William
It was the crack of dawn, the sunlight was glimmering around the room as soon as I woke up. I got out of bed and smelled something delicious, I saw Andrew cooking breakfast so I went to the kitchen to try and help him.
"Good morning William, had a good night's sleep?" He asked.
"Aye I never had a sleep like those in ages." I replied. "May I help?"
"No I got this, you just sit and wait at the dining room and food will be ready shortly."
I sat down in the dining room waiting for the food to be cooked, as minutes pass by the food finally arrived.
"It's been ages since I had someone to eat with me." Andrew said.
"And it's been ages since I had decent food such as this." I chuckled.
The room stood silent as we ate our foods until one of us asks a question. "So who's the new captain of your vessel?" Andrew asked.
"It's supposed to be me a few months ago, but the jealousy of Billy got the better of him and took my reserved position away from me." I replied.
"Now that he's dead and no one else is capable of leading the ship, are you now her captain?"
"Aye but I don't think I'm ready."
"If you think you're not ready, it's not wrong to ask guidance from someone who you trust the most." He said.
"T-Thank you for the advice sir." I replied.
"Finished with your breakfast? Put your dishes on to the sink and come with me, I've got something to show you."
I placed my dishes on to the sink as soon as I was done eating then followed Andrew to a room where there's a huge vault across it.
"What's inside?" I asked.
"This is what we've earned for the last six months." He replied.
As he opened the vault, I saw lots of gold and silver combined, chests filled with so much valuable loots. I thought to myself there was so much gold and silver that it compares to how much a Spanish Treasure Galleon carries throughout her expedition in the Caribbean.
"How much is all of this?"
"If I estimated it, it's about two hundred and fifty-seven thousand reales."
"Is this all Marcus's profit?" I asked again.
"Aye indeed, we keep our share in a different vault for the improvement of our plantation. This was for Marcus and now, I shall give it to you." He replied.
"T-T-Thank you for your generosity sir but, I can't take all of this."
"Aren't you the captain of your own vessel now?" Why aren't you wearing those fancy captain's clothing?"
He sighed and gave me three and a half bag of reales. "Here is some money, we'll fill it up again so go on, buy new clothes that's fit for a captain, new weapons, and to pay the costs of repairs of your vessel."
"I don't know how to repay you." I said.
"It's simple you should export the products that's made in this plantation and sell them to different markets in different cities around the Caribbean." He replied.
"I should be going, my crew's waiting for me."
"Take care now kid!"
I left the plantation then went back to town to find some new clothes and weapons.
"Excuse me? Where is the haberdashery?" I asked a local.
"Should be near the market on the west." The local replied.
"Thank you."
I went to find the haberdashery. "How may I help you?" The shopkeeper asked.
"I'm looking for new clothes, something that a captain would wear?" I replied.
"Pick whatever you fancy."
I looked for clothes for a few minutes, I picked a coat, comfortable pants, mid-high boots, a cavalier hat with feathers, white poet shirt, a brown waistcoat, and I bought five other colors of clothing that I picked. I paid the shopkeeper and left the haberdashery then went to my next destination, a general store to buy new weapons.
"How may I help you sir?" The shopkeeper asked.
"I'm looking for a pair of swords and guns please." I replied.
"Pick what suits you best sir."
I looked through a variety of choices for weapons so, I picked a pair of cavalry sabers of the same model, a pair of English flintlocks, and five throwing knives.
"Very nice choices sir, that'll be two hundred and fifty reales." The shopkeeper said.
"Here." I paid him two hundred fifty reales and asked. "Excuse me but did you make all of these swords?"
"Ah no, not all of them apparently. But the sword you just bought I made them aye." He replied.
"Then are you skilled enough to make these pair of blades for me?"
I gave him the plans for the blade. "Hmm, sorry mate but I'm not too skilled to be making these kind of complex blade designs, maybe some other blacksmiths in other towns around the Caribbean or much better in Europe. I heard the French make great weapons and maybe they could make this blade of yours." He said.
"Thank you mate, I'll be taking my leave." I replied.
"Thank you for your patronage sir."
I got everything I needed so I head back to the shipyard to meet up with Rhett, Chase, Alfred and the rest of the crew.
"You're looking like a fine captain now William!" Rhett said.
"Oh thank you very much, I just bought these breeches to a local haberdashery." I replied.
"You've got some nice taste in clothes." Chase said.
"By the way, here's the money for the repairs of our vessel."
"Where'd you get it?" Alfred asked.
"There's a plantation that Marcus owned a few months ago and now it belongs to me, we could be rich if we do jobs for her make a bit of profit for the plantation and for us as well if we just come back to being merchants and privateers." I replied.
"Hey, it's your decision if we should revert back to being privateers and merchants mate. No one's stopping you, but we have jobs to do and did the plantation offered goods to be exported?" Rhett asked.
"Aye she did but first we should pay the repairs for our vessel and head to a smuggler's outpost." I replied.
"A smuggler's outpost? What for?" Chase asked.
"I'll revert her name back to the Black Pearl, so we'll be out of the notoriety list of British and Spanish privateers of the like."
"Aye captain, as you wish."
I paid a shipwright to repair our vessel which took only thirty minutes and we're back on the waters again to go to a nearby smuggler's outpost to change the ship's name back to the "Black Pearl." We head for our export destination of goods for the plantation at a town called "Baracoa."
"How may I help you sir?" The shopkeeper asked.
"We were to export these products into your shop." I replied.
"Ah yes, it came from the Maryhills Plantation yes?"
"Aye sir."
"Great, I'll give you seven hundred and fifty for you hard work." He said.
"Thank you very much." I replied.
"By the way, I have a job for you captain. If you will be able to deliver these ten barrels of gunpowder, seven sacks of spices, and fifteen crates of rum to another shopkeeper in Maracaibo, I'll reward you handsomely what do you say?"
"Sure, if you reward us now for export expenses, we'll take the job." I bargained.
"I'll give you two hundred and fifty for export expenses and you'll come back here with the rest of the reward, what do you say?" He asked.
"Sounds like a deal." We shook each other's hands and left with the merchandise that's to be exported to Maracaibo.
"Hoist the sails and weigh anchors men, we're going to Maracaibo." I ordered.
"But sir it'll take a week before we get to Maracaibo and we haven't got much rations left." The cook reminded.
"Aye you're right, would someone like to volunteer to buy us our rations?" I asked the crew.
A few people volunteered. "You five make it quick, we haven't got much money right now so buy rations that'll last us for a week and no spending the money on other unrelated purposes savvy?"
"Aye captain."
While my crew buys rations, I make sure that my vessel is in good shape before I leave for Maracaibo and check up on the crew if they're in good spirits. The others came back a few minutes so I ordered we leave as soon as possible then we head on our way to Maracaibo. Four to five days later, we hoisted our anchors and docked to a nearby pier and entered the town of Maracaibo to sell the products to a merchant in the market. After we've sold all of the products, the vendor gave us four hundred and fifty reales and the crew later went to a tavern to take a rest while I went to the hospital.
"Excuse me miss?" I said.
"Yes sir? How may I help you?" She asked.
"Three months ago, me and my friend carried a man here to the emergency room, is he still here?" I replied.
"What is the name of this person sir?"
"M-Marcus, Marcus Reyes."
"Ah, fortunately he was stable and was able to live. We just fixed his stitches better and the one who did a surgery on him must be a good surgeon." She said.
"Where is he now ma'am?" I asked again.
"When he was much better, we made a decision to revert him back to your country for better treatment. We didn't have the equipment here to check more what was wrong with him." She replied.
"I do thank you for trying your best keeping him alive, I must take my leave."
"You're very much welcome."
I left the hospital and came in the tavern with the others. "Hey Will, where've you been?" Rhett asked.
"Tried to visit Marcus." I replied.
"Oh yeah, you brought him here three months ago, is he alright?" Chase said.
"The nurse back at the hospital said that he's back to the Philippines for furthermore treatment that they didn't have there."
"I think that's for the best." Alfred said.
"So, do we have our next job?" Rhett asked.
"We should get our reward first at Baracoa then ask around for our next job." I replied.
Yet the tavern owner overheard our conversation. "Excuse me? I overheard you merchants are looking for a job." He said.
"Merchants and Privateers aye, do you have a job for me?" I asked.
"Aye I do, I need you to export these rum boxes and sugar sacks to Jamaica." He replied.
"Sugar and rum again." Chase complained.
"I'll reward you with a thousand and two hundred reales."
"You've got yourself a deal but we'll have the money first."
"Here." The tavern owner gave the reales in a pouch.
"Come on and lift those boxes and sacks back to the ship." I ordered.
"Aye captain."
We head back to the ship then head first to a nearby smuggler's outpost to revert her name back to the "Black Pearl" and we set sailed for Jamaica with the merchandise. Three days later, we've arrived at Jamaica. We hoisted our anchors and docked to a port and boarded the pier.
"You go on and find that merchant, I still have to write the trips we've gone on my journal" I said.
"Aye captain."
As I was writing on my journal, they've returned five minutes later with nine hundred and fifty reales on their hands. Before we leave for another job opportunity I went out on the pier to inhale some of that fresh Jamaican air until I heard a damn irritating quarrel nearby.
"What's this?! Why are you back without the Governor and his daughter?!" He shouted, he must be the harbormaster of this pier.
"Very sorry sir, there was a hurricane and our vessel almost didn't make it out alive. The heavy winds we're just against us that day so we returned here." The captain explain.
I tried to approach them. "What's the problem gentlemen?" I asked.
"They were supposed to depart to England to escort the new Governor and his daughter at Port Royal but they didn't make it due to the hurricane." He replied.
"Can I do anything to help?"
"Only if you have a vessel large enough to take on those waves and she's durable enough to cross that storm, if not then we'll have to wait until the storm have passed." The quartermaster said.
"But we cannot sit here and wait for days until that storm passes! It'll take a month to cross the Atlantic even with the favor of the wind!!!" The harbormaster exclaimed.
"I do have a vessel that's quite large but, I don't know if she'll hold in that raging hurricane." I said.
"Where is she?"
"Right there." I pointed to her and they seemed shocked.
"I-Is that her? I-If it is then the rumors are true??" They frighteningly mumbled.
"What are you two mumbling about?"
"You're one of those men who haven't heard the rumors of "La Gueuse Maudite?"
"La Gueuse Maudite?" I wondered.
"She's a ghost ship that wreaks havoc in these very waters of the Caribbean trying to find the one who killed the captain's mother and father for the last two to three centuries."
"A ghost ship?" I wondered again.
"Other rumors tell that she abducts people and forces them to work under the wretched captain." The quartermaster said.
"Best to keep your eyes sharp around these waters of the Caribbean when darkness has surrounded the sky." The captain added
"T-Thanks for the warning, I must be going." I replied.
And so I went on my way but I heard them whisper. "What if he's the wretched ghost captain and that's the ghost ship?" But I ignored it.
"Do we have another job on our hands captain?" Rhett asked.
"Aye but its dangerous." I replied.
"What could be more dangerous than surviving a raining hell of cannon fire?" He wondered.
"Crossing a ravaging hurricane with rogue waves and waterspouts all around the Atlantic."
"Holy shit where are we going?"
"I hope your kit is packed well cause we're sailing for England."
"England? Right at this moment?" He asked.
"Aye, let's hope the ship's heavy enough to cross the Atlantic." I replied.
"And durable too sir, unfortunately we don't have enough reales on us right now to make our ship heavier."
"Let's just hope for the best, WEIGH ANCHORS LADS WE'RE SAILING FOR ENGLAND!!!"
We left Jamaica to sail for England but first we head back to Baracoa to receive our reward of seven hundred and fifty reales, we head to the market to buy our rations for a month and auxiliaries to add weight on our ship. We've gathered all the items we bought and stocked them in the cargo hold so they'll add weight on our vessel and hope that they're heavy enough to help us survive a ravaging hurricane.
To be continued...