Chapter 9

The door to the bridge was closed, but there were glass panels in the door which made it possible to see into the bridge. I could see the captain and several crew members at their posts. Also, I could see what looked like several pirates holding revolvers, one of whom looked like he could be the leader of the pirates.

The one I assumed was the pirate leader was holding a pistol rather casually. It was not pointing at the captain, and it was not cocked. That meant that I might have time to get off a shot at him before he could shoot the captain. The death of the purser demonstrated that the pirates were not reluctant to shoot the ship’s officers.

I assumed that they meant to abandon the ship as soon as they had finished looting everything worth taking. I suspected that one of the items that the pirates wanted was the contents of the ship’s safe. Now that the purser was dead, the captain was the only one who knew the combination of the safe, and that might serve to keep him alive for longer than might otherwise be likely. Well, my intent was to rescue the captain and as many others of the crew as would be possible.

I quickly sketched out a plan that was heavily dependent upon James and his new revolver. “James, here is what I want to do. Of course, if you have a better idea, I certainly am willing to listen. Go over there to where that ventilator is projecting through the deck and position yourself behind it so that you are protected from shots from the bridge. Once you are there, fire a shot through the door to alarm the pirates inside the bridge.

“If you can hit one of the pirates, go ahead and aim at him, but what I really want is for them to come out of the bridge to try to shoot you. Be sure that they know where to look for you once they are out on this open deck. Shoot at them to keep their interest and kill any that you can, but be sure that you do not let them put a bullet into you.

“I will hold my fire until the bridge has been emptied as much as possible of pirates. When that happens, I will rush inside and shoot the pirate leader before he has a chance to shoot the captain. I will then shoot as many of the pirates that I can find if there are any left in the bridge.

“Once I have rescued the captain, I will join you in shooting the remaining pirates. Please be sure that you are not shooting at me when you do pick a target. I will use my pistol inside the bridge, but I will switch back to my shotgun when I come hunting pirates back on this deck.

“Do you have any better ideas, or will you go along with my plan?”

“Your plan sounds good to me, Mr. Albert. I will do my best to follow through on it. Good luck with your part of it. I will leave now. Just try not to shoot me in the excitement, if you please.”

I could not help chuckling at James’ last three words. I took that to mean that he had complete confidence in me. Frankly, I wished that I could be just as sure of the outcome.

It did not take James long to find his position behind the ventilator, and a few seconds later he fired his shot through one of the panes of glass in the door. From the cry of pain from inside the bridge, it sounded like he was able to make his shot count. Obviously, James Ledbetter was a person whom I could depend upon.

Nothing happened for about a minute, so James fired again through the door. There was no cry of pain this time, but he must have their attention by then. There was about half a minute delay before the door was opened and three men rushed from the bridge. Four was the count of the ordinary pirates when I had looked through the door earlier, so I figured that only the pirate leader was still in there with the captain and ship’s crew.

Ah, James was paying attention. He fired once at the pirates as they left the bridge, and that was enough to cause them to leave the door open, had they planned to close it after they came outside. That certainly made it easier for me. They were concentrating on James, so I had easy access to the doorway.

I ran to the door and dove through just in case the pirate leader was paying attention to the door. I figured that dive would keep me from being hit if he did try to shoot me. I had identified the pirate leader as I came into the bridge, so I did not hesitate to shoot him with my revolver. Okay, so I did not kill him with my first shot, though I did wound him in the gut with that .44 caliber slug. My second shot was to his head, and that finished him.

I said to the captain, “Use his gun to protect yourself. I will be back shortly.” He stooped to pick up the dropped pistol as I holstered my pistol and took my shotgun in hand. I looked out the door and did not see any pirate looking my way, so I ran to cover out on the deck.

Hardly was I in place before I spotted one of the pirates raise his gun to shoot at James. Fortunately, I was close enough that there was no doubt that my shotgun would be effective at the current range. I fired at the man and hit him with enough #3 buckshot in the back to ensure his demise. At least nine pellets hit him and drew blood, so I no longer concerned myself with that pirate.

A few seconds later, I heard James fire two rounds in quick succession, and there was a cry of pain after the second shot, so I believed that he had accounted for one of the pirates. “JAMES, ARE YOU STILL WHERE YOU WERE?”

“YES, MR. ALBERT! I THINK THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE PIRATE LEFT NOW! WHEN LAST SEEN, HE WAS JUST TO MY LEFT! PERHAPS YOU CAN GET A BETTER SHOT AT HIM!”

“OKAY, I WILL GIVE THAT A TRY! OUR CAPTAIN IS SAFE FOR NOW!”

I made my way toward James’ left in my hunt for the last of the three pirates. Ah, there he was. However, just as I was about to fire, James beat me to it, and killed the pirate with one shot. Yes, sir, that man was a useful partner!

I called for James to meet me at the bridge and to pick up the three pirate guns on his way. I was already talking to the captain when he showed up. We paused long enough to reload all of our weapons before I resumed talking to the captain.

“Sir, we have killed six pirates and their leader; do you know how many more there are aboard your ship?”

“No, Mr. Albert, I do not know the answer to that conundrum. We will have to search the Mary Lee from stem to stern to be sure that we have gotten rid of them all. I must thank you and this gentleman for what you have done so far to rescue us. We can now handle the cleanup of the situation with our own people now that you have broken the back of the pirate attack. In fact, I would appreciate it if you two gentlemen would step down and let us finish the job. That will go a long way toward boosting the morale of the crew, and will keep the owners of the Mary Lee off my back for allowing you to endanger yourselves, much as I appreciate it.”

I grinned and said, “Well, Captain, I suppose that we have had enough fun for today. Mr. Ledbetter and I will try to stay out of your way while your people clean up your ship.”

“By the way, Mr. Albert, I knew that you were armed with a revolver, but I did not know about your shotgun or Mr. Ledbetter’s revolver. Please tell me how you came into them while you two are joining me at my table for dinner tonight. Oh, and please lock up that shotgun. The authorities where we will be docking each night will take a dim view of you having it. It would be better if they just did not know that you possessed such a weapon.”

“Very well, Captain. I will follow your advice. Thank you for your invitation for us to join you at your dinner table.

“Oh, you do know that your purser was killed by the pirates, do you not?”

“Yes, I am aware of that unfortunate circumstance. The purser was a good man and an excellent officer. He will be missed. Now, I must get to work organizing the search of the ship. Goodbye for now.”