The familiar smells of the sea air and the Caribbean pine that lined the ship from stem to stern, as well as his wife's warmth in his lap, calmed his mind. For the moment, despite the loss of his father and his brother Herbert, he was at peace.
"So, have you thought about what we'll do from here?" Anne asked.
Edward looked at his wife, her eyes deep green like the ocean, her gleaming red hair shining in the light of the lantern. The small freckles around her face and her rose-coloured lips made his heart race.
"I have a few things in mind for us to do tonight," he said with a cheeky grin. Anne smacked his hand, but she couldn't hold back a smile and a blush. Edward kissed his wife, then looked out the window to the stars again. "We're free from our horrible parents, and we're pirates. We can do whatever we want."
Epilogue
It was a stormy day, and Edward holed himself up in his father's study reading through the mass of notes and letters, ledgers and journals left behind. He was trying to find some purpose behind the noise, trying to stay afloat in the business his father had created.
Suddenly, the doors to the study swung open on a gust of wind. Edward looked up to see an older man with salt and pepper hair and a pipe sticking out of his mouth at the entrance. The man held no weapon, but Edward drew a pistol all the same.
Edward stood up from his seat and pointed the pistol at the man. He held his finger at the ready but didn't fire. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
The man looked Edward up and down, as though appraising him. "So yer the egg, eh?" he said in a gravelly voice. "You'd better have been worth all this. I lost my eye because o' you."
Edward, from this distance, could just barely make out the slash on the man's left eye and cheek. His eye looked clouded over.
"I'm afraid you have me mistaken for another," he said. "Now, I'll ask you to leave unless you want to die."
The man nodded and stepped forward, unfazed. The sound of a peg leg snapped against the wood of the floor. "Aye, you have some fire in you, that's good," the man said. He looked around the room, then when he eyed a cabinet nearby, he stalked over to it and opened it up to find a bottle of liquor. "You remember the man you fought, Edward Russell? What was the name that fool called himself? Ah, yes, Plague. What a joke. At least when people call me a foolish name, it wasn't my idea."
The mention of the assassin Edward had fought piqued his interest. He didn't lower the pistol, but he did approach the man. "What about him?"
The old man pulled the cork of the liquor out with his teeth, spat it away, and took a long drink. "I'm the reason you won that fight, little egg," he said. Then he motioned with two fingers from his left shoulder in a line to his right hip.
It took a moment to remember, but Edward recalled that Plague had had a wound in that same spot. The wound had only been hours old when they had fought, and Edward surmised that without that wound, he very well might not have won his fight. Only those who were with Plague, or on Edward's crew, knew of that wound.
Edward furrowed his brow. "Who are you?" he asked again.
"I'm William Kidd. Some fools call me The Tsunami. I'm a friend of yer father, and I'm here to help you with what comes next."
THE END
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About The Author
JEREMY IS CURRENTLY LIVING IN NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA WITH HIS WIFE HEATHER, AND THEIR TWO CATS, NAVI AND THOR.
Jeremy's first foray into the writing world was during a writing competition called NaNoWriMo, where the goal is to write a certain number of words in the month of November.
After completing the novel he started, and some extensive rewrites, he felt it was worthy of publishing and self-published his first novel, Blackbeard's Freedom in September, 2012.
After writing over ten books under two names, his passion for writing hasn't wavered over the years, and hopes to one day make it his primary career.
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Table of Contents
BLACKBEARD'S FAMILY
1. Stabbed in the Heart Through the Back
2. Resolve
3. Course Correction
4. Captain's Orders
5. They Don't Bother Us None
6. By These Copper Legs o' Mine
7. For Whom the Golden Bell Tolls
8. Pirates and Thieves
9. Smoke
10. Warning Signs
11. A Bell to Fill the Hollows
12. You Know What They Say About Dead Men?
13. Striking Down the Bell of Death
14. Seasick
15. Look Into My Eyes
16. Nassau
17. Breaking Point
18. The Pirate With Three Names
19. Water and Blood
Epilogue
About the Author
