The Arch Pirate (Historical Pirate Romance)
The Arch Pirate
Katherine Hastings
Published by Katherine Hastings, 2019.
Copyright © 2019 by Katherine Hastings
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
ISBN: 978-1-949913-09-5 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-949913-08-8 (ebook)
FIRST EDITION
Editing by Tami Stark
Proofreading by Vicki McGough
Published by Flyte Publishing
www.katherinehastings.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
DEDICATION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
A WAR WITHIN
DAGGERS OF DESIRE SERIES
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
THANK YOU FOR READING
DEDICATION
To my father, Robert. At six foot seven he’s got some pretty big shoes to fill. Never-the-less, I’ve spent my life trodding along after him, hoping someday I can accomplish even a fraction of what he’s done. A professional football player. A developer. An architect. A CEO. A magazine owner. A music festival producer. These are just a few of his endless accomplishments. But from the eyes of his little girl, being the best dad in the world sits at the top of that impressive list. I may need to take two steps to his every one long stride, but I’ll continue striving to keep up, remembering what he has drilled into me since childhood. That there’s nothing I can’t accomplish with hard work, creativity, and determination. Especially when he’s there to tug me along. Thanks for being the hand to hold and lead me forward, the gentle shove in the right direction when needed, and the voice of wisdom to guide me through even the darkest times.
CHAPTER ONE
HENRY AVERY STOOD ON the stern of the Charles II and watched the blackness of night swallow the silhouette of La Coruña. An eerie silence hung over the crew as they slipped through the darkness and out of the Spanish port undetected, the ship falling on the waves of the North Atlantic Ocean as they disappeared out to sea.
“Avery?” a voice whispered behind him, and he turned. Several of the crew stared at him, their nervous eyes pleading for direction. “Do you think we’re safe yet? Should we put up full sails?”
The men shifted their weight, their eyes darting to the port behind them before settling back on his again. He looked over the small group of them gathered on the deck until he found the tall stature of William Blake towering behind them. Besides Avery, William was the tallest and strongest man on the ship. Avery, who was well known for his excessive height, only had him by an inch. Avery gestured for William to come forward and he stepped through the men who scurried out of his way. When he arrived, Avery noticed the faint worry lines around his friend’s grey eyes were a little deeper tonight. No doubt William felt the weight of this monumental decision as well.
Feigning confidence in hopes it would slow down his own hammering heart, Avery straightened his shoulders and inhaled a deep breath of the salty air. “William, tell the men to prepare to raise sails and head south toward South Africa. Then wake the others. We’re not free sailors yet, but seeing as we have forty guns and over a hundred men on board, I imagine no other ship will be foolish enough to make chase when they discover what we’ve done. Regardless, we must put as much distance between ourselves and Spain as quickly as possible. William, spread the word. Once we find out who’s with us and who’s leaving this ship, we raise sail.”
“Aye, Captain.” William grinned widely, and Avery’s face twisted in confusion.
“Captain?” he asked, the word sticking on his tongue. Sliding a hand under his small ponytail, he wiped the sweat from behind his neck.
William placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Aye, Captain. The men voted today. This was your idea and you are the most experienced sailor, and soldier, on board. They unanimously chose you to be our captain.”
Avery tried to stifle his smile but the sound of the word ‘Captain’ being directed at him was a dream he’d never dared to imagine would come true. His heart raced faster, but this time it wasn’t from the nerves he’d been wrestling with since stealing this ship. He’d spent the past seventeen years of his life serving on ships in one manner or another, since his eighteenth birthday when he first set sail as a fisherman. Growing up on the shores of the English Channel in Plymouth, he had spent his days as a small boy sitting on the dock, watching the large ships sail past, dreaming of a day he would be the captain of his own ship, off on adventures around the world. His chest swelled with pride, realizing today marked the fruition of his childhood dream. He was Captain Henry Avery.
“I’ll alert the others, Captain,” William said with an extra emphasis on the title.
“Thank you, William.” Avery smiled and let the word ‘Captain’ settle over him again.
William gestured to the men on the stern and they tip-toed off to spread word, waking those asleep and preparing to raise sail. Only that handful of men had been privy to the plan to commandeer the warship, and they needed to work swiftly to gain distance before the rest of the oblivious crew awoke. Even though he trusted most of the men sleeping below, it had been too risky to involve more than a handful of others in the daring plan. Secrecy was their greatest ally, and it had gotten them this far unchallenged.
Avery looked back over his shoulder once more and smiled at his beloved sea. No sails dotted the horizon, and for the first time since they’d snuck away tonight, he blew out a breath filled with relief. He straightened his tricorn hat and tugged at the bottom of his formal coat before making his way down the stairs to the door of the Captain’s quarters he had been so boldly standing above as they stole the ship just an hour ago. This morning, Captain Gilbert had commanded this ship; tonight, that honor belonged to Avery.
“Send for William and Diego,” he instructed the sailor who pulled on the lines just behind him.
“Aye, Captain!” the sailor whispered before he scurried across the deck.
It was time to awaken the drunken captain and tell him the hostage situation had ended. Avery had taken a job on the Charles II nine months earlier, along with over one hundred other men. Their job was to sail to Spain and use the warship to stop French smugglers from passing through. They arrived in La Coruña to find no pay, no jobs, and no way to return home. As the months passed, the sailors, now hostages on the Charles II, grew desperate and hungry while their families starved at home and they waited for their always inebriated captain to pay them.
A month ago, Avery and the men had watched the captain stumble onto the ship from a night at the tavern and crawl shamelessly into bed, as he did every night. While they couldn’t afford food or passage home, he was drinking, eating and whoring the nights away. One night over a game of cards, an irate Avery had whispered of mutiny, and of taking the ship to find fortune and adventure. The whispers turned into shouts and many of the men agreed. The idea took on a mind of its own and tonight the plan came to pass. Tonight, they stole the Charles II while the Captain snored away in a rum-induced sleep.
“Cap’n, you ready?” He heard the familiar raspy voice of Diego behind him. They’d met in the Spanish port only four months ago, but the two had shared a love of laughter and cards and had soon become fast friends. Avery turned and looked down to see Diego’s dark eyes staring back up at him, dancing with mirth. Though his height was not intimidating, he had a particularly menacing appearance at first glance, which Avery found ironic. Since they’d met, it seemed the man was almost always laughing. He rarely saw a frown on the lips surrounded by coarse black curls that came together in a tie below his chin.
William arrived and stepped to his side, those worry lines even deeper now. “Are we really doing this? Once we wake him, there’s no turning back.”
Avery stared at William and then back at the door separating him from solidifying his status as a mutineer. Nodding his head, he turned back to them. “None of us have a family starving at home, but many of the men on this crew do. If we sail back n
ow, we can likely make it back before the captain wakes up and he will be none the wiser; but then those families will still suffer. Our captain will continue drinking and whoring his nights away, and our one chance of taking control of our destinies will have vanished. My dreams never involved becoming a pirate. If you had told me when I served in the Navy that I would commandeer a warship and become a fugitive of the law, I’d have thought you’d suffered a blow to the head. Yet, fate has brought us here, and like the wicked mistress she is, she’s left us no choice. Our country has forsaken us. Our captain will see us starve to death, and I see no other option but to take this ship and seek the freedom and fortune we all deserve.”
“Hear, hear,” Diego said.
“I won’t ask either of you to do this if you don’t want to. You can still go below deck and pretend you were unaware and ride back on the longboats. What we are doing is dangerous and filled with peril, and I don’t want either of you to feel backed into a corner. Your friendship means the world to me, and if this isn’t what you want, I would never hold that against you.”
“Piracy? Treasure? Adventure? The only way I’m missing out on that is if ye throw me arse overboard!” Diego grinned and gestured out to sea with flip of his wrist.
Avery turned to William. “William, we’ve spent over a decade sailing together, and I know that, like me, piracy is not what you envisioned for your future. And it doesn’t have to be. If you take the longboat back, I’ll be sure to send money to you, so you can get home to England. You can find another career that doesn’t involve hanging if you get caught.”
William furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, scratching his head before placing his large palm on Avery’s shoulder. “You’re right. I never thought I’d be a fugitive from the law, or a pirate for that matter, but if you think I’m letting you two have all the fun, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Avery lit up with a grin that brightened the dark night. “Are you both sure? Even though it’s not what I envisioned for my future, I can feel the pull of my destiny. It’s calling to me and I can feel it in my bones that this is what I’m meant to do. Fate has guided me to this new road and I’m ready to see where it leads. I think something incredible will come of this. Either that, or I’ll be visiting Davy Jones’s locker or dancing with Jack Ketch!”
“I’m with ye, Cap’n,” Diego said. “But if we’re gonna be pirates, you’re gonna need to lose the fancy clothes.” He gestured to Avery’s formal attire and snorted. “I’m already looking the part.” He tugged at his long, black ponytail that matched his curly beard, and spit through the side of his mouth.
Avery chortled and shook his head. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I’ll pirate ye up, Cap’n! You’ll be striking fear into the hearts of those sailors when I’m done with ye! Hell, I bet they’ll be tossing loot over here just to avoid tangling with the likes of us!”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Avery answered with a chuckle before turning to William. “Are we going to be finding you more appropriate pirate clothes as well?”
“I’m going to make a much better pirate than you,” William answered, and the three men burst into hushed laughter.
Diego snorted. “Ye look like ye belong out herding goats, not chasing treasure. At least Cap’n Avery’s got the dark hair, and with those light eyes he’s pretty perilous looking. Very piratey!” He gave Avery an approving nod while he examined him.
“I’m glad you think I can look the part.” Avery raised his chin and ran a hand over the stubble. “Now, can we get back to the task at hand and commandeer this ship?”
“Aye, Captain!” they answered in unison.
Knowing this was the pivotal moment where his life would change, Avery pushed out a deep breath and steadied his nerves, like he did right before a big battle. From this day forward, he would no longer be a respected Navy man and sailor. Once he woke the captain, he would be a pirate and a fugitive of the law. With thoughts of the starving men and their families, he dug into his resolve and let his reservations wash away with the ocean waves. This was his destiny. He would enter the room as First Mate Avery, and emerge Captain Henry Avery, the pirate captain.
“Then I guess it’s time to awaken our former captain... that is if we can even shake him from his rum-filled dreams!” Avery laughed as the three men turned to face the wooden door separating them from the man who had slept through the theft of his ship. “Ready?” He raised his eyebrow and smiled.
“Let’s do it, Captain!” William’s voice rumbled with excitement.
“Shhhhh! We don’t want to ruin the surprise, William!” Diego whispered, his laugh barely contained.
Avery took a deep breath and turned the metal knob. The door creaked open and the three men stepped into the lavish Captain’s Quarters. While the others slept in hammocks suspended from the rafters, Captain Gilbert had a large feather bed defined by four mahogany posters stretching high above his sleeping figure. The crystal chandelier gently swayed from the ceiling, emphasizing the rise and fall of the ship.
Captain Gilbert tossed in his sleep as the waves pushed him around in bed. With a grunt, he cracked an eye and leaned over to reach his bedside bell. He took no notice of the three men standing at the door while he shook it with annoyance. Avery cleared his throat as Captain Gilbert looked up with sleepy eyes to see the three men approach.
“What are you doing in here? Is something the matter?” the captain asked as the sounds of the waves crashing on the hull echoed through the cabin.
“Nothing is the matter,” Avery answered while he struggled to suppress his smile.
“Something is the matter with the ship. Why does she sail? What is the weather?” The confused captain searched their three faces. “Is there a storm? Why have you taken us out to sea?”
“There’s no storm. We’re at sea with fair wind and good weather,” Avery stated, ignoring Captain Gilbert’s confusion over why his ship sailed without his authorization.
“At sea? Explain yourselves!” The captain sat up in bed glancing out the small circular windows before shooting a furious look back to Avery. “I demand you tell me what is going on at once!”
“Now, now, don’t be afraid. Come, put on some clothes and I will let you in on a little secret.” Avery winked at the perplexed man as he rose from his bed. Glancing to Diego, he saw his mischievous smile flash white across the dark room.
“I demand you tell me what is going on with my ship!”
Avery grinned and stepped up in front of him. “If you must know, I am captain of this ship now. These are now my quarters and I insist you exit them at once. Please put on your clothes, shake off the rum and come with me outside my cabin, onto the deck of my ship so we may discuss what options are available to you.”
The former captain stared in astonishment at Avery, the man he had called First Mate. He rubbed his eyes and blinked harder, as if he’d slumbered back into some realistic nightmare he couldn’t awaken from. William stepped to his side and took his arm.
“Unhand me!” He struggled, but William’s large hands held him with ease. “You cannot take my ship! I’ll have you hanged for mutiny!”
“Your days of holding us hostage are over,” Avery retorted.
“Hostage? None of you are my hostage. You all work for me!”
Avery’s cocky expression stiffened, and he glowered while he stepped forward. “We have no money to leave. You aren’t paying us, and in the meantime, you are somehow finding plenty of money to spend on women and booze while this crew and their families go hungry. It’s over, Gilbert. I’m taking this ship.”
“When the crew sees what you’ve done, they’ll skin you alive after they tighten that noose around your neck!”
“I’ll take my chances with the crew. I have a feeling if anyone on this ship needs to be worried about their neck, it’s you.” Avery’s expression softened, and mirth sparkled in his eyes once more. “Take him outside.”
Gilbert’s eyes saucered while he tried to pull free from William’s unyielding grip. “I could do this all day.” William grinned and tightened his squeeze until Gilbert whined in submission. With Avery and Diego following behind, he led the portly man out onto the deck, his long white sleeping gown trailing behind him.