Pirate

It was dark when I woke again. The camp was quiet, a small fire blazing several feet from me. The men had been busy while I had been unconscious. They had created a simple palisades around the perimeter, using the brush that surrounded us to keep out any more predators. There was a drying rack above the fire draped with meat, and the ground was littered with simple handmade tools.

Rory must have noticed my movement as I tried to rise and came toward me.

“Easy there. That leg’s a bit nasty.”

I grunted as I used her shoulder to gain my feet for the first time in days and tentatively placed a little weight on the injured leg. It held, and I started to limp toward the edge of the camp. “Just have to pass some water. I’ll be alright,” I said over my shoulder, to discourage her from following.

“Don’t be so proud. I’ve seen a man pass water before. You need help.”

She was not to be denied and allowed me to place an arm over her shoulder. I must not have been too badly hurt, as I felt her warmth against me.

“They’re uneasy,” she whispered.

I looked at the men gathered around the fire and realized they were in two groups watching us. Red, Swift, Johnnie, and Syd were off to one side, while Rhames, Blue, and Lucy were together. The split didn’t surprise me, but I had no idea what they could want. We had decided on a route and there was no going back to the Indians. For better or worse, we were together until we reached open water, or died trying.

We walked toward the men.

“Now that you’ve got us in the middle of nowhere, you gonna kill us off and take our share?” Red called out.

He must have seen the question on my face.

“Aye, you don’t know he took all our guns,” he continued, and moved closer, the men behind him murmuring in approval and following.

“They was shooting at fairies,” Rhames said. “Had to take them away. I think the cat put the fear in them. If they kept that up we’d be out of powder and shot.”

While I agreed with his actions, I knew we had to give the guns back. We would need whatever skills each man had in order to escape the river of grass. “You can have them back. But, only enough shot and powder for hunting.”

They nodded their heads in approval, and I could hear Rhames shifting behind me. “We’ve got to trust them,” I said under my breath. My leg felt like it was about to collapse, and I felt Rory grip me tighter. “I trust you haven’t wasted the last few days. We leave in the morning.”

“Now that’s the captain talking,” Red said, and the men agreed.

Rory helped me back to the pelt and Lucy hovered over me, immediately removing the bandage from my leg.

“No move, Mr. Nick,” she said.

“She’s right. You can’t travel like that,” Rory said.

“We don’t have a choice.” I met theirs eyes as I said it. “We’ll be in boats. I don’t need the leg to paddle.”

“You heard the captain. We shove off at first light.” Rhames reinforced the order.

The men scattered, and Rory and Rhames huddled by me. “What do we have for supplies?” I asked.

“The meat from the cat was rancid, but the boys have shot a few deer, and the women have been foraging. Probably enough food for a week or so,” he said, listing our inventory.

“Well, water is not a problem.” I was optimistic that we could reach the Keys in a week. There should be opportunities to hunt along the way, but I felt better knowing we were setting out well provisioned.

“And ammunition?”

“Damned fools wasted more than I want to tell you, but if we don’t have to skirmish, we should have enough to hunt.”

I jumped as Lucy put a fresh poultice on my wound. As she cleaned the puss, I glanced down at my leg and saw the incisions made by the panther’s claws.

“Lucy says the claws have poison. You’re lucky she’s here,” Rory said.

“And Blue as well. Grabbed those claws and boiled them down, he did. After he puts that paste on those darts he blows, there won’t be a man standing.”

My leg throbbed, keeping me awake through the night, and I wished for the unconscious state I had spent the last few days in. Unable to sleep, I crept closer to the fire and removed the map from its oilskin case. The light reflected off the old parchment, and I studied the unknown area. Provided we could take a direct route, the distance seemed close to what we had covered on the lake. I expected it might take longer because of the sawgrass, but as long as there was water underneath it, we could use the poles to push the shallow-draft canoes through it.

I must have dozed, as movement in the camp startled me awake, and I pulled the map away from the edge of the fire where I had dropped it, only inches from destruction. Not that it was much help anymore; the area we were about to enter was totally undefined, but all the same, I felt better having it. I placed it back in the oilskin and grabbed the rifle by my side to use as a crutch.

Rhames caught me as I stumbled and hauled me to my feet. “No good to have the men see you like this. Let’s get you to the boats.”