Edward could feel Anne's gaze on him, and he glanced over at her. She had a look of concern on her face. He lifted the flask up in the air and did his best to grin as he said, "Liquid courage," but the grin felt hollow even to him. He took another deep drink from the flask.
The woman who had served them the ale returned with a few plates full of what appeared to be some sort of stew with meat in it and old bread. She didn't say another word to them and left to serve other people.
None of the crew even entertained the thought of trying the food, and so Edward leaned forward after pushing his plate aside. The others at his table followed suit.
"The back room is a bit far from where he is. We'll need to act fast while our crewmates are doing their part."
Anne and one of the crewmates nodded, but the other leaned in further. "Captain, I know we wus supposed to wait a bit before startin' the ruckus, but I think Ca— I think our man is close to finishing his meal."
Edward's eyes widened slightly, and he glanced over to where Calico Jack was sitting. From what he could tell, the men at the table looked relaxed and took small bites of their food and infrequent drinks of ale.
"It's time," he said.
Edward rose from the table and locked gazes with one of his crewmates in another part of the tavern. The crewmate scratched his nose, showing he understood what to do next.
Edward casually walked towards the back corner where Calico Jack waited, followed closely by Anne and the two crewmates they were with. As they moved, the crewmate whom Edward had given the signal started an argument with another mate.
The other patrons hooted and hollered, cheering on the arguments and adding to the insults tossed at each other and tossing actual objects at them as well. The air in the tavern was changing swiftly as the excitement of a brewing fight riled everyone else up.
According to plan, when Edward and the others were a few feet from Calico Jack, the shouts and taunts changed to fists. Most of the patrons were all paying attention to the fight now, and none were looking at Edward and the others.
To ensure nothing went wrong, a few other crewmates started fights with other patrons in the bar, and in a matter of seconds, the entire right side of the tavern had turned into a riot.
Edward, Anne, and their companions took advantage of the commotion, pulled pistols from their coats, and pointed them at the back of Calico Jack and his mates.
"Calico Jack, I presume you wouldn't enjoy a bullet to the back, so don't move," Edward commanded.
For a moment, there was complete silence from the man in front of Edward. He glanced over to the other mates on the other end of the table, the ones whose faces he could see, and noticed that they looked wholly and utterly calm. They appeared as though they didn't care in the slightest that they had pistols trained on them, and the looks unnerved Edward even more than he had been, despite the drink hitting him at that moment.
"So, you're finally here, son," Calico Jack, the man in front of Edward, said over the commotion on the other side of the tavern.
Even above the commotion, Edward knew the voice was a familiar one. He couldn't place it, but Calico Jack raised his hands, rose from his seat, and turned around, and then he knew why the voice was familiar.
"Dad?" Edward said, his mouth going slack as he stepped back in shock.
"Ed?" Anne called.
Before Edward could recover, his father slapped the pistol away and punched Edward in the gut. Edward doubled over in pain but was pulled up by his hair and put in a chokehold.
"You disappoint me, Edward," his father whispered in his ear.
Edward felt a sharp pain shoot into his lower back and travel all through his body, and then there was a sudden empty feeling. He felt warm blood gushing out of the wound.
"Let him go!" Anne shouted, firing her pistol at Calico Jack.
Jack ducked out of the way, but Anne's shot was wide and more a warning. "I think not, little queen," he replied. He pulled a small hunting horn that appeared to be made of tarnished gold from his pocket and blew into it.
The tone from the horn was piercing and like no other sound Edward had ever heard. It shook his whole body with the noise it made, and after it went away, there was silence. Silence, not because Edward temporarily went deaf, but because the patrons in the tavern stopped fighting.
Edward couldn't move his head, but looking over, he could see all eyes on them. The men and women who had not a moment before been beating each other to a pulp were now staring at Calico Jack in a sort of religious reverence. Edward's crew had stopped as well, though from confusion rather than whatever the sound of the horn had wrought.
"By the sound of the Golden Horn!" one of the men in the crowd shouted.
"By the sound of the Golden Horn!" another continued the chant.
Edward hadn't heard the chant himself but had been informed by Anne about its significance to Benjamin Hornigold, Calico Jack's former alias. His father's former alias. It was a battle cry used by those pirates in league with Hornigold in a failed war years ago.
Soon most of the patrons were shouting the same battle cry as they descended upon Edward and his crew. After each chant, they took a step forward in unison, as though under a trance.
"By the sound of the Golden Horn!"
"By the sound of the Golden Horn!"
"By the sound of the Golden Horn!"
Anne's eyes were wide with terror
