Dawn of a Red Sky Read online

  A confused Hamond asked, “What was the point of having me go over all of those reports, sir?”

  Chuckling, the Admiral said, “Oh, Matthew… do not misconstrue what I said. Those reports are valuable assets to understanding how these pirates operate. Even the tiniest detail could lead to their undoing.”

  The Commodore still did not know what to say. To him, the reports seemed useless. Unlike the Navy, the pirates did not coordinate attacks. They did not function as one cohesive unit. They were not even trained.

  “Sir, I still cannot see the point of having me study those reports.”

  “Commodore, you are disappointing me,” said Carter, “I know there is no definite way to predict a pirate’s actions. However, if we gather as much information as possible, then we will have no trouble defending the citizens of the Crown against their ruthless tactics. We will be one step closer to sending them all into oblivion.”

  Glaring at Hamond, the Admiral asked, “Do I make myself clear?”

  “Perfectly, sir.”

  “Good. Now for the actual reason that I called you here…”

  Matthew Hamond’s stomach dropped. What more could his superior want to discuss?

  Turning to the officer at his side, Carter nodded, and the man disappeared into an adjoining room. The Admiral brought his attention back to Hamond, watching as the Commodore’s eyes followed the other officer’s every move.

  Toying with a carved ram’s head, Carter explained, “You see, Matthew, there are certain jobs that one must do for the good of the law-abiding English citizens. We must protect them… keep them safe… give them comfort in knowing that nothing will ever attack them.”

  When Commodore Hamond said nothing, the Admiral continued.

  “When pirates attacked this town and left its streets stained with blood, how did you feel?”

  Memories of the Red Sky’s attack on Yorktown flooded back into Matthew Hamond’s head. He instinctively brought his hand to his stomach, the scar from where he had been cut suddenly aggravating him.

  “I felt helpless, sir,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Without smiling, the Admiral said one thing.

  “Well then prepare to take control, Commodore.”

  At that moment, the doors to the adjoining room burst open. The other officer had returned, leading two soldiers behind him. The soldiers dragged behind them a dirty man with a sack covering his head. Hamond could hear his hurried breaths as he gasped for air. The man had no shirt, his chest covered with red marks, presumably from a whip. Tiny dribbles of blood rolled down his hairy chest as the soldiers thrust him down into the seat across from Admiral Carter. With his expression remaining stone-faced, Carter invited Hamond to his side.

  After a nod from the Admiral, the bag was torn from the man’s head, revealing a broken nose, a bloodied mouth, and a swollen eye. The man’s head dropped forward like a limp doll. Whatever the soldiers had done to him had sapped him of his strength. He was barely able to raise his head to meet the eyes of the officers.

  “Tell us… what is your name?” asked Carter, not even waiting for the man to catch his breath.

  Wheezing, the man looked up at the Admiral with fear and answered, “My name… is Willis McConnell.”

  “And what is your occupation, Mr. McConnell?”

  “I am… no, I was… a pirate… cook of the… Lost Crier.”

  He coughed up blood, spitting a tooth onto the floor. For what seemed like the longest time, the Admiral said nothing. Only when Carter gestured toward the man did Hamond realize that his superior wanted him to ask the questions.

  Clearing his throat, the Commodore asked, “Why are you here?”

  “A Navy ship captured me… along the coastline o’ Georgia. I… was brought here… for questioning.”

  “Questioning about what?”

  The man coughed and let the air blow through his broken nose and out of his nostrils. The look on his face was that of a man who had given up, willing to do anything to end the abuse.

  Looking up at the Commodore, he said, “Questioning about where the pirates are hiding.”

  Hamond’s outward expression did not change, but the inside of his head was a rush of chaos. He wanted to scream at the man, to call him a fool. How could he betray his kind? Did he not know that if he gave any information to Admiral Carter that countless lives could be put at risk?

  Carter motioned to one of the soldiers, and a map was handed to Commodore Hamond. The Admiral was not going to wait any longer.

  Silently and reluctantly, Hamond placed the map in front of the man, hoping that he was lying about his information. Even as the man placed his finger on the spot, Hamond wished he would move it, even just slightly so that the bloodshed could be avoided. Direct the Admiral and his forces to a different location. Make them find a deserted island. Just do not give them the truth.

  Even as a smile started to spread across the Admiral’s face, Hamond wished that the man would lie.

  That hope was dashed when the prisoner uttered one final statement.

  “It’s named Rebelde. Ye’ll find ‘em all there.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  With Clint at the helm, the Red Sky sailed toward its destination at a relaxing pace. None of Riggs’ friends wanted to rush the expedition, instead wanting their captain to be able to relieve some stress from the past year. The rest of the crew seemed a little restless, but they said nothing, unable to stand still as they yearned to feel treasure running through their fingers.

  All the while, Riggs stood at the stairs, resting his hands on the rail. His mind was still stuck on Julia, but with each passing minute, the urge to go and plunder treasure grew stronger. A wave of desire for the hunt started to compete with the feeling of grief in his heart. He kept telling himself that Julia would have wanted him to keep pirating. She would have wanted him to keep living life to the fullest, giving the crew a strong leader.

  He would certainly try.

  For several days, the ship sailed across the seas, on course to the island on the map. Every day, Riggs would seem to get more like his old self. He was far more active. He was jovial. He even got a decent amount of sleep on some of the nights. No longer was he woken in the night by terrible dreams. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Even though they had not even reached the island yet, the voyage was helping the Captain more than he or his crew could have imagined.

  After those several days passed, as the sun reached the highest point in the sky, someone shouted, “Land ho!”

  Nearly every single one of the pirates rushed to the side of the Red Sky, eager to catch a glimpse of the island. A familiar feeling rushed through Riggs’ body, the same feeling that he had felt whenever he had first become captain. It was a rush of excitement, one that he had not felt for what seemed like an eternity.

  “It’s been a while since we’ve actually searched for treasure,” said Clint.

  “Aye,” said Riggs, “It certainly has.”

  From the wheel, the navigator asked, “That being said, what’s yer plan, Captain?”

  Scratching at his chin, Riggs replied, “Let’s stick to the usual plan. I’ll go ashore with some o’ the crew. When we get there, we’ll start lookin’ for the treasure.”

  “And if there’s someone waiting fer ye? Like a trap?”

  “Who’d be waitin’ for us? No one even knows we’re here,” Riggs laughed.

  Clint cast a sideways glance at his captain, his paranoia evident on his face.

  “You never know, Captain,” he said.

  Riggs tapped his hand against his sword, saying, “That’s what this is for.”

  Turning to face the rest of his crew gathered on the main deck, Riggs shouted, “Make ready a longboat. We ain’t goin’ to be kept waitin’, now are we?”

  “No, Captain,” the men yelled, hurrying to fulfill their captain’s orders.

  With the island in view, time started to slow. The longboat was prepared to drop d
own into the water once Riggs gave the order, and there was still a long way to go. The crew started to notice the rocky cliffs of the island, grass growing on the top and spreading out farther and farther as the land gradually became closer to the ship. Small, sandy beaches greeted the pirates, lulling them into a calm state of mind. There was no one on the beaches. There were no ships. The crew of the Red Sky could not see anyone on land. No one saw any reason to be frightened or worried.

  How could they? There was nothing to attack them.

  “Secure the ship, Mr. Wayko. If any other ship gets near ye, listen to yer gut,” said Riggs.

  “Aye, Captain,” the navigator replied.

  Riggs turned to leave, but Clint snatched him by the arm. The sudden action startled the Captain. He could tell that the calmness was affecting Clint. His friend’s paranoid nature was getting the better of him.

  “Be careful, Captain. Something about this island doesn’t seem right,” said Clint.

  Riggs gave his navigator a pat on the shoulder.

  “Ye ain’t got a reason to worry, mate. We’ll all be fine,” he replied with a grin on his face.

  The Captain did not even give it a second thought. Clint was just being his usual superstitious self. Nothing was going to happen except finding that treasure.

  As the longboat was lowered into the water below, Riggs brought Coral Jack, Ripper, Sapphire, and several other crewmates along with him. Jack and Ripper eagerly climbed into the boat, but the fairy was a bit more hesitant. It took a bit of coaxing, but she eventually flew down into the longboat, sitting on the wooden boards that made up the bottom of the boat. With all of the pirates now in the longboat, they started to row their way toward the island.

  The sea was surprisingly calm, the waves gently rocking the tiny boat. The Red Sky sat still on the water as the longboat rowed away from it, slowly drifting toward the shore. With each movement, the pirates seemed to grow even more relaxed. Everything was quiet, save for the whirling of the ocean winds and the tiny waves lapping against the small bow.

  After several minutes of rowing, the longboat wedged itself in the sand. The pirates wasted little time in securing the boat and unloading the supplies onto the beach. Riggs took out his spyglass and searched the coast, trying to find some cave or formation that could hide treasure.

  “See anything, Captain?” asked Coral Jack.

  His eye still scanning the surrounding area, Riggs replied, “Nothin’ yet.”

  Placing the spyglass in his coat, the Captain walked down the beach, observing the rocky cliffs of the island as he clomped his boots down on the sand. The cliffs and the areas around them were filled with boulders of every size, easily able to hide openings to a cave or a crawlspace.

  Calling everyone over to his side, Riggs ordered, “Sweep the rocks. If there’s treasure on this island, it’s not goin’ to be out in the open. If any of ye find anythin’ strange, give a shout.”

  “Aye, Captain,” said the crewmembers.

  As the pirates dispersed, Sapphire started to follow the other crewmates, but Riggs said, “Saph, come over here. I’ve got a job for you.”

  “What is it?” she asked, stepping over to her captain’s side.

  “I want ye to scout the area. If there’s anyone here with us, I want to know.”

  The fairy gave a quick salute and flew into the air, darting further inland to explore.

  Once he had lost sight of his fairy friend, Riggs took the map out of his pocket and unrolled it, searching for something that could make the search a little easier. Unfortunately for the pirates, there was nothing else written on it other than the location of the island. Bringing the edge of the paper to his nose, he sniffed at it, hoping for a distinct smell. There was nothing. No smell of oranges. No hidden messages.

  There was nothing to help them except luck.

  Rolling up the map, he stuck it back in his pocket. The best thing that he could do now would be helping his crew find the treasure.

  For two hours, the pirates clambered around the rocks, trying to find hidden openings or holes. The air was silent except for the sound of rocks being displaced by ragged boots. Every once in a while, one of the crewmates would yell out that they had found something, but it always turned out to be nothing of importance.

  For Riggs, even though he and his crew had not found anything so far, he was still more relaxed than he had been. It had been so long since he had actually hunted for treasure that even the mere action of searching brought relief to his mind.

  He finally felt at peace with himself.

  “Ye doing alright over ‘ere, Captain?”

  Coral Jack and a crewmate climbed over a rock and slid down to their captain’s side. It did not seem like they had found anything where they had been looking. Jack’s question gave that away.

  “I’m doin’ much better than before,” Riggs laughed, “What brings ye both here?”

  He needed to know if his suspicions were true.

  Just as he had predicted, the boatswain said, “Couldn’t find nothing. It was just a bunch o’ rocks with nothing to hide.”

  Coral Jack started to walk past his captain, but Riggs stopped him.

  “If ye were thinkin’ of lookin’ for the treasure over here, you’d be out o’ luck, mate,” said Riggs, “I ain’t found anythin’ of use yet.”

  The other crewmate propped himself against a boulder and jokingly said, “Maybe ye weren’t looking hard enough, Captain.”

  Raising an eyebrow, Riggs sarcastically said, “I was probably lookin’ harder than you were, ye mangy bugger.”

  With a grin on his face, the Captain gave his crewmate a light shove, just enough to remind the pirate that he was still the leader. The man stumbled backwards, tripping over a rock and falling on his rear. Gravel shifted and rocks rolled away as all of the man’s weight dispersed them. As Riggs and Coral Jack laughed, they started to hear a sound… a sound that seemed to get louder.

  SSSSSSHGUNK

  The instant after the sound stopped, the rocks and gravel started to shift. A rumbling sound erupted underneath all three men as the ground shook. Riggs tried to move, but his boots had slipped in between the rocks. The three men were sinking into the ground like it was quicksand. Riggs could hear the other members of his crew rushing over the rocks to help them.

  None of them got there in time.

  At that second, the ground beneath the fallen crewmate’s feet gave way, sending a torrent of rocks, gravel, and sand pouring into a newly made hole. The man who Riggs had pushed fell down into the hole, screaming as the mass of rocks crushed him. The captain and boatswain scrambled to grab hold of something… anything to keep from falling into the death trap. They tried to move, but the rocks just slid even faster toward the hole. The two were nearly overwhelmed as they looked back only to see darkness rapidly coming towards them. Jack fell on his back, grabbing onto Riggs’ leg as his own legs fell past the edge of the hole. Riggs tried to grab onto something, but there was nothing that could hold them both.

  The Captain reached his hand out into the air, desperately hoping for a miracle. Unless one happened soon, then both he and his friend would be doomed.

  He closed his eyes as his feet slid over the edge.

  He could not have it end like this.

  Just as he and Jack tipped over the edge, he heard, “I got ya, Captain!” followed immediately by a jerking sensation. Ripper had grabbed hold of his captain’s arm, just barely keeping him and Coral Jack from tumbling to their deaths.

  The rush of rocks and gravel finally slowed, allowing the Jamaican gunner to hoist his friends back onto stable ground. All three men lay down at the edge of the hole, breathing sighs of relief and trying to catch their breath. The dust was still settling, the tiny particles finding their way into the pirates’ noses and causing a raucous of coughing.

  Grabbing his friend’s hand, Riggs said, “Thanks, Ripper.”

  “Wouldn’t be good ta have ya dyin’ on us, Captain,” Ri
pper laughed.

  “Ain’t that the truth…”

  The three pirates crawled to the edge of the hole, staring down into the darkness. At the edge, there were bits of split wood stuck in the ground, almost like a trap door that had broken under the sudden weight. Once the dust settled, their eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of light. They could see the pile of rocks at the bottom of the hole which, to their surprise, was not that far of a drop. Squinting their eyes, they saw a tunnel that traveled even deeper into the island.

  Immediately, images of treasure flashed through Riggs’ head. If someone was desperate enough to hide the tunnel, then there had to be something valuable at the end.

  Too excited to even turn to his crew, the Captain said, “Someone get a rope. We’re goin’ down there… and we’re goin’ to find out what’s hidin’ in there.”

  Hundreds of miles away, the armada of the English Navy cut through the ocean waves, sailing straight toward its target. Dozens of ships sped across the waters, led by the fearsome HMS Salvation. Admiral Carter and Commodore Hamond stood at the helm, watching the soldiers rush about the ship and prepare it for its mission.

  Much to Hamond’s dismay, the captured pirate had spilled every bit of information that he knew about Rebelde. He had told them exactly what they should expect to see. Carter now knew how to attack and trap the pirates, keeping them at bay until he had caught every last one of them. At his superior’s side, Hamond could sense the Admiral’s glee growing with each passing moment.

  The Commodore, however, was far from happy.

  He was unnerved.

  He knew exactly what his superior was capable of doing. Several years ago, he would have gladly stood at Carter’s side while they brought justice to the pirate scum. Ever since his daughter had fallen for Riggs, he had refused to accept that form of justice. When they reached Rebelde, he knew what awaited the pirates. It was going to be a massacre.

  “Are you ready to finally destroy these vermin, Commodore?”

  Hamond had been so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he had not realized the Admiral was talking to him.