Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) (6 page)

“You’re welcome,” Robinson replied.
“But you’re on your own next time,” she said pointing her knife at
him to emphasize the point.

Jeff noticed that his water was
boiling, so he grabbed a cloth and pulled the bottle from the
coals. “Take that with you and get out of my galley. I’ll never be
done with my work with you in here!” Robinson growled at him, but
then smiled and gave him a wink.

“Yes, sir!” Jeff said with a salute as
he turned and walked out. Jeff found a spot on deck that was out of
the way of the crew and set his bottle of water to cool by the rail
as he slowly drank his coconut. He could see a group of crewmen
eyeing him from the far end of the deck and speaking in hushed
tones.

After some discussion, one of the men
approached him. “Graves is me name. Greene is it?”

“Yes,” Jeff said, extending his
hand.

There was an awkward moment at Graves
just looked at him quizzically. “Good to make your acquaintance,”
Graves said, bowing his head.

Jeff bowed in return, quickly making
the assumption that this was the customary greeting for the time.
“You’re the ship’s surgeon, aren’t you?”

“Aye,” Graves replied. “And ye be from
another time?” the crewman asked in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“Be ye sent here by a witch or some
dark magic?”

“I don’t really know, but I think
somehow the storm brought me here.” “It be an odd storm,” Graves
nodded, “Have not seen one like it in all my days at
sea.”

Jeff finished the last of the coconut
water and set the nut down to save the meat for later. “How long is
that?” Jeff asked.

“Near 10 years now.”

Jeff ‘s heart sank with this
confirmation of the Captain’s news that such storms were rare and
that his chances of getting back to his own time were slim. Graves
noticed the look of despair on Jeff’s face and changed the subject.
“Ye like coconuts?” Graves asked.

“Yes, they’re OK, but mainly I just
wanted to something to drink besides rum.”

“Why?” the pirate asked with a look of
confusion.

“I have a hangover and I need to
rehydrate…” Jeff began, but stopped himself. “It’s a thing we do in
my time,” he explained.”

“Ye come from a strange time, Mr.
Greene.”

“That I do, Mr. Graves.”

Graves cocked his head toward the men
at the other end of the deck. “Come, I’ll acquaint you with the
rest o’ the crew.” The two men walked across the deck. Graves made
a loud whistle to draw attention and the crewmen stopped their
various activities and turned toward them. “Mates, as ye know this
be Mr. Greene and it be time we all became acquainted in a more
friendly manner than that of yesterday.”

“What be friendlier than a hangin’?”
one of the men in back yelled out. The others laughed and Jeff
found himself laughing with them.

Graves continued, “Be that as it may,
he is to be with us for a while and introductions are in
order.”

Crabtree stepped forward and said, “Ye
be overstepping yer position, Mr. Graves, but yer thought be sound.
Men, gather ‘round!” The men formed a circle and Crabtree stepped
forward and grasped Jeff by the shoulder. “I be Crabtree, the first
officer and I command the ship when the Captain is indisposed.
Graves ye already know. Harrison be the one with the bruises ye
near killed yesterday…”

“I was about to turn the tide on ‘im
when ye all interfered!” Harrison yelled, to which everyone,
including Harrison, laughed heartily.

“As I was sayin’,” Crabtree continued,
“That be Gerard, but we mostly call ‘im ‘Frenchy’. That there is
Stevens, Pike, the other Stevens…”

Jeff interrupted, “Do you call the two
Stevens something different to distinguish them?”

Crabtree rolled his eyes.
“Aye! I jus’ told ye. That be Stevens and that be the
other
Stevens.”

“You mean you actually call him ‘the
other Stevens’?” Jeff asked with some amusement.

“Aye! What else would we call
‘im?”

“Of course. Silly of me. Please
continue.” Jeff replied.

Crabtree quickly ran through the names
of the remaining 20 or so men. “Other than Robinson in the galley
and the Captain, that be the crew. Now that the introductions be
complete, everyone back to work!” Crabtree boomed. The men
separated and quickly resumed their chores.

From the other end of the deck,
Captain Coxen emerged from his cabin and called out, “Mr. Greene,
please join me. Robinson will be delivering food in short order.”
Jeff walked toward the cabin and remembered his bottle of water
cooling by the rail. He reached down and carefully tapped the
bottle with his finger tips to check the temperature. It was still
quite warm, but cool enough to handle. He picked it up and carried
it with him into the cabin, where the Captain was already seated at
the table. “Rum at this hour! Good, you’re already developing a
tolerance!” the Captain said, gesturing at the bottle.

“Oh, no, this is rainwater I boiled in
the galley,” Jeff explained.

The Captain had a look of disgust on
his face. “Still insisting on water, eh? Very well, suit yourself.
I will be having some grog with lime. You should have some as well
so that you don’t succumb to the scurvy.”

Jeff took a small taste of his water.
It was still quite warm and tasted like a mixture of mud and
spoiled lettuce, but it was drinkable – sort of. “Perhaps I could
add some lime juice to my water?”

“As you wish,” the Captain
nodded.

There was a knock on the cabin door.
“Enter,” the Captain beckoned. Robinson entered carrying a platter
of breadnuts, fruit and flatbread and a large pewter pitcher and
set them on the table. “Very good, Mr. Robinson. Please bring some
limes for Mr.Greene’s water.”

“Aye, Captain. Will you be needing
anything else?”

“No, that should suffice.”

“Very good, Captain. I shall return
with some limes.”

Robinson departed and the Captain
grabbed a couple of breadnuts and popped one in his mouth. “Do try
the breadnuts, Mr. Greene, they are delicious.” Jeff grabbed a
breadnut and popped it in his mouth. It was somewhat like a large,
soft peanut.

“That is good,” Jeff
agreed.

Robinson returned with a small bowl
with some lime quarters. Jeff and the Captain thanked her and she
quickly departed. Jeff squeezed some lime into his water bottle and
swirled it around. The lime juice did definitely help the taste of
the water. He sampled some of the flatbread that had been made with
bread nut meal and was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was.
“This is really good!”

“Aye,” the Captain agreed, “Robinson
does remarkable things with the limited ingredients at
hand.”

All of the food on the platter was
actually quite good and after squeezing the last of the lime wedges
into his water, even it tasted relatively good.

“I trust you slept well last night,
Mr. Greene.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Good. Today will be a busy day. When
the crew finishes the morning chores, I will take you to Port
Royal. We will be making a few trips in the longboats to gather
supplies and once that is done, we shall visit the local tavern for
some refreshments and entertainment. You will see much of the town,
not that there is much to see, and that should give you a means to
help you decide whether to stay ashore or travel with
us.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Jeff
said.

“Now, Mr. Greene, I should warn you
about Port Royal. It may not seem dangerous, but I can assure you
that it is. I know that you are quite capable of defending
yourself, just do not let your guard down.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jeff
nodded.

The men finished the food and the
Captain stood up and pulled out his pipe box. “A smoke, Mr.
Greene?”

“No th… Well, sure, why not, I should
practice so I don’t cough up a lung if I have to do it
later.”

The Captain smiled, “Very good, Mr.
Greene. You are already fitting in!” The Captain prepared the pipes
and handed one to Jeff. “Remember, suck the smoke in slowly and
hold it in your mouth,” Coxen said as he lit a splint and held it
to his pipe before passing it to Jeff. Jeff followed suit and
managed to light his own pipe without choking. “Well done!” the
Captain said with approval.

As the men smoked, Jeff asked,
“Captain, please forgive my ignorance, but are you a privateer or a
pirate?”

“There really is no difference but a
document of authorization ‘twixt the two, Mr. Greene. I have been
both at one time or another. Currently I hold documents of
authorization as a privateer for the crown, though in truth they
were actually granted to another.”

“You stole someone else’s privateering
documents?” Jeff asked with amusement.

“I prefer to say that I liberated
them. After all, he wasn’t going to be using them - he was
dead!”

“You killed him!?” Jeff
exclaimed.

“No, nothing like that. Though in my
younger days, such deeds were not beneath me. But Captain Clarke
and I were actually good friends. We were enjoying some drink and
wenches at the tavern one evening when he simply fell over dead. I
took his corpse back to his ship and while there I liberated a few
items, including his privateering documents. He would have wanted
me to have them, I’m certain,” the Captain said with a smile and a
wink.

“No doubt,” Jeff laughed in
agreement.

“Since you have brought it
up, Mr. Greene, I should explain what you may expect if you stay
with us when we sail. Over the next few months, I, along with a few
other of my brethren, shall be raiding several Spanish settlements
along the coast. Most are not well defended, but there is always
the risk of Spanish warships showing up at the least opportune
moment. If you choose to stay on the
Wandering Wench
you would not be
expected to join my raiding parties, so you would not be at risk
from that, but if the ship were to be captured, you would no doubt
be sentenced to death with myself and the rest of the
crew.”

“I understand, Captain. I will factor
that into my decision.”

“Speaking of which,” Coxen replied, “I
will need your answer before sundown tomorrow, for we sail at dawn
the next day. You are welcome to leave in your canoe, but if you
choose to do so, you will want to go ashore some distance from Port
Royal and hide it in order to avoid questions. So, you will want to
leave yourself sufficient daylight to go ashore and make it to town
before dark.”

“Understood,” Jeff nodded. “Do you
have any suggestions on how I might make some money to get me
started if I do stay in Port Royal?”

“Worry not, Mr. Greene, if you decide
to stay, I shall give you an initial stake that should serve until
you can find employment.”

“Oh, no Captain, I can’t do that. I
wouldn’t feel right about taking your money…” Jeff
began.

Coxen held up his hand, “Believe me
Mr. Greene, the entertainment you have provided is well worth it,
not to mention the fact that you will be earning your keep tomorrow
when you assist the crew in taking on supplies. Besides, you really
have no choice but to accept at least a small amount of charity,
given your circumstances. And believe me, it will be a SMALL amount
of charity. I’m not known for my generosity!” the Captain said,
erupting in laughter.

“All right then. Thank you, Captain,”
Jeff said, joining in the laughter.

As the men’s laughs subsided, there
came a knock at the door. “Enter!” the Captain shouted.

Crabtree stepped into the cabin and
said, “The men are nearly done with the chores, sir. Shall I have
them ready the longboats for Port Royal?”

“Aye, Mr. Crabtree. For the landing
party, you, Mr. Graves, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Stevens, and the other
Mr. Stevens should stand ready. Mr. Harrison will be in command of
the ship in our absence. Notify me when we are ready to
shove-off.”

“Aye, Captain,” Crabtree replied
before departing. “Well, Mr. Greene, if there is anything you wish
to do before we depart, you should do it now.”

“Yes, there is something I should
attend to, if you’ll excuse me, Captain.”

“By all means,” the Captain replied
with a wave of his hand.

Jeff arose and exited the cabin. He
quickly turned to the right and headed for the bucket as the
morning’s meal of fruit and fiber was starting to have the expected
effect on his bowels. He tried not to look at the bucket too
closely as he positioned himself above it and dropped his pants.
Steadying himself with his arm grasping the rail as he squatted, he
managed to accomplish the task without incident. It was then it
occurred to him that there was no such thing as toilet paper. He
had thought that the odor of the crew was simply due to a lack of
bathing, but now he realized that there was another reason why
everyone smelled so bad – now including him! Perhaps he could
manage a quick swim later so at least he wouldn’t disgust himself.
He pulled himself to his feet and secured his pants before dumping
and rinsing the bucket.