Owned by the Ocean (14 page)

“
James what have I told you about knocking?” he asked, not
looking up.

“
We have a problem.”

Brant glanced
up and at the sight of his brother’s concerned face, gave him his
full attention. “What do you mean we have a problem?”

“
On deck.”

Getting up
immediately, his chair tipping back precariously before settling
back on all four legs, Brant strapped on his cutlass and brace of
pistols, following James on deck where he saw the crew standing at
the rail all looking in one direction.

“
What in blue blazes is going on?”

Everyone
looked at Brant but no one responded. “Well? Karl?”

“
It seems we’re about to come under attack.”

“
By whom?”

“
A pirate ship, Cap’n.”

Brant frowned.
“Who is it?”

“
Looks to be the
SeaVulture
. Ol’ Richard’s ship. He’s
a nasty sort; known for preying on other pirate ships and takin’
all their booty.”

Brant almost
smiled when Karl referred to their spoils as booty but he was more
concerned about this Old Richard than any of Karl’s quirky
words.

“
We can outrun him.”

“
Aye, we can. Should I give the orders?”

Brant pulled
out his eyeglass and shook his head. “No, run up the colors. We
won’t be run off by a lowlife pirate.”

“
Brant,” Karl replied hesitantly. “Ol’ Richard is known for
his cruelty. He will give no quarter if we fall.”

“
The men can handle it.”

“
You sure?”

“
Give the orders.”

Karl nodded
and walked away shouting at the men. “Get yer lazy asses to work!
Enough lolly gaggin! Run up the colors! Run out the guns! Casper
get yer no good sailor’s butt up to that helm and steer this ship
for goodness sake! Did ya forget yer job?!”

“
Brant?”

“
Yes, James?”

James had been
standing next to Brant and Karl the whole time, silently listening
to the exchange.

“
This fight is going to be different, isn’t it?”

“
These men are very dangerous and do not have honor like the
ships we usually attack. If we fail I want you to jump overboard.
You can swim, right?”

“
Markus used to take me to the swimming hole in the
summer.”

“
Good. You will go hide below deck but if any strange men
start coming down you find a way off the ship. You find a way
overboard.”

“
Why overboard?”

“
Because, if you pretend to be dead in the water they won’t
touch you. Just jump in and lie on a piece of wreckage perfectly
still. Can you do that?”

“
Yes sir.”

“
That’s a good boy. Now go below deck before the fun begins.”
Brant smiled a wickedly mischievous smile. As much as he hated the
killing aspect of it all, he loved the rush of the fight, and this
pirate ship deserved every bit of what was coming from Brant and
his men.

“
Sir, we’re coming up starboard side. Should I give the
orders?” asked Karl.

Brant watched the
SeaVulture
make its way up beside the
BlackFox
and gave a nod.

Karl turned to the men lined up on the thirty-six cannons
the
BlackFox
boasted. “Fire all cannons!”

The thunderous roar filled Brant’s ears and he smiled. The
deck shook beneath his feet but he could see the
SeaVulture
was under
gunned and they just wanted to get close enough to board. That was
their game.

“
Casper, don’t let them get too close. I want to hurt them,
then we’ll make a run for it. That should be enough to get the
message across.”

“
Aye sir!”

Karl turned to
look at Brant. “We aren’t boarding?”

“
No. The risk is too high.”

“
Aye, I think that be wise.”

Brant watched the continuing battle but it wasn’t long before
it was over. The
SeaVulture
saw they couldn’t inflict enough damage with
their lack of firepower and there was no way they were getting
close enough to board, so with little options left they turned tail
and limped away.

“
Should we give chase, Cap’n?”

“
Let them go.”

* * *

It wasn’t long before they crossed paths with the
SeaVulture
again. This
time it was pillaging another ship. It was barely afloat and it
looked as if Old Richard and his crew had just finished off and as
the
BlackFox
came
into view they raised anchor and left.

“
There won’t be anything left there for us, Cap’n,” said
Joseph, ready to move on to more promising prospects.

“
We’ll board anyway. Search for survivors.”

Getting as
close as they dared, unsure if it was a trap or not, they dropped
anchor and a small boarding crew that consisted of Brant, Karl,
Joseph, Harold, Christopher and Geoffrey took a longboat to see
what was left. Climbing up a small ladder, they wandered around the
destroyed ship. The deck was littered with bodies of men sporting
uniforms of the British navy. But the most profound thing was that
it was silent, absolutely and utterly silent. Not a single groan of
an injured or dying man. Just silence. There was no one left alive
in all the carnage.

“
Search the hold, cabins, crews quarters, every inch for
someone who might be hiding. This ship won’t stay afloat long,”
commanded Brant, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight before
him.

The men fanned
out, leaving Brant to search the dining room, state room and
captain’s cabin. Brant tried the captain’s cabin first but didn’t
expect to find anything, nothing alive anyway.

The captain
was dead in the middle of the room as were a few men that lacked
the presence of a uniform—likely Old Richard’s men. At least the
man had put up a good fight.

Leaving the
cabin, Brant skipped the dining room and entered the state room. If
the ship was carrying passengers they would have been situated
here. It had been completely pillaged but it was apparent that the
passenger had been a woman. Brant paled at the thought of what
could have happened to her. Brant was about to turn and leave but
the sound of something rustling and a muffled gasp had him
pause.

“
Hello?” he paused. “Anyone in here? I mean you no harm. I am
a servant of his Majesty the King.”

“
If you are a servant of his Majesty than why do you dress
like a common pirate?” a woman’s voice sounded from under the
bed.

Brant quickly
strode over and crouched down, looking under the torn and ripped
mattress, making eye contact with a pretty young blonde. “I am a
privateer, ma’am. This ship will sink soon, so if you would allow
me to assist you I can take you back to my ship and return you to a
British outpost.”

The girl
shimmied out from under the bed and drew herself to full height,
smoothing down her skirts and patting her dishevelled hair. She was
tall, thin and held her head high, lacking nothing in
self-confidence. “My name is Catherine Marshall and I would be very
much in your debt if you would take me to England. I can pay
passage.”

Brant bowed low. “
Captain
Brant Foxton. We will discuss the matter of
passage later.”

“
Thank you, Captain Foxton. If you don’t mind I will try to
collect a few necessities from what those thieves left and I will
join you on deck momentarily.”

“
Of course, Miss Marshall.”

Brant left the
state room and waited for Catherine on deck. His men were already
gathered near the rail, a boy, heavily wounded, lay on a makeshift
stretcher among them. “Is this all?”

“
Yes, Cap’n. We couldn’t find any others. This one has a pulse
but he’s passed out. The doc will have to take a look at him, but I
don’t have much hope.”

“
I found the passenger—she’ll be joining us momentarily. You
best load that poor boy into the longboat while I wait for
her.”

It was long
and laborious work but between the five of them they had the
nameless sailor lying comfortably in the bottom of the long
boat.

Catherine soon
joined Brant on deck and he helped her down the ladder and into the
longboat. She hadn’t been able to collect much—whatever had been
left had been ruined, but Brant assured her that he had some things
in the hold she could go through.

Catherine
didn’t speak to the crew at all and they didn’t attempt to approach
her. She sat with such an air of self-importance—her petite little
nose held high in the air—that she was completely unapproachable.
Brant chuckled as he watched her, and was met by a slight frown.
So, he could break through her pristine exterior after all. They
had a good two months voyage to England and he couldn’t help but
think that it would get very interesting unless she learned to
relax.

Arriving back at the
BlackFox,
Brant helped Catherine up
the ladder and then men lowered ropes to tie on each corner of the
stretcher so that they could slowly raise the injured sailor
up.

“
James, go tell the doc he has a patient,” instructed Brant as
he led Catherine to his cabin. “I’m afraid it’s a small ship and
doesn’t have a state room so you can take my cabin. We do, however,
have a dining room that I and my higher ranking crew members dine
in and you’re more than welcome to join us. I promise they are
perfect gentlemen.

“
You are a guest among us and are free to wander around as you
see fit, but please try to stay out of the men’s way when they are
at work.”

“
Thank you very much, Captain.”

“
My pleasure, Miss Marshall. If you need anything please feel
free to ask anyone as they will help you as best they can. And I
must apologize in advance, but I may need to make use of my cabin
from time to time as my desk and effects are all kept here, but I
promise I will do my very best not to invade your
privacy.”

“
Please, don’t trouble yourself over it, Captain. I’m very
grateful to you for helping me.”

Brant left
Catherine alone in his cabin and he went to speak with Karl. “Burn
the ship,” he said as he approached his quarter master.

“
Sir?”

“
Burn that ship and then have Casper change our course to
London.”

“
Yes sir.”

“
Is the doc looking at the boy?”

“
Aye, but I’ve heard nothing of his condition.”

Brant nodded,
he hadn’t expected anything more. “I’m afraid I’ll have to take
your cabin for the time being. Are you okay in the crew’s
quarters?”

“
Aye.”

“
Have someone come get me when the doc knows more.”

“
Brant, can we afford to take on a passenger all the way to
England? We can’t go about our raids with the lady aboard. It
wouldn’t be safe for her and it could be dangerous for us as well.
The only thing standing between us and a noose is that letter of
marque and if she reports bad conduct—”

Brant smiled
slightly. “She’s a lady of the court, Karl. She’ll pay passage.
It’ll be a tight year but it’s early enough that I believe we can
make it back to Port Royale before the worst of the storms roll in.
We’ll get a few raids in then, enough to keep the men happy.”

“
Pickings are gonna be slim that time of year.”

“
I know. But what do you want me to do about it? Leave her out
here?”

“
No, but we can dock at the nearest British controlled island
and leave her with the governor. He can arrange to get her home. It
will take less time, Brant.”

“
I need to see her safely back.”

“
Confounded chivalry—”

“
That’ll be enough, Karl. If you wish to question my decision
please speak to me later. We have an audience.”

Many of the
men had stopped what they were going about to look at their captain
and quarter master and it didn’t sit well with Brant to have such
an obvious and public questioning of his authority. He always
allowed Karl to speak freely because he had experience and years
that Brant did not, but this was too much. “I need to keep the
men’s respect, Karl. You are not helping. Now, can you respect my
decision?”

“
Ach! Brant you always gotta help people but I think tis gonna
make it a hard winter for us is all. But yer the Cap’n. You make
the decisions and aye, I’ll stand by you.”

“
Thank you.”

Brant walked
away feeling troubled. It was not often Karl spoke up so vehemently
against an order and it had him concerned. Was he going soft? He
had a responsibility to his crew to make sure they were fed and
provided for as well as had money to get them through the summer.
Was he abandoning that responsibility by going to England? Brant
shook his head. No. If the men didn’t get enough Brant would pay
them from his own pocket. He could afford to do so with his
thriving sugar plantation. He had a good crew and he wouldn’t risk
losing them but he also had a sense of honor and he needed to see
Catherine Marshall home safely.