Jacqueline de Belleville Pt. 06

We are still close to Salé and there are several ships within sight. Unsurprisingly, none of them are Lebranleur's sloop. My companion, Najib, points out the various ships around us and by trial and error I learn the Arabic names for various types of ship. As the day advances we see fewer and fewer ships around us. Eventually we have the ocean to ourselves. We are sailing south with the African shoreline just visible on our port side. The weather is fine and the winds favourable for a fast southward journey.

The lookout is replaced every four hours. Apart from a couple of brief breaks to get food and water, I remain on my perch until the sun is low in the sky. In addition to Najib, I spend time with Khaled and Hussein. Khaled speaks some Spanish, so we are able to hold a conversation. Through him, I learn more about Hassan and his family business. In other circumstances I might find Hassan an interesting prospect for a relationship, but nothing is going to happen on that front while I'm being held in his thrall.

We reduce sail for the night and move closer to shore. It wouldn't do for us to sail past Lebranleur in the dark. The course set by the captain of the Ghazal suggests that he is confident about where Lebranleur is heading. Neither he nor Hassan think it necessary to inform me of our destination. I return to my cubbyhole behind the kitchen storeroom and fasten my hammock into place for the night.

The ship's cook, Ali, is a man about my age and he clearly wants to get between my legs. Fortunately, because of my cubbyhole's proximity to the kitchen, he is probably the only man on the ship in a position to do something about it without the rest of the ship knowing. Hassan hasn't explicitly told me not to have sex with any of the men onboard, but I've enough sense to avoid starting a round of jealous infighting among the crew. So when Ali makes his move, I make it clear that while we are at sea, only my throat and arse are available for sex. It's the same rule that applied when I sailed on the Zafiro and her lusty Spaniards.

After going so long without feeling a man's cock reaming my arse, the experience is more painful than usual. But I don't regret my decision for a moment. I dismiss the pain as a consequence of my arsehole contracting through lack of regular use as a sex hole. Ali isn't the most experienced of men when it comes to sex, but after such a long time without, I'm not complaining.

We finish our coupling with Ali fucking my tits and leaving my chest covered in great gollops of his cum. He offers me a dirty rag to clean myself which I decline. Instead I scoop his cum off me and I swallow his offering. I don't normally like doing that but I have no alternative options unless I want to go to the water barrel on deck with my tits exposed and covered in cum. The men on watch won't fail to notice that, and before long I'll have every man on the ship lined up waiting for his turn.

Ali at least keeps quiet about our sex play. I'm not sure whether that's because he wants a repeat performance or because he doesn't want to get me into trouble. The next day the Ghazal resumes its southward journey under full sail and I reclaim my perch high on the foremast.

Three days later we are off the coast of Mauritania making good speed in blustery conditions. Najib is on lookout duty and I am keeping him company. We sight a ship on the horizon. Like us, the ship is heading south but it is too far ahead of us to make out any detail. I climb up the upper foresail rigging to get a better look. By rights the lookout should be the one to do that, but Najib isn't an experienced sailor and swaying about in the top rigging in a strong wind isn't for the inexperienced.

My heart misses a beat once I can make out the configuration of the ship's sails. A single mast! She's a sloop. I call down to the deck below and the captain orders one of his sailors to come aloft and confirm my sighting. I try not to feel offended, but I suppose the captain doesn't know my background and at least I'm with a crew who don't have stupid superstitions about sailing with a woman on board.

The Ghazal is the faster ship, but even so it takes eight hours to catch up to the sloop. There is only an hour or so of daylight left by the time we are within cannon range. Since none of Hassan's men reported the name of the ship Lebranleur and his party boarded, we can't be sure this is the right one. The captain decides to hail the other ship and ask it to stop rather than simply open fire. Surprisingly the other captain immediately complies.

Hassan and his soldiers board the other ship along with three of the Ghazal's sailors and me. I'm there to reassure my four friends should they turnout to be onboard this ship. We are greeted by a surly captain who seems vaguely familiar. A ship this size would normally have a crew of at least ten men, but I can only see five. All of them are armed with pistols and swords. If this ship was a pirate vessel she would have a much larger crew. But she's a merchant ship with only four cannon, so I can understand why they agreed to stop. The crew seem fearful of their captain so I suspect they loyalty is questionable.

Lebranleur comes on deck, escorted by six of his mercenaries. Lisette, Elena, Rose, and Prudence follow behind. They seem frightened but otherwise unharmed.

"I don't know how you managed to ruin my plans," complains Lebranleur to Hassan. "But there is still some profit to be had. If you want these four women, then I will release them to you in exchange for two hundred in gold."

"What makes you think I will pay for something I can take from you?" says Hassan. "Wickliffe thought he could trade his way out of trouble with the English, and it didn't end well for him."

"Wickliffe was a greedy fool and he deserved what he got," says Lebranleur. "Your men can undoubtedly overpower me and my men, but these four women will be the first to die in a fight. How do you intend to explain that to Lord Exmouth? I don't think you want an English fleet bombarding your city in retribution."

"Fifty in gold," counters Hassan.

"Fifty and whatever the good captain here needs to cover his expenses," says Lebranleur.

The men look towards the sloop's captain. I suddenly realise that he is one of the many bastards Gregor Pardal sired in numerous Atlantic ports during his pirating career. The worst of Pardal's spawn are long dead and none of them died of natural causes. But a few still survive.

"I believe this woman wearing a slave collar is none other than Jacqueline 'fuck-my-arse' de Belleville," says the captain. "The Pardals have a blood-feud with her. Give her to me and we will consider Lebranleur's debt settled."

"She's not for sale," replies Hassan. "She leaves with us."

"Then we are at an impasse," says Lebranleur holding his pistol to Lisette's head.

"Wait!" orders Pardal. "If the slave is willing to fight me one-on-one, then I will consider the debt settled."

It's a trick, of course. But the alternative is a bloodbath.

"I agree," I reply before Hassan can object.

A space is cleared on the sloop's deck and I'm given a sword. Hassan removes my iron collar. He tosses a bag of coins at Lebranleur and he allows Lisette, Elena, Rose, and Prudence to move to join Hassan's soldiers.

Pardal appears brandishing a huge scimitar. My sword is no match for a weapon like that. I'm doomed and Pardal is practically drooling at the thought of cutting me into small pieces. He raises his weapon and advances towards me. Suddenly a shot rings out and he falls down dead with a bullet wound in his forehead. Who fired the shot? To everyone's surprise it was Elena.

"I, Elena Sanchez y Florino, have delivered the justice my family deserves for the crimes the Pardal clan have inflicted on my family," cries Elena.

Hah! I never realised until now that Elena was a member of the Sanchez shipping family who have a blood-feud with the Pardals after the events in the Cape Verde Islands eight years ago. Of course a law abiding crew would have Elena arrested for murder, but nobody seems inclined to do so. Pardal was clearly hated by his crew, and Lebranleur simply wants to escape this disastrous venture with his life.

"Now what?" asks Lebranleur. "You've just killed the only man capable of running this ship."

"Jacqueline is a competent captain. She will command this ship."

Everything after that happens in a rush and it's almost two days before I fully appreciate the full extent of the changes. Once Lisette, Elena, Rose, and Prudence are safely onboard the Ghazal Hassan tells me that I'm a free woman and he relinquishes his claim over me. He promises to honour our agreement and free the five women still at Wadi Halaf. I'm in command of the sloop Mary Anne and, for all intents and purposes, its owner. The crew have agreed to sail under my command as have two of Lebranleur's mercenaries.

We dock in Casablanca on our trip north and Lebranleur and four of his mercenaries disembark. I'm glad to be rid of them although they seemed more fearful of me than I of them. There are some trade goods in the hold and I manage to sell enough to resupply my new ship and pay the crew what is owed to them. They seem competent sailors although I've little idea of their background. But our next voyage is to the Caribbean so we have plenty of time to become acquainted. Hassan commissions my ship to transport some of the bundles of silk cloth in his family warehouse at Casablanca to the West Indies. I'm sure he has ships of his own capable of doing that, and at a much cheaper rate, but I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

And that ends a chapter in my life. I never see Hassan again, nor any of the others held captive at Wadi Halaf. But it seems they hadn't forgotten me. Two years later I learn that thanks to the influence of certain members of the aristocracy, I've received a full pardon for all my supposed crimes against England, France and Spain. By then my sloop has been joined by three other fine vessels as part of the de Belleville shipping company based in Boston, Massachusetts. My pirating days are over, and these days I spend more time behind a desk than at sea. But my nickname Jacqueline 'fuck-my-arse' de Belleville is still heard in certain quarters and it isn't entirely undeserved.

[The end]