William Brand

As each camp is better served with more than one person to help with instruction and information, I suggest that the Mercury should have several representatives. With Michael as one, we simply need one or two more.

PIP without Jim is like...well...PIP without Jim. All other metaphors fail. Oh to be a pirate and steal what we cannot afford. As Michael offered to help with the Mercury early on in the year, the crew should defer to him from here on out. I will of course answer questions and offer what support I can at a distance.

"That's an ill phrase." William said and smiled a little. "An ill phrase. Bitter end..." He shoock his head at Dorian for using such words as that, but it did not stop him from refreshing the man's glass. He pondered on Preston's fit and Avendano's request as if all bad news were now married together. Then he divorced himself from such thoughts and the things he could not change for the present. The conversation turned to the matter of the Lucifer and the many damages there. William was anxious to be on his way, for the Navarra's weighty matters and the ever threatening presence of English on the water pressed him to be at Trinidad. "We cannot afford a second engagement again too soon." "Aye." Dorian agreed, having so many wounded aboard a wounded ship. "We'll discuss Preston again." "Aye." They ended their business, but not before William refreshed a bandage on Dorian's arm which had taken on the stain of the injury it concealed. William did this without permission and Dorian accepted it without question. It was simply the quiet obligation of two fellow soldiers. With this accomplished they went out together, with William pausing only once to look in on his wounded at the surgery. Finding Briar and most of her patients asleep, he closed the door again and made his way forward. They were greeted by the noise of orders, mallets and the traffic of repairs. The Lucy was now almost as well lit from the coming day as she was by the many lanterns brought up to illuminate her hurts. The night was accomplished and William had no idea of the hour, but the sun would be up soon. "I will wait upon your word." William said, for they would not quit the place until the Lucy were well enough to travel. Then they were Captains again and each looked to his own.

That sentence was as similar to one I had to translate from an actual family record a few years back as could be had. My mom had me stop by and help her figure it out. It was from a diary entry of an indentured servant loyal to Richard Pace, praising him for his many kindnesses and his fairness to those people under his protection. It was rife with all sorts of interesting grammar.

I'm still liking it. We're going to stretch it out over weeks.

Proprietor...ergo, my needs are proprietary. MORE BACON!

You can't imagine my surprise to receive a package from Red Handed Jill in the mail yesterday, especially since I wasn't expecting one, nor the contents of it... In a word...or rather two...strangely delicious.

I'll have a tall bottle of sparkling French lemonade followed by eight hours of uninterupted sleep.

I did this very thing over a period of a year back in 1990. A friend of mine was at school in Chicago while I was living in San Jose. I wrote him letters from an elderly man's point of view (a practioner of magic in his advanced years) writing to a younger student of former years. We discussed back and forth the many experiments of magical arts both dark and unusual, sprinkling each letter with news of local events and a larger world war as it affected our parts of the world. Not only did we exchange news and the like, but we sent whole packages of 'materials' for magical use. Letters were often filled with scrawled notes in various handmade inks and sealed with various dark seals and writing. Nigel would even make his own postage stamps and marks that he would affix to letters inside other envelopes. I would go to great lengths to weather the paper and envelopes to appear as though they had traveled over great distances by horse cart and carrier birds. At one point I mailed him a spider egg sack, which unfortunately hatched while on route to Chicago. Opening the letter to find it filled with baby spiders came as quite a shock to my poor friend. To this day, one of my roomates of the time still believes that I was mailing these 'so called letters from Nigel' to myself and that Nigel doesn't exist at all. Of course I named one of the many characters in the Watch Dog after Nigel in honor of those bygone days.

I can't come. I won't bore you with the long details and the year long financial issues that lead up to this unpleasant conclusion. I simply can't be at PIP this year. The writing was on the wall over a month back, but I was still holding out for a miracle. Instead, we were simply hit with more troubles. My apologies to the fine crew of the Mercury. Those of you that have attended PIP know just how much I hate to miss it, and those of you who will be experiencing your first PIP this year will only understand my disappointment after you've been. I'm bothered enough that I may just put all of my piratey things in a back room until early next year. Best of luck and give the English hell on the battlefield. W.B., Quartemaster of the Mercury

William only nodded at first, for the information answered his earlier questions regarding the many dead aboard the snow and the blood in the water. His mind turned to another time and place, then. A time when there had been sharks, but never among his own. He said nothing, but his face changed some three times from anger to bafflement and then back to anger. Finally he shook his head side to side but once and sucked a little air through his teeth. Then he brushed one hand slowly across his brow. When he could find no question that would make him feel better about the news, he simply asked, "Was this act but a...temporary madness?" Dorian could not answer this of course, being as equally baffled about the deed himself. He shrugged with his face and shoulders. "I've not known th' like from 'im." William was back to anger then. Not so much so at the deed, but that the deed positioned him to sit in judgment over one so high. He was angry that it was one he would never have questioned before. Had it been anyone else, he would have rushed from the ward room, the door left wide, and gone over to the Lucy to thrash the sailor with words and any object within reach. William left the table then. He walked to two opposite corners in long strides. He resisted the urge to throw the decanter from the table, as much as he wanted to. The thought of Tudor kneeling among its remains and plucking up the shards was the only thing that kept him from doing so. "They'll lay this at MY feet!" he said to the whole of the Universe as much as to Dorian. Then he frowned, smiled and frowned again. It was horrible enough to be funny in some way and he almost laughed, but shook his head instead. Then he sighed a little and resigned himself to one more bloody footnote in the book already being written about him in the minds of too many strangers to count. He looked out the stern windows. "He'll need watching, if he cannot answer for himself."

Congratulations. You will never get that sewing room clean now. Raise a glass!

With the Lieutenant gone, William joked openly about selling the Navarra, but admitted that there would be few ports left to them if they were to anger the French and Spanish both. William remarked that he would simply return to Egypt and be glad of date palm and a well. This led to conversations of Nigel's favorite haunts and Dorian's chosen parts of Ireland, which only he could pronounce well. Then Tudor was serving them enough fair to awaken their tired frames to hunger and then send them to bed again. With that, William sent out all of them but Dorian. "I am certain that I do not wish to know, but tell me just the same. What was it you wouldn't say about your Ship's Master before?"

Grilled lobster with bacon.

Scones, properly clotted. Eggs, baked.

Let me be the first to welcome Sea Horse and Blackbeard. Nearly a month away now and we're still growing.

Perhaps a nice ham and swiss quiche...?

Oi, indeed, and a fine good morning.

It took some time for Durand to arrive, as he required some time to wash and clothe himself from that work aboard the Lucy. He arrived looking clean, if not refreshed. He was offered a drink at once and William knew he would not refuse it. The first glass disappeared at once as did half of the second before Durand focused on the matter at hand. William asked the Lieutenant to explain Avendano's request a third time and watched Durand as he did so, but Durand's face never changed. When the Lieutenant was done speaking, Durand simply nodded and stated that he would put the matter aright. He and the two officers of the Navarra went out as easily as they had entered. "To have an ear at that door..." Nigel said with a bemused smile. "Aye." The rest of them returned and they went again to the business of dividing the snow's remains.

I could go for a plate of bacon wrapped scallops this morning... ...and someone send some coffee down to Sterling's room.

I was amused to see this thread revived, and reminded that I've left off a few of my own, so by way of update... Harry Silkie Red Cat Jenny Dorian Lasseter Black Syren Red-Handed Jill Maeve Jim Hawkins Kass Ol Man From the Sea CrazyCholeBlack Captain P.E.W. Callenish Gunner Island Cutter Haunting Lily Edward O’ Keefe Captain Callahan Fayma Callahan Captain Sterling Jack Roberts Stynky Tudor

I should also mention that I was stung by a yellowjacket as I was locking up the tavern when Baconfest was over. Not a great way to end the day.

And a very happy belated Baconfest to everyone who celebrated. We had a very modest but pleasant showing of people last night, including many new people. Tracy made an Irish Dubliner potato soup with copious amounts of Bacon and Dubliner cheese. Tate tried to kill us with a bacon meatloaf wrapped in bacon. It was all divine.

They had risked all, and in doing so had sheltered the Navarra from harm. William, who had felt obligated to protect Capitán Eustaquio Alano Avendano and his men so recently, now felt just as enclined to flog the man about the deck. He imagined Avendano stripped naked and tripping about the frigate while beaten with the good doctor's bloodied apron. It was not perhaps the best mood to be in while escorting a Spanish ally to a Spanish port, so William composed himself. "Perhaps if Capitán Avendano can show just cause that he and his played any more of a role in this business than prey, I would consider some recompense." It was not a 'no', but it was as close as William thought he might come to sending the Lieutenant away empty handed. "You may inform the Captain that I will honor my agreement with his men aboard the Lucy and Watch Dog who faithfully defended this ship, and by so doing, defended the Navarra. I will not withhold my gratitude to them. He may also retain that share of his mortality that God granted the lucky tonight." "Amen to that." Nigel muttered. The Lieutenant accepted this with a nod and the business passed back into his hands. William did not envy him the task of going to Avendano again, but he thought he might send someone with De la Cruz to balance the weight of the dispute. He sent for Durand.

Anything remotely positive in the New World is a good thing, considering all of the problems most colonists faced.