Novels2Search
Black Ship
Chapter 15

Chapter 15

While they were wandering the sea, Simon was trying to decipher the map they found. "We should find a port somewhere, we need supplies," said Greg. "Should we head back to Fley Harbor?" asked Marcel. "Hm..." Greg was scratching his head. "What if we go to Black Lagoon?" he continued. "Will our supplies last that long? It is still a seven days or so journey" asked Marcel while turning the helm. "We should make it," said Greg while smiling. "That is what I wanted to hear! To Black Lagoon!" yelled Marcel. "Aye!" everyone agreed and took their posts. They were lucky and caught good wind that pushed them faster toward the Black Lagoon. After four days on the sea, day and night, Tim was seeing the port of Black Lagoon. It was as busy as they remembered it. "We should check out first if Jose still has his tavern," said Marcel. They were asked again for permission to pass, but this time they had it. They left the ship at the docks and went towards where Jose's tavern was. The town was not much different, but the people were. They did not see anyone familiar. As they approached the tavern they heard a lot of people talking. "You think that there is someone else at the tavern?" asked Greg. "Perhaps a visitor?" said Marcel. Inside the tavern, there were two people talking. "I told you it is a bad idea to sell it. Now we are stuck with them" the woman said. "We had no other choice, it was either this or we live on the roads," said the man with anger in his voice. "There is nothing we could do about it, we are too remote for people to come and stay at our tavern" he continued. The woman took a glance at the door and saw Marcel standing in it. "Welcome, welcome! Sorry about our little quarrel," the woman said and punched the man's shoulder. "How can we help you?" she asked with a smile on her face. "We would like to know if we can stay the night here," Marcel asked. "Of course, of course!" said the woman welcoming them in. "What waters brought you here young one" asked the man. "We came to look for someone, but it looks like he is not here," Marcel said. "Oh... I hope you will find him" the woman said while laying down the table. "Is he part of your crew?" she asked. "No, he is a friend that used to own a tavern around these places," Marcel said while grabbing the cup of water. "Not many people venture to places like this one," the man said while looking at Marcel. "Would you mind if I was to ask his name?" the man continued with a serious look on his face. "His name is Jose," Marcel said and both the woman and the man turned pale. "Jo... Jo... Jose?" the woman said and dropped the plates. "Yes," Marcel said and helped the woman clean up. "Forget it! We do not have any more rooms, find somewhere else to stay!" the man slammed the table and angrily pushed them out. "Why?" Marcel with a calm voice asked. "Do not ever come here! Leave!" the man slammed the door shut in front of Marcel. "I wonder what was that about," said Greg. "Yes, I wonder what was it about as well. They seemed very angry after hearing his name" continued Marcel. "Let us see if we do not find somewhere else to stay the night and tomorrow maybe when the waters calm down we can reason with them," said Marcel while going toward the town.

His crew followed him and they stayed at Night's Vow. That night they saw the man with a couple of other people at a table drinking. "Ah... Let me tell you about those youngsters" the man hiccups. "They... They... They came today looking for Jose, for Jose, I tell you!" he continues and drinks more alcohol. "Isn't Jose one of Frown's members?" someone at the table asked. "Who in their right mind would search for him?" another one said. "What if they are from the same crew?" said another while leaning his head on the table. Everyone at the table looked at him and started laughing. "They were young... and dumb. There is no way that they are looking for him" one of them said and got up from the table. "Yes. I agree with him, maybe your ears played a trick on you" another said while grabbing the man's shoulder. The man was playing with the cup from left to right stirring the alcohol inside. "You might be right!" he hiccups. "I might have heard wrong..." he continued and drank more. Marcel and Greg eavesdropped their whole conversation. "You think we should still go tomorrow?" asked Greg. "Yes, I have an idea," said Marcel while rubbing his hands. The next day Marcel went alone at the tavern early in the morning. The woman was cleaning inside while the man was sleeping. As he approached the door the woman saw him through the window and started shouting. "Leave! We want nothing to do with you!" she said. "Please listen to me," said Marcel. "No! Leave!" she said while raising the broom. "I just want to hear what happened that made you angry," Marcel said and grabbed a chair. He sat down and the woman hit him with the broom. "That is all you get! Leave!" she said. Marcel was not moving and was looking her straight in the eyes. The woman got pissed and started to hit him more, and more, to the point he was bleeding. Marcel wiped off the blood and asked her once again. "Please tell me what happened". She looked at him let go of the broom and fell to her knees. "Why? Why are you still here? Why do you want to know so bad what happened?" she asked him while crying. Marcel got up from his seat and kneeled at her, he helped her get up and put her on a chair. Marcel gave her his handkerchief to wipe her tears. He started telling her what happened how they got there and what their relationship was with Jose. After she heard all that she fainted. After a couple of minutes, she regained consciousness and Marcel was still there. "What you just told me it was not a dream?" she asked while looking around. "No, it was not" Marcel answered. "Then this explains why you look for Jose," she said and got up from her chair. "Jose's captain, you know who, came a couple of weeks ago at our tavern and offered us a lot of coins for the tavern. Of course we asked why they would do such a thing. And you know what they said? "Because we want it!", as simple as that. They think that they can just go around and wave their wealth in left and right and get what they want. This tavern is everything we got, we can not just sell it despite the fact that we do not have a lot of customers. It has an emotional value that can not be paid in any currency" The woman finished her story and picked up the broom. "Now you heard why we were so angry about hearing his name" she continued cleaning the tavern. "Ah... I almost forgot. They also said they will be back at the next blue moon and if we do not agree to their terms they will take it by force" the woman said. Marcel looked at her in disbelief. He did not know what to say. Captain Frown he knew was a nice person, and so was Jose and there was no way they would do something like this. "Would you mind if I and my crew will come and stay at the tavern for the time being?" asked Marcel. "Do as you please, but hopefully what you told me about the Jose you know is true and we were just imagining things" she said and went upstairs.

It was already noon by the time they finished the conversation and Marcel's crew was waiting for him at the Night's Vow. "Look who is back!" said Greg. "How did the 'negotiations' go?" he said while laughing. "You won't believe what I heard," Marcel said and sat at the table. After telling them everything the woman said, without missing any important detail they were also in disbelief. "On the bright side we can stay at their tavern for now," said Greg. They grabbed their things from Night's Vow and moved to the other tavern. "While we stay here we need to earn some coins as well," said Marcel. "We already looked into that," said Anna. "The boys will help the captains and merchants load and unload supplies, while I and Bia will work at Night's Vow as a waitress" she continued. "That sounds great!" said Marcel. After a couple of weeks, the couple from the tavern grew fond of Marcel and his crew. They helped around the tavern and helped with groceries, and Anna with Bia promoted the tavern from Night's Vow for the people who could not afford the high prices in town. The couple almost forgot that at the next blue moon, someone would come and claim their treasure. One day Anna heard some people talking at the Night's Vow about a cursed black ship and later that day she told Marcel about it. "It sounds exactly like Captain's Frown. From who did you hear it?" Marcel asked. "I heard it while cleaning a table at the tavern, but they already left," Anna said while tidying up her hair. "Oh... And I was curious where they saw his ship" Marcel said disappointed. "I have a feeling that they were just talking, but who knows..." she said and went upstairs. The night has come and Marcel went outside to take some air. The clear sky was revealing the moon's magnificent veil. "It is a nice night, is it not?" the woman said while staying on the grass outside. "It almost makes me forget about that day when they came to our tavern" she continued. "We will make sure to sort it out, I promise," said Marcel and looked up at the sky. "If what you said is at least half true, it means that this tavern will end up with Jose anyway," she said and sighed. "We will find a way that will please both sides, I promise," said Marcel. "You make it sound so easy and nice, but that is not how things work in this world. Pirates remain pirates whatever you say to them. I have seen my fair share of them over the years we own this tavern. And I know that many of them are rotten to the core" she said. Marcel could not yet understand the woman's words because on his journey he met pirates that are kind and not as bad as everyone thinks. The next morning a big ship docked at the port. It was big and black, and a lot of people were frightened by it. There were skulls all over the railing and the flag had a skull symbol as well. "They have come!" people were yelling in the town through Black Lagoon.

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A tall man was escorted from the ship to the tavern. He banged loudly on the door and then slammed it open. "I have come to claim this tavern!" the man yelled when he got inside. The woman was terrified and was barely standing. "And who might you be?" asked Marcel the rude man. "Who am I?" the man looked around. "Who am I?" he looked around once again and then started laughing. "I am your worst nightmare kid! I am Captain Frown!" the man said with a proud voice. "Captain who?" Marcel said while taking a second look at him. "Are you deaf?" the man approached Marcel and yelled. "I can hear perfectly fine, but I can not see this captain you are claiming to be," Marcel said with a straight face. "What did you say?" the man grabbed Marcel's neck. Greg and Fred came downstairs and freed Marcel from the man's grip. The others from Marcel's crew followed them downstairs. "You think you are a smart kid?" the man said and backed off. "Just because you have a couple of friends that means nothing to me and my crew!" he yelled. Marcel stood there in silence. "Anyway... I will come tonight to claim my tavern, make sure you clean it up kid," said the man and spit on the ground then left. "See? Now you know I was not lying" said the woman. "He is not Captain Frown!" said Marcel. "What do you mean?" asked the woman. "Everything about him checks with the legends" she continued. "Yes, almost everything," Marcel said and sat down. "Remember what you told me before? That they will come when it is a blue moon?" he continued. "Yes, I remember and they also said that," the woman said. "That is true, but it is daytime, there is no blue moon right now," Marcel said and was playing with a coin on the table. "But what are we to do? You heard him, tonight he will come to claim the tavern with his crew" the woman said while crying. "Let us pray that tonight is a blue moon," said Marcel and got up. As the sun was setting, a blue moon was rising from the sea. The woman and the man were happy to see that because Marcel had hopes that the real Captain Frown would appear. As the night was setting the self-proclaimed Captain Frown gathered his crew and came towards the tavern. "They are coming!" said the woman looking out the window. Everyone inside was prepared for a brawl, but Marcel just went outside and waited in front of the door. The self-proclaimed captain arrived and saw Marcel sitting outside. "Have you cleaned out inside the tavern?" he said to Marcel. Marcel was silent. "Hello?" he yelled. "He is deaf!" one of the crew members said and everyone started laughing. Another approached Marcel and pushed him around. "Guys, guys... We do not play with the food, remember?" the self-proclaimed captain said. "Just be done with him quickly and come inside" he continued. As he finished his sentence a thick mist was covering the area. A pirate song in the distance was heard by everyone in front of the tavern. Marcel knew this was Captain Frown, he was coming. "What is happening?" the crew started panicking. "Who can this be?" everyone was looking at each other asking. "This is Captain Frown!" Marcel said. "Do not make me laugh, you are looking at him already" said the self-proclaimed captain. The pirate song became louder and louder. The mist started clearing and a big ship arrived in front of the tavern. Captain Frown and his crew got off the ship and saw Marcel standing in the middle of the other crew. "What are you doing here?" asked Captain Frown. "I am having a dispute with this man who claims that he is you," said Marcel. Captain Frown looked around and then looked at the man. "Hmm..." Captain Frown was tapping his sword. "Is it true?" he continued. Everyone from the other crew was terrified to see the real Captain Frown's crew. All kinds of animals standing on two legs, talking, it was like a dream. Some of them even fainted at the sight of them. "Yes!" said the self-proclaimed captain. "Take a look around," said Captain Frown. When he looked around everyone from his crew either fled or fainted. "What is a captain without a crew?" said Captain Frown while taping his sword. "I do not need a crew for someone like you," said the self-proclaimed captain and drew his sword. In a split second Captain Frown stopped tapping his sword and met the self-proclaimed captain's sword and split it in half. "See? Not even your sword is on your side," Captain Frown said. The self-proclaimed captain peed himself and passed out. "Are we done?" said Captain Frown while looking at the self-proclaimed captain. "Y... Y... Yes sir!" he said and started running away. Marcel's crew was watching everything from the tavern and they started laughing along with the couple. "Let us get inside shall we?" said Captain Frown and grabbed Marcel's shoulder.