Black Sam - Prince of Pirates

Forty-Nine - A FREE PRINCE

Forty - Nine - A FREE PRINCE

March 1717

Sam’s face dripped with sweat as he pulled on a rig to adjust one of the sails. Paulgrave had out-sailed him and was now in the lead as they tracked a sloop. His shirt, half removed, hung at the waist, still tucked into his pants. His men, already fueled by the competition with the Mary Anne, didn't need much motivation, so when Sam threw his hat down and got to work, they didn't hesitate for a second.

One of the riggers yelled out, “The mizzen topgallant sail has come loose.”

Sam looked up at the mizzenmast and saw a corner of the topgallant flapping in the wind. The canvas had torn free of the line holding it in place.

Sam jumped up, grabbed a length of line, and climbed the mizzenmast. He positioned himself on the topgallant crossbeam and slowly inched his way out to the end where the canvas flapped free. Sitting upright on the beam, he reached out for the flapping sail and almost fell off the mizzenmast. He steadied himself, and finally grabbed hold of the corner. He tied a knot out of the corner of the canvas then tied the line around the knot. He secured the other end of the line to the crossbeam then made his way back down.

Sam motioned for Hendrick to follow him. When they got to the bow, he asked Hendrick for a scope but his new right hand man didn’t have one. He never missed Paulgrave more than he did right now. Hendrick found a scope and Sam looked through it to the Mary Anne studying her for a moment. “We are gaining on them.”

“Of course we are,” Hendrick said.

Sam handed the scope back to his friend then smiled and slapped him on the shoulder.

He walked the deck while the men were busy with their respective duties. “We all know what kind of crew Captain Williams commands. They are fast and so we must be faster. They are efficient, therefore we must be more so. We cannot give in a little or we shall lose. Do you want to lose to those sniveling, scabrous, scoundrels?” He didn’t choose the words they just came out, although he was happy with how they sounded.

Almost in unison, the crew yelled, “no!”

“Then let's push all in and go get our prize.” Sam got back to work, helping the crew wherever needed.

Hendrick stood next to him. “You know you're going to rough up those delicate hands doing this kind of work.”

Sam turned to his friend. “I appreciate your concern.”

“What's the lady going to say back home when you touch her and it leaves a mark?” Hendrick laughed at his own joke. Sam chuckled and then got lost in his thoughts. Maria was not a subject he talked about openly. “I never spoke of a woman back home, how do you know about her? Did Paulgrave tell you?”

Hendrick laughed. “Guess again,” he said pointing to the pendant that hung from Sam's neck. Sam looked down and grabbed the pendant, shielding it from view. It slipped his mind when he took off his shirt, his thoughts being only in the moment. A sudden rush of her memory came flooding into his mind. “Excuse me,” he said to Hendrick and walked away.

In the cargo hold, he stared at the massive piles of treasure. It was a fortune for one man, but for two hundred it was still far from the goal.  Twenty more ships and he might have enough. He sat down and leaned against a chest. He picked up a handful of coin and then dropped them back down one by one. Could this be enough? Even if it could, he now had a much bigger hurdle to get over. Surely, Maria knew by now that he was a pirate. If she didn’t hate him for it, her parents certainly would. The only way to be with her now was to steal her away to some faraway place. He stood up and looked at the pile again. “It's not enough.”