William Brand

Historical Fiction is being voted in by a landslide. All votes are not in yet, but for the present we shall play this as though it is the watchword of the Watch Dog. Guidelines may be posted at a later time, but for now, let us continue... The strange silence from above tells a very familiar story. The cries from the Dutch ship can be heard carrying across the water. The Captain sends for Mister Lasseter, Mister Warren and the Monsignor.

ANOUNCEMENT We have reached a dividing road in the story of the Watch Dog. The crew seems divided into two camps. The first group believes that the intent of the Watch Dog should be grounded in historical fiction. This group wants the thread to be historically accurate and geared towards reenactment. Realistic situations based on maritime history, accurate portrayal of weather and combat, and historic treatment of injuries, duties and the average day to day. The second group leans towards supernatural events and unexplained events. This group would like to have an historical fantasy setting involving such story tools as curses, otherworldly enemies, and the use of fantastic or movie based themes In other words, a historical fantasy played out like Pirates of the Caribbean. More movie. Less history. We have to decide now which direction we want to go. We need to choose one side or the other. A middle road would leave the story open to too much personal interpretation and we'd have the same division again. Please carefully consider your choice and PM me with your decision. I will tally the votes before continuing the story. Historical Fiction or Historical Fantasy?

The Watch Dog was still at some distance when the details of the Dutch Merchant ship began to come into view. The missenmast was in ruins. A prevailing wind had carried fire from amidships into the sails and rigging, and the failing lines and weakened wood had caused the missenmast to shatter a third of the way up from the weather decks. The mainmast was a smoldering beam of embers and swinging lines of burning hemp. The shrouds were all but gone and swayed like charred cobwebs. The stays between the mainmast and foremast were even now beginning to separate under the fires and the support of both masts would be gone soon. If the wind shifted to the west, both masts might go. Men were scrambling to get supplies into the waiting boats already lowered to the water. They were dropping bags an barrels so carelessly overboard that every time they toppled a cask over the side it threatened to damage the smaller boats below. No lookouts remained aloft. The chaos was a perfect. The Watch Dog began closing the distance in the dark towards its illuminated target. Everyone aboard the Watch Dog was growing quieter with each league gained. Mister Lasseter sent a single sailor among the crew to whisper the bell rather than sound it. By first watch they'd come upon the Dutch unaware of this encroaching threat. This silent, deadly seadog.

June 23, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog Ending of Afternoon Watch Word came down from the quarter deck as the afternoon watch was ending and the first dog watch began. A ship was see, still at some distance, but burning and still manned. No flag was reported. William sent word back asking for the lookouts to send details of her size, origin and condition as they were discovered.

YAY! I mean... ARRRRRRRRR!!!!

William folded one of the many charts on the table to make a space for the tray, setting it aside and tapping his finger for a moment on the table, his eyes somewhere else. "Thank you, Miss Smith. Please, have a seat." The Captain poured himself some tea, but then passed the cup to his steward. "We will soon be approaching the source of our mystery smoke and I should like you to run several messages to the crew for me. First, inform Mister Warren to prepare the barge crew, as the Master-at-Arms is not able to make any crossings at this time. Tell him to arm the rowers for boarding and to prepare them with all necessary tools for such a task. Mister Warren may recommend someone to stay the helm in his abscence or ask Mister Lasseter to do so. Second, inform the Master Gunner to prepare grape shot for a deck sweeping if it should be required. I don't want the boarders to have to go against superior forces while so many of us are not recovered. Third..." William smiled a little. "If the doctor hasn't altogether ruined the shirt I was wearing when I was brought to the surgery, please take it to the tailor and see if it can be rescued. If our good doctor has cut it apart in her efforts to repair me, please bring the remains to me."

June 23, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog Between eighth bell of Forenoon Watch and first bell of Afternoon Watch As the day progressed from the forenoon watch to the afternoon watch, William was visited with regular reports from the quarter deck. The smoke on the horizon was still to distant for a source, but there could be no doubt, given its isolation on the sea, that it was a ship. The Captain sent for his steward as the ship's doctor visited his wounds with fresh bandages.

William ponders the request and begins to smile despite himself. "Send Mister Lasseter word to bring us closer to this unknown fire and we'll see what can be seen. If it is a ship on fire in the water, then she might be rescued or we might gleen the field. Have Mister Lasseter send word once he has discovered the source of the smoke."

William simply nodded. "Mister Youngblood." He said aloud to the now empty room, unsure if he felt anything about this news or if he should. He soon found that he did despite himself. He was just settling in to his charts again when a call came down from above. Smoke sighted on the horizon.

William returned the gesture without hesitation and was grateful for the simple and deliberate return to duty. William remained standing until he was gone, then with more effort than before, he returned to his chair. . . . In short order, the Quartermaster came back to discuss the other matters before the ship. "Please see Mister Youngblood's belongings returned to the fo'c'sle." William smiled for a moment before adding. "And please, Mister Lasseter, return those hammocks to those that have need of them. We're beginning to look like a prison hulk with these scattered sleepers about the decks. Just make them understand that I want them stowed away and we'll speak no more of that. I'll ponder on these other matters for the time being, but I should like to see the crew assembled, so that we might see what skills they have as boarders. This evening should serve, I should think." William dismissed the Quartermaster with his thanks, but even as the door closed he called him back. "One more thing, Mister Lasseter. Who was it that brought me down to the surgery during the battle?"

Mister Youngblood met the Captain's eye as he spoke. He stood without stooping, despite two long days and nights in the hold. He spoke candidly and made no excuses for his conduct. When he was through, there was a long silence that followed. William remained seated for a time, still holding the man's gaze. The man's eyes were clear, if not a little squinted from that hard light coming in from the stern windows. The Captain considered everything Mister Youngblood had said, but more than this, he considered what he hadn't said and what he didn't need to say. "Mister Lasseter." William began as he used the table to lift himself to a standing position. "See that the Master Gunner is allowed soap and clean water for shaving and a hot meal before returning him to his duties."

June 23, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog Again, the Captain seemed absorbed in his papers for a long time while the two men stood across from him. He made several additional notations from comparable charts before setting the quill aside and straightening in his chair. "Mister Youngblood. As Captain of this ship I have a few matters to discuss regarding your conduct aboard this ship. First, let me say how well the gunnery crew answered to each and every order you directed to them. Their speed and diligence under fire is commendable. Each of them regards his or her cannon with a special attention to detail and order. Now there is the matter of your conduct as regards the ship herself. You are often found at rest. You seem diligent when prompted, but often careless. No one could ever question your enthusiasm as a gunner. It is obvious to all that you would rather be under the cover of heavy smoke and splinters than any other place, but you take risks that I consider too great for the safety of this ship. Have you anything to say, Mister Youngblood?"

William considers the issues before him for a long time. His eyes falls on the closed door. "First, I would like you to go into that sea chest there and bring me out the purse you find in it." William waited for Mister Lasseter to retrieve the coin bag of some weight stashed there among his bedclothes. "Take sufficient from there to pay a generous wage to the Master Gunner for the time he has taken to train the gunnery crew. A generous portion, Mister Lasseter. I'll not put him off the ship without paying him his earnings. Also, take from our stores two weeks supply of tobacco, bread, cheese and rice for his use and see that he gets my share of rum for the next week, as I will not be using it. Put the rum in a cask of adequate size in a bag with the tobacco and the rest and see that all of his arms and personal items are gathered together. Then bring him here."

June 23, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog Forenoon Watch The captain didn't stand or look up. He was too engrossed in his charts at first. He motioned towards a chair without looking at it, his other hand sliding across the coastlines of a half dozen islands. "Mister Lasseter, we have a few difficult decisions ahead." William stated without looking up. "I have a Master-at-Arms in and out of fevered ramblings, an injured cook, a self exiled clergyman and an impatient Master Gunner. All of these by themselves are paramount in themselves, but together...together..." William shakes his head. "...they are a nest of hidden rocks." William looked up from his study and smiled a smile that was resigned. "I should very much like to know your opinions on these subjects."

June 23, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog Forenoon Watch The Captain was brought up from sleep by a fly that settled in his ear. He swatted it away too late to stop from using his left arm. What followed was a string of curses and then a little groaning as he stretched his sore limb. Then he raised himself up and made his way gingerly to the table. He spread out the charts that he had reviewed the day before and began to pen notes on distance, supplies and risks. "Risks..." William said aloud. He sent for the Quartermaster.

Buffet! STAT!

He doesn't appear to have vanished. You appear to be a victim of the USPS. I'm sorry you didn't get your package. It has happened to me as well. DTS once left my $6,000 computer sitting on my porch. They just dropped off my computer and left. The label on top said "Signature Required". It was there for 4 hours before I got home. I'm just glad it was till there.

June 22, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog first bell of first watch The first bell of the first watch rang out clear in the quiet hours of the night. The sounds of conversation from all decks came with it. Some of the crew were at cards in the fo'c'sle where Rummy was in the midst of a melancholy, but nostalgic tune on her flute. William lay listening to the tune and the three that followed, only interrupted by small murmurings from Jack as he slept. While they both had been there,William had tried in vain to piece together information about the man as he rambled in fever or talked in his sleep, but what he learned seemed more puzzling than the silence in between. Still, the man was recovering, from his injuries, if not his past. William's eyes fell upon Christine, who had arrived in Ciaran's arms some time during the second dog watch. She seemed in a sleep and he hoped it was a deep one. He had learned much upon her arrival that he had missed before. He learned of her unexplained imprisonment during battle and the blow to the head she had suffered. Now she lay here yet again with additional harm to her head. William pressed Tempest again to be moved to his own quarters, where he insisted that he could recovery better surrounded by his own things. "You will have more room for these unexpected patients if I am not here." William said, putting on his most winning smile and was surprised to see it work as she brought out Rummy's finished work. At first, William said nothing. Then he couldn't say anything for a time because of laughter. He tried not to, but it just surfaced on its own. Tempest smiled a little puzzled at his reaction, for it was a fine and sturdy piece of work. The ship's carpenter had put all her best skills into this one. "I'm sorry doctor." William said as he pressed a hand gingerly to his bandages. It hurt to laugh. A lot of his laughter was in his chest and shoulders, but the pain made him laugh a little more anyway. "It's just that the carpenter has gone the extra mile. I ask for a cane and she makes me a crutch. I just hope that it isn't a sign of things to come." "You might just need a crutch more for the time being." she offered, smiling a little more now. William nodded. It was true, a crutch would be better at first and it was very well made. He found this out as he tested it around the room, satisfying the doctor even more that he could be granted some mobility. "Please be sure to thank Rummy for me. The craftsmanship is of the highest quality and it shall steady me in unsteady seas for a time." Then Armand guided William in the near dark to his cabin and Tempest remained with Jack as he whispered half-dreamed truths. Christine lay in a half curled moon of slumber. The second bell of the first watch tolled. June 22, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog Second bell of first watch

"Thank you, Mister Lasseter." William returns to the charts and begins making notes both mental and actual. The maps are filled with evidence of every major seafaring nation of Europe. The Dutch, English, French and Spanish have occupied every coastline and island within a thousand miles worth having and this means that the seas are beginning to fill with goods and with dangers. "I could throw a stone and hit a target."

(William, wearing garlic, a cross and holy water, brings a steaming cup of coffee and sets it down, backing away slowly)

William allowed himself to be measured, and not for the first time, he was glad that it wasn't for a coffin. After Rummy left with her measurements, William asked for his charts to be brought and he lay there with them pinned up all about him, studying the next course of action they would take. He let his eyes drift over the cartography of each island and coast line and began plotting where they might find the best "market place".

"Good morning." William said, trying not to grunt from discomfort even as Armand was propping him up with pillows. "I am sorry that I so recently damaged your handiwork when I cut away the anchor. I was moved more by speed than care, and I know that your deck suffered for it. I'm told that you have sped you efforts to make all the necessary repairs with due diligence and I wanted to thank you for that." Now, there is another matter. We will be putting to sea again very soon and as I wish to return to my duties, post haste, I may need your very exact skills. With my injuries being what they are, I may require the use of a cane for a short period of time."

Upon waking, William was faced with the question of the recovered anchor. Too pleased for words, William sat awhile before he sent word for the anchor to be hauled up and lashed into place near the cathead while the cable was repaired. Then he sent orders for the Watch Dog to be put out to sea seven leagues. The location to be at Mister Lasseter's disgression. Then William's injuries were examined by the doctor and she noted with approval that his color had returned and that he seemed more animate than she had expected. His appetite was strong, and he was able to eat much, though slowly. He was doing very well in her estimation. Still, she denied his request to be moved into his own quarters, but allowed him to conduct what business he could from the surgery. William sent for the ship's carpenter.

William woke to find the doctor ministering to the Master-at-Arms, who seemed neither improved or worse than before. He lay in a pale and fitful state of sleep with the good doctor hovering over with care and examination. He watched her eventually retreat back into the chair and to the rest she was likely denying herself, and he was sorry then that a tickle at his throat caused a cough he couldn't stiffle. "Sorry doctor. My throat is very dry." She was already fetching a dipper at the bucket as he said this and he smiled at the speed with which she tackled everything under her care. He drank the proferred water, finding that he was more thirsty than he had thought he was. She went to the bucket again and he studied her other charge lying near by. "I should have thought that I was the worse off from my wounds, but I see that our man here has taken a turn, and not for the better." When he had taken water three times from the dipper, he asked her to sit and they spent the better part of an hour in conversation. The subjects drifted from injuries past and present to her recent adventures over land and sea to meet with the French. One of the lamps smoked out as they talked and neither of them commented on it as they conversed. . . . Outside, the barge crew could just be heard rowing about in their effort to recover the anchor for the Watch Dog.

Not the first time I've supped with cannibals. In fact...that reminds me of a story... .. I better not tell it during the dinner hour.