Pirates a League of Brothers, H, J, Macey [reading rainbow books TXT] 📗

A story by H J Macey. E-mail h.macey@sky.com

Working title, 'Pirates.'

Synopsis

This story is set in Perth Westen Australia in 1963 and is of out of work legal professionals, who applies for a driver-secretary job in a seedy magazine. They are propelled into a world of a three hundred your old league of Pirates, that was formed to fight slavery. Over the intervening three hundred years, they have fought for the rights of persecuted people. Their leader is a three-hundred-year-old Dorean Gray. Who back in 1663 was captured by Madagascan slaving pirates, when at the age of ten he was sailing with his father and mother to India, for the East Indian trading company. He had been marooned on a strange volcanic island, whos radiation gave the fruits and vegetables growing their longevity properties. This prolongs the life to those that eat them, where one year of ageing is actually ten years in normal peoples lives.

Third Island east of Madagascar E 63% by S 20% an Island called Rodrigues is the Island I have picked for my home Island in this book, it has an encircling reef with a narrow entrance through it to the Island.

Home Island

Two hundred year ago, Pedro Martinez died in a sea battle, now the photo of Peter Martin has been sent in with a job application. It's an uncanny likeness to Pedro Martinez, and the thought of reincarnation is razed, by his old allies and friends.

This book is in progress

In the year 1663, a trading ship was on its last leg of a voyage from England to Calcutta India. Onboard was a clerk named Benjamin Horace Gray, aged forty-five who was destined to take over the position of head tallyman at the new trading office, recently established there for the East India Trading company. With him was his young wife Annabelle, a striking lady of twenty-five, and their ten-year-old son Dorian.

Benjamin had started working for a trading company his father already worked at, he was then aged ten and he worked as the office run-about. He then steadily worked his way into the office fabric, with his keen ability to learn and readiness to do any job that had to be done. He became good with figures, and by the age of fifteen was regularly seen down at the wharf, assisting the tallyman there. At twenty he was one of the head tallymen himself, a well-liked and trusted member of the firm. With his employers planning for him to rise higher, on the management side. 

His position in the trading firm gave him monetary rewards, and status much higher than his fathers and at the age of thirty, he moved them to a finer part of London. Where they mixed with a higher class of people, one such family of lesser funds than them had a young daughter. That caught Benjamin's eye, though only ten at the time, she was well developed and stunning to look at. Benjamin visited the house every week and gained the affection of the young lady.

For five years, he attended her, and at the age of fifteen with her father's permission, a happy Benjamin married the lovely Annabelle. Dorian was born nine months later, to his adoring parents who lavished love and affection on their son. For there had been problems with the berth, and Annabelle could have no more pregnancies. The first four years of Dorian's life were spent with his doting mother, smothering him in love and the fear of him being hurt if he ventured out.

Benjamin saw his son being mummy coddled, was afraid of Dorian becoming a sissy-boy and bought him a pony and taught him to ride. Other manly activities Dorian was encouraged to take up, and by the age of ten Dorian was a confident outwardly going young boy. It was at this time, Benjamin's trading company merged with others to form The East India Trading Company. With Benjamin being tasked to open a trading post in Calcutta, the first of many planned.  

A trading ship was commissioned, to undertake this initial voyage to set up a trading route to India. With stop's to replenish stores, and to deliver and load goods for commerce. This ship was also to transport Benjamin and his family, a journey that could take up to six months or more depending on weather and speed of the ship. The adventurous Dorian was encouraged by his father to work aboard the trading ship as if part of the crew.        

The young Dorian revealed in the ship's atmosphere, and among the rough company of the sailors and had been taken under the wing of the ship's Captain. In the months that followed, he was teaching the young boy how to read a compass and the stars to navigate by. The sailors taught him rope skills, his father didn't know and to his mother's dismay some of their broody language. As well as some sea shanties, his mother also disapproved of.

 The boy's father had encouraged the arrangement, as it was giving the boy a healthy life experience, away from the pampering of the mother. The boy was benefiting from it mentally and physically, as in the five months they had been aboard the boy confidence had grown considerably, and so had his physic.  

After the long uneventful journey around Africa, they were on the last leg from Cape Town. They were in the Indian Ocean, approaching the island of Madagascar. The morning after sighting the island, two sets of sails were sighted, on a tack to intercept them. The Captain altered course, to take them further east towards Sumatra. Trying to put distance between them and the other ships. Only they were smaller and much faster, and by nightfall had gained on them considerably.

If the captain could not lose them in the darkness of the night, they would be upon them by morning. The full moon did not help them, and he manoeuvred to head south when the moon was hidden by clouds. Only his heading was anticipated, and the ships were closer by a league when the moon bathed the sea in silvery brilliance once again. In the early dawn, the Captain gathered his men, and the Gray family and gave them the deadly realisation of their situation.

"They're the slaving pirates of the Arabian Sea's, we will be fighting for our lives soon. Those of us they don't kill will live the rest of our life in slavery. For they will sell us to the Arab Saltines along the red sea coast, and they are cruel masters. We are not fighting men, and we have few weapons, but there is no way of avoiding this affray."

Then taking Mr Gray by the arm, he pulled him to one side and said. "I'm afraid your wife will be stripped bare, and go to the highest bidder at the slave market Sir." Then he thrust a dagger into Mr Gray's hand saying, "only you can decide the fate of your wife Sir". Then taking young Dorian by his collar, pulled him to his cabin and locked him inside. Arming himself and his crew with pistols and cutlasses, they awaited the inevitable fight that was about to happen.

The captain was right they were not fighting men, and the fight was almost over as soon as it began. There were no deaths among the crew, as most of them were clubbed unconscious. When the pirates swarmed over the sides of the freighter, from the two pirate vessels, that with practised manoeuvring. Sandwiched the freighter between them, so they could storm the ship from both sides.

From his hiding place in the captain's cabin, Dorian saw the ship's crew overwhelmed three to one. The captain never fired his pistol, for he was clubbed from behind as he sighted along the barrel at the pirate captain. Dorian had seen his father dragging his terrified mother, out of Dorian's sight as two pirates went to grab her.

After the short fight was over Dorian was found in his hiding place, and dragged out by the scruff of his neck. That was when he saw his dead mother, in the arms of his butchered father. For he had stabbed her with the dagger the Captain had given him. Benjamin Gray had died saving his wife from a fate worse than death itself, and he was shot several times. In an attempt to stop him denying the priests, of such a valuable prize as she.

The pirates had taken Dorian as part of the crew, cabin boy no doubt because of the seaman's clothing he wore. The shock of seeing his parent's lying dead had stunned him into a shocked silence, he felt numb staring at them but the tears that fell and his anger did not register with the pirate captain at all. If it had he may not have decided Dorian would make a fine cabin boy for himself, and would not have taken him from the freighter to his ship.

With the freighter crew bound and put below, a pirate prize crew sailed the freighter back to the Red Sea Coast. To sell the goods on board the freighter, and the crew into slavery. While the two pirate ships sailed on in search of more bounty. The pirate captain's English was limited to just a few words, like 'you' 'here' 'food' 'drink,' and if Dorian wasn't quick enough a swift kick from his boot would emphasize his words.

For two days they sailed eastwards towards Sumatra and came upon two small fishing boats. The hapless native crews found themselves in the other pirate's ships hold, bound and destined to be sold. That pirate ship now with a full hold, departed for their home port. Leaving now only one ship, to hunt for more slaves. Dorian had been busy while nobody was watching him, he had found his way below decks to the stern of the ship. Where he had been working on the steering pulleys and ropes, trying to cripple the ship in some way so he may escape in the confusion.

He would have to pick his time right, he would have to be near shore to swim for it. Maybe at night so he could slip away in the darkness, he had also been in the depths of the ship and identified some weak planking. If he could get a leak started, it might help in his escape. He had also found a sack of coconuts, he could use to stay afloat when the time came to leave the ship. Until then he would have to injure the mistreatment of the Capitan.