Pirate's Life For Me....

Silver And Blake

  Captain Flint took us to the island he had spoken about that was home to the people he had made a sort of alliance with. It was mostly jungle, and we were told that it was full of traps as well...

  "Jack Rackham? Who is Jack Rackham?" The woman in the position of queen on this island furrowed her brows in confusion as her daughter stood a few feet away.

  "At the moment, he's the most wanted man in the West Indies, owing to a cache of rare jewels in his possession, proceeds from a massive Spanish prize and, as luck would have it, our only hope of victory against Rogers's regime in Nassau." Flint answered.

  "You left here to secure a fleet of ships so that we might harass Nassau's trade and bleed away her strength. You told me, that without those ships, you could see no other way to achieve victory in this fight. Now you have returned with nothing but him, some woman, and a plan to make up the difference with money?"

  "Not money, bait." Vane stated, having his arms crossed as he leaned on a tree supporting the roof. "We came upon a trove of Spanish intelligence. And the one you refer to as 'some woman' found mention of this cache of gems, a cache I know to be in Jack's possession. Spain is furious over its very existence. They see it as an affront. They are so furious, in fact, they are willing to burn Nassau to the ground just to prove the point." The queen glanced between Vane and Flint. "The only way Rogers can prevent this is to find the cache and return it. Which means if we were to find it first, we could dictate what happens next."

  "And what are you proposing that might be?"

  "Rogers's strength resides in his naval consort....ships and soldiers on loan to him from the Crown. They're well-trained and well-armed. Against them on even terms, we wouldn't have a prayer of success, but if we can get them to meet us on uneven terms, terms that dramatically favor our efforts, things might be different." Flint stepped forward.

  "Use the cache to lure him to committing his forces onto an undesirable battlefield."

  "Committing all of his forces there." The queen's eyebrows furrowed at Flint's words. "With the stakes this high, he'll have no choice but to put everything at his disposal in play. We compel him into a single, decisive fight, one in which we have a massive advantage and one in which, with a little luck, we might deal him a catastrophic defeat, break the back of his military strength, and open up Nassau for direct invasion."

  "What battlefield is this that will allow us to defeat that kind of force?" One of the guards questioned.

  "Here."

  "Here?" The guard licked his lips before continuing. "Your plan is to lure the British navy here?"

  "I'd like to speak with the captain alone. Now." The queen ordered, and the rest of us left. Sighing as I glanced behind me to the building, I could only imagine the conversation going on inside. Knowing Flint, he was probably trying to convince the leader of these people to agree to his wild idea. Even so, as it seemed, only this wild idea would bring Nassau back under pirate control.

~

  The queen's daughter was sent with us on our journey to Nassau to speak with her husband's agents there. They had extra shot and weapons hidden there that we could use, and this young woman was the only one that could get the agents to bring it to us as they trusted no one else other than the queen that had to remain and lead her people, and her husband that was too badly injured to move.

~

  "We should be sighting the island in just a few hours' time. We'll approach just west of Nassau Town under cover of darkness." Flint pointed to the map laid out in front of him on his desk. "Two longboats will ferry the landing party to shore. You'll slip into town to pick up the trail and find Rackham and Bonny. The sooner we know where to go to find the cache, the better." He glanced at Vane and I before turning to Madi. "You'll join our party towards the tavern, make contact with your father's agent there and arrange for the acquisition of guns and shot."