Pirate's Life For Me....

Mark

  "Wind's in our favor." Teach stated as he stood next to Vane. I was sitting on the edge of the ship on the other side of my captain while cleaning my blades. "Should be arriving in Ocracoke in three days' time." There was a pause, and the only sound was the sound of the ships crashing through the waves and the men shouting as they worked.

  "My fourth wife, Constance....a sweet girl, bright, but she had her notions. Cricket in the house means good luck, a moth in the house, bad. And the bed...." He sighed. "Jesus, the bed. No hats on it, no brooms near it, nor any clothes in it that were worn outdoors. Any violation of this brought great misfortune. I mean, for an otherwise sane woman, she had these pockets of complete and thorough madness within her. Although it's been six years since I've seen her face....to this day if I....if I see a broom by a bed, I....I have to move it."

  "What the fuck are you talking about?" Vane finally asked, and Teach smiled at him.

  "A woman has that power, God-given, to leave her marks on you. And it's far harder to dispose of the marks than the woman who left them."

  "You think I'm having second thoughts about leaving Nassau? That that is the mark Eleanor Guthrie left on me?"

  "I know it is. And I know that you're conflicted about what you have left behind. But the question is whether you can cling fast to the truth we both hold in our hearts, the truth that makes us of the same mind."

  "And what truth is that?"

  "That a lion keeps no den. Because the savanna, all the space within it, everything that walks and crawls upon it belongs to him." I looked at Teach when he mentioned a lion, and I quirked up a brow. 'So I'm not the only one that compares Vane to a lion?'

  "When I talked like that, they all looked at me like I was mad. They never understood."

  "There's hardly any of us who do." The older man smiled.

  "Sails!" A member of the crew called out, gaining Teach's attention. Vane followed the other captain, but I remained where I was seated. Breathing in the fresh, salty air, I wondered where my life was headed next.

  Will the Black Angel soar? Or will she quietly nestle up where it's safe and secure?

  "Prepare to pursue!" Another man shouted, and I felt a smirk pull at the corner of my mouth as I slid my knife into its place on the holster. No, I was not ready to rest my wings just yet. I still had so much time to fly.

~

  There was repeated gunfire and clashing of swords filling the air along with screaming men. Blood sprayed over the deck and stained my blades and hands. The taking of the Spanish ship was not easy, but the casualties were heavy on their side. They were transporting information, but someone below deck had burned much of it before killing himself.

  Vane was digging through the ripped and burned scraps of parchment while Teach was rifling through a cabinet. Another man was searching through papers on a desk, and I was busy reading a little notebook on foreign recipes. It was in Spanish, but thankfully, my previous captain had taught me enough to understand what I was reading.

  "Spanish intelligence." Teach sighed. "They'll carry files from station to station, relaying information up the chain of command. Looks like this was a heavy load."

  "What do you think they could have had in there?"

  "Well, it could be inventories for silver shipments. Could be treasure fleet schedules. Could be private letters of the goddamn king. Could be anything." Teach grumbled.

  "Capt'n. Your name's in here." The other man looked at Vane while holding a stack of papers.

  "What?" Vane looked up as his brows furrowed with confusion. Teach snapped his fingers, gesturing for the papers to be handed to him before he started reading them.

  "The reports from the Bahamas." My captain rose from where he had been crouching and let one of his hands rest on the hilt of his sword as he listened. "English operations in the area and a dossier on the new governor."

  "Part of an invasion plan in case they decide to go in."

  "No, this isn't remotely a plan. It's just someone's notes. Fragments."

 "Is there anything of value in it?"

  "Not unless we have an interest in invading Nassau, which I don't think we do." Teach pointedly looked at Vane. "Do we?"

  "No, we don't." Vane answered before Teach let the papers fall to the floor.

  "Governor hasn't even been here that long. How did they learn anything about him so quickly? Well, same way they do all British governors in the Americas. They have a spy in his office."