The stench of the brig on any ship was always horrible, but here in the darkness of Blackbeard's ship, it reeked of death and decay in a far worse way. Emma was happy that she'd worn a scarf along with her cloak, now using the fabric to cover her face, warding off the smell.
"How long do you suppose we'll be here?" Clair's muffled voice sounded in the darkness, and Emma could barely make out the contours of the other woman.
"I don't know, but I bet he has a plan with all this," Emma grumbled and tried to find a comfortable position. They'd been thrown down here the minute they boarded the vessel and if the shouting of men and the sway of the hull was any indication, they'd set sail to god knows where.
"What plan?"
"Killian said that last time he crossed ships with Blackbeard he was in search of the Frenchman's Gold."
"I know." Claire rustled around in her cell, and when she spoke again she sounded closer. "So he saw fit to capture you and me?"
"Hmm, I don't know why else he would do this," Emma mused. "I bet he wants to use us to bargain our men for the treasure."
"So your Captain Hook has the other part," Claire's voice sounded in the darkness.
"Hmm, just like your pirate husband has the other half," Emma chuckled humorlessly. It was quite a pickle they'd ended up in, just because of some great treasure their pirate captains had sought after for years. Emma still recalled when Killian had found the treasure, she and he had been together for less than a year, and while she could sense his happiness, he'd been reluctant to share why. But as their relationship grew closer, she'd heard small pieces of how he'd found the treasure in the lower parts of the Scottish west coast.
"So your Hook found the southern part of the treasure."
"You seem to know an awful lot about this."
"I helped Jamie dig out old documents that were meant to have been burned, back in the Jacobite rebellion days," Claire explained before she sighed. "It was such a large amount of gold and gemstones that it was difficult to hide in one wagon load. So it was split in two, hidden in two separate locations; only two men knew where."
"So how did you come across the documents?" Emma asked curiously.
"My husband knows a few people in high places and in an old almost forgotten trunk owned by one of the men, he found the map to the northern part of the treasure."
"Killian hasn't revealed the whole story of how he found it," Emma mused. "Perhaps he was just lucky."
"Maybe."
They fell into a companionable silence and both women listened to the shouts from above, neither had any sense of how long they'd been here. Emma just hoped that Killian would be able to find them. Perhaps Blackbeard had even sent some sort of demand for their release; The Frenchman's Gold, both parts.
"Wake up," a gritty voice barked out, slamming something metallic on the iron bars. "To your feet woman."
Emma blinked in confusion as the last remnants of sleep slipped away; the pirate was a large burly man, holding a lantern above his head. She realized how filthy it really was around her and she scrambled to her feet and swiped off the dirt in her cloak.
"Alright, the two of you follow me. If you start up a fight I'll have ten men down here and I can't vouch for what they might do to ya." He leaned his head back and laughed boisterously. "Now mind the crooked planks and slithering snakes."
"You have snakes down here?" The slight panic in Claire's voice had Emma glance at her friend. Claire looked frantically at the floor around them, her hands clasped around the closings of her cloak.
The burly pirate barked out a laugh again. "Little Miss Red Jamie is afraid of snakes, that is good to know." He tapped his nose and winked. "Now get your skinny arses moving and go up on the deck."
"Where are you taking us?" Emma asked and pressed herself against the wall so she didn't have to touch the grimy pirate.
"That is not for you ladies to know." He tapped his sword on the stairs beside them. "Now move up, ladies."
Emma and Claire clamored up the slippery steps and had to shade their eyes from the glaring sun. Once her eyes had gotten used to the light she could see that they had moored in a small cove on some barren island with steep cliffs rising above them. Once she scanned the coastline she spotted a small dock where a longboat was already unloading crates.
"Get down in the longboat," the pirate behind them ordered and pushed them both to the railing.
Emma realized Blackbeard would haul them to shore and keep them locked up in the small hut she could see beyond the dock. She only hoped that Killian would be able to find her and hopefully he would make a partnership with Red Jamie. Both men surely would go to the ends of the world to get the women they love back.
"Thank you, Ruby." Killian tightened the strings around the bundle of fabric Ruby had given him. "I will forever be in your debt." He bowed his head and gave her his usual swaggering smirk.
"You bet you owe me for this one Hook." Ruby pointed a finger at him, her dark brows pinched together. "You have no idea how difficult it is to sneak out a royal banner from the barracks. I had to drink my own man seven sheets to the wind before I managed to sneak out and find this stupid thing." She tapped her finger on top of the package in Killian's arms. "You better make sure you have our girl safely back home."
"Thank you again, milady." He pursed his lips. He knew he'd asked for a lot when he'd reached out to Ruby in hopes of her being able to find a Royal banner flag they could use to dupe Blackbeard.
"Shoo, I've got work to do." Ruby twirled around and slipped inside the tavern again.
Killian raced to the docks, the whole previous afternoon had been spent on repainting the name on his beloved ship. On its bow, the name "the Jewel of the Realm" was scribbled in neat writing. Ruby had used the night to procure the flag and now this morning they would set sails to Calf of Man. Killian hoped the good Jolly Roger would pull Blackbeard out to sea so the rest of the men of the joint pirate crews would sweep in from the other side.
As soon as the flag was aboard his ship he had his men signal to the crew on "Fraser's Ridge" to set sail. It wasn't rare to see two ships head out on a joint journey, people in Port Erin were used to seeing the random pirate ship mingle with merchant sailors.
Killian was pacing the helm and every two minutes he would pull out his telescope and scan the horizon. Calf of Man wasn't that far from Port Erin, but they would have to make a larger loop to the west so they were sure to be hidden from view when they dropped anchor on the northern shore of the isle.
Hours later the two pirate ships anchored up and Killian hurried to the railing, crawled down the rope ladder, and jumped down into their longboat. A few of his men would follow him along with Jamie and part of his crew across the island. The other half would join his men on board the Jolly Roger, now sailing under a royal banner. The rest of Jamie's crew was staying back on "Fraiser's Ridge" making sure no surprises would come to them.
Once the rescue group had secured their longboats on the rocky shoreline they scrambled up the steep incline to the top.
Both Killian and Jamie had been adamant to be on this part of the mission, so Killian left the Jolly Roger to his second in command, Mr. Smee. The two pirate captains strode ahead of their crew, rushing over the green landscape. Calf of Man was an island with rolling green hills, and not much cover in terms of trees but every time they reached another peaking hilltop, they moved forward with caution.
Their heading was the cove on the other side of the island, a little over half a mile's trek. Once they got closer they all became quiet and the two captains crept forward, crouched low so no possible guards on top of the steep cliff sides would spot them. To their luck, it never seemed Blackbeard had even contemplated this possible scenario.
Killian and Jamie flattened themselves on the ground and peered over the edge and gazed upon the cove beneath them. To their left they could see the small dock that Blackbeard had mentioned, the place was swarming with men. Blackbeard's ship lay moored out in the water, longboats traveling back and forth, with provisions and men.
"Look," Jamie whispered, and pointed to a small incline down towards the beach near the dock, "we can take that route when your ship distracts them."
"Hmm." Killian agreed as his eyes scanned the ocean; it would still be some time before his good ship Jolly Roger, now with her new name "the Jewel of the Realm", would sail past this cove.
The two men spend a few more minutes scoping out the area, making sure that no unwanted surprises would arise for them. It was rough terrain with steep cliff sides and narrow strips of rocky beaches. The area behind the dock was a small indent in the cliff side, not much wiggle room for any surprise attack from that angle. Their best chance was to slip down the steep and narrow path and hope the men were heavily distracted by the arrival of the Jolly Roger.
Finally, they moved back to their gathered men and settled down in the tall grassy landscape, a few keeping watch and the rest sharing a few provisions they'd brought along. No one spoke, the risk of Blackbeard's men catching their voices in the wind was far too big.
Killian glanced at his timepiece and waved over a young lad from his crew, Billy, and whispered, "Slip down to the coast and report back if you can see the Jolly on the horizon."
"Aye." Billy saluted and scampered towards the coastline, straying a bit further away from the cove; no need for Blackbeard's men to spot him.
Killian looked over at Jamie. The red-headed Scotsman gazed over the landscape, looking lost in his own mind. He imagined the man had similar feelings rushing through him right this moment, knowing that his lady love was held captive by one of this world's most ruthless pirates. They might be pirates themselves but the tales of how Blackbeard ruled his ship and the people falling victim to his sword were far beyond anything either he or Jamie would ever do.
Jamie looked over at Killian and the two men shared a knowing look, acknowledging the other's predicament. God he wished that he knew how Emma was doing right now, he hoped that the two women at the very least were together.
One of the guards waved for his attention and pointed to the south. When Killian turned to look, he spotted Billy rushing through the tall grass.
Slightly out of breath, Billy rushed out, "The Jolly is in sight, just rounding the southern tip of the island."
"Thanks, lad." Killian clapped the young man on the shoulder giving him an approving smile.
Then both he and Jamie got the men together and they moved to the spot where they'd seen the narrow path leading down to the dock. Once there they were in position Killian pulled out his telescope and scanned the waters beyond the cove. The sail of the Jolly Roger was just visible around the left side of the peninsula.
Moments later shouts could be heard from below, and despite them not being able to fully see the movements due to the incline of the hill below them, they heard splashes of water and the men's shouts to enter the long boats.
Killian knew that Blackbeard would be wise enough to leave some of his men behind to guard the prisoners. But he surely hoped that he would see the royal banner currently flapping over the Jolly Roger, and think the ship was a good chance for extra loot.
Soon several longboats could be seen heading for Blackbeard's ship, and once the crew had come onboard everyone scurried to get the ship ready to set sail. Hopefully, it would head for the Jolly Roger and distract the Captain from what would be happening on the dock.
Killian shared a look with Jamie and both men held their breath as they watched Blackbeard's ship head towards the Jolly Roger. It was with dread that he watched how cannons were prepared on the other pirate's ship. Gods, he hoped the men on the Jolly had readied themselves to the teeth and would give Blackbeard one hell of a fight.
They waited until the first cannon was fired. He didn't care if it was his men or Blackbeard's who fired first, all his mind was focused on was getting down the steep incline and finding Emma.