I took my cue from the coloring picture story starter of the pirates burying their treasure. I wonder if there will be more adventures? I think there may be!
The fine pale sand shifted under his feet as Jake staggered down the beach. It was searing hot under the leathery soles of his bare feet, but he was so dazed he hardly noticed it. The bandana tied around his head had dried out again and the sun beat down heavily on his head. His skin, already a deep brown, showed signs of reddening in the relentless glare. Finally he veered off towards the sea and plunged into the shallows. The cool water revived him, but the salt made the gash in his scalp burn like hell. He had to remind himself not the drink the salt water. He had seen more than one man go insane after doing that. Instead, he lay in the water, letting the small waves wash over him until he felt his body begin to cool down and then he was up and off again, still staggering, but not quite so unevenly.
He knew there was no point in it- no matter how many times he went around the little island, he would find no sign of his ship. The longboat that he had arrived on had long since been rowed away while he lay unconscious on top of the mound of dirt by the cove on the other side of the island. Still he peered at the horizon, hoping in vain for a sight of the ship he had known as home for most of his adult life.
Every man on the ship knew that this day might come. When the captain decided a man had outlived his usefulness or a man just couldn’t pull his weight anymore, that man would be left behind somewhere- on Dead Man’s Detail. Usually the blow to the head killed him, or so the crew thought. Apparently this was not necessarily the case. There were a few jokes about the men left behind the guard the buried treasure but no one really liked to talk about it. Most of the men thought it was bad luck to talk about those left behind and it might even bring them back to haunt the ship. According to the captain, Dead Man’s Detail was an honor, reserved for the senior and most loyal members of the crew, but everyone knew it was just a convenient means of disposal for the old, infirm and rebellious.
Jake never thought his day to guard the treasure would come. He had thought he would die in battle, taking some rich treasure ship, or at the very least in some sleazy bar fighting over cards or a woman. He hadn’t thought his bones would wind up bleaching in the sun on some forgotten beach with no one to drink to his death.
Finally Jake came back to the cove where the treasure was buried. It could have been worse, he thought, as he collapsed on the mound of dirt in the shade of the palm trees. He could have been the man in the hole left to sit atop the chest forever, buried under all that dirt. At least he was still breathing, thanks to a skull that he had always said was the hardest on the seven seas. Although, if he didn’t find some fresh water soon, he might just start envying that man.
Sighing, Jake got to his feet again. He hadn’t looked at the center of the island yet but things weren’t looking hopeful. On all of the circuits he had made of the island, he hadn’t seen any signs of fresh water flowing towards the sea- not so much as a streamlet.
The going was rough as he went inland. The ground sloped uphill slightly and there was a lot of thorn filled underbrush. He added scratches and cuts to his injuries as he forged ahead. Everything would be futile if he didn’t find fresh water soon.
The water found him first. One minute he was pushing through some thorny tropical version of hell and the next he had plunged into an ice cold pool of fresh water in a deep sinkhole. He surfaced spluttering and then stayed where he was, treading water while he gulped mouthful after mouthful of the stuff. It tasted clean and sweet; at this point a flux brought on by stagnant water was the least of his worries.
Finally he drank his fill and paddled around looking for a way out. The pool was small, no more than ten feet across, but he could feel no bottom beneath his feet anywhere in the pool. The lush undergrowth went right down to the edge of the pool and overhung it in places. Finally he found a vine hanging down and used that to pull him self out of the water. Refreshed, he made a small clearing and sat down in the shade to rest and take stock of his options.
Water- well, that was taken care of.
Food- there were all the fish in the sea to spear and catch. He might get tired of fish, but he had seen no sign of any sort of animal, either small or large, on the island. There were sea birds, though. He could eat those and raid their nests for eggs. He knew there were coconuts and he had seen several other plants he knew were edible- enough greenery to ward off scurvy. Food wouldn’t be a problem.
Fire- well, he had his flint and steel on an inside pocket where no one had thought to look when his shipmates had looted his body before they left. There was a small knife in the same pocket, too, so he had that as well. Beyond that, he had the ragged clothing on his body and his bandana. His former friends had taken everything else.
All in all, things could be a lot worse. He decided to make a shelter close enough to the buried treasure to keep an eye on it, but far enough away that he wasn’t visible to the casual gaze.
He lay down on his belly and drank a little more of the water which was as cold and sweet as it had been in the first mouthful. Finally he set out and explored the rest of the little island. He found one more sinkhole, although not quite so suddenly so he didn’t go for another unplanned swim, and a lot more trees, vines and bushes, but still no signs of animals or other humans. He did find a bird’s nest and raided it, taking two of the four eggs it held while the parents looked on and screamed imprecations at him.
By nightfall, he had made a shelter from small trees and big leaves and had a fish roasting along with the eggs and a few edible roots.
Over the next few days, he slept a lot, letting his body heal from its various injuries. When the gash on his head looked like it wasn’t going to get infected and his bruises felt better, he improved his shelter, dried some fish, and made some water containers from shells and gourds. His life was a bit boring, but he kept busy improving his living conditions and finding better sources of food.
Sometimes he though he saw sails on the horizon, but it always turned out to be nothing more than clouds. He didn’t really think anyone would come back- he had never known the captain to return to the site of a buried treasure chest in all the years he had served on the ship. Frankly, he wondered why the captain even bothered to bury the chests- he never seemed to want them again. Maybe he planned to dig them all up in one big orgy of treasure-finding, when he decided to retire from his career of mayhem and theft on the high seas.
Jake thought about his own life, too. He remembered being a child, playing with his brothers and sisters and having his mother tuck him in at night after a supper of bread and milk. He remembered being a cabin boy on the ship he found work on, when he was ten or so- that made one less mouth to feed for his widowed mother. His dad had gone to sea, and even though he had never returned, Jake had felt the need to follow in his father’s footsteps.
That job as cabin boy had proved to be unfortunate. The ship was returning from a profitable trading trip in the
West Indies when it was beset by pirates. Most of the adult crew had been slaughtered, either in battle or afterwards for being too cowardly to fight to the death. A few had escaped overboard and were left to the mercy of the sharks. Jake had been trying to defend himself and his ship with a sword far too big for him when he was hit from behind and knocked out.
When he came to, he found himself aboard the pirate ship. The captain gave him a choice of joining the crew or being tossed overboard. Jake chose life, even if it was the life of a pirate. The crew had never babied him or coddled him; they taught him with cuffs and curses. He had felt the lash a few times for not hopping quickly enough. He learned to fight with sword, cutlass and knife, and to load and fire a flintlock pistol. He learned to pack the cannons and fire them well enough to hit a target. He did his share of cooking and cleaning and polishing the brass and earned his way on the pirate ship.
He thought about what his good God-fearing mother would say. He knew that she thought he was dead, and it was better that way. The Jake she knew was long dead. He took the life fate had dealt him and lived it. He had never gloried in the murder and robbery, but neither had he backed away from it. It was his life, and the only one he knew.
He had served aboard the pirate ship for more than twenty years, now. He had never been injured badly in battles and was not infirm in any way. He was not ill-tempered and the men seemed to get along with him well enough. In fact, many of them even looked up to him. He was still young, in the prime of his life.
But then the captain wasn’t. The captain had grown older along with Jake and was no longer in his prime. Since the men looked up to Jake, it was possible that the captain saw him as a threat or a rival. That would explain why Jake was chosen for Dead Man’s Detail, guarding the treasure chest.
Jake had plenty of time to reminisce over the next few weeks. He remembered whittling as a small boy, and took to carving small figures out of bits of wood and decorating the useful items he made with carvings just to pass the time. And every day, rain or shine, he spent part of his time gazing out to sea, looking for sails on the horizon.
The day the ship showed up it took him by surprise. It had come in the dawn, before there was light enough to look out to sea. Jake was up and stalking a birds back to their nest to raid it for eggs when he heard voices on the beach near where the chest was buried. Quietly he slipped back through the brush to see who had come to the island.
It was still dark enough that he couldn’t see who it was, but several of the voices were familiar. He crept closer so he could hear what was being said. “There’s no bones ‘ere, boys, so ‘e musta lived. I ‘eard that Jake was the one the ol’ man was goin’ ta leave ta guard the treasure this time. ‘E ‘as a ‘ead as ‘ard as a piece of granite, so the whack on it prob’ly dint kill ‘im. Fan out and see if ye kin find ‘im or some sign of ‘im, at least.”
Jake waited until the men had gone off into the underbrush and then, arming himself with a sharp stick, crept up behind the man who had been giving the orders. As he reached the man, the man turned and Jake got the surprise of his life. It was Big Arnie. The last time he saw Big Arnie was when he had been rowing away with the captain to bury the treasure on another island ten years before.
“’Ello, Jake. I thought you’d be along soon. I sent the boys off so we could ‘ave a little chat, just the two of us.” Big Arnie smiled genially and gestured at the ground, indicating that they should sit down.
“I figgered that if anyone could live when ‘e went on Dead Man’s Detail, it would be you. I been makin’ a point of pickin’ up the fellers that was still alive when I got the treasure chests from where the ol’ man buried ‘em. I got ears set about ‘ere an’ there an’ I keep an eye on the ol’ man, an’ when I find out ‘e’s buried a bunch o’ swag, I go where ‘e’s been, but far enough be’ind ‘im that ‘e don’t know I’m there. Then I pick up the man ‘e left, if there’s anything left o’ the man, an’ take the chest for meself an’ me crew.” Big Arnie laughed loudly. “There ain’t been a man yet what didn’t want to join Big Arnie’s crew after the ol’ man went an’ left ‘im fer dead.”
Jake was starting to smile. “So you survived when the captain left you for dead, and now you’ve made a crew of the other men he left for dead, too?”
“Aye, an’ a few others I’ve picked up ‘ere an’ there. An’ a good an’ loyal crew they are, too. Grateful, they are, an’ we share the loot even-like. We don’t need to go about fightin’ and such. We just live on what we takes from them that does the piratin’ and tried to do us in. We figger fair’s fair an’ all.” He grinned. “So, Jake, will ye join us then?”
Jake didn’t even hesitate. “When do we leave?” he asked.
When the men had filtered back, they dug up the chest. “Ah, poor Simon. That bum leg he got in the last raid did him in,” said Jake as they reached the body that lay atop the treasure chest.
“Yeah, real fine way th’ ol’ man ‘as of inspirin’ loyalty, ain’t it?” Big Arnie snorted.
“Come on, let’s git this chest up an’ back to the ship. I don’t want to ‘ang around ‘ere any longer than we need to.”
The chest was raised, Simon was decently interred with a stick cross on his grave and a few words from the Bible said over him, and the party returned to the ship. Jake looked at the name painted on the stern: Dead Man’s Revenge, it said. It was a fitting name for the ship, crewed as it was by men left for dead.
Jake was surprised to find a nice sleek fast little ship with a contented, if a bit motley, crew aboard it. There were more missing body parts among that crew than Jake had ever seen before in one place.
The treasure from the chest was parceled out publicly amongst them. Some of it went into a couple of extra chests down in the hold. Jake looked questioningly at Big Arnie and Big Arnie told him, “I tole ye I ‘ad eyes an’ ears set about ‘ere an’ there. Well, this is their share. We don’t stiff our crew mates even if they ain’t Johnny on the spot when we dig up the treasure!” Jake was about to inquire as to who else was in the pay of the Dead Man’s Revenge when Big Arnie shook his head. “No one but me knows ‘oo they be; it’s safer fer them if no one else knows. You know a secret’s only safe if you an’ me knows it an’ you is dead, eh?” and then he laughed his big laugh.
When they came back up on deck, the little ship had already set sail for a port in the opposite direction from where Jake’s old ship would have gone.
Things went along well for a while, and Jake settled into the crew. He was made a mate in short order; all the men agreed that he was best for that position. There was time in a fair little port, with bars and women and good times, and time at sea with the good wooden deck rolling under his feet. They rescued a few more men and treasures, and were too late for a few others. These men they buried as they had Simon, with a cross made of two sticks and a few words from the Bible.
One day as they headed for port with a fresh chest in their hold, Big Arnie called Jake to his quarters. “Lad, I’ve a proposition fer ye. Ye know I’m not a young feller any more, an’ I’ve ‘ad just about enough of roamin’ the seas in my lifetime. I’m thinkin’ I want a little ‘ouse on the shore an’ a floor that don’t roll under me feet. In short, I’m thinkin’ o’ retirin’. I talked it over with some o’ the lads, an’ they’re thinkin’ like I’m thinkin’ that yer the man to take over me job. I’m offerin’ you the job o’ bein’ captain o’ the Dead Man’s Revenge.”
Jake was dumbfounded. “There are lots of men who have been here longer than me. I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. Some of the men might not like this!” He swallowed hard at the thought of what those men might do to him for jumping over them in position.
“Nay, lad, they was all agreed. Yer smart, an’ yer fair, an’ yer brave. Yer the one man in the crew they all like an’ look up to. Yer the one, lad. Take the job.”
It took a little bit longer, but Jake gave in. When he and Big Arnie came out onto the deck again, all the crew was standing, waiting, with serious expressions on their faces. When Big Arnie smiled and nodded, they all broke into cheers. Someone hauled out a cask of the best rum, Cook brought up special treats, and Jake got slapped on the back until he was bruised black and blue.
For the rest of the voyage, Jake acted as Big Arnie’s apprentice in the ways of being a captain, and by the time they made port, he was comfortable in his new position. When they made port, Big Arnie had some other news. He came back from his favorite hangout and called Jake and the first mate for a meeting.
“I jus’ got word, from one o’ me eyes an’ ears, that our ol’ ship ‘as ‘ad a bit of a setback. She was almost beaten in a fight with a ship ‘oo was ready fer ‘er. Now she’s down crew, an’ she limpin’. She’s took off fer a port ta git repaired in, but she’s movin’ slow. Now, Jake, yer a young feller. Do you an’ the crew want a little revenge, like? I ain’t never ‘ad no desire ta fight no more, so alls we ever done was ta pick up men an’ treasures, but I know more than one feller would ‘ave liked ta go after a ship er two. An’ if ever there was a time ta do it, that’s now.” Big Arnie paused and looked expectantly at the men. Jake was getting a very big grin on his face. So was the first mate.
“Ah, I see ye like the idea. Fine now, let me give ye the details.”
For the next hour or two, they planned out the attack. Any man who didn’t want to be in on it could wait in port with Big Arnie, and no one would think worse of him. The men pooled their knowledge of the old ship, and with the information that Big Arnie had been given they soon a solid plan was in place. Big Arnie stopped Jake on the way out. “One last thing, feller-me-lad. Don’t hurt the cook on the old ship. Ye never know when ye’ll want a good meal.” And then he winked. Jake went off whistling. Now he knew who the “eyes an’ ears” belonged to on the old ship.
The Dead Man’s Revenge did a quick re-supply and sailed with the outgoing tide. A few days later, sail was sighted and the men assembled on the deck, ready for battle.
“We’ll take the ship- any men who surrender will go in the brig, the booty goes in our hold, and the first mate here will captain the prize back to port. But the captain, he’s mine,” Jake grinned wolfishly.
The old ship never even had a chance. It was an older ship, and badly damaged with a hole in her hull and a broken main mast. The crew was down in numbers and demoralized even with treasure in the hold – they rarely saw more than a little of it, any way. The crew of the Dead Man’s Revenge overwhelmed them in short order. Many of the crew of the old ship insisted on fighting to the death – that was just the way they thought. Jake made sure the cook was safe, along with the newest member of the crew, a little cabin boy no older than he had been when he was kidnapped by the pirates, and then went looking for the captain. The captain had been conspicuous by his absence during the battle. Jake found him down in the hold.
The old captain was doing something over near where the damaged hull was patched. Jake called out and the old man stood up and looked at him. Jake noticed that while the old man was not much into middle age, he looked, well, dissipated. “Jake! I know I left you for dead. What are you, a ghost with a crew of ghosts, come back to take revenge?” He laughed bitterly.
“No, I’m as real and alive as they get. But I have come to take my revenge!” Jake replied. He sneered at the old captain. “You should have volunteered yourself for Dead Man’s Detail long ago. Look at what a pitiful specimen you’ve become!”
The old captain reached for his cutlass and the two went at it. Jake was by far the superior physically, but the old man knew dirty tricks by the boatload. They fought up and down the hold, which was empty because of the leaking patch in the hull. Jake was soon covered with cuts that would hurt later, after the fight was done. Finally, when the old man took a chance and slashed at Jake’s throat, Jake managed to disarm him.
“Well, go on, finish me, you coward!” the old captain roared. Jake started towards him, ready to strike and then thought better of it.
He tossed his own sword aside and came after the man, fists swinging, bellowing, “I’ll drag you out of here by the scruff of your evil neck, you scurvy cur! I’ll take you to an island and hit you over the head and leave you on Dead Man’s Detail, just like you left so many of us!”
The old man was full of dirty tricks here, too; he grabbed a board left from patching the hull and managed to belt Jake square in the mouth. Jake spit out a front tooth, and grinning a new gap-toothed grin with blood running down his chin, went back at the old man with a will.
All the time they were fighting, they had been moving away from the damaged portion of the hull. Now the old man was moving back that way and Jake quickly saw why. There was a lit fuse running to a bundle of gunpowder set by the badly patched breech in the hull, and it was almost ready to blow.
The old man saw where Jake was looking, and grinned evilly saying, “Aye, Jake, I’m denying you the pleasure of taking my ship as a prize. If I can’t have it, then no one will! At that point, the powder exploded. The ship rocked, and Jake was thrown to the floor with splinters of wood piercing him. As the sea rushed in, the old captain laughed maniacally and did what Jake would have sworn he couldn’t have had the strength to do. He bulled his way through the pouring waters, disappearing through the gap.
Jake ran back up the ladders and emerged on deck, calling for everyone to abandon ship, because she was going down fast. The remaining crew from the old ship either threw down their swords or jumped overboard, and Jake’s crew made quick work of clearing the valuables.
Again and again Jake looked over the sides for the old captain, but couldn’t find him anywhere. He liked to think the old man was dead, but somehow, he just couldn’t quite convince himself of it.
They headed back to port with a mixed sense of victory.
Jake gave the rescued cabin boy a share of the treasure and bought him passage on a ship going home. He told the boy to find a nice trade on the land and take care of his mother; the sea just wasn’t a safe place for a little lad.
After thinking for a while he put together another packet, with some money, a small carving and an unsigned letter in it, and gave it to a captain headed for the port Jake had called home when he was just a little lad himself. The letter and the packet were addressed to his mother, should she still be alive.
The cook joined the other cook in the galley and some of the captured crew joined his own crew. The Dead Man’s Revenge settled into port while several bad storms hit one after the other.
One day, as Jake and his friends were sitting around in their favorite tavern by the harbor, a strange man came in. He was dressed in fine silks and held a scented handkerchief to his nose. He looked very, very unhappy to be there. He peered around the room, asked a question at the bar, and then made his way over to where Jake was sitting.
“Captain Jake?” The man had a fancy accent, too.
“Who’s asking?” replied Jake.
“The governor wishes to meet with you. Your presence is required tomorrow at 10 AM at the official residence. Be there.” The man dropped an envelope on the table, sniffed haughtily, and quickly left with his nose in the air.
Jake and his mates looked at each other and started laughing. Eventually, they quieted down and Jake reached for the envelope on the table. Reading it quickly, he said, “This says about what the snooty lackey said, but it does say something about a mutually profitable business arrangement. Hmm. I think I’ll talk this over with Big Arnie, get his take on it.” Jake paid up the tab and left.
Big Arnie thought it would be worth investigating, so the next morning, Jake and his top crew members put on fresh clothes and showed up at the Governor’s residence promptly at 10:15. “Can’t have the man thinking we’re just a bunch of lapdogs to come when he calls, now can we?” Jake grinned.
The Governor made them wait in turn, but finally the men were shown into his office. He was not as foppish as the lackey who had delivered the letter. He was an older man, shrewd looking, dressed in a suit rather like a military uniform.
“Captain…Jake, is it?”
Jake thought for a minute. He had been just Jake for most of his life. He thought back to when he was small, to the name he remembered his mother calling him. “Puckett,” he stated, “Jacob Andrew Puckett.” It felt strange to have a real, whole name again after all these years.
“Captain Puckett, men, I am glad you came. Let’s get right down to business. I have a proposition for you.” He paused. Jake and his men waited silently.
“I heard a rumor that someone took care of a certain pirate ship that has been causing trouble for me for quite some time,” the governor continued. “Naturally, I don’t know who this could have been, but your ship looks like it could handle certain tasks along that line.” Jake his men remained silent. “My proposition is this: I would like to have someone willing to do that sort of thing on a regular basis. Troublesome pirates who prey on our ships would be taken out of commission – naturally those doing the work would keep the spoils – and my ships would be kept safe. If the occasional ship from another country with whom we do not get along were to be taken by mistake sometimes, well, mistakes do happen.” The governor sat back and looked at the men.
Jake looked him in the eye. “And what’s to stop the navy from taking care of the ship that’s doing this – by accident, of course?”
The governor smiled dourly. “This.” He slid a package wrapped in brown paper across the desk.
Jake pulled off the string on the package, and opened it.
They all stared at the contents. It was a flag- an official flag of the sort flown by naval vessels.
Jake and the men looked up at the governor.
The governor said, “No strings, no conditions. But remember, those who get greedy find that accidents do happen and mistakes do get made. That will be all, gentlemen.” He got up and went to the window, dismissing his guests.
Jake and the crew members looked at each other. They grinned suddenly. Jake picked up the package with the flag and they left. The Dead Man’s Revenge had work to do.
