Children of The Angry Sea... Part Four: The Ruse.

 

He had stayed at it, going over the entire log book, for several hours until Mr. Finch once again came knocking upon his chamber door. He bellowed for him to enter, which Mr. Finch did with a hesitancy, as if unsure of what to expect from his Captain. He entered the chambers at just before 7:00 PM with a tray of food, Morley Trimble the Sea Witches cook had prepared the last of the roast mutton with roasted potatoes with other root vegetables with a bottle of fine wine. Mr. Finch, when the Captain failed to show up for the officer's meal, grew slightly concerned and decided to take his dinner to chambers. When he entered, there stood Tristian over the walnut map table with papers strewn in an unorderly fashion about his feet, pining over the Queen Anne Swayne's nautical charts as if he were silently hoping to find some unknown secret of life. Mr. Finch sat the tray of food down on the desk before joining him at the map table. Calmly clasping both hands behind his back at the wrists, his own eyes now wandering across the nautical charts, trying to discover for himself what Tristian was seeing.

"What are we seeing then, Captain sir?" He asked.

Tristan shot him a sideways glance, and looked back down at the charts, calmly lying his pencil down. He produced a tall flat hard spined book that he had also retrieved from Captain Shamus's chambers. He gave Mr Finch a curious look.

"Quartermasters log, Mr. Finch, time measured and kept in meticulous fashion, look at the last entry when they were scheduled to leave port at Old Towne Lyptak at 0700 hours on a Monday morning, November 3rd heading due East, this chart here shows the original course, they should have taken to get to Whiteshire in Grimshim bay, Now setting that aside, This ships quartermaster had this trip calculated down to the exact hour."

He closed the book and then reopened it at the first page.

"Now then, take note Mr. Finch, the quartermasters name according to the signature in the upper left-hand corner of this first page, is Benjamin Holm. Now we go to the captain's log and look in the later entries, and we discover, that after members of the crew on the first nights watch on the half-deck came up missing, on the second night whose name is mentioned first to go on the next watch. Benjamin Holm, Now I ask you, there are missing men already, the captain does not know at this point in time if they washed or jumped overboard or were possibly murdered, so he appoints his ship's quartermaster to the very next watch? Curious decision is it not? now then we go back into the captains log on the 35th page where he notes in his own log that they left port in Old Towne Lyptak on Sunday night, November 2nd a full 12 hours earlier than what is registered in the quartermasters record?"

"So someone changed the course set by the quartermaster?"

"So, following on this line, they must have gone northeast rather than due east. And they left a week early to allow for the change in course. So they didn't go off course it was a planned alteration, the extra 12-hour time allowance as much as states it so."

"And the only one that could alter the course would be-"

"The Captain himself." Finch said.

"The captain and the officers sold the ship beforehand to privateers or pirates, left it in a predesignated place, killed the quartermaster and crew, dropped anchor and left the ship, and it's cargo for whoever paid for it and abandoned it on the jolly and took whatever else the captain had smuggled aboard to sell or deliver. The one thing they hadn't calculated was the storm, which created time for us to make the discovery."

"And left behind the log? Why?"

"Part of the Ruse, Mr. Finch. of that I am now certain. A ruse left behind in case someone made the discovery before the ship was taken."

"As we did."

"You wouldn't bother with searching for someone whom you already thought dead. hold our present course, Mr. Finch, we'll be placing our own four-man watch team tonight. assemble the crew below the half-deck, I will briefly address them."

They gathered below the half-deck to where Captain Tristian Crowley addressed his concerns as to the fate of the crew of the recently discovered Queen Anne Swayne. The Sea Witch would hold course making its way toward the eastern tip of the Penduline Islands, before sailing onto Pigrim The weather had calmed some and the wind though slowed it steadily kept them on their course. He addressed his crew with great concern over the fate of the crew of the doomed Queen Anne, He himself, along with Farrel Hooker, Seton Hitch and young Theodore Paine would stand watch while the rest of the crew rested, all would be armed with loaded Flintlocks and cutlasses one to port, one the starboard, one on the foredeck leaving Captain Tristian himself to keep a sharp eye on the aft. They would sail on through the night maintaining their course without incident, however at first light Seton Hitch would yell out to Tristian from the starboard the same time as the captain himself spied the small boat set adrift on the horizon. He stepped up behind Seton Hitch, softly patting him on the shoulder while whispering as if someone would hear.

"Sharp eye lad." 

He raised the spyglass to see the small boat gently bobbing and swaying in the current, surrounded by a soft blanket of fog. Mr. Finch now appeared on his right side. The rest of the crew had gathered on the top deck, now all looking on with growing curiosity. As the Sea Witch drew closer to the small craft, Captain Tristian could see someone lying in the bottom of the boat, they came alongside it, and he ordered the ship's doctor to come topside. Doctor Irwin Donaldson had been the most recent addition to the Sea Witch before Fiona Tidas, but he had many times over earned the respect of his Captain and crew. He and Tristian lowered themselves into the small craft to check the body for life, but when the doctor had turned the head of the older man, the hole in his forehead told them that his death had been swift.  He raised the sleeve cuff on his right wrist to see a tattoo of a human skull, beneath it the letters H.S. in his hand he was clutching something, and when Tristian unfurled it in his palm he found a small red ruby. 

"Ahhh, and we now know of the prize," Tristan said while holding the small precious stone up to the light. 

Irwin Donaldson gave him an odd look.

"Yes, but why leave it to him? he's already dead." He asked.

"Payment from a guilty conscience, for his part in the conspiracy, Doctor. Mr. Finch! if you please, send down a line we'll bring the body aboard, we'll wrap him in our old stitch sailing, at least we can give him a proper burial at sea. Leave the boat adrift." 

They returned to The Sea Witch raising the body of Captain Hiro Shamus whom they wrapped and stitched him closed in old sail canvas, and laid him at the port side while waiting for the captain to say a few words, for the fallen sailor. While in private the Captain and the doctor both knew of the stone, and Tristian, knowing his crew, would trust them to speak to them of the absolute truth on the matter. The Doctor however questioned whether anyone should be told about the small stone they found in Shamus's palm. Still Tristan stood fast on his decision, he would hold nothing back. He would not speak a lie to his crew.

"My mates, it has now been 4 days past since we found in the storm the vessel known as The Queen Anne Swayne, anchored and abandoned, with her crew freshly murdered. From the evidence I have read in the Queen Anne's log, written by this man's own hand speaks of this dire fate suffered by her crew, the evidence tells me that the man you see lay before you conspired with his officers to murder their quartermaster and shipmates, and to leave the ship, and it's cargo to privateers or pirates who bought the ship and arranged the deed. I believe this was carried out because the captain, perhaps with the aid of one or more of his officers, smuggled aboard a cache of valuable gemstones. He died at the hands of his officers, who boarded an unknown vessel and left him to die adrift in the jolly they used to abandon the Queen Anne. when we return to Norwich, I will turn all the evidence over to the Royal Navy. For now, we say a few words for Captain Hiro Shamus.

"O Father, grant his family today, and in the days hereafter, peace and comfort in the glory of his service to his fellow man, and flawed though he may have lived, Please forgive o' lord, his trespasses his sins and misdeeds, against his fellow man, cleanse his soul, and may he find peace and comfort in the knowledge that he now sails with you, O Lord, our maker and protector."

"All hands Sail away, Mr. Finch. Take us around the eastern Tip."

 

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2023~

Children of The Angry Sea.. Part Three: Behold! The Queen Ann Swayne.

lll.

They were a full eight days out to sea to the northeast of Norwich, and still had a full seven days sailing before they would be within reach of the eastern tip of the Penduline islands. The sea grew rough in spots and swelled mightily in others, slowing the progress considerably, on the morning of the eighth day the rain lashed out at them bringing up even larger swells and the wind began to blow harder into their sails pushing them farther into a fog bank, the wind slowed and settled leaving only the fog and though the seas were growing more troubled the mighty Sea Witch stayed her course. And though he had suffered through a restless sleep, Captain Tristian had come above deck just in time to hear Mr. Finch sound the general alarm.

"Captain Crowley! We have a ship in the fog bank sir!"

Tristian raised his eyes to look at Mr. Finch. who began frantically pointing out through the thickening fog.

"To our port, sir." Mr. Finch added.

He joined Finch on the half-deck and looked through his spyglass, studying the ship carefully. it sat still, silently, almost ghostly, rising and falling with the waves directly to the Sea Witches broad side, Finch gave him a concerned look.

"Sails are torn, no markings, they're not flying colors. No light, no lanterns." 

"Royal Navy sir?" Finch asked.

"Not a frigate, definitely not Navy, Too small, she's adrift, that much is certain."

Tristian changed position to get a better look at the strange ship floating in the distance.

"Kill all Lanterns and noise, all hands move to half sails, reduce speed, and bring us alongside her slow, Mr. Finch." He turned to look down at second mate Farrel Hooker. "Go below Hr. Hooker, put all port guns on full standby."  

He lifted the glass back up to his eyes, returning his attention to the ship.

"No Markings, No Flag, What do you make of it sir? in distress perhaps?" Mr Finch yelled.

Tristian slowly lowered the glass. Before looking back at Mr. Finch.

"There's no one on deck. And I can't see from the fog but if she has gun ports, they are closed, it's a merchant, Bring us in, slowly, I want a closer look."

It slowly drifted, bobbed and swayed there with the rise and fall of the waves. there were indeed gun ports on the side, but they never opened. He carefully scanned the upper decks for sailors maning the sails, he saw nothing.

"Slowly, Mr. Finch, bring us broadside."

The Sea Witch slowly closed to within 50 yards of the smaller ship, Captain Tristian never lowering his glass scanned the entire top of the vessel searching for anything that moved. there was nothing.

"Lower us a jolly in the water Mr. Finch, Osric, Theodore and Seton, you three will be coming with Mr. Hooker and I to board her, Mr. Hooker we'll need loaded Flintlocks and cutlasses. Mr. Finch you have the bridge, all hands stand by, that's an order."

They lowered the smaller boat into the water with Osric Pope, Theodore Paine and Seton Hitch aboard as oarsmen, Captain Tristian and Farrel Hooker would climb the ratlines of the distressed ship that had torn away from the main mast and were hanging over the sides and board her with Osric Pope and Seton Hitch, leaving young Theodore Paine to wait in and watch the Jolly. They rowed 52 yards to the broadside and the Captain and his men tested the strength of the ratlines and then scaled them, when they pulled themselves over the rails and boarded the upper decks, as far as he could see it, it was as much as he had feared there was no sign of the crew. They cautiously made their way to the first cargo hatch and opened it to see light coming out. There were lanterns still lit illuminating the lower cargo bay but still no signs of life to be seen. Osric, Farrel Hooker and Captain Tristian each retrieved a lantern and returned to the upper deck. 

Now more puzzled than ever Tristian made his way to the Captains quarters, there on the captain's desk were charts and two closed log books, One he guessed, was the captains log the other belonging to the Quartermaster. he placed them in a leather bag and returned to the Jolly, before climbing back down the side of the ship he turned to look it over once again, he looked at Osric, Seton and Farrel Hooker, and motioned for them to lower back into the jolly, the entire ship was empty, no captain, no officers, no crew, cargo completely intact. one small boat was all that was missing. and then Tristian saw something under the edge of the rail that hadn't been washed away by the rain, he ran his fingers through it and raised them to the light to see human blood, he walked a twenty-foot length of the railing and found other traces of it, as well as a strange residue that he could not place. They reboarded the Jolly and returned to the Sea Witch with the log book and charts, hopefully there would be answers hidden somewhere in its pages. When they cleared the port railing of the Sea Witch, he turned to look back at the abandoned vessel, that was when he noticed the anchor chain had been deployed.  He was greeted by Mr. Finch.

"All eyes to the water Mr. Finch, There is treachery afoot here sir, get us away from this vessel immediately." He stared solemnly at the doomed ship as the Sea Witch pulled away from her. Moses Finch once again appeared at his side.

"They dropped anchor, before the weather turned foul."

"Captain? what did you see, sir?"

"Nothing Mr. Finch, absolutely nothing, no crew, no captain, no officers, cargo intact. there was however the small matter of human blood beneath the port railings. Something happened to those poor lads aboard that ship, Mr. Finch, something very bad, I retrieved the Captain's and Quartermaster's logs and charts I'll be in my cabin reading. Armand Keel! you and Theodore take a couple of spyglasses up to the nest, sharp eyes to the port and starboard lads, The fore and aft, anything that moves in that water besides whales and the fishes sound the general alarm. The Witch will not be had by pirates today, mates. That is all."

He went to his cabin and sat in front of his own desk and emptied the contents of the leather pouch, he unrolled the charts and gave them a quick inspection before opening the ship's Captain's log. The name of the vessel was the Queen Anne Swayne, and the captains name was Hiro Shamus, it was a refitted small merchant ship tasked and commissioned by the Frizzante Spice and Rum company to deliver a small load of spices with twenty-two barrels of sugarcane rum to Whiteshire in Grimshim Bay on Tamberth island, off of the Horn of Belegedde, which according to the charts that he had, put them at about 1ooo miles off course. if they were coursed for the Belegedde, how did the ship end up 800 miles to the southwest of the Penduline cape? and what was so special on that ship that the 34-person crew had to be killed for? According to the log, the captain began to suspect that something wasn't right aboard his own ship, he used the word saboteur several times, he began setting four man watch teams at night to keep the vessel safe and on course. Three nights in a row the crew were disappearing from watch never to be seen again, what remained of his crew were not fighters but merchant sailors. They fell easy prey.

After the third night of watch, Captain Shamus came to the upper deck to find the first signs of trouble, in addition to the missing crew members, He found blood along the railings of the port bow, the watch crews hadn't gone missing they were murdered, and their bodies had been more than likely disposed of over the sides of the Queen Anne. The last entry in the journal was written four days before the Sea Witch had discovered the Queen Anne Swayne anchored in her last known position, and the way it was written was like he had a suspect, but the page where he had written it had been torn from the log book. On the empty page, Captain Tristian took a lead pencil and laid it sideways on the blank space and gently rubbed the lead across the indentation to see a single word appear... "Officers." Mister Finch knocked at his chamber door.

"Sir, we resumed our course and have pulled away from the vessel." Mr. Finch eyed him curiously as he stared down at the closed log book.

"Someone aboard cut the throats of the crew, and threw their bodies over the side to be rid of them, I suspect the officers at least in part murdered the captain as well. there was something far more valuable aboard that ship other than rum and spices." Tristian's eyes narrowed.

"Yes but why would they then abandon ship if they had already successfully taken it over sir?"

"I suspect the ship was someone else's prize, and the officers were already paid to leave it to be taken by whomever planned the mutiny, but the captain already had something aboard of greater value than their cargo, something that only he had known about, and perhaps the officers had only later discovered. They dropped anchor four full days before the foul weather after the deed had already been committed, and the real treasure aboard found and loaded onto the missing Jolly to which the officers took supplies and headed toward I'm guessing Archipelago island, it's only 60 miles to the west of here, five solid days of hard rowing could have put them there ahead of any storm."

"And their original destination, sir?" Mr. Finch questioned.

"According to the log book, Whiteshire in Grimshim Bay." Tristian answered.

Moses Finch's eyes widened.

"They were way off course, then?" 

"According to my calculations about 1000 miles off course. I must look into this log book further. hold our present course, Mr. Finch, you have the bridge until further notice.

"Aye Captain."

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2023~

Children of The Angry Sea. Two: All Hands Sail Away.

ll.

The wind had already been blowing in from the east across the icy waters of Lockwood Bay when the three yawls made their way back to The Sea Witch with their supplies. He and Fiona Tidas boarded just before 2:00 PM, on a Tuesday afternoon, when they were greeted by a large, tall, barrel chested fellow with long thick black hair, and clear hazel eyes, and broad shoulders, it was the first time Fiona met first mate Moses Finch. The crew were all set about unloading the supplies when he would ask Captain Crowley about the new canvas, Tristian set them about unloading it first so they could get to repairing the torn sails, after a brief introduction he took Fiona to quarters so she could get settled in, five minutes later Moses Finch appeared in the doorway, giving a puzzled look to Fiona. At first his appearance gave her quite the start and filled her small body with a nervous trepidation until, much in the same way as Tristian had done earlier in Norwich, Mr. Finch bent down, extended his hand slowly to her and calmly introduced himself.

"What are your orders, Captain?" He asked.

"Set the crew about unloading the rest of the supplies, and get four riggers up those masts to lower those damaged sails Mr. Finch, and then get Miss Prim down here, I'll be needing her to help miss Fiona get cleaned up and bedded down. And make sure the riggers check the Fore And Aft masts for damage near the top as well, as they're lowering the sails, we won't be going to sea with a damaged ship Mr. Finch I want her seaworthy in Six days. Is that clear?" 

"Aye Captain, I'll set the men to task and send down Prim sir." Mr. Finch smiled at Fiona and returned to the upper deck.

 For her young life on the docks of Norwich, she had always heard the disgusted talk of those dirty, smelly old pirates, she would have thought life aboard such a ship to be one of filth, greed and death. But what she'd found aboard the Sea Witch was quite the opposite, the ship itself was kept clean and in orderly repair, and the crew was the same, clean and more often civilized than not, even though they'd spent time at sea they would take advantage of every opportunity to give themselves and the Sea Witch a good scrubbing. The Witch was their home, and after all, they being former pirates were no longer on the outer fringes of the law and could afford time to properly tend to such matters. Crews of other ships, she would later learn were vastly different, the crew of the Witch had been together for many a day, night and weeks, and years spent on the seas, made them more of a family and Captain Tristian Crowley being their father, was a man not to be tested by any other, though he could outwardly appear to be kind at heart, it was well known that the tip of his cutlass had stripped many a man's soul from their earthly bodies and sent them to their watery graves.

Fiona Tidas would soon learn that much to her relief she was not the only female aboard ship, there were in fact two others, and both were well seasoned sailors, and worth their salt. Prim who at first glance with her baggy clothing could have passed for a male had you cut off her golden long flowing locks, and then there was Elvira Penny, who even when in good spirits had every man and boy holding their breath when she walked by, but they weren't looks of lust given to Elvira and Prim they were looks of fear. Prim had also grown up on The Sea Witch, but both Moses Finch and Captain Tristian had long sought out Elvira Penny, Long before any letter of marque had been issued by any country or government, Elvira at the age of fourteen, had brutally cut her father to pieces along with their tenant lord for abusing her mother. There she was, but a young girl being fitted for a hangman's noose, when Tristian and Moses Finch came calling to snatch her from the jaws of death, and stole her young life away aboard the Sea Witch where she would devote her existence from that day forward to a life of piracy.

They were there because they were family, they were equals to all aboard the grandmother of the sea, they were blood, and they belonged, and together they welcomed young Fiona Tidas as their own. She would share a space with Prim and Elvira Penny, and the one shipmate that Elvira seemed to like more than any other, a large pot-bellied, gray and black striped tabby whom she named Elmo, he was one of three cats aboard The Sea Witch that all but eliminated the vermin population, he'd gotten the name when one night at sea they were hit by a violent storm, and St Elmo's fire came calling, and while several of the crew had backed away from the spectacle, the brave Tabby scurried up the main mast and snarled and hissed violently at the phenomenon until it seemed to relent. Since then the plump brave tabby would become their hero and mascot. By the third day the supplies were all counted and quartered away, the sails brought down and mended, the sea around them seemed to grow more and more impatient at their leisurely pace as if waiting for a new toy to be dispatched as her plaything. By the very next Monday all sails repaired and raised to their spars, with the sea growing more restless, in the early morning mists at seven bells Captain Tristian would have Moses Finch sound the all hands.

"All hands to the foredeck Mr. Finch. I will address our crew."

First Mate Moses Finch sounded the general assembly to where the 150-person crew assembled below the half-deck, young Fiona Tidas stood beside toward the front of the gathering mass of bodies, trying valiantly as not to appear fearful when she felt a hand gently wrap into hers, surprised she looked up into the smiling eyes of Elvira Penny who gave her a knowing wink, as the crew around them grew silent in anticipation of The Captain's address, First mate Moses Finch calmly stood off to the left of the helm while second mate, and ships gunsmith Farrel Hooker stood silently to the right all waiting for Captain Crowley.  He stood above them neither somber nor with reverence, he seemed very much like a man choosing his words carefully before addressing the very people who would without question entrust their very lives to him. To young Fiona, he seemed to tower over them like a holy giant about to deliver a sermon to his flock.

"My mates! For the first in over a years time, we will set sail, without assignment of general purpose other than that of our own regard, we will set our course, to the North, Northeast, we will sail 1500 nautical miles around the Eastern Tip of the Penduline islands and then another 1460 miles out into open sea to Pigrim. We will come about the western side of the island close in to the Village of Gale Town, we will be dropping anchor there while we tend to out our ships needs, we will once again fully restock our food supply and tend to our crew's personal needs. We will be close in to the shore, and we will all get a chance to set foot on land, until which time our repairs shall be completed in full. At which time we will once again set sail another two hundred miles to Ark Island, where Mr. Finch and I will be gathering important information and possible future employment for The Sea Witch. So my mates, from here, when we reach Pigrim outside of Gale Town, each crew member, will receive full wages regardless of our ship's current employment."

The crowd of seamen and women erupted into full on cheer, and the mood aboard the Witch, made the brooding seas seem more hopeful, and when the cheering subsided their great Captain of the proud Sea Witch once again raised his hands.

"My Mates! I usually reserve such a sermon for Sunday mornings, but alas, as is my usual form, I am once again a day late and one dollar short, Mates, Bring forth your bibles, may they bring you comfort, when your minds become troubled, but lest ye not forget, here, there be only one god. and lo, She rises and falls with the tide. She breathes her breath into our sails, to push us forth, further into the maelstrom, into the unknown, she, the sea beckons to us, with her bounty endless and her wrath savage as the night is long, she is our god, our mother, our only grace, and if only for her guidance on the coming voyage, we pray to her now, for her mercy, her grace, for her gentle hand to show us the way, and to give strength in our moments of doubt, and may her wisdom bring us once again safe home. All hands sail away, Mr. Finch."

There below the half-deck, young Fiona Tidas stared in awe up at the giant sails of the great Sea Witch, as the mother sea's mighty breath filled their bellies full and gently pushed them forward out into the beckoning waters that lye beyond the safety of Lockwood Bay.  It made her hold her breath for a time, as beneath her small feet she could feel the deck rise and slowly fall, it felt to here as if she were riding on the back of a great beast carrying her away to some unknown land to where great adventure would surely be waiting. she turned to look up in time to see her brave champion Captain Tristan Crowley, as he offered her a reassuring smile, and extended his hand to gently place a beautiful fully ripened fresh juicy apple in her palm.

"Steady as she goes, Mr. Finch, this grand old lady will ride these waves all the way to Brighton if she fancies it!"

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2023~

Children of The Angry Sea. Part one. The Golden Coast.

 

The first time he'd noticed her she was but a poorly kept child, dirty, scared, alone, crawling beneath the feet of the seafood and produce merchants plying their trade along the docks of pier 13 in old Norwich Village on the isle of Aysgarth. The bitter cold of early November would not be kind when the icy winds of winter would come blowing in from the east over Lockwood Bay, and as sure as there would be snow by Christmas, the freezing rain would come blowing in before it. It was there on Pier 13 cowering beneath the boots of a local seafood merchant named Chatz, that was when he first saw her there, A young fragile looking child, perhaps no more than 8 or 9 years of age, cowering at his feet in fear for her life, A brooding uncouth lout of a man he was to be certain, loud and boisterous, dirty, unkempt, who to Captain Tristian Crowley bore some resemblance to a pot-belly pig in trousers, a round, fat, whisker bristled face, jowls that hung past his jawbone on both sides, a fat face indeed with a belly to match. He might not have paid him any mind at all, until he took to kicking and loudly cursing at the child.

He drew back his plump fist, leather strap in hand ready to strike her with it, yelling at her, like an angry bear towering over her, until the much taller Captain Tristian would catch his hand mid-swing, twist his arm behind him and at the same time kicked the fat man's feet out from under him sending him sprawling across the wet docks, cursing under his breath as he bounced along. He stared down at the robust seafood merchant menacingly, one look up at the angry Tristian was enough to have him crawling backward in a hasty retreat. Now he was in fear for his own life, it was he who cowered at another man feet, For chatz when he looked up and saw the long white hair, the broad shoulders, and the steel in his eyes, he immediately recognized him, this was no ordinary man, this was Captain Tristian Crowley, the Thief of Souls.

"Not so easy when you have a go at someone who can fight back, aye? Shouldn't hit a child mate, much less a girl. "

Without looking down, he extended his hand to the young girl, helping her to her feet. never taking his eyes off of the frightened Chatz. who had already abandoned any thought of retaliation.

"You'd best be getting home to your mum, girl, she'll probably be wondering where you've gone off to by now." He said.

"I have no mum sir, she took sick when I was 4 years old and passed shortly after, my father was lost at sea before I was even born. I have no home." She meekly replied.

"An Orphan then?" 

She lowered her head and slowly nodded.

"Well, I suppose you'll be a guest aboard the Sea Witch, then." He smiled at her.

He helped her to her feet and made certain she was well, she followed along in silence beside him, puzzled as to why a complete stranger would stand up for her. when all at once, the confused youngster stopped and gave a gentle tug on Tristian's hand to get his attention. He stopped walking to give her a sideways glance.

"Sir not to complain, but most people wouldn't even give me half a thought, you do know that I'm black don't you sir?"

Tristian, fighting back a smile, stopped abruptly in mid-stride and spun on his heels slowly, deliberately bending down to face her.

"Oh, are you now? To tell you the truth, child, I hadn't even noticed." He gave her a wink and gently placed a plump, juicy red apple in her hand.

"My name is Captain Tristian Crowley, by the way." He told her.

 

She smiled up at him broadly.

"I am Fiona Tidas, Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir."

They walked along, exchanging small talk back and forth, until they drew closer to the Sandy Bottom Tavern, when he saw several officers from the King's Navy motioning for him to join them inside. He looked down, concerned, at Fiona Tidas.

"Have you ever been in a tavern before, child?"

She shook her head no.

"Well hold onto my hand tightly miss Fiona, and don't let go, those men, it seems, would like a word with me inside the Sandy Bottom."

They walked in behind the officers, The room was loud and raucous, round wooden tables scattered about in every corner of the large room, it smelled of ale and charred meat, and it reminded her of how hungry she was, as she could feel her belly rumble. Tristian and Fiona Joined them at a table, to which the trio cast surprised looks and glances at the small child in his company. He sat down calmly across from them and placed a small stack of coins on the table-top and told the waitress that the child was under his protection.

"A bottle of your best wine for the gentlemen and I, and for the girl a tall glass of milk and a cut of your finest sweetbread, and perhaps some fresh fruit to go along" 

He moved the coins in her direction, his eyes never leaving the three officers, lieutenant Jonathon Burke, while not appearing to be a physically intimidating man, had the reputation of having a short fuse. While not tall in stature, he more than made up for his lack of height with ruthless aggression, Jonathon Burke was indeed a fierce swordsman. Burke removing his gloves carefully eyed Tristian.

"Captain Crowley, Let us cut right to the chase then, you and I have had our differences in the past, this I know, However, here lately you seem to have been shall we say straddling the fence between the legal and what is not. Your Sea Witch is one of the finest, fastest and most capable ships on the water right now, and any vessel sailing the seven seas would be foolish to test you or her, this we all know, So, pushing that aside, we have a more pressing matter that we would like to discuss with you." Burke studied his reaction.

The waitress brought the bottle of port wine and three glasses, along with Fiona's milk sweetbread and fresh fruit. Tristian uncorked the bottle and began filling the glasses.

"You have my undivided attention, Lieutenant, Proceed sir." Tristian said.

"Captain Crowley, his majesty King George ll has authorized me to seek council with you in particular in a matter, shall we say-of grave importance."

Tristian's eyes widened at the notion, but he offered no reply.

"Captain, When the governing bodies from around the world offered you the original pardon, us for your crimes against the crown, and in exchange you and five others accepted the offer, and while there is still rampant piracy it is not as prevalent as it once was, thanks to you and your friends aid, you provided armed escort for our merchants which opened up safe trade route across the oceans. For that, we are now once again safe to sail open waters without fear of attack.  However, things have changed once again, the Royal Navy has lost four heavily armed Frigates in the past 10 months on the Evermoor sea along the southern coasts of the Muir islands. we sent them out on their missions and never heard from or seen them again. And we were wondering, given your lengthy history with that vicinity, if perhaps you might offer us some valuable insight on the matter."

Tristian raised the glass to his lips, watching the Lieutenant.

"Burke, have you ever personally tested the waters of the Evermoor?" 

Burke shook his head.

"No, I can't say that I have."

He leaned back in his seat, his eyes giving curious study to all three faces of the men sitting across the table from him.

"Well then lad, let me enlighten you, The Evermoor sea is one of the most unpredictable bodies of water on the planet. The water there, is always as cold as ice, It's dark, cold lonely place, one minute it's calm as can be, and you're thinkin to yourself, well now this isn't so bad, now is it lads? the next minute? not more than five minutes later, you've got the icy winds lashing at your sails, twenty foot waves coming over your bow. every drop of water around you trying to drag you to the bottom of those murky depths, and that's in the summer and autumn, come winter and spring? Well, that's when it gets real dicey. Most times the god awful fog weighs you down, you can barely even see your hand in front of your own face, even the most hardened seafarers, and battle tested skippers to ever ride the waves shrink from it all. They would rather sail around the horn of the Belgedde and take the long way around, rather than risk saving a month of sailing by crossing the Evermoor in winter or spring. It's the devil's playground, and he makes the rules in the Evermoor."

Four ships, four Frigates all sailing from Glousbury across the Evermoor to St. Krits on the Muir islands, each voyage should have taken just over 72 days one way tops, yet all four vessels were never seen or heard from again. Captain Tristian would talk to them for over an hour, and the only conclusion that even he could reach is that the ships were all waylaid by pirates, outliers who disabled the vessels took them over and killed the captain and crew, and when they finished off loading whatever they could steal they sank the ships. but the question remained who could attack a fully armed ship of the Royal Navy, kill 150 trained mariners and then sink the vessel to cover their escape?

They were several names mentioned as the possible suspects most notably the name of Captain Barron Booth of the Blood Sea Rose came to mind, it almost fit into his methods, the ship was more than capable but captain Booth's tactics didn't add up, he would have definitely taken responsibility for the sinking of a single royal navy vessel, if he had sank 4 he would have ordained himself royalty. But thinking of Booth did bring to Tristian's mind an experience near the Achelas islands 3 months previous, they were 18 miles out from Poseidon bay, They saw a ship of unknown origin closing distance on the Sea Witch, a very large ship with unknown markings and heavy armament, he recalled it being larger than any vessel he'd ever seen, The Sea Witch proved to be too fast for it though, and at the edge of the first turn toward Poseidon it disappeared into a thick fog bank and they never saw it again. It would have been much too large for even The Witch to take on but given her speed the larger slower ship couldn't keep up with her. Lieutenant Burke ended the meeting with a handshake and both men stepped out into the street with the other officers and Fiona Tidas in tow. 

"So what business brings you to Norwich Captain Crowley?" Burke asked.

"We brought Three boats ashore for supplies, beef, Pork, lard, live chickens, we cooked the last of those a month ago, a bit of armament too, fresh canvas, last wind storm we hit 40 miles out into The Coral  our sails took quite the lashing, ripped a couple of them ragged. After some restocking and refitting, we'll be shoving off from here in about five or six days, depending on the damage done to our sails."

"Where to Tristian? if you don't be minding me asking." Burke inquired.

"Pigrim." He answered.

"I have never heard of such a place."  Burke answered.

"Well Burke it isn't charted, It's about 460 miles out into open sea on the other side of the Penduline islands, not much there but high cliffs and deep slips close to shore, We can get the Witch in real close to shore without bottoming out, we'll be dropping anchor there while we do the more lengthy repairs. It's in neutral waters so we won't have much to worry about in the ways of being attacked while we do the repairs, there are two villages, one small one a bit larger called Gale town, and there's a monestary right in the middle on the moutain top." Tristian nodded toward two hooded robed figures slowly walking across from them.

Burke gave them a puzzled look, and then returned his attention to Tristian.

"Been seeing a lot of them around here lately, never seen the like before, Monks perhaps?" Burke asked.

"They call them The Ageless Order, you see them on every island, every village, from here to the other side of the Golden coast, They don't have boat to their name but they always seem to find their way across the water." He turned to face Burke.

"After we stitch the sails, It'll take us three and a half weeks of steady sailing to reach Pigrim, after we do a proper refitting there, I do a bit of asking around, I'll see what I can find out about his majesty's ship problem, when we return,  we'll be droping anchor about two miles off of Hatteras point, we'll be back back here in two and a half months time, if your here Burke I'll be letting you know what I find out. Now lad's, my new cabin mate and I had best be seeing to those supplies."  

He gently took little Fiona's hand and turned toward the sea, he cordially shook Lieutenant Burkes hand and they parted ways, ten feet later Burke called to him one last time.

"Tristian!"

He stopped and turned to look back at them.

"I promise you Captain, I won't forget this."

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2023~