Jacky Tar

Chrissie Hynde, lead singer o' the Pretenders.

All eyes turned on Nate, an ye could here a pin drop, it got so quiet. I feared Nate might make some other remark an embarrass himself or worse. "Nate, all this prattle is just dinner conversation. No points t' be made here."

I turned t' our host, "T'morrow the Relentless will dock. We are a bit shorthanded, so if ye would make sure we hav a few extra stevedores, I would be indebted." Raphael nodded an said he would.

Fan Fair

(CMA Music Festival)

I chuckled softly, "Capitan, it's a good thing the Cat doesn't speak Spanish."

"I doubt yer brother shares yer fervor to make Havana a Spanish only port o' trade," I said more loudly, as Raphael returned t' the table.

"Capitan Navarro, did ye suspect I wasn't aboard me ship, when ye had yer men board the Relentless?"

"How was it that yer men knew I was comin' ashore, so that they might collect me?"

The Relentless had sailed in an out o' Havana many times, wit' out bein' boarded, save once.

Wot was Navarro lookin' fer this time? Did he know 'bout the mutiny? Or the emeralds?

Now not being a tye dyed, tree hugging, um..well you know...I wasn't here in the 60's   .

Bein' a member o' the tye dyed, tree huggin', granola eatin'... well ye get the idea... I was here in the 60's.

So, if Red CAt wasn't, that puts her in her thirties (Fer those born after the sixties, ye can take out yer calculators t' do the math).

Like the day...sunny and cool...yeah It's talk like a pirate day!! Hehe..the airplanes dont know wot be comin....

Seein' the Jolly Roger flyin' over the tower at JFK, an hearin' a voice wit' a Bronks accent say, "Prepare t' be boarded!"

Aye, she'll be drivin' those security types insane.

Welcome Poopdeck Pappy! Happy Birthday t' ye as well; so, you'll be buyin' two rounds fer the house!

Check the Raids section o' the Pub, fer 'Talk like a Pirate events', here in SoCal.

"Capitan Navarro, it has been some time since we shared a cena, together. Why the sudden interest in yer brother's business?"

Juan Francisco was bein' gracious an charmin'!

I wanted t' tell him he'd taken his brother's seat, but at the moment I was struck by how he had not broken eye contact wit' Ransom; she had still not released me hand. And I was still wit' out a sword an only inches away from a sworn mortal enemy.

"Aye, Capitán Juan Francisco Navarro may I introduce my companion, Ransom."

I heard a familiar voice approaching, as he shouted at the servants. I saw the shock of black curly hair come through the door way. There was the scar on the cheek (right where I left it). It was Juan Francisco Navarro, makin' a dramatic entrance.

There I sat without a weapon, an he was still carryin' his sword. The rules never applied t' Juan Francisco, he just enforced them. An eerie calm came over me an I was able t' ferget 'bout Ransom fer a minute, until Juan Francisco's eyes settled on her.

^ Best part - bein' there. Worst part - comin' home.

< Most vacations are too short.

V Wot's yer favorite weekend get-a-way?

Scummy pirates...yes, it's one of my lovelier addictions.  Well, technically, it's dirty pirates, but who's splitting hairs?

Jacky notices a bunch o' fresh scrubbed pirates rollin' around in the dirt, t' get the Red Weasel's attention.

Red Cat wanted t' talk now in private, but I was all talked out an I told her so.

I heard Ransom offer t' return Nate t' the sea, if he didn't remember his place. I wondered if I'd wish t' join him 'fore this night was over.

Aye, Ransom had been as true a friend an comrade in arms as a man could ask. I didn't see how me unspoken past wit' the Spanish, could be misconstrued as a breach o' trust.

Her emotions betrayed the real reason fer her frustration, it was the unspoken bond they shared that tore at her heart. She meant more t' him than ship or crew, but it was those very things that kept them apart. Underneath it all she was still a woman, his woman, if he'd let her be.

"Hold out yer hand," I said t' Ransom. "Just hold out yer hand, please." Ransom did so reluctantly. I pulled an emerald, the size of a robin's egg, out of me pocket an placed it in her hand. She stared blankly at it and turned it over in her hand. "When cut an polished, it would be fit fer a queen."

I looked in her the face, "This is me last secret fer this port, I swear. I transport emeralds from Colombia, fer certain persons. These trades don't appear on the books an if discovered I could be held as a smuggler." Such trades are needed t' grease the wheels o' commerce in Havana an other ports, but she knew that.

She didn't seem t' care, so I said, "The stone is yers, an if ye decide t' leave t'morrow, I understand. Sell or trade the cargo aboard yer ship as ye choose. Mayhaps ye'll stay a day or two longer here, while we tend t' the business at hand. Ye hav several bargainin' chips now, so no one will touch yer ship."

Why didn't I tell her I loved her an plead wit' her not t' return t' Port Royal? It was too late fer that now; she wouldn't believe me.

I left the balcony an returned t' the dinnin' room.

I excused me self, and followed Ransom out on t' the balcony. Away from pryin' eyes, I said, "Aye, I hav history wit' some in this port. As fer Nunez, maybe he'd be happier if I let 'em go down wit' his ship."

"Nunez, was not a captain, when we first met. The Relentless was anchored in the Dry Tortugas. We had hooked a wreck wit' grapnels an were doin' a bit o' salvagin'."

"Nunez's ship, a galleon happened upon us. They fired a shot across our bow, as the Spanish were wont t' do, us bein' in Spanish waters. Their captain didn't know these waters an came in closer, an got his ship reefed."

"I sent over water an offered t' take some o' their passengers back t' Havana. That's how I met Raphael Navarro."

"Nunez, wit' some marines, were sent t' accompany Senor Navarro back t' Havana."

I dip my finger into the whipped cream and then stick it in my mouth. "Ummmmm."

"Excuse me. I hav t' take a cold shower."

Aye, since it's yer birthday celebration I'll serve ye, on yer lounge.

Just don't ask me t' peel yer grapes, like Herself does. (It's all 'bout the food wit' that woman.)

Cascabel, when the tall fellas pass out we just use 'em as spars. We had a main mast crack, an Patrick was rummed up, so we spliced him t' the main mast. Made it in t' port, under full sail, fer the lad even woke up!

Aye, another short pirate on deck.

Garland

"I haven't even dressed 'em up wit' the whip cream, yet!"

(Ye got t' luv pirate women!)

Luau!

(According t' experts... No one knows fer sure if the sky is fallin'.)

Daffy Duck

"Why are the fountains always milk chocolate?"

Jacky melts some dark chocolate an hand dips a few strawberries, fer Silkie.

(The sky isn't fallin' Lily.)

Come back... come back!