A Map

 “You’ve got the dice, yes?” Captain Morgan Breach straightened his hat, blowing the feather out of his face as he and his first mate stepped off the bridge and onto the dock, “It’s imperative that I get that map.”

His first mate, a scrawny man by the name of William, shook his old waste coat. The dice in his left pocket rattled too,

“Aye, Sir. There she is. But, Captain, why not leave our fate to the God’s, eh? I’ve seen you gamble.”

Breach rolled his eyes,

“If I believed in fate, I wouldn’t be playing with loaded dice. But I’m not gambling with this map anyway. I’m not risking losing an opportunity again.”

“What is it that’s got you all riled up about this map?” Will frowned.

Breach rounded on William abruptly, bringing them both to a sudden halt. Breach’s dark eyes bored into Will’s with such an intensity he almost buckled under the weight of his stare.

“Treasure, William! Treasure!” he took a hold of Will’s collar and pulled him close, nose to nose so that Will could see the pores in his Captain’s face, the tiny details of a scar long forgotten on his eyebrow and smell the captain’s fishy breath. It was all he could do not to cringe and recoil at the wave of foul smelling moisture.

“More than you could imagine! Treasure that would make you rich beyond your dreams, boy. Does that not make you want to take fate into your own hands...” he paused, “as it were.”

He shook Will’s waste coat with his other hand and grinned snidely.

The treasure again. Will didn’t know what to do as he stood there in the Captain’s grasp. This was the 8^th attempt, by his count, at obtaining a trinket that would somehow lead them to this fabled treasure. Each attempt would fail and then the Captain would seem to forget about it for a time. This was the longest time yet. 6 months. But it was becoming apparent that Captain Breach never really stopped thinking about it. He was merely finding the next alternative.

“Come now, William,” Breach’s grin closed around his teeth, allowing for a more amiable smile to be in its place as he patted the creases out of Will’s clothing, “We have a map to win.”

He left Will standing there, perplexed as he made his way into the market, tossing a shilling to the Wharfinger.

“For you, my good man.” he heard the Captain say.

The market was brimming with all kinds of smells that made their noses tingle. There was a chorus of various voices calling for buyers of whatever it was they were selling, leaving Will’s ears ringing. With each good called out, Will could smell it’s place in the market. He stepped on and slipped in too many unidentifiable substances for his liking and then realised he had lost the Captain but found a rather fancy looking brothel. It’s warmth and firelit windows calling to him along with the playful giggles of its occupants. He longed to go in but duty called as he left it behind to find his Captain with a sigh. Down to the depths with duty, he thought, for giving up a woman for a map!

As he waded in and out of the hoards of people washing too and fro on their respective errands, there was a roar louder than the rest, filled with excitement. Another followed thereafter, this time of disappointment. It was far more raucous and chaotic than the calls of the sellers. He followed the din until he found a crowd of men and women, rum in hand, pipes in mouths, falling off seats and barrels, on the floor in the mud all in a circle. In its centre lay a pile of gold and other trinkets that indicated wealth. On top of it all lay a map. Will rolled his eyes, then jumped when a voice came from behind him, hoarse and hungry,

“There it is. Give me the dice.”

Will didn’t question it. Always was wiser not too when the Captain had his heart set on something. He pulled out the dice and gave them to his Captain. Breach waded into the circle of people towards a man who had his arm stretched out pompously, allowing his shirt to rise over a ballooning belly.

“Is there no one else?!” he laughed, “Come on now!”

“I’ll take you on, Sir.” Silence descended on the crowd as Captain Breach stepped forward, skinny and much better off, it would appear, than most already there. Will felt himself shift uncomfortably yet the Captain seemed unfazed, “Best out of three.”

“Will you now?” The man put his hands on his hips, arching his back skeptically, pushing his belly out further. “Well then, Skipper, give it a roll. I’ll honor you with the first one.”

Captain Breach glanced back at Will, gave him a smirk and then rolled, all in one swoop. Only, the dice landed on 2. Earning a laugh from the big man and gasps from their audience. Breach glanced at Will again, a flash of anger on his brow. Will felt a stir of panic – he suddenly wasn’t so sure he took the right dice from off the table. There were two sets and he definitely loaded one.

“Bad luck, eh.”

The big man then rolled, calling his number.

“TWO!” he bellowed, as if commanding the dice to do his bidding. Coincidentally they did. The man laughed again, “That’s one to me.”

Breach held his role a moment before holding up a finger to the man and marched over to Will,

“As me first mate, you did do the deed concerning the dice didn’t you?”

“I-” Will stuttered, “I believed I did, now I’m not so sure…”

“Not so sure?!” The Captain seethed, desperately trying to keep his cool, “You don’t look so sure at all, you fool!”

He turned back to the man who waited smugly with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Back again, hmm?”

“Oh, I’m not one for losing.” Breach smiled and rolled. The first cube fell on three while the other seemed to spin for what seemed a life time. Breach was leaning forward so much, Will feared he would fall over. Will himself was getting ready to bolt. The Captain would have his boots for this mistake.

The dice landed with a dull thud on another three.

The big man barely had time to unfold his arms, never mind throw his bald head back and laugh before Captain Breach whipped out his sword, pierced the map on the ground and began to run.

“RUN, WILLIAM!” He yelled, sword held aloft, map billowing in the wind, with one eye on the ground and one eye on his map.

Will felt his eyes widen but didn’t hesitate. He dashed into the crowd, Captain Breach on his heals, the mob, at the behest of the man they had just cheated, hot on both their heals.

Will fell over, slipping on something he didn’t dare look down at and was quickly over taken by his Captain who had leapt over him with an impressive amount of grace, map still held high.

As the dock neared, Captain Breach started yelling,

“All hands on deck! Make ready for a hasty escape!”

Breach barreled past the Wharfinger who took a step back too close to the edge of the jetty and he fell in. Will followed not long after, steaming on to the ship as Breach took up his position at the helm.

As Will arrived at his Captain’s side, Breach shoved the map into his chest.

“Hide it, no one knows you’ve got it.”

“They’ll probably hang you anyway.” Will said, making his way back down onto the main deck while the men around him rushed about, getting them ready to make way.

The Captain laughed,

“Not me, Sir! But if they hang me and they find you then hangman gets two pairs of boots instead of one.”

Will shivered,

“If it’s a hangman they have in this town.”

They stared at each other, disturbed by the thought.

All of it over a piece of paper. The Wharfinger was raving at them while crawling back onto the jetty. A good-sized mob was thundering down the pier as well, the fat man bringing up the rear, angry and red faced. He was yelling profanities too but neither Breach nor Will could hear him.

Will laid a hand over his coat pocket where the map was hidden. The damned piece of paper. He had half a mind to throw it back to them or into the sea just, in hopes, of getting rid of that final bridge between the treasure and normal pirating. But he also knew that Captain Breach would toss him over board with it were he to do so. He pulled it from his pocket, realising he had a moment to properly examine it.

Luckily, the ship was far enough away for capture to be alluded. Alas, their pursuers still had their pistols. One shot took off the Captain’s hat and that was the worst of it. The other shots were haphazard and poorly aimed. It took a moment before the shooting stopped and the men shooting at them either ran out of powder or realised the range was no longer feasible.

They left the dock and the bay with the fat man bellowing after them – a gentle echo for such harsh words,

“I’ll skin you alive if I ever see you again!”

All this while his posse filtered away and left him standing alone and angry.

Breach was waving his hat, now retrieved as they sailed away. Will, carefully, came back up and waited for Breach to acknowledge his presence.

He turned around, laughing,

“A good job, says I! You agree, don’t you, Will. What an adventure. That’s what piracy is about, that’s why we’re here!”

He continued to laugh, surveying his ship and the crew aboard it, scuttling up and down the mast, casting the ropes just so. A well oiled machine, was their ship.

“Captain, I have bad news.”

Breach’s laugh ceased but his grin never faded,

“What could possibly be so bad as to ruin your day? We have the map - !”

“We don’t.”

“Finally!” Breach stopped, “What?”

“It’s a fake, Sir.” Will handed the paper over to his Captain, “Look.”

Breach snatched it from Will’s hands and poured over it, scrutinising every inch. It took a moment but it was clear when Breach realised the problem. Unfortunately the map had a continuity error. The islands and passage ways that were expected to lead them to the treasure were misnamed and recognisably not special. They’d sailed via those islands before and had done sufficient enough pirating to confirm that that was not where they wanted to go.

Breach shook with rage, tossing the map away in two halves. He slammed the wheel, he stomped his feet,

“Bastard!”

Will felt a small sense of relief coming over him, never daring to show it in the wake of his Captain’s upset. It took a while for Breach to settle down. His face beetroot red from his exertion of anger

“Alright.” He said, “Fine, hope is not lost.”

Will felt the relief waning, suppressing a cry of outrage himself,

“It’s not, is it?”

“No...I know a few more places to go.” Breach took a deep breath, “Right. I’m disappointed, Matey but the adventure continues! Take the wheel, William, I’m going to find us a heading. Straight and true.”

The Captain marched down the stairs and into his courters with a slam of his door. Will had his shoulders drooping when another crew member climbed up the steps to him, a tall man but well built, tattoos all over his arms.

“The Captain didn’t look happy, mate,” he said uncertainly, “Map no good?”

“I’m afraid not. He’s setting a new heading. We’re not out yet.”

The man sighed and gave him a pained look,

“Two years, mate. Two years.”

The man walked away and slumped down the stairs.

“It’s not over yet, Lads. Map’s no good.”

With that, a collective groan made the rounds over the ship.