Anne's face fell. The sound of hastened footsteps at the stairs caught Anne's attention, so she ran to the edge of the stair opening with a knife drawn. When a large, well-built man emerged, Anne threatened him with the knife, but then lowered the weapon and began speaking with the man in hushed tones. Edward was not able to make out who the man was because of the little light, but judging from the closeness Anne shared, and his build, Edward had an idea.
The man walked over with Anne at his side, and when he reached the cell he lifted his hood so Edward could see his face. "Now what is this I hear about not wanting to leave?"
In front of the cell a man of Edward's age, twenty or one and twenty years, stood tall and large. He was shorter than Edward, but more toughly built, especially being well fed. His straight brown hair was tied back, and his strong jaw, like his crossed arms, were set as stone.
"Henry! You, as well?" Henry, Edward's childhood friend, had joined Edward on his first flight of freedom as whalers before they were accidentally branded pirates.
"Yes, I am here, as are two others of the crew. And John is waiting for us with horse and carriage as well. Will you stop being foolish and join us now that you are fully aware of the gravity of the situation?"
Edward crossed his arms in mirror to Henry, in direct defiance. "No. As I told Anne, I do not see the point in being captured again. I'm choosing to end the cycle here. Leave me be before you are forced to join me in my torment."
Henry considered Edward's words for a quick moment before laughing almost too loudly. Edward thought Henry to be mad, and from the looks on Anne and Sam's faces so did they.
"Apologies, Henry, but I do not see the humour in this situation," Anne said.
Henry looked at Anne, but pointed to Edward. "He's lying," Henry proclaimed. "You would have noticed if you'd known him as long as I. He's still acting chivalrous for our sakes. He's been so long here he doesn't think anyone can escape, and wants us to leave before anything happens."
"I'm not lying, Henry. You don't know me as well as you think. Run while you still can."
Anne nodded, the three ignoring Edward's pleas."So what do you propose we do?" Anne questioned with one hand in the air, palm up.
"We force his hand." Henry sat down on the stone, folding his legs to get comfortable.
Anne grinned and joined Henry, and Sam shrugged his shoulders and made a sarcastic comment before sitting as well. The three faced the cell, watching Edward with nonchalance bordering on indifference.
"What are you doing? You must make haste before the guards find you."
The trio didn't move an inch, their bodies and faces becoming as the stone in the prison itself.
Edward stood up. "I don't want to go with you, don't you see? We are no longer friends, comrades, or family."
None responded despite the biting remarks Edward made.
The noise of several footsteps sounded against the hard stone stairs, signalling guards on the way.
Edward jumped to the bars, gripping them hard until his knuckles turned white. "You must flee, now!"
The three did not react, and simply gazed at Edward, calling for action with their eyes. Sweat trickled down Edward's face when two armed guards descended from above.
The guards, their muskets pointed at the three, shouted orders to clasp their hands behind their heads. Henry, Anne, and Sam all relented to the orders, and then rose at another command. One guard guided them away in front, with the second forcing them forward with his musket.
The three were about to be resigned to a fate Edward would not wish upon any, their freedom stripped and their spirits ripped from pain and anguish.
Deep down, in his heart of hearts, no matter what Edward said, he wanted to be free as well. For most of his life, Edward suffered an oppressive, unloving step-family, so even when he was branded a pirate and chased across the Caribbean, even when the world was at its bleakest, he was still free on that ship with those he cared about. Because of the consequences of his decision, his heart and mind struggled for and against the freedom he desired.
But today… today, the heart won.
"Take me with you! I want to be free with you, my family!" Edward shouted, his words resounding across the floor and then some.
Anne, Henry, and Sam smiled.
The guards were momentarily distracted by Edward's outcry, and the three took that chance to strike.
Anne spun around, gripped the muzzle of one guard's musket, and thrust it upwards. The musket smashed into the guard's nose, breaking it. As the guard clutched his nose, taken aback by the blow, Sam jumped around Anne and punched the guard square in the jaw, knocking him unconscious.
Henry held the other guard in a headlock. The guard dropped his musket and struggled to pull Henry's massive biceps away, but it was no use. The guard elbowed Henry in the ribs again and again. Henry endured as long as he could, but lost his grip and the guard broke free.
The guard pulled himself away and drew a deep breath. The man was about to cry out for his comrades on the upper floor when Anne whipped out a knife and flung it at the guard. The knife hit the man in the back of the head, his cry turning into a grunt as he fell to the floor dead.
With the guards dispatched, the trio ran back to the cell together, Anne and Henry grabbing each of Edward's arms in a desperate embrace.
Henry beamed at his best friend in all the world. "Let's set you free, brother."
2. Gammond Castle
"That's the key. Yes, that one," Edward confirmed, guiding Sam to one key among the multitude.
"How can ya tell? They all look the same!" Sam said, but he did not doubt the validity of Edward's statement, as he stuck the key into the lock.
"I've been here a year. I had to occupy my mind somehow."
Sam turned the key and it opened with a click. He pulled back the door and all the prisoners tried to rush out at once. Sam and Henry pushed the door closed again as Edward tried to calm them and keep their rabid grasps from his friends.
"What are you doing?" Edward yelled above the clatter in his cell. "Quiet!" Edward commanded, silencing the prisoners.
"We cannot take them with us. We can escape with you, and maybe one other," Anne explained coldly.
Edward considered Anne for a moment. Anne must have planned his escape for months, maybe even the whole year since he was imprisoned. Edward glanced at the boy Edmond and the old man Charles. I can't leave them.
Anne placed her hand over her eyes in frustration and shook her head. "I didn't plan for this. What do you suggest?"
"We free all the prisoners. The storm will be too much for the guards to handle. Besides, I will not leave without my belongings. The warden has my sword at his hip, so I will kill him and retrieve it."
"You would kill an innocent man?" Henry said in shock.
Edward turned his back, revealing the scars of previous beatings. "You think an innocent man could order people to do this?" Edward glanced at his cell mates, all of them itching to leave. "We do not have the time to argue, we lost too much from my stubbornness."
Anne sighed. "Fine, let us free them all."
As Sam was readying to open the door once more, Edward turned to the group of cutthroats and revolutionaries of varying ages in his cell. "You will all wait until the other prisoners are released. If we all leave as one then we will overwhelm the guards. They will stand no chance if we work together."
"For once, we agree on sumthin'," Simon declared. "If any try to skip before we are ready, I'll be breakin' their legs."
Sam opened the door, and instead of the rush as before, the prisoners left in an orderly fashion, warily glancing at the leaders of the escape when passing. Edward moved to the back, where Edmond and Charles sat motionless, but wide eyed.
"Today you will realise your wish, Edmond," Edward said, making the young boy smile. "Let's move, old man." Edward lifted Charles up and pulled the old man's arm over his shoulder for support. Edward carried Charles to the door, where Sam, Henry,
and Anne waited. "Here, Sam, help this man, will you? I'll take the keys."
Edward and Sam swapped their cargo, with minor grumbling from the latter, and Edward took his first step from the cell that had been his home for a year. He left the cell to embrace his friend, Henry, and his love, Anne. The embrace was short, but more than sweet.
"I take the geezer and they get hugs. A little unfair, ain't it?" Sam asked no one in particular. "No offence, old man."
"None taken, my boy."
Henry and Sam guarded the stairs with Simon while the other prisoners were being freed.
"Anne, I will need your help with one prisoner. He's almost as stubborn as myself, and I think you're the only one who can convince him to leave here." Edward stepped to the cell opposite the one he was in and unlocked the door, letting all those inside out, save one who didn't move.
"Who?" Anne asked as she joined Edward in the cell. She studied the figure of a man not unlike Edward. The prisoner had the same shaggy hair and long beard, a trademark of those present for an extended length of time. Anne's eyes widened when the man looked up at her. "William!" Anne ran to William and knelt down, placing her hand on his cheek. "I thought you had been executed!" She embraced William tightly for a second. William had been Anne's protector, her confidant, and a great friend.
Edward left them to their reunion as he freed the prisoners from their cells.
"Not quite, Your Highness. By the grace of your mother, Queen Anne, I was spared the guillotine and the noose."
Anne scoffed lightly at his remark. "Then, by my grace and Providence, I shall rescue you from this crucible. We will escape from here, together." Anne grabbed William's hand and tried to lead him away, but he didn't budge. "What are you doing, William? We must make haste!"
"I am sorry Anne, I cannot. I will be of no use to you."
"What are you saying? Do not tell me your time here has made you weak."
William turned away; he could not face those eyes. "Prison has made me more aware of my faults, and I must atone for my weakness. I failed in my charge, and this is my punishment."
Anne reared back and slapped William hard. "All the more reason you need to be my protector! Fulfil your broken oath to me, not as royalty, not as your princess, but as my friend. Your punishment will be to keep me alive and regain your lost honour!" Anne rose and turned to the cell door. "Don't think you can take the easy way out because you feel you failed my uncle." Anne strolled away, leaving William with her words.
William's mouth was wide open. He rubbed his cheek where Anne had slapped him. After a moment he clenched his teeth and rose to his feet. Without saying a word, he joined Anne outside. Anne grinned to herself.
Edward finished unlocking the cells, and a total of fifty-eight criminals were ready to fight, comprised of thirty-five men and twenty-three women, eleven mentally ill whose minds were on the brink, and sixteen elderly and children.
"Do you know where the armoury is located?" Edward asked Anne.
"Yes, up the stairs and across a hallway," Anne replied.
"Take those who can fight to the armoury, and keep the elderly and children away from combat as much as possible," Edward commanded as he went the opposite direction of the stairs, instead heading deeper into the prison.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I am freeing more prisoners," Edward replied, jangling the keys as he travelled further into the darkness.
Edward had heard stories of those trapped in the deepest level of the prison. The prisoners said to be the worst devils in existence, or at least British existence, were sent there. Some considered these in league with Satan and practitioners of dark arts.
Edward thought they were just stories conjured by an overactive imagination, but upon seeing those in the darkness he had his doubts.
The stench of disease and filth hit Edward, and the smell was so vile he could scarcely breathe. He inspected the room, and could see the grates of eleven cells in the square room, five on either side and a large one at the back. Edward could feel the intense scrutiny of beady eyes, which caused his skin to crawl and itch uncontrollably.
Edward tried the keys on the closest cell. When he opened the door the prisoners rushed upon him, knocking him to the ground. Most ran away up the stairs, taking their chance to escape, while three lashed out at Edward viciously.
"Stop, stop I say! I am here to free you!" Edward yelled, but repeated himself another two times before the attack stopped.
"You mean to free us? Why?" one of the three asked.
"I cannot escape on my own."
Another tall man laughed. "The boy means to use us as decoys, methinks. No matter, this will be a golden chance, let us seize it." And without further deliberation, nor a helping hand to Edward, the three left.
Edward rose and began opening the cells once more. None attacked Edward like the first time, but some appeared on the verge. As the prisoners passed, Edward pondered what horrible deeds these prisoners could have committed.
Coming out of the second cell, a hunched-over, shifty-eyed man was being led by a pregnant woman. The man was muttering something under his breath about Poseidon and Davey Jones, but Edward could not catch the rest.
In another cell, three men passed by in tandem. The first man had no ears, the second's eyes were bandaged, but the third seemed perfectly normal. The second man thanked Edward for all three of them, stating the third's tongue was cut out.
In yet another cell a large woman with a missing eye and arm passed by with six other men following behind. The men seemed to fear falling behind the woman, but also afraid of leaving with her. After a few threatening leers from the woman, the men followed compliantly.
Several men and women were disfigured and diseased with leprosy and boils, as well as odd ailments and afflictions like frostbite. Many had also descended into madness, or were committed because of madness, so Edward decided to keep his distance.
Edward left the large cell in the back for last. He could see a man with a mask made of some type of metal. His hands and feet, unlike those of the other prisoners, were bound to the ceiling and floor respectively.
"Hold a moment, friend. I will free you in but a moment," Edward reassured him, to no response.
Edward first freed the man's limbs while examining him. The mask the prisoner wore covered the whole face, but slits left the eyes, mouth, and nose exposed. Edward found no visible signs of fusing, and the mask looked like one continuous piece of metal. How is this possible? How was this affixed to his head?
After Edward freed him the man stayed motionless, but whispered something under his breath. "What?" Edward asked.
The man glared the coldest malice at Edward. "The mask."
Edward inspected the mask once more from all angles, but couldn't find a spot for a key, no lock, no seam to work. "I see no way to remove the mask."
The man grabbed Edward and slammed him against the stone wall. After a moment, the man released Edward, screamed in anger and left the cell. "Anne, you will pay for this!" the man in the metal mask yelled as he quickly jumped up the stairs of the prison.
He must have meant Queen Anne. Who was that man? Edward shook his head. No time to dwell.
Edward ran back up the steps to the level of the prison his former cell was on. Anne, Henry, Sam, Charles, and Edmond were waiting for Edward. As he drew closer to the stairs, the sounds of battle could be heard echoing against the stone.
Anne noticed Edward approaching and stepped towards him. "I showed the prisoners to the armoury and things are escalating quickly."
"If ya thought it hell down 'ere, Thatch, ya'd best see upstairs," Sam cackled.
Edward ran up the stairs to the main level of the castle, his companions following closely behind, and found himself in the right corner, farthest from the drawbridge. If a castle could be called plain, this one qualified. The castle had a bailey in each of the four corners, with one large open courtyard in the centre, and a tall keep at the back. The per
imeter had high curtain walls, making interior and exterior defence easily manageable.
The castle used to be owned by William III before his death, and ownership fell to his successor and sister-in-law, Queen Anne. Not wishing to bring unpleasant memories of her brother-in-law's death, Queen Anne converted the castle to a prison. The Queen quickly filled the prison castle with political prisoners, dissenters, and other enemies of the state.
Edward and his group stationed themselves behind stone columns and a waist-high barrier around the inside of the bailey. From above, on the curtain walls, guards popped in and out of cover trying to shoot the escapees with muskets. Below Edward, on the main level, the fifty-plus escaped prisoners fought off guards attempting to enter from the courtyard on Edward's left as well as guards rushing down the stairs on Edward's right. The prisoners raided the armoury to better fight the guards on the curtain wall.
"How is the best way to the keep?" Edward shouted over the gunfire, yells, and curses uttered from the unstable men he'd freed.
"The safest way is through a door at the top of this bailey. There isn't much cover on the baileys, but the walkways along the walls are thin so we cannot be overwhelmed with numbers," Anne yelled back. A bullet ripped into the stone column Anne was standing behind, so she ducked down further.
"What of our escape?" Henry asked. "We cannot use the latrine hole anymore."
"The way out is through. There are two release levers for the drawbridge in the front baileys. Both need to be thrown for it to be lowered."
"Then we 'ave no choice but to split up." Sam forcefully pushed Charles, the old man, down below the stone wall to avoid the bullets.
"First we need to acquire weapons, and then move to the top level," Edward said as he drew a deep breath and plunged into the chaos.
Edward dashed from column to column, ducking below the waist-high stone wall when he needed to pass between. Edward slowed down as the concentration of bullets increased, eventually stopping at the right corner of the bailey. Sam, Charles, Henry, and Anne were all following behind.
Blackbeard's Revenge (Voyages Of Queen Anne's Revenge Book 2) Page 2
