Chapter 7

turning on the twins

Almost as soon as Eric dispensed his orders to Samuel and pointed out where the gunners would find the greatest mass of pirates to target, he jumped over to the Rosemary and pushed off toward the fort. A short while later he heard the first shots of the cannon, and he was satisfied that the battle would be over soon. His satisfaction lasted only a few seconds.

“Eric Francis! You’ve got a lot of nerve keeping me on this ship while you go about jumping from ship to ship and running around with a sword in your hand as if you were a little kid on a playground!”

Eric turned to see a vibrant Charlotte approaching him with a stern look on her face. Even though he expected such a verbal backlash, he could not help but take a step or two backward as she approached. “Now, Charlotte, I feel responsible for you, and if something were to happen to you, I—”

“Oh, that’s ridiculous!” she exclaimed. Though the darkness kept Eric from seeing it, Charlotte’s anger harbored more bark than bite. “Did it ever occur to you that I should be responsible for myself?”

Clearly out of his league in this conversation, Eric responded with an even voice. “Charlotte, considering how it was my plan in the first place, it wouldn’t be fair to let you blindly go into something that might be dangerous.”

Charlotte huffed and glared at Eric before speaking. “Natural-born pirate hunter or not, I could still hold my own against you in a fight, Eric Francis, so you watch yourself.” Eric wasn’t sure if he noticed a hint of a smile twitch at the corners of her mouth. “I’ll tell you one thing, Captain Francis, the next time you leave this ship, you’re not doing it without me.”

Eric barely subdued a snicker at Charlotte’s stubborn nature. “Charlotte, I wouldn’t even dream of it.” Charlotte did not realize that Eric knew that his next stop was going to be the fort, and there would be no danger there, so he had no need to keep her cooped up—nor would he dare attempt it.

The boat from the ship took them to a small cove below the fort. Eric guessed, and correctly so, that a path would lead up to the fort from this point. They disembarked and he and Charlotte made their way up the steep trail, followed closely by a couple of armed sailors who escorted a pirate prisoner that Eric brought from the other ship.

After a couple minutes of tiring climbing, they crested the hill and arrived at the fort. They announced themselves at the entrance and were subsequently brought before Lieutenant Curtis, who had expected them after seeing the Rosemary’s approach. “Lieutenant Curtis,” Eric said. “Thanks for sending your men to fight the pirates. By this time the pirates should be captured and the battle won.”

Lieutenant Curtis’s eyes twinkled. “Captain of the Rosemary, I presume?”

“Yes, Captain Eric Francis.” Eric shuffled, feeling unaccustomed to formalities. “And this is Charlotte Reeves, a friend and advisor.” Charlotte’s eyebrow raised at Eric’s introduction.

Lieutenant Curtis bowed politely to Charlotte, and then looked over Eric again with a slight smile on his lips.

“May I ask what is so funny, Lieutenant?” Charlotte asked, irritated by Curtis’s cryptic grin.

Lieutenant Curtis’s face quickly transformed to seriousness. “I apologize, Miss Charlotte. I did not mean to mock. I just realized why your first mate, Mr. Wesley, was being so careful when he mentioned his superior earlier this evening. I now realize that, for the purpose of maintaining credibility, he was hiding the fact that his captain was no more than a boy.”

If Curtis had hoped to appease Charlotte, this comment had the opposite effect. “Boy or not, he is a natural-born pirate hunter, and more suited for this job than you or any other kind of librarian would be!”

“Librarian?” Curtis queried.

This strange quip confused Eric until he realized that Charlotte had just given away Curtis’s natural-born ability. Librarian? Eric thought, looking over Lieutenant Curtis. That explains his organizational skills. Eric turned to Charlotte, who still glared down the bewildered Lieutenant Curtis. “Easy, Charlotte. He didn’t mean it in that way.”

Curtis nodded. “Indeed, Miss Charlotte. I was only trying to say that Mr. Wesley was being very careful about mentioning his captain, so I assumed that there was something suspicious about the whole situation. As it turns out, he was only trying to maintain credibility by not revealing that the youthful age of his captain.” Charlotte about snapped again at this comment, so Lieutenant Curtis raised his hands. “This is hardly an issue anymore, however, as I’ve seen that Captain Francis’s strategies and deductions were all perfectly sound, regardless of his age. As soon as I realized this, I couldn’t help but smile at my own ignorance of the situation. Please forgive my impertinence.”

Charlotte’s muscles relaxed. She sighed and reluctantly said, “You’re forgiven, Lieutenant Curtis.”

“Now, Captain Francis,” Lieutenant Curtis said, the mood in his voice turning businesslike. “You left the battle early for a purpose, I presume. What is it?”

“The Twins should still not know that their plan hasn’t worked,” Eric stated. “They could not risk being in visual range with the fort until they knew it had been taken. They’ll have heard the cannon and musket fire but will assume that it was the fort falling to the pirates. Now that the sounds of battle have ended, they’ll be trying to enter the harbor at any moment. Obviously without the fort to attack them or warn anyone in town, they’d be able to take out the Royal Navy ships in a rush and Port Raleigh would be theirs.”

Lieutenant Curtis nodded. “But since we do have control of the fort, we can keep the Twins from entering the harbor.”

“Yes,” Eric replied expectantly, “but I am hoping that we can still do more than just keep them away. I’m hoping that we can take one or two more of the Willard Twins’ ships this evening.”

Charlotte saw the gears working in Lieutenant Curtis’s head as soon as Eric made his proposal. “If that is the case, then we’ll have to let the pirates enter the harbor before we start to fire into them.”

Eric confirmed Curtis’s speculation with a nod.

Curtis continued. “Then, after we have opened fire and battered them well enough, you will take the Rosemary and close in on the ship that is most damaged.”

Eric smiled.

Lieutenant Curtis seemed to be gazing off in the distance as he considered this plan. “But do you have enough men for this? Even if you’re only battling against one of the pirate ships, they will still have a very large crew, if not the leadership of one of the Willard Twins themselves.”

“True. But I’m hoping that surprise will give us an advantage. Beside the surprise of the fort opening fire on them, what if the recently captured pirate ship, under the command of Mr. Wesley, and the Rosemary hid behind the fort, out of sight from the pirates? After you have started your cannon attack on the Twins, we’ll both attack the weakest ship. If that attack goes well, we might be able to catch another damaged pirate ship as they retreat.”

Lieutenant Curtis’s eyebrows raised. He took a moment to consider Eric’s proposal. “I think it’s brilliant. Risky, but certainly brilliant.” After another moment’s consideration, he nodded, and then said, “Very well then. You’d better get into your position. I’ll see to it that my men don’t fire on the ships until they are well into the harbor.”

Eric made no indication that he was going to leave. “There is one more thing.”

“Oh?” Lieutenant Curtis wondered what it was that he had overlooked.

“In spite of their recklessness, I think the pirates won’t want to enter the harbor until they can be sure the fort is taken.”

Curtis nodded slowly as he processed this statement. “You think they’ll wait for the pirate ship to come and report to them?”

“I’m not so sure they will lose time waiting for the other ship. I think they’ve simply prepared a signal.”

“Of course!” Curtis tapped his finger on his mouth. “But we don’t know the signal.” Eric shook his head, and Curtis continued, “If only we could have one of the pirates from the captured ship to interrogate …”

At that point, Eric made for the door and called in the escorts with the pirate they held captive. “I thought the same thing, Lieutenant, so I brought along a prisoner.” Curtis could barely hide his astonishment. Eric continued. “This particular pirate has difficulties listening to a me so I hoped you might have more luck.”

Lieutenant Curtis nodded. The guards roughly guided the pirate captive into the room. Eric had chosen to bring the same pirate who involuntarily surrendered his sword to Eric on the ship. The pirate stood in a stupor, angry and embarrassed about being captured, but even more ill-tempered about the young captain who had shamed him by subduing him and dragging him around as his prisoner.

Lieutenant Curtis stood up to the pirate, drilling him with a no-nonsense gaze. “The other pirates we talked to mentioned that there was to be a signal given from the fort to indicate that you had taken it.”

The lie was simple, but effective. “Yeah,” the pirate replied dully, “But seeing as how we’ve been captured, there won’t be no signal.”

“That’s right,” Curtis continued. “The only signal the Willard Twins will see from this fort will be dead pirates warning them what awaits them.” Lieutenant Curtis let this grim image sink in before he added, almost nonchalantly, “But, for the sake of curiosity, what kind of signal was it going to be?”

The pirate snuffed disinterestedly. “Well, that’s why myself and my crew weren’t to go to land until the battle was over, cause we’re the gunners, and they needed us unharmed to send out the signal from the fort once we took it.”

“Oh, so the signal was going to be some cannon shots? How many, exactly?”

The pirate was about to respond, but his slow-thinking mind finally caught up with what was going on. “‘Ere, now! I know what you’re trying to do. You want me to tell you the signal so that you can lure the rest of them pirates into the harbor. Well, sir, I may be many things, but I ain’t no rat. I’m not tellin’ a soul.”

Curtis’s lip stiffened. “You will be killed along with the rest of the pirates for your crimes, but I can promise you a humane death if you talk. We already know the signal; you just have to tell us how many shots.”

Impelled by the only shred of dignity he had left, the pirate kept his mouth shut.

Curtis waited the pirate out for a moment, but it availed nothing. He turned to Eric with building frustration. Eric stood thinking.

“It couldn’t be many cannon shots. There weren’t that many gunners on the ship when we took it. Enough for three or four cannons at the most.”

“Well,” Curtis demanded, turning back to the pirate, “Which was it, three or four?”

Though the pirate said nothing, the question clearly summoned an almost imperceptible facial reaction.

Eric approached the pirate, still thoughtful. “No … too many. They wouldn’t want it to seem like a salute.” The pirate looked at Eric sharply. Eric continued. “One shot maybe?” The pirate stared Eric down seriously. Eric smiled. He looked the pirate dead in the eyes as he spoke. “No, it couldn’t be one shot. One shot could be mistaken for a warning shot.” The pirate’s eyes flickered; his mouth twitched. Eric turned triumphantly to Lieutenant Curtis. “It’s two shots, Lieutenant Curtis. That’s our signal.”

The pirate’s mouth hung agape for a moment. Lieutenant Curtis smiled while nodding his head incredulously.

With this information gathered, Eric quickly wrapped up their business. “Very well, Lieutenant. I’m sure you know what to do. I’m going to get the Rosemary into position and wait for Mr. Wesley’s arrival. Good luck, sir.”

Curtis saluted sharply, and just before Eric and Charlotte left, Eric turned and added, “Not that I need to tell you, Lieutenant, but it has to be two shots precisely. One more or less could tip off the Twins and cause them to retreat before we can spring the trap.”

Curtis saluted again, “Aye, aye, Captain Francis.”

The captive pirate watched Eric go in awe before he was finally able to recover his senses. Forgetting his place as prisoner, he looked over to Lieutenant Curtis, “Who the devil is that boy?”

Curtis laughed. “Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing.”

A

On their way back to the Rosemary, Charlotte grinned.

“What?” Eric asked. He had to take a break from working out the particulars of his upcoming strategy.

“You knew what the signal was, didn’t you?”

“The signal for the Willard Twins from the fort, you mean?”

“Yes. You knew it.”

“Well, I know it now,” Eric answered, not sure exactly what Charlotte was insinuating.

“No, Eric,” Charlotte followed up. “Don’t play this game with me. You knew even before we entered the fort.”

“That’s ridiculous. Then why would I have Lieutenant Curtis interrogate the pirate if I already knew?”

“Because you are smarter than you will admit, Eric. Ever since the governor and Captain Bellview treated you the way they did, you are being much more careful when dealing with adults. In this case, instead of running the risk that Lieutenant Curtis wouldn’t believe your speculation on the signals, you decided to help him make the discovery right at that moment.”

“I suspected, Charlotte,” Eric replied, his response curt. “Our little interrogation only confirmed what I suspected.”

“Whatever you want to call it. You needn’t be so moody about it, Eric. I’m only trying to give you a compliment.”

Eric gave Charlotte a cautious “thank you.” The following seconds ensued in silence as they scrambled down the rocky path toward the boat they left a short time earlier. Then Eric spoke out. “I just didn’t feel good about tricking Lieutenant Curtis. He seems like a very honest man. I guess I’m just angry at myself that I had to resort to such a level.”

Charlotte almost comforted Eric, but she held herself back. She knew that Eric had done what he needed to. As she mentioned, it was likely the only way to guarantee that Lieutenant Curtis would believe him. Eric had made a calculated decision. But Charlotte could also not deny that he had deliberately deceived Curtis, good intentions or not. Well, she thought, Eric proved that he recognized the fault in his decision. Even though he and she knew that he did it for a good cause, Charlotte figured it would be better if she let him feel guilty for what he did so as not to numb his sense of what she saw as admirable integrity.

By the time the two had boarded the Rosemary again, the recently captured pirate ship, captained by Samuel, had anchored next to the Rosemary. In a matter of minutes, Samuel joined Eric and Charlotte on the quarterdeck. He first reported what they already suspected, that the battle had been won and the pirates on the shore subdued. Eric then revealed to Samuel his next plan of attack.

After the incredible events of the past couple of days, Samuel thought the time would come when he would cease to be amazed by Eric. But that moment had not yet arrived. Eric’s daring once again left Samuel speechless before he finally saluted and muttered a respectful, “Aye, aye, Captain Francis.”

Eric spent the next few minutes debriefing his officers, telling them of the daunting task before them. Charlotte could see that the officers were not stupid. They knew the risk in the endeavor, yet the sheer audacity of the plan lit a fire in them that made it too irresistible to pass by.

Only dozens of yards away, Samuel must have just finished the same discussion, because his crew mobilized and made preparations on the ship. Several men transferred over to the Rosemary, since she only carried a skeleton crew, and she likewise prepared for battle. The crews accomplished all this behind the protective shadow of the fort, out of sight from where the pirate twins would approach.

By the time the preparations for sailing drew to a conclusion, Eric could only stand and wait impatiently for the fort to see the approaching pirate ships, let them enter the harbor, and then give the go-ahead signal to the Rosemary. The crew, which had bustled only moments earlier, found themselves forced to await the command to put the ships in motion.

Eric should have been tired, and he felt that somewhere, deep inside, his body bordered on extreme fatigue. It had been a very arduous night, day, and night. But his adrenaline, combined with the exhilaration of accomplishing something that he excelled at, something he was born to do, somehow managed to push him past his exhaustion. In a way, he felt that if he slowed down he might wake up, or in some other way lose this surreal, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This explained why waiting for the signal resulted in such a difficulty—he simply wanted to move to the next challenge and keep moving until his dream ran out from beneath him. Eric’s anxiety soon dissipated.

A deep and solitary shot fired out from the fort into the silent night. The crew rustled, in spite of his warning for them to remain still until his command. The echoes of the shot rolled across the waters until it died out and silence refilled its void.

Then the second shot rang out—music to Eric’s ears.

Although the slab of land on which the fort sat blocked a view of the entrance to the harbor, in his mind Eric could see the approaching pirate ships. He knew their location. From the wind that ruffled his hair, he knew how fast they would be going. He felt relatively certain that he could even pinpoint the exact moment when Lieutenant Curtis would open fire from the fort.

Eric closed his eyes as these calculations and images methodically worked their way through his mind. Fourteen more minutes and the cannon barrage would begin. Eric then saw what would be the confusion on the pirate ships: the falling spars and rigging, the splintering wood, the explosions, the mayhem as the pirates would first try to push through the cannon shots, then eventually fall back.

Seven more minutes.

Eric considered his chances again. He knew that taking one of these ships would not be as easy as taking the last pirate ship. Still, he felt the pirates would be taken off guard, and because of this, he and his crew ran a decent chance at succeeding.

Suddenly an unexpected occurrence interrupted his thoughts.

A

From the window of a room where he had been locked, the pirate captive witnessed the two secret signal shots that he would have fired if his fellow crew members could have taken the fort. He then saw the dark silhouettes of the approaching pirate ships, oblivious to their danger. Anger swelled up inside of him.

The pirate did not abound in loyalty toward his cause. Piracy encouraged little of thinking generously about others. Still, as he watched the approaching ships, the pirate stewed over how he had been made a fool, and not by a competent Royal Navy officer, but by a nobody. Now he not only would experience the shame of being put to death as a pirate, but he would also be known as the man that had been captured by a lad. The very thought almost drove him insane with disgrace. He could not accept such a fate. He refused to.

“Unlock the door! Hurry! I’ve some information fer your commander ’bout the pirates. There’s no time. Take me to him right now!”

The guard knew that Lieutenant Curtis interrogated the pirate earlier, so he easily believed that the pirate might have felt it would be in his best interest to share information in order to negotiate his death sentence. Driven by the urgency in the pirate’s voice, he fumbled with the keys in order to open the door quickly. The lock had barely clicked before the door was suddenly kicked open, smashing against the guard and toppling him to the ground.

The guard only needed a second to recover, but it was a second too late. The pirate had not hesitated once free of his cell. He rushed forward, unchecked, toward the ramparts of the fort. The guard’s cries alerted the troops, and they immediately opened fire on the flying figure. He evaded every shot. Advancing quickly and unexpectedly, the pirate bowled over a gunner, who barely had time to turn and see what the commotion was about. With the gunner out of the way, the pirate then grabbed the cord attached to the cannon.

Because the pirate stood still at this point, the errant shots of the fort’s soldiers finally hit their mark. The other gunners nearby heard the thudding of each musket ball as they pounded into the pirate’s body and some groans emitted from his throat. Though mortally wounded, before dropping to the ground and taking his last breath, he tugged hard on the cannon’s cord.

The loaded cannon roared as a result, sending its shot far into the air, while the recoil managed to smash back into the already failing body of the pirate. By the time the soldiers of the fort reached the pirate, they heard his dying words: “No shame in that death.”

A

Eric could hardly believe what he heard. Though he expected a shot from the fort, this one had come at least seven minutes early. The Twins could not have entered far enough into the harbor to give them the barrage they would need to receive before diminishing them enough for an assault by either him or Samuel.

Eric could not be sure of what happened, but the fact that subsequent shots did not follow immediately afterward helped him realize that Lieutenant Curtis had not ignorantly “jumped the gun.” It must have been an accident, Eric thought, a trigger-happy gunner. Eric felt that Lieutenant Curtis would train more disciplined gunners than that, but whatever the reason for the shot, the timing crippled his plan. If the pirates suspected anything, they very well could pull back right then.

Charlotte heard the unexpected shot like everyone else, and after watching Eric fret, she surmised what it insinuated.

“The pirates saw the earlier signal,” she said. “They’ll just assume this shot was an accident.”

Eric threw this idea around in his mind. Yes, he told himself, the pirates could think that. They might dismiss the shot. After all, there was no reason for them to think that the first stage of their strategy had been foiled. These pirates were supposed to be reckless. They would be too intent on revenge for the run of the Rosemary earlier that day to turn back because of one inadvertent shot.

Eric forced a smile to Charlotte. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

They did find out soon, though much sooner than he hoped. A minute after his statement, the sharp silence that pervaded the tense night air suddenly ripped into a veritable thunder that exploded from the fort as it let loose all its firepower. A short interval of calm followed it before the scattered roars of individual shots continued the salvo of artillery fire.

Charlotte looked at Eric hopefully. “That’s good, right? They’re firing on the pirates.”

Eric thought it over. “It’s too early.”

“But why would Lieutenant Curtis fire too early? He seemed like he knew what he was doing.”

“He does,” Eric confirmed. “Which means the only reason he would open fire early is because the pirates turned around at the misfiring of the lone cannon shot. He’s trying to hit them with what he can before they get out of range.”

Charlotte discerned the disappointment on Eric’s face. His careful strategy seemed to be falling apart. Charlotte was about to consoled him, but Eric suddenly took some initiative. “Mr. Gary!” he called out.

“Aye aye, Captain Francis.” Mr. Gary and the crew had been watching their curious captain from a distance, wondering to see his reaction to the series of sounds emanating from the fort.

“Set sails! Those pirates aren’t leaving without seeing the Rosemary in action!”

“Aye aye, Captain Francis!”

Mr. Gary set the crew to work with an unquestioned confidence in his teenage superior. Since they had been waiting at their stations in eagerness, the crew set the Rosemary moving within a matter of moments.

Charlotte watched for a minute before she spoke. “Eric, wasn’t the plan to board the pirates after they had been pounded pretty badly by the fort?” Even now the fort’s guns shot less and less often, indicating that the pirates had worked their way out of their range.

Eric nodded.

“Do you think they’ve been hit badly enough to fight them?”

“No,” Eric said with grim certainty.

Though tempted to prompt Eric for a more detailed response, Charlotte could tell by Eric’s mood that he would explain when he felt ready. Right now, his focus lay before them.

The Rosemary had practically jumped out of its hidden position in the small cove behind the fort. Samuel, in the newly acquired pirate ship, started moving forward himself, but he had not been prepared for the Rosemary’s abrupt start.

As soon as they cleared the rocky cape blocking their view of the events in Port Raleigh’s harbor, Eric’s confirmed his suspicions. The three spectral shadows of the pirate ships retreated into the darkness to the north. The fort, by now, reverted back to the silence that dominated the area only ten minutes earlier.

The sight of the ships brought new life to Eric. He called for more sails.

“Eric,” Charlotte could no longer keep to herself, “we’re one tiny ship and those are three large ships.”

“And we only have four guns and they probably have thirty-six guns each,” Eric answered.

Charlotte nodded. “Just making sure you were aware …”

Eric nodded distractedly, his eyes never wavering from the targets in front of them. His persistence paid off when the speed of the Rosemary carried them close enough to fire a shot. Though the shot came short, they still gained on the pirates. After a couple more minutes of chase, they actually hit the trailing pirate ship with a scattered few of their shots. The damage for the pirates ranged from minimal to none, but Eric clearly presented them with a challenge.

Charlotte felt relieved to see that once they sailed within range, Eric shortened the sails and kept at an even distance from the pirates, shooting his sparse cannon shots as frequently as possible. At first, the pirates endured these shots, hoping the Rosemary would come close enough that they could chase him down and board him, but Eric did no such thing.

Finally, after the Rosemary’s constant harassing, the middle pirate ship began to pivot back, as if to chase down the irritating Rosemary and teach her a lesson. Eric’s eyes lit up. “Come on, you oaf!”

Eric’s sudden excitement intrigued Charlotte.

“Mr. Gary,” Eric called out, “make ready to come about on my mark.”

“Aye aye, Captain Francis!”

“Gunners!” Eric yelled down to the deck.

Some scattered “aye ayes” told him he had their attention. “When we come about, get ready to fire on that ship that is bearing down on us!”

A curious Charlotte listened to these instructions as she might listen to another person speaking a foreign language to her. After giving his orders, Mr. Gary came to her side. “That friend of yours is the most reckless captain I’ve ever known.” His eyes glittered. “But he’s a brilliant one!”

“I guessed that much, Mr. Gary, but would you do me the honor of telling me why he is so reckless and brilliant?”

“I just figured it out ma’self,” he said, “But he’s harpin’ away at these pirates, trying to bait ’em into chasin’ after him. Well, you can see that one of the pirates is taking the bait. So Captain Francis is going to stay just ahead of them, fire some shots to goad them on, and lead them—”

“Right into Samuel as he catches up with us in his ship.”

Mr. Gary nodded with a huge grin on his face. “Yep. Then we both join up against the rogue, give ’im some hard broadsides, then board ’im on both sides.”

Charlotte finally understood Eric’s improvised strategy. She looked out and saw the pirate ship that had pealed away now almost completely turned around and bearing down in their direction. The Rosemary, by this time, deliberately turned about herself. As she did so, she lined up her cannons with the pirate ship.

“Not yet!” Eric instructed the gunners. “Wait for it. Wait! And—”

Eric stopped short when he and the crew suddenly saw some bright flashes pierce the night, not from the ship that decided to chase them, but from the one next in line to it. A few seconds later they heard the rumble of cannon shots. The most astounding result, however, was that the cannon shots were not aimed at the Rosemary, but at the other pirate ship, the one that had—as Mr. Gary put it—taken the bait. The pirates had dealt one of their own ships a close range, and possibly very damaging, broadside.

The repercussions of such an unexpected maneuver followed immediately. The ship that had turned to chase the Rosemary now came to a dead stop. Some wondered whether it would return the fire; instead, it slowly swiveled back around, following its previous course like a reprimanded dog with a tail between its legs following its master.

Charlotte guessed that Eric had to be frustrated from his second attempt to ensnare the pirates being foiled by another unforeseen occurrence. In reading his expression, however, she saw no anger there. Instead, Eric simply contemplated what occurred in curiosity. As the pirate ships finally disappeared into the dark night, Eric murmured, “Those are two brilliant pirate twins.”

A

Though Governor Rose and Captain Bellview were steeped in pride, they could not be accused of being idiots. The two knew that a pirate attack had taken place, just as Eric had predicted. Not only that, but they also recognized that the fort took part in the defense of Port Raleigh. Rather than humble them, Eric’s timely and brilliantly planned defense only managed to anger them more.

“Bellview, this is getting ridiculous,” Governor Rose noted. “Do you realize what this means?”

Captain Bellview brooded.

“I’ll tell you what it means,” Governor Rose continued. “It means that this upstart young captain now has the backing of Lieutenant Curtis and the fort. He has just gone from crazy maroon who managed to creep into harbor with a skeleton crew to hero of the day with all of the military might of the town backing him.”

Captain Bellview still did not respond.

“The second I try to reprimand him for going against my orders, every sailor from the wharf, every soldier from the garrison, if not the whole infernal town, will come up in arms against me. He’s turned everyone against us! I should have suspected he had some second agenda hidden away somewhere. Who do you think he’s working for? It might be that fatheaded moron, John Arnold back in London. That sorry excuse for a parliament member has always been looking for a way to undermine me, ever since I took this post out from underneath his nephew. Or it could be someone closer, like Governor Terrance, over in Nevis. Or … Bellview, are you even listening to me?”

Bellview stayed motionless.

Governor Rose threw his hands up exhaustedly. “What good is it to be governor if no one listens to me? And you, what good is it to be a captain if members of your own crew are serving on a backstabber’s ship? What can we do?”

Captain Bellview stepped away from the window, where he had just witnessed the silhouette of the Rosemary reattach itself to the pier—welcomed by a crowd of flickering torches and celebration.

“We do, Governor Rose, the only thing we can do,” Bellview finally responded. “We accept them as returning heroes. We set up a meeting with them tomorrow morning on their ship in order to congratulate them and provide them with due and appropriate accolades.”

Governor Rose squinted in displeasure. “You can’t be serious. You mean, we actually go before that pompous brat and give him the pleasure of seeing us grovel and snivel at his feet?”

Captain Bellview’s eyes flickered in a way that might have scared even himself. “I never said that we actually talk to the ingrate. I merely mentioned that we set up a meeting.”

At that moment, Governor Rose realized that Bellview had brewed some sort of plan. Rose lifted his heavy brow. “I’m listening …”