Charlotte & The Pirate Ch. 06

Well, Bill dashed away from the man and leapt back onto the sinking French ship. His men thought he had lost his mind, but he ran down to the Frenchman's cabin as fast as he could. The water was just starting to enter the room when he found the book. He ran back on deck, and easily got back onto the Anvil before the French warship sank.

Meanwhile, the young black girl had found a couple of former slaves on the Anvil who spoke her language. By now, aside from what this French bastard had done to Charlotte, the men knew what he had done to this girl. When William made it back, the men had ropes around both of Jacques' legs, and the Frenchman was screaming for help. When he saw Bill, the Frenchman begged him to cut him loose. William just smiled, and then without saying a word, he lifted Jacques up and threw him overboard.

Jacques was terrified. Were they going to cut him loose and leave him to drown? Then the ropes were being pulled, and he could feel himself being towed towards the boat. At least they were pulling him against the ship. He could grab on and survive. If the Frenchman had any more knowledge of sailing, he would have struggled for all he was worth to pull away from the Anvil.

A ship's keel is made of smooth wood. But after any time at sea, it becomes covered with barnacles. These tiny little sea creatures are rock hard and razor sharp. When Jacques grabbed onto the ship, his hands were cut and bleeding. He tried to avoid the wood after that, but the men bounced him off the keel several times, and Mssr. Sartan was quickly oozing blood from all over his body. The man shrieked in pain as the salt water soaked into the cuts. He was still alive and screaming when the first shark showed up.

It didn't take long for the sea wolves to follow the blood scent. For the men on the ship it was like fishing, with the French bastard as bait. They watched as one of the fish severed the man's arm right off. They heard one last scream as another shark grabbed his leg and pulled him under. After that, there was a small pool of red, but no more signs of Jacques Sartan were seen.

William hadn't stayed to watch. It wasn't that he had any qualms about what had happened to Jacques. Actually, he had thought his fate rather merciful. No, it was just that he desperately wanted to find Charlotte. He had opened the diary and begun reading. Bill read the whole book, looking for anything that would tell him what had happened to the woman he still loved, and how he could get to her.