Chapter 1
It had only taken a single shot from one of the cannons mounted on the aft side of the ship. Franz heard the shattering roar as the cannonball shot through the air and watched with amazement as it tore a sizeable hole in the other ship. The wood and debris that flew up in the air and then scattered into the waves around them had been quite the sight to see, but alas. Once the cannonball had ripped a sizeable chunk out of their deck, they had dropped their sails and flown the white flag of surrender. That part had been quite disappointing, after all. Franz and his friends had been in the mood for a good scrap, and it now appeared that there wouldn’t be one. Now as the they slowly steered towards the vessel, Franz and his shipmates got planks ready to board the other ship and to quickly ransack it. If they were lucky, it would have some interesting cargo and not just the regular run of the mill supplies. At any rate, Franz kept his flintlock pistol ready as well as his short sword. Although they had surrendered, there was no telling if they were honorable and wouldn’t attack once Franz and his crewmates began to board the ship. As the two ships came within reach, the pirates lowered the planks across and began to cross over. The merchants had gathered on the deck and looked absolutely terrified as Franz and the others ran across the planks, weapons in hand. To their credit, they did not fight back and after some shouting, gave up no resistance as the pirates moved their cargo from their hold back to the pirate ship. It was a rather impressive haul actually as there was all manner of spices, clothing and tools. While it wasn’t the gold and jewels that Franz and his friends had been hoping to find. It would still fetch them a fair amount of money once they returned to port. Once they had completely ransacked the merchant vessel, the ship was steered away, and the pirates began to make their getaway. Up top in the crow’s nest, one of the deckhands had been keeping an eye on the horizon for signs of any approaching sails but had not seen any and so, they fled without incident. Franz would have preferred to sink the merchant vessel, but as he was only a member of the crew and not someone of authority, he kept his opinion to himself. As they sailed away, Franz began to dreamily think of what he would do with his share of the plunder. With their sails full of wind, they quickly made their way back to Port Royal and safe harbor.
The journey back had been uneventful and thankfully passed by quickly. With money in hand, Franz, and his two friends Heinrich and Wilhelm all but ran down the gangplank and made their way to their favorite pub. ’The Yellow Gull’ which was located close to the docks and had several brothels located nearby. “It feels good to have solid ground beneath our feet again.” Wilhelm announced as soon as they were off the dock and had dirt beneath their feet.
“Agreed, although if it weren’t for the ocean, we wouldn’t have coin in our hands right now.” Franz replied with a broad smile. Passively, he played with his mustache, twisting it with his fingers.
“That’s true, but I always sleep better on dry land. Especially with a beautiful woman by my side.” Franz looked down at his shorter companion and had to stifle a laugh. After all, Wilhelm was anything but handsome. His cleanly shaven head was covered in scars and although his face was quite cherubic. It was clearly ruined by a very large and flat nose with eyes that were a bit too far spread apart.
“Well let’s start off with a nice stiff drink and we’ll see where the night takes us from there.” Franz responded. The other two men nodded their agreement. Suddenly, Heinrich pointed his lanky arm out towards some tents that had been crudely set up in an alley just off the main thoroughfare. Heinrich was nearly as tall as Franz, but unlike Franz’s well-built muscular physique. Heinrich was nearly pencil thin and gangly in appearance. His chin and cheek were marked with fresh cuts from where he had done a fairly decent job of shaving off the thick beard he had grown since their last time on land. While Franz could grow a fabulous moustache, Heinrich had the three of them beat when it came to having the fullest and thickest beard.
“Hey guys, there’s a fortune teller over there. I know you two don’t put a lot of stock in them, but could we please go and have our fortunes read first. The pub can wait for a few minutes.” Annoyed, both Wilhelm and Franz exchanged glances. “It will only take a few minutes and I’ll pay.” With that, Wilhelm and Franz relented, and the trio approached one of the tents. Tentatively Heinrich poked his head inside and was encouraged to enter. “Come on guys, she’s ready. No one else is in there.” Slowly, the three men walked into the tent which was lit up only by dim candlelight. On one side of the tent was, an older woman, dressed all in black with a purple shawl draped over her shoulders. Franz wondered if all fortune tellers wore such clothes as if they were some kind of a uniform. In front of her was a short round table that was covered in a very dirty yellowing tablecloth. The edges of which were very frayed and covered in mud and grass stains from years of use. The old woman’s hair was nearly entirely grey but there were still whisps of black here and there. Taking a good long hard look at her frail appearance, Franz nearly rolled his eyes out of his head. Her fingers were bent and crooked, while deep wrinkles marked her face. To him, she looked like someone he had always been told as a child to avoid. She looked like a witch and even though Heinrich had offered to pay for her services, he could easily think of ten better uses for the money. With her encouragement, Heinrich quickly seated himself opposite of her in a wooden chair, followed by Wilhelm. Franz however debated briefly of leaving his companions behind when his eyes met the old woman’s. While her body was showing signs of frailty, her eyes were still powerful and gave her an aura of authority. To Franz, it felt like her gaze was penetrating his own eyes and looking past them, but somehow, he also felt somehow comforted by her. And so, with a little less hesitation, he joined his comrades and sat opposite her as well.
