Jeff the Accountant Escapes the Wretched Burning Depths of Hades

Fellow Pirates

The only hitch to getting Mary and Doug back home safely was running into some of Blackbeard's old "acquaintances".

The Revenge hadn't been flying Blackbeard's flag, hoping to attract less attention while his guests were aboard. However, the ship was known as Blackbeard's vessel, and nothing could hide that. Seeing the ship, and hoping to get in the good graces of the pirate captain, the captain of The Sea Ghost moved to a distance close enough to send a dinghy manned by two sailors with a white flag and a message for Blackbeard.

Ed had Fang escort his guests below, their safety his top priority. He made sure to stress to his crew that Mary and Doug's safety had best be their top priority as well. The crew would have to suppress their instincts to engage in any fighting whatsoever with the crew of The Sea Ghost.

Blackbeard learned, from the message the captain had sent, that a battle was not what he had in mind, either. He simply had some news that Edward might be interested in.

In the time it took the rowboat to get back to the ship with Blackbeard's invitation to come aboard, Mary and Doug were told that Ed was going to "take a meeting" with the captain. Staying belowdeck was the best way to keep them out of harm's way.

Mary used the time they were stationary to complete the portrait of Ed that she'd been working on. She was happy, knowing that it would be finished in time to present to her new friend with all his crew present. She and Doug heard the men who Ed was meeting with when they came aboard, but were soon enough settled into their own world of highlights and blending, brushstrokes and palette knife scrapings. Doug worked on his portrait of Lucius while Mary added the finishing touches to hers of Blackbeard.

Because Lucius walked around freely with his sketchbook, Blackbeard didn't suspect anything as his expressions were being captured on paper for Mary to use as a starting point for her painting.

Blackbeard decided to stay on deck to meet with Captain Renshaw. They greeted each other cordially, as old friends. The Sea Ghost's captain knew not to ask too many questions about what Blackbeard had been up to, or what he might be planning. Though he was riddled with curiosity about whether the rumors of him and The Gentleman Pirate were true, that poor soul was dead now. So, clearly, a relationship of any kind between them was not in the picture.

"I wanted to tell you some news, since I don't know if you've heard. It concerns Hell's Ferry and her new captain.

"Go on" Blackbeard said evenly.

"Well, word is, they captured two of your men at gunpoint. Spirited them away, right under your nose." Captain Renshaw scanned Blackbeard's face, looking for any sign of what he was thinking, what he was feeling. But Ed's face remained unchanged.

"Go on" Ed knew his guest had more to say.

"A merchant ship, The Prosperity, was raided by them, not more than two days ago. Some of the men are spreading tales in Curaçao that Pirate Captain Cinna questioned them. About you. And seeing The Revenge anchored off the shore of Barbados. The captain had the impression that Cinna was in the mood for a showdown. With you."

Still no reaction from Blackbeard. Which frustrated Captain Renshaw. "He's quite an accomplished swordsman, Blackbeard. I've heard stories."

"Stories. It's always stories." Blackbeard said. "Have you, or any of your men, actually seen this person in the act of wielding a sword?" He looked around at the few crew members who had come aboard with Captain Renshaw.

Edward knew that reputations could grow and grow and grow, based on relatively little factual input. He was living proof of that. A consistency in the Captain Cinna tales troubled him, though. Bloodshed was always kept to a minimum. No ship he and his crew attacked was ever left high and dry. Was that calculated, on Cinna's part? Or was it in Cinna's nature to be...somewhat of a gentleman...in his dealings with other captains?

None of Captain Renshaw's men could say they'd seen the captain of Hell's Ferry in an actual sword fight.

"But these stories didn't come out of the blue, Blackbeard. They came from men who have been attacked by him and his crew."

"Well, until I can actually talk to one of them - someone who has survived an attack by the dread Pirate Captain Cinna, I'm gonna go about my business." Ed added a healthy amount of sarcasm to the words "dread Pirate Captain Cinna".

Captain Renshaw had one more thought. Still hoping to gain any morsel of indebtedness from Blackbeard, he said "Wasn't Stede Bonnett from Barbados? Doesn't he have family there?"

Lucius was probably the most adept of Blackbeard's men at thinking quickly on his feet. He saw how Ed's expression changed. How, though he wasn't exactly verbose to begin with, the stream of words he was using was drying up. Fast. What Lucius had come to know as "The Silence" was setting in.

"The Captain's well aware of that, thank you" he spoke up. Ed scowled at him as he stepped casually in between him and Captain Renshaw, motioning with his eyes to belowdecks. Ed saw the plea on the boy's face and remembered.

Though he wanted to do some very bloodthirsty pirate-y things, set some particularly gruesome tasks for his crew, he remained calm.

"Renshaw, it seems that you've gotten yourself worked up into quite an unhealthy interest in Stede Bonnett and his family. You might want to talk to someone about that, yeah?" He laughed and clapped the captain on the shoulder, a show of comradeship.

Feeling safe, Captain Renshaw said "No, no unhealthy interest. Just passing along some information. I guess you're right about stories. At sea, you never know what's the truth and what's been added to, bit by bit, before it got to you."

"And that sums it up, doesn't it, mate?" Blackbeard said. "You were good, though, to bring this to my attention. I owe you one."

And that was all that Captain Renshaw needed to hear. He and the crew members of The Sea Ghost said goodbye to the captain and crew of The Revenge and went on their way, Captain Renshaw tucking away the promise of a favor from Blackbeard himself. A man who always honored his word when it came to fellow pirates.