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How in the world did Jack Rackham and Mary Read ever become a couple? That question tormented Anne Bonny. She could identify with Calico Jack’s motivations but it seemed to her that the excitement of his lust filled pirate life was the antithesis of Mary’s desire for long lasting love. She had to talk to someone who knew the real story, someone who had been there, to provide that missing piece.
“Chris,” She asked Chris Condent when he came to the tavern that evening. “Is there anyone around here who served on the Ranger?”
“Certainly! What do you want to know?”
“You?” Anne was confused. “I thought you had your own ship?”
“I did, but I was initially sailing it as a part of Charles Vane’s fleet. It was a good way to learn the game. At that time there were 3 ships, and we were pretty formidable.”
“Were you there when Mary Read came on board the Ranger?”
“Aye, and I was there during the fracas that followed too. All the captains were aboard the Ranger the day following that take to decide whether or not to keep sailing close to the mainland or to head back to New Providence to unload. There we were assessing how much room each of us had left in our holds, when it sounded like all hell was breaking loose on deck. We rushed after Vane who screamed at Jack, he was the quartermaster at the time, and demanded to know what was going on.” Chris chuckled and took a swallow of rum. “When Jack had brought ‘Mark’ Read onto the crew everyone assumed that he was a man. After all, ‘he’ had been a soldier and handled a sword nicely. Well, there isn’t a lot of privacy to be had for a regular crewmember on a ship, so it wasn’t long before it became evident that ‘Mark’ was actually a woman. Once her real identity was discovered, that was when one of the crew by the name of Bart, Bart the butcher they called him, got a group together to challenge Jack’s decision. Bart argued that, since ‘Mark’ was a woman, and that a woman couldn’t be on the crew, it followed that she should be considered part of the prize they’d taken. Jack disagreed, saying that since ‘Mark’ could serve as well as any man on board, and he’d given him/her his word, so he was going to stand by his decision.
Bart didn’t take to that very kindly at all, and so he accused Jack of cheating the crew. Now then, cheating the crew is the worst offense a quartermaster can commit, so after Bart said that there was only one solution. When we rushed up on deck Jack and Bart were about to draw cutlasses and all the men were gathered around them screaming and hollering and worked up to watch the fight. Captain Vane quickly put an end to that, though. He shoved them apart, pointed a finger at each of them, and snarled, ‘Wait.’ That’s when I first laid eyes on Mary, when I saw her pushing her way through the men to get to Charles.
‘It’s all about me, captain,’ Mary told him, then she gave old Bart such a glare. ‘So by all rights then I’m the one this sniveling cur should be fighting with. ‘
Charles Vane’s face broke into this huge grin as he looked over this slender new recruit standing defiantly before him. Now, at this point, he didn’t know Mary was a woman. If he had, he might have not gone along. Instead, ‘Fine with me,’ was what he said. ‘I’m not inclined to risk the best quartermaster I’ve ever had over whatever this beef might be about.’ He stepped back while Mary drew her rapier and faced the cutlass holding Bart. He lunged and swung at her, but she seemed to be able to just step aside. Each time he missed her and his sword was at the bottom of the stroke she scored a little slice into his arm or belly. She was making him look like a real fool. Eventually he got so enraged that he let his guard down and Mary seized the chance and stabbed him right through the neck. She held her sword at arm’s length with Bart’s neck skewered on it like he was a piece of bucca meat and lowered it as he sank to the ground. Then when he was flat on the deck she put her foot on his chest and pulled her sword out. The crew was stunned and all eyes fell on Captain Vane, who immediately started clapping. ‘Good job, lad.’ He said, after which the crowd began to cheer. ‘So, tell me what was this all about anyway?’
Mary sheathed her sword, quickly pulled the worsted cap from her head and shook her matted locks free. Now, with her long black hair cascaded around her shoulders, she smiled up at Captain Vane and answered, ‘He didn’t like the fact I was a woman.’”
“Wow,” Anne exclaimed, her mouth not fully closing. “That was quite a risk she took.”
“I thought so too at the time, but in retrospect it was the only choice she had.”
“Why was that?”
“She’d realized that if she didn’t step in then either outcome was going to be bad for her. If Bart had his way, Mary would have been passed around the crew and treated like a whore. If Jack had come out on top she’d have ended up a pariah to the rest of the crew because they’d be feeling cheated over what Bart had originally said.”
“But, she could have been killed?” Anne argued. “If she’s left things alone, no matter what happened, she was sure to live.”
“Aye, she knew that well. But by stepping up to fight she showed she had courage, and it was that move that made her welcome on the crew. I tell you, everyone on the Ranger was really impressed with Mary that day. Especially Jack. The two of them seemed to get close right away, and even though she was the only woman any of them saw for months, nobody on board ever ‘approached’ her, on account of the fact they all considered her to be Jack’s lady. She went on to pull her weight on board as much as any man, and she was a fierce fighter too.”
“You’ve known Jack for some time, then, haven’t you?”
“Aye. I met him here in Nassau right after he came out of service and was looking for a ship to join. That’s when Charles Vane recruited him.”
“So,” Anne’s mouth wrinkled and she looked sheepish. “Did Jack, um, ‘see’ any other women right away after he was with Mary, like he does now?”
“Ah,” Chris teased. “You want me to tell you about Jack’s demons, don’t you?”
Anne bit her lower lip, turned wide-eyed and blushed.
Chris laughed. “All right then,” he continued. “I’ll tell you, it was so much simpler for Jack before he met Mary.” He instantly, defensively raised his palms. “Now, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with her, she’s a woman that any man would be lucky to be with, and only a certain type of man can be with her. And together, they are great and truly make each other happy. But, it does make life that much more complex for Jack.” He chuckled and knocked back a hearty swig of rum.
“But they’re so open with each other, and she allows him the freedom to run wild.” Anne’s right hand massaged her chin. “I don’t see why should there be any difficulties at all?”
“Argh, therein lies the rub, but neither of them can see it either.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mary set things up with Jack making it all right for him being with other women, so long as he promised not to be with one who wasn’t a paid prostitute.”
“I don’t understand why that would make any difference to him, wouldn’t a prostitute be the most likely person to give him any activity he wanted?”
“Let me tell you, I spent some time ashore with Jack in the old days when he first sailed aboard the Ranger, back when Charles Vane was still the captain. When he was in a town, Jack would have a woman here and a woman there, but he never paid for it. You see, there were some women who wanted him as much as he wanted them, and then they were freely together. It’s that freedom that’s the piece that eludes him now. The only women he sees nowadays, other than Mary of course, are those that are with him for money and not because of their own desires.”
“And that makes a difference to him?”
“To Jack? Absolutely! I’ve had chats with some of the women at the brothel here in town and Jack’s a wild man with them, sometimes having two at a time, and they all say that while he gets physical release, it always seems like he’s wanting something else. Something more. Word is that he keeps making his sessions more and more intense with them such that nowadays those that are with him end up being sore and bruised afterwards. Oh, he pays them well, so they don’t mind, but Jack hasn’t figured out he’ll never get that old feeling back that way.” He looked at Anne. “That’s because, for all her best, well-meaning intentions, by making Jack pay for it, Mary’s hobbled him.”
“So,” Anne looked thoughtful. “That would mean that being with Mary has caused Jack to be, um, frustrated?”
“I suppose if you look at it like that, then yes.” Chris nodded, he had never looked at it that way before. “I suppose that’s what love does to a person, eh?”
“Were you ever in love, Chris?” Anne face immediately started to glow; she had no idea why she asked that question. Clearly, she had become very comfortable with their friendship over the past months, but her desire to have an answer to this unexpected question made her realize that she may be feeling more for him than she wanted to admit, even to herself. The feeling was further underscored by the odd sense of relief that surged through her when he told her, “No, I’ve yet to meet an unattached woman whom I could feel that way about.”
The potential awkwardness of continuing their conversation was mercifully capped by the noisy arrival of Jack Rackham at the Queens Arms and his unusually brusque demand for a drink. “What’s wrong, Jack?” Chris Condent moved to stand next to him while Anne reached for the pitcher and a fresh mug. Jack clamped both of his hands around the empty mug as soon as Anne it down, glared at it, and then drained it as soon as it had been filled with porter. He slapped it back onto the bar, gave a single, curt nod towards it, suggesting it should be filled again, and then slowly turned his face towards his friend. “Have you heard what those bastards have done?” He asked rhetorically and gritted his teeth.
“There you are, Jack,” Anne said soothingly, and Jack scooped up the drink, knocked back a slug, then turned to lean his back against the bar so everyone present could hear as he loudly continued, “I just found out that they’ve hanged Charles Vane.”
The room fell silent and Jack rocked back and forth, using his entire upper body to affirm what he had just announced. “That’s right,” he continued. “Instead of being shipped to London for a trial like he was due, our esteemed governor decided instead to have him hanged as a demonstration. Rogers says that he had it done as a warning to everyone that there will be absolutely no tolerance for piracy in The Bahamas. Well, we already all understood that. So what this really means is that pirates have now been stripped of their rights as men and the right to a trial under the law. Instead, our esteemed governor has made himself sole executor of the law in the Bahamas.” Jack forced a wide grin. “I wonder how that’s going to bode for the rest of us all here on out, eh?”
Jack turned back to the bar and the previously rapt crowd descended into noisy discussions around the tables. “It’s my fault, Chris,” Jack lamented. “Rogers did it because of the trouble I’d caused. It wasn’t my intention to rile people up the other day, I was just blowing off steam.”
Chris slapped his hand onto Jack’s shoulder. “We both know that Charles was going to swing regardless of a trial, Jack. There was nothing you could have done to make that any different.”
“But not like that. He was denied his rights because of what I’d said, so I’m as responsible for Charles’ ignoble death as I was for taking his ship. I tell you Chris,” Jack looked around feverishly to ensure nobody was within earshot before continuing with a whispered, “I’ve pretty much had it. I’d rather risk going down like Charles than be nibbled to death in pieces by the hypocrisy of civilization here in Nassau.”
“Aye to that,” Chris agreed. “It’s getting to be about time then, yes?”
“Indeed.” Jack made a quick nod. “But not tonight.” He raised his mug. “To Charles Vane. I’m sorry, mate.”
Inconsolable, and clearly wanting to remain that way, Jack asked for a bottle of rum and retired to a corner table. Half an hour later Mary arrived at the Queens Arms, and after a short conversation with Chris Condent where she learned what was going on, she went over to the table and sat down with Jack. The two of them spent the rest of the evening huddled together in what appeared to be intense conversation, their backs to the rest of the people there, undisturbed except for when Anne refilled their drinks.
Chris Condent spent the remainder of his time at the tavern mingling with the former pirates, moving from table to table every half hour or so, but when he finally came up to pay his tab Anne grabbed the opportunity and leaned across the bar towards him. An advantage she enjoyed as a barmaid was the invisibility it provided; nobody paid attention to her being there and they always spoke freely as if she wasn’t. She had intently eavesdropped on the conversation Chris and Jack had earlier and had several questions about it.
“What did Jack mean when he said he took Charles Vane’s ship away from him?” She whispered.
“Just as it sounds,” Chris leaned her way and whispered back. “Charles was captain when the Ranger spotted a Frenchie and started to move on her, but when they got close they saw she was heavily armed so Charles said to back away. Jack disagreed. He argued that the Ranger had the wind advantage so they could get close fast and board her, so then her guns wouldn’t do her any good. But a rule of piracy is that when you’re headed into a battle the captain has absolute authority, so Charles had them play it safe and turn away. That night, Jack accused Charles of cowardice and he had most of the crew standing behind him. They were pretty upset at having lost such a potentially huge pay day. Charles and a few that stood with him were put into a sloop and sent away and that’s how Jack Rackham became captain of the Ranger.” He cocked his head towards where Jack and Mary were sitting. “Mary was right there with him and played a big role in getting the crew riled up about that missed opportunity. That’s probably another reason that they’re so good together. She’s probably just as tough as he is.” He smiled at Anne and stood up straight. “Don’t you worry about Jack,” he said. “Mary will have him snapped out of his feeling guilty mood before the nights out.”
