Chapter 70: The Bay He Bought Blind
Time passed about as well as any pirate could hope for.
The wounded finally received treatment instead of a strip of cloth and a mouthful of rum to quiet their complaints. Hobbs grumbled through every examination, cursing men who waited days before showing him wounds already halfway to turning septic.
The Fortune’s rigging was spliced the right way this time instead of being held together just long enough to survive the voyage.
James spent rather more time than necessary at Catalina’s house and Juan finally delivered the payment, four cannon and a mortar loaded aboard with presumably secrecy. He never actually said it aloud, but he made it perfectly clear he’d rest easier once the Rose and her ugly prize had disappeared beyond the horizon.
James was happy enough to oblige. A man who had blown French garrison into the sky could afford to leave graciously when shown the door.
Several days out from Pensacola, the Bloody Rose drifted southeast beneath an easy wind. The Black Fortune kept station off her larboard quarter without difficulty.
Grey stood at the corvette’s wheel looking entirely too pleased with himself for a man who had spent most of the past month fighting with charts instead of people.
Off the starboard side, Andros island stretched low and green across the horizon, pine forests and scrub pressing right to the shoreline. From out here, the island gave away nothing about what lay hidden behind it.
The crew was already through a shanty by then, boots thumping the deck in rough time as voices rolled the length of the Bloody Rose. A heartbeat later the men aboard the Fortune answered across the water, just behind the beat but loud enough that the two ships might as well have shared one deck.
"Safe and sound at home again, let the waters roar, Jack."
One of the younger hands attempted a flourish with his cap, missed the catch entirely, and watched it disappear over the side. The roar of laughter that followed nearly drowned out the next line.
"Long we’ve tossed on the rolling main, now we’re safe ashore, Jack."
"Don’t forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!"
Ezra shoved the unfortunate sailor toward the rail with a grin. "Well, go on then. Swim after it." Someone farther aft offered to sell him another hat for three times what it’d ever been worth.
"Since we sailed from Plymouth Sound, four years gone, or nigh, Jack."
"Was there ever chummies, now, such as you and I, Jack?"
The men were laughing harder than they were singing, while the Fortune’s crew answered with a chorus of jeers that floated easily across the water.
James caught himself whistling, while one hand rested loosely on the wheel.
He saw no reason to stop.
The familiar display rose into view without being summoned, appearing the moment his thoughts wandered.
🏴 [BLOODY ROSE — STATUS]
Hull Condition : Good
Armament : 24 Broadside Cannons, 2 Mortars
Gunpowder Supply : 26 Casks
Provisions : 24 Days
Crew : 69 / 80
Morale : High
Loyalty : Steadfast
Perks : [The Rose’s Luck], [True Shot]
He looked it over for a moment before calling up the next.
🏴 [BLACK FORTUNE — STATUS]
Hull Condition : Good, Repaired
Armament : 12 Broadside Cannons
Gunpowder Supply : 14 Casks
Crew : 20 / 90 (On loan from Bloody Rose)
Morale : High
Loyalty : Steadfast
Grey might have lacked humor, but James couldn’t fault the man where ships were concerned. He trusted him with far more than charts and a compass.
The last screen appeared because James wanted to see it. Vanity was as good an excuse as any, and he wasn’t about to pretend otherwise.
🏴 [JAMES CALLOWAY — STATUS]
Rank : Captain, Flying Gang
Reputation : Uncertain, Climbing Fast
Influence : Undetermined, Growing
Fate Balance : 95
[TITLES]
Against All Reasonable Odds — You have an unsettling habit of surviving. This remains deeply unfair to your enemies.
Nosy Bastard — Other people’s problems have a way of becoming his own, with a consistency nobody finds flattering.
[GEAR]
Verdict — An argentsteel cutlass, blade sharp enough that most men see daylight through the wound before they feel it.
Counterargument — A four-shot flintlock, elegance and lunacy in equal measure.
James let out a low whistle.
"Now that’s a bloody status worth of respect."
Curious. The experiment continues to exceed projected survival rates. I dislike experiments that prove me wrong. They develop confidence.
James barked a laugh.
The cheery noise carried across the deck, drawing Cudjoe’s attention from several paces away.
He wandered over with a snort. "Pigs still nae flyin’, Captain, last I looked." He folded his arms. "Reckon that makes today the day."
"You’ve a memory like a damned debt collector, Cudjoe."
"Aye. And ye’ve owed this one since Pensacola, first time we were there."
He tipped his head toward the coastline slipping past.
"So where are we sailin’, and why’s it nae Nassau?"
"There’s a bay beyond this stretch of coast."
James nodded toward the green shoreline. "Some reef across the entrance that no ship of the line could cross, deep water behind it for anythin’ the size of a frigate or smaller."
His hand remained light on the wheel.
"A place that’s ours, Cudjoe. Nobody else’s. I mean to see it with my own eyes."
Cudjoe narrowed his eyes.
"And how does a man happen to know about a bay nobody’s charted?"
"I heard the story months ago. Some drunk sailor swearin’ there was a reef past Andros that never showed proper on any chart, with a bay behind it fit for a kingdom."
He gave one shoulder a small lift. "Never paid it much mind till recently. Had Grey compare the tale against every chart we’ve got, then run his own soundings before I trusted the ship to a drunk man’s memory."
Cudjoe watched him for a long moment, as if he was turning a coin over in his hand to make certain it wasn’t counterfeit.
"Ye’ve never told a rumor straight in yer life, Captain."
"First time for everythin’."
Cudjoe remained unconvinced, but let the matter drop. For him, that was as close as anyone ever came to winning an argument.
He stepped away from the wheel.
"Land ho!"
The shout came from the masthead with all the excitement of the world.
Several men looked up.
Several others ignored him completely. Andros had been sitting off the starboard side since long before the shanty began.
"Land’s been there the whole bloody watch, ye great lump!" Ezra Hollis called back with a grin.
"Aye, has it now."
A brief pause followed, along with a string of muttered curses.
Then the lookout shouted again, louder this time.
"I mean the bay! There! Openin’ in the coast, dead ahead where the green just stops!"
James eased the wheel over half a point. The Rose answered smoothly, her bow swinging toward the gap in the trees.
A cable astern, the Black Fortune altered course with her. Grey had spotted the opening as well and needed no signal.
Where the pines finally broke apart, the water beyond shone pale turquoise. It stood out against the darker sea beyond, while a line of white water marked the reef where the swell broke far offshore, never reaching the hidden bay.
James held the wheel steady and let the Rose carry them on.
There would be plenty of time to see the place properly once they were across the reef.