Pirate's Promise (4 page)

Tom held his breath as the flag went up. It was the black flag of a pirate ship.

A woman began to scream.

Cannon balls struck the water beside the
Lady Peg.

Someone shouted, “Keep your heads down!”

The bonded men and women were running for the hold. Tom and Diggory were carried along with them. Down the stairs they went, half-climbing, half-falling.

They drew close together in the hold.

“We should not have run away,” said Abel. “We should go help fight.”

“No, no!” Nancy caught his arm. “I'll not let you go!”

“This is not our fight,” said another of the men. “We mean no more than sheep to Captain Tooker. Let
him
fight the pirates.”

The hold shook, as if something had run against the ship.

“Hark!” said Abel. “They're alongside us now.”

There was a rush of steps overhead. There were pistol shots.

Then all was quiet on deck.

In the hold all was quiet, too. Everyone listened. Everyone was waiting.

A voice called down the stairway, “Come out, one at a time. Come quietly, and you'll not be harmed.”

Nancy held to Abel's hand. “What shall we do?”

“We'll do as he says,” answered Abel. “There's nothing else left for us.”

He helped her up the stairs. The others followed them.

Tom stepped out on deck into a circle of pirates. There were young and old among them. Most of them wore silk and velvet in black, white, and the brightest of reds and blues. Some had pistols ready, some had knives.

The pirate captain was young. His face was thin and dark. He spoke like an English gentleman.

“Put down your weapons,” he said. “All your knives and swords and pistols—put them here on the deck.”

“We have no weapons,” said Abel. “We are only poor bonded people.”

One of the women cried out, “Spare us, good captain!”

“Your lives will be spared,” said the pirate captain. “Your Captain Tooker was wise enough to end a fight he could not win. Because of that, he and his men will be spared. But he was a fool to fire on me. For this he must pay.”

Two of the pirates went to the captain's cabin. They led out Captain Tooker and his men. Captain Tooker tried to walk bravely, but his legs shook with fear.

“Make the longboat ready,” said the pirate captain.

“The longboat? Do you mean to put us out to sea?” Captain Tooker's face was pale. “We shall be lost!”

“There are islands near. You have sails in the boat, and you have oars,” said the pirate captain.

“But my ship—!” cried Captain Tooker.

“The ship is yours no longer,” said the pirate captain. “Be quick. You waste my time.”

Captain Tooker's men let the longboat down.

“The bonded people will be first to leave the ship,” said the pirate captain.

Men and women began to go over the side. They climbed down a rope ladder and into the boat.

Tom and Diggory stood together.

“It's your turn,” said Diggory.

Tom did not move.

Diggory gave him a push toward the rope ladder.

Tom turned. He started across the deck.

A pirate stopped him. He was a tall black man with gold rings in his ears.

“Let me speak to your captain,” said Tom.

“Captain! Captain Land!” called the black man. “The boy would speak to you.”

The pirate captain stood nearby. “Speak,” he said.

“Take me with you,” said Tom.

Captain Land looked down at him. “What is this?”

“They stole me away from London. They had no right to bond me,” said Tom. “Take me with you.”

Captain Tooker was listening. “Hear the young dog!” he cried.

“Silence!” said the pirate captain. “The boy speaks bravely, and go with me he shall!”

Diggory gave Tom a frightened look before he went over the side.

Captain Tooker and his men climbed into the longboat.

The longboat cast off. Some of the seamen rowed. Others worked to put up the sail.

Captain Land looked about him. “So this is the
Lady Peg. Lady Pig
would be a better name. A pigboat it is, fit for nothing but to burn! Follow me,” he said to Tom.

The pirate ship lay alongside the
Lady Peg.
Captain Land jumped down onto the deck of his ship. Tom jumped after him.

The crew was busy looting the
Lady Peg.
Some of the men had their arms full of clothing. Others had the chairs and the green rug from Captain Tooker's cabin.

“There's little enough that's worth taking,” said one of the men.

“A pigboat, that's what it is,” said another.

The pirates carried the loot to their ship. The last one to leave the
Lady Peg
threw lighted torches behind him.

The men loosed the hooks and ropes that held the ships together. The pirate ship moved away.

Night had fallen. Tom stood beside Captain Land and watched the
Lady Peg
burn.

The fire burned slowly until it came to the room where the gunpowder was kept. Then there was a great explosion. The ship broke in two. Sparks and flame leaped high into the air and lighted the sea for miles around.

Tom slept that night in Captain Land's cabin. His bed was a hammock.

When he woke, he saw the captain having breakfast. There was a teapot on the table. There were oranges and biscuits in silver dishes. The captain was eating biscuits dipped in tea.

Tom moved in the hammock.

The captain asked, “Are you awake?”

“Yes, sir,” said Tom.

“You were crying out in your sleep,” said the captain. “What were you dreaming?”

“I don't know, sir,” said Tom.

“Once you said ‘Diggory.' Who is Diggory?”

“He was my friend on Captain Tooker's ship,” said Tom.

“Have no fear for Diggory. The sea is not rough. The longboat will reach shore,” said the captain. “What is your name, boy? Tom Pippin—that's it. Pull up a chair, Tom Pippin, if you want a bite of breakfast.”

Tom sat down at the table. He drank a cup of tea and ate a biscuit. He looked at the oranges.

“Would you like one?” asked the captain.

“Yes, if it please you,” said Tom.

“Then take it.”

Tom took an orange.

“Have you ever had an orange before?” asked the captain.

“Yes, sir,” said Tom. “Always at Christmas my father brought some home.”

“Was it your father who bonded you?”

“It was my uncle,” said Tom.

“And you have no wish to be bonded?” said Captain Land. “You would rather be a pirate.”

“A pirate?” said Tom. “
No
, sir!”

The captain gave him a long look. “You
don't
wish to be a pirate?”

“No, sir,” said Tom.

“Then why did you choose to come with me?”

“I wished to be free,” said Tom. “I thought you might put me ashore somewhere. Then I could find a ship back to England.”

“Your uncle would only bond you again,” said the captain.

“I would not tell him where I was,” said Tom, “but I would let my sister know. She is waiting for me.”

“Ah,” said Captain Land. Then he was quiet for a while.

They finished breakfast. They went out on deck.

Some of the men came close for a look at Tom.

“He's a redhead for sure!” one of them said.

Tom listened to them talk. He learned that the name of the pirate ship was the
Sea Bird.
He began to learn the names of the men.

The little man with the cruel face and long arms was called Spider. The black man was Benjy. There was a man named Duke, who was talking, laughing, or singing most of the time.

Duke said to Captain Land, “What shall we do with this redheaded pirate? Can he fire a pistol or throw a knife? Shall I teach him what he will need to know?”

“Teach him nothing,” said the captain. “The boy is not a pirate, and he has no wish to be.”

After sundown Tom sat on deck. He watched the waves. He heard the wind sing as it filled the sails.

Benjy the black man sat down near him. “You like the ship?” he asked in his soft, deep voice. “You like the sea?”

“Yes,” said Tom.

“I, too,” said Benjy. Once he had been a slave, he told Tom. His master was kind to him and taught him many things. “Then he died, and I was sold again,” said Benjy. “My new master was a bad man. Captain Land saved me from him. Now Captain Land is my master. I follow him everywhere.”

“Will you tell me something?” asked Tom.

“If I can,” said Benjy.

“Where are we now?”

“In the waters of America,” said Benjy. “To the west lie the Florida islands. To the south lies the great island of Cuba. Have you heard of them?”

“I've seen them on a map,” said Tom. “Where are we going now? To Florida?”

“No,” said Benjy. “We go to careen the ship.”

“‘Careen the ship'? What does that mean?” asked Tom.