The Delirium Passage Page 9

  A minute passed… two or three more. The quiet persisted until Adventure called, “Ahoy, Ranger!” Neville saw her forward guns were now manned. The tiny plume of smoke rising from their slow-match glimmered in the late afternoon sun. Neville thought to return the call, although he hoped for some response from Ranger. An answer from shore might create even more suspicion.

  Aboard Ranger, someone began to rise. He appeared to levitate from the deck more than to stand from the prone or supine. Hornigold himself walked up the companion stair from his cabin, wherein he must have locked himself.

  Hornigold answered, “Ahoy Adventure. Come alongside.”

  Other men on deck stood, although most only sat. Those on land yelled whatever came into their heads, from “Are they gone?” to “Over here – I can’t swim!” Most importantly, the bees were gone.

  Neville began swimming. He reached Ranger well before Adventure regained her lost momentum and coasted alongside. He dressed before lines were thrown to raft the two vessels together. Showing no sympathy whatever, Adventure’s crew began a merciless barrage of catcalling and laughter.

  “Avast, ye blithering idiots,” screamed Hornigold, “What have ye, Teach?”

  “Right behind us, Cap’n. French sloop. No time to lose. We might lose her even now.”

  “We’ve got problems, Teach! Have ye lost your eyes?”

  Neville looked about for able-bodied men who might help others. It was the logical thing for the doctor to do so. I could suggest we put every able-bodied man aboard Adventure and run after them, but it’s not in my best interest. Or I could wait long enough so we’d have no chance to catch the French, and then suggest it. At Any rate, I may be saved from my moral dilemma. If we cannot catch them, I’ll have no Frenchmen to murder. And Hornigold can simmer in his personal hell

  Mr. Barnes, the one who knocked the swarm from the main yard, lay deathly still where he had been. Almost every inch of his visible skin had been stung. His hands, face, arms, feet and neck were all covered in red welts. He might die simply from the amount of poison he’d been injected with. Neville left him to rest, as if resting might cure him.

  “Up men, up!” yelled Hornigold. “We have a Frenchman to catch.” He walked forward on the deck, kicking men who didn’t move, and continuing to yell, “Up, get up. Go to your stations, men. Get up!”

  Only a few moved, and they not lively.

  “I can’t see Cap’n,” said one, “Me eyes is all swole shut.”

  “Damn your eyes,” yelled Hornigold. “You there. Don’t you want your silver?”

  “Damn the silver, Hornigold. Give me some rum.”

  “Rum? Rum? An extra tot for every man who stands to his position NOW! The French are sailing away! Get up!”

  “No, Cap’n. We’ll not go today,” shouted a red-blotched man aft. “These demon bug bites have us knackered. But we need our rum.”

  “Aye, Cap’n. Rum,” shouted another, before the entire crew began chanting, “Rum, rum, rum…”

  Hornigold raised his hands. “So say ye beggars. Go find it for yourselves, but any man who drinks more than his lot will answer to me.

  “That’s Barnes? That lump, there? It’s his blasted fault!” seethed Hornigold. “Throw the bugger overboard! Do it! Now!”

  “He’ll drown, Cap’n,” retorted the man cowering from Hornigold.

  “Drowning’s too good for ‘im! Throw him. Throw him! He walked over and kicked Barnes’ lifeless body twice. “Throoow!”

  “What are you looking at, doctor? A man you can save? No, not this one. See, he’s gone over the side.”

  “I doubt he’d live anyway,” replied Neville. “This one won’t either. See the blue skin and swelling tongue. I’ll wager he can’t swallow, even if it’s rum. He’ll be dead in a few hours… and the man by the binnacle will be gone by morning as well; see him?”

  “Vinegar, doctor,” one of Blackbeard’s men yelled over from Adventure. “I was a farmer in me old life, and we gave relief from these devils with a swab of vinegar.”

  “Aye, hear him,” Neville said. “Rowland, break out the vinegar. Put a big pot of it here at center deck where the men can all soak a cloth in it.”

  Now Blackbeard chimed in, “Will any man join us? We might catch the French, and if we’ve enough men, we might take them. I need ten. Ten who can swing a cutlass.”

  To Neville’s surprise, a man stood. He was, no doubt, one of those who had sat motionless during the insect attack. “Give us leave to go, Cap’n?” he yelled. More men stood.

  “I don’t give a damn what ye do, you useless buggers, but ye’ll share your booty with all, if ye win.”

  “I’ll see you in Nassau,” Teach yelled to Hornigold.

  “Anchor straight up and down,” called Billy Howard from forward.

  Hornigold could stand no more. “Avast yer damn anchor!” he shouted before tromping down his cabin companion stair and slamming the hatch.

  Eleven men crossed over to Adventure. With grapples removed, she turned and pointed her bow toward the sea.

  Now I can wash my hands of it. I need only pray the overloaded little Adventure is too late and too slow to catch the French.

  10: Escape

  Nassau seemed no different when they returned than it had been when they left – including the smell, unfortunately. Rattler and Adventure had arrived earlier, so rumors of immense treasure were rampant. The locals were licking their lips. Some small ship carrying a message of great urgency had been sent to fetch Mr. Thompson.

  “Here begins the show,” said Mr. Peters to Neville. They both stood looking forward at the scene on the beach from a space in the slim shadow of the foremast. Captain Napin had discharged his loot – except the coin – onto the strand. Blackbeard’s crew had almost finished doing the same. Ranger would unload tomorrow and the next, no doubt.

  Mr. Richard Thompson’s cutter arrived from Eleuthera in the middle of the afternoon watch the following day, anchoring further along the strand. Neville watched for a minute after being told who the ship belonged to.

  This, Thompson is my connection to the rest of the world. Whatever treasure comes of this I can have him ship to my father in Norfolk.

  “Go back for another bag, Doctor, if you want your share. No slackers on this ship,” Billy growled.

  The sharing-out process was almost the same as before, although the piles on the strand were far better guarded. The flour and liquor, though, had been set aside for local purchase and consumption. The same men walked through with their writing boards and returned to Thompson’s house. Captain Hornigold made the announcement himself this time, following a coin-counting session with all three captains moving from one vessel to the other.

  Hornigold climbed onto the same podium as had been used by Billy Howard. “It is my greatest pleasure to announce,” he said, grinning like a court jester, “each man of Ranger, Adventure, and Rattler, are to be counted out the equivalent of nine hundred and forty-two pounds.”

  The crown went wild. Hats flew. Men shouted, danced in the sand, and the musicians played their drums and pipes.

  “And more,” yelled Hornigold to calm them. “Mister Thompson has brought word that the goods we trusted to him when last we were here, have quickly brought you men of Ranger and Adventure another two hundred forty-seven pounds. Return to your ship tomorrow for your coin. On board, by list, as always”

  That will give me time to visit Mr. Thompson. Not now, though. He’ll still be ciphering.

  “If I can be so bold as to ask, will you join me for a drink, Doctor?” a voice behind him asked. It was a surprisingly polite request, especially on this island. Neville turned to see Mr. Roose.

  “I have no need to get drunk and wake up in some brothel, if such is your suggestion, Mister Roose but…”

  “Oh, no, Doctor. No such thing. I may take my pleasure here and there, but I am not one with such an appetite. A drink, sure; maybe a meat pie. We both have the means, don’t we?” He smiled.
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br />   “We do. Off we go, then.”

  The two sauntered into town, heading for the tavern. When they arrived there, they found it choked. The crowd spilled into the street. Some, already drunk and lying in the dirt, had been pushed off to the side so as not be trampled. Everyone in town was either in this bar or some other. The newly rich were treating anyone who asked. The tavern-keeper had set up a sloppy lean-to with some old sailcloth beside the normal tap room to accommodate the crowd. “There,” Neville said, spying Elizabeth’s buxom form in the lean-to. “We’ll be treated well by that wench and might be able to talk over the noise.”

  “Here’s a place, Doctor.” Two sailors stood to leave from a long board-and-barrel table.

  “You two, there,” should Elizabeth, “Place yer order, or move… Oh, hello Doctor. How are ye today, luv?”

  “Quite well, Elizabeth, and you? You look well.”

  “You can see I’m cheerfully busy. You should come by often now, hey?” she winked. “What would ye have, luv?”

  “Hey, barmaid. I said gimme another…” A drunk grabbed her arm. She hit him hard in the face with her heavy copper tray, and he fell to the floor.

  “Learn some manners,” she growled at him, while the onlookers laughed and hooted. “Somebody drag his useless arse out back, so’s there’s room for another,” she commanded the crowd.

  She returned Neville’s smile, as if nothing had happened.

  “Two tankards of ale and two meat pies, if you please.”

  “Aye, you’ve a friend, I see. I’ll be as quick as I can.” She winked again before pushing her way through the crowd.

  “Well, Doctor, you have unexpected command of the situation, I’d say.”

  “I hope so. Did you have something you wanted to discuss?” An idea was gathering cohesion in his head. Maybe, depending on what Roose had to say…?

  “We spoke aboard ship, you remember?”

  “I do. Is there any more to it?”

  “A little. One of the foremast jacks on Ranger had a chat with another on Adventure who might be of like mind.”

  Two tankards of ale appeared. Neville reached into his pocket for the one coin he had there – a shiny half crown. He placed it firmly into the center of Elizabeth’s hand. “Put these on a tab, please.”

  A gruff, sparse-haired little man interrupted, “Hey, woman, I ordered before he did. He’s just sat. Where’s mine?”

  “Ye’d best mind yer manners, stumpy, or I’ll shove it up your arse when I bring it.”

  “I’ll mind your P’s & Q’s Doctor,” she said. “Thankee.”

  Another man arrived to sit beside them. It appeared he’d not had much to drink yet. Roose said to Neville, “Did you see Captain Teach’s costume when he boarded the Portuguese?”

  “With all the matches in his beard? Aye, it was hilarious. All the smoke…”

  Three men down, a crewman of Rattler yelled to the new arrival, “George, is it you?”

  “Aye it is, Andrew. Come on, I’ll move over there. Budge over a bit, would ye, mate?”

  “We’ll talk some nonsense for a while, I think. It’s a bit close in here,” Roose said. “But I have one more scrap to say.”

  “This ale’s alright, ain’t it,” Neville said. A man stumbled his way past the back of Roose. “And what’s that?”

  “You seem a man who might plan things, Doctor. We ain’t got one.”

  “I might be of assistance, after all. I’ve only a sketchy idea now. Let’s stay in touch, shall we?”

  The meat pies came, and they ate without many words. Neville left first.

  * * * * *

  The coins, gold, silver, and copper from plundering ships from Panama to Carolina were paid out one man at a time aboard ship. Neville came away with a fairly heavy sack. Given the pirates strict code not to steal from each other, the only safe place to keep it was aboard ship. He put it in his doctor’s trunk and left to visit with Richard Thompson. Shipping it to Hoare’s Bank in London is what I need to do. From here to Norfolk, first, with a letter to my father to ship it on to Hoare’s, and Thompson won’t know why I send it to Norfolk.

  He repeated the walk he’d made before... dusty paths, scrubby trees, hot sun. The tavern business had not slowed much. He went looking for a pot of ale but was not in the mood to play nice with Elizabeth, and so continued on toward the edge of town. Along the way, additional noise gave him to learn of a few other, albeit smaller, bars in Nassau. He made a mental note to visit one on his return.

  Thompson’ guards received him in a manner similar to the last time and showed him into Thompson’s study.

  “Doctor,” said cheerfully. “You’ve returned in one piece, I see. What brings you here today?”

  “Shipping, Mister Thompson. Shipping.”

  “You wish to ship something? I do a lot of that.”

  “Yes, sir. A package. Not large, but heavy.”

  “Hmm… of considerable value?” He winked. He was on to Neville’s plan, but gave little information.

  “Yes, sir. I assume it might be expensive to insure its arrival.”

  “It might. It must certainly be disguised. Where do you wish it to go?”

  “Norfolk. In the new colonies. Have you heard of the Burton Shipping Company?”

  “I believe I have, yes.” He pulled a ledger from his desk and thumbed a few pages. “Yes, yes. I have the address.”

  After making preliminary arrangements with Mt. Thompson, Neville returned to his ship. Billy Howard called his name as soon as he stepped aboard. “Doctor Elliot, I’m glad you’re here. They was just sending me to fetch you.”

  “Who is ‘they’, Billy?”

  “Captains – two of ‘em, Sir. Step aft, if you please.”

  Neville knocked at the Captain’s cabin, and was invited in. Billy followed. Hornigold sat at his desk with a gray face and arms akimbo.

  Blackbeard spoke, “I’m to ask you to move your doctoring to the Adventure. I’m sailing north again with five ships, and we’ll need someone. Captain Hornigold tells me you can handle yourself.”

  “Why do I not stay aboard Ranger? Are you somehow displeased with me, Sir?” Neville asked Hornigold.

  “They voted me off,” he said. He was, indeed, angry. “After all we won in the last voyage – all we came back with – they voted me off. Despite the success of our recent privateering work, how do they repay me? Throw me out like the garbage, is what!”

  “But why…?”

  “Why?” he almost shouted. “They want to go a-pirating willy-nilly; attack any British and American ships they come across. They have no honor. They think they will have the same riches just sailing around here and up north. Fools. They’re fools, I say. But I’m off. I’ll take only my loyal men and sail for Honduras in four days.”

  “I’m taking five sail north in three days, maybe four; depends on provisions,” Blackbeard said. “I’ll need a doctor. Captain Hornigold will let you go. He’s got a man in town. I’ve talked to you before and heard what the good captain says about you.”

  “And if I say ‘no’?” Neville asked.

  Blackbeard smiled. “You may find yourself on board anyway.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir. Understood.”

  Neville walked back into town, looking for any of Roose’s mates he might recognize from Ranger. He found one in the tavern.

  “Excuse me, James, have you seen Mister Roose about?”

  “Aye, Doc. He’s got a hut at west end of town. It’s got a big tree next to it.”

  “Thankee, James.” James was definitely into his cups. He probably didn’t remember Neville’s request.

  Neville ambled slowly through town, looking for Roose’s hut. It wasn’t hard to find. There weren’t many big trees. The hut had no door on the entrance – only a flap of old sailcloth. He rapped on one of the doorposts with a stick… once… twice.

  “Who’s ‘ere?” a voice finally called out.

  “Mister Roose?”

  “Aye. Who�
�re you?”

  “Doctor Elliot. May I come in?”

  “Doctor. Oh, aye. Come ahead.”

  “Inside, Neville found Roose sitting with three other men. Smoke filled the room. They eyed him warily.

  “This is them,” Roose said to Neville.

  “Excellent,” Neville said. “I have news and a possible plan. We don’t have much time.”

  The group spent a few minutes getting acquainted. Neville took comfortable in what he heard. They were unhappy with the pirate life and wanted to return to normal life as farmers or whatever.

  “Here’s what I know. Hornigold will be sailing in four days, and Blackbeard in three or four. That’s all the time we have. My plan is simple… we steal a small sailing boat in the dark – maybe four bells of the First Watch – and sail west out the ‘back door’ and stay on west for Eleuthera. We’ll need provisions. We won’t be able to carry much away from here.”

  “Cat Island, not Eleuthera,” said one of the men, Edmond, “I know a place.”

  “Cat Island is fine by me. Do any of you know your way through the small pass to the west? Any ship of size could not follow, even if someone sees us go. We will be far enough gone so our small sail should not be visible by daylight.”

  “I don’t think so, said Daniel, looking ‘round the small circle, “but I know another man who does, and might join us.”

  “Good,” Neville said. “Are there any more? We are only five. Eight would be better…”

  “For what?” asked Charles. He seemed suspicious. “Why eight? What do we need provisions for? Where do you think we’re going?”

  “I had Jamaica in mind. I know it’s a long way, but I have connections there who will help to keep us from the end of a rope. If I can find any still alive. “And I know the course well. I’ve sailed those waters many times.”