John Locke - Now & Then

“See any pirates when you were fishing?” Samuel said.

“Not this trip.”

“We like pirates, don’t we, Father?” Rose said.

George and Marie exchanged a glance. They knew Jack was a pirate, but it wouldn’t be safe for their children to know.

Jack said, “I think all colonists are fond of pirates, or privateers, as they’re currently called. Reason being, English taxes are so high these days, the colonists lose money on every crop. They have to traffic with pirates to survive.”

“Do you know any pirates, Henry?” Rose said.

Jack could feel all eyes on his face. “It’s possible, since there are pirates everywhere these days.”

“How come?” Samuel persisted.

“With England at war with Spain, they want pirates to sink Spanish ships. So they passed a law that lets pirates keep 100% of their plunder from enemy ships.”

“England likes pirates?” Samuel asked.

Jack laughed. “England tolerates them for now. But when the war is over, that will change.”

“What will happen then?”

“The governors will go back to hanging them.”

Chapter 6

The outpost was connected to the main house by a heavy wooden door with iron banding. The main room contained a couple dozen shirts and pants, assorted ropes, netting, hammers, saws, nails and other hardware, much of which had been previously used. The medicine and knives weren’t kept in this building, but in locked trunks in George’s bedroom. Behind the service counter, another door led to a small bedroom that George and Marie rented to customers by the night. Those who slept here were usually too sick to travel, so it was more of a treatment room than a hotel.

After supper, while the men talked at the main table, Marie and Johanna put some linens and a blanket on the guest bed and set out a clean chamber pot. Rose fetched some well water for the basin, and Johanna placed a towel and hand mirror beside it.

“Do you have any questions about what might happen tonight?” Marie said.

Johanna blushed.

“I know you’ve probably seen it done, but this will be different.”

Johanna looked down at her hands in her lap.

Marie said, “Well then, I’ll just let nature take its course. Tomorrow, if you want, we can talk about what happened.

“Okay.”

Marie walked to the doorway, turned, and smiled. Johanna said, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Stout. Everything will be all right.”

Marie looked at the young girl sitting on the bed, her work dress caked with grime from the day’s cleaning. Johanna’s hair was a tangled mess, and soot smudges from the fire wood covered her hands and right forearm. There were random smudges on her forehead where she’d wiped her brow. Her legs and ankles were bruised and cut from the brambles and saw grass, and there were chigger bites on her cheek and neck.

It was a pitiful sight to behold.

Marie sighed. “Here, child, let me work on you a bit.”

She dipped the towel in the water basin and scrubbed Johanna’s face, neck, and arms, then rinsed it off.

She stepped back to survey her work, frowned and shook her head.

“Take your shoes off.”

Marie scrubbed the girl’s feet, rinsed the towel again and handed it to her, saying, “I’ll leave the room a moment while you clean the rest of you.”

Marie closed the door behind her and went to one of the cabinets in the store. George and Marie didn’t stock luxury items like dresses, but they did have a couple of night shirts. Marie chose one, shook it out, and put it to her nose. It smelled slightly of mildew, but was a vast improvement over Johanna’s shift. She waited a couple minutes and knocked on the door. When Marie entered the bedroom holding the night shirt, Johanna jumped to her feet and hugged her tightly.

“I love you, Marie,” she said.

Marie smiled and patted her back. “Well, it’s the least I can do.”

After Marie left, Johanna changed clothes and sat on the side of the bed to wait for Henry. A moment passed and she heard the slightest movement under the bed. She jumped to her feet. Her eyes darted around the room searching for any type of weapon she could use to kill a snake or rat, but found nothing. Fine, she’d use her shoe if she had to. Johanna grabbed a shoe, set her jaw, knelt beside the bed, lifted the low-hanging edge of the quilt and carefully looked beneath it.

She gasped and drew back.

It wasn’t a snake or rat.

It was Rose.

Johanna grabbed her by the foot and pulled her out.

“You monstrous child!” she said. “What were you doing under there?”

“Why, waiting for you and Henry to fornicate, of course.”

Chapter 7

The Fortress had been anchored a hundred yards off shore for nearly two hours and the men were getting surly. Those who owned spyglasses had climbed high up the netting to focus them—not on the south side of St. Alban’s, where smoke would be visible had the Captain uncovered a plot to capture them—but on the docks of Sinner’s Row, where the whores were hooting and hollering and showing off their wares. The spotters were whipping the crew into a frenzy with their running commentary.

Pim frowned. The Captain specifically said to wait four hours for a signal. On the other hand, The Fortress had torn a sail back in Shark’s Bay and that had set them back nearly an hour while they waited for Martin to repair it. So technically they had waited nearly three hours since lowering the Captain’s dory.

“C’mon, Pim,” Roberts said. “If there was a fire, I’d have seen it by now! Give the order, and let’s go ashore!”

Pim had full authority to act in the Captain’s absence. Like the Captain, a pirate ship’s Quarter-Master was an elected position, worth an extra share of the booty. Pim’s job was to represent the interests of the crew, settle their differences, and maintain order. He also distributed food and medicine, and divided up the booty. Pim was as eager to go ashore as any man on board, since he intended this to be his final shore leave, should Darla agree to give up whoring, settle down and marry him. He had reason to believe she might. They’d grown close over the years, and he regretted not asking her two months ago like he’d planned. He called to Roberts in the crow’s nest. “Give ‘er one last, careful sweep with the scope. If she’s clean, we’ll put the first boat ashore and watch what happens. If that goes well, we’ll move in another fifty, aim her sideways to the port to show her guns, and go ashore, ‘cept for the skeleton crew.”

One long minute later a cheer rang out among the crew when Roberts confirmed the absence of smoke. An hour after that, Pim and the last landing party were standing on the pier at Sinner’s Row. By then, all the prostitutes were occupied, so Pim and the others split up into smaller groups of gamblers, drinkers and shoppers. Pim made his way to the Blue Lagoon, entered, and took his usual seat in the far corner. He looked around the place with anxious eyes.

Pirates weren’t allowed to drink before battles or while under sail. Nor were they allowed to drink to excess at any time while on the vessel, and Pim was no exception. But on shore, he was an accomplished drinker with a particular fondness for Puerto Rican rum and a thick-waisted whore named Darla. After four years of shore excursions it was common knowledge that Darla and Pim were a couple when he was in town. Though pirates in general were a hard lot, only the drunkest of the tough would think to challenge Pim on this or any other issue, since Pim was known to have a long memory and it fell to him to discipline the crew at sea. An affront on shore could mean the difference between being lashed or keelhauled at sea, and, though neither was pleasant, on a ship as large as The Fortress , keelhauling was often a death sentence.