Maria Beyond the Sea

All Maybe Lost

'Show yourself, Red Rackham!' cried Sir Francis. The two men had met before and fought to the death. Now, Red Rackham was back for more.

'You wanted to see me, so here I am', Red Rackham sneered as he appeared from within the shadows. 'Once again, I am ready for action. What do you say, Haddock? Shall we try again?'

'If it's a fight you want, you'll be eating rats, you pirate!'

'A fight to what?' Red Rackham teased. 'To the death?'

'To the death, Red Rackham'. Sir Francis made his move. Buckling their swords and swaying from side-to-side, the Captain and the Pirate fought to the death. They stared at each other; their eyes read emotions of anger and chivalry. One trying to defend all that he had; the other attempting to conquer everything his rival had. Their battle raged on for hours and hours until Red Rackham sealed the Unicorn's fate. With a swish, his sword cut a piece of rope, tied to a piece of timber. A plank fell on Sir Francis' head; Sir Francis lost consciousness.

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When he woke up, Sir Francis found himself, being clung by two of Red Rackham's men. There was no escape for him; Red Rackham was in charge and only he could make the orders.

'Men', he shouted, 'we have captured the King's dog! Here is the pirate hunter, who hath slain our crew and sunk our ship. He pulled out his cards. Now, we shall pull out ours'.

The Pirates cheered in unison but Sir Francis knew what was coming but he didn't move a muscle. Red Rackham wanted a weaknesses from his arch enemy. 'Let me see, what shall we do?'

'Why – why don't we offer you our finest tobacco? Some wine perhaps?' stuttered a nervous Mr Watson. He was in the grasp of the Pirates.

'Oh, nonsense!' cried Red Rackham. 'Why would I waste my time on rum, tobacco, molasses and dates, when you have a more valuable cargo on board? Where is it?' he threatened.

'You have to kill me first', replied Sir Francis.

'Not first. No. I'll start with your men!'

Like Mr Watson, the Pirates captured the entire crew. Sir Francis knew he had no choice; he had to give up his secret cargo.

He agreed to take Red Rackham to hold. With Mr Watson leading the way, Red Rackham and Sir Francis entered inside the hold, at the bottom of the ship. Inside, there were jewels, treasure and four hundred pounds in weight of gold. Red Rackham inspected the gold and began to exam the jewels carefully. Secretly, he was satisfied but to Sir Francis and Mr Watson, he was impatient. Maybe the cargo wasn't enough for Red Rackham and maybe something terrible will happen. And what of the consequences? Would they be the loss of their men or the sinking of the ship?

'Kill his men!' cried Red Rackham; ordering the Pirates to butch them in shark-vested waters.

Their fears came true.

'No!' cried Sir Francis. 'You gave me your word! Rackham! Rackham!' Sir Francis continued to beg and plead with Red Rackham in an attempt to save his men – but Red Rackham was deaf; his mind was made up and there was no escape for Sir Francis or Mr Watson.