by Foster, Ron
“Could be that your right and they are just plain mean spirited and evil. It’s always been historically about the money and what they are doing just don’t make no sense. It’s not like you can go up the road and buy whatever it is you want, whenever you want even if you had a sack full of the old greenback money. Course if they was trading plunder with other pirates then they would be making their own economy and commerce. That concept kind of sounds like Port Royal when it was a pirate haven back in Black Beards time.” Crick said as they closed and barred the door and headed back to the house to join the rest.
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4
Fleeing The Danger
“Those sea marauders seem awful intent on something Crick, it don’t make no sense for them to be taking so many risks around this backwater. Nothing close by but fishing villages and camps as far as I know around here. Do you think somehow somebody got wind we was carrying treasure? That’s enough money to create this kind of attempted robbery ruckus” Hobe said in a hushed voice.
“Well we have our own brand of pirates back at home but nobody as far as I know followed us down the coast as near as I can tell. Besides we were very careful talking about this mission as an exploration venture only. Pretty much the only folks that know we are carrying gold and silver is the banker, Clem and David. Still and all though if it’s not wealth the pirates are after it must be trying to gain territory or something else. Could be they are looking for a base or staging area to go after something bigger like that naval fuel station but I don’t know if that place is even functioning. Murdoch says they can get some occasional diesel in trade over there but even he was having problems these days accessing any. Ask Saul what’s important about these waters outside of the fishing.” Crick replied.
“Speak of the devil, here he comes.” Hobe said pointing towards the road and seeing Saul kick scooting himself along with Otis apparently running along trying to keep up.
“How you boys getting along over here?” Saul said dismounting his red scooter.
“We are doing fine; all of us are just sitting around watching the water and speculating if those marauders will try to come this way at dusk or dawn.” Hobe said leaning back in his patio chair.
“I would guess around dusk if they are pursuing Murdoch and hoping those hull leaks they gave him slows him down enough to catch.” Saul said studying the horizon.
“They might not even come back this way for awhile. Kind of messes us up though big time by not being able to be going out fishing for a bit. They must of sailed up the river at night cause nobody seen them pass by.” Otis declared.
“Well we ain’t going to be not fishing for very long. If we don’t see them tonight or tomorrow morn we are going to send a scout boat out and see if maybe we can locate them and figure out what it is they are up to. I still ain’t a hundred percent sure Captain Murdoch wasn’t doing something he wasn’t supposed to be.” Saul said contemplating.
“Maybe you can get more info out of that wounded crewman?” Crick asked.
“I already thought of that, he is still unconscious at the moment but I told Essie May to see if she could learn anything if he wakes up. She said it was doubtful he would but you never know.” Saul said indicating he was pretty sure he wouldn’t get the chance to talk to the man.
“We watch we wait then.” Morgan said thinking he might try fishing off the dock for something to do while waiting to see if they would get a glimpse of any passing boats.
“Essie May, where is it that you are going?” Saul said watching the woman put a carpet bag on the stoop out her front door.
“I’m moving’ inland for a spell! I told Jeb here we were too old to be mixed up in this mess if we don’t have to be. We can’t do much to help ya’ll anyway unless you can think of something Saul. I figured that we would just go inland and check on some relatives just like we do in hurricanes for safety and get out the way of you young folks so you wouldn’t have us to worry about.” Essie May said taking a brown leather suitcase from Jeb and putting it next to her own case as Jeb went to get the rest of her luggage.
“Well, how you planning to get down there? You send for Rex’s mule wagon?” Saul asked.
“No, he come by here after dropping off that man at Miss Newman’s house and said him and his family was moving up coast some too. No way that we can catch them, so I sent for Rastus and his dog cart to carry our luggage. I guess we are going to walk ourselves over there! ” “Jeb said.
“Well I can’t say that I blame you much. Lots of folks talking about heading inland until we can take care of this threat but I figured since you had yourselves some armed guards staying with you that you would hang around awhile.” Saul declared looking at the old couple.
“Well we likes’ them just fine and they right neighborly to be around but don’t you see Saul, with them men guarding the house we don’t need to hang around. Now you boys guard and feed the chickens too, we be back in a couple days. Me and Jeb can get us some sleep without worrying ourselves silly at every noise in the night and you boys can make yourselves to home without worrying about us old folks getting in the way if the fireworks start.” Essie Mae said before starting to fuss at Jeb about the luggage.
“Don’t you dare put that down there Jeb; if I told you once I told you a hundred times that a woman that puts her purse on the ground wont never have money! We have gots us enough bad luck for one day without you bringing any more upon us by being careless. Now I put two jars of peaches of the kitchen table for you all. It ain’t much but it’s all we can spare. Try not to use up all my candles; I ain’t got the fixings to make us anymore for awhile.” Essie Mae said and pretty much told everyone goodbye and finished getting ready for their trip.
“The cistern is getting low on water, sure hopes it rains soon. If you all don’t conserve you’re going to have to desalinate the sea water. Since you can’t boil the salt out of water, you’ll have to create steam and capture the steam in a way that condenses it back into water. You’ll need to boil the salt water in an open pot with a piece of cotton towel or cloth suspended a few inches over the container top. The steam will condense in the cloth, which you can wring out and drink. The down side is that it only catches a few drops at a time. Like I said, let’s hope there’s a lot of rain. “Jeb declared
“Oh we got a few tricks to getting the salt out of sea water ourselves. I might even build you something to help with that chore while you’re gone if we don’t get too busy.” Crick said with a smile.
“Essie May you sure we needs to go off right this minute? I kind of like sharing a little know how with these fellas.” Jeb said sounding like a schoolboy being told to go to bed when company came over.
“Now Jeb you know we doing the right thing, you would be pestering them boys so much they be getting distracted from looking out for them pirates and most likely get yourself or them shot because of it. Now then let me give you all a hug and we be off soon. Leave the house like you found it and don’t be nastying it up, you hear? Also just cause we gone don’t mean none of you can sleep in our bed or even sit on it. Saul, you see to it they stay safe as they can and keep the place reasonably clean.” Essie Mae said slightly teary eyed that she was leaving home but that didn’t last long as she bossed Jeb around loading the dog cart and they set off.
“That’s a good old woman and man there, wish they had stuck around awhile longer but that can’t be helped. They have never been one not to heed an evacuation order for a hurricane or try to get themselves out of dodge before trouble comes.” Saul said watching them depart.
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5
Dark Sails On The Horizon
The shrill sound of a survival whistle sounded from the dock from where Morgan had gone down to go fishing caused a hush to fall over the assembled would be defenders of this little hamlet. All eyes and ears focused on the river contemplating a showdown.
“Sounds like we got us some trouble coming this way.” Crick said as he and Hobe grabbed bin
oculars and rifles and headed that way.
“We got sails on the horizon.” Morgan said pointing off in the distance from the dock and everybody’s attention was drawn to trying to figure out what exactly was approaching.
Three dark sailed boats sailing about a 100 meters from each other and hugging the opposite shore could be seen with the binoculars but details of the crews weren’t apparent yet.
“What do you see?” Saul asked looking like he was trying to sniff the wind.
“We got three sailboats coming, can’t make out the crews yet, they run about 25 -35 feet in length as near as I can make out.” Crick said.
“Let me have a look see!” Otis said reaching for his binoculars.
“Ain’t nobody I recognize Saul. They Gypsy boats all right or pirates for sure though. Looks like they painted or dyed their sails dark to make themselves less conspicuous. Want me to raise the alarm?” Otis said thinking he would fire off a couple shots so that those people over at Miss Bell’s place would know trouble was coming.
“Not yet Otis, hold your fire. I want to know more about them strangers before we give them warning they being watched also. Everybody get away from the shoreline and find themselves a tree or bush to get behind and get your peepers peeled and ready to give me some details about them boats.” Saul said shooing everyone to hide themselves behind something that was bullet resistant as well as human form silhouette hiding.
“I say they are about 20 minutes out Saul the way the wind is blowing.” Hobe said and Otis concurred.
“Now nobody get no itchy trigger fingers and start no shit before I says its time. If they hugging the far shore already then they know we expecting trouble already it sounds like. We don’t want them knowing nothing from nothing until we figure out their intentions. They too far away to get a clean shot at them anyways even if they was right in front of this here cabin.” Saul said in his gravelly voice and reached down and plucked a green sea oat to chew on and add some moisture to his mouth.
“Hell I can hit them across this river if they turn this way and make them knows for certain they are unwelcome. Won’t be an easy shot but I can definitely put an attitude adjustment on them.” Crick said crouching down next to Saul in back of some palmetto and scrub oaks while giving him a verbal play by play of the advancing would be marauder boats.
“Shit boy are you just bragging or could you actually hit something at 800 yards with that fancy rifle of yours?” Saul said speculatively.
“I can dang sure hit the boat, that’s like shooting at a barn door for me! Now finessing a kill shot on somebody is a bit more difficult but I think I could maybe.” Crick said mentally calculating some windage and elevation.
“Now don’t try killing nobody or sinking them just yet. I hope they are just passing by and chasing Murdoch maybe. We are going to leave them alone if they got a mind to leave us alone but their welcome won’t be so nice if they try coming back up this river someday.” Saul said removing his captain’s hat and rubbing at his half bald half white semi afro haired head. When Saul occasionally removed his hat the onlooker was treated to sort a unique spectacle. It was kind of like Saul was born with that cap on his head and had him a special bald place for it to fit on. The rest of his hair he kind of let grow out naturally and only whacked it off once in a while when it kept his hat from fitting the way he liked. Now the first time Crick saw him do that, he was kind of reminded of one of them clown cars that you see in the circus. You know the ones that have this little bitty car then all of a sudden a big number of clowns come popping out of it with way too many in numbers to actually fit inside of it? Well, Saul’s hair was kind of like that and he just shoved some kind of Don King afro up into his hat on each side but when he pulled off his hat, it kind of made him look like Bozo the Clown or Larry off the Three Stooges! What Saul did when he went to put his hat back on was first take both palms of his hands and run it straight up in the air which gave him a Frankenstein looking coiffure. Then with one hand patting it all down in back of his bald spot, he would put his cap back on. It was kind of like opening up a Jack-In-The-Box, you never knew what was going to come popping up or out after him working all day in the blazing sun. Miss Bell said he was a sight to see when he got what you call ‘duded up’ to come to her place to do some dancing and drinking upon occasion. He’d wear that back in the day pomade stuff and slick it back and give himself a come up with some kind of a Jerry Curl
“What caliber is that thing?” Otis said in a whisper even though the sailing boats were still very far away.
“.308 NATO, I can play Ma bell like the telephone company and reach out and touch someone with it pretty much whenever I want!” Crick said with a devilish grin born from the sands of the Middle East and his in country Army service.
“That caliber kind of like a 30-06? I don’t know nothing about no Army guns.” Otis declared.
“Close enough, that caliber will still have plenty of power and oomph when it gets there and if I had me a better scope and more talent it be effective and deadly out even further.” Crick said referring to his FN-FAL Rifle.
“Reckon you could shoot their running lights out or hit their mast?” Saul asked.
“Damn you talking fancy shooting and I am saying I would be lucky to hit a man size target at that range not something smaller than a dinner plate but I could give it a go.” Crick said eying the far shoreline and trying to estimate where the sailboats would be in relation to where they were at.
“They are going to have to get themselves lined up more to the center of the channel before they reach the next bend in the river about a half a mile from here or they’ll run aground on a sand shoal down there. Now if a closer distance would make you more accurate, you might want to consider taking a run down there and shaving a few hundred yards off your shot.” Saul said.
“I thought you said let them sail on by and not go popping any caps at them? You said you didn’t want to go warning them that a gathering of people waiting on them had hostile intents?” Crick asked quizzically.
“Well I’m still thinking some on that. We got to make our minds up quick or they’ll be right in front of us soon. I’m of kind of a mind to hurry them up a little bit, if you know what I mean. That’s all going to depend on which way I can make that rabbit run.” Saul said with a mirthless laugh.
Otis started humming a very old country song called “Run Rabbit, Run” that got the snaggly toothed old gangster of the sea Saul grinning with the humor of it.
“What’s that song, Otis? And why is Saul grinning so much for? Hobe asked with his own ‘let me in on the joke’ grin.
Otis started singing in an old timey crooner’s voice “Run Rabbit Run, Run, Run. Don’t Let The Farmer Have His Fun, Fun, Fun!”
“I don’t know that one. You can sing the rest of that to me later but it sounds like some fun, fun, fun to me! What ya’ll got in mind?” Crick asked as Hobe and Morgan gathered together to find out what kind of devilish plan was being hatched.
“What I’m thinking here is that as those sailboats get in the middle of that pass between the sandbar and some old oyster shoals, that current is really strong there and they are going to be fighting the current to stay on course. But they are also going to be picking up speed. Now if a fella was any good in one of them old shooting galleries like we used to have back in the day at the county fair and you could hit them ducks all moving in a row with some accuracy and not miss, we would have us a great opportunity to let them dance with the Devil in the deep blue sea.” Saul said with a clap of his hands together and a loud whoop before he caught himself that any noise even miles away carried over the water and in a giggling tone began to lay out his plan.
“Now ya’ll listen to me and listen to me quick, because it’s going to take a good five to ten minutes for you to jog down there so we don’t have long to jaw about it. Now if you get yourselves set up and are waiting on them when they round the bend. We might just get to see the biggest boat collision thi
s river ever had. Now, that pass is wide enough for them to sail three apart and still be a distance from the shore or they can come down Indian file separated but all in a row, one in front of the other, I just don’t know. But we ain’t talking rocket science here; do you reckon Crick that you could just hit something to be messing with their steering and their sails on the lead or last boat coming into the pass? Either way, can’t do no wrong as it’s sort of like the reason they use steel jacket bullets in the military world-wide designed not to so much kill but instead to wound at a maximum. So you listen up there Otis, I done told you about that notion before with me talking deer hunting rounds versus people shooting rounds and I think you always miss my point. When you are out deer hunting, you want a quick merciful kill, it’s over with and you collect your meat. When you people hunting in a war, they shoots back and you ain’t just shooting at one person or have just one shoot back at you! What you want to do is a this old redneck white drill sergeant once told me was ‘tie up their assets’: that means you just don’t want to kill a man and six or seven other people then shoot back at you. What you want to do is it takes at least two people to take care of that wounded man, so that’s two people that are off the battlefield to mess with you and probably ten or so other people in the background that are busy doing something else and using up money and materials instead of applying it to shooting at you.” Saul said thinking that if he disabled just one boat, the other two would have to take care of him or take that crew on board and try to make a hasty retreat if they thought danger was very apparent and they needed to escape.
