Chapter 32: Home Again

It took us two days to get from the headland up to the mouth of the Wide River. Thunder caught up with us before we made it home. They’d been able to jack the yard around to where it could tack, barely. The ship drifted downwind almost as fast as it sailed upwind, but they could ‘reach’ across the wind and stay clear of the coast.

Filo had also found a piece of blue cloth somewhere and he had it flying from the top of his mast. Sure, a purpose-made flag would be better, but I appreciated the gesture.

When we got to the river I hailed one of the fishing boats who recognized Wrong Place and told its captain that the other two were prizes. It was late enough in the day that I wasn’t sure that Dolphin could make it up the river sailing. We just rafted together on the edge of the river’s current and dropped an anchor. The pirates could all get a good night’s sleep so they could row as needed, and then when the sea-breeze came up in mid-morning we’d all go up the river together.

I recognized the men in the boat, but didn’t remember their names. All of my lieutenants except for Garth had been fishermen and they would have known them all, but I didn’t. Didn’t matter, all that was important was that the fishermen would let the town know that we belonged.

If I knew the Commander, not mine but the real one, he’d still have the Guard turned out and the militia standing by. Hopefully he’d also have the fishing boats standing by to help tow us around if we needed it. The river’s current was too strong in places for a half-crew to screw around with a ship they didn’t know.

The officers and I spent half the night figuring out how much money each crewman was owed. Payment for Thunder and Dolphin would have to wait until they were priced and -for Dolphin at least- sold, but they should get their daily pay and their share of our first three prizes as soon as possible. We got it all worked out, including the differences due to the men who’d joined from Sea Fortune and those who had died. Of course we didn’t have anywhere near everything we owed in the pay chest. There was enough for each man to get twelve Pinches, though.

Well, actually two Quads and four Pinches. Surely that would get them through their first night ashore in their hometown. Meanwhile, we’d set it up at the bank for them to be able to either draw their share directly or to have their own account.

In the morning I used Aldo as an example. The basic pay I’d offered each of the crew before we set out was two Pinches a day, with that doubling if we had to fight. Aldo had been brought on as cabin boy and he could have hidden in the cabin during those fights, but I needed a messenger and he’d stood beside me where he could get killed just like everyone else in the crew, so I considered him a grown man and a full member of the crew and he got a full share.

So, Aldo got four Pinches per day from when we left Widemouth until we reached Bridgetown, and that was thirteen days, fourteen before we were allowed to moor at the shipyard. Just for that short trip, I owed him fifty-and-six Pinches. Of course, I’d given him four at a time on three different days at Bridgetown, so he had already received twelve of his fifty-six.

I was only paying the normal two-per-day from the day we reached Bridgetown until we left Small Cove. We went to sea every day, but we didn’t do any fighting. That was fifteen days, so I owed Aldo thirty more Pinches, but we’d given him twelve more in Small Cove.

Then, on our way home we’d met Thunder and Dolphin, so he was getting four per day again from Small Cove to Widemouth which had already been twelve days and would be one more when we got up the river and moored about noon. That was fifty-two more Pinches, or a hundred and thirty-eight in total for the trip. Since I’d paid out twenty-four in Bridgetown and Small Cove, I still owed Aldo one hundred and fourteen Pinches.

Next, his share of the three ships we’d sold in Bridgetown would come to more than three whole Conchs. And, while I couldn’t make any promises about these two ships, I expected that he’d get another Conch or so from them. If he chose to buy a farm and retire from being a seaman, he’d have more than enough to get the land, hire a crew to clear it, build a cabin and a barn, and buy some animals. He’d probably have enough left over to attract a good-looking wife. Or, if he preferred, he could probably buy several sheep and have a different one every night.

Every seaman, Guardsman, and militia archer was getting the same amount. Crew leaders would get twice that. Officers would get more, depending upon their seniority. Since Filo had served as a prize captain for so long, he was getting a LOT more.

There were some minor differences, since some crew had joined us after we had captured some ships. Further, there were some sailors who left the ship at Bridgetown and they weren’t getting paid their share at all. If they ever showed up, I’d give them half of what they earned.

I wouldn’t refuse to pay them, but I wouldn’t pay their whole pay due either. They took oath to serve me, and we needed them. Any of those fights could have gone the wrong way, and those missing men might have made the difference. And I wouldn’t accept their oath again, either. I couldn’t trust them.

Last, Widemouth was our home port. I expected everyone to leave the ship and go home when we moored. I didn’t mind sailors who were homeless if they wanted to sleep on the ship for a few days, but Cookie wasn’t going to feed them, and every one of them had enough money to buy a farm or someplace if they wanted. The ship would be getting pulled out for repairs and changes, and no one could live on the ship when it was out of the water.

When we moored at the town’s pier, we were done with our voyage. I was going to keep the Guard onboard until I could make other arrangements to take care of the ship, but we were not going to keep either duty section onboard. We were home, and the crew was released to go home and see their families. And, yes, I would release the Guard, too, as quickly as I could, because I was tired of paying them. As soon as I could let them go I would.

We’d counted what was left in the pay chest, and we had enough to give every member of the crew twelve pinches when they walked off the ship. For the rest of their pay, we had made a list of each crew member and how much each was owed. I would be going to the bank this afternoon, and I would arrange for each man to get the rest of his pay directly from the bank as long as one of the officers was there to identify him. They could draw it all out right there if they wanted, or they could open an account and have the bank keep it safe for them.

Those who had no home could stay at one of the taverns if they wanted. Anyone who wanted to leave Widemouth was free to do so, but I would advise staying in town until we’d sold Thunder and Dolphin so that they could get paid their share. As for me, I was going home, and I was going to make sure that Millie didn’t have any weapons in her hands when Ceecee and Donna walked in.

Heading up the river was almost a ceremonial promenade. People waved from fishing boats and from the riverbank the whole way up. Wrong Place went first, then Dolphin, and Filo brought up the rear in Thunder.

Filo seemed happy as a prize captain, but we needed more warships and that meant converting Thunder to a brig. If he wanted Thunder after it left the shipyard, it was his. We’d probably cruise together at first, then we could split up. Maybe, after we’d run out of pirates to kill, it could be used as a fast trader. Then, after a hundred years or so when everyone has two-masted square-rig ships, someone will escalate to three masts for warships.

Yes, the Guard and the militia were out in force. On the wall, manning all the engines, covering the dock. There was even a force on the north side of the river, covering the landing, the tavern, and the shipyard. I went up to the bow with my speaking trumpet and as soon as I thought I could be heard on the pier I called “Wrong Place, out of Widemouth, returning home with two prizes!”

The cheer I got in return was loud, even louder than the one when the sun came up to show my ship floating in the cofferdam. No fight today, just a bunch of sailors coming safely home and bringing lots of money.

Pirate’s Gift was moored right in the middle of the pier, and there was no room for all three more ships. One of us could go upstream and another downstream, but there was nowhere for the third ship to go. I called over “Stand by to receive prisoners”, then had Wrong Place continue on past the dock. I called over to Dolphin and Thunder and told them to moor at the town’s dock, and we anchored where we were.

Once those two had unloaded everyone they could, I told Filo and Matto to take both of them over to our yard’s pier ... which seemed to be even more incomplete than when we left ... and I got to moor Wrong Place where it belonged, at the town pier downstream of Pirate’s Gift and just a couple hundred feet south of where it had been sunk.

I happily turned Ox, the officer I’d pulled from Thunder, over to the Guard, explaining that this was a trained draft animal, an ox, and it should go to one of the farms to help pull a plow. Ox wasn’t castrated yet as most bulls were when sent to the plow, so if it gave the farmer any trouble at all he should try that and see if that handled the ox’s behavior problems.

I might get in trouble with the Crossroads people when they heard how I’d treated Thunder of the South’s crew, but they were all dumb thugs. They behaved just like the rats on their ships. I had allowed them to live, but the human race would be better off without any of them. I would be pleased to never hear from any of them again. If I did ever have to deal with them again, I would re-think my decision to allow them to live.

I got the Commander, the real one, to assign a few men to watch over the ships for a few days while we took a holiday, gave everyone in the crew twelve Pinches, and went home to Millie.

Contrary to my expectations, Millie didn’t seem outraged that I’d taken up with another woman while I was gone. She seemed pleased that I’d found someone to take care of me at sea as she had no desire to live on a ship, and demonstrated her happiness that I’d come home to her.

In fact, she asked Ceecee and Donna to give us a few minutes as we needed to talk, and she pulled me upstairs and to bed. Millie was definitely showing, but she wasn’t too large yet. Before long she’d have to be on her hands and knees, but for now on her back still worked. I guess it wasn’t that long a conversation.

I wanted to take a nap on her afterwards, but she insisted that I couldn’t sleep on the baby. She cleaned me up and helped me get dressed again, then pushed me back down the stairs to deal with the guests. She came down in just a nightgown, and when I sat down she sat in my lap. She made sure I knew there was nothing under it, too.

Aldo and Ceecee and Donna and I all got to tell our stories to Millie, Henry, Jim, and Gina while I rubbed Millie everywhere I could reach. Her belly was just a little larger than I remembered. And, I might just not remember that well but I thought her breasts were growing too. They were already well sized for playing with, but I had no objection to them growing. Henry and Jim were pretty much struck dumb by Donna. Not her fault. Well, it was, but short of injuring herself there wasn’t much she could do at this point about her looks.

Millie said that Donna could stay with Gina for the night and allowed as how Ceecee could share our bed, but she wasn’t done with me yet and Ceecee’d have to wait her turn. It was still afternoon when we got done with the quick version of our story, and I needed to go out and talk to some people before I quit for the night. Millie sent Jim out with me to make sure I came back for dinner.