The Tainted Rose

         The Tainted Rose

Suzanne Marsh

“Take her out to sea Mr.Hopkins.” Shouted Captain Bart Pikaaroon. The sea was at the present time dominated by the English fleet. The Tainted Rose’s gray sails billowed in the wind as she headed out to sea. Captain Bart Pikaaroon felt the sea breeze on his grizzled face, his bronze beard beginning to turn white. He was elected Captain twenty years ago, when he was a young swashbuckling man, now, well he was ready to turn the Tainted Rose over to his lieutenant Tuck. He shook himself as he gathered his thoughts. He strode over to the Sail Master:

“Mr. McDougal set course for Tortuga.”

“ Mr. Hopkins take the helm.”

His orders give Captain Pikaaroon headed to his quarters for a drink of ale, and some sleep. McDougal sat quietly in his cabin, studying the charts, he would have to wait until dark to begin to plot his charts for Tortuga. He knew they would have to loot at least two or three ships on their voyage to Tortuga, they would also have to avoid the Spanish and English Galleons. The sea was calm just at sunset, the sky a saucy shade of pink, he began to navigate by the stars, and the Southern Cross. Once he was done with that he returned to his cabin to make a few course changes. He would give them to Hopkins at the helm, better to let the captain sleep for a while.

McDougal felt the ship change course just a slight bit more than he reckoned, he quickly returned to the helmsman:

“Hopkins, you are not the course I set, we are bound for Tortuga, the Captain expects

to be there in a month. By dead reckoning we are off course by at least four degrees

longitude. Now set her right!”

McDougal stalked away from Hopkins before he punished him with cat-o-nine tails for insubordination, however the Captain would not have let that happen since this was not the royal navy. Once again McDougal felt the ship shift back on course. He was pleased they were going to Tortuga, he thought of the wine, woman and the songs of pirates and lonely men. He thought of his time as Sail Master of the Royal Navy, he became a pirate after he was drummed out of the navy. It was several years of drifting in and out of poverty before he met Captain Pikaaroon in a pub in north London. Pikaaroon was looking for a new sailing master, and McDougal was looking for wealth. When McDougal first laid eyes on the Tainted Rose he wanted to run in another direction. She was not a beautiful galleon, but a floating horror story. Her masts were in need of repair, the crew were sloppy, the wooden decks were heaped with garbage. McDougal informed Pikaaroon that he could and wound serve on the Tainted Rose, it would be to humiliating. Pikaaroon informed McDougal that she might look bad but she was a good honest ship, and perhaps McDougal could bring her back to the ship she once had been. It was at that juncture that McDougal discovered she was a pirate ship. He had been the Sail Master ever since.

Dark clouds began to gather, a storm was approaching as was a large galleon flying the Burgandy Cross of Spain. The Tainted Rose prepared to hoist the skull and cross bones, of the pirate ship she was, the came about broadside, opened the ten canon doors and began shooting at the Spanish galleon. The crew of the Tainted Rose boarded the Maria de Dios cutlesses at the ready. The cutlesses were not necessary most of the crew was dead, as they boarded the Maria de Dios the captain was run through by the cutless in McDougal’s right hand. The Maria de Dios was plundered, she had been carrying gold, precious jewels, flour, salt and most importantly cattle. The crew of the Tainted Rose quickly scuttled the Maria de Dios then returned to their own ship.

Gale winds began to rock the Tainted Rose, it felt as if she were being torn in half. Pikaaroon, quickly went to find McDougal, he thought it would be wiser to head south for a span of time to get out of the typhoon, which was heading north. The ship fought her way by dead reckoning, McDougal two days later once again found the Souther Cross. They were back on course for Tortuga and having the sails refitted that were ripped from their masts when the typhoon hit.

The ship and crew had survived the typhoon but they had to find some place where they could anchor and do some major repairs to the largest of the three masts. McDougal, already was seated at the chart table attempting to find a safe haven, they could not sail with the two small masts. They could he knew but it would a slow arduous voyage. As the sun went down McDougal came on deck they would sail by celestial navigation to a small island where a cove would provide shelter so they could repair the main mast.

The Tainted Rose sailed intot he small cove, dropping her anchor. The crew rowed to the island, where they hacked down a tall palm tree that would serve as a temporary main mast until they reached Tortuga. Time now was of the essence, the repairs had to be made quickly before they were discovered by an English warship. They lacked the speed to outrun a galleon, they still had a leak below decks but the repairs would last until they arrived in Tortuga in a week.

Time sped on as they crew worked to repair the leak and the main mast. McDougal arrived on deck to be sure all was well. Pikaaroon was ill in his cabin some fever or another racking his body. McDougal inspected the repairs everything was once again secure. The Tainted Rose pulled up anchor, McDougal gave the helmsman the longitude and went to see how the ailing captain was. He had not seen Pikaaroon in several days. He knocked on the captains’ cabin door:

“Captain, captain are you in there?” There was no response, McDougal pounded on the door harder. Finally he kicked open the door, Pikaaroon laid dead in his bunk. McDougal informed the crew that the captain was dead, they would bury him at sea. Later that night the crew voted, McDougal became the captain. McDougal, found the big dipper which if calculated correctly they would be in Tortuga at first light. Finally their voyage complete, the bounty from the Maria de Dios was divided amongst the captain and crew. Several days later they sailed from Tortuga to Aruba where they settled.