Celina Merice. Panama Red. Captain Reginald Goodwood. Planchet. Lefty Hamish McTavish. Honest Jake Fluke. Professor Julius Arbuthnott. 'Colonel' Courtney Rice.
The crew: Wu Ma, cook's assistant. Bartholomew Stew, cook. John Oxenham, ship's carpenter. Nermal, ship's cat. JEREMY, a goat.
The crew: Wu Ma, cook's assistant. Bartholomew Stew, cook. John Oxenham, ship's carpenter. Nermal, ship's cat. JEREMY, a goat.
Chapter 6 Black Sanchez
Early the next morning the party were out shopping for pistols when they spotted a familiar face. The woman from the locket they'd found when they were shipwrecked was strolling through the market square accompanied by a couple of servants. They approached her and delicately broached the subject of her husband's death. There was confusion on both sides as the conversation became awkward and the woman hurriedly offered a sizeable sum of money for the recovered items.
A Naval lieutenant joined the group enquiring if the woman required assistance, things were escalating so our heroes accepted the offered money and the woman moved off.
Whilst most of the party engaged the Lieutenant in conversation Celina followed the woman.
The Lieutenant identified the woman as the wife of the Governor and this was confirmed by Celina who followed her to her home. Once again things were more complicated than our heroes had first thought. As the party bade good day to the officer and moved on they spotted a Chinaman who had evidently been watching them slip away into the shadows. Since there seemed no way to make progress in the matter of the Governor's wife or Jacobson and his monkey our heroes decided to try and earn some money by paying a visit to Judge Simpson who was offering a reward concerning the death of his prized racehorse in a stable fire.
Judge Simpson was not convinced the body in the stable was that of his champion horse and feared it might have been stolen.
Investigating the scene our heroes soon spotted tracks and signs that this was indeed the case. Local gossip was saying that Paddy O'Reilly had met the Devil in a churchyard and been given a horse that was sure to win the Davy Hill cup so the party heady north to Davy Hill to have a word with the O'Reilly clan. At Davy Hill the party got directions to the O'Reilly farm where they met with Paddy and his brothers.
They were allowed to view the magical horse after paying an entirely reasonable fee of a shilling each. The horse, amazingly, was bright red. A sure sign that it came from Hell itself. Other than its colour though it did bear a striking resemblance to Judge Simpson's missing thoroughbred. Our heroes said goodbye to the O'Reillys promising to bet on the wondrous horse on race day and retreated into the nearby hills to await nightfall.
Seeing the horse had answered another question, who had broken into the Naval stores and stolen a barrel of scarlet uniform dye a few days ago? Our heroes agreed that the cunning and inventiveness of the O'Reillys was mind boggling. Our heroes retreated into the countryside and waited for night to fall before returning to the O'Reilly farm to rescue the horse.
Under cover of darkness they stealthily made their way into the courtyard. They were immediately confronted by a pair of huge Irish wolfhounds. Panama Red rushed forward in an attempt to silence them quickly.
Things didn't go to plan and he was soon fighting for his life as the snarling and biting dogs raised the alarm. Jake moved past the dogs and jammed the lock of the house door from the outside trapping the O'Reillys inside their living quarters.
As Celina led the rescued horse away and Panama and Jake finished off the dogs some of the O'Reillys appeared on the roof and opened fire.
Their shooting was ineffectual and our heroes made off with their prize.
The horse was returned to Judge Simpson and everyone was happy with a job well done. Our heroes had made another friend in Plymouth and had coins in their pockets.
The next morning the market square in Plymouth was bustling with crowds as the Spanish pirates who had kidnapped Mary Fairfax were to be publicly hanged.
One of the pirates shouted out that his captain, Black Sanchez, had not killed the Fairfax girl but had kept her as a plaything. Furthermore, Black Sanchez had vowed to return and take her sister Dorothy so that he could own a matching set.
His words were cut short as the trap doors were opened and the bodies dropped but the crowd reacted with worried shouts and some of the women fainted.
George Fairfax, the girls' father, stepped up onto the scaffold and asked for volunteers to help protect and guard his daughter. Many townsfolk stepped forward amid cheers from the crowd and our heroes joined them.
Only Celina noticed the Chinaman who watched from a rooftop.
As the crowds dispersed, most streaming north for an afternoon of racing at the Davy Hill racetrack, the party decided this was a perfect time to have another look at the Governor's mansion.
The mansion was deserted apart from a few house slaves who kept out of our heroes' way. A thorough search discovered a list of Scorpion Society members, evidence that the Governor mistreated his wife abominably and the shallow graves of several young women in the grounds. All of which just served to confirm the party's suspicions.
As the happy crowds began to return from the Davy Hill races our heroes made their way to the east side of the island and the Fairfax plantation where they took station in the main entrance hall along with other locals and George Fairfax himself.
The night wore on but nothing happened. Marines, plantation slaves and townsfolk were patrolling the grounds to the front and the rear was protected by eighty foot high sheer cliffs.
Dorothy was in her room and the door was guarded by four men. Suddenly, at around 2A.M. Don Sanchez, a retired Spanish Naval officer and George Fairfax's particular friend, shot two fo the men guarding the bedroom door, ran the other through with his sword and entered the room.
Seconds later there was a scream and the sound of breaking glass. The party rushed into the room and found it empty with a smashed window. Far below Don Sanchez and Dorothy were being helped into a rowing boat by the crew. Out to sea the lights of a three-masted ship could be seen.
Consternation gripped the household. George Fairfax could not, would not, believe that his friend Don Sanchez, a gentleman, could possibly be in league with the pirate Black Sanchez.
Captain Aubrey, dressing the pistol would he had received from the 'gentleman', announced he was taking his ship in pursuit at once and our heroes asked to join him. With their offer of help accepted it was only a matter of a couple of hours before HMS Surprise raised sail and left Plymouth harbour in pursuit of the Vengeance.
On board the party, the crew and George Fairfax faced an uncertain and hazardous voyage with the fate of one, and possibly, two young ladies in the balance. |
Davy Hill
Davy Hill is a settlement in the north of the Caribbean island of Montserrat, located close to the west coast near the narrowest point of the island on a saddle between the main bulk of the island's Centre Hills, and the peak of Silver Hill close to the island's northern tip. It is connected by road with the settlement of St John's, which lies two kilometres to the southeast. The flat land around Davy Hill is given over to farming food rather than growing cash crops and contains numerous small holdings. It is also home to the Davy Hill racetrack where horses and dogs compete regularly. There is a thriving community of bookies and associated hangers on.
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