Chapter 56 – On Patrol
August 3, 1660

The next morning I let Evelyn sleep as I dressed and left in the pre-dawn light. More than one member of the crew was still asleep on the deck, empty bottles giving evidence to the partying that had been done now that the crew had time after replacing the mast. A few seemed to be just starting to rouse from their collective stupor as I passed, but not enough to rise or acknowledge my presence.

I quickly made my way out to the worksite on the far edge of town where the men were constructing the brothel away from the governor's mansion and closer to where the tavern was situated. The site's foreman and his crew were already on site when I arrived and were maneuvering a large beam into place. The roof looked mostly done, a few beams left to put in place while the walls and floor were already set and just needing finishing to make it easy to see how big it was really going to be and was almost as big as the mansion the governor himself lived in, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as fancy. Instead, it would feature a bevy of rooms for the girls along with a large common area where they could meet potential customers and setup their 'dates.'

"Milord," the foreman said as I approached.

"Seems like it's coming along nicely," I said as I looked it over.

"A day more to finalize the beams and then we can begin finishing it out," he said as he turned to the workers. "I make it two weeks or so, weather willing."

"My girls are anxious to have real beds again," I told him as I shuffled on my feet, knowing the longer I stayed the more likely we were to be late by my own reckoning. "But, I just wanted to check before I left to attack shipping in Nevis."

"All we have left is to finish the roof and interior before building their beds," he then informed me with a sly smile. "My men are looking forward to it, quite honestly. There's not but one woman at the tavern and she's...she's not quite the beauty your women are and I'd rather not."

"I can understand that," I said as I held back a chuckle. "Been there myself as I passed through forgotten taverns that held nothing but a woman who was so long past her prime I'd rather go without than partake. I'm probably the better for it."

"Aye," the man said as he turned away as he held back his own chuckle when a man called for the foreman. "If you'll pardon me, milord."

"Good day," I said as he moved off to where he was needed. With the sun gaining altitude in the sky, I turned and left as I headed back to the ship finding it full of life as I finally came in sight. It made me wonder if I was late for our scheduled push off as I hit the bottom of the gangplank when the bell began to sound eight bells.

"Raise the gangplank!" I called as I stepped foot on the ship as the last sound of the bell fell silent. The crew set to work as I made my way to the poop deck and we got underway with Ariel putting us on a southerly course. The wind wasn't the best, but I wasn't worried about making good time because as soon as we were past the breakers Merida had her twenty marines on the foredeck running drills.

"How ye lot expect to survive a boarding if ye cannae reload before Simba be throwin' the grapplin' hook and they be swingin' over and cuttin' yer throat!" Merida shouted at them. "Now, I wanna hear four shots ring out before they reload once! Now, pour! Stamp! Patch! Ball! And ram!"

"You heard her, lads!" Waltham called encouragingly to his men. I personally found it hilarious watching some of the sailors trying to reload as Merida paced behind them. The rest of the newbies were on the gun deck where Shang had them firing the main cannons, but only one cannon was actually being fired to save on powder and shot which they kept up throughout the day.

Life at sea, as always, seemed to grind to a halt when we got underway as Melody kept a constant watch for sails, shoals and reefs and called them out for her mom to steer us around. I spent some time on the poop deck but finally went below to my cabin to read and spend some time out of everyone's eye with Timon in charge of keeping us going.

The day eventually wound down and the sails were stowed for the night as we set ourselves to drift. I had my guitar out on the poop deck where it was slightly cooler and played it softly, mostly to myself and because I so did miss having a radio. The only benefit my current condition had was I was now a professional class guitar player capable of the difficult fingerstyling YouTube creators liked to use for solo covers of legendary songs that not only gave the rhythm and tone, but a bass line and drums making me an effective one-man-band.

I was about to call it a night in the darkness when movement on the deck caught my eye, and not a sailor on the nightwatch keeping an eye out for danger either. Standing to the rail, I waited for the pair to pass near one of the lanterns to find it was Consuela walking with a young sailor arm in arm. Watching the pair in the darkness, I had the brief thought that Consuela was just a hard worker but when they sat on a chest and little happened, had to wonder if maybe the young lad was considering hard making an honest woman out of her.

It just made me smile as I quietly descended the stairs and entered my private cabin and put the guitar away. If she could find happiness and a guy who was willing to buy a used rental car that got more airtime than a one hit wonder in the 90's, more power to him. Hell, I'd even transfer him to the safest part of the ship to better shelter him from harm if he didn't quit the ship to pursue a safer course of work just to keep the two together.

I just wished I could confirm they were interested in each other as I hit the hay myself but didn't want to pry. I didn't want to mess up what she might have so I kept it to myself as a new day started and we began patrolling the area southwest of Nevis and Saint Kitts. We all waited on bated breath for the call of sails, but as the second day ground into the third, I began to wonder if we'd find anyone at all or if I'd have to go pirate after all.

"Sail ho!" Melody finally called on day four as she pointed out the ship on the horizon. I eyed the ship with my spyglass, but as I handed it off to Timon, had to wonder if we could run the galleon down as it was already noon and the wind were weak today.

"Treasure galleon," he said as he lowered the spyglass and I could almost feel the tension roll off him as he gave a wry chuckle.

"We're better armed and manned this time," I said as he shifted on his feet.

"It's still a warship in all but purpose," he said as he looked to me. "Plus, it has the advantage of being far ahead of us and the day is half over. It'll likely just slip away in the night and tonight will be a moonless night."

"And the clouds will obscure the stars," I mused as I looked at the partly cloudy sky overhead and the ship turned due west to better catch the limited wind. "But, if we catch it, we'll have the weather gauge on it."

"It'd be a good target to take," Jasmine said as she joined us in the conversation. "They do supposedly have treasures aboard, even if only in trade goods."

"And protected by as many cannons as we have," Timon countered as he turned slightly to regard her.

"We cannot stand back and take only that which is easy," Jasmine told him as the two started off on a debate. "We are a warship with a large and capable crew. Let's use them."

"It's what we are," I said as Jasmine looked ready to rip Timon a new one for cowardice, but I could understand where it came from and not blame him for it. Few were the people who could walk into battle unafraid, and they were usually insane to start with. "Ariel, head northwest. We'll start running him down and see if we can keep up with him through the night."

That got a cheer from the crew as the ship was turned to pursue, but Timon was clearly not thrilled with the prospect of chasing a treasure galleon down. Still, as the day wore on and we fell in behind the galleon as she made a run for it, I couldn't help but feel as if he were right on one thing. Come dark, they'd snuff out their lamps and turn from their course but there were a few things they weren't counting on us having.

First, I could, and did, have the ability to drive in the dark without using my headlights. It made driving at night murder when people tended to use super powerful halogen bulbs that tended to blind me if I didn't adjust my mirrors to not bounce that light back into my face. As a consequence, I lost the ability to see what was around me but on the plus side that's what the convex mirrors were for; to see what was close to me without direct light hitting my eyes. I figured if I got it dark enough myself, I could follow the ship if it turned.

More importantly we had was Mirazh who was a powerful magic user who could also see many things, past or present even if she only did it so she could mess with people and their futures. The question I had, mainly because of her 'rules' she said she had to follow, was could she help me find the ship if it proved impossible for me to see because I was going to have to do this at a distance I wasn't used to seeing. It prompted me to seek her out, finding her standing on the bowsprit just under the innerjib as if she were already anticipating my request.

"Can you see them if they turn out their lights?" I asked her as I moved to stand behind her.

"I can," she said in an even tone without turning back to me. "They will try to lose you tonight, but you know that."

"No moon and only stars to give evidence to their outline," I said as I shook my head. "Once it gets full dark, they need only douse their lanterns and turn the wheel to lose us."

"And yet you come to me seeking help," she said as she finally turned back to me. "For what you can do yourself?"

"To see as you see?" I asked and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know if you will ever be able to see all I see, but I can help you see more than most," she finally told me as she looked to the fleeing ship. "It should be enough to track that ship in the darkness. See it in the distance now? See them snuffing their lights to ready for their turn?"

"I do, barely," I confirmed as I looked at the ship. "Mostly because the last lights are not yet extinguished."

"And now?" she asked as the last lights went out and the ship melted into the dark sky.

"Nothing," I said with a sigh.

"Look beyond what you see," she told me and I stifled a laugh. "Something funny?"

"My dad often said something like that," I admitted as I tried to follow her advice through unfocusing my vision and seeing everything. "He could see deer I couldn't and would often point them out to me on our travels and, I admit, I often thought he was just making it up."

"The Sight was strong in him," she said as I thought I saw something in the darkness.

"I finally figured out what he was saying later but all I ever could really see that others couldn't was through rain no matter how hard it hit the win…" I said then realized what I was about to tell her and stopped before telling her something that wasn't easily explained away. I instead cast my eyes to the darkness and tried to see beyond it to avoid the question undoubtedly brewing in her mind, but it could wait three hundred years.

"Wait," I said as I thought I saw an outline of the ship and its sails ahead as things began to brighten a bit like turning the gamma up on a game. "I think I see it."

"Good," she said as she turned back to me with a catty smile. "They'll likely wait some before turning, giving hope to the scared among them."

"Too bad they're not in range of the long nines," I said as I looked back over to the galleon and had an idea. "Timon, douse the lights and tell the crew we're going to be sailing the ship throughout the night. I've an idea that might work to sneak us a lot closer."

"Aye sir," he said as he turned and had the lights snuffed out.

In the darkness that followed, I knew it was now a cat-and-mouse game as we gave chase to the treasure galleon. After a few hours, they did indeed turn off of due west for due north. Since they didn't seem to be able to see us either in the darkness, I had Ariel turn us northwest, cutting out the dog's leg and bringing us in well within range of the long nines. If it were still day, I'd have Shang and Mulan open up while Merida would be having her marines engage in target practice but for now I had the ship stay quiet as we tucked right in behind them by about a half mile.

After a few hours, they turned back west and I had Ariel follow it. We were about dead even for speed, Timon staying on top of the sails personally so that as light began to crack over the horizon and reveal to the enemy ship we were within pouncing range as I called every man to his post. Mulan and Shang let loose with the chasers as Merida's marines began to shoot sailors out of the rigging. With all hands called to post, Timon finally set the last of the sails and Ariel eventually brought us out of their wake and we let loose our first broadside.

"Again!" I called as they let loose a few cannons but we weren't far enough forward for their shot to reach us. Merida's marines kept up their volley fire and sailors dropped and jerked all over the galleon before the cannons opened up again and ripped the railing into pieces to send splinters all over the deck.

"They're striking their colors!" a sailor shouted as the smoke began to clear from the Queen to reveal that they were indeed pulling down the Spanish flag from the mainmast.

"Your a devil!" the Spanish captain said as I stepped aboard his ship. "To track us on a moonless night? Such a thing is not possible."

"Like it was even hard?" I scoffed as my crew rounded his up against the railing and began fleecing them. "It was why I doused my own lamps so I could better see in the dark, not hide from you. I've been behind you all night long and after your first turn could have taken you at any time. I just wanted to let my crew get some sleep."

He then said something that sounded vile before joining his own crew, many of them lightly injured, at the rail but the number of sailors going over what was left of the railing required three longboats. Merida had her marines stationed along the rails to prevent them from coming back and prompt them to row for it. I watched them go for a moment, the boat with the Spanish captain in the lead, then turned to my crew.

"Merida, transfer all the muskets to the Queen for your marines," I told her to get a nod.

"We keeping it?" Jasmine asked me as I headed aft for the captain's cabin.

"Why not?" I told her as I entered through the door with her right behind me. "She's likely carrying luxury goods bound for Spain which will mean a hefty profit for us plus, it is a treasure galleon. The sheer amount of cargo this ship can carry makes it worth it."

"So, who's in charge?" Jasmine then asked me.

"You, if you want," I said as I found the ship's log but I couldn't read it since it was all in Spanish and handed it to Jasmine. "Any idea what the cargo is?"

"Cocoa beans, and sugar with some gold and silver," Jasmine then said as she looked through the log herself, her face scrunched up as she read the thin ink marks. "They were headed for Gibraltar...flota del tesoro? They decided not to wait for the treasure fleet to arrive."

"Their loss, our gain," I said ruefully then had a though. "Does it say when they were due to arrive?"

"Soon," she said as she shrugged her shoulders. "They are overdue."

"Could be ahead of us," I mused then, as if I could almost see through the walls, had an idea. "Could be weeks out. Crossing the Atlantic is not easy."

"The way our ship pitched I was almost always afraid of it sinking," Jasmine said as she shuddered. "Of course, it could be I'm no longer in a crate but it's no longer terrifying."

"Might as well gather some men and ready this ship to sail," I said as I shook my head as she handed the log back to me. "Make it an even twenty."

"Aye, captain," Jasmine said with a nod as she turned and left to leave me alone in the captain's cabin as she sought out her crew. There was little of interest to me, the books were in Spanish as were their charts, but I did find a couple things to take with me.

The first thing I found was sitting on a drawer in the captain's cabin and consisted of two ornately painted clamshells, which I at first took as being entirely decorative. It was only in handling them, my mind on giving them to Melody or Ariel, that I heard their distinctive clack and realized they were those things Spanish dancers used and didn't realize they traced their origins so far back, but I still didn't know what to call them beyond clackers.

The second item was hanging on the captain's wall and was something I almost took for a thermometer due to its long tube-like design but the fact that it had a brass plate at the top with words made me rethink that designation. I finally realized it was a barometer after reading the Spanish word off the top, barómetro, and recognized it for what it was. I had the crew remove it from the wall and move it to my own quarters with the quiet promise that I'd have Jasmine translate the words and find someone to remake the brass plate in English so I could better know when storms would come.

"Ship is yours, Jasmine," I said as I approached the Arabic beauty who stood with her crew, all of whom were sailors first and foremost with her and Aladdin in setting the sails on the mizzenmast and not cannoneers. With noon almost upon us, and not exactly sure of where we were, I headed us north and sat on the quarterdeck with the sextant ready to mark noon.

"Land ho!" Melody called at around seven bells with the sun high in the sky. Looking at the map, I figured we had to be back around Neverland, if further west than the pirate hangout. Looking up at the pennants, I frowned at seeing the westerly bound wind because it meant we wouldn't be able to sail for port, or even back to our patrol route.

"Ariel, steer us west," I said as I looked at the map and figured that my best course might be to round the island and wait for the wind to change while also keeping an eye out for Spanish vessels coming from San Juan.

"Noon!" I called to have Timon flip the timekeeper and prompt a changing of the watch. I sat and worked out the particulars, finding we were on the bottom of the Virgin Islands and soon reaching the southwest corner.

"We be headin' to San Juan?" Merida asked as she looked at the map and where I had marked our position.

"Captain's probably thinking of circling the island waiting on a better wind to take us back towards Nevis," Timon told her as he took an interest.

"Right," I told him with a shake of my head. "We could continue heading west or turn south, but if the winds continue to blow north by northeast or turn more northerly, we'll be slow returning to Nevis as we'll have to tack to make sail. This way, we can keep some speed as we circle the island and if the winds continue to turn unfavorably, it won't matter. If they turn back to westerly, we can cut south at the other end of the island and resume our patrol. If not, we can continue on for Saint Martin and sell the galleon before tacking south with just the one ship."

"Captain has a plan," Shang said as he seemed to smirk behind his stoic expression.

"Sail!" Melody called above us. I pulled out the spyglass and went to the starboard railing to look it over as it proceeded on a northeasterly course across our path.

"British," I said as I handed the spyglass off to Timon. "And small."

"A brigantine, I think," he said as he lowered the spyglass and shook his head. "Likely pirate hunting if not harassing the Spanish."

"Shouldn't be a problem to catch," I said as I looked to see we we were now running with the wind coming across our sails and they'd be heading into the wind.

"It will be when we turn to run them down," he said as he looked to the pennants to judge the wind for himself. "She can run closer to the irons than we can, and she's got the lead."

"Damn," I cursed as I looked to the ship and saw their play in my mind. All they had to do was clear our cannons to run into the wind to be safe. I couldn't even try to cut them off as the island was in the way, at least for the moment, and they were already unfurling more sail to try to flee.

"Shang!" I called as Timon began to shout orders for the sails to be trimmed as we began to make our own run. "Run out the starboard cannon! Round shot! We're only going to get one chance to take out their rudder!"

"Aye," he said as he said something to Mulan before going below. Mulan shouted for the cannoneers to begin loading up and a look over the side showed Shang had the cannoneers on the gun deck raising the gun ports as ramrods began to plunge cannonballs and powder into place.

"They be too far for muskets," Merida said as she looked to her marines in a group on the foredeck and out of the way. "Even I donnae have a shot."

"I just hope they're in range of the cannons," I sighed as I looked at the nearing ship. "Our shot could land short."

"It be too far to hit their mast," she then stated flatly which had me nodding in agreement then decided she hadn't heard my orders to Shang and if she had tinnitus already from firing her musket since a young age. It often plagued me and that was just from listening to diesel engines for forty years.

"We're aiming for the rudder," I told her as we continued to sail on our path, the tension building as we approached. "Easier target to hit and all we have to do is break something in the rudder or the rudder chain to disable it."

"But if they be pointed out to sea, what good is that to us?" she asked to which I smiled. Experience truly was a great teacher.

"I'm betting heavily that they try to turn and dodge our shot or maneuver for better wind to keep themselves out of range," I explained to her. "Best outcome? They turn in circles and we just have to pull alongside and take them. Worst? We miss entirely and they slip away."

"If I had any coin I'd bet we miss entirely," she said with a chuckle as she stood by me to watch the outcome.

"No bet," I said as I gave a chuckle of my own. "But I'd be remiss if I didn't try."

Merida said nothing to that as the moment loomed ever nearer. The cannon were run out, primed and loaded for use, and Mulan and Shang stood ready to fire them off in sequence as their target presented itself and the crew stood on bated breath. With a good mile between our respective ships, the odds were long we'd hit anything but the stern which was a clear and easy target.

Walking the line of cannons, Mulan and Shang began firing the cannons as they aimed each one individually and the crew and I watched the first shots land just short of the ship's stern, water spraying it's nameplate as the ship began to lean as they turned to better catch the wind and flee.

"Hold fire!" I called to Mulan with just four cannons left in the battery. "Ariel, hard-to-port!"

"Aye," she called as she turned the wheel as the last shots from Shang landed far short of the ship. I gave it a few moments, allowing the ship to turn almost fifty degrees before giving my next order.

"Ariel, hard to starboard!" I called as Mulan seemed to catch what I was doing. Ariel quickly spun the wheel and the ship heeled over as Mulan lined up her shots, this time the shot making splinters fly as the last four shots were fired into the brigantine's stern and we began to fall into line.

"Got 'em," I growled as the crew cheered.

"Barely," Merida said as she smirked. "Interestin' way of gaining elevation for the cannon."

"Benefit of experience," I said with a smirk of my own. "Now to see if we did enough damage to matter or if we're going to see them slowly outpace us."

"Takin' bets?"

"Not today," I said with a sigh as the ship continued on its course around the northern part of the island with us in hot pursuit. As time passed, it seemed evident we hadn't disabled the brigantine's rudder as she hugged the shoreline on her easterly course. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't hold the same course as it laid the Queen in irons and her slow plodding pace failed her until I had Ariel turn us more northerly and back out to sea to catch the wind again when something odd happened near sundown.

'What the…?" I said as the ship suddenly heeled over and the bow acted like it was being yanked down before the ship turned towards the shore. "Are they clubhauling?"

"I'd say someone forgot he was holding the anchor under foot," Timon said with a slight chuckle as he looked through the spyglass to the nearly stalled brigantine. When he lowered the spyglass and looked at me, he just shook his head.

"Common tactic of captains sailing in unknown water is to lower the anchor below the keel," he explained to me. "It allows the anchor to find the rock and not the hull."

"Ah," I said as that one scene in Master and Commander where Captain Aubrey Doctor Maturin were playing Mozart's Violin Concerto Number 3 in its third movement and the Surprise was shown to be sailing with the anchor slightly below the keel. "Mulan! Shang! Run out the starboard batteries again; let's send them a polite hello. Timon, prepare to drop the sails. We'll want to stay at their stern."

With my orders given, the crew rushed to carry them out as the other ship was brought to a near standstill as the crew of the brigantine tossed their anchor and chain as they tried to free themselves and resume fleeing. The Queen was able to close the gap where I presented a broadside to their stern as my own ship was brought to a crawl. Merida reminded them of our intentions with a twenty-one gun salute and though their shot fell far short as we inched closer, the many canons pointed in their direction were a clear indicator who the victor in this fight had been.

"They're striking their colors!" my crew shouted as the British battle ensign was lowered and taken down as we drifted closer. I had my crew bring us in cautiously, making sure we didn't bottom out as we approached due to our deeper draft, but soon we were alongside when a longboat began rowing for it.

"Simba! Lower a lifeboat and go after them!" I yelled as I saw the rowboat pull away and continue heading east along the coast. "Merida, you and five men go with him! They're likely trying to flee with their treasure and hide it!"

"Aye!" Simba shouted as the crew set to work on lowering the lifeboat. Merida, Waltham and four more marines were quickly at the front, their muskets at the ready, and Simba filled the rest with strong men who looked ready and eager to row. They were lowered and away before the other longboat had gotten more than a mile away and set off after them.

"Where's the captain?" I asked as I stepped over to the brigantine.

"There," an officer said as he pointed to the fleeing longboat. The young man was dressed in a blue coat with gold fringe I'd expect, but seeing that he appeared in his twenties was a bit of a surprise.

"So, who's in charge?" I said as I tapped a finger on my rapier.

"I am," the officer said as he smirked at me. "Lieutenant Jacob Overley."

"Lieutenant?" I said with a raised eyebrow and the other man sighed and shook his head.

"I was midshipman's mate when we set sail from England," he confessed as he shifted on his feet. "We've had several...setbacks...along the way."

"That I can understand," I said as I turned to regard the ship. It wasn't as big as Hook's brig-of-war, but it held twenty cannons on her main deck but lacked a gun deck and made me wonder how much better it was over a good sloop beside being built for war.

"Shall we toss them over?" Nala said as she approached with her sword drawn.

"No," I said and both crews looked at me. "Not until Simba returns. I won't add to their risk."

"Some risk," the lieutenant said as the sound of musket fire reached us prompting us to turn where I pulled my spyglass to check on Merida and Simba.

"Looks like they went armed," I said to Nala as she seemed to grow nervous. "So they were trying to flee with the treasure."

"Gained from taking pirate ships," the lieutenant then growled out.

"Poor, poor pitiful fools," I said as muskets fired again, but they were too far away to tell what exactly was going on but the repeated and fast fire of muskets was at least an indication that Merida was doing well. It wasn't until they came rowing back with the boat in tow that I got the full story as Jasmine drew her galleon alonside the Queen.

"They were tryin' to get away with this," Merida said as she revealed the chest full of gold doubloons before Waltham threw a shovel up on deck as well. "An' they be havin' shovels."

"They intended to hide their treasure and come back for it once we were gone," Waltham said as he and Simba picked the chest up and another sailor tied ropes to it so it could be lifted.

"Almost worked," the enemy captain said as he sat with what was left of his crew. "But I wasn't bloody fast enough."

"Should have risked your hull and raised your anchor," Timon said snarkily behind me. "I have this ship ready to sail, captain."

"Noted, Timon," I said as I smiled at seeing my crew operate like a well oiled machine as the enemy crew was brought over without needing further orders and forced into the long boat. It took two longboats to get the entire crew off and rowing for it, but this was also a ship of war that was near fully manned and not some merchant vessel that operated on the principle of 'just enough' to pad their pocket.

"Shall we get underway?" Timon asked as we watched the rowboats disappear over the horizon. I looked west to see the sun was already low and shook my head.

"No, we'll stay here for the night," I told him and the crew that had gathered around us. "Tomorrow we'll head for Saint Eustatius where I'll sell both ships to the governor."

"Why not Saint Martin?" Timon then asked me.

"Saint Eustatius has more money," I said as I shook my head. "And more men I might recruit. It also has a booming economy for moving goods that can disperse what's on the galleon along with a greater possibility that a naval officer can gather a crew and put that brigantine to good use."

"I'm almost surprised you aren't going to do so yourself," Jasmine then said to which I sighed.

"It's a tricky thing, asking a person to take a vessel and engage ships in your name," I said as I shook my head. "And I'm not entirely sure of the legalese of it. I'm sure the governor would require whomever I set as captain to have their own Letters of Marque, to ward off any claims of piracy by other nations, then there's the share's of loot to divide when the time comes. You'll have to have great trust in the captain that they don't embezzle your profits and that they can sail. It's not a mark against you, my fine officers, but Merida here might be uniquely qualified to tell you the dangers in being your own captain."

"Not again," she said as all eyes went to her. "Losing the Saucy Mare to a reef is a real low point in me life. All I had to do was trust our captain not to slit me throat in the night and the next day I could have seen the reef clearly and I'd have been captain of me own sloop-of-war."

"And losing almost all of my crew isn't one of my better moments," I said to which Shang momentarily stiffened as if remembering how close it'd been. "And not one I wish on a person."

"I think I can appreciate that," Timon said as he shuffled on his feet.

"It takes a lot to be the captain," Jasmine said as she fingered her sword's handle. "It's much like being king of your own kingdom engaged in endless warfare."

"And so few allies," I told her as I shook my head. "I would say the hardest part is it takes a slightly bloodthirsty person to be a privateer. You have to want to go into battle, to engage the other ship in canon fire. You won't make it always looking for the easy prey."

"Yeah," Timon said with a wry chuckle as he seemed to understand that last part was aimed at him. He was a good sailing master and commander, but he didn't have it in him to engage a ship on his own.

And really, as I looked my officers over as they talked over my words, there were only two I'd see as captains; Jasmine and Shang. Jasmine was bloodthirsty enough if lacking in nautical ability which was Shang's problem as well. It was one reason I kept giving Jasmine her own commands as Shang was more prone to simply follow me in blind loyalty, and he was invaluable as gunnery captain.

"What's that?" Merida asked as she eyed the shoreline. I pulled out the spyglass and looked it over, soon finding a glow on the beach.

"I can't make it out," I said as I lowered the spyglass and handed it off to Merida who looked as well. "Seems to be a campfire."

"Someone we left behind?" Jasmine asked but I shrugged.

"I know one way to find out," I said as I moved through my gaggle of officers, grabbing the map before descending to the maindeck. I made my way down to the berthing deck then aft to where the girls had cordoned off their own area though it was currently open to viewing as the girls were all dressed as they got ready for dinner.

"Captain," Evelyn said as I entered their area. "What brings you down?"

"We're just off the island Neverland was on," I said as I laid out the map on a water barrel to explain the situation. "We're here, and there seems to be a campfire on the beach. Is it possible someone was left behind?"

"The boys," Sil said as she looked at the map and shook her head. "The area was heavily overgrown with trees and brush making lots of small places to hide from the pirates plus it took time to get there from Neverland. I didn't think any were still there, though."

"Curse Hook," Consuela spat as she hung her head.

"They were the masters of hiding, maybe some survived," Evelyn said as she sighed.

"Would any be willing to go with us to maybe bring them back to civilization?" I then asked as they began looking at each other. "There's no one left to provide them food now."

"I don't know if they'd go," Sil then said as she shook her head. "They've always been a bit wild."

"I can understand the captain's desire on this," Angela said as she stepped forward. "I'll go."

"As will I," Sil said as she stepped towards me. "I know most of the hiding spots, as I used to use them."

"Come on," I said as I rolled the map back up. "We've little light left."

I then led Sil and Angela up and had the crew ready a longboat along with four marines, Merida, Simba, Nala and a handful of other sailors getting in with me before rowing for shore. What light we had faded and we had to resort to lanterns and torches as we hit the beach, Simba and Nala taking point as they disappeared into the foliage. We were just about to follow them when we heard a woman's scream. The sound was so unexpected I drew my pistol as Merida and her marines readied their rifles but as we waited for some sort of resolution, I had to rethink my thoughts on if it was only the boys that still ran wild here.

"She ran that way," Simba said as he came back a few minutes later. "Nala is tracking her, but the ground here isn't taking a print and trees have many paths."

"I think I know where she's going," Sil said as she took point and began leading us through the trees. We soon found Nala who was examining a bush for any sign of direction and had her join us before Sil pointed to one in particular down the trail. "In the center of that stand of trees."

"You sure?" Nala asked as she approached it cautiously. At Sil's nod, Nala pulled her sword and cautiously moved the brush aside to have a woman spring out, trying her best to dash down another path and disappear but Simba grabbed her and spun her into Merida.

"Calm down, lass," Merida said as I held up the lantern to get my first look at her, then had to do a double take.

In almost all the stories I'd heard, all the women on this island were of European descent but looking at the woman in the ragged brown dress and swollen belly, I'd swear she was pure brown-skinned Latino which shouldn't exist until I remembered that Latinos were the result of interbreeding between the Spanish and local natives, gaining the looks of the latter with the language of the former.

"Lily?" Angela said as she stepped forward.

"No, please!" she screamed as she struggled against Simba but the dark-skinned man held her firm as she collapsed into tears.

"Poor thing," Sil said as I shook my head. "Why isn't she with her people?"

"The ones Hook would have massacred after that kid cut off his hand?" I said and Sil gave me a look.

"Who told you about that?"

"Evelyn," I said as I inclined my head. "I got curious about what happened to the kids. If Lily was there for it, her people, if they survived, would have fled the island leaving her behind."

"We did often store food here in some of our hiding spots," Sil said as she sighed. "Salt pork, mostly, and hardtack stolen from Hook's ship or the village in case the pirates came."

"Simba," I said as I shook my head. "Let's get her to the longboat. The day's been long enough."

Simba nodded as he swept the pregnant woman off her feet and carried her back to the longboat, our small group stopping long enough to douse the campfire she had been living by though there were no traces of any personal effects outside of a blanket and a bag of food. Lily remained a crying mess throughout the ride back while Simba had to keep a tight hold as she seemed more interested in getting away than her own safety. Angela and Sil tried comforting her but she seemed unconsolable as Timon threw down a rope to assist in climbing back aboard.

"Got a situation for you captain," Timon said as he helped me climb back aboard. I'd no more than got my feet settled than Timon pointed out two men and a woman clapped in irons around the mainmast but I shook my head as I turned back to help Simba get Lily aboard.

"What's with them?" I asked Timon as Simba and Merida wrestled the rope around Lily and tied it off.

"Found them tied up in the hold," Timon then told me. "Had them moved up here for your return, then found reference to them in the log. Apparently they're Spanish pirates without Letters."

"I'll have you know, we HAD Letters," one of them shouted as Timon and I began to haul the line.

"Likely story," I muttered as I grabbed Lily under the armpits and hauled her onto the deck.

"Write the governor in Trinidad!" the other shouted to us. "He doesn't like us but he can at least vouch for us!"

"Someone will," I said as I held the woman close when I felt something wet on my pants leg. Looking down, I realized I had more pressing problems as I scooped the crying woman off her feet.

"What's wrong with her?" the blonde prisoner asked to get a response, in Spanish, from a Latino looking woman in a very revealing outfit who was chained up with them. He looked shocked at her response, but I didn't understand Spanish and didn't care because I didn't have any direct knowledge of what was about to happen but I knew some who did and time was of the essence as I quickly got the woman aboard the Queen and began descending to the berthing deck.

"Evelyn!" I shouted as I bulled into the girl's compartment. "Her water broke!"

"Well she can't have it in here!" Evelyn said as she quickly looked around the small area.

"Gun deck," I said as I turned around and led the way out. Carrying a woman who was full-on into an ugly cry was gathering attention as I climbed back up to the gun deck and angled for the closest cannon. The idea had merit, boys born of such accommodations being called 'son of a gun' as a result, and was quickly caught on by the sailors who began taking control of her arms and legs and hold her in place.

Free of the crying woman as sailors held her into place, I watched as Consuela knelt at the bottom of the cannon and lifted Lily's dress to gauge how far along she was. Taking a peak myself, I realized the time was now as she appeared to already be crowning, getting found probably triggering her labor, but there was little left to do as Consuela talked Lily what was probably her first birth. With so many crew pressing around to watch, I felt obligated, if not constrained, to stay and witness the birth.

"Captain," Consuela said as she pulled the legs free of Lily's birth canal as the baby girl began crying and wrapped her in a small grayish blanket. "Hold her so I can get the cord."

"Alright," I said as I took the small baby, having to kneel as Consuela cut and tied the cord. I expected her to take the baby back at that point, but Consuela instead put her hand inside Lily's birth canal and, as my knee ached from kneeling on the hard wood, was forced to stand if only for my own comfort.

"Here, captain," Evelyn said as she opened the still restrained Lily's dress to expose a tit. Lily looked positively incensed as she caught me holding her baby, but the sailors held her tight. Not sure what she'd do if I had her released, I moved carefully around the sailor holding her leg up and began to carefully place the baby to her breast, allowing it suckle. With her chest heaving, the moment she felt the baby suckling at her breast she seemed to soften as I nodded to my sailors who let go her arms and immediately wrapped them protectively around her baby.

"You're not Hook?" she said, her English words throwing me as I figured her to not know English at all then wondered where she got the idea until I looked down and saw my myself through her eyes. I carried the same basic large build Hook did, along with my scarlet overcoat carrying the same gold embroidery patterns as Monica and Ella had used his own coat for a pattern.

"No," I said as I held up both hands for her to see. "I'm Captain Hunt."

"He defeated Hook and took us away," Evelyn told her as she put a hand on Lily's shoulder. "We're free now. Or as free as we're ever going to be."

"Why don't you explain it to her later," I said as I scooped the freshly minted mother off the canon and into my arms. "I'll take you down to the berthing deck."

Without further word from Lily, I carried her down to the berthing deck to a hammock where Lily and the little one could lie in comfort and away from prying eyes. Evelyn also told me they'd get her cleaned up and in a new dress before I left and ascended back to the maindeck of the Queen, when I was reminded that Timon still had prisoners aboard his brigantine by seeing him standing at the railing. I moved to join him in the darkness, seeing the three lit with a pair of lanterns as they sat with their backs to the mast.

"How'd she do?" Timon asked me quietly.

"She's doing fine," I said as I leaned on the railing to eye the prisoners. The dark haired man in the group raised his head briefly to eye me before lowering his gaze as he seemed to resign himself to his fate. "Anything new from them?"

"Not a word," Timon said simply as he shook his head.

"Well, we can't risk the three on your ship," I said as I made a decision. "You and twenty men might get your throats cut in the middle of the night. Bring them over to the Queen and tell the watch to keep an eye on them tonight. Then get some sleep. We'll set sail in the morning."

"Aye captain," Timon said as he moved to the nearby watchmen and gave him a few brief orders before the two moved to the trio on the brigantine. I wasn't close enough to hear what was said, but the three brightened considerably at being unchained from the mast.

"Captain, I'd like to thank you for…" the dark haired one said and I figured he was the captain of three because he did like to talk a lot.

"You'll be taken to the governor in Saint Eustatius," I told the pair. "As we're Dutch, you'll likely be released unless he has some proof of crimes against the King. If that's so, you're free to join my crew unless you have funds or means to get back to a Spanish port."

"Still, we're grateful," he said as the woman smiled. The three then passed quietly by on their way to the berthing deck and a good night's sleep as Timon came back over.

"Anything else?" he said before giving a wide yawn.

"Get some sleep," I told him with a yawn of my own. "Before we spend another night walking the boards."

Timon laughed as I turned away, but my point was made. He and I were both dead on our feet from the overnight chase and long day but now that it was over, I was glad. I'd netted two ships, one a treasure galleon and the other a brigantine which with our intended destination of Saint Eustatius would net a good amount of gold for their capture.

What stuck with me was the promise of the Spanish treasure fleet's return. I had a good fighting ship and a good crew, both which meant a lot in a full fight, along with good tactics. There was no requirement to engage if I were outnumbered, a strong possibility, but if it were only two or three ships I should be able to take one or two and sink the other. It would definitely make the governor and king happy, making the latter more likely to uphold my patents and claim.

I still couldn't remember hearing of any nobility in the Caribbean, but this was the wild years when ports routinely changed hands as the Spanish lost their grip until only Cuba remained in their custody. I was already seeing that in Aruba as the Dutch took control there, but I wasn't sure what all was supposed to happen versus what was going to happen now that I was here.

Was I changing history?

Was the reason I looked so much like Hook was because he was my ancestor?

Or was I quickly becoming my own grandpa by having children with so many women?

But that's what you get when you marry a widow woman and your dad marries your daughter and the two have a kid together. Pure craziness.