A Pirate's Life For Us

Chapter 10 - Polite Menace

The William and the Revenge moved as a pair with the wind in their sails towards their booty. The two merchant ships had spotted them and come about to flee, but the pirate vessels were built for speed while their quarry wasn't.

As 'insurance,' Stede had offered himself up as a hostage of sorts to ensure that the William kept their side of the bargain as to the distribution of booty. Which suited him just fine considering the plan required a place to hide - and the network of passages around the Revenge would be the ideal spot.

It was only a matter of time before the ships engaged in battle. Stede was excited, not just for the prospect of getting his home back and making amends with Ed, but for a real pirate battle where, if things went right, people wouldn't get hurt. At least not badly.

"Captain," said Frenchie as he approached Stede.

"Frenchie!" and then Stede dropped his voice and straightened up. "I mean...um, what can I do for you, sailor?"

One of the brigands side-eyed them both, then went back to sharpening his machete.

"We have a problem."

Stede shoulder-checked. Ed was standing near the bow of the ship, watching the two merchant ships as they grew larger on the horizon. He looked back just as Stede looked his way. The mask of Blackbeard was on again, quite firmly, so he couldn't find the warmth in the other man's eyes.

"Captain," hissed Frenchie.

Stede shuffled over around a corner where there was...a seagull pecking at the strings of Frenchie's lute.

"Is that Livy? She's rather talented. A nice melody. You two should collaborate."

"Stede! Look at her leg."

There, on the seagull's leg, was a little note, wrapped with a ribbon that was clearly undisturbed. It had been sealed with a wax seal with the initials 'SB' from his signet ring.

"Oh." Steve swallowed. "Mr. Buttons did say she wasn't great with strangers. I thought that meant she might peck them a bit."

"What do we do? How are we supposed to get word to the merchants now?"

There was a sudden boom of cannon fire that Stede felt in his chest.

The merchant ships were coming around.

Bloodthirsty cries erupted from the deck of the Revenge as men leaned against the ropes and yelled back at their quarry. Men trimmed the sails to pick up speed.

The William followed suit, coming up alongside the Revenge.

Bonny was at the wheel. Her crew were all wearing red armbands and prepared for battle.

They just weren't prepared to fight two merchant ship's worth of men and Izzy's recruits.

And if they got into a real bloodthirsty battle, Stede realized there was a very real chance he might lose Ed - at least the Ed he knew. He was starting to appreciate how powerful the mask of Blackbeard really was - and what the man was capable of while wearing it.

As the ships passed, Stede tried to gesture Bonny to the seagull. But over the roar of cannon fire, the shouts of the crews and the wind, all he could do was pantomime a seagull and hop on one foot and point at it.

Bonny was understandably, very confused.

Frenchie shooed at Livy. The gull kept landing on the lute and plucking out notes. Eventually, a gust of wind pushed her into the air.

Stede saw her soar between the ship and perch on Buttons' head. There was a second before Buttons put it together and darted forward to show Bonny the note.

He saw Bonny mouth the words 'oh fuck' just as a cannonball struck the mast of her ship and exploded it into wooden shrapnel.

—

The battle begun in earnest as Stede darted across the deck, trying to locate Ed. But the fevor of battle had fully gripped the ship. He had to dodge the furious activity of sailors engaged in battle and endure sudden course changes or the swinging of a mast.

The William sailed ahead and exchanged cannon fire with the lead ship. They were fortunate that only one of the two ships had guns - much like their own. The Revenge was faster, as it was unencumbered by weapons, so it was able to sail around the merchant gunship - whose paint on the side marked her as the Hollandia.

The Revenge came up on the other ship, whose deck was laden with what looked like thirty men. Her stern marked her as the Antelope. He could see beyond the sailors that there were a number of civilians. In fact, there were so many civilians that the Antelope wasn't a merchant ship at all - or at least that was not its primary purpose on thatjourney.

It was a passenger ship.

"Oh, god. Oh god..." Stede was wide-eyed and panicked. He looked around again for Ed. He spotted him towards the bow of the ship, by the headless unicorn masthead.

"Ed...Ed..." Stede reached out for the man's bicep.

Ed twitched and swung out at him on impulse, but his expression softened when he saw Stede. "What? What is it? Why do you look like you just peed in your trousers?"

"I might have done. A little," murmured Stede. "Ed, the merchants didn't get the note. They don't know we're on their side!"

"Oh," murmured Ed. "Bollocks."