Changing Kitty

Chapter 17

The port side of the Royal Rose was immediately hit as she bowed down to the sea after the blow. William nearly lost his footing but kept himself upright by holding onto a rope and pulley.

“Captain,” barked a Lieutenant. “Ready at your command, sir.”

“Fire all!” William yelled to his men. “This is what you’ve been trained for. Do not let –” but before he could finish another waved of cannons began to hit the Royal Rose as the pirate ship edged closer and closer. 

Wood splintered as more holes were created in the side of the Royal Rose. They retaliated with all sixty of the cannons on the port side of the ship being fired at once. The cannons that made the distance blew holes in the starboard side of the pirate ship.

William could hear the angry cries from the pirates as well as the pained ones from his men below deck that had been hit or caught in the debris. “Blast them!” he ordered. “I want their ship at the bottom of the sea!”

All William’s hopes were quashed as soon as he saw split shot balls heading for the masts.

“Get the sails down now!” he yelled. “Load the split shots, I want their masts down!” William could see it happening before his eyes. They were firing as fast as possible but their cannons did not have the distance or the trajectory that the pirate ship did.

The East India Trading Company ship had turned away from the battle. William didn’t know whether to curse the captain’s cowardice or commend his sense in getting away from the battle.      

No sooner had the sails been lowered did a split shot cannon hit the main mast. In one swift motion the grand piece of wood began to collapse. It was then that he saw it. Commander Gates was shouting orders. The noises surrounding the ship were loud and he hadn’t heard the sound of the mast separating from the ships. The mast was falling; there was a death sentence on the Commander’s shoulders. 

As if he were moving in slow motion, William ran to his friend. With all his strength he pushed him, sending him flying through the air. Instead William now took Commander’s Gates’ position beneath the mast.

He did not feel its collision. All he saw as his sight disappeared was the smoke left behind by gunpowder and the remains of the Royal Rose crumbling. With his last ounce of strength, he reached into his pocket and felt the letter there. Knowing that at one point his wife’s hand touched it brought comfort to him. With a small smile, he closed his eyes.

Christmas came and went and still Kitty had not heard anything from William. Spending time with her beloved grandmamma had helped distract her for a time but it still could not calm the little voice in her head that told her something had happened.

It was now late January and the Alcott’s were on their way home. She sat in the carriage with her sisters and Joseph. The three of them were chatting happily but Kitty found more amusement in absently rubbing her swollen stomach and staring out the window. It was snowing. The perfect white dust coated every surface. She wondered, wherever he was, be it the Caribbean or elsewhere, if it was snowing where William was. Even if it wasn’t snowing, she still looked at the stars like he liked to and hoped that he was doing so at the same time.