oh. Thank goodness. I'm saved."
"Once you're free of our shrieking violet, take Sally and our prize to Gortez. I hope we meet again, Matthew – you're a fine pirate indeed!"
Just as I was about to step onto the gangway in between our two ships, I stopped. "What about the war between Marleybone and Valencia?"
"I wouldn't worry. Nothing but a brief spat, I'm sure. Marleybone will prevail: Her Majesty's Navy is more than a match for a bunch of toy soldiers." Catbeard said dismissively. I turned my head back to the Aquila, and a few minutes later, we sailed out of Catbeard's lair.
An hour later, we were in the governor's office, where Governor Stanley warmly embraced his daughter. "What a ray of light in these dark days! Rescuing my daughter from the Armada cannot have been easy. Captain, you have my eternal gratitude."
"Oh gallant captain! I shall never forget your boldness – I shall write a gripping account in my diary. Please, tell me you'll return someday…" Mabel said.
"That's enough, dear." Governor Stanley interrupted. "One final matter, captain: I fear the Brass Monkey has escaped from Fort Elena. Do be careful: he may want revenge."
Before we left for Tradewinds Skyway, Rena and I said goodbye to Uncle Haytham and Ms. Raden, and they hugged the both of us at the door of my uncle's house.
"I wish you could stay, but…" Ms. Raden said. "Well, I know you'll both be fine. Good luck to the both of you."
"Goodbye, Matthew. Your parents would've been proud of you." Uncle Haytham said as he shook my hand.
"Thank you, uncle." I said as we both left. After we had left the docks of Port Regal, we sailed east to where Gortez's ship, the Gold Monkey was waiting for us.
"Captain, I knew you would succeed. Your majesty, we meet at last. I am honored by your presence." Gortez said as we stood aboard the quarterdeck of the Gold Monkey.
"You are indeed." Napoleguin said, slowly nodding. Then he turned to look up at me. "Captain, a word: I owe you my freedom. Napoleguin does not forget – if ever I can do you a favor, say the word and it is done."
"Actually, there is one thing you could do for me." I said as I gestured to William and Gwendolyn. "My friend here needs a boat."
Napoleguin
So I guess Napoleguin wasn't so bad after all. A few minutes later aboard the Aquila, I and my trusted associates sat with Mustang Sally at the table in my quarters.
"My father sent you? That is not possible – he is dead." Mustang Sally said as her eyes fell upon her father's signet ring on my left ring finger, and her eyes widened. "Wait – that's my father's ring! I had given up hope. Take me back to Santo Pollo!"
As we neared the Stormgate to Cool Ranch in Flotsam Skyway, I pressed the Windstone in the center of the pilot's wheel, and the Aquila was surrounded by a transparent force field that protected the ship from the winds of the Stormgate.
But even with the Windstone's protection, Stormgates presented difficult circumstances for a sailor to work in, so a sailor's first time on the top deck in a Stormgate was like an initiation rite
Rena issued orders for tacking to the men, while I constantly adjusted the Aquila according to the winds. As we reached the bottom of the Stormgate, we all tied ourselves to the Aquila, and she leaned forward as we entered, so that the deck was nearly vertical while the winds howled in our ears.
My eyes were closed and my heart was beating rapidly, as if it were trying to achieve a lifetime's worth of heartbeats before what could be the end, but then the Aquila suddenly righted herself.
As I opened my eyes, it was as if we were traveling through a dark tunnel illuminated by the light at the end and the sky blue auroras streaking past us.
As we neared the light at the end and entered the Stormgate on the other side, the deck went almost vertical again as the wind howled in our ears, but then the Aquila righted herself, and as we were out of reach of the Stormgate, I breathed a sigh of relief.
As we drew closer to Cooper's Roost, a town built atop flat plateaus, our gunnery officers, David and Richard Clutterbuck opened the bulkhead doors at the base of the main mast, and the men poured out from below decks to resume their posts.
We sailed northeast to Santo Pollo Skyway, where we made port in the docks of Santo Pollo. We couldn't get to the De La Vega Manor fast enough, where Don Rodrigo stood in front of the fountain in the center of the courtyard.
"Welcome back to Santo Pollo, my friends, to what do I owe this unexpected…" Don Rodrigo said, falling flat as he caught sight of Mustang Sally, who had stepped forward. "Carolina? Is that you? How can this be?"
"Rodrigo, you have not changed at all. I have become a pirate, like our friends here." Mustang Sally said as she gestured to us.
"I tried so hard to find you. Why have you come back now?" Don Rodrigo asked as Mustang Sally took his hands in hers. "Listen to me, my love: all our prayers are answered! Our friends here have secured my father's blessing from beyond the grave!"
"This is amazing! So you still wish to be married, my love?" Don Rodrigo asked, and Mustang Sally laughed. "Of course I do!"
"My dear friends, I do not know what to say." Don Rodrigo said, turning to us. "Give me a moment with my bride to be – go tell Friar Cluck that soon he shall marry us!"
We found Friar Cluck standing in front of the church, where he told him about the upcoming wedding between Don Rodrigo and Mustang Sally.
"Don Rodrigo is to be married? This is wonderful! All of Santo Pollo will rejoice at this news!" Friar Cluck said happily. "I must say, I have been expecting you. There is someone who wants very much to talk to you, my friends. You will find him inside."
We nodded as we entered the church, which had been repaired since the Banditoad attack a few weeks ago. It wasn't grand, but it had a certain dignity about it, and near the altar stood the ghost of Don Rafael.
"You have brought me peace, pirates, and I thank you. Now I can help you in your search." Don Rafael said. "I fought many battles against Captain Blood, and finally defeated him. But I never found his lair. This map you seek, I have never seen it."
"In my final battle with the dread pirate, Blood's own crew betrayed him. They sailed with Blood for years – they must know where his lair lies. Sly Winkum was one of the mutineers. He has left his wicked days behind him, and lives in Tumbleweed. Tell him El Toro sent you, and he will help."
"Thank you, sir." I said as Don Rafael's ghost disappeared with a smile. As it was getting dark, we headed back to the Aquila to retire for the night.
The next morning, as the men were heaving forward on the capstan to raise the anchor, Rena was flipping through the pages of Poor Nikolai's Atlas.
As the Aquila's sails were unfurled, we sailed out of Santo Pollo's docks into the skyway, where we entered and passed through Arroyo Grande Skyway to reach Tumbleweed.
After we had made port in left Tumbleweed's docks and entered the town, we could see that the entrance to Tumbleweed had buildings that faced a small enclosed pasture with a few Buffaloon inside, who looked up at us with mouthfuls of grass as we passed by.
We walked up a set of ramps to the main street, where a sign hanging above a saloon's doorway depicted a white rose with pink edges and the words: "The Desert Rose."
We entered the Desert Rose, where a Chicken was wiping a glass at the bar. As the others took seats at the tables, I sat down at the bar. "I'll have blue Yum please."
The bartender poured the drink from the tap connected to a barrel into the glass, and he slid it down the counter to me.
"So what can you tell me about Sly Winkum?" I asked after the first sip.
"Sly Winkum's in the back room, through there." The bartender said as he pointed to another door. I nodded as I downed my drink in one gulp before leaving some money on the counter. Gesturing to the others, we opened the door.
The back room had several card tables and chairs scattered about, and on the red rug in the center of the room was a gray Weasel in a brown suit being threatened by a Goat with dark gray hair wearing a black suit with the jacket open over a green waistcoat, and two revolvers at his sides.
The Goat wasn't alone, as he had two Mustangs dressed like cowboys wearing green scarves and wielding two daggers each at his sides. "Old Man Bronco's got a message for you, weasel: you dirt farmers better learn your place and do as you're told, or else."
"Listen, we don't want any trouble. I don't know how affairs have reached such a bad state…" The Weasel began, but the Goat cut him off. "Bad? You haven't seen anything yet."
The Goat then finally caught sight of us standing near the door. "Hey! Now who's this? Oh, I see… you thought you could ambush the Waco Kid? It's time to pay the piper. Boys, show them what happens when you mess with the Wild Bunch!"
"I was just leaving…" The Weasel said as he backed away. As the Mustangs drew their arms back, Rena got to them first, and she knocked the daggers out of their hands with her strikers.
Jack stepped in front of us as the Mustangs charged with their daggers, and as they thrust forward, he grabbed their hands and twisted the daggers out of their grip, sending stumbling right into our guns.
An electrical burst narrowly missed my head, and I quickly drew a pistol and fired back at the Waco Kid, who dodged it and ducked behind an upturned card table.
I grabbed a deck of playing cards nearby, and as the Waco Kid popped out from his hiding place, I threw them at his face, scattering them and momentarily blocking his view.
Bonnie seized her chance and aimed her Scaramanga, blasting through a card, and we heard a thud on the wooden floor as the Waco Kid fell.
"Nice shot, Bonnie." I said as I picked up the blasted-through card and showed it to her, an ace of spades, but the black spade in the center of the card had a burning hole through it.
Turning my attentions back to the Weasel, who was leaning against the wall casually, I said: "I'm Matthew Exeter, and these are my trusted associates. El Toro told us you could…"
"El Toro sent you? Whoa! Sure, I'll talk to you. Just keep your voice down." Sly Winkum said as he pulled up a chair on an untouched card table.