The Pearl Maiden

"Captain Blackburn, Lieutenant Charles say you want know Senór Cordero plan for him return to Spain. I tell you all I know."

William frowned.

"Why are you willing to do this since you have lived with Delmar for years?"

Gabriela frowned.

"I eighteen when he find me in tavern in Santo Domingo. Nineteen years I am his mistress and mother to his daughter. Other men want me but I faithful to him and believe he keep me with him always.

"A few month ago he say he go to Spain. I think he mean for short time, but he say go there and stay. I say do he take Christina and he say he do. I say do he take Gabriela and he say no. He say Gabriela not good enough for Spain.

"That make Gabriela mad. When he take Christina he take daughter I not have and he leave me to go back to tavern. That mean I be whore to pirates. I not want be whore to pirates.

"I try think of way to stop him but not find way. Then I 'member I know what Senór Cordero do and maybe English want know too. I find Lieutenant Charles and tell him what Delmar do. He say if tell him more he pay me. Last trip to Santo Domingo see I big Spanish ship there. Men put on fruit and chickens and pigs. While Senór Cordero sell his sugar and tobacco, I ask Spanish sailor where ship go. He say it go Spain with much gold and silver.

"I think maybe if pirate attack ship, they bring Christina back to me. I say that to Lieutenant Charles. He say he find pirate ship to do if he can marry Christina. I say she only nineteen and not old enough to marry, but he say Gabriela live with them so I say I talk to Christina. Christina not want go Spain, and not want marry Lieutenant Charles. I think if she back in Port Royal, he convince her and she stay with me. I say to Lieutenant Charles all I know."

Gabriela's eyes filled with tears and those tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Two day before they sail Santo Domingo, Senór Cordero say I leave house and not come back. I take clothes and little doll Christina have when baby and go live on fishing boat of man I know. He old and not catch many fish until I help him. I think if Christina there we catch many more fish and find house for us to live in like before. You bring my Christina back to me? My heart bleed to have her with me. Tell her I keep little doll for her until she come back."

William was convinced. The woman seemed to be honest and she certainly had a valid reason for betraying Delmar. What she'd thought was going to be a good life had turned into the loss of Christina and almost a certain return to the taverns of Port Royal for Gabriela.

While William was known by almost all be ruthless in his pirating activities, few knew that he also was just as ruthless in protecting those who had fallen on hard times due to no cause of their own doing. Several of his crew were former slaves who had managed to escape their masters. William had welcomed them into his crew. He had taken a liking to this woman and developed a dislike for Delmar in just the short time he had spoken with her.

William resolved to bring Christina back to Gabriela, but not necessarily to Lieutenant Charles. It seemed to William that capturing Christina only to give her to Lieutenant Charles would be no different than her father giving her to some older man in Spain. Lieutenant Charles had never said any words that indicated he felt anything for Christina other than that he wanted her for his wife. William would let Christina make that decision once he had her back in Port Royal.

As for the fate of Christina's father, he would make that decision when the time came. His dealings with Delmar up to that point had been only about business. William had not asked how Delmar knew when certain Spanish ships were passing within range of The Pearl Maiden and Delmar had never said what he did with the goods he bought from William. William had no particular hatred for any individual Spaniard, but once he learned of Delmar's plan for his only daughter, he could not have any respect for the man.

William put his hand on Gabriela's shoulder.

"I can not promise to bring Christina back to you, but I will promise I will try my best."

William then went back to the pub and discussed with Lieutenant Charles the details of the Spanish ship and her sail date. He was careful to say he would attempt to bring Christina back to Port Royal, but stopped short of saying he would give her to Lieutenant Charles. William was pleased when Lieutenant Charles apparently assumed that would be the case.

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The next day, William walked down to the pier and found the crew waiting by his gig. They were a quiet lot, and William suspected many of them were nursing the headaches brought about by drinking too much ale and rum. After a short row, he stepped onto the deck of The Pearl Maiden and saw Mister Johnson supervising the loading of supplies into the hold of the ship.

Mister Johnson saw William and walked up.

"She'll be ready to sail in about an hour, Captain. Do you have a destination?"

William nodded.

"Set us a course for Anguilla, Mister Johnson, but keep us several leagues off the coast of Hispanola until we are abreast of Santo Domingo. At that point steer back toward Hispanola and have the lookouts keep an eye open for a large ship flying the Spanish flag. She will be The Encarnación and will be riding low in the water and slow because she is carrying gold and silver. I was told her treasure is likely worth over ten thousand Pounds. If we are successful, we will all be rich men. To find her we need to make haste, so have The Pearl Maiden wear all the sails she can carry."

An hour later, Mister Johnson ordered the anchor raised, and the deck was filled by the grunting chant of the men on the capstan as they winched the anchor from the sea floor. When the head of the anchor reached the cat, two men lashed the head of the anchor to the cat and the flukes to a heavy cleat on the side of The Pearl Maiden. At the same time, more of the crew clambered up the ratlines and then worked their way out on the horses of each spar. Within half an hour, all the sails were loosed from their bindings and the crew on deck was sheeting them home.

Mister Johnson shouted orders from the helm as the sails filled and began pushing The Pearl Maiden over the blue water of the Caribbean.

"Helmsman, make your course south by east fifteen degrees. On deck, sheet all sails home and then ready the stuns'ls and staysails. We have a fair wind and calm water and I want to make the best of it."

Soon, the Pearl Maiden's rigging was singing in the following wind and pushing a bow wave through the blue water and on her way to a spot within sight of Hispaniola where she would turn north by west for Anguilla. At that point, her lookouts would begin actively watching for any sail on the horizon.

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The afternoon of the second day, Captain Blackburn took a sighting and then looked at the chart on his chart table. The Pearl Maiden was abreast of Santo Domingo and about a hundred nautical miles off the shore of Hispaniola. He walked to the deck where Mister Johnson stood.

"Mister Johnson, make your course north by east twenty degrees and put a man in both the main and the fore top. The Encarnación should be just to the north and east of us by now and making her way to the north-bound current that will take her to Spain. Once we spot her, we'll run up the Spanish flag and begin following her. Inform me when she is sighted."

At noon the next day, the lookout on the main top shouted, "Sail ho, ahead and a little off to port."

Mister Johnson ordered the helmsman to alter course by five degrees north and then began scanning the horizon through his telescope for the masts and sails of a ship. When he found her she looked to be about fifty nautical miles from The Pearl Maiden because all he could see of her was the top gallant on her main mast and the Spanish flag flying from the tip of that mast. He went to Captain Blackburn's cabin to inform him.

"I believe we have her, Captain. She's too far away to be sure, but she's moving slow and she flies the Spanish flag. I have adjusted our course to move us closer. We should be able to see her by nightfall."

Captain Blackburn smiled.

"Likely it is her. See to it that the Spanish flag flies from our main top. If we can see her now, she will be able to see us by nightfall and I don't want her to think we're anything except a Spanish brigantine out of Caracas."

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As the sun continued its dive into the Caribbean, Captain Blackburn looked at the ship on the horizon through his telescope. She was a merchantman riding low in the water just as Lieutenant Charles had said. Her lookouts had to have seen The Pearl Maiden, but she was not taking any evasive action. The ruse of the Spanish flag appeared to be working. All he had to do now was keep up his speed and follow her stern lights.

Captain Blackburn calculated that some time before daylight, The Pearl Maiden would be within a league of The Encarnación and would be alongside about fifteen minutes later. He turned to Mister Johnson.

"Inform the crew there will be no fires or lights tonight except for the binacle. The night watch will not speak except in whispers. Tomorrow morning, we will pull along the starboard side of The Encarnación and attack. Have the gunners at the first two port bow guns load ball and load the others with chain shot. When we are abreast of her stern, have the first two bow guns take out her rudder and when we are on her broadside, have the others aim for the main and fore masts. Once she can no longer sail or maneuver, her captain should surrender in order to save the ship and crew. If he does not, order the gunners to fire at will while the rest of the crew prepares to hook her rail with boarding hooks. We will have her one way or the other."

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The first rays of the sun had not yet peered over the horizon when The Pearl Maiden was only a few yards from the stern of The Encarnación but it was light enough Captain Blackburn could make out Mister Johnson standing beside him. Captain Blackburn whispered to Mister Johnson, "Are the guns ready?", to which Mister Johnson whispered, "Aye Sir, ball in the bow guns and chain shot in the rest. They're primed and the gunners are standing by with their matches lit."

Captain Blackburn nodded.

"You may fire when you can see the rudder."

Mister Johnson went to the bow then, and for about five minutes all was silent except for the wind in the rigging and the sluice of water flowing along wood planks. Then at Mister Johnson's command, that silence was broken by the blast of the port bow guns of The Pearl Maiden. The Encarnación immediately began veering toward The Pearl Maiden because the ball from the first gun had breached the stern hull and the second had shot away the tiller.

Both decks came alive with men then, the men on The Encarnación scrambling to load her guns and the gunners on The Pearl Maiden elevating their guns to strike The Encarnación's main and foremasts near the point where the rattling lines attached to the mast. Before the Encarnación could fire a shot, the remaining five port guns on The Pearl Maiden erupted as two six pound balls connected by a length of chain left the muzzle of each with a "whoop-whoop" sound.

As smoke and flames followed the chain shot out of the guns, two of the chain shot hit the main mast and wrapped around the mast head. One of the chain shot did the same to the masthead of the fore. The impact shook the Encarnación for a moment before there was a loud crack of splintering wood and the main and fore spars fell to the deck and the front and back stays on both masts were broken. A few seconds later, both the tops and royals on both masts along with their spars and sails tilted to port and then fell over the side.

The resulting chaos aboard The Encarnación prevented her from firing even one shot. Instead, her crew rushed to the rail to see what had happened. It was then that Mister Johnson gave the order to throw the boarding hooks and winch the two ships together. As soon as the men on the capstan began pulling the two ships together, the rest of the crew quickly luffed all the sails and hauled the bitter ends to the blocks on the yards to stop the forward motion of The Pearl Maiden.

The two ships were coasting along by their momentum when half of the crew of The Pearl Maiden clambered aboard The Encarnación. The remainder took up their muskets and began firing at the Spanish sailors now attempting to fight off the attack.

The efforts of The Encarnación did not last long. After several of her sailors lay dead or dying on the deck and the rest were held at sword point around the main pin rail by the crew of The Pearl Maiden, her captain walked onto the deck and gave the order to his crew to drop their weapons. Then he waited until Captain Blackburn stepped onto his deck. He saluted Captain Blackburn and then said, "Sir, I am Captain Alejandro Baldero and you have bested me, but if there is a shred of decency in you, do not sink my ship and cause the death of all my crew. They fought on my orders and deserve to live to see the light of another day."

Captain Blackburn smiled.

"Captain, I shall neither sink your ship nor kill you or your crew. I seek only two things today, one being what treasures I may find in your hold, and the other being two passengers you have on board. Those passengers would be Delmar Cordero and his daughter Christina. My crew will relieve you of the first. I will relieve you of the second. Now, if you would, lead me to Cordero and his daughter. After that you may remain in your cabin until we are finished...

William smiled.

"... with a guard at your door of course."

Mister Johnson and the rest of the crew forced the crew into The Encarnación's fo'c'sle. Mister Johnson left two men with pistols to guard the entrance to the fo'c'sle and then ordered the rest to began rigging a tackle between the two ships. William and one of the gunners followed Captain Baldero up the steps to the cabins in the aft of the ship. Captain Baldero stopped at the cabin nearest his stern cabin and gestured.

"Mister Cordero and his daughter are in this cabin. I do not wish to witness what you will do to them. Therefore I shall retire to my cabin."

William nodded and motioned to the gunner.

"See to it that Captain Baldero does not leave his cabin."

Then William tried the door of the cabin. It did not open, so he drew the pistol from his belt, raised his right foot, and smashed the heel of his boot into the door. There was the sound of wood splintering and then the door flew open. When William stepped through the door, he saw Delmar cowering in the corner with his left arm around a young girl's waist and with the knife in his right hand at the girl's throat.

"Take one step more and I'll slash her throat", he shouted.

William stopped but did not lower his pistol.

"We meet again, Delmar, though the other times were on more friendly terms. I mean you and your daughter no harm. I only wish to take her back to Port Royal. You are free to come with us should you wish that, or you can remain on this ship and make your way to Spain."

Delmar spat out the words.

"If I can not take the girl to Spain, I have no future there. I have no future left in Port Royal with or without her. Better that I kill her now and that you kill me."

William noticed that the girl frowned at Delmar's statement, and he smiled.

"Does she not know of your plans for her, the plans told to me by Gabriela?"

The girl looked up then.

"What plans? Gabriela could not have told you of any plans. She is dead. She was seen falling off the pier by the fish market the day before we left Port Royal, and was swept out to sea. I still grieve for her."

Williams smiled.

"I assure you that Gabriela is quite alive and that she did tell me of your father's plans for your future. He plans to marry you off to a certain elderly Spaniard with an estate in Spain. He will collect a handsome dowry for you and once your husband dies, Delmar will take his estate for his own."

Delmar tightened his grip on Christina's waist.

"Lies, all lies. That native whore was good between the sheets and she took care of you after your mother died, but she would never have fit into society in Spain. That she was stupid enough to fall off a pier is proof enough. It is a blessing that she is dead."

William frowned then.

"Delmar, I can understand why you lied to the Spaniards you sold your stolen goods to. I can understand why you later told me and other pirate captains of when those goods would be on their way to Spain so we could steal them again and then sell them back to you. I can not understand why a father would lie to his own daughter unless he cares more for himself than for her."

William turned to Christina then.

"Miss Cordero, if Gabriela is indeed dead, how would I know that she has kept a certain doll that was a favorite of yours when you were a child? She told me to tell you she would keep that doll until you returned to her."

For a few seconds, a look of shock flashed over Christina's face, but was quickly replaced by a look of calm. William did not miss the slight upturn of Christina's lips just before she placed her hand on Delmar's right hand.

"Father, I have no reason to believe this filthy pirate instead of you. You need not kill me for I have no intentions of returning to Port Royal. What ever the way, we shall go to Spain and I shall marry the husband you have chosen for me."

Then, Christina looked at William and he saw the quick flash of her smile again.

"Sir, I know not why you believe I would leave my father, but I assure you I shall not. If you will not go and leave us to whatever fate awaits us, you must put a ball in my breast and end this, for I will never agree to go with you while I still live and breathe. Either fire or lower your pistol and leave us."

So saying, Christina gently pulled at Delmar's right hand.

"Father, do let me go. Please have no fear that I will not stand by your side. If this mangy cur of a man does kill me, please thrust your dagger into his heart before I die that I may witness his dying breath before I take mine."

Delmar let his hand drop slowly to his waist and released his hold on Christina's waist. She then stepped to his side. William slowly lowered his pistol, but stayed ready should Delmar attempt to do anything.

He had not long to wait. As soon as Christina stepped away a pace, Delmar quickly raised his right hand and threw his dagger at William. William stepped to one side and the dagger thudded into the wall behind him. It took but two seconds for William to reach Delmar and strike him across the face with the butt of his pistol. Delmar fell to the floor and then looked up at Christina.

"You lied to me, you little bitch. Now he will kill us both."

Christina stepped quickly away and then spat out the words, "Yes, Father, but only after you lied to me about Gabriela. I was going to take that doll with me as a momento of the woman who was my mother since I could remember, but I could not find it. Now I know why, and I now know your plans for my future were to sell me for my dowry. If this man kills you, I shall not shed even one tear, though I hope he does not."

Christina looked at William then.

"Sir, please do not kill him though that is the fate he probably deserves. I do not remember him ever showing any love for me, instead leaving me in the care of Gabriela that he might pursue his own interests. I believed I was more of a hindrance he passed off to Gabriella than a daughter he should have cherished. Now, he has lied to me about things that are near and dear to my very being. I care not about what he does with the rest of his life, but I can not be responsible for his death."