One Shot – Chapter 5

Some years later

It was that time again, Little Jason happily sailing along, clear sailing in every direction, not a care in the world. But there was a rushing, a howling of the falling water. Little Jason turned and saw he was being sucked towards it, towards the edge.

He tried to roar a command to lower the sails and set full speed against the tide, but it was no good. Nobody could hear him over the rushing, nobody was there. The rushing. Little Jason threw of his strength to the wheel. Although the ship was turning, it was still being pulled towards the edge. Soon enough he was at the edge. No man had ever been to the edge and survived. The ship began tittering, the bows of the ship fell and the stern rose, sending barrels, cannons, and netting sliding across the wooded deck. Little Jason clung to the wheel as the ship finally tipped over the edge, he stared into the abyss below, there was nothing, the ship began to splinter. He fell into nothing, with broken remnant of his ship and water falling beside him.

 

Jason woke. Breathing heavily. Wide eyed and sweating. He was in his bed in a Cornish farmhouse which his uncle owned.  It was fifteen years to the day that his father’s crew had killed his Dad and threw him overboard with nothing but a barrel and the tide to save his life. He had washed up on shore and was discovered by a farmer a day later. Henry Read was a kind man, although he was elderly he was very energetic and could tend the fields without the help of his wife and children. He was a very skilled at the market, he never came home with anything in his cart. It was one day when he was on his way back from the market he spotted a young boy clinging to a barrel on a beach.  Henry carried Jason all the way back to their house, where they called a doctor and tended to him. Jason never knew his mother, and never met his grandparents, he had nowhere to go, so Henry gave him food and board in exchange for work on the farm. It was solitary, there farm house overlooked their fields and then to the ocean beyond. And in the other direction was a half hour ride to the market in Portsmouth. Although he enjoyed tending to the fields, looking after the horses, selling produce down the market and galloping round the country side with his ‘sister’, Mary, Jason often found himself wondering about the ocean. When he was old enough he began frequenting the local tavern at nights, sometimes working a shift behind the bar. He talked to sailors and listened to their stories. Then he recanted their stories back home, stories about wondrous lands where colourful fruits grow from trees, where weird creatures roamed the wilderness. He had even been shown a shell of a giant tortoise from an island called Galapagos. The shell was as big as a young foul and wore a few vibrant shades of green. He had seen a colourful bird that could mimic the sound of a man’s voice, but it swore a lot.

It was one mid summer’s night when Jason was out on horseback with Mary, that he came up to the summit of a cliff overlooking the water and saw the sun setting over the edge of nothingness. Colours of yellow and purple bounced of the water’s surface bounding up to the cliff face casting a soft light on the normally white chalk cliff. He pulled his horse to a stop and it gently hoofed the ground impatiently as Jason watched the silhouette of a ship draw closer and closer one by one the sails were raised until only the main middle mast was driving the ship inland being gracefully steered by the Captain to the port. He could faintly hear the call of “lower the anchor” and see the splash of water as the heavy metal hook was thrown overboard. They were home. Jason could hear the hoofs of Mary’s before he could see her coming over the summit of a small hill.

“I thought I’d lost you.” She called to Jason as she pulled up alongside him.

“You did. I’m that good.” He joked.

“Ha.” Mary said, sarcastically. “What you looking at?”

Jason pointed towards the ship below them at the port and Mary looked down to it curiously, as the two horses sniffed each other and impatiently stamped their hoofs.

“What is it with you and water?” Mary asked. The brought her horse round to stand in front of Jason, so he’d have to look at her, and not be distracted. “You keep saying you want to go back but you never do.”

“Well no.” Jason sighed. “When I was there I loved sailing. Loved every second. Apart from the end. But that can’t happen again.”

The was a pause a silence between them as Mary looked curiously into Jason’s eyes and he looked through her and back down to the ship.

“Come on!” she said eventually. “Race you back to the house.”

“No.” said Jason before she could set off. “I’ll go down to the tavern; they might need some help with the new sailors.” And he shook his reins and his horse set of at a light gallop, leaving Mary overlooking the sunset. Jason was half way down the hill when he heard galloping hoofs behind him. He turned over his right shoulder to see who it was as Mary shot passed his left side, laughing gleefully and tapping Jason’s horse on the backside, setting it off at a light gallop. Jason grasped his reins as his horse suddenly picked up speed and lowered himself to help him keep balance.

“Where you going?” Jason shouted after her.

Mary turned round to him and smiled. “To the tavern!” then she spurred her horse on and called to him. “Race you!”

One Shot – Chapter 4

Two hours earlier.

 

“Jay,” Little Jason turned back to his father. “I love you, you know that, right?”

Little Jason nodded and left without saying a word, shutting the doors behind him. The Captain sank back onto his bed and took a long gulp of his favourite wine. And a faint tear fell from his eye. It had dawned on him, as soon as the axe hit the mast, and dropped Master Teach into the water that he had gone too far, he had lost the respect of his crew. News of this will get back to command, and he will get demoted as well. If Master North had died to, he’d have been dismissed. He’d given his life to his Majesties Royal Navy, Jason didn’t know it but he was the son of a whore, he didn’t have a family, he didn’t have any other skills. Public ridicule was all that was left for him back home.

He took another long gulp of wine and stood up, swaying slightly, a mixture of the sway of the ship and the alcohol in the wine. The Captain stood for a minute, just staring at the door before he turned around, and sank to his knees in front of the bed, clasping his hands together.

“Dear Father, forgive me for I have sinned. I know I deserve the punishment that will fall upon me, but I beg you to please be merciful and please protect my son throughout the rest of this voyage.” He paused and thought; do I want to add any of my crew to my prayer… no screw them. They wouldn’t bless me, so why should I bless them. “amen” he rounded off, and got to his feet.

 

One hour later.

 

“I’m telling you, we might as well port here for the night. There is no way we can make it up the estuary until tomorrow mornings tide. There isn’t enough time!” The Captain was at the helm of the ship, gripping the wheel in frustration.

“No, Captain, we need to keep sailing.” Master Hastings retorted. “We can make it.”

“Are you mad, Hastings?” the Captain rounded on him. “We cannot make it, we cannot sail fast enough.”

Master Hastings came to the opposite side of the wheel and stared the captain directly in the eyes.

“We have to try. After your little escapade with the dippin’ we are running late. And if the crew hear they have to spend another night on board this ship with you, they’ll be another mutiny.”

The Captain froze, he stared blankly into master Hasting’s eyes, his lip trembling, his fist clenched as though he was about to lash out. He threw a rope around a spoke of the wheel, and let go, it spun for a second before the rope became taught and locked the wheel in place.

“I’ll give you a chance to apologise for that, Hastings.” little flecks of spittle hit Hastings in the face as the Captain spoke.

“I don’t apologise for the truth, Sir.” Hastings said with forced calmness.

The two of them stood there, the wheel between them, staring into each other’s eyes, a few surrounding sailors had turned to watch them, the silence grew and eventually the Captain broke it.

“HA!” he roared laughingly, “I see your point, we do not have the time nor the speed to make it to the estuary and sail in with the tide. Even if we row the distance is too long. We will anchor near a town. I will send out a row boat and it will come back laden with whores. How does that sound, Hastings?” he smiled.

“Honestly sir, I don’t think you could buy enough whores for the crew sir. We’d have to share, and I don’t want whatever diseases they’ve got. And I’m sure they don’t want the diseases I’ve got.”

Hastings was sustaining his forced calmness masking his real anger. And the Captain was begging to notice.

“Well how about we list the diseases we all have and the whores get distributed per disease?” the Captain joked.

There was a silence the surrounding crew were stood facing him, their hands slowly inching towards their swords and guns.

“I don’t think…” Hastings enunciated every word “that’s good enough.” His hand too was edging towards his blade.

The Captain nodded poignantly with his eyes to Master Hasting’s hand and smiled. “Do you really want to do that?”

Every sailor simultaneously drew their weapons, including the Captain. The crew began to form a circle around the captain, guns raised, swords poised. The Captain begun eliminating possible scenarios that could materialise from this situation. Some people would be wounded and killed in the crossfire of the guns, how he could avoid getting hit, he didn’t know. The other sailors would attack him at once though. Back turned, it wouldn’t matter to them. There was only one thing he could do.

“Captain.” Master Hasting’s began. “I’m sure you’ll understand, the ship is a delicate environment, and you’ve upset the balance of the ship. It’s for the best, but we have to kill you.”

The Captain rounded on Hastings and smiled, a crooked smile, a smile which meant only one thing; I’ve beaten you.

“You’re not going to kill me, Hastings.” Said the Captain as he raised his sword. “nor are an…”

Blood spurted across the deck as a bullet exploded out of the Captains throat. The Captain sank to his knees as Teach reloaded his gun. He stepped forward and bent down to the Captain “I’ll make sure Little Jay gets off the ship safely, he ain’t done no wrong.” Teach smiled. “After that he can fend for ‘imself.” The Captain grabbed a knife from his belt and made a lunge at Teach, but Teach parried it playfully. “ssshhhhh shh shh,” Teach took the knife from the Captains hand “go to sleep, sleep now.” The Captain sank to his knees, a pool of blood began to form underneath him, seeping down between the planks of wood, onto the cargo below. Teach put a comforting hand on the Captains shoulder and began saying a prayer. Until a second gunshot shattered the moment. The Captain collapsed as blood began leaking from the new hole in his head. Teach glared upwards as Hastings holstered his gun.

“Sorry,” Hastings smirked “I’ve been wanting to do that since we set sail.”

One Shot – Chapter 3

“You understand why I did it, don’t you? You know why?”

The Captain took his son, and sat him on the bed in the Captain’s cabin, then bent down on one knee, so they were eye to eye. Little Jason nothing, just stared blankly at his father, tear marks running down his cheeks.

“You see, the ship is a very intricate environment, it’s the Captain’s job to keep all the riff raff under control. Otherwise, you’ll have what happened last night. It takes time to get it right.” The Captain handed Little Jason a cup and poured a little wine into it. “Try it, it’s good. You see, those men wanted to take ship somewhere, probably to Spain, Italy somewhere where the women are loose and cheap, and the wine even cheaper. Spend away their earnings this voyage. Then when that was spent, go steal other people’s hard earned gold, then do it all again.” He poured himself a cup of wine, the same wine from his dream with the beautiful Claudia. “Try the wine Jay, its good. They offset the balance of the ship by attacking me, it’s my job to reset it. But I can’t have everyone thinking that if they try and kill the Captain, they’ll get a small punishment and then back to work. No no no. So I offset the balance of the ship in my favour. A punishment so big that no one else will dare think about attacking me.” he took a seat next to his son on the bed. “The balance of the ship will return.” The crew had started a shanty out on the main deck as they worked. The Captain raised his glass, toasting the shanty, “You see, they’re happier already. They know their place, and I know they’re dangerous. But if we keep a respectable distance, the status quo will return to normal. Try the wine Jay.” Little Jason slowly lifted the cup to his mouth and took a sip, it was good, but it burnt his throat, he then upended the class above his mouth, tipping the fruity red liquid down his throat. “They attacked me, now they have to fear me. Do you understand, Jay?”

Little Jason nodded slowly, he wasn’t looking at his father, who was now pouring a tad more wine into his cup, he drank it, in one gulp, he was too busy thinking about the two men, jumping in and out of the water.

“I think you’ve had enough to drink now, why don’t you go to bed? I’ll ask them to keep the shanty down.” the Captain smiled to his Son. But there was no need, after the fifth verse of the Shanty, it slowly died. Little Jason rose mindlessly, and walked towards the door.

“It’ll all turn out allright, they’ll never hurt a child.” the Captain said from his bed, pouring some more wine. “One day, i‘m going to take a ship due east. And see if I find anything, wait until half my supplies are out, then turn back.”

“Do you want me to come with you, Sir?” Said Little Jason, not facing his father.

“No. Jay, I don’t.” his father smiled “Because you’ll be leading your own expeditions to wherever you want to go.”

“If you go due east, father, I’ll go due west.” Said Little Jason

“And we can map out the world together.” The Captain smiled. Little Jason made to leave but his father called him back

“Jay,” he turned back to face his father. “I love you, you know that, right?”

Little Jason nodded and left without saying a word, he wished he had said ‘you to, Pa’.  Or something to that extent, but at that moment in time he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Little Jason walked through the ship which was eerily silent now, just the sound of the men working, and waves crashing beneath them. The sailors glared at Little Jason as he walked passed them, but he didn’t care. When he got to the sleeping deck he picked a hammock near the back of the ship, so he wouldn’t be disturbed as people came and went. He just wanted a place to hide, through the rest of the voyage, let everyone else leave and then he’ll sneak off with his father. He closed his eyes, letting the swaying of the hammocks, the crashing of the waves, and the creaking of the ship carry him off to a deep sleep. He dreamt that he was sailing a sea of liquid gold, as three men came onto the sleeping deck. He dreamt that he was leading his crew to victory against a battle against Pirates, as the three men working in unison to softly lifted him from his bed. He dreamt he was being held by his long lost mother, as the three men softly and silently carried him upstairs to the weather deck. He dreamt he was receiving an award by the King with a crowd of hundreds watched in awe, as the three men approached the railings.

He woke with a start. His eyes thrown open. Instantly stinging when he hit the stone cold water.

Which way was up?

Which way was down?

He tried to scream but water forced its way into his mouth, clogging his throat. The back of his head broke the surface of the water, he frantically tried to turn himself over. He coughed, spluttered, and began kicking downwards. Trying to kick towards the great looming shadow that was the ship before him.

“Help!” he cried. “HELP me!” he spat out some sea water.

A group of silhouettes at the railings of the ship began to laugh and jeer.

“HELP!” Little Jason cried again. “I CAN’T SWIM!”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” a new silhouette joined the railings, facing the rest.

“Getting rid of the kid” another silhouette answered aggressively. “We need to!”

“Haul him out now.” The new silhouette ordered. But nobody moved. “Save him!”

The rest of the shadows stayed motionless. Until one of them retorted. “Why don’t you?”

“‘Cause I don’t swim” the new shadow answered. But again nobody moved.

“Teach, you buggered up the killing, you are not the Captain of this ship.”

The new shadow, the profile of Master Teach backed away from the railings and disappeared from sight. Little Jason dipped in and out of the water fighting for his life, kicking towards the ship, as the current dragged him away. The laughing taunts from the sailors echoed in his ears. Teach reappeared again, dragging something behind him, with a roar he lifted it, and dropped it over the side of the ship. The barrel smashed into the water and gently bobbed with the waves.

“Grab onto it boy!” Master Teach shouted “The tide will take you in.”

One Shot – Chapter 2

The shrinking line of Spain was disappearing into the water behind the ship, as the faint line that was His Majesties United Kingdom grew ever closer. On each side of the ship was a vast quantity of nothingness, spread out as far as the eye could see. Nothingness that gently lapped the prow of the ship and churned in its wash. It was Little Jason’s first time at sea, his father was serving as a Captain in His Majesty’s Royal Navy. Captain Johnathon Black was leading a trading voyage to southern Spain, transporting the kings wine,or so he had told his son. It was uncommon for such a ship to be used for such a trivial matter as a cargo run. But it was a safe run. Most of the unlawful ships steered clear of the Royal Navy, unlawful ships were amateurs, and the Royal Navy know how to handle themselves. They are, after all, there to protect cargo. So Captain Black thought it would be safe to treat Little Jason to his first voyage.

Little Jason stood at the back of the ship, leaning against the portside railing. Thinking about the events of the night before. It was a lot of firsts for Jason this voyage; first time to sea, first time in a foreign country, first time firing a gun, first time firing a cannon, first time trying wine, and the first time he saw a dead body. When Hastings had flung open the doors to his father’s cabin, Master Teach was on the floor, clutching a badly bleeding wrist, scrambling for his cutlass. Then with a thud Master Newbern fell after the Captain removed his sword from Newbern’s stomach, the Captain advanced on Master North, ready to kill, but Hastings interfered, sparing the lives of both North and Teach. Currently, they were both tethered to two separate masts, there heads wilting in the late morning sun, bandages loosely covering their injuries.

Little Jason had tried not letting the two of them bother him, but they both knew it was him who woke the Captain, knew it was his fault that there friend had died. Little Jason could feel their eyes piercing into the back of his skull. He couldn’t take it any more he was about to turn around and confront the mutineers, after all, they’re tethered, what could they do? But as he turned he saw a familiar friendly figure coming towards him.

“Where are you going Jay?” The Captain smiled at his son, clasping him firmly on the shoulder.

“The sleeping deck, sir.” Little Jason lied “Thought I might get some sleep before we get to the head inland.”

“Why are you so keen to see us go inland?”

“Because, sir, I know the current carries the ship out, sir, but how do we get back in? I don’t understand, sir.”

The Captain smiled to his son “It’s the tide, Jay. We sail inland when the tides going in, we sail out to sea when the tide is going out.”

Jason nodded, as if he understood, he didn’t really, but he pretended he did.

“So you enjoyed your first time to sea? Did you? Jay. Your first honest earnings.”

“Yes sir,” Little Jason lied “Before we go home, sir, can we go to a shop?”

“Sure thing Jay, but don’t blow your wages all at once, which shop were you thinking of?”

Little Jason paused trying to remember the name of the shop he had once spent an afternoon in, looking at the intricately designed merchandise. But he was having trouble remembering. So he said “One that sells guns, sir.”

The Captain laughed joyfully and leant against the railings of the ship. “And what does a boy of your age want a gun for?”

“Sir, you’ve taught me how to shoot the birds, and I didn’t hit one. And you said ‘it was because the gun was too big for me, and if I practice, I’d be better’, sir.”

The Captain laughed again. Mostly at the spiritual brevity of his son. He un-holstered a pistol from his waist, and with one hand pointed it up to a group of birds, who were lined up on the top yard of the lowest sail on the closest mast. They were keenly eyeing up the chef, and his pile of scraps. He picked one gull in particular, and closed one eye, holding his wrist loosely to counter the balance of the waves. He pulled the trigger and with a bang, a gull fell from the yard, and landed on the deck with a soft thud.

“Throw it overboard,” the Captain roared, then he reloaded the flintlock and handed it over to his son. “I got a new set of pistols the day before we set sail, a sailor always carry more than one gun, that way in a fight, we can fire multiple shots.” He said as Jason took the weapon in awe and examined the intricate craftsmanship of the gun. “It’s a fine pistol. You could not get a better one on the market.” The Captain continued “and it is also, a thank you, for waking me up last night. Now let’s see what you’ve got. Pick a gull!”

Little Jason looked to the water where the gulls were resettling, gently bobbing with the waves, slowly kicking towards each other, until it looked like they were conversing, discussing whether it would be safe to go back up. He picked a gull, he picked the biggest one, because it would be the easiest to hit. He held the pistol in both hands and mirroring his father he closed one eye and gently bobbed the gun, out of sync with the bobbing of the water. He squeezed the trigger and a hot ball of lead soared down through air, and collided with a gull, but not the one he was aiming at. The gull he had hit was forced underwater with the power of the gun. The Captain laughed as the bird resurfaced upside-down.

“You’re a natural!” and he clapped his son approvingly on the back.

“Actually sir, I was aiming…”

“Ah, Captain!” Master Hastings interrupted. “oh sorry, Master Jason, you were talking.”

“It doesn’t matter, sir.” Little Jason said

Master Hastings smiled. “Captain. You asked me to remind you, of the punishment, for the mutineers. We will be coming up to the coast soon so I do believe now will be a good opportunity.”

“Very well.” The Captain nodded, “Send for the crew.”

***

“Gentlemen, the men before you are tried for committing treason.” The crew had been summoned up to the weather decks to watch. “Last night they conspired to kill me, if you had tried to stop them,” the boat had been anchored, and stood rising and falling with the waves “they would have killed you too.” Captain Black was standing in front of cabin, which was on a raised area at the bow of the ship, overlooking the main deck “it was sheer luck that this sailor,” He clasp little Jason on the shoulder “fired a cannon and woke me in time to defend myself.” Captain Black gave the signal, a member of the crew threw a rope over a the bottom yard of the main sail, then one end was tried round Master North’s chest “make sure it’s tight.” The Captain called to the crew man, who gave the rope a tug to make sure Master North couldn’t escape his restraints, he raised his hand to the Captain, who in turn raised his hand, and three members of the crew began pulling on the other end of the rope, hoisting Master North into the air. “Master Teach, and Master North will receive the same punishment, then be thrown to the hold until they show redemption for their sins.”

Master North was dangling in the air, his legs flailing, he tried to cling onto the railing with his feet, but he was soon swung out until he was hanging above the ocean like a fish on a line who was trying to escape the hook, the difference being Master North did not want to go into the water. He began screaming, pleading, but the other end of the rope was being anchored to the mast.

“Now!” The Captain barked. The men let go of the rope, the slack tightened, and Master North fell into the icy water of the English Channel. His screams became muffled as he was submerged.

“Out!” The Captain shouted, and the three sailors jumped up to grabbing the rope, wrenching Master North out of the water. Through coughing, spluttering, swearing and screaming you could just hear him a small plea.

“Again!” The Captain barked. The three men dropped the rope. North was submerged again. Little Jason watched, not sure what to make of the events in front of him, his father had always been such a reasonable man.

“Out!” the Captain barked again and the three sailors jumped up to the rope, there weight pulling Master North out of the water.

Each time North was dunked again by the command of the Captain, he waited for a longer amount of time before shouting,

“Out!” Then Master North’s screams stopped, he was pulled out of the water and he just hung there, crying to himself. The crew, who had been watching there friend being drowned and rescued and drowned again, turned to the Captain who was surveying Master North with air of curiosity.

“Again!” John barked, but a scream from the fore-mast stopped him.

“ENOUGH!” Master Teach was pulling at his bonds, screaming at the Captain. “Either spare him or kill him, but stop this torture!” there was silence on board the ship, each man had turned to Master Teach, now they turned back to the Captain as he slowly but deliberately made his way down to the weather deck, and came to stand a few feet away from Teach, surveying him with contempt.

“As you wish” The Captain spat, “Get Master North on board,” he commanded his crew “and put him in the hold. Then attach Master Teach to the rope.”

The crew got to work, the three sailors pulled North up level with the ship whilst another sailor climbed along the yard arm and tugged on the rope. North began to swing to and fro, to the ship then away from it, then a bit closer to the ship and a bit further away, then closer still. On one swing when Master North was high enough there was a shout from one sailor and the rope was dropped. North flew into the air and crashed onto the deck with a thud. He didn’t move, he just lay there, dripping water onto the deck, spluttering, crying and chocking. The rope around his chest was too tight. Whilst the crew were concerned with The Captain and untying Teach, Little Jason ran up to the man on the floor, and began pulling at the knot around Master North’s chest. When the rope came free Master North could breathe properly again, he took in a few deep gasping breaths before he grabbed Little Jason’s arm “Thank you.”

The Captain took Little Jason by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him away, whilst two men promptly grabbed Master North under the arms and dragged him away.

Soon it was Master Teach’s turn to be dangling like a fish on a line. Little Jason was by his father’s side. The crew stood silent as Teach was hoisted into the air. A few of them even removed their hats in respect. Teach remained silent, just a twenty-five-year-old boy, hanging on the line, he was trying to stare the Captain in the eye, but the Captain wouldn’t meet his gaze.

“Father?” Little Jason looked up the Captain but the Captain pushed him away. Teach just swayed on the line. Until,

“Down!” there was a pause, before the sailors let go of the rope, one by one, almost in an attempt to gently lower him into the water.

“Up!”

The three men eagerly lifted Teach out the water. Teach hung in the air, staring at the Captain, silent.

“Down.”

Teach was lowered into the water, slowly.

“Up.”

Teach was gently lifted from the water.

“IF YOUR GOING TO DO IT, DON’T BE PRISSY! DOWN!” Teach was dunked into the water,

“UP!” Teach was wrenched from the water, sending water everywhere.

“DOWN!”

“UP!”

But Teach remained silent.

“DOWN!”

“Father, sir.” Little Jason grabbed hold of is fathers coat “Please stop it.”

“Up!” the Captain shouted and he looked at his son, who was beginning to cry,

“Down!” he roared again. Little Jason pleaded, but there was nothing to do except watch the man raising and falling from the water to the commands of his father. This time it seemed to go on for longer, maybe because the Captain was trying to break him, because Master Teach refused to break. He came up coughing, but he didn’t scream.

“Down!” and he fell,

“Up!” and he was out,

“Down!” and he fell.

But there was no ‘up’. The water thrashed as Teach tried to kick himself up, but he couldn’t swim. The crew began to shout.

“Up! Up! UP! Get him up! Get him out of there” but Captain Black said nothing, the three men in charge of dunking began pulling the Captain out of the water.

“NO!” Black roared to the three men who tentatively let the rope fall again.

“For God’s sake, Captain!” Hastings ran to the three men on the rope shouted. “Get him out, for Christ sake, get him out!” the three men and Hastings started pulling the rope. One of the sailors began crawling along the yard again ready to swing Teach in.

“Master Hastings, desist!” the Captain shouted, but nobody listened, Teach was half way out of the water when the Captain took a pistol from a nearby sailor. A single shot shattered the commotion. Every eye turned to the Captain who had his pistol aimed at one of the men on the rope, who fell to the floor clutching his leg. The crew was silent, apart from the cries of the shot man. The Captain slowly made his way to the main mast, where the rope had been anchored, he took an axe from the belt of a nearby sailor and with one flick of the wrist, bedded the axe within the mast, severing the rope. It loosely flailed into the water landing on top of Master Teach. All eyes turned to Master Teach, then to the axe. Two sailors, who were both competent swimmers, dived into the water to retrieve Master Teach. They cut the ropes off him, and guided him to the ship.

The crew gathered round the ladder and pulled Master Teach onto the deck.

“Gentlemen!” The Captain shouted to the crowd. Only half of them listened. “Throw him into the hold, and return to your stations! Edward! You are stripped of your position in the Navy, you will face punishment when we reach London. May I suggest in what little time you have left; you make peace with God.”

Master Hastings stepped forward. “Captain. I think you should reconsider, Master Teach…”

“Edward!” The Captain spun round, “His name,is now, Edward.”

Before anyone could say another word, the Captain ushered his son into the Cabin, locking the door behind him.

One Shot – Chapter 1

One shot rang out, rumbling across the water, for every sailor, soldier, merchant, marauder, pirate, prostitute, and every other type of man who stepped foot on a ship, to hear. It was Little Jason, the Captain’s son, who was manning the canon, trying to get a little practise. It was his first time he had used a canon without surveillance, and without permission. He still needed both. He had forgotten to put a cannonball in the barrel, he had also used way too much black powder, fortunately he had remembered to use the ramrod, unfortunately he had forgotten to take it out. The ramrod whistled through the air and hit the water with a splash, nearly one hundred meters away, exactly where Little Jason was aiming. Little Jason panicked, he had not meant to make such a noise. He ran out of gun deck only to run directly into Master Hastings bulging gut. Master Hastings remained silent, he merely beckoned with his finger, and turned. Leading Little Jason up to the Captain’s Cabin.

Little Jason followed, as his father always says; on a ship, there is nowhere to run. If you do wrong, face the captain. That was a philosophy which his father had beaten into his crew with a whip, making sure that each of them knew there was no injustice on-board his ship. So Little Jason followed Master Hastings’ large bulking figure up onto the weather deck. He had only ever been lashed with a whip once before, by his father so he’d know the pain, and know the punishment, should he ever deserve it.

 

Captain Jonathan Black was lying in his bed, in his Tuscan villa, overlooking his vineyard, he had been there only once before on a trade voyage. He had fallen in love with the wine, and the vineyard owners’ beautiful daughter, Claudia. It was the young Claudia who lay next to him in bed, sleeping, breathing gently, and letting the warm crisp caress of the sunset breeze gently flick her hair. The Captain was looking out the window, watching the shadows of the plants slowly creep towards the house as the day died. There was not a sound. Not even an insect chirping. The Captain ran his hand around on the floor, searching for his bottle. His fingers caught the green glass, and he snaked them around the neck. He uncorked the bottle with his teeth and spat the cork onto the bed. He took a swig from the half empty bottle and the fruity liquid fell down his throat, leaving a mild burn. His bed companion stirred and she slowly opened one eye, she stretched out and took the wine from his hand. With an air of elegance and grace, she drank, mildly sipping the wine, letting John have the most of it. She lowered the bottle and smiled to him, a smile which from her only meant one thing, he was going to enter nirvana. But nirvana never came, the atmosphere was shattered by a bang, a loud bang, louder than if someone had discharged a gun next to his ear. Everything seemed slower, as if time had graced the Captain by making his last seconds in this world seem longer. There was a silence, he tried to react but even his movements were slower. The wall of his Tuscan villa began to buckle, and collapse. Splinters of wood, fragments of rock and a thick cloud of dust began to emerge from the wall. Slowly flying. Escaping the path of a dark shadow just visible through the cloud of dust was a dark looming shadow that soon became a ball. A ball of lead and metal that was rampaging through the house like a juggernaut, not stopping until it was satisfied it had caused maximum destruction. Closer and closer the ball came, moving faster, very fast. The dust slowly engulfed bedroom. The Captain tried to move but he couldn’t he was stuck solid, slowed in time with the rest of the room, as the ball came ever closer. Closer. Closer.

He woke with a start and a roar of anger, that bastard at the cannon just robbed him of a very beautiful memory, with the even more beautiful Claudia. He was in his cabin, a half empty bottle of wine spilt onto the floor, and a long shining cutlass in the bed next to him. The blankets were scrunched up beneath him, he had not once made his bed through the entire voyage. It was after a few panting moments he noticed three of his crew standing at the door.

“It’s okay, bad dream.” he panted “Well… Good dream, bad that I’m awake. Ha” he barked “Go see what the noise was.”

The three men, Masters North, Newton, and Teach turned to face each other, with an almost anxious look in their eyes.

“Well don’t hurry” the Captain said sarcastically, “i’m sure he’ll still be there when… what are you doing?”

Master North had drawn his cutlass, advancing towards the Captain holding his sword aloft. Teach, and Newton tentatively followed his actions, and it suddenly dawned on the Captain that these were no longer members of his crew, they were mutineers. As the three men advanced before the Captain, he took up his own sword, and a sip of wine, thinking back to the times they had practised fighting on deck, all the training he had given them, searching his memory for their weaknesses. The Captain began to think of the most likely scenarios that might happen, calculating how he was going to fight, how he was going to win, Teach advanced on him and swung his cutlass. As the Captain merely side stepped the blade, the Captain decided how he was going to dispatch his attackers; Alphabetically.