Chapter 2: Meeting Thatch and Victoria

1705

When Jonathan woke up, it was still dark outside, not even dawn yet, not for another hour. He really didn't want to get up, but he knew that today was today that he and his brother would go on their first pirate hunt. He quickly got out of bed, no waking his brother, and headed straight for the tub. He took a quick bath to freshen up and after drying himself, he headed out and quickly went to his wardrobe. Picking clothes wasn't hard for jonathan,since all the clothes were the color red and yellow. He chose his spanish officer's uniform, he “got it” from a soldier he encountered with his father. After dressing himself, he reached for his sword and sheathed it in the scabbard, now he looked professional. Though he had no respect towards spanish soldiers, he did admire the fashion taste. Before he walked out the door, he remember that he forgot to load his pistols in their holsters. He went back to the wardrobe and got two english flintlocks and two muskets. Just then he heard a slight moan, his brother was now awake. Damien was a sound sleeper most of the time and it was nearly impossible to wake him up. That's when their mother decided to buy a very loud rooster to be the family alarm clock. When damien finally got out of bed, he went immediately to the bathing room. However, damien usually like to spend 15 minutes in the tub and sometimes fall back asleep. But even he knew that he wouldn't let his brain get the best of his today. Grabbing a towel, damien quickly dried himself off and, just like his brother, he went to the wardrobe.

Unlike his brother, damien wore anything red. Since british officers usually wear red uniforms, it seem only fitting that he do the same. He quickly got on his trousers, buckled his belt and boots, grabbed his swords, and tied his favorite red scarf across his neck. They were ready to go.

As they both walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, they were greeted by their mother who appeared to be crying. The boys were both shocked are were worried of what had happen. Isabella looked up and seeing their worried faces quickly dried her eyes and talked in a soothing voice” i'm fine boys, i just a little sad seeing my babies grow up and become men. I know that both of you will do great things in this world.” With that said she went over to the counter and grabbed 2 small boxes containing food for the journey. The food was suppose to last up for 7 months, the time for which they will be gone. The package contained several fruits, salted meats, rum, medicine and assorted pies. She had them the packages and gave a quick but loving hug and escorted them out the door where their father was waiting for them. They made their way towards the docks while avoiding the spanish soldiers. Once they reach the docks, there waiting for them was a hood figure clothed in blue and black fabric. In both hands he carried a guillotine gun and ax pistol. The hooded figure soon called out” since when were goodbyes so long.” Robert chuckled

“how long have you’ve be watin’.” “Long enough.” The hooded figure then removed his hood and there they saw a very decorated smith. Smith wore a red bandana across his right eye that was layered with thin strips of silver. On both ears he had on jade earrings in the form of a skull with a hint of sapphire. He grinned his teeth showing a pair of bronze teeth, showing that he was a very flashy hunter. He walked over to the boys and gave both of them a very friendly, yet painful bear hug. Jonathan was use to the hug, after all he went on more trips than his brother. Damiens however, looked as if he was suppocatring from greeks bear hug, his face as red a tomato. Smith then release his grip from the boys who were catching their breath. “so you boys ready for you first hunt.” They nodded their heads yes. “good, here is your boys first assignment.” Smith pulls from his left pocket a worn out wanted poster the reeked of rum and sweat. Unraveling the parchment, it reads

William”Black” Flint , wanted on the high seas for crimes of piracy and horrendous acts including murder, rape, pillaging, desolation of property and hijack of his majesty's ships.

Bounty is 30,000 pounds

Wanted dead or alive

“Who is William Flint, i never heard of him.”. damien asked.

Smith chuckled. “My boyo, William Flint was once a sailor for his majesty's navy, however, unlike your father, he was he was often outspoken and cause numerous incidences for England. After losing his sole occupation, he turned to a life of piracy. Since then no one has heard of him. He is named public enemy of all the empires and their colonies. People say that his ship and crew are from hell and that he eat his enemies, before killing them. To the navy men, he is called Black Flint, but for people like us, we call him the reaper of the seas.”

Mentioning those traits gave damien shivers down his spine. He has heard tales of men like that from the soldiers and the sailors. He prayed that he wouldn't meet him on the open seas, he couldn't bear it. Shaking those thoughts out of his mind, he grabbed his gear and headed toward the ship. He turned his head to Jonathan, jerking it to tell him let's get going. He made a quick hug to his father and ran after his brother. Smith looked to his friend and put his hand on his shoulder. “they'll be all right, i'll make sure of it.” Roberts replied with a pat on the back and went his way. Smith did wise. Once on the ship, he headed towards the wheel only to see that the boys were already sailing the ship out of the harbor. Their ship, The Black Raven, was a fine vessel and a veteran of many encounters with pirates, her sails worn out, her deck bleached with heating sun, and her bottom covered in wall to wall in mussels and clams. She was the most beautiful ship that ever did sail. It was on this day, October 17 1705, that the Caldwells future would never be the same.

The first few months went very well, some storms here and there but mostly clear summer skies. During the hours, Smith would teach the boys how a ship world and how to function her and its crew. As smith saw, jonathan had no trouble at all with the sea and knew how to steer a ship properly. If only his brother was this gifted. Damien hasn't gotten used to ship and his legs are still wobbly from the constant waves and turns of the ship. He spends most of his in the captain's quarters writing in his journal of their travels and polishes his swords. On some occasion he would leave the comfort of his quarters and sail the ship, usually into a patch of land or into a rogue wave. But over time, he earned his sea legs and became a much better captain than his brother, to smith's surprise. Now that they boys have gotten used to sailing a ship, he decided that boys should learn how to fight. Once they docked in havana to resupply, Smith sent the crew off to get the supplies, except for the boys. He told them that he was going to teach them how to fight dirty and smartly. Damien was up first, unsheathing his dual persian scimitars, he steadied himself for the onslaught. Smith readied himself with his ax blunderbuss and taunted damien to strike the first blow. Taking the bait, damien rushed in swinging both blades in the air with such fury and speed. Smith defended himself as best as he could, clearly damien has studied rigorously in the sword combat. Damien trained himself to fight with passion, not aggression, though keeping in mind not to over do it. His attacks consist of fluid sword strikes to the body and head, twirling the blades to confuse his opponent, and twirling both his body and his blades, though a risky move, the damage spoke for itself. Smith was surprised at damiens ferocity and how much control he has with his blades. he was barely able to delft most of his attacks. He was so focused on defending himself that he didn't see what was behind. He stumbled behind a barrel and lost his footing and fell on his backside dropping his ax and before he think he was in inches away from the blade. He looked up to see that damien was exhausted and offered his hand. Smith took it and gave damien a friendly slap on the back “fine swordsmanship you have, you father taught you well.” Damien replied “actually my mother taught me.” Jaws dropped, minds boggled and lost for words. Smith couldn't see Isabella as a violent person, sure she can get explosive at some moments but violent was something else entirely. Believe or not, before isabella met roberts, her father taught her how to defend herself from rich sons of other slaveholders. As a young teen, she was known as Blandiendo machetes diablo on the account of her fights with boys and rich kids. She was so terrifying that no boy or man would dare go near her, except for my grandfather of course. That was how they first met. And though it was a heated battle, the two warriors suddenly fell in love. After with that little revelation it was now time to test jonathan and his skill set. unlike his brother, jonathan fought with mind boggling speed and used dirty tricks to win any fight or brawl. however, even he knew his brawler background could not compared against a seasoned veteran such as smith. The duo both drew the weapons and prepared for each other's attack. Both were patient and waited. All was quiet on the deck, the only noise came from the waves crashing against the ship and songs of the birds. Ending the silence, jonathan thrusted his cutlass forward to smith gut. He blocked it and started aiming for jonathan's legs and thighs. Jonathan's casually dodges the strikes left and right and then grabs smiths ax arm and throws him across the decks of the ship. Smiths recovers slightly hurt but not out and charges jonathan head on. Now jonathan had really fight now seeing that he was being overwhelmed by these strong attacks. Trying to break the chain of attacks, jonathan uses one of the underhanded strikes ever used, a swift kick to the crotch. It was effective and sneaky, the type jonathan would uses. Smith was down for the count. Clutching his crotch, he staggered a bit but managed to regain his footing and catching his breath smirked.

“That was a cheap shot jonathan, and here I thought we were on the same side. Smith said. “Remind me never to spar with you again.” Smith was still trying to stand up right since he just kicked with steel toe boots, custom made for jonathan's 13th birthday, a regrettable choice. After the pain subsided, Smith reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of whiskey to numb his senses. Though not a heavy drinker, smith enjoyed the occasional sip now and then. He then treated the boys to have some, damien refused saying that whiskey and rum are tainted with sin. Both Jonathan and Smith laughed in unison to the nonsense coming from damiens mouth. After the two drunks finished their whiskey, damian began to wonder where the rest of the crew was, they were only supposed to be gone for an hour or two. Smith noticed this and decided to go and look for them.

The city of Havana was bustling metropolis built upon by money, soldiers, and trade. Havana had everything to offer from warm winters, an aroma of smells and a rich architecture that modeled Spain and for the sailors especially, there are three important things a sailor needs when he lands in a new port, and inn, rum, and women. It was obvious where the crew went. The trio tracked their crew to the Blue falcon inn which was ironically only a few from the brothel across the road. Simon sighed in relief, at least they weren't caught by the spanish soldiers here. Because of tension and political rivalry between britain and spain, the two great nations were engulfed in the Queens Anne's War, a war that would decided who had control in the americans and the colonies in the West indies. It was not strange to find soldiers from both sides here in Havana and enjoying its fruits of labor. Lets just hope it stays that way. The trio split up and went to find their crew. While Damian went into the inn, Jonathan and smith went into the brothel. Damian entered the inn and got his first glance at the life of sailor of the navy. These men of the crown were nothing as he had expected. Sailors like these were revered by all, and yet they drink themselves of wine and women of pleasure. On top of that, he was getting the stink eye from the sailors who weren't drunk, and if looks could kill, he be dead. Not wanting to idle any longer, he makes his way to the bartender.

“have you seen a rough looking crew in here, were departing soon.” Damien asked

The bartender, not lifting head replied “be more specific lad, we usually have rough crew in these parts.”

“They have a black raven insignia on their backs.”

“You mean the ones getting beat up by the spanish?. If so their right over there.” he points to the far end inn where most of the commotion was at.

“Getting what now.”

He got his answer when out of nowhere a bottle flew by his head and smashed against a wall. Clutching his face, he sighed and looked behind to see a brawl erupt. His men had gotten into a fight with spanish soldiers, and his men were losing, badly. Irritated and tired of this, he pulled out his flint lock and aimed it at the ceiling, hoping to end this dispute. He pulled down on the trigger and with a slight clicking sound, the room erupted in gunfire. The fighting between his men and the spanish was over and he thought to himself that he had saved the day. To his shock, the spanish were now ganging up on him instead. Just then, every british soldier stood up and went behind Damien, swords drawn. They all stood side by side ready for a fight. Sighing of relief, Damien put his gun back into its holster and just when he was going to get his crew, one of his men shoots a spanish officer. The room was quiet until someone spoke out and said “Oh Shite.”

Next thing you know, Damien is engulfed in a huge bar fight. People being thrown across the floor, bottles being smashed, heads bashed open, on his first day on the job. He couldn’t make his way towards the door until someone grab the back of his collar and threw him back into the fray. It was complete chaos and he had no choice but to fight back. He punched, kicked, knees and bottled anyone who was in my way until the spanish guys started to back off and make their way towards the doors. After the little brawl Damien had several bruises and some blood on his outfit. He wasn't missing any teeth which was good and he didn't seem to have any broken bones. His crew however wasn't so lucky. Some of them were unconscious and other who weren't drunk had black eyes and dislocated jaws. He was not happy of how things were turning out, he could really use a drink now. He found the nearest chair and bottle and settled himself down. He was then greeted by two british soldiers who helped him during the brawl. One of the two was about Damien height and had messy, rough black hair. He face was fair and had dark brown eyes that seem to pierce your soul. On his face, he had the scars of sea battles and the the sign of a thick black beard. The gent next to him was taller and wore a plaid skirt across his waist. He had short red hair and deep sapphire eyes that seem to sparkle in the light. His accent was that of Scotts and carried a scottish broadsword across his waist. They took a seat next to Damien and together, all three drank their whiskey.

“You alright mate, you look like shite.”

“I'm fine, nothing but a few scratches and bruises.” replied damian

“Ay, ye fooght weel. Hm, Ah dornt hink Ah seen ye in th' regiment, whaur ye frae.” replied the Scot.

Clearing his throat, “My name is Damien caldwell, son Robert and Isabella Caldwell, pirate hunters for hire, at your service.”

The two gents were shocked. In the navy, they had heard stories of the famous caldwell pirate hunters. To the men of the royal navy, they were considered heroes and idols and stuff of legend. No one has ever met a cladwell before, and yet here in havana one was sitting here right now having a drink.

“Bloody hell mate you dont say. Your family is legendary amongst us seamen. It's a real honor to meet you.”

“Ay, 'at it is. we've heard stories ay th' famoos rabbie an' his chases against henry morgan an' th' capture ay william kidd. Pardon me, whaur ur mah manners, aam Dylan staine Paw Dublin, mah messmate haur is edward thatch, privateers ay her majesty th' queen' ay britian.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you dylan, edward. Mine telling me why there is an infestation of spanish soldiers.”

Dylan sighed “ Waur at war laddie, th' queen ay englain 'at th' royalty ay spain hae collided wi' each other an' erupted th' queen anne's war. Its awreddy bin thee years an' th' war is awreddy takin' a hauld oan its men oan baith sides. Me an' edward haur enlisted tae help uir coontry, an' earn some bunsens. But enaw abit us, whit brings ye tae havana, it is surely nae fur th' kimmers ay pleasure an' braw bucky.”

Damien paused for a second, took a sip of his whiskey, and cleared his throat “ i'm on the hunt of the elusive and dangerous pirate William Black Flint. I heard that he been here in these waters and stop for supplies just a few days before we arrive. You wouldn't have happen to see him would you?’

Dylan slammed his fist on the table nearly breaking it and roared at the top of his lungs “William Flint, 'at braw hearted, murderer, cutthroat ay a pirate. ay we've seen heem, th' dobber lat at us it ay th' blue an' nearly crippled uir fleit. Ah hiner ye gut heem!"

“Easy man, don't go blowing your top now, unless you want another brawl to happen” said edward. “Ay we've seen him, lucky to be alive too. We were on patrol beyond the coast of havana when we came under cannon fire. We didn't know where it came from, all we could hear were cannons firing and the sound of our ship being torn apart. Last I heard he was planning a trip to new province to the west.”

Edward reached into his pocket and pulled out a scorched parchment that had small writing on it. it smelled of whisky and tobacco. He handed it to Damien and told him that these were coordinates to Nassau. He told him that he had to open it only when he got on the ship.

Damien agreed and thank edward and dylan for their help in possibly locating William Flint. Getting out of his chair, he walked over to his crew who were now starting to recuperate from the little incident. They looked embarrassed and ashamed the the mess that they made and expected the worse. Damien however, in a stern voice, told his crew that this was never to happen again. No one was to tell smith or jonathan. Once that was done, they left the inn and waited for the rest of the gang.

An hour later, smith and jonathan returned with the remaining crew, who were drunk on whisky and women. They lost most of the supplies, so they only had enough to get them to the nearest port. After they settled the matter, they headed back to ship. While on the way, Damein bumped into some lady who was going the other way. She dropped some of her items and him as well. He stopped to help her get her things, while unbeknownst to him, she stole the scorched parchment from his pocket.

“I'm sorry about that, let me help you.”

“Its alright, thin's happen.”

They soon went their ways and it wasn't a minute before Damian realized that his parchment was missing. He turned around to try and find her, but she was gone. He was so stupid to fall for a trick like this. He left the group and hunted to find this girl. He went from block to block to alley and street corner. He was about to give up until he heard some commotion around a market. he hid behind a store and slightly glanced from the side to see who it was. From the corner of his eye, he could see five figures, four of them in spanish officers clothes and last one dressed in bostonian clothes.

“Back off yoos Spanish dogs, unless you want a fight.”

“¡Oh ho, esta que tiene algunas lucha en ella, me gusta que en una mujer!”

¡Digo que permite ver qué tiene esta pequeña fruta exótica. Lo que ella podrá sorprendernos!

This is not what damian wanted to hear and the four spanish soldiers were closing in on their victim. Having enough of this, he step out of his hiding spot and faced the spanish soldiers. Shouting in Spanish “¡Vete te muts. Si quieres pelear, yo os llevaré! he hoped this would grab their attention. Taking the bait, the spanish turned around, swords drawn and pistols loaded, they faced their attacker. ¡Oh ho parece que nos metimos un héroe los muchachos, qué mal compañero, perdió su forma? They started to laugh until damian pulled out his flintlock and fired it at the leader. the bullet hit its target and in a matter of moments, the spanish soldier fell to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain and slowly died. The remaining three turned their heads slowly and look as if in amazement of what had happen. ¡matar a ese bastardo! one shouted and soon all three rushed him at once. Drawing his dual persian scimitars, he slowly walked towards his enemy and, as if this was a ballet, attacked his enemies. twirling and spinning his swords left and right, the easily deflected the enemies clumsy attacks and strokes. He chopped of one hand of his enemy, the other his leg and the last one, screaming like a madman had his head cleaved off. Sheathing his swords, he calmly walked over to women and knelt down besides her.

“You alright?”

“I am now, but i could have handled it myself thank you. still, thanks. I'm Victoria by the way.”

“Damien Caldwell at your service”

Back at the ship, smith and jonathan were loading the supplies when they noticed that damian was missing. They were already behind schedule, and now this. Smith asked the crew if they seen him. one said that he was chasing after a woman when they left the inn. Smith feared the worst and if it was what he was thinking, he would face the wrath of isabella when they returned home. That was the last thing he needs. Dropping what he had, he and jonathan went looking for the straggler. Back at the market, the duo were arguing over the possession of the parchment. They bickered and yelled at each other and, seeing no progress, decided on a bet. The bet was that whoever wins the fight gets the parchment. Though damian is not used to fighting girls, let alone women, he had no choice. he drew out his scimitars and waited patiently, hoping that this little situation will end quickly. Victoria, on the other hand, rushed in and drew out her saber with killing intent. Even for a woman, she was a very dangerous opponent, Damian has never seen anything like of her before and felt stunned. Whoever trained her, she was taught well. Damian had to make sure not to severely hurt her, though she stolen from him, she has done nothing wrong. Mostly defending instead of attacking, damian soon found himself in a corner and had to change his game plan. Victoria took advantage of this and pulled out a stiletto to deliver the final strike. Just in the nick of time, damien grabbed her wrist, twisting it to the point of where she dropped the stiletto. Then he grabbed his flintlock around his waist and pointed it at her head. His breathed hard, wanting to shoot her, but not willing it. He pulled the hammer back, cocking the pistol and moved the gun to her temple. Victoria was frightened, would her mysterious savior kill her? She closed her eyes and waited. A loud boom erupted from the alleyway, when victoria open eyes, there was no blood. She looked up to meet damiens eyes and saw that he fired up and not at her.

Damein chuckled slightly “you all right”

Victoria smirked “knew you wouldn't hurt a girl.” Her voice did have a hint of worry

“Look, before this ends bad, may I ask ,why did you steal from me. What use could a wealthy woman like yourself need a burnt parchment?”

She knew this was going to happen, sighing she spoke “ I was going to sell this to some soldiers in hopes of earning some money for my family. Though we are rich mr. caldwell, business have been down lately.” She explained to Damien that she did come from australia and was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. She excelled in all aspects of the upper class society, but she remained humble, most of the times. In search of adventure, Victoria travels to the West indies in hopes of exploiting trade. Once she got to havana, she saw his ship and followed him into the inn.

“That's a very interesting story; however, I still need my parchment back, so give it here.”

Victoria reached into her left pocket and pulled out the paper and handed it to Damien. He inspected it to make sure that it was real, and then placed the parchment delicately in his back pocket. Looking up, he saw that Victoria was sad, she had lost easy money. Frustrated, he placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke “listen, i'm hunting a very dangerous pirate named Flint with a high bounty on his head. When I capture Flint, i’ll... make sure that some of the money goes to you, alright” he said with a reassuring smile. That brought back her spirits up and hugged him, whispering “thank you.”