Black Sam - Prince of Pirates

Fifty One - PRINCE'S PLAN

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Gunfire erupted between the two ships, but it was pistols and rifles, not one more cannon shot fired the rest of the battle. Sam threw a grappling hook over and caught the rail of the Gally. Several others did the same, and they pulled her toward the Sultana. Paulgrave unleashed hell on the other side of the ship, and the men aboard the Whydah scattered, dodging death from both sides.

The company men surrendered as Sam and Paulgrave led their men aboard the Whydah. Hendrick gathered the captured crew and held them on the Sultana, while he and Paulgrave took to the task of clearing the ship as they usually did. They found little resistance; men seemed to have their hands raised even before Sam and Paulgrave entered the hold.

In a room off to one side of the captain’s chambers, they found a young African girl naked and chained to the bedpost. She did her best to clutch the blanket around her body with her free hand. She trembled at the sight of men with guns and screamed out.

Sam handed Paulgrave his guns and raised his hands up where the girl could see them. He knelt beside the bed and pulled the rest of the blanket to cover the girl fully. He pointed to her bindings, chains under lock and key. He made the motion of unlocking it with a key. The girl pointed to a desk across the room. Paulgrave rifled through it, found the key inside, and handed it to Sam. He unlocked the chains from the girl’s wrist and she clutched the blanket tight with both hands. She shook from head to toe, tears streaming from her eyes as she cried.

The image of this young girl clutching to the blanket was more than Sam could bear. She looked exhausted. Sam imagined that was partly due to lack of sleep because she was always on guard being surrounded by strange men who sold the rest of her people into slavery, and apparently kept her as a play thing. Sam’s stomach twisted as his eyes began to swell.

Sam looked to Paulgrave who was in the same emotional condition. “We’ve got to get her out of this room.”

Paulgrave nodded. “I’ll see if John King has some clothes she can use.”

“Good.” Sam turned to the girl. He knelt on the floor in an effort to look less menacing. “I need to get you out of here,” he said in a soft voice. She likely could not understand his words, but maybe she could understand his tone.

“I’m going to pick you up.” He motioned what he was going to do. She looked at him with a blank expression. He scooped his hands under her and slowly lifted her up. His tears flowed again as he thought of her small body wrapped up in the blanket. He closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and sobbed.

With tremendous effort, he regained his composure, walking out of the room slowly and with purpose past the prisoners. Later there would be a reckoning with the person responsible; he wanted them to see this, and know it was coming. Inside the captain’s quarters, he laid the girl on the bed. He put another blanket over her, then put his hands to his mouth to signify eating. “Are you hungry?”

The girl, now calmer, nodded.

“I’ll bring some food.”

Sam found Doctor Ferguson on the main deck, tending to some of the men. “Doctor, there is a patient in the captain’s quarters who needs your attention immediately.”

The doctor looked up at Sam then patted his current patient on the shoulder. “I’ll be back.”

Sam watched the doctor enter the captain’s chambers, then turn to the group of prisoners. His eyes hardened. He wanted to destroy the man responsible, but the girl needed food so it would have to wait. In the storeroom, he collected some bread and salted pork and then headed back to the girl.