And here it is! My response to prompt number 5 and it’s no joke! Here there be pirates 😉
Now that Camp NaNoWriMo has started, I hope you’re all working on your April projects! All it takes is one month and you can turn an idea into a full-length novel! Give it a shot if you haven’t before. If you have, tackle another! You can never write too many books. Just ask James Patterson!
See y’all tomorrow for the next prompt. Happy writing!
Everything was just as it had always been the night the Narcissa burned. No signs of attack, no quarrels in the streets, nothing to suggest the most feared pirate ship in the Caribbean would be engulfed in the very flames she so often bestowed upon her victims.
What followed, however, was just as everyone expected when–barely two days after Narcissa was salvaged for scraps–the Jezebel made berth in Nassau. But I am getting ahead of myself. For the events I describe to resonate, I must first explain how it all began:
My name is Morgan Reed. For the past seven years I have called New Providence home. What brought me here is not of consequence, but since I landed I have built a successful business in ship repair. Though the crown may wish to change it, our lovely town of Nassau is–among other things–a safe haven for buccaneers. While some of our patrons are sanctioned by the government, many are not. Still, so long as a peaceful life is maintained, we allow our guests to conduct their affairs without disturbance.
This is not to say the island is without disruption, but so long as I have been here, one could always be certain that if the Narcissa and her crew docked, order was swiftly enforced by her captain. William Delaney had about as much influence over the town as its governor, if not more so. Whenever the winds sent him to our shores, Nassau enjoyed a particular kind of peace.
But Delaney did not bring his company as often as he had in years past. Rumors among other crews were he’d started to go soft, though no man would dare challenge him. In the Narcissa’s absence, however, another ship had come to be known among the trading towns: the Jezebel. Her captain and crew had been so active in the past few years many men wondered if they were the first match the Narcissa might ever have. Yet while Delaney made a name for himself and had a fearsome reputation that followed, Jezebel’s Captain Cassidy had not yet shown his face.
Rumors, as they were obliged to do, spread that Cassidy had no face or perhaps did not even exist. Whatever the case, Jezebel’s crew were fiercely protective of their leader. Each time she had come to port, all the crew I’d encountered spoke of Cassidy with more respect and admiration than I’d ever known a pirate to give. Cassidy was sure to be quite the man, provided he ever appeared before us as flesh and blood.
It was on May 1st of the year 1712 when Narcissa came home after near three months at sea. Exactly one week later, I awoke to the cries of frightened people as her hull was overtaken by flame. Smoke rose toward the stars and from my window I could see her crew running full speed to her aid. Some were already there trying desperately to keep her from being lost.
I had seen her just days before, having been permitted on board when employed to fix her recent canon wounds. It hadn’t been quick work, but it had been done. Now, I feared those canons would have been preferred tenfold over this fiery death.
I hurried from my quarters to the streets, prepared to lend whatever aide I could to help save Narcissa. Alongside many men who many others would avoid, I passed bucket after bucket of water down the line where they are dumped in vain on the growing flames, which soon envelop the ship. With every man presumed safely ashore, the rescue was then abandoned and we watched as the Narcissa becomes a charred shell. Queen among the seas no longer.
Delaney never showed during the attempt to save his ship and, presumably holed up in the governor’s estate, made no request to have her repaired. So, she sat alone and piece by flame-licked piece she was disassembled. Then, only two days following, Captain Cassidy brought the Jezebel to Nassau.
The Jittery Junebug 