Port of Errors (16 page)
Authors: Steve V Cypert
“Someone took Isabel! It’s Stirvin, I know it is. He must have hired someone to kidnap her!”
Cresting his voice at a thunderous peak Scurvy added, “She’s my daughter!”
“I brung no woman into this mess,” added Black-Hearted. “That English coward shall have to pay just the same.”
Scurvy then inquired, “How’d you know it was Stirvin?”
Black-Hearted threw the torn letter onto the floor at Scurvy’s feet. “With the letter came a right of safe passage to the London Harbor! No one else but the Queen can offer such a decree.”
Scurvy pieced the letter together. “It’s addressed to me.”
“Seems they wish to bargain with you.”
“Bargain for what? What can I offer them in return for my own daughter?”
“Read on and you’ll find that it states that they wish for you to turn me in for your daughter’s safe return.”
“Well this is quite the
circumstanciation
,” realized Scurvy, with his frustrated and ornate mispronunciation.
“Actually,” contested Mr. Darcy, interrupting the intensity of the conversation, “this
circumstance
is better than you realize.”
“And how so?” asked Black-Hearted.
“With Scurvy on the inside, you can do a lot more than merely get even.”
It was no secret that Scurvy Shaw was not the most trust-worthy of characters. But Black-Hearted had no choice but to allow the negotiation to take place if he was ever to see his sweet Isabel again.
Black-Hearted took Scurvy by the vest and pulled him close, “Betray me and I’ll cut your heart out!”
Scurvy smiled back. “Hearted, I’m not as foolish and naïve as you would like to think.”
“We’ll meet up at Raven Bridges five days hence,” ordered Black-Hearted.
Scurvy quickly took up his sail, hoisting the white flag of neutrality and, with a ready crew, straightway cruised out for England. Arriving at the Port of London, on the
River Thames
, Scurvy was pleasantly surprised to have had such an easy go of it, thinking he would have been stopped and harassed many time along the way while in English waters.
Scurvy and Bones exited the vessel and paid the docking fee. Having arrived with time to spare, they waited near Roger’s Jolly for someone to escort them to the Crimson Reef, as indicated by the letter. Awaiting their arrival on the main deck, Captain Stirvin respectfully greeted them as they walked up the plank. Along with a few of his men, Captain Stirvin ushered them to his quarters where they hoped to negotiate a deal.
“So, where is she, Captain?” asked Scurvy. “Where might my daughter be?”
“That, I cannot say, but I can assure you, she is safe.”
“Am I to trust you, her abductor?” questioned Scurvy.
“I give you my word as a gentleman,” confirmed Captain Stirvin. “I can assure you; your daughter is in a safe place and will soon be under my personal watch.”
“Alright Stirvin, but if she comes to harm, your entire fleet couldn’t stop me,” warned Scurvy. “Just try me, Captain.”
“Do you mean to threaten me aboard my own ship, Mr. Shaw? That is very foolish indeed and it is cause enough to nullify our brief truce.”
“It seems to me, breaking contract is a bit of a habit,” hinted Scurvy, trying to rile Captain Stirvin’s emotions. “I heard about the Spanish vessel attacked in these waters. Aye, says I, seems we’re all pirates at heart, are we not? What was the booty, Sir? Spanish gold I take it?”
“Don’t test me, Mr. Shaw,” replied Captain Stirvin as he handed him an official document. “Here is your letter of marquee. The Queen has officially commissioned you as a privateer to perform the duty of taking part in the arrest of Black-Hearted the Pirate. You are to bring this Black-Hearted back to England where we intend to hang him. You will accept the Queen’s offer, or suffer your daughter to serve a pirates fate on the gibbet, alongside your own corpse.”
“Aye, I’ll do anything for monetary compensation,” replied Scurvy with a distasteful grin. “You needn’t have taken the girl. There be nothin’ but silver and gold that truly matter, for the deed you ask of me be done for riches before blood.”
“You’ll be under the Queen’s command and be mindful; I do speak for the Queen. Do you understand, Mr. Shaw?”
Scurvy answered in a flippant tone, “Aye,
Mr
. Stirvin.”
“You’ll be paid half the ransom upfront, complete with supplies for the journey. You’ll receive the rest once your mission has been carried out in full. Isabel will not be turned over until you locate Black-Hearted or assist in his capture.”
“Like I said before, the money is enough. Though, the daughter is a welcome reward.”
The discussion ended with a handshake and the negotiation was made final. But, before departing the Crimson Reef, Scurvy decided to throw things a little more off balance. “There’s one more thing. Something you should know before we part ways, Captain.”
“Oh and what would that be? And hurry you up; I have business to tend to.”
“Seems to me there be some rotten apples ‘bout the bunch ‘board your vessel.”
“And what would a pirate know of the loyalty of my men?”
“Last week six humbly dressed sailors aptly found their way to Port of Errors. They happened to barter with an acquaintance of mine, offering information about your fleet in exchange for a small chest of silver and gold. Four of these men were from your ship and two from another.”
“Impossible,” stated Captain Stirvin, “we were on Port Lorne last week.”
“Oh, and for how many days?” replied Scurvy. “I would venture to guess that only some of your men stayed on Port Lorne. Seems to me you were docked far too long to take proper notice that they were even missing.”
“Well, if what you say is true, you must know who they are?”
“I only know one name for certain.”
“And who might that be?”
“Does the name
Robert Hall
bear any meaning of importance to you or your crew?”
The trust Captain Stirvin had in his own men was now compromised. “Yes, yes it does bear meaning, indeed.”
Before Summoning Mr. Hall, Captain Stirvin demanded every detail that transpired, to which Scurvy and Bones conveniently divulged. When all the details had been fully laid out, Captain Stirvin asked Scurvy and Bones to stay. Captain Stirvin sent a quick dispatch requesting Admiral Flynn’s presence as soon as possible, knowing he had returned to the Port of London earlier that day and was now aboard the Sentry. In the dispatch, Captain Stirvin explained everything in his own words.
Upon Mr. Hall’s summons, knowing something was going on, Tweed, Captain Stirvin’s first mate, immediately vanished. When Mr. Hall arrived at the chamber door, he walked calmly in, feeling thick and disconcerting tension.
“Sir, you requested my presence?” he asked simply and respectfully.
“Please, have a seat, Mr. Hall,” directed Captain Stirvin with an unexpected firmness. A few guards blocked the exit, causing Mr. Hall to panic slightly within himself.
Motioning to Scurvy and Bones, before taking a seat, Mr. Hall questioned. “What are they doing here?”
“That is none of your business, Mr. Hall.”
“Captain Stirvin, might I ask what this is about?”
“No, you may not. Now sit down!”
“Yes Sir,” he replied politely, taking his seat in complete silence.
Sitting in the unsettling quiet for the next few minutes, Mr. Hall flinched when a loud knock finally came to the door. Admiral Flynn walked in uttering his apologies. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Captain. You may commence at your will. But I cannot promise you I will just sit and listen.” Eyeing Mr. Hall with an unnerving expression, he added, “There is much to say; much to say indeed.”
Mr. Hall took a deep breath in a flustered sweat. Captain Stirvin began the questioning. “I’ll get directly to the point, Mr. Hall. Last week, I gave implicit orders to stay on Port Lorne while we were docked there. However, Mr. Shaw here tells me you and several others chose to ignore my orders and venture beyond. In fact, they tell me, you were seen on Port of Errors. Please tell me this is not true.”
The look upon Mr. Hall’s pail continence confirmed the truth of it. Yet, he spoke in defiance, stuttering, “Begging your pardon, Sir, but are you going to believe a filthy pirate?”
“Mr. Shaw is a privateer in the Queen’s command and he is none of your concern at this moment,” replied Captain Stirvin. “Answer the question, Mr. Hall.”
Mr. Hall started, “Privateer, Pirate, they are all cutthroats, Sir. His intention is to pit us against each another.”
“Yet you still refuse to answer the question!”
Admiral Flynn then angrily interjected, “There were six of you. And you will tell us who the other five are!”
Mr. Hall refused to speak. For the next full minute an uncomfortable silence prevailed. Impatiently, Admiral Flynn stood and back handed him across the face. “You will undoubtedly die for your foolish actions. How you choose to leave this world is up to you. It can be quick and painless or it can be slow and unrelenting!”
With no way out, Mr. Hall’s heart sank, as he broke his silence and divulged all the names, excluding Tweed. Suddenly Mr. Hall began to heave out half-digested chunks of food. His nose dripped from the outburst as he looked up; his face covered in the filth of it.
“Who is the last, yet unmentioned, in your rabble of six?” asked Admiral Flynn.
“First Mate Tweed, Sir.” Mr. Hall lowered his head in complete shame. “Please have mercy, Sir.”
“Tweed?” shouted Captain Stirvin in complete repugnance. “Get this man out of my sight!”
Mr. Hall was escorted forcefully to a cell below deck. Tweed was nowhere to be found. But the other four traitors were immediately arrested and detained below deck with Mr. Hall. There they would await an armed carriage that would take them to the nearest courthouse the next morning to be formally charged and tried. As the five traitors were being escorted below, Captain Stirvin spitefully informed them, “You should know that when you chose to deal with liars and thieves, you chose to deal with backstabbers and cutthroats. Darcy Wenham told Black-Hearted of your transaction. Why do you think that pirate was able to find you so easily with the gold?”
Captain Stirvin quickly ordered a search for Tweed, while Admiral Flynn left immediately for the Royal estate to speak with the Queen about the dispatch she had sent to Spain in preparation for his arrival there. His mission was to personally smooth things over with King Philip and settle the unease caused by Black-Hearted.
The traitors were in the process of being escorted off the ship when Captain Stirvin noticed someone hiding along the wall near the entrance to his chambers. He cocked his pistol, motioning to the guards to keep moving. Nearing a few storage barrels on the main deck, something slammed into his face with such force he fell back, helplessly firing his pistol. Startled by the gun shot, two guards rushed back to the main deck leaving only two to watch the traitors, only to find Captain Stirvin completely out cold.
Tweed then jumped out from the shadows and shot the two guards. He quickly reloaded his weapons and surprised the other guards, ordering them to throw their weapons overboard and to free his traitorous friends. He then forced them to jump ship.
Tweed and his cohorts escaped in a small two-mast sloop on the starboard side of the Crimson Reef, opposite the dock.
An hour later, in his bedchamber, Captain Stirvin came-to. Both Scurvy and Bones were standing there with a few drenched guards, who had been ordered overboard by Tweed.
“What happened?” he asked, as sat up holding his head. “Who hit me?”
“It was Tweed, Sir,” Replied one of the guards. “He surprised us all.”
The other guard chimed in, explaining, “Tweed was hiding on board while we escorted the others to the prison carriage. He clobbered you with a pulley and killed two guards, demanding the traitors’ release. He forced the two of us overboard.”
Captain Stirvin was so furious; he threw off his bandages and stormed off the ship to the awaiting carriage at the end of the dock.
The Traitorous Six fled toward Spain where they might use the information obtained from Mr. Darcy as a token of safe passage. They were stopped by a Spanish war ship, which sent word of their arrival to King Phillip. The Traitorous Six then awaited word from the Spanish Crown.
Captain Stirvin met up with Kale and his mercenaries at
Sadler’s Musick House. They quickly carried Isabel to the Crimson Reef, where she was thrown into a cabin at the rear of the ship under the quarterdeck.
Standing amidst a small pile of food and supplies, just off the docks, Scurvy ordered his men, “Alright, you avaricious fools, load the bounty onto my ship!”
They immediately carried everything off to the Weeping Lady, about seventy-five paces down from the Crimson Reef. Along with the supplies came a letter of marquee in Scurvy’s name and a small sack of the Queen’s gold as the first portion of payment for his assistance in the capture of Black-Hearted.
Scurvy set sail for Raven Bridges, where he was to meet up with Black-Hearted and Captain Garrison. Upon arrival, Scurvy dropped anchor about fifteen yards from the Rogue, opposite Roger’s Jolly.
Scurvy rowed over to the Rogue with a few of his men. Without warning Scurvy stepped up to Black-Hearted, pulled a fifty caliber single barrel pistol from his vest and stretched it forth, digging the barrel into the center of Black-Hearted’s forehead. Everyone was taken-back by this daring move. With a devilish look about his eyes, Scurvy boldly stated, “Black-Hearted! By high commission of Her Royal Majesty, Anne Stuart, Queen of England, I hereby arrest you for and in behalf of Admiral Grey Flynn, High Commander of the Queen’s Royal Navy.” Pausing with a simple smirk he continued, “Now bend over and I’ll give you a sound lashin’, ya vagabond.” Lowering his pistol, Scurvy laughed aloud in his creepy way, “
He!-He!-He-He!-He!
”