Raise The Jolly Roger: Somewhere In Time Read online

  “No, love, just me arm.”

  Looking around the room, I see the men just standing around watching. I start to bark orders. “I need more light. Someone bring me some clear alcohol and more rum for him to drink. I also need a needle and lots of thread so I can sew up his arm.” When I see no one moving, I yell “Now!” Men scramble to find the items I asked for as the water guy brings me the bucket and cloth. “I’ll need more water please. Can you make it hotter?” The man nods and scurries off to deal with my request. I clean the wound the best I can with the water and cloth. It’s still oozing blood and I’ll need to sew it up fast. I rip a strip off his shirt and tie it above the cut to help slow the bleeding. William continues to numb the pain with his rum. Someone just handed him the bottle; no reason to use a mug now.

  I see the man that I was talking to earlier. “What’s your name?”

  “Demetrius.”

  “Are we safe now or will we be attacked again?” I’m not sure why I asked. I guess I’m just looking for some reassurance.

  “We be safe. The other ship is scuttled and our men be gathering the prisoners.”

  “Good. Is anyone else hurt? If so, find someplace to set them up. When I’m done with William, I’ll tend to them.”

  “Aye,” Demetrius says as he calls orders to some of the other men to gather the wounded.

  I look at William as he gives me a lazy smirk. “And what do you find so amusing?” I ask as I hold the needle over the candle flame to burn off any bacteria that may be on it.

  “Do ye know why they be listening to yer commands?”

  “No.” I hold up the bottle of clear liquor and smell it. It has a hint of citrus to it; I’m guessing its gin.

  “Ye put yer life in front of their Cap’n. What made ye do that?” He slurs as the rum is starting to kick in.

  “I don’t know why I did it. I just felt that I needed to help you. This is going to hurt like hell, but I have no anesthesia.” I take the cloth and pour some of the liquor on it then grab the bucket and hand it to the guy standing next to me. “Hold this under his arm. I don’t want to spill everywhere.” I look back at William. “You ready?”

  He takes a long swig of rum and nods. I pour the gin over his cut and he yells, “Bloody Hell!”

  “Sorry.” I begin to sew up his arm after running the gin soaked rag over the needle to clean it and the thread before pouring a bit of the gin on my hands to kill anything that will cause infection. It takes a while to get the wound taken care of. William watches me with his cloudy hazel eyes. Before long, he passes out from the drink. I finish up and clean up my mess. I remove the tie around his arm and dress the area with a clean rag before pulling his boots off to make him as comfortable as I can on the bed.

  Stepping outside his quarters, I see Demetrius talking to one of the men. When he sees I’ve come outside, he joins me. “How is the Cap’n?”

  “He has passed out from the rum. He’ll heal and I’ll keep an eye on him. Where are the others?”

  “This way.” Demetrius leads me below deck where some men are taking care of their comrades.

  One by one, I go to each man to assess what they will need done and if their lives are in danger. I have Demetrius sort them so I can work in order, like an emergency room. Thank God I did several rotations in the ER at a busy hospital, so most of what I’m seeing here I can deal with alone.

  “Demetrius, can you please gather…” I list off the items that I’ll need.

  After several hours of taking care of these men, I’m exhausted. I stand on deck to get some fresh air, staring off the bow of the ship. The dawn is just starting to show on the horizon and it looks amazing. Different colors dance in the sky. The darker blue is turning lighter by the second. The clouds are a light orange, like the Creamsicles I ate as a kid, that turns a bright vivid fire-orange before the sun breaches the horizon with an impressive yellow glow. Since there are very few pollutants in the air during this time, the sky puts on an amazingly clean show. It’s breathtaking.

  Demetrius comes to stand next to me. “Why did ye help the Cap’n?”

  “I’m not sure what came over me. I just knew I had to protect him. I didn’t ask, but do any of the prisoners need attending to?”

  “A few, but they can wait. Ye should get some rest.”

  I chuckle. “I’ve worked longer shifts than that. Show me where they are so I can see if they need help. You don’t want an infection on the ship. Where will we take them?” I ask because I’m not sure what pirates do with prisoners.

  “When the Cap’n is well enough, he’ll decide what their strengths are. If we can use them, then they will stay on board, if not, he will decide what to do with them then.”

  Demetrius escorts me to the prisoners and I’m surprised by how many men were captured. I count at least a dozen or so in the cell where they are being held. One of them is tending the best he can to a man that seems to be losing a lot of blood. “Let me in,” I demand.

  Some of the crew watch as Demetrius opens the cell to grant me entrance. I look over the men’s wounds as I pass them. When I see how well they are bandaged, with how little this man had, I know he must have been the other ship’s doctor. I’m surprised William didn’t have a doctor of his own on board. In the books I’ve read, every ship had someone in their crew that would tend to the wounded. I walk over to the man and ask, “What’s your name?”

  “James.” The man is older with salt and pepper hair and a long beard. He’s tending the man who is still bleeding profusely.

  “Hi, James, my name is Cassy. Are you a doctor?” I ask.

  He looks up and gives me a strange look. “Yes, now leave me so I can tend to this man.”

  “I think ye should listen to the woman. She has just tended to our Cap’n and all of our men and has offered to help yours,” Demetrius threatens.

  “It’s all right, Demetrius, I’ll check on the others.”

  “Wait.” James calls after I turn around. “Ye can help me here. I can’t get the bleeding to stop.” He sounds defeated.

  I turn and join him as he stands over the unconscious man’s leg. I take up his wrist and test his pulse. I look at his leg closer and see that the blood is spurting. An artery has been hit. I have assisted doctors who have worked on these before. I hope I can pull this off. Grabbing the cleanest rag I see, I wrap it around my finger and stick it into the wound, feel around where the blood is spurting, and press my finger to stop the bleeding. “James, take your belt off and wrap it around his leg just above where he’s bleeding.” I know that I have somehow ended up in the past and these men have no clue what I’m doing, but if I have any chance of saving this man, they have to listen to me. James follows my instructions. “Put it as tight as you can and buckle it. That should slow the bleeding.” I look around and see way too much blood on the ground. I feel his skin and it’s cold and clammy and his lips and fingers are starting to turn blue. “We need to move him...lay him flat on the floor. Demetrius, we need blankets and we need to prop his feet up. Lift his legs…” We pile whatever we can find under his feet. Someone places a pillow under his head. “No, leave his head down on the floor. Cover him with the other blanket. Already, I see that his coloring’s improving.” I check his pulse with my free hand and it has gotten better as well.

  “Demetrius, can you have someone bring me all of the things I used earlier, please? And hurry!” He nods and sends someone to fetch the items. “James, I’m not sure if he’ll survive, but I’ll try my best.” He nods.

  The items are brought to me and I start to work repairing the artery before sewing his leg up. The man didn’t wake at all during the procedure. That’s not a good sign. I do my rounds and see that James did a decent job at tending the other men’s wounds.

  As I’m about to leave the cell, James puts his hand on my shoulder. I notice Demetrius eye him as I turn. “Thank ye, Lass. Ye may have saved a man that I would have not been able to.”

  “My name is Cassy. And he’s
not out of the woods yet. Just make him as comfortable as you can. I can’t promise he’ll make it through the night, but I pray that he does.” With that I step out of the cell and make my way out on deck. The sun is high in the sky now and the adrenaline that I’ve been running on the last twenty-four hours is running out. I see the crew out on deck doing repairs. I walk to a stack of crates in a quiet part of the deck and lie down. I lay on my side away from the crew and fall asleep almost immediately.

  Chapter 5

  Our Pleasure

  I roll over and wince. Pulling the blanket back, I see that me arm has been bandaged. I sit up in bed and notice the mess in me cabin. It takes me a moment to remember what happened. I get out of bed and find me shirt, boots, and coat. Out on deck, I see Demetrius looking through the spyglass and join him on the bow. “What happened after I passed out?” I ask.

  “Well, yer lass took charge of the men and tended to all of their wounds as well as the prisoners. By the way, we have a new doctor if ye want him, although the lass somehow knew more than he did.”

  “Where is she?” I look around and don’t see her.

  He looks around as well. “She was there not long ago.” He points toward the starboard side.

  We wander over and don’t see her. I look overboard to make sure she hasn’t gone over. I turn around and that’s when I see Cassy on some crates in the shade. Demetrius and I walk over and see that her clothes are covered in blood. I look over at Demetrius. “I can’t lift her with me arm. Can ye gently carry her to me quarters?”

  “Aye.” He lifts Cassy and smoothly carries her, placing her on me bed.

  I follow him back on deck. “How far off schedule are we?”

  “We will lose a day or two due to repairs. As soon as I can get the men working we’ll get underway again.”

  I nod as he takes his leave. I head back inside and close the door, grab an apple out of the bowl on the table, and pour meself some rum before taking a seat at me desk. Me arm stings and the rum will help dull the pain. I pull me shirt off and the bandage to see the stitch work. It’s a straight line. This will be the straightest scar I have. Since Cassy is sleeping, I take me log out to do me writing.

  Captains Log 18th May

  After we scuttled the ship, we collected about a dozen men. One of them is a doctor, but he does not seem to know as much as Cassy. I must decide what to do with these men and with Cassy. I’m not sure what it is about the lass that draws me to her. The men have shown her respect after she stood up for me when I was wounded.

  Setting me quill and log aside, I glance over at Cassy. She’s sound asleep with all her clothes on and still has her cutlass and pistol strapped to her. Laying me shirt on the chair, I down the rest of me rum and walk over to where she lays. I untie her boots and pull them off without waking her. I un-sleeve the cutlass and pistol and set them on me desk. When I go for her coat, that’s when those mysterious blue eyes pop open. She looks just as wild as she did the first time she opened her eyes in me bed. Again, she stirs feelings in me that I’ve never felt for a woman before. I have lusted after many women in me life, but this seems to be more. I feel drawn to her.

  “What are you doing?” She blinks her eyes a few times before looking at me through long lashes.

  “I was trying to make ye more comfortable.”

  She looks at the clothes and agrees that she should change. She stands and turns her back to me and I help her out of her coat, then help remove the belt that housed the cutlass and pistol. She turns around and looks up at me. “How are you feeling?” she asks on a breath.

  “Better. Thank ye for tending to me wounds and to me men. I hear ye were very busy while I slept.”

  “You needed to rest and I’m used to not getting very much sleep.” She walks to the foot of the bed and takes up the dressing gown I had put her in earlier.

  Before she can step away from me, I pin her to the wall facing me. “How did ye come to be here?” She tries to wiggle free but I stop her with me hips. At any moment, she will feel me growing erection.

  “I told you I don’t know how I got here. Let go of me!” She pushes on me chest but I won’t budge. I grab her by the wrists and pin her arms above her head. I bring me mouth down to her and kiss her until she stops struggling, feeling that same bolt run through me veins. When I pull away, we are both out of breath. Since she stopped struggling, I kiss her again. This time, she opens for me and returns the kiss and her tongue dances with mine. I let her hands go and she threads her hands in me hair and pulls, hard. The movement makes me even harder than I already am.

  I bring me hand down and graze the tops of her breasts. But, I must have a taste. I drag me mouth from hers and head south down her neck, kissing and nipping me way until I’m at the swell of her generous mounds. I look up at her as she throws her head back against the wall and closes her eyes. I move back to her chest. One by one, I pop the tabs on her corset, freeing the bountiful globes.

  I pull her blouse over her head before moving back to her lips. She tastes as sweet as sugar. Her scent of wild flowers and sweat fills me lungs like a lifeline. She starts to wiggle out of her britches, so I squat down to help her move faster. Once I have them off, I notice that she is trimmed. I kiss her mound before I kiss me way back up her body. Once we’re face to face, I bury me nose in her neck and kiss.

  “God,” she says. I tug me ties and pull me trousers down around me hips. Bending down, I grab her around the knees and bring her legs around me waist, burying meself to the hilt. I ignore the pain in me arm as the pleasure outweighs the pain. I pound into her. The more noise she makes, the harder and deeper I pound her. Tired of this position I kick me pants the rest of the way off and carry her while I’m still deep inside her to the window seat and I sit. She adjusts her legs as she takes over a pleasure causing pace. I’ve not felt bliss like this. I wind me hand around her braid and pull her mouth up to mine, kissing her deeply, covering her cries of excitement. I feel her body clench around me shaft as she climaxes. This feeling is so amazing that I lose meself in her as I pound a few more times until I find me own release.

  She collapses on me shoulder, and I gently carry her to me bed where I lay her down. I remove the rest of me clothes and join her under the covers. She moves so she’s wrapped around me and rests her head on me chest. I feel her breathing change and I’m content for the first time in me life to fall asleep next to a woman.

  * * *

  I wake to the smell of hot food. My eyes drift open, trying to focus on my surroundings, then I remember where I am and what I did. I look around and see William looking out the window. The sun’s up and I’m so disoriented that I have no idea how long I’ve been asleep or how long I’ve been here. After what I shared with William, I’m not sure I ever want to go back home.

  “How is your arm?” I ask as I sit up and stretch.

  He turns and looks at me. His short black beard and long black hair hide his face from me most of the time. This is the first time he has had his hair pulled back so I can see all of his face. Small dimples appear when he smiles and it makes my heart melt. “I will survive. I was wondering if ye would ever wake. Would ye like some food?”

  As I take a deep breath and smell the food, my stomach grumbles. “I’d love some.” I get out of bed, naked, and slip into a shirt that William had lying about. Even though he just saw me naked, I can tell that me wearing his shirt with nothing else under it is stirring his desire.

  We take our seats and dig into the feast that the cook has prepared for us. “How long did I sleep?”

  “About a day and a half.”

  “I didn’t mean to sleep that long.” I take a bite of food and my eyes widen. “I should check on the men.” I start to stand but William places his hand over mine.

  “They have been looked after by the doctor. I have decided that since our doctor took ill on our last trip to Boston, that we required a new one.”

  “I’m not sure how much he really knows about being a do
ctor,” I say under my breath.

  “Why do ye say that? And how did ye sew a straight line? Are ye a seamstress?”

  “Where I come from, I’m what they call a nurse. I assist doctors when they need help.” I take another bite of bread and take a sip of what I thought was water. “Is there rum in this?”

  William looks at me with a raised brow. “Ye cannot tell me ye enjoy the taste of water alone. It is foul on its good days. I only added enough rum to mask the taste.”

  “I forgot, sorry. I would still like to look at the men to see if I can help in any way. Can you tell me if the prisoner that I tended to, the one with the leg injury, did he make it?”

  “He survived the night, but the fever took him the next day.”

  I look away. “I’m sorry to hear that. I did everything I could for him but didn’t have the proper equipment or training to deal with his wounds.”

  “No need to apologize. He was a prisoner and he was treated better than any of me men would have been treated if they were to have been captured.”

  “What will happen to the rest of the prisoners?” Losing my appetite, I push my plate away.

  “We will keep the ones who are willing to stay. The ones we let go will spread the word not to confront us.” William shrugs.

  “Will that work?”

  “For a time, aye.”

  “How long until we are in Port Royal? Although, once I’m there I’m not sure what I’ll do.” I look out the window.

  “We won’t be in port very long. We’ll exchange supplies then we will be back out to sea.”