Blackbeard was indeed gone forever. Or so they had assumed… Straightening in his chair, Stede corrected Blackbeard’s claim, “Ye
mean ‘ta say our treasure be safe and sound?”
“Aye, ‘tis what I said. Me treasure be safe and sound,” Blackbeard
reiterated.
“Blow me down! Where be the loot ye Old Salt?” Stede inquired
gleefully.
“Dead men tell no tales, savvy? ‘N last I heard, we was dead, me
matey,” Blackbeard laughed heartily.
“Aye, that we are,” Stede shook his head in regret. Then he looked at
Blackbeard intently adding, “For the moment.”
The reunion was interrupted by one short knock followed by the
Quartermaster’s voice announcing, “Cap’n we got somethin’ fer ye.” Blackbeard rolled his eyes and shouted, “What do ye have fer me?” The Quartermaster chuckled deeply. “Somethin’ ye gonna lust,
Matey. Ye been waitin’ near a hundred years fer it.”
“Jolly help be hard t’ find,” Blackbeard muttered to Stede. “Bring it
in, ‘n be quick about it,” he shouted toward the door.
The mighty door opened. The Quartermaster entered Blackbeard’s
quarters dragging with him the most beautiful wench either pirate had
ever seen. She was just what the party needed.
“Avast,” Blackbeard whispered rising quickly to his feet. Stede struggled to get to his feet as well. He was still getting his
sea-legs, and the grog was making it more difficult than usual. Well,
that and the fact that he had been land-locked for the past hundred
years or so.
“Let go of me, you imbecile,” Joanna ordered. For a ghost, he had
a pretty firm grasp.
Joanna jerked her arm away from the pirate who had captured her
the minute she had materialized on the ship. The plan had been to
sneak on board, investigate, and be gone before anyone knew she had
been there. Shit, this wasn’t going at all the way she envisioned it. Blackbeard extended his hand toward Joanna and commanded,
“Come, me bonny lass; I wish to see ye more closely.”
“Well you can wish in one hand and shit in the other. I’m not
coming any closer,” Joanna assured him. She refused to budge one
inch from the space she currently occupied… in the Captain’s
stateroom…aboard a ghost ship. Holy crap, Royce was going to pitch a
colossal fit.
Stede jerked to attention, and Blackbeard laughed loudly. “We will
see, wench, when I am more than I am now. We’ll just see how far
you want to stay away from me. I’ve been told that I’m very talented
with the lasses,” he bragged.
Stede looked at Blackbeard in surprise. With the exception of the
word ‘wench,’ there wasn’t one trace of pirate in his speech. Stede
narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why have we been speaking in
pirate jargon, Matey?” He moved toward Blackbeard running his
fingers over the black handled dagger sheathed at his side. “I did
not realize you were such a student of the English language these
days.”
“Just keep’n you on your toes, Matey. I can’t reveal all of my
secrets, now can I?” Blackbeard said blandly. He chose not to
acknowledge the none-too-subtle combative gesture made by Stede. Seriously! Was she listening to this insane conversation, between
two dead pirates? What was Stede going to do? Kill Blackbeard?
News flash-- someone had already been there-- done that. Stede made his way toward Joanna. “May I introduce myself,
Lass?” he asked, in a gentlemanly manner. He then paused to wait for
her response. At her nod he continued, “My name is Stede Bonnet. I
am also known as the gentleman pirate,” he emphasized the word
gentleman. “At your service, my lady,” Bonnet declared as he bowed
low at the waist.
“Oh, for Neptune’s sake, Stede…. Stop fawning all over her. The
lass is smart enough to know which of us in this room is privy to the
location of Blackbeard’s hidden treasure… and who in this room is not,”
Blackbeard boasted gleefully. He strode pompously forward inserting
his body between Stede and Joanna.
Stede shrugged in temporary defeat and moved to retrieve his glass of
grog. He drained it in one large gulp.
“As I was saying before I was interrupted,” Blackbeard said casting a
narrow look in Stede’s direction, “when I am again a flesh and blood
man, I would suspect you will not be so stand-offish toward me, Lass. I
promise you I know how to please a fire-filled woman such as yourself,”
he said raking his eyes boldly from the top of her head to the painted tips
of her toes.
Joanna took a step back retreating from his invasion of her space. Blackbeard puffed his chest out, the ruffles down the front of his
shirt adding to his impressive albeit ghostly image. “I happen to be very
rich,” he declared, “as well as heavily endowed.” He grinned while
waggling his eyebrows up and down.
At that, Stede barked with laughter, slammed his glass back on the