Anne had her spyglass trained on the other ship. Sam and the other crewmates were talking on the weather deck, but she couldn't make out the details. "They're just talking."
"Maybe some in the crew don't like the thought of betraying Calico Jack," Christina commented.
"Or Benjamin Hornigold," Pukuh added as he came up beside Anne to observe the other ship.
Anne took her attention away from the spyglass and glanced over at Pukuh. Pukuh looked gravely serious as he turned his gaze back to Sam's ship.
"You may be right," Anne replied.
An unmistakable crack met Anne's ears, sending an alert down her spine. She reached for the cutlass at her side as she looked over her shoulder. The other crewmates, the lot of them, even Tala, had their ears perked and brows furrowed from the noise.
Anne went back to the spyglass and found the source of the noise. She could just barely make out the figure of Sam with his jet-black hair and a smoking pistol in his hand. He was standing stock still, and Anne thought she could see his other hand holding a sword at his side.
"What happened?" Christina asked.
"Sam executed a crewmate." You said you were no fool, Sam. I hope you know what you're doing.
"Let us hope that man lacked mates," Pukuh said.
Anne didn't reply. She tensed her jaw as she watched the scene on the other ship unfolding.
Sam put his pistol away and brandished his sword, gesturing with it as he spoke. After a moment or two, the crew went into action. Some took the body of the dead crewmate and tossed him overboard, as others raised the anchor and prepared the ship for sailing.
Sam, still holding fast to his sword, walked up to his own quarterdeck. Halfway up the steps, he turned and looked over at Queen Anne's Revenge. Sensing or seeing all the eyes on him, he openly shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. Anne couldn't see through the spyglass, but she felt he was grinning.
Anne chuckled despite herself. "You dammed fool," she muttered.
After a time, and a flurry of activity, the Whydah raised the black flag on its tallest mast. The simple skull of death with crossed bones, similar but different enough from Calico Jack's crossed cutlasses, waved in the wind at them.
Anne put away her spyglass and turned around to the crew, who had gathered around when the gunfire sounded. "Let fly the black. Load starboard, men! We've some smoke to make."
10. Warning Signs
"What happened out there?" Herbert asked.
Edward had returned from the excursion onshore with Grace and was now below deck with Herbert and John. They were huddled in a corner near the ladder leading up to the weather deck, Edward sitting on the lip of a barrel and John standing next to him with Herbert in his chair holding tight to the nearby cargo.
"Grace killed a bunch of thieves who had stolen something from her, or someone else. I wasn't privy to the details."
Edward still felt tense from the encounter. Aside from the few minor altercations aboard the Black Blood, it had been some time since he had been involved in a real battle. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Thankfully, Herbert and John both let him alone for that moment he needed to channel that feeling of floating. It came more naturally this time, and he was able to hold it for longer than any other time save the first time when he had been near fainting from exhaustion.
"Does everyone aboard know about the captain's greaves?" Edward asked John.
John's eyes widened. "She used them?" He seemed shocked at the notion, but soon let out a low whistle. "Whoever it was must have irked her something fierce. She rarely uses them."
Edward laughed. "The man was irksome, that much is sure. And whatever it was that he stole, it's been returned."
John let out a sigh. "That's a relief, but it also means you two are about to meet him."
Edward took a moment to register John's meaning. "Calico Jack?" he asked to be sure.
John nodded. "We were tasked with retrieving something stolen from him, but don't ask me what it was. All I know is it was important, and when Mad Jack Rackham tells you to sail, all you ask is how far." John's tone was light, but Edward could tell there was a hint of anger in his voice. That hint spoke to a feeling he dared not utter on a ship full of men in Calico Jack's employ.
Perhaps… "You've met the man?" Edward asked, his attempt to pry open that shaded window subtle.
Herbert understood the game, leaning forward to whisper. "I've heard that he's… well." He paused to flash a concerned look to Edward and John. "Well… that he's not to be trifled with."
John's mouth became a line. "Yes, well, I will say that you are right. And as you're new to the crew, you'll have to meet with him before you're truly considered a mate. If there's one piece of advice I can give you: don't question him, but don't simply bow to him either. He likes to have men he can trust, but who also have a backbone." John rolled his shoulders and glanced at his sides to ensure there were no ears nearby. "Whatever happens, if he tries to play his hunting horn, just run. Run as far as you can and escape the island by any means."
Edward knew the horn John was referring to, but the sudden nature of his dire warning took him aback. His mouth went slack as he searched for words a person who shouldn't know of the horn would say, but it didn't seem to matter, as John took it differently.
John shook his head. "No questions, not here. It's not safe. Just remember to run."
Before Edward or Herbert could say another word, John was already walking away and beckoning them
