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.
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Chapter 7 Porto Grande
After a couple of days of fast sailing HMS Surprise sighted a sail on the horizon. As the ships closed the newcomer was identified as the Scourge, one of Black Sanchez's consort ships. Accurate long range gunnery from the Royal Navy vessel soon saw the Scourge's main mast fall and, as their prey floundered, our party of heroes leapt into the boats to join the boarding party. 
The battle for possession of the Scourge was long and fierce. It soon became clear that the ship was taking on water which added to the urgency of the situation.
Eventually the ship was taken and the remainder of the party were transferred aboard as a prize crew. Our heroes were tasked with repairing the damaged Scourge and then to make their way towards Porto Grande, the location of which was confirmed by charts aboard the captured vessel.
Under Lefty's expert supervision the Scourge was repaired and underway in half the time expected.
The following night they were intercepted by the Devil's Doom, Sanchez's other consort brigantine and battle was joined. 
The superior seamanship of Panama Red ensured our heroes had the advantage during the battle and they were soon alongside the Devil's Doom and swarming on to her decks.
The pirates surrendered and, unwilling to keep a crowd of dangerous prisoners on board, the party set them adrift in the disabled remains of their ship.
Having disposed of yet another crew of cutthroats our heroes renewed their journey towards the pirate stronghold of Black Sanchez. 
By the time the party rendezvoused with The Surprise the navy had disabled Sanchez's Vengeance and bottled the pirates up in their island base.
Scouting parties of sailors and Marines had managed to gain a general overview of the camp.
Our heroes were detailed to launch a rescue mission to free the Fairfax girls and signal when they were clear. This would allow Captain Aubrey to open fire on the settlement with his ship's guns without fear of harming civilians. Landing by boat the party approached the camp from the East, moving silently through the jungle. 
Celina went forward and scouted each building in turn. She found a lot of pirates enjoying their revels but no sign of the kidnapped girls.
sounds to the South in the jungle alerted our heroes to the presence of a second, hidden, gun battery. After a short discussion they decided not to try and silence it.
Creeping around the North of the camp the party crossed the stream with no mishaps and neared the buildings on the other side.
Checking the largest of the buildings revealed the Fairfax girls held prisoner in a back room and Sanchez and a Lieutenant conferring in the front.
Pananma Red, the Professor, Planchet and Captain Goodwood moved around to the West to cause a diversion.
They threw grenades at the far edge of the camp in order to draw the pirates away from Sanchez's house. One of the grenades set fire to a small building near the stores.
As the commotion in the camp intensified Hamish cut his way into the girls' prison room and Honest Jake led them to safety.
Celina and Courtney burst into the main room in order to kill or capture Black Sanchez.
Unfortunately Sanchez had run outside to organise his men into fire fighting details so they were left with only the lieutenant to kill. He soon fell beneath their swords. 
As the party set off their signal rocket to let The Surprise know they were clear the small building which was the pirates' magazine exploded destroying several other buildings.
Our heroes regained their boats and got the Fairfax girls reunited with their grateful father as The Surprise's broadsides flattened the pirates' base. As dawn arrived sailors and Marines stormed ashore and captured Sanchez allowing Captain Aubrey and our heroes to start their return voyage to Montserrat.
On its return to Montserrat the expedition was feted by the whole town of Plymouth. The Governor held a banquet in celebration of the achievements of our heroes and the Royal Navy which everyone of any consequence attended.
During the evening Jacobson was spotted conferring with Lady Caroline and soon both of them headed upstairs. Celina followed them and found them pouring over charts and papers in the library. As she watched there was a loud explosion and the window burst inwards and roiling smoke obscured the room. From out of the smoke a fantastic beast leapt at Jacobson. 
Celina darted forward, grabbed Lady Caroline and dragged her out of the room.
The rest of the party arrived ahead of the crowd of guests. Some saw the strange beast and recoiled but others spotted some China men trying to wrestle the golden monkey away from Jacobson. 
Shots were fired, swords were swung and the China men fell to the ground. In the confusion Lefty snatched the golden monkey and headed for the exit. As the fresh air from outside cleared the smoke from the room the beast dissolved into nothing.
The banquet broke up and our heroes returned to their room in town to look at the maps and papers they had taken from the library. Questions were asked about the creature but the Professor had detected the scent of opium in the room and Jake had found the remains of a peculiar paper and bamboo animal costume in the shrubbery below the broken window. Oriental trickery was suspected.
Jacobson and Lady Caroline had marked up a map of the Mexican coast with notes about 'the mountain of the Resourceful Star' which tied in to the Chines writing the party had found on Monkey Island.
Further investigations found that Lady Caroline was paying for the fitting out of a ship. Our heroes decided to head for Mexico immediately to get a head start in what was obviously a race for another of the golden monkeys. 
A couple of days later a re-provisioned Scourge sailed out of Plymouth harbour and headed east.
But, as Montserrat fell away below the horizon, the party spotted a strange set of sails following them... 
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NEXT Mexico
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