Welcome

Date: 14-th of August 1719
Place: Basse Terre, Tortuga, in the tavern “Elixir d’Armagnac”

The route to Port de Paix had not been easy, but it would have been ten times more dangerous without Lucky. Benji fell ill – somehow it was to be expected, given how he had to overcome his fear of water, and how they had to walk with wet clothes on them in the cool night of August.

They were lucky to have Lucky with them, as he knew enough smugglers and the maroons’ secret paths, and he spoke the local French Creole. Neither Benji’s English, nor Sol’s unsure French would have gone too far without raising suspicions…

Once arrived in Port-de-Paix, they couldn’t endanger Irene by staying too much there. Cathy was not working there anymore - so it was only Irene he could appeal to… and he knew it was risky for her. They were wanted… and he especially. One night or two of hiding, until they found a fishing boat to bring them to Tortuga, were more than enough.

The fisherman knew them. Sol, Angel, Yazeed and who else was sent to Port de Paix had traveled with them other times, so he brought them to Basse Terre without problems.

Finally, they were back on known, safe territory… and they were looking forward to the comfort of “Elixir d’Armagnac” and to learning what had happened with the others.

Physically, Benjamin felt miserable. His nose was stuffy, his throat hurt, and he was rather sure that all the saltwater he had managed to swallow when they jumped off the Siren, had somehow managed to wash most of the contents in his head away. But while he wanted nothing more but to curl up somewhere cold and dark, feeling completely miserable and too tired to do much more than follow orders, he was immensely happy that he was with Sol and Lucky. Sol, because he was the Captain (even if he was a Captain without a ship at the moment) and no matter what, Benjamin knew that one shouldn’t question the Captain. Captain always knew what he was doing, what was about to happen and what to do. In his eyes, Captains were above normal humans. Perhaps they had special powers, and inner eye or something equally as strange yet brilliantly amazing, like the heroes in the stories he had been told. And Lucky. Well, Lucky was just right up there with the Captain, if not a bit higher. He was a cook, after all. And anyone who knew how to make food taste good was a bloody god in Benjamin’s eyes.

So, while in the company of two men who he held in high regards, he had tried his best to be on his good behavior. Not that it had been much of a struggle. His miserable state made him too tired to do much arguing (which he usually loved.), and even now, as they were walking towards the tavern, he dragged his feet, seemingly not at all excited over being so closed to food and Maribel’s kindness.
He just wanted to sleep. Surely it was time to sleep now?
”Are we there yet?” He grunted, voice slightly hoarse, as he tiredly gazed at Sol’s feet. He knew they were close, but yet it seemed to take them ages to reach the warm tavern.
Warm.
He wrinkled his nose in disgust. It was warm enough as it was, and even now he was constantly pulling at his shirt, sweat making it stick to his skin. Just the thought of all those loud people gathered in a close space, eating warm, steaming food….Benjamin slowed down a bit, dragging his feet a bit more. Perhaps he could just stay outside.

"Nah, m' petit, Benjamin." Lucky answered the young man as they continued walking.
"Maybe, tree more minutes?" He answered with a grin, not daring to let anyone think he was making light of the boys suffering. Three more minutes was always an answer his mama gave him when he had asked such a question and it always worked to keep him quiet a little more, even when he caught on to her ruse. So it stood to reason that those were the first words out of his mouth when asked the same question.

"You's be lookin' tired, Benjamin." He had almost lost most of his 'thick' accent from being with the Spainerd and the other varying nationalities on the "Siren", but now that he had been in the land of his birth and had been speaking with a few of the locals there every so often, it was becoming a little more pronounced. There was something about being home that put him a little more at ease. Knowing where certain issues were or suspected hotspots. The French side of Hispanola was nothing if not predictable, there had been so much civil unrest here that the French rulership had produced the "Code Noir". Even after the rules were established for certain rights for the slaveman, there was still a rebellion every 15 years, like clockwork.

With each step they got closer to the prospect of a better comfort than darkness and starvation. It wasn't extremely cold out here. An August night in the Carribbean was like setting the season of Autumn at the Equator. Though it was the middle of the Hurricane seaon, so one could think of it as a fairly humid moment.

Minette bumped into the trio as she came from the market carrying her purchases in her arms. She was surprised at seeing them, "Well, what brings you her mon ami", she said to Sol in her surprised tone. "Louie will just love seeing you again and I know this as he talks of no one else" Minette continued, "Are you on your way to the Elixir" she asked them.

"Ben I know that I left a cake in the oven and it has your name written all over it" Minette whispered to Ben as she leaned in so that only he could hear her. As she walked she dropped some of her packages and she quickly tried to pick them up with no sucess.

Sol smiled at Benji, who was a trooper for how awful he was still feeling.

”Look, the inn is in front of us, and I am sure Maribel will have something good for you to eat!” he tried to encourage him, while knowing for sure that it was true, but not the whole truth.

Maribel would surely have for him some bitter tea and vinegar wraps to down his fever, together with her caring attention.

”And some fried chicken with beans for us, Lucky, and maybe a paella later. And some good drinks, to wash properly the taste of seawater…”

Not that it hadn’t been washed already in those long days on Hispaniola… Still, a man had to look forward to something, wasn’t he? And Sol was also looking forward to seeing Honey again… only if she wouldn’t be appalled by his situation now, of being a captain without a ship… that means, in fact, not a captain anymore!

Minette crossed their path before entering the inn. It was nice from her part, to not show that anything out of normalcy had happened lately… Better than a pity party for their losses!

”I missed you and the other girls here, this is why I am back,” he joked, but his tone was not as carefree as before; it was rather bitter this time.

He bent to take the packages dropped by Minette, hoping that nothing got damaged during the fall.

”I am sure Louie had missed his favourite singer and storyteller, but the story I have to tell this time is not as cheerful. Tell me, have anybody else returned these days?” he wanted to know.

It had been a hard couple of weeks, not knowing what had happened or who would be blessed enough to once again return to the tavern. Her focus had been lacking and most of the time she had been staring into the empty air in front of her. She just stopped whatever she was doing and stared. Some of the other girls had adapted to similar behaviors and they tried to help each other as much as they could. Strangely enough this tragedy had brought them closer together and she had begun feeling as if she was a part of The Elixir itself.

She knew every corner, every scratch... Everything about it. She had this habit of walking around and letting her hand slowly touch every centimeter of the walls, as if they would tell her what had happened or give her a clue.

She had never doubted Sol's promise of returning. But, this time he seemed to be dragging his feet behind him. When he finally showed up (he had to, she wouldn't face any other possibility) he would be in so much trouble. She would ban him for his late arrival one second and then laugh of relief the next.

She had drifted of like the way she was used to by now from time to time during the day. When doing the dishes and hanging the laundry. Now she stood in front of the Elixir staring up into the she with her hands full of an old blouse of hers that needed some repairing.

Something grasped at her, a sensation that something would change today. She could feel it in the wind...

Eyes narrowing, Benjamin moved his gaze away from Sol’s steadily moving feet to half heartedly glare at Lucky. Petit? Who was he calling petit?! Benjamin wanted to snarl at him, but doing so would leave his throat aching, and the last thing he wanted to do was to start coughing. So instead he settled with glaring at the taller man, pushing his bottom lip out until he was pouting.
He didn’t want to pout.
He was seventeen years old, so he wasn’t supposed to pout.
But he was bloody miserable, so if anyone tried to tell him that pouting wasn’t allowed, he’d bite their bloody fingers off.

Sol tried to sound encouraging, but Benjamin couldn’t stop pouting once he had started.
And however nice the thought of Maribel’s food was, his stomach wasn’t very keen on the idea. Bloody stomach. He wanted food, and he be damned if he’d let his stomach stop him!
Sniffling loudly, he wiped his nose on his shirtsleeve again, the material already stiff with dried snot.

The appearance of Minette cheered him up slightly (it was nice to see someone familiar after so many days of misery.) , and so did the mention of cake.
Cake? Just for him? He had never had his own very special cake before.
Perhaps he should stop dragging his feet so much and hurry up a bit…But it felt as if his very bones ached, and his pout turned into a miserable grimace.
he hated everything. He hated the ground for being so hard, he hated the sun, for being so warm, and he hated all the people around them, for being so loud.
With an unhappy huff, he gave Lucky a slight shove. Just to get some outlet for his sudden anger, as well as to make someone else miserable too, so that he wouldn’t be completely alone.

”Tired? I’m not tired. I could run faster than a bloody horse if I wanted to. You’re the one who looks tired. Barely moving and all that….”

"Ah thank you, you are too sweet my friend but be careful, Louie is upset with me right now", Minette replied with a sigh. "I have thrown away his favorite shirt, you know the one I think it was you that gave him that last Christmas, no"" Minette continued, "He is getting so big and he outgrew it and now its in the rag pile, tsk tsk tsk. He was so unhappy that I wanted to get rid of it so he dipped it in Belle's bottle of ink and ruined it".

Minette strolled on into the tavern greeted by the smell of freshly made paella. Drawing closer to her friend, "This bad news of yours, what is it" she whispered setting down her packages on a nearby table in the dining area.

"Ben, you'll find Pierot taking out your cake, better hurry or he will eat it", she joked with the boy. "Allo Lucky, how have you been" she asked the other man with Sol. The tavern was quiet at this hour and it was a slow day, so far. Honour she had no seen for a few hours and she wondered where she would be.

Minette was dressed in her best green dress and just this morning she had just added some ribbon's to the front of her dress. Louie however more then likely was out on the roof watching the townspeople go about their business.

As the tavern was quiet and slow for the while, Aiyana had set about making herself useful and tidying up. She knew Minette had gone out to town or something of the sort and Honey had been in and out doing various things... she wanted to help. She knew what to do, she had watched and learned and even tried her hand at chores a few times -just the light things of course, as instructed- but now she was doing things like sweeping and fetching discarded dishes and such. She wanted to make everything perfect so that the other girls and Belle would know that she really could help and wanted to.

Also, it would be nice to see them smile.

She had just about finished and was simply wiping down the tables, her ebony hair starting to slip free of the loose braid she had twisted it into, when she heard voices outside. She wasn't sure how many, at least one of them -if not two- were male.... that made her stomach clench hard with fear and nerves... but one was Minette. And Minette seemed perfectly happy in her tone and calm. She liked Minette, she was always looking out for the other girls, Aiyana included. And if Minette was alright with the men outside then... they were surely safe.

Tucking the cloth into the pocket of her apron, intent on wandering out to see if Minette would need any help in carrying her packages inside... though she could not help pausing as they entered. Still as a deer in the forest as it senses another's approach. There were three. Two men, two big men, and a boy. He looked ill... that would not do at all. She cleared her throat nervously and locked her eyes on the ground, pulse racing as she spoke softly to Minette. "I... I hope you like that I have cleaned."

She knew that she was only supposed to be doing light chores for now since they could not say for sure just how well she was healed from her abuse but she felt strong enough to put herself to work just like any of the other girls and had wanted to prove it. Even if she was a little worn out now. Her bruising was nearly vanished except for a few light ones where the bruising had been most severe and her belly did not cramp anymore or bleed from having been used by her former owner, therefore she was fine in her own eyes.

"Sh-shall I fetch food and drinks? Blankets for the young one?" Still her eyes were on the ground, her hands gripping the back of a chair like a life line. It was obvious that she was scared. Nervous. New people tended to make her uneasy but especially men. The only male she really talked to was Nicolas, he was her friend and he made her feel safe. Then of course there was Minette's sweet little boy and Thomas the shy one. But... no one else. Her knuckles were turning white from her grip on the chair and her shoulders were rigid... but she was not running so that was good. She refused to... she was tired of being scared.

"Perfect my dear, you leave the young one to me, these packages are for the cook. Would you help me carry them to the kitchen?" Minette hastily spoke as she struggled with her load. "Do not worry dear" Minette said of the men to Aiyana, gently touching the girls face as a mother would a child. "They do not bite, but that young one is a bit of a rude thing, his bites worse then his bark. You need not worry and if the boy trys anything with you, you let me know I'll set him straight real quick", Minette said as she snapped her fingers, "He knows not to mess with me". Minette also handed a smaller package to Aiyana, "For later love, open it when you're alone dearie", she whispered as she placed it in the girls hand.

Minette was overjoyed to see Sol and Lucky, also Ben even if he was a rude little bugger. Thomas will be happy to see his friend, she thought. The little blonde boy proved to be an asset to the Elixir, or so she thought. She smoothes out her old brown dress and wiped her free hand on her apron. I swear she thought, that Louie will be the death of me as she saw him dart around the corner and cozy up to his favorite pirate.

She was going to make some ginger tea for one of the lady customers, it appeared that she was a little under the weather. She shouted at Pieort as he stared blankly at the native girl. "Go on be off wit ya, I've no time for you to be lazy" she shouted at the boy as he scrambled towards the kitchen. That Pierot was slacking off lately as it seemed. Not good, Belle would have a bloddy fit if she saw him now. Realizing that she may have scared the girl, she quickly turned around and looked at her, "I'm so sorry my love I got caught up in the moment, I didna mean to scare you" she replied softly.

If this native girl was to survive, she would need to get over her fear of men. But she could see why the girl was like that. After all not all men are so kind as they are cruel.

Young one? What young one? Looking around, he momentarily stopped his sniffling by wiping his nose on his shirt sleeve once more. She couldn’t be talking about Sol, could she? Only a fool would refer a Captain as ‘young one’, as if he was some whelp who had yet to find his place in the world.
And Lucky was slightly older than Sol, if only by a year. And what a silly thing it would be, calling the oldest in the company ‘young one’.
But who else would….Oh… Benjamin slumped slightly, and glared at the stupid wench. The nerve! Calling him ‘young one’ as if he was some little child who could barely stand on his own.
Why he ought to…He couldn’t really come to think of what he ought to do. His head felt stuffy, and thinking hurt his brain.
This time, he settled with giving the glare one of his most vicious glares…Which was quite pathetic, giving his sickly state. With a nose tinted red and face too pale.
Perhaps some bared teeth would add viciousness to his glare?
Yes. Let’s see how she would react to that!
Besides, could she not see that the last thing he wanted was a pair of blankets?!
He felt too warm already, beads of sweat upon his brow, and he could think of nothing he wanted less than being wrapped up in something warm.

”Young one...I’m not bleeding young...I’m a bloody man and I don’t want any bloody blankets…” He growled, walking ( or more like dragging) his feet over to a chair and sitting down, resting his head on the table. Perhaps he could just sleep here? The table was cool against the side of his face and if he closed his eyes, he felt just a tad bit better.
Perhaps he would be able to put the bloody new wench in her place tomorrow.

Minette was grateful to be relieved of two of her biggest packages. She was saying that Louie was angry, and he smiled:

”Well, I bet I can keep Louie busy for a while, so he’ll forget about the shirt,” he said, as the little quadroon boy had always been his weakness, seeing him somehow a glimpse of his younger brother Juanto when of the same age.

As Minette inquired about the bad news, it was his turn to sigh. In this case, it was useless to ask if anybody else survived – they were obviously the first ones returning.

”Do you mean no news about the Caribbean Siren had reached Tortuga?” he questioned. ”The beautiful ship got sunk, Minette, and I wonder how many had survived. If Lucky wasn’t with us, I might have been caught too.”

It was true, having a man from Saint Domingue with them counted, and not any man, but a maroon and a former smuggler with all the right acquaintances. Well, Irene’s help counted too… but it was not to be mentioned here. When he opened the door, it was Honey and Maribel he was looking for – and actually in this specific order.

Sol was glad to enter the welcoming “Elixir d’Armagnac”. It smelled like fried chicken and Maribel’s special spiced coffee. Later in the evening it would smell tobacco, rhum and brandy instead.

As he was carrying two of Minette’s packages, he had remained a little behind the eager Benji and the always talkative Minette. He didn’t notice yet the Native girl, who soon went away seeking a blanket, neither the fact that Minette and Benji were speaking to her in English.

The girl had swiftly rushed to help lighten Minette's load, taking some of it unto herself while keeping her head ducked shyly. She knew she would need to be accustomed to people sooner or later but it was still so soon, not yet two weeks since she had been freed. Almost, though. She jumped a bit as Minette snapped, but then realized she was not speaking to her and nodded quietly. She could not seem to find her voice between being startled and being frightened by the boy's snappishness.

He was ill, it was to be expected. She would be fine... not wanting to dither, she left to take the packages to their destination and then to alert the other girls and Maribel to the arrival of their guests. She gave no names, as she had not heard any, but she let them know just the same. After this was done, she tentatively wandered back out with a blanket, the boy needed it whether he liked it or not, and set it aside.

She had already tidied up, she did not know what to do now. She should probably have asked the men what they wanted but she was too wary... to nervous to talk to them. So she stood off to the side to await further instruction. If anyone called out an order, she would run off to relay it but... she would venture no closer just yet.

She was leaning against the hard wood of the wall, not really giving her full attention to whatever she was doing. Her mind was still to distracted to even think about any normal every-day work she had to do that day and left her in an almost enchanted state. She didn't notice the slam of the front door, neither did she recognize the voices at first, because it couldn't be true. During the last couple of weeks she had gotten her hopes up way to many times, thinking she recognized the voices, the way they talked to each other or someones way to walk.

This time, she did the same thing she'd done the last week - Ignored it. She couldn't bare having her hopes up just to see them being smacked down again. Not really noticing she grabbed the broom besides the back door and started to wipe away the dirt just in front of the door. A big cloud of dust raised like a cloud around her, coloured the bottom of the door gray and her beige dress dark brown.

The she heard Aiyanas voice. Turning around, as if expecting her to be behind her, she saw nothing. Confused she searched her surroundings and saw a small window above her opened because of the heat.

What was it she was saying? Two men and a winy boy? Now she listened closer to the voices coming from the main hall, could it be? And the the steps. It was easy recognizing someone by their steps.

With her heart in her throat she slowly opened the door. It took some time for her eyes to get used to the faded light inside. As she searched the room panic struck her. What if it wasn't him? Then another thought, almost worse then the first one came to mind: What if it was? She had no idea of how to welcome him- She knew that she wanted to run to him as fast as she could and embrace him, like a little child. No that she couldn't do.

As she couldn't decide how to act she just stood there, with the broom in her hand and a dusty skirt, staring into his face. It really was him.

The door of the inn opened one last time, letting the former pirate captain inside, with all his joy of returning alive and his shame of coming back defeated, while the others had entered already. He put the packages on the closest table, while his eyes were wandering through the room until he saw exactly whom he wanted to see. He met Honey’s big eyes, two jade gems starring at him as if she wasn’t sure if he was the one she had waited for or not, and a smile bloomed on his lips- shier than normally, because he was not sure how he would be received – while his steps hurried towards her. Yes, his manly vanity would have liked seeing her come to him... but were timidity and surprise the only reasons why she hadn’t?

”I have missed you, my sweet mermaid! Only that instead of complying with my promise and putting at your feet the prettiest jewels and silks in a Spanish galleon’s hold, I am returning empty-handed. I lost my ship, my men, any reason for pride. What else am I going to lose?" he whispered, trying to guess if she was welcoming him or ignoring him in the new conditions.

One couldn’t be a captain anymore since he had no ship to command… and no crew either.