Page 4 of A Flash of Golden Fire

“Pull up a seat, Mr White.”

I blinked, my heart rate slowing, but hesitated because I didn’t understand what was happening.

“Sit. Down.” Captain Martin said, as one of the crew members grabbed a chair and scraped its feet over the floor so that the thing rammed into my leg.

I sat.

“I said you can come aboard,” the captain repeated.

I nodded, licking my cracked lips. I realized at that moment that I’d almost hoped for the bullet.

The captain lifted his hand and whistled a sharp note.

“Bring Mr White some ale, and more for me. And a bowl of stew for him too.” He ordered in a gruff timbre. “He’s crew now, and I’ll not have him starve.”

A fortunate thing I was sitting, because the thought of food and ale made me lightheaded. And now I felt bad about dousing him.

“I’m sorry…” I muttered, gesturing to his soiled clothing, and he laughed.

“Cooled me off.” He waved a hand in the air. “I’m sorry I almost shot you.” He glanced at his crew and turned back to me. “Have to keep up appearances, you see.”

I nodded.

The crew went back to their discussion as if Captain Martin hadn’t almost blown a man to bits in front of them. Perhaps indicative of the life I’d be leading that the possibility of bloodshed didn’t cause a stir.

Captain Martin held my gaze. He pulled the coin purse from his pocket, hefting the little sack and stroking the leather.

My breaths quickened and my cheeks flushed.

“Simon Bartholomew White, you have a fair set of bollocks on you,” he said, grinning.

He fondled the pouch, toying with the coins inside, as I felt a swelling in my groin. Then he tossed the bag toward me. Instinctively, I caught it and held the leather purse in my open palm with a feeling of disbelief.

“You can keep that.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, my fingers trembling. My brain was hazy with hunger, and I thought I might faint. I tucked the small bag of coins into my pocket as the barkeep, in his soiled apron, sauntered over.

“Here.”

He slammed a bowl of stew and a spoon down in front of me and then a tankard of rich brown ale. He handed the captain a soft cloth.

“Yours is coming in a minute, Din,” he said to the pirate captain, who nodded, wiping at the front of his shirt.

“And another round for the crew, if you don’t mind, Will. We’re pulling anchor tomorrow morning, but we have the night yet.”

The men around us lifted their tankards and shouted “Hoorah!” and “Cheers to Captain Martin!”

Captain Martin smiled at me then with a kindness that took me by surprise. “Drink up and eat your stew, Simon.”

I stared at him, still stunned to be alive and at the mercy of this man who stirred my blood and had offered me hope. Then I wrapped my hand around the spoon and started to shovel the steaming stew into my mouth. The scalding food burned my lips and palate, but I was so fucking hungry the pain didn’t matter. I gulped the stew down, making embarrassing sounds and hissing at the heat.

When next I looked at Captain Martin, he regarded me with a strange sort of pity in his expression. I didn’t have the energy to protest, but I glared at him over my spoon, angry that he had to see me like this.

As if he realized my thoughts, he shifted his attention back to the crew and began to regale them with more bawdy and exciting tales. Mesmerized once again by their charismatic and well-spoken leader, they ignored me as I ate and drank.

Carago had told me that pirates were an uneducated bunch of immoral vagabonds, and most of the crew fit that description. But Captain Martin had a turn of phrase and a way of speaking that made me imagine him in a schoolroom as a child and then, as a young man, learning to read and write and figure, just like the most respected magistrate in the town. How did a man like that end up leading a swarthy crew of misfits that I was soon to join? I was eager to find out, and certain he’d had some kind of a career in the British Navy. He’d abandoned his post for some reason, or perhaps for many.

As the nourishment filled my belly and the ale revived my spirits, a different kind of ache assailed me. I needed to know more about Captain Martin.

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