Savages

The port town of Port Royal was bustling with activity. There was to be a hanging in the town square. A pirate had been captured and was to be executed. Captain Arthur Kirkland was the leader of a band of pirates that commonly circled the waters around Port Royal. But Governor Alfred F. Jones’ real motive for the hanging was more personal. His younger sister, Amelia, was thought to have had a romantic relationship with Captain Kirkland. And the American just wanted an excuse to wage war on the pirates, whom he despised with all his heart.

Alfred’s twin brother and best friend, Matthew, agreed wholeheartedly. After their parents had been killed by pirates, the brothers vowed to wipe out the entire pirate race. So when her two elder brothers caught wind of the rumor of the relationship Amelia might be having with Kirkland, they took it upon themselves to find and capture the captain. They had not told Amelia of their plan, for fear she might try to get in the way.

Meanwhile, aboard the pirate ship the Cour Valant, Francis Bonnefoy paced back and forth. Mr. Bonnefoy was first mate aboard the Valant. His companions, Antonio Carriedo and Gilbert Beilschmidt, watched him from the helm as he paced the length of the ship.

“Mon dieu, where is Arzhur?” Francis asked in his French accent.

“I’m sure our capitán is fine,” Antonio replied, slipping a little bit of his native language, Spanish, into the sentence.

“Ja,” Gilbert added. “He’s gottverdammte Arthur Kirkland. He’ll be fine.”

Just then, Arthur’s sister, Alice, came up from below deck. Her blonde pigtails waved in the breeze as her glasses started sliding down the bridge of her nose. Her eyes lit up when she saw Francis, but then dimmed when she heard their topic of conversation.

“I’m afraid he’s not fine,” the British girl informed them. “Arthur’s been captured by the townspeople. He’s set to be hanged today. I only just found out.”

“Mein Gott,” Gilbert muttered, his pet bird, Gilbird, flying around his head. “Vhat has he done to deserve that?”

“It was that temptress of a Governess, Amelia Jones. The younger sister of the Governor, Alfred F. Jones,” Alice spat.

“Souillon,” Francis murmured. “Those monsters are going to kill him without a fair trial!”

“And they call us savages,” Antonio added.

“What can you expect from filthy little heathens? Their whole disgusting race is like a curse. Their skin's a hellish red. They're only good when dead. They're vermin, as I said and worse,” Francis started singing.

“They’re savages! Savages!” Antonio, Gilbert, and Alice sang in unison.

“Barely even human!” Francis encouraged them, gaining the attention from other sailors on the ship.

“Savages! Savages!” the ship sang.

Francis stood on the railing, holding onto netting for support, looking over the heads of the pirates. “Drive them from our shore! They’re not like you and me, which means they must be evil! We must sound the drums of war!”

The ship was rallied into a frenzy. “They’re savages! Savages! Dirty redskin devils! Now we sound the drums of war!”

Back in Port Royal, the men of the town were holding a meeting before the hanging. Governor Jones and his brother Matthew were leading the meeting. Also there were their friends, Ivan and Feliciano.

“This is what we feared; the pale-face is a demon! The only thing they feel at all is greed!” Alfred started.

“Beneath their milky hide, there’s emptiness inside,” Matthew added.