Introduction        Chapter 1        Chapter 5        Chapter 8      Chapter 41      Chapter 57       

Introduction:	The year 1669 sounds like ancient history, but in the Caribbean basin back then, life was very similar to our own present-day world.  Jamaica in particular had some of the most fertile soil on the planet, which insured a steady supply of food, coffee, sugar and rum.  All of these goods were in high demand in Europe and that resulted in a very lucrative trade arrangement.  Ships arrived from European ports on a regular basis loaded with wine, linen, guns, cheeses and virtually anything else that was not perishable. Port Royal was the Buccaneer capital and it was considered by many to be the wickedest city on the planet, because there were more brothels than churches.  The primary Buccaneer rule was, "No victim, no crime."  It never would have occurred to them to lock a person up for smoking hemp or opium.  They would have been equally baffled by laws against prostitution.  Where is the victim? Port Royal's water supply had to be barged in from further up the East coast.  To some extent, that probably limited population growth, but more importantly, it also meant that there were no mosquitoes.  At the time, malaria was one of the biggest killers in the West Indies, but Port Royal was spared that scourge.  That one fact is why we are communicating today in English and not Spanish.  Morgan and his Buccaneer allies brought Spain to her knees in the Caribbean, but he is scarcely mentioned in history.  This book could change that; that is why it was written. Top of Page
Chapter 1	"Lads, we are at war with Spain.  In the days to come you will see bloodshed and torture.  But for now, just enjoy yourselves and give everybody else the same freedom.  The primary Buccaneer law is this:  "no victim, no crime."  If you can just keep that in mind when you are dealing with the men, it will make everybody's life much less complicated."    The three young offices kept silent as they pondered their Commander's words.  Using the "no victim, no crime" axiom as a yardstick to measure the days events, it did indeed seem that what Balfor and Bigford had done was in no way a criminial act.  Just as it had for Collier a few months before, the English reality bubble had burst for the three lieutenants. Top of Page
Chapter 5	If  the passion is great, the memory formed is forever.  Such was the case for the men on the beach of Isla de Vaca, on January 2, 1669.  A number of shots rang out, perhaps thirty in all, which drew everyone's attention to the sandstone cliffs inland from the beach.  The vegetation began to tremble and then panicked cattle, running at full speed, jumped over the edge of the cliff and began their slow-motion descent to the rocks below.  Morgan stared transfixed at the scene before him.  He did a quick inventoy of the drugs he had consumed recently that included colchicine, a cup of rum, make that two cups of rum after breakfast, tobacco and the residual opium in his system from the night bfore.  "Is this an opium dream?" he asked himself aloud.  He looked back toward the surf and saw the two pig roasters staring at the hill equally perplexed.  Morgan looked back at the cliffs and as the last cow went over the edge, he noticed several Buccaneers standing at the top of the cliffs looking very pleased with themselves.  They waved down to him and he waved back, still not quite believing what he had just seen.  Suddenly, he realized that the preceding drama was a stroke of brilliance.      Shooting the cows inland and packing them out to the beach was one of the most laborious tasks imaginable, as Morgan knew all too well, having done it himself for three seasons in his youth.  Driving the cows toward the beach and then stampeding them over the cliffs would save the Buccaneers hundreds of hours of back-breaking toil.  Morgan made a mental note to find out who had dreamed up this scheme. Top of Page
Chapter 8	"If you want to be a 'two-minute-man,' you have to be able to cut through two lower leg bones in less than fifteen seconds."      "A 'two-minute-man,' Sir?"      "That's right, Cyrus.  Two minutes, start to finish."      "I am no sailorman, Sir, but if you are telling me that you can take a leg off and 'ave it sowed up in two minutes... well, Sir, I would not believe it unless I seen it with me own two eyes."      "That can be arranged, Cyrus.  It appears that my assistant was killed in the explosion.  How would you like to be my new assistant?  You can still cook, of course."      "Why, Sir, I would be delighted.  When do I start?"      "In about an hour, I should think.  Wait.  Why not now?  Here, let me show you how to sharpen this saw." Top of Page
Chapter 41	"Sara, would you care to do the honors and read the latest installment from the "Spanish Admiral," said Morgan, handing the paper to her.  "I think we can trust these two," he said pointing at the table.      "I would be delighted."  She scanned the document once and then passed it back to Morgan.  Her eyes went up and to the right.  "This document is in Alonso's hand.  It consists of one-hundred-nineteen words, five of which are misspelled.  He also got the date wrong.  If you look at the fourth line, you will see a watermark on the left side of the page.  If you continue to look, you will see three other similar marks.  I believe he was crying when he wrote this.  In the introduction, he refers to himself as the 'Admiral of the Garrison.'  But if you look carefully at the 'G' in Garrison, or Guarnicion in Spanish, you can easily see that it started off as an 'F'.  The 'F' was for 'Flota,' or fleet.  I think it had just dawned on him that he no longer had any boats to be Admiral of."  Collier and Owen sat there with their mouths hanging open.      "Harry, where did you find this woman?  Does she have any sisters?" said Collier. Top of Page
Chapter 57	After Morgan left the room, Sara jumped into the bed and grabbed Morgan's pillow.  She lay on her back and covered her face with the pillow, inhaling deeply through her nostrils.  A few seconds later the sobbing began, tentative at first, then gale force; then tectonic.  It was complete and utter devastation, and she knew it.  Up to this point, her life had been a series of successful games that had kept her in powerful realms, where a suggestion, here, or there could get her virtually anything she wanted.  Suddenly, the thing she wanted most was out of her reach and she took a bite on the pillow and clenched her jaws as tightly as she could.  When she let out the scream, a hundred-thousand feathers acted togther and kept her secret. Top of Page

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