The Adventures of Pocahontas and John Rolfe: Book I

Chapter 17: Living on a Prayer

The Adventures of Pocahontas and John Rolfe: Book I

Chapter 17: Living on a Prayer

By morning, Flame's crew had greatly slowed its pace of pursuit. The exhaustion was plain on each man's face until a young buck crossed their path up ahead. Each of the men froze, their bellies rumbling and mouths watering. Flame put a finger to his lips, quieting the crew. He pulled out his musket and silently loaded it, creeping through the brush. He glanced back to the others and signaled for the bosun and Bandit Lee to join him, the two being the next best shots in the crew. The bosun handed Françoise over to Buckle Bree, worried that the canine might make too much noise and scare off the deer. The rest of the men stayed put in hope of having a next meal as they trembled with anticipation.

The trio disappeared into the forest up ahead for nearly twenty minutes. Eventually, the bang of a gunshot was heard echoing loudly over the trees. A noisy whistle indicated success. The men all cheered with enthusiasm and raced off to find the bosun and Bandit Lee gutting and skinning a fresh carcass. "It's a just little bit bigger than the last one! Cheers to all!" Bandit Lee exclaimed when the rest of the crewmen arrived.

The pirates all hurrahed boisterously as they hurried over to the kill. "And there are less men to share with! Bigger portions for everyone!" decried Mick Sane in triumph.

"It's a bona fide feast," acclaimed Blank Samuel. "If only we had some rum too."

Flame pointed to Sick Phillip, Cole Hughes, and Guy Rush. "You men get the firewood." Then he pointed to Mick Sane and Bo Copper. "You prepare the pit." Finally, he set eyes on Buckle Bree. "You find limbs for the spit. Hurry it up, you all! The sooner we devour the beast, the sooner we get our revenge!" he commanded, waving his sword in the air.

The crew was so hungry that it took no longer than fifteen minutes for each pirate to carry out his assigned tasks. Before long, the sumptuous scent of sizzling venison permeated the wooded area. There was more than enough food to go around yet the pirates devoured every last scrap of the deer meat. They fed the less appetizing organs to Françoise, who gobbled them all up greedily. By the time they were done, not so much as a morsel of bone marrow remained amongst the charred bones of the deceased prey.

The satiated group lazed around the warm fire in the blissful aftermath of the repast. They said not a word in hope that Flame would allow them to rest. After about twenty minutes Mick Sane gathered up the nerve to side-glance over at the captain, only to find Flame's eyes closed. A small snore indicated that he was fast asleep. Mick leaned over to the man right next to him, Guy Rush, and whispered, "Tell everyone to keep quiet. Cap'n's asleep. Maybe he won't wake up for a while and give us a chance to rest, eh?"

Guy Rush nodded his head and passed on the message. Bo Copper quietly scooted forward and added more logs to the fire, gently poking at them. The comforting warmth combined with their swollen bellies lulled the crew to sleep in no time.

...

Flit had posted himself a couple of miles south of his friends' location. He was keeping a lookout when he heard the sound of a distant gunshot. The hummingbird followed the source of the noise a bit farther south until he came upon the crew. By the time he arrived, they were preparing a campfire to cook themselves a meal of fresh venison. As they were stagnant, Flit decided to perch himself in a tree overlooking the feasting scoundrels and keep an eye on them until they started to move again. Then the little bird would go back to warn Siwili, John Rolfe, Pocahontas, and the other animals.

Flit's main concern was that the pirates would move on as soon as they finished their feast, but that did not turn out to be the case. Fortunately, they all fell asleep around the campfire in the wake of the meal. The hummingbird smiled. If the crewmen were resting, it would give his exhausted friends more time to rest as well. Flit surveyed the area, discovering a few autumn blossoms in a place not far from the crew. He took a break to drink nectar and returned to the tree branch over the campfire. There he remained, staying perfectly awake and alert the whole time to keep watch over the smelly scumbags.