Charlotte & The Pirate Ch. 08

The following story is going to be at least a 10-parter, with each chapter in a different category. If you enjoy this story, I’m afraid you’ll have to go find each part. Hope it’s worth it.

Part 1: Non-Erotic.
Part 2: First Time
Part 3: Loving Wives
Part 4: Exhib & Voy
Part 5: Lesbian
Part 6: Interracial
Part 7: Letters and Transcripts

William was beside himself. How could that bastard do that to Charlotte? And poor Charlotte. Her last entry had been in March. It was now mid-September. That French son of a bitch hadn't been in any hurry to get home. Bill would have loved to pay the governor of St. Dominique a visit, but that would have to wait. Charlotte had been a slave now for over a year. William was going to get to her as soon as he could.

The problem was the weather. It was hurricane season in the Atlantic, and the trip would be long. As desperately as William wanted to get to Charlotte, it wouldn't do either of them any good if the ship ended up at the bottom of the ocean. First he had to outfit the little ship for the long voyage. And while he did that, he put all the French prisoners ashore.

Bill had offered to put the black slave woman ashore as well, but she had refused. She had become close to one of the crew who knew her tribe. And she wanted revenge. If the Anvil was headed to strike a blow against the slavers, than she was coming. William still didn't speak her language, but her friend was teaching her English. By the time they reached Africa she would be able to communicate without an interpreter. In the meantime, Bill had been told her name. He couldn't pronounce it exactly right, but it was very close to Tekumbe, and the girl seemed willing to accept that.

The voyage was long and hard. The pirate ship went as fast as she dared. There were storms to sail around and warships to avoid. So, while the Anvil made the best time she could, it was late April of 1686 before she approached the African coast.

The captain had given Bill the location of the fortress, but that didn't solve the main problem. With the fortress' guns overlooking the harbor, the Anvil would never survive the approach to the dock.

William was still wrestling with the problem, when one of his lookouts spotted a battle. What Tekumbe identified as a slave ship was engaged in battle with another much smaller boat. In fact, as they got close, it became obvious that it wasn't really a battle at all. The other ship was merely a fishing boat of some sort, and she was already sinking. William had no idea who was aboard the other ship, but anyone fighting the slavers was worth saving. The Anvil sailed towards the battle.

As they came into range, Bill noted that the slave ship was smaller than the Anvil. She had a few guns, but they weren't ready to fire. The ship had rammed the fishing boat and the fighting was taking place on that vessel. William ordered his guns to fire, and his crew put a broadside into the slave ship. It wasn't until then that the slavers even realized that they had another enemy. It didn't matter either. The pirates put two more broadsides into the slave ship, and she quickly headed for the bottom.

After that, the Anvil came alongside the fishing boat. As soon as they could, the crew was over the side and joining the battle. It was almost too late, however. By the time they got there, only one man aboard the other boat was still alive. But he was a giant.

He was a black man, although not as strikingly dark as Tekumbe. And as tall as William was, Black Bill barely came to this man's shoulders. Not only was he tall, though, he was also simply huge. He had no fat on him, but he looked like he could have picked the boat up and carried it. At the moment, he was swinging what looked like a huge piece of a mast and keeping five slavers with swords at bay. He had obviously been wounded several times, as there was blood running down his body in several places.

The pirates changed things immediately. Three of the men attacking the giant were cut down almost before they could turn towards the new threat. The fourth man, got a swing at one of the pirates before three swords ran threw him. The fifth man dropped his blade and turned to run, but the huge black man just grabbed him and heaved him over the side and into the ocean.

Bill had boarded the boat near the stern. There were no members of its crew alive there. But there were two slavers looting one of the bodies. William ran one of them through. The other one, who turned out to be the captain of the slavers drew his sword and faced the pirate captain.

Swords clashed as the two men fought on the boat. The two men slashed back and forth each blocking the other's blade. Then William slipped on a spot wet with blood and went down. The other captain lunged down to skewer him, but he was much too eager. William dodged the slaver's lunge, and then jabbed his own blade into the man's now unprotected chest. The slaver simply let out a quiet sigh and collapsed next to William.

Bill scrambled to his feet and found that the battle was over. The huge man, however, was still swinging that log as the pirates tried to convince him that they were friends. Finally, as no one was making any hostile moves towards him, the man lowered his weapon. William greeted the man, and was surprised to find that he spoke English quite well. He said his name was Barak.

"I am a humble follower of Allah and his prophet Mohamed. These pigs defile his name and his teachings. We try to stop them and raid their boats when we can, but this time we were too close and they rammed us before we could escape. May Allah bless you for your rescue."

William was trying to get this straight. He asked the man how he spoke English and why he and his men had hated the slavers. After all they were his people.

"As to my English, we sell a great many goods to the English and so we learn their language. As to the slavers, I will forgive your insult as you could not know any better. My people are followers of Allah and Mohamed. His teachings command that we look out for those more unfortunate then ourselves, and that we accept all men regardless of their color. These bastards which you have helped send to Hell, claim to be followers but they are a disgrace before our god. They prey on the weak and unfortunate, and claim that because the wretches they capture are black that they are not worthy of the protection of Allah. Allah commands that we do what we can to destroy these blasphemers and protect their victims."

"And you are willing to die for this?"

"I do not wish to die, but if Allah demands my life in this service then I will give it. I am promised that he will reward me in the next life if I am faithful in this one. And more than that, I have the pleasure in this life of knowing that I'm doing what my god and my prophet would want."

William offered the huge man passage on the Anvil, which he gladly accepted. When Bill told him that he was going to rescue a friend from the slavers, however, Barak told him that he would fight beside him. "I owe you my life, and you go to strike our enemies. I cannot possibly decline such an opportunity."

Barak asked Bill where he was headed, and when William told him of the fortress Barak told him that he'd better have a very good plan. "I know that place, my friend. The harbor is well guarded. The only way this ship will reach the dock of the Fortress of Al Jazzar is in splinters."

William asked Barak if they would be able to approach in a ship that the slavers would recognize. The giant thought they probably would, but where would they get such a ship? Bill just told him that they would steal one, they were pirates after all.

"My friend, I am grateful to Allah for sending you. Generally, it would be an evil thing for me to take up with thieves and pirates, no offense. But as you mean to strike at these god-forsaken infidels, it will be my pleasure to serve God and his prophet with you."

Barak was able to tell William two very important things. First, he knew the route the slave ships took when they left the fortress with slaves. Second, while returning ships were dangerous, Ships leaving the fortress were very poorly armed. They were over-crowded with the poor slaves filling every empty space available. Also, the crew didn't feel as much need to protect the slaves they were shipping, as they did the gold they returned with.

With that information, the Anvil set sail into the sea. Bill took her about 100 miles out from the coast right in the middle of the lane that Barak had described. Then he simply waited for his prey to come to him. He had a challenge, however. While the enemy ship might not be able to put up much of a fight, they had to take her undamaged. So the Anvil was going to have to capture the slave ship without ever firing her guns.

The first couple of days nothing happened, but on the third day a small ship approached. Very soon, the lookout was able to identify her as a slave ship. The Anvil was at a dead stop, and William had his crew signal to the other ship that they needed help. Perhaps they would come right to him and not be frightened off by the larger ship.

The slave ship did keep coming, She passed so close to the Anvil, that the mate was actually able to shout at the other crew that they needed help. The men on the slave ship just laughed. One of them yelled over that if their ship couldn't sail, maybe they should all just swim home. Then the laughter died as the Anvil went to full sail and began her pursuit. It took a few minutes for the Anvil to get up to speed, but she was much faster than the clumsy slave ship. By the time she began to gain on her quarry, the Anvil was less then half a mile behind her.

The slavers panicked. William could see them scrambling all over the decks. They were trying to ready their guns, but it was a disorganized mess. The ship appeared to only have eight guns, and the Anvil was gaining steadily. The Anvil was less than a couple of hundred yards from her, when the slaver turned hard to starboard. William knew she was trying to position herself to fire, and normally he would have tried to avoid her broadside, but this time he couldn't do that. The ship had to be taken, so the Anvil's crew needed to board her as quickly as possible.

As soon as her starboard side faced the Anvil, the slaver fired his four guns on that side. He fired way too soon. None of the gunners had had the time to really aim their cannon, although even if they had, it was doubtful they had the skill to be much of a threat. Anyway, it didn't matter. Of the four balls fired, none of them even came close to hitting the pirate ship.

Now with her quarry having turned, the Anvil was gaining at a wicked clip. William could have rammed her if he wanted, but that would have been as bad as shooting at her. Instead, he waited until he was the right distance from his target. Then he ordered his ship hard to starboard as well. The Anvil began her sharp turn, but her momentum kept her going forward as well. As she completed her turn, her port side slammed into the slave ship. The moment the two ships touched, the pirated swarmed onto the other boat with cutlasses in hand.

William had honestly thought the fight was going to be much tougher than it was. After all, the pirates only outnumbered the slavers by about 10 men, and some of William's crew had to stay aboard the Anvil. But the slavers turned out to be complete cowards. Maybe a dozen of them stood and fought, but the rest just dropped to their knees and begged for mercy. Thirty armed slavers might have been difficult to subdue, but eleven or twelve weren't. In minutes, the slavers were dead, with only one of the pirates suffering a minor wound to his arm. The pirates then surrounded the rest of the quivering crew and waited for the captain to decide what to do with them.

With the ship secure, William went below to search her. What he found made him fight not to be physically ill. Locked in the hold and stacked like wood were human beings. Men, women, and even children were crammed into every small space. There appeared to be very little food and the whole place reeked of human sweat and waste. Bill shouted for his men, and quickly the pirates began to help the wretched souls up onto the deck. As the mostly naked group was brought up, the men surrounding the remaining slavers began muttering threats and obscenities. The slavers may not have understood the words, but the meaning was clear enough.

The Anvil's crew managed to get the slaves aboard their ship. William had the crew give them food and water immediately. Then he went back to deal with the slavers. Normally Bill hated to kill in cold blood, but after what he had seen, he had no problem with these bastards. Frankly, there was nothing he could think of that wouldn't be more merciful than they deserved. So, knowing that the slavers couldn't understand what he was saying, he quietly told his men what to do.

The first five or six slavers were already splashing into the sea, before the rest even realized what was happening. At that point they tried to fight back, but it was much too late. They were now unarmed and vastly outnumbered. In less than a minute, every remaining slaver had been tossed overboard. As the last man was thrown over, one of the pirates slashed his leg with a knife. He was screaming and bleeding as he hit the water.

It took very little time for the sharks to follow the blood back to its source. William actually smiled as the first shark hit. Bill really wasn't a bloodthirsty man, but he continued to grin as the sharks did their work. Then it was time to plan the next step.

While his crew worked to help the freed slaves, Bill talked with Barak to come up with a plan to invade the fortress. It took a while, but they finally came up with something they thought would work. It would, however, require the help of Tekumbe. That didn't proved to be a problem, though. When it was explained to her, the dark beauty simply said that it would be her pleasure to help fight those bastards.

Bill left ten of his men aboard the Anvil. They were to set the slaves ashore as soon as possible, and then follow the captured slave ship to the Fortress. They were to give Bill six hours to secure the harbor before sailing into the dock. Not one man questioned the captain. If Black Bill said the fortress would be secured in six hours, than it would be secured in six hours.

The captured slave ship headed for the Fortress. The men held their breath as they entered the harbor, but the guns stayed silent. When the ship docked, ten men armed with swords and pistols were waiting to meet her. They blinked in astonishment at the group that came ashore.

The Anvil had had some rich silks aboard her. They'd been captured from various ships over the years. Some of it had been used to create a robe for Barak. The huge Moor was the first man off the ship. Dressed in the shining silk robe, bare chested and in silken pants, he looked like an Arab prince. In fact, he introduced himself as Barak Akbar, a prince of Egypt. He told the men that he and his servants had come to purchase a special slave from the sheik Al Taran. They had heard he had a European woman of great beauty, and the prince was willing to spend whatever it took to have her.

The guard actually bowed in astonishment. Behind the great prince came his personal guard. There were ten heavily armed men. The captain of the harbor guard went to speak with them, but the prince held up his hand to forbid it. He informed the men that his guard did not speak in his presence. If anything was required they should deal directly with him. His personal guard had only one function, and if this man was smart he would prefer not to witness it.

The poor guardsman was actually shaking as he simply told the gigantic prince to please proceed to the fortress and to be welcome. As they approached the building, William who was acting as the leader of the guard took the opportunity to look around. There were almost five hundred armed men in the fortress, and the pirates had less than six hours to somehow dispose of them. It was now sundown. At about midnight, the Anvil would sail into the harbor. The full moon would give her plenty of light to steer by, but it would also give the fortress' gunners enough light to shoot with.

As soon as they were inside, Barak began to tell the story he and Bill had come up with. He told his hosts that he had left Egypt with a great caravan. However, less than two days' ride from the fortress, they had been set upon by robbers. They had fought them off, but too many of the camels had been killed, and the chests of gold had been too heavy to carry. So the prince had left most of his men in the desert to guard the treasure, while he and his personal guard went on ahead.

When they reached the coast, and began the last day's journey to the fortress Allah had smiled on them. A slave ship had been passing close, and the prince's men had been able to signal her. For a generous amount of gold, the captain had been kind enough to give them passage to the fortress.

So here they were, safe and sound. However, the caravan with most of the gold was still in the desert. The prince would be willing to pay five gold pieces to any man who was willing to ride out immediately and help bring in the caravan.

FIVE GOLD PIECES!!! That was more money than any man at the fortress would earn in two years. Within an hour, almost every soldier in the fortress was mounted and ready to ride. The only reason the 15 or so remaining men stayed was because the captain of the guard ordered them to. After all, he couldn't leave the fortress completely unguarded. William was actually afraid that a fight might break out in the fort before the men could leave, but Barak quickly informed the men that he understood that they wished to help, so if his treasure was retrieved they would be rewarded as well.

With that said, 480 soldiers headed off to rescue the treasure caravan. Barak and William watched the army ride out of sight. Barak congratulated the captain on the loyalty of his men, then as the man was thanking him, the huge man reached out and smashed him in the face. The man dropped like a stone. The remaining few soldiers tried to fight but they were outnumbered and taken completely by surprise. Within moments, William's men and the unconscious captain were the only ones alive in the room.

After that half of the men ran to the dock to wait for the Anvil. The others went about securing the fortress. By midnight, the Anvil was safely docked, and the fortress had been searched and found empty.

Quickly William gathered his crew. He figured they had about four days before the fortress' army returned. By all accounts the sheik's lands were about a day away. That should give him plenty of time to rescue Charlotte and return. First, though, he needed the exact location of the place. At first the captain was reluctant to provide that information. But Barak, with the aid of a sharp knife, was able to change his mind. After that, the giant decided to throw the man off one of the fortress walls to see if he could fly. He couldn't.

William chose ten of his best men. They, along with Barak and Tekumbe would head for the sheik's lands. The rest of the men would secure the fort and prepare a surprise for the returning army. Also, they would have the Anvil ready to sail the minute William returned. The plan made, William wanted to leave immediately. However, his men convinced him to get some sleep first. He would be no use to Charlotte exhausted, and the morning would be soon enough to leave. As dawn broke, Bill and his party were streaking across the sand headed for where Charlotte was supposed to be held. He prayed that she would be there, and that he had made it in time to save her.