by D. J. Holmes
Taking a moment to look at his eye, Ian jokes, “I think that your black eye looks good on you. It improves your appearance quite a bit!”
Lucas pushes away, trying to show anger in his role as Black Beard. The duel begins again, sword against sword, shuffling of feet, blocking and advancing, moving from bow to stern and back again, around the main mast, up to the bow again and back to the stern eventually covering the entire deck several times.
Ian looks around and jumps up on top of a barrel, “Come closer Black Beard,” he shouts.
“Do you think that I am going to fall for that trick again? When your crew hit my crew in the chest, they fell backward halfway across the tavern floor. When they finally got up and walked back to continue the fight, they began coughing so hard they couldn’t fight!”
“How would you know that? You were out cold.”
“My men told me,” Lucas quickly adds with a strange look on his face.
“Well, you know…” Ian says with his left hand gesturing up high and to his side, “survival makes everything fair!”
Looking at Ian’s stance, and hearing his response, Lucas can no longer play his part as the serious Black Beard. They both begin laughing so loud that they can hardly stand.
Listening to their stories, watching them play their roles and hearing their laughter, the whole crew begins to revel in delight, remembering their own parts in that glorious exchange with Black Beard and his crew.
Finally taking a breath, Ian puts his hand on Lucas’s shoulder. “That was a great night, Lucas. I used to love to fight like that.”
“From that day till now, Ian… all I hear is your name spoken as the only man known to beat Black Beard.”
Putting his sword back in his scabbard, Ian looks out to the horizon envisioning Black Beard’s ship. “Remember, Lucas, it was because we won the fight at Port Royal that Black Beard came after us with a vengeance the next day.”
“Yes, and when he finally found us, I can still hear you tell our crew… ‘Don’t worry, he can’t hit the broad side of a barn’…and crash! One cannon ball finally hit the side of our ship. I still laugh when I remember the look of shock on your face!”
“Well, I couldn’t believe it. My beautiful ship had a hole in it!”
“Ian, I hate to point out the obvious, but that’s what happens when someone is sailing after us firing their cannons.”
“I know, but we’ve always been able to out sail them! Come on! It was Black Beard! He’s all bark and no bite.”
“Well, captain,” Lucas says pointedly, “he had plenty of bite in him that day. The only thing that saved us was that Williams and Bellamy quietly sailed up behind him and boarded his ship while he and his crew were concentrating on us.”
Leaning against the quarterdeck on the port side, with his arms folded and thoughtfully looking toward the sky, Ian reminisces, “Williams and Bellamy… The adventures we could tell about them!” Finally sitting down, he bends over and rests his head in his hands as both elbows dig into his thighs. “What great friends and fellow pirates.” He sadly continues, “For the first time in my life, I felt vulnerable when word came that Bellamy had gone down with his ship in that huge storm off the east coast of America. I never thought that anything would happen to any of us.”
***
As he listens to Ian from the security department at the Beach House, Treysen sends a telepathic query to Daniel. “Daniel what is a quarterdeck on a ship?”
“Look at the mental image I just sent to you, Treysen. Do you see the raised portion of the deck toward the back of the ship?”
“Yes, sir…”
“That is what is called a Quarterdeck. It’s just behind the main mast of a sailing ship. It’s raised so that the captain can stand on it and all of his crew can see him as he talks to them or shouts orders. Many times it is also made as a type of cabin where the officers sleep.”
“Thank you Daniel. I’m just trying to understand what they are talking about.”
“It’s good to add to your vocabulary” Daniel smiles, “so I’ll give you a few more:
Aft is towards the back, while Stern is the back part of the ship.
Bow (pronounced bau) is the front part of a ship.
Bowsprit is a long pole that sticks out the front of the ship helping to secure the forward sails and masts.
Helm is a wheel that directs the ship in the direction that the helmsman (under the direction of the Captain) wants it to go.
Jib is a small triangular sail toward the front of the ship positioned to catch more wind to help propel the ship forward.
Man Rope is a long rope that has knots at three foot intervals. This enables the crew to climb up or down the man rope getting in or out of the ship.
Port is the left side of the ship when you are looking toward the front of the ship; Starboard is on the right.”
“Is that enough for now, Treysen?” Daniel asks trying to keep from laughing as he looks at Treysen’s wide eyes and open mouth.
“Yes, sir… I’ll try to remember all of that.”
Daniel leaves the Security Division to check on his patients. While he is working, Treysen’s facial expressions flash in his mind from the new words and explanations of the parts of a ship and he begins to laugh.
Treysen remains at his position as he struggles to remember all of the new information that Daniel has just given him.
***
Trying to lighten things up, Lucas begins to laugh and says, “Bellamy probably had so much treasure on board that even the slightest little ripple of a wave would have sent his ship to the ocean floor. In fact, he was probably holding onto one of the trunks full of treasure, hoping that it would float,” Lucas said with a huge smile.
As this image formulated in their minds they both began to laugh in fond memory of their old friend.
“I think that we have been sitting long enough,” Lucas stands up and puts the patch back over his eye.
“Oh, so we are going back to Black Beard, ay?” Ian questions.
“Get your sword out matey,” Lucas challenges.
“Just a minute, I want to check on Jody first.” Standing up he looks forward toward the starboard bow and sees her smiling as she waves to her dolphin friends. Turning quickly around, Ian thrusts his sword forward advancing toward Lucas, “You will not win this fight, Black Beard!” he declares with great enthusiasm.
“Wait a minute, friend. Remember that I am just playing a part!” Lucas puts out his left hand, his fingers spread apart, “The part of OUR enemy,” he adds with emphasis.
“Yea…yea…yea…you put a hole in my schooner. For that you will have to pay… Move it, Black Beard, or you are really going to be sorry.”
Lucas begins to run away from Ian moving his feet as far forward as he can while pushing his rear even further forward, guarding it as much as he can with his hands, while Ian continues to poke him with his sword. The crew begins to roar with laughter at the antics they see taking place on the deck.
“Come on, Ian, quit being so rough.”
“Why are you running, Black Beard? Are you afraid of me?”
“I’m afraid, Captain Ian. I didn’t want to tell you, but I’ve been afraid of you since the day you gave me this black eye.” Lucas looks back, lifts the patch and points to his eye.
Ian doesn’t back down. The sea is calm. The Sailing Master is at the helm and the crew is having fun. Running around the deck, Lucas quickly stops. Looking serious he puts his sword into his scabbard as he puts his right pointer finger up while he has his left hand on his hip, looking directly at Ian. “I just had a thought.”
“Yes, Black Beard?”
“No, Ian. I’m Lucas now.”
Not wanting to give up his command over Black Beard, Ian says, “I beat you before, Black Beard. Are you saying that I beat you again?”
Tired of getting poked with the point of Ian’s sword in his backside, Lucas gives up, “Very well, Ian. You have won again. I
surrender.”
Smiling while he sheaths his sword, Ian asks, “You said that you wanted to say something, Lucas?”
“Yes. Black Beard made it possible for us to find the most beautiful women in the world for our wives after he put that hole in our schooner.”
“A bad situation turned into the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to both of us. Well, actually for our whole crew now that we are all married.”
Sitting down and leaning back on a pile of ropes, he looks up to the sky with his hands behind his head…Ian reminisces …“I remember that day as if it were yesterday,” with a contented look on his face.
“What I remember is that when you came back to the ship, you were in a daze, and you were speaking gibberish.”
With a confused look Ian questions, “What do you mean? I don’t remember it that way,”
They both begin to laugh.
“You were… I would ask you a question and you’d start to answer and then you’d start whispering to yourself as you continued looking toward the island where you had just gotten us fresh water.”
“I couldn’t think, Lucas. I had just seen the most beautiful woman I had ever come across in all our travels.”
“Since you didn’t tell us about any woman, the crew and I were afraid to drink the water because of the way that you were acting.”
I needed to see her again, and I certainly didn’t want her to see you before I had won her hand.”
***
On the day that Ian and Lucas were recalling Black Beard and the hole in the ‘Mysterious’ with a cannon ball, Ian had been able to out run Black Beard and found an inlet on Martinique where they hid their ship. Ian had gone to get fresh water for his crew. After returning he suddenly made some excuse to return to the island, unaware that Lucas was following him.
Crouching down behind a large green bush on the side of a fresh water creek, Ian hears footsteps.
“How did you get here, Lucas?” he whispers.
“I followed you.”
“Why would you want to follow me? I’m just getting more water.”
“Why are you whispering?”
Grabbing Lucas’s shirt sleeve, Ian pulls him down to the ground. “Quiet!”
Hearing the sound of water splashing and the soft laughing voices of women, both Ian and Lucas look through the bushes they had been sitting behind, watching as the women who had come to the fresh water stream to get water, ended up in a water fight.
“You knew they were here?”
“I saw one of them when I was here earlier.”
“So, this is what got your tongue?”
“Well, look at her…”
“Which one are you talking about? They’re both beautiful.”
“The blonde one…she is the one that I saw here earlier. I’ve got to talk to her.”
“I wouldn’t mind talking to the black haired one. She’s just as beautiful,” Lucas said admiringly.
“So how are we going to do this?”
“Flowers, women always love Flowers.”
“That’s right Lucas, but from someone that they know! They have no idea that we are here.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“No.” Looking around, Ian chuckles, “I don’t think that we are going to have any trouble finding flowers. This place is full of them.”
Quickly filling their hands with flowers, they slowly stand up. Holding the flowers high, hoping not to scare the women they slowly walk from behind the bushes.
The women turn around as they notice two strange men standing on the opposite bank of the stream.
“What do you want?” the women question.
Surprised at their courage, Ian finally states, “We would like to talk to you.”
“Actually, we need your help,” Lucas adds.
“How can we be of help to you?”
“Our ship was blasted with a cannon ball and we need to repair it. Could we use the wood on your island to repair our ship?”
Lucas glances sideways at Ian who returns his glance with… it was the only thing I could come up with, facial expression.
Looking in the direction of the two men, but past them, the blonde asks, “What do you think, girls?”
A voice comes from behind Ian and Lucas, “I saw the hole in their ship, Grace. They are telling the truth.
Turning around, Ian and Lucas see several women with their bows drawn, aimed in their direction and ready to shoot. Raising their hands to surrender, the flowers fall to the ground. “You knew we were here?”
“Of course,” Looking at Ian, the blonde says, “I saw you the first time you were here. We always know what is happening on our island.” Walking toward them she adds, “You can put your hands down gentlemen. We’re not taking you prisoner. We will, however, stay armed while we are around you.”
“Grace, what do you want us to do?” An island sister asks the blonde.
“Ah, so your name is Grace?” Ian states.
“Yes,” she answers surprised that he now knows her name.
“That looks like a nice bow. Do you know how to use it?”
Positioning the arrow in the bow she points it in his direction, “Would you like to see how well I can shoot?”
Putting his hands up and backing off, Ian smiles as he answers, “No, I think that you might be better than I am with that weapon.”
“Good. I’m glad that you can see things my way.”
The island sisters laugh at Grace’s response.
“Shall we go and help them with their ship, Grace?” the island girl with dark hair asks.
“It’s probably a very good time, Jasmine.”
Lucas smiles with the knowledge that he now has of the name of the girl that he is interested in.
Walking out on the beach toward the schooner where the crew has been busy pulling their ship toward dry sand and were just starting to work on it, Ian states, “Gentlemen, we have company.”
Looking in the direction of the sound of their captain’s voice, his crew looks dumbfounded at the beautiful women that surround their captain and his first mate. The sound of tools dropping on wood, sand and rock can be heard from every point of the schooner.
As the island girl’s leader Grace asks, “Is there something that we can help you with gentlemen?”
Ian responds, “If you could show us where we could get materials to mend our ship, we would be very grateful.”
Lucas adds, “If you have any men that could help us, we would appreciate that also.”
Grace answers, “There are no men here. And because of that you will be under guard at all times.”
Both Ian and Lucas smile realizing that if there are no men, then these women are single. The same thought comes to the minds of all of the crewmen.
Looking at the men, the women begin to think that this could be a good thing. Maybe, finally they will have the chance to get married. “We would be glad to help you repair your ship.”
“We would be glad to have your help,” Lucas adds with a smile while Ian continues to stare at Grace.
Ian, Lucas and the rest of the crew fall instantly in love with these gorgeous women. While working together in small teams on different parts of the schooner, hoping to restore it to its original condition, each man is finally able to win the hand of the woman who had captured his heart.
***
“How could we have been so lucky to find an island with beautiful women and not a man to be found?”
“Ah, that ‘Mysterious’ feeling that takes over your heart…the feeling that all men look for to fulfill their lives; that’s why we named our ship ‘Mysterious’, because of the feelings that we all have for our wives.”
Looking out to the great waves dancing together on the horizon from the Port side, with the wind blowing through his hair, Lucas states, “We’ll be home soon, Ian. I can’t wait to see Jasmine. She is the only woman that I have ever missed.”
“Truer words were never
spoken, Lucas. I feel the same way about Grace.”
***
After reading several books on time travel, Joshua, one of Daniel’s many Security Technician’s begins speaking out loud, thinking that he is the only one in the Security Division.
“Time is multidimensional… well it is. But it’s something else. Time is like a pretzel…well, yes, but it’s even more than that.” Trying to get it clear in his own mind, after reading his books and seeing several patients come and go through the portals at the Beach House, along with hearing their stories, Joshua blurts out, “Time is like a jig saw puzzle where each piece is put into its own place. But, where a jig saw puzzle is one-dimensional, time is multi-dimensional. It is like a hologram, where all sides can be seen and all dimensions are playing at the same time, yet moving at their own speed; each piece being placed where it is needed, expanding or contracting to fit the specific requirement of that space in time… Now that is profound!” Joshua says to himself as he notices Daniel entering the Security Division. “Is that right, Daniel?”
“It’s close Joshua. Keep researching and thinking about it, and someday you’ll find out exactly how time does work.”
RING. RING.
“Sorry, a new patient has arrived and I must go.” Daniel walks to the Hall of Corridors to pick up his latest patient. Taking her to her room, she is effortlessly carried from the pod and placed on her bed. Her eyes slowly open.
“Where am I?” she asks.
“Don’t worry…you’re safe, little girl,” Daniel assures her.
“I was on my father’s schooner.” Feeling her clothes she says, “Why are my clothes wet?”
“You’ll be dry soon…how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.”
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Jody.”
“Do you remember what happened?” Daniel gently asks.
“All I remember is looking over the railing of my father’s ship at the beautiful dolphins. I stood up on the bottom support railing so that I could stand up higher to wave to my new friends. I was standing as tall as I could waving both hands high above my head so that they could see me, and the ship suddenly lurched to the right…I remember falling…”
“Since you are feeling fine now, will you come with me?” Daniel asks.
