by D. J. Holmes
“Look Jaci, Danielle is a bird,” Kristen declares
“Don’t move your arms up and down Danielle or you might fly off,” Jaci jokes.
Danielle opens her eyes and smiles at the youngest crew members. Suddenly, she starts running after them; Jaci and Kristen start squealing as they run past Marie, Stacey, Jessica, Marie and Jaimie down to the Captain’s cabin.
Diana has taken control of the ship again, because they are coming close to Port Royal. It is important that no one sees their ship while it is in the air. “It is time to take your positions. Would you ladies tell everyone else? Make sure that the sails are where they are supposed to be, and most of all get your uniforms on. And by-the-way, don’t forget your pistols, daggers and especially your beautiful swords.”
“Who do you want to go as women, Diana?”
“Port Royal has a great deepwater natural harbor which protects ships while they are anchored, but the harbor and the town close by have attracted all types of pirates and most of them are not gentlemen. Because of this, I think that Stacey and Jessica should go as women, and Danielle and I will still be the pirates. Jaimie will be in control of the ship as she was before.”
“Ahhh, Diana, I want to go,” Kristen says.
“You did a good job at New Providence Kristen. You did also Jaci, but this time I need Stacey and Jessica to go with me, and I need both of you, along with Marie, on the ship with Jaimie. It’s important to protect our ship girls. It’s very important!”
“We’ll do our best,” they both state a little discouraged.
As they sail into the harbor, everyone begins making statements and asking questions.
“This is huge. It’s a lot bigger than New Providence.”
“Look over in that direction there are several ships out of the water, on their sides. Why are they like that?”
“There’s nothing wrong with them, they beached their ships during high tide, and have laid them on their sides so that they can repair them. It’s called Careening.”
“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Well, now you have. And now you understand why this harbor is so huge, and why so many ships are here. There’s room enough to fix anything that needs to be fixed.”
Getting close enough to see other pirates, Diana states, “Everyone, looks mean…. We’re getting close to where we will leave the ship. This time we won’t go up to the dock, we will leave it further out in the harbor, and take a rowboat to shore. We don’t know what kind of people we will meet here.”
“Diana, how is that going to help?”
“Jaimie, if the ship is out in the middle of the harbor, then if anyone is going to try to board her, they will have to row one of their rowboat’s to get to the ‘Destiny’. By being out in the middle of the harbor you will be able to see if anyone is coming in your direction, and prepare to protect yourselves.”
“Good idea, Diana.”
“I’m just thinking of you guys,” she says with a smile. Walking over to the railing and climbing down the rope ladder to the rowboat, she adds, “Keep your eyes open.”
Rowing the boat up to the dock, all of the pirates on the other ships are looking over at the newbie’s. “Look at those guys looking at us Diana, they sure look rough.”
“I know how bad this looks, my sisters, but we have to do this if we want to find our sisters. You want to find your sisters don’t you?”
“Of course Diana, it’s just that these guys look scary…”
“I know, but we have to play our parts, if we are going to find them. We have to look as tough as they do. We can’t be intimidated by them. We have to be INTIMIDATING TO THEM!”
Taking a breath, they reply, “Don’t worry we’ll play our parts.”
The next time she looks at them, they have become what she envisioned them to be. Stacey and Jessica have become strong, intimidating women. Danielle is even more intimidating as a pirate. Looking back at everyone left on the ship she sees that they now portray strong pirates, experienced and ready for battle if approached.
Walking into the pirate meeting area with the confidence of a group of shining knights, silence is the only thing that is heard, as all of the original pirates of Port Royal are eyeing their new rivals. Since there are many more pirates that are congregated in this area, Diana has decided to take a table, and sit for a while, to see if she can hear anything about Black Beard.
Stacey exclaims, “I’ll go get everyone a glass of cold water. Would you like to go with me Jessica?”
“Sure, I’ll go with you.”
Continuing to sit at the table, Danielle and Diana hear from one side, “Did you hear that North captured two British Ships?”
“No, the latest thing I heard about him was that he wrecked Charles, his ship.”
On the other side, they hear pirates talking about a fight. “Davis took five bullets, and the Portuguese had to cut his throat before he would go down.”
“He was one tough pirate.”
Still from another table they hear, “Guess what flag William Kidd is flying?”
“He’s changed his flag?”
“Yea, the ‘Blessed’ now flies the skull and cross-bones.”
Suddenly there is a little commotion coming from the direction that Stacey and Jessica have gone.
“Leave me alone, you rude barbarian.”
“Come on beautiful just one little kiss.”
Glasses are thrown to the ground as both Jessica and Stacey reach for their swords. Diana and Danielle, quickly make their way to them, pushing every pirate to the side that is in their way. As they stand together with all four swords ready to duel, Stacey looks directly at the pirate that had grabbed her and said, “Now, do you want to try that again?”
“Not me,” he said backing away with his hands in the air.
Noticing that everyone is looking at them, Jessica states, “We are looking for Black Beard. Who knows where he is?”
Someone in the back shouts, “He left two days ago for Ocracoke.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you know what direction he took?”
“Yea, he wasn’t in any hurry, and decided to take the scenic route around the Southern tip of Cuba.”
Turning gruffly around, Diana and her crew begin walking toward the door. As soon as they reach the threshold and are looking out toward their ship they notice that there are several small boats rowing toward it.
“Quickly, we need to get to the ship as fast as we can.”
Running to their dingy as fast as they can; grabbing the oars and pushing the handles forward, finally plunging the paddles into the water and then pulling back; forward, plunging and pulling back, over and over again as fast as they can.
“We’re not going to make it. I don’t think that Jaimie and the girls are aware that there are rowboats full of pirates that are getting close to them.” Pulling two of her pistols out, Jessica shoots warning shots into the air.
Looking in the direction of the shots, Jaimie, Marie, Kristen and Jaci, in their pirate uniforms stand closer to the railing, “It looks like these strangers want to get a closer look of our ship!”
“Don’t they realize that it is impolite to board another vessel without an invitation?” Jaimie questions as she looks over the railing.
Smiling Marie states, “Are you ready ladies? Let’s show them what we think of their surprise!”
Aiming their pistols at the approaching row boats, shots can be heard loud and clear.
Feeling a bullet whiz past his head one of the local pirates expresses with fear, “They have pistols!”
Quickly turning their rowboat around, one pirate states, “I’m not going any closer.”“Me either. As far as I am concerned this surprise boarding is canceled.”
Diana, Jessica, Stacey and Danielle decide that they are going to teach all of the other pirates a lesson. Reloading their pistols, they look toward a group of row boats that had followed the first ones. “Where
did they go? I could have sworn that all of those boats were full of pirates?” Looking closer they see several men in the water swimming back toward land.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I need target practice and those boats are perfect.”
Looking toward Stacey, the others smile, “What a great idea.”
Soon spouts of water can be seen, small compared to that of a whale, but never the less enough to fill a boat and sink it.
Danielle starts laughing, “Look, the harbor is filled with fountains.”
Continuing to row toward their ship, Diana quips, “Well that should buy us a lot of time. If anyone tries to come after us, they will have to swim to their ship since the rowboats can no longer be used for transportation. Their guns will be wet, and they won’t be able to take a sword, unless they carry it in their teeth while they swim toward their ship.” Smiling at the picture that just came to her head, Diana quietly says to her shipmates, “Let us hope that we never have to swim with a sword in our mouths.”
“Our swords are a lot lighter than theirs, Diana, we could still swim with them, however, we would have to wrap our gun holders around our heads.”
“Now that’s something new, Danielle.”
Stacey asks, “If our gun holders are wrapped around our heads what would we do with our beautiful hats then?”
Quickly Jessica states, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ll wrap the gun holder around my beautiful Tricorn hat, making sure that both of them don’t get wet, if we ever have to swim to our ship.”
Listening to the funny comments, Diana quietly laughs as she says, “we’re here ladies. Who wants to be first getting back aboard ship?”
Stacey suggests, “Jess why don’t you go first, I think that you sank more rowboats than anyone else with your perfect shooting.”
“I will Stacey, if you’ll go next.”
“She has to Jess. She’s the only other woman with us…according to the pirates watching us from the shore,” Danielle states with a smile.
Finally aboard the ‘Destiny,’ Diana looks back at the rowboats. “Look everyone they won’t be floating very much longer. Most of them are all ready sinking into the water.”
Everyone smiles trying not to laugh loud enough that the pirates watching them from the shore will hear them.
“What do you imagine that they are thinking?” Marie questions.
Jaci answers, “I’d be really mad…” Looking over at Diana she asks, “Did you find Black Beard?”
“We must have just missed him. I wonder if we flew over him when the sea was rough…”
Jaimie adds, “I remember seeing a ship in the waves below us. That could have been him.”
“Why is it that we are always just one step behind him?”
“I hate that pirate so much for all the pain that he has caused our families.”
“We all have the same feeling about him. What should we do next?”
“If we just keep taking it a step at a time, moving forward…we’ll find him.”
“Yes, and as soon as we find him, we’ll find our little island sisters.”
In a hurry after they leave the harbor, Diana flies the ‘Destiny’ all night long, trying to catch up to Black Beard.
In the morning as soon as Jaimie wakes up, she walks into the Captain’s Cabin. “Have we been flying all night?”
“Yes, Jaimie, I want to find him so badly, I can taste it.”
“How far have we come?”
“We are coming to the Southern tip of Cuba, but before we start going up the Eastern Coast of America, to get to Ocracoke, I want to ask everyone a question.”
“Would you mind asking everyone to come to the captain’s cabin? Tell them that I need to talk to them, and I’ll sit the ‘Destiny’ down in the water while we all talk.”
“…Sure thing.”
While Jaimie is gone, Diana begins speaking to herself hoping that in some way, Daniel will be able to hear her. “Daniel, we’ve been to so many places and we haven’t found our sisters yet. What are we doing that is wrong?”
In her mind, she hears a familiar voice, “Diana… you need to go back to Martinique.
You need to talk to your mothers so that you can reconnect with your sisters. You have lost your connection.”
“Go back home?”
“Yes.”
“But we have come so far, Daniel.”
“Your ship flies Diana. You’ll be able to make up your time. When you reconnect to your true mission you will go further and at a faster pace, Diana.”
“What have we done that’s wrong? Our goal has been to find our sisters and nothing else?”
“What has your heart felt like every time that you have left your destination without your sisters?”
“My heart has been filled with frustration for always being one step behind; anger because they were taken in the first place; fear that we won’t find them; concern for their welfare and I have begun to wonder if I have the skills to find them.”
“So do you have a clear direction?”
“No, I’m scattered.”
As her sisters enter the cabin, Diana announces, “We are going home everyone. What do you think about that?”
“What about our sisters?”
“I would like to talk to our mothers. We all need to reconnect, and then we will continue our search.”
“It is a good idea. We have all worked hard. If we go back home for a short while, maybe ideas will come to us,” Jaimie adds.
“It’s not like we are giving up, we’ll find them,” Diana adds. Suddenly she hears a thump coming from the deck somewhere above them while her other sisters are talking amongst themselves. Diana holds up her hand with a stern look “LISTEN… everyone!”
Silence can be heard throughout the cabin for several minutes as strange sounds can be heard.
“That sounded like a grappling hook. Did someone board our ship?”
“I can hear steps on the deck.”
“So can I.”
“There is only one person… Stay here. I’ll go up and take care of it I need some exercise to wake me up. If you hear more steps, come up and join me…” Diana says with a smile.
Grabbing her sword and knowing that her dagger is in her boot, she walks quietly out of the captain’s cabin in her pirate’s uniform. Cautiously she walks down the hall, up the steps and slowly opens the door to the deck. She sees a lone man with his back to her looking toward what would normally be the captain’s cabin. Shutting the door quietly behind her, Diana stands ready for battle.
To let her opponent know that she is standing behind him she hits the heel of her boot twice, on the deck floor. This resonance attracts his attention, and he turns around. Diana looks directly at him, bringing her sword in front of her and bowing to her opponent. The intruder brings his sword up showing that he is ready to counter her attack. He bows to his opponent. Soon the echo of clinging swords sound in succession, as steel meets steel, and feet move quickly, trying to outmaneuver the other.
“Are you sailing this ship alone?” the intruder asks, as he moves out of the way of her blade.
Silence…
“Your swordsmanship is wonderful, but you don’t talk very much do you?” as he approaches closer and blocks her sword with his, pushing her up against the lower part of the Main Mast, he notices that the wind has changed direction. Now that he is in between the Main Mast and the Foremast, the Fore Boom begins to swing toward him. As he moves out of its way Diana makes her move, undercutting his blade, and twisting it out of his hand. As his sword falls to the deck, the intruder runs after it as the waves of the ocean jostle the ship causing it to roll around on the wood flooring.
Diana walks toward him as the intruder quickly performs a front roll standing up with the sword in his hand. Knowing that she is too close to him, Diana quickly executes a back-flip. The intruder watches her beautiful form as her head goes backward, her feet leave the deck, rising into
the air and finally landing an appropriate distance away.
“Wow, I’ve always wanted to learn how to do that! If we end up in a draw, would you teach me how to do that trick?” he states in amazement.
Silence…
Knowing that he needs to show more of his skill, he decides to move his sword back and forth between both of his hands while he moves his blade toward Diana. This throws Diana off, as she has never seen anyone move their sword like he is.
Realizing that his opponent is distracted he quickly squats down on his left leg, spinning in a circle with his right leg extended on the floor, knocking Diana’s feet out from under her. As she falls to the ground, her hat falls off. Taking advantage of the situation he lands on top of her, holding her arms down, as they begin to roll over and over on the deck trying to get control of the other. Finally her beautiful long hair falls out from under her black scarf, and her lack of strength is ultimately realized.
Stunned he says “You are a girl!”
At that very moment, the rest of the sisters emerge, with a rope. Jaimie directs them, “Tie him up, and look over the railing to see if there are any others.”
“I don’t see any one on this side,” Jessica states from the Starboard.
“I don’t see any one on this side either,” Danielle reports back from the Port.
After he is secured to the forward mast, Jaimie asks, “Where are the others?”
“There are no others.”
“Oh, so I’m supposed to believe that you were out here in the middle of the ocean swimming, and we were the first ship that came by, so you decided to see if you could hitch a ride? Where did you get your grappling hook? Surely you weren’t swimming with a grappling hook strapped to your side?”
“My goodness for such a beautiful woman, you sure have a lot of questions,” he says with a smile.
Frustrated and looking over at Diana, Jaimie says, “What do you want done with him? He has no answers to my questions.”
Looking at the captive, Diana asks, “You’re not alone are you? You were sent ahead to see who we are, weren’t you?”
“Ah, so you do know how to speak. How do you do that trick with your feet in the air? I would really like to learn how to do that.”
Diana snaps back, “Look I don’t know what type of game that you are playing, but I’m in no mood for games. We have a job to do. Now I ask you again, are you alone?”
