Pirate Chips: A Buccaneer's Curse

Day Three: The Bedford Flag

With my crew and coordinates, I set sail down the Caribbean towards Massachusetts Isle. It was an island I had before heard tell of, but was apparently located between two of the more famous islands from the Revolutionary War. It was the kind of Island that no one would ever visit except for by accident. The perfect place to bury secrets.

                  With more hands on deck, the Bedford Blue’s journey was much smoother. I did not have to rush around as much on deck, and could keep to my captains’ duties of steering and anticipating trouble.

                  Massachusetts Isle, once I had the coordinates, was incredibly easy to find. It took half a day’s journey to reach it. Giving me half a day to find what the ship had lost. I just hoped Lexington had given me the right information. I knew better than to put all my trust in another pirate, but this time I had nothing else to lose. Besides, he had nothing to gain from withholding any information—I hadn’t taken his ship, and I’d barely made a dent in his treasure.

                  As the Bedford Blue set port on Massachusetts Isle, we were greeted immediately by a strange gathering of townsfolk. There was nothing unusual about the way they were dressed, in their long dresses and waistcoats—what was unusual was the way they had rushed to the Bedford and all seemed to stare at me.

                  “Ahoy,” I called out to them, coming down from my ship.

                  “Have you come to break the curse?” One of the men in the crowd called out.

                  I stopped when my feet hit the dock. “What do you know about the curse?” I asked the group.                 

                  “Hurry, time is against us,” called one of the women. “Quickly.”

                  The crowd pulled me into them, and before I knew where I was going, they pulled me down the main street and into an old building. There was nothing unusual about the main street, either. Lined with houses, cobblestone road, horses  trotting around. It was next to a wide green common, that must have been the town gathering place.

                  “This is the library,” said woman, dressed in a fashionable gown.

                  “Aye,” I replied, noting the abundance of books that surrounded me.

                  “And this,” a man said, pulling me over to a dark chest, “Is your flag.”

                  He reached into the chest and pulled out a square tapestry. It was crimson red, with a kinght’s arm striking from one of the edges. In a yellow banner were the words, Vince Aut Morire”

                  “Conquer or die,” I heard someone translate.

                  “This is the oldest flag in the country,” said the man. “And it once belonged to the Bedford Blue.”

                  My eyes widened. “This is what needs to be returned to the ship!” I’d found it. This was amazing.

                  “Except it’s broken,” one of the women said sadly. She pointed towards the edge of the flag, and I saw what she meant. A silver fringe ran around the edges of the flag, except for a hole in one end.

                  “We’ve been waiting for someone to come and repair the fringe,” said a man with long suspenders. “Restore the flag and the curse is lifted.”

                  “The curse,” I paused, “It’s on all of you, too?”

                  “It’s been on our Isle for years,” an elder woman responded. “Ever since the fringe was stolen from us. Our flag was kept in an attic for quite some time, until one of the ladies of the house needed a fringe form her dress. We have been cursed for as long as the flag has been damaged. None of us can leave this isle until the curse is lifted.”

                  “Do you know how to repair the flag?” I asked them.

                  The women shook her head. “Only a true Buccaneer can do it. And since none of us have ever been aboard a ship, we have been relying on a sailor to come help. And here you are, with the Bedford Blue itself. It is up to you to help us. It is up to you to save yourself.” 

                  That was when the tiny voice in the back of my head said, See? Stealing is wrong.

                  I shook the voice out of my head and nodded. If anything, I was a Buccaneer. I could feel it in my bones: I was a pirate.

                  “Does anyone have any needles?” I asked. 

 * * *

                  The townspeople gathered around me as I tore the silver fringe from my own pirate’s hat and sewed it onto the flag. The sun was just beginning to set when I tied the last knot around the edge. I admired my handiwork. While sewing was not my forte, the women from the town had instructed me on what to do, and the flag was repaired again.

                  “How do we know if the curse is lifted?” I asked them.

                  “We have to try and leave the island,” the man with the suspenders replied. “If we can come aboard your boat without falling ill, the curse is gone.”

                  I led the townspeople over to the boat, carrying their flag in my hands. “You keep it,” the elder woman had told me, and so I climbed the Bedford’s mast, securing the flag in its rightful place.

                  Cheering erupted behind me when I did, and I turned towards the townspeople, waiting for them to test their limits. If they could come aboard the ship, the curse was gone. If they could come aboard the ship, I wouldn’t die tonight.

                  Slowly, the elder most woman tentatively stepped on the ladder. Quietly and solomly, she made her way up the ladder, and I reached to pull her over the deck. “How do you feel?” I asked her, when she came on board.

                  The woman grinned and turned towards the townspeople. “Time to find me some pirates treasure!”

                  More cheering erupted, as the rest of the town climbed aboard.

                  I stood on the deck, watching these people, and realized I would have to give up by latest boat. Even though ships can be stolen and in the way they change hands, they never really belong to anyone… This boat belonged to these people. Besides, I knew I couldn’t stay on one boat forever.

                  There was also a legend, lingering in the wind, of a ship that might have been even faster.