Copyright 2010
Sloop Valencia
Ana |
Mythical Florida Buccaneer of
the Early 18th Century
See Episode 1 Below-More to Follow
- Sails Florida waters and the Caribbean aboard
his sloop, Valencia.
- A rogue originally from Cayo Hueso (later known as
Key West.) where he began life as an orphan.
- Buries his booty on Florida beaches using
a precise formula for relocation.
- Bold and daring, yet compassionate anti-hero
in love with Ana, daughter of a prominent St.
Augustine merchant.
Episode 1. Sailing Home
December, 1716 Somewhere In the Florida Straits -
Aboard the Valencia, Steering West for Cayo Hueso.
From his perch at the foremast he tasted the sea mist thrown by a winter gale and looked back to the east across a broad Caribbean expanse. Glimmering low clouds indicated sunrise was imminent. Jax was headed west to the coral atoll of Cayo Hueso, where he had begun life harshly, until taken in by an aged English sea dog, who had long since passed. Cayo Hueso was the closest thing to home he knew.
Two days earlier he had left New Providence, where relations with former privateer, now pirate, Henry Jennings. had soured. Jennings and his raucous pirate colony were now based in the Bahamas after being ousted from Jamaica by the British.
Jennings had recently led a force of ex-privateers,
including Jax ,on a raid and siezed Spanish treasure at
Palmer de Ayes (San Sebastian, on Florida's east coast)
Prior to the pirates' onslaught, the cache had been
reclaimed from the Atlantic surf, salvaged from a sunken
fleet of 11 galleons. Returning to Spain, they had
encountered a deadly hurricane en route from the
Spanish Main . The large cache, that which had not
already been returned to Spain, was heavily
guarded near the beach.
The dispute with Jennings regarded Jax's share of the
booty, hardly commensurate with his contribution. Jax
had deftly obtained the cache location from a drunken
Spaniard in St. Augustine and passed it on to Jennings.
He had also conducted a week-long reconnaissance of
the cache site before the incursion. Still, his share was
not small, enought to last for years, if he had the
wits to keep it.
He and Jennings had discussed the matter of his
share while in New Providence, a month before. No
harsh words had exchanged, but Jax was disconsolate;
wanting no further ties with Jennings.. He'd never thought of himself as a gentlemen, but he considered himself apart
somehow from Jenning's savage gaggle of debauches.
28 years old, the last 12 spent in the West Indies aboard
various privateers had taught him a great deal, mostly that
he could only count on himself and his trusted friend and first mate Blanco. Blanco a mixed-breed mute, had been liberated years earlier from enslavement aboard a Dutch frigate.
"Spots!" he shouted to a squat seaman tending a
tangled line. "Some rum for your Captain ". He
leaned against the rail of his sleek sloop he'd captured in
1813, peered at a morning star and dreamed of Ana,
the young, Spanish beauty in the old city of St. Augustine.
What was she doing right now? Probably
sleeping soundly in her father's house, a grand
Mediterranean on Cordova Street. Or perhaps she had
awoken already and was beginning the day's chores.
Ana was her widowed father's only living progeny, her
mother and younger brother had died of cholera in1809.
It had been only a fortnight ago that they had arranged
their tryst beside the fortress walls of Castillo de San
Marcos, yet it seemed an eternity.There they had
gazed at moonlit waters then kissed passionately in
the night shadows. Now he felt a deep longing.
What strange spell had she cast ?
While sipping his Puerto Rican rum and watching the
sun creep into the sky, he began to grapple with more practical matters. What to do with the treasure below decks, accumulated over the last several years from the recent raid and years of privateering?
Comments?
Watch for Episode 2 .
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