Chapter Seven Part Two

"Are ye goin' ta be able ta fix it?" Redbeard paced the hold, as Michaels inspected the mast step.

"I can make it work for now, see here this split ye got? I can shore it up but ye needs go to Nassau for replacing this section here." Given three days and a lot of work, Michaels knew he could have fixed it right as rain, however, none would want Redbeard around that long. If he could just get the pirate on his way, and away from them and also the Lady on the other side of the island, t'would be best.

"Do ye have any iron straps aboard?" Michaels turned his gaze on Redbeard, who scratched his chin, raising his eyes to the deck above them, as he thought.

"I believe we was runnin' a bit low on the supplies, we was plannin' on gettin' restocked in Nassau, guess that be another reason ta go." Redbeard shook his head, he had been hoping Michaels could save him the trip, as he wanted to hit the open water and get back to work.

Michaels turned to Pete, "Can ye row over and git three straps from me workroom, Pete? I be needin' some pins and shims, too."

Pete nodded and turned to go, Redbeard decided to follow Pete, as the rum was tapped above deck and he had a great thirst for some of a sudden. He did not like that his ship would be out of commission in Nassau, for a sennight at the least, whilst making the repairs.

Pete and Redbeard traversed the length of the hold and climbed up to the main deck. Redbeard's crew were gathered together, drinking rum and gambling on the forecastle deck. There was a boy of approximately ten years, a husky, scared boy, being harassed by the tipsy men. The boy was being ordered to fetch them more rum. As he went to do so, one pirate or another would stick out a foot so that the frightened boy would trip and fall down, or the pirates would move just so causing the boy to cower, as he was afraid of being smacked upside the head again. The pirates found this highly entertaining, laughing heartily when he hit the deck or anticipated a blow.

Pete was sick to his stomach watching the antics being perpetrated on the innocent child. "Is that our new boy?" Pete asked Redbeard, giving him a sidelong glare.

"He will be when the repairs is done." Redbeard sniggered as the boy hit the deck hard. Setting some of the crew to laughing, one slapping a knee, another harassed the boy even further for his lack of grace. Pete noticed that the boy endured the bullying silently. His face contorted with pain and degradation, but nonetheless, the boy endured the endless torture without uttering a sound.

"Ye know Violet likes his boys wi' out all the bruisin', ye best put a stop ta that goings on there." Pete suggested, as Redbeard narrowed his eyes and thought upon this for a moment.

"Ye know, iffin' ye all had more rum, I gots some more wee ones might whet your man's whistle." Redbeard looked askance at Pete, as Pete thought for the best way to go about this.

"How many? Wee ones that is?" Pete realized the pirate did not really care to drag children around, t'was just that he could auction them off at the slave trade. And that was on the chance that the 'wee ones' survived the voyage in good health. That meant caring for them, and Redbeard's crew did not seem to be interested in that end of the bargain.

"I gots me three more, two bits o' fluff, an 'nither boy what's kinda sickly, ye gots more rum, ye gots ta take em all. I ain't a needin' ta drag 'em all ta Nassau w' me if'n we needs repairs." Redbeard eyed the man carefully, watching Pete's face to give something away.

"I would be needin' to see them, ye understand?"

"But o' course, ri' this way....." Redbeard led Pete down to the forecastle and opened a cabin door. There were three small children inside, huddled together on a woolen blanket on the floor. Two buckets sat side by side in the corner, one held a brackish water, and Pete did not want to look in the other as it was obviously the chamber pot. The babes had tossed the crusty hardtack they had been given into the corner where rats ate at it, their red beady eyes watching them warily.

The three children quickly raised frightened eyes to the men, their fear and hopelessness draining their faces of color. Pete's blood boiled, if there were not twelve armed men right above his head, he would gladly drag Redbeard out and pummeled him well, until his own mother would not recognize him. As it was, Pete had to keep his head if he were to save them, and, t'was not an easy feat for Pete.

"I be thinkin', we gots three casks o' rum from the Captain Earl, I'll be askin' Violet if he's interested." Pete backed away from the door while Redbeard closed it and threw the latch.

"Tha' be three casks fer four wee ones, that be a good trade, eh?" Redbeard rubbed his hands together. One cask for the trip to Nassau, one for the week they were stuck there, and one until they found another ship to seize. His mouth watering for a taste of the brew, the pirate led Pete above deck, wanting that rum he went up for in the first place. The pirate licked his lips and nodded at Pete as they made the main deck. "A good trade, indeed, matey."

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A short dinghy ride later, Pete knocked lightly on Violet's cabin door. Vi called softly for him to enter.

Pete came upon a scene that was deceptively peaceful. Violet sat in the overstuffed chair with Betsy curled up in his lap, she lay asleep, emotionally exhausted in her husband's embrace. The small boy, who could not be any more than four years, slept upon the window seat. Pete hated to disturb them, but this was important.

"There are more of them, Vi," Pete spoke softly, but Betsy's eyes fluttered open as he spoke, the pain still evident in the doe eyes she turned upon him. Pete understood, as it took everything within him to keep his own pain from turning to violence. "There is the boy he told ye about, and three other little ones. I know ye would have me do what I could. I told him we had two more casks o' rum an he made the trade."

Pete was angry, he was but a few steps away from turning into the Viking of old. He knew as Vi did, however, that it would not help the children they still needed to secure.

"For all of them?" Violet held Betsy in place, as she would have risen, and unfettered him. He kept his arms around her, as he could not bring himself to let her go yet.

"Yes, Cap'n, for all of them." Pete smiled sadly at Betsy, sympathy written all over his face. He understood she was new to all this. It did not matter how many times a man went through this, you never became immune to the wretchedness of a child's plight.

"Am I needed, or are they about finished?" Violet stroked Betsy's silken hair, from her crown to her back, over and over. It was something real and tangible in his hands, something good and pure, that helped to bring him comfort.

"Michaels is splicin' in a repair, but he is directin' Red to Nassau, he said the repair is enough to get him there, but t'will need replacing in port. Why the man does not just sail another ship, is beyond me. That one is crumbling right out from under their feet." Pete shook his head at the whims of others, and the things that drove them.

"Hopefully t'will crumble away as they sail." Violet growled quietly. He kissed Betsy's temple as he continued stroking her tresses. Never before had Violet anyone to hold, or to hold him after one of these horrible, taxing confrontations. "'Tis good, Pete, I am relieved you found out about the others, we should get the cabin ready for them as soon as possible."

"Jus' stay put, Cap'n, I will tell Josh, an he will see to it. You may want to be there, Miss, when we bring em down, they be scared and all." Pete turned back to the door, heading out to get the supplies Michaels needed, the casks of rum, and to bring the others back when they finished.

"Thank you, Pete, 'Tis relieved I am you found them." Violet closed his eyes and lay his head against the back of the chair. His hand stilled as it rested on the back of Betsy's head.

Violet silently thanked God for the discovery, and for His previous help, and then, most of all, for his wife. She comforted him, she gave him something he had never had before, a feeling he had never felt before, but one he now knew he had been missing.

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Violet and his men watched the other ship depart, each man glad that Redbeard had stopped in, as they now had five children tucked away safely, children who needed love and comfort, and a new home.

Equally glad were they, as he departed, for it was hard to keep up the act.

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Betsy was belowdecks with Luke, the ship's surgeon. They were also accompanied by Davey, as he had a way with the previous hostages, that reassured them and kept them calm.

"How old ye be?" Davey asked the husky boy who had been saved from the pirate's crews taunting by Pete. Pete dropping a handful of pins, then calling the boy over to pick them up. It was the best Pete had been able to come up with at short notice, but it had worked. The pirates had been busy unloading the casks of rum from the dinghy, and Pete had just been inspired.

"I am ten and a half years, have you seen my brother?" The boy had curly, blonde hair and a bigger cherubic face than his brother, yet Davey could see the first boy they took aboard and this one were related.

"The Miss put him to sleep in the Cap'n's cabin, he be fine, let Luke look ye all over and we will be gettin' ye some vittles and clean rags, then we has us a bonfire on the beach, if'n ya want ta meet the other boys."

All of the children listened to the exchange, Davy's words were finally something in their world they could listen to, and not feel fear.

"What do these men want with us?" The big boy asked Davey, in a whisper, as he eyed Luke warily.

"To save you, jus the same as the Cap'n saved me, he's a right good sort and he cares fer us. That be his Miss, she be new, but we likes her. Just wait till ye sees 'er shoot, wowie, can the Miss shoot!"

The boy looked at Davey, amused with his enthusiasm, then looked to the Miss.

Betsy was crooning softly to the two girls, both of them were being held on her lap, encircled in her arms, as she tried to comfort them and ease their fears.

"What be your name? Mine is Davey, but all o' the crew calls me Harpy, or Harp." Davey smiled his big, gapped tooth smile at the boy, as the boy smiled back, his smile equally gapped.

"I am Timothy, and my brother is Jonah, they k-killed our father." The boys face scrunched up in pain, and he lowered it into his hands, to sob out the memory.

Davey put a hand on Timothy's shoulder, and kept it there, as the boy cried. Finally, now that he was safe, he was able to begin to process the horrible capture of their ship.

"T'will be alright, I am sorry for your da, I lost both o'mine, mum and da to the sickness, an the Cap'n takes care o' me now. Do you have a mum somewhere?" Davey asked, as Timothy raised his face and began drawing in air, gulping down the tears he would shed later, when tucked safely abed.

Timothy shook his head, "Our mother died when Jonah was born, it was just me, my father and Jonah, and now we have no father." The tears still dripped from Timothy's eyes, as Davey nodded in sympathy.

"Ye talk differnt, where ye be from Timothy." Davey questioned the boy's strange accent.

"You talk different, not me." Timothy chuckled a bit through the tears, reaching up a hand to wipe his face, he started at the top and smoothed his hand down, catching the tears that resided on his cheeks and those that dripped off his jaw, he then wiped his nose on his sleeve before replying. "We lived in the new America's and were on our way to England to visit our Grandfather."

"You have a pappy?" Davey asked, relieved that the two boys at least had some family left.

"I do, I have never met him, it was to be the first time." Timothy took a deep breath, finding himself extremely tired of a sudden. He had spent the last week taking the brunt of the pirates ridicule and torture, trying to keep the other children safe and out of the pirate's minds. It would have killed him to see Jonah treated as he had been. He could not say what he may have done if their attention had shifted to his sweet, little brother. It was bad enough their father was gone and he had had to deal with rats and filth, the taunting and abuse at the hands of the pirates, would have scarred the wee babe for life.

"Who was the man who saved me?" Timothy would be forever grateful to the large man who had gotten them all off that ship. The big man's eyes had been kind and understanding as he had dropped the pins, then asked Tim for his help. Timothy had followed Pete down to the hold and held the pins for the men, until they finished working on the step.

Timothy was so relieved that Pete had found a way to get the other children, as they had come to know one another fairly well on their previous ship. Timothy had supervised his brother's play with the three other children, everyday, until the attack and capture occurred.

"'Tis glad to be safe, I am." Timothy yawned and his body drooped. Davey sidled in beside him, letting Tim rest his head on his shoulder until it was his turn with Luke.

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