Chapter 4: The Squall And The BrawlCaptain Dugal leaned over the charts for that cove. There were some shoals, and it was shallow. If he was quick enough to outrun the storm there was a small channel they could find shelter in. There was only a two foot draft between the keel of his ship and the bottom of the channel, the storm may blow that two foot down and they would run aground. It may be safer to anchor just offshore and ride it out.
As he was making a decision on which course to take his eye caught the two cooks walking down the passageway talking.
“John!” Captain Dugal called. They kept walking and talking as if they hadn’t heard him. “John!” He tried again. Were they deaf? He stepped quickly up behind them and grabbed them both by the shoulder.
“Are ye’ two deaf? I called ye!” He roared.
“Sorry sir!” They said in unison.
“Now ye’ both listen to me good. Today was the closest I’ve ever come to having a mutiny an’ it was over the two of ye’. I won’t have no trouble, ye’ hear? I‘ll go back to eatin‘ swill an‘ the two of ye‘ will be off at the next port.”
“Did we do something wrong sir?” Shivani asked, trying to make her voice sound like a deck hand she had heard.
“Ye’ cook too good. The men are fightin’ , not obeyin’ orders over yer cookin’. An‘ it‘s too hearty, the men are too full of energy. They clean till I don‘t know me own ship.”
“They’ll kill us if it ain’t good.” Shivani imitated his slang.
“Well I may kill ye’ if my crew mutinies over yer cookin’”
Both Shivani and John’s eyes got large. “What should we do sir?”
He pointed at Evil John. “Git to the pantry and kill some rats. Ye start servin’ em’ ratmeat stew. That ought to do it.”
“Yes sir.” Shivani said. Evil John looked sick.
***“Look John. They are still eating the stew like it’s delicious. What are we going to do?” Shivani watched the men emptying their bowls and going back for more.
“I told you not to use that recipe you found.” John chewed his lip like he was thinking. “Hey, maybe we should start spitting in it.”
“The recipe was from Ocato, who would think it would be good? And I’m not going to spit in it, you do it.” Shivani watched another tar digging in the pot to refill his bowl.
“I have a problem making spit” John declared, folding his arms.
“So do I. What should we do? We have to do something.” Shivani elbowed John. “That is his third bowl.”
“They’ve all been doing that. When we first left Anvil they would come back for seconds in about eight hours. Now they are back in less than two hours. I’ve heard them sneaking into the galley at night to see if there is any more left. If there isn’t they get into a terrible state. It’s like they are addicted to your stew.” John mused aloud.
“That’s it John! You’re a genius!” Shivani hugged him and John pushed her off.
“Hey! Watch it, will you? What are you talking about?” John shook Shivani off him.
She flushed, realizing she had almost blown her cover. “Drugs! We will drug the stew so they get sick off it instead of loving it!”
“What kind of drugs?” John looked intrigued.
“I don’t know. We will need to find the sick bay and sneak in it when no one is around. We can’t do anything about tonight, but tomorrow's stew…that is if we can find any drugs.” Shivani looked around. “Let’s leave clean-up till later, since they are still coming and going. We need to scout out that sick bay. Do you know where it is?”
“No, we can just look in every cabin and if there are drugs, grab them. Don’t forget when we tie off that we can check out the other ships for drugs too.” John held up a large empty potato sack.
“You are a genius John, I never would have thought of that. That sack will be perfect.”
***“Good grief, help me pull this sack John, it is too heavy for one person.” Shivani was grunting dragging the heavy potato sack full of drugs they had taken from the cabins. “And we haven’t even found the sick bay yet! I wonder what all these are? Do you think this is that Skooma they are smuggling?”
“I don’t know. Still, we should do the other ships while we are tied up close tonight. We won’t be able to get back to them later, and may need it.” John said, grunting as he helped Shivani tug the sack into the galley.
“Get the rest of that leftover stew. Lets start putting stuff in it now, that will give us a head start on tomorrow.“ Shivani started opening bottles while John dumped them in the pot and stirred.
“It looks too watery, we better add something to thicken it, or cover up the taste in case the drugs make it taste funny.” John suggested. The stew was almost clear.
“You’re right John. Good thing you’re here, you are the brains of this operation.” Shivani said, digging in the pantry for anything to add to the stew. “Here, put this in it.”
“Horse radish?”
“Yes, it will cover up the taste of anything. Now let‘s dump these empty bottles over the transom while we are still moving. The storm should blow them away.”
***The storm had blown them quickly to the cove. Dropping the sails the crew had rowed carefully up the channel to a sheltered spot and tied the three ships together.
John and Shivani crept into the galley and grabbed the potato sacks.
“Look John, the stew is half-way down again. We better hurry.”
“Where did you hide the rest of the drugs we didn’t use?”
“I slid them into the guest quarters those other Captains are staying in while they were in with Captain Dugal.” Shivani whispered. “Let’s get out of here.”
They had barely set foot on the frigate when John clapped his hand over her mouth and pulled her down behind the dinghy. Shivani froze. The crew members that had been forced off ship were creeping over to the Black Flag. The noise of the storm approaching covered any sound they made. Just as Shivani started to rise again she caught site of the old Black Flag crew creeping off the Galleon. She ducked back down and waited. Just like the others before them, this crew slid silently down the main hatchway.
“Come on John. We better sneak down the forward hatch so no one will see us.”
When they had filled both sacks and their pockets up they started back creeping across the plank. Suddenly they heard shouting coming from the main hatchway.
“Quick John, climb down and hide on the transom. They must have discovered we were drugging them.” Shivani pushed him. “Forget the potato sack, just get down there.” She shoved the sacks under the dinghy that covered the stern, then shot around and dropped into the water, pulling herself up on the transom beside John. They pressed themselves against the hull as tightly as possible.
The shouting grew louder, the men were barreling up out of the hatchway and onto the decks. Shivani heard swords clashing and the twang of a bow. She looked at John and he shrugged. There was an all out battle going down on the decks of the Black Flag.
***“What in the Blue Blazes be goin’ on here!” Captain Dugal bellowed, pulling his large bulk up through the hatchway.
As he climbed out he saw three crew members that he distinctly ordered onto the Galleon and Frigate. They were swinging down off the stays for the main mast, flipping through the air as if they were shot from cannons.
“Sir! These men were caught stealing some of our stew!” A deckhand yelled as he let loose an arrow with a loud twang.
“Yer fightin’ over stew? Have ye’ all gone DAFT?” It’s made with rats, ye want rat meat that bad go git down to the hold and kill some ye’…”
“TWANG”
“Git yer own stew, ye got no business on the Black Flag no more, ye been reassigned, ye bastards!”
“TWANG”
“Did ye hear me? I’m your Captain, and I told ye to stop fightin’ over the damn stew! I’ll throw ye’ all in the brig!”
“TWANG”
“SABRES! Git yer carcasses up here and give these men a taste of who their Captain is.”
“TWANG”
“I’ll teach you to steal my stew you sorry…”
“TWANG”
The clash of swords was getting too close, and Captain Dugal skirted over to the side. One look at the men told him they were high as the crow’s nest on some drug. Their eyes were as round as saucers and not a pupil to be found. Their actions were so jittery it was amazing they could fight at all. Instead they seemed to be in a frenzy of some sort, shaking uncontrollably but still agitated over a stew? What was wrong with these men? It must be that the drugs they were on made them lose their minds.
Screenies:
Black Flag/White Flag:
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images0...bb5591d6bd0.jpgThe Storm:
http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images0...ee1dba2333d.jpgThe Fight:
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images0...72949e0310a.jpghttp://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images0...a5b3b8236a4.jpghttp://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images0...07dbb46c07c.jpgThe Dead:
http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images0...50437da504f.jpgThe Cove:
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images0...dc18840703c.jpgThis post has been edited by mALX: Apr 6 2010, 12:14 AM