Frederick and Geraldine
Chapter 10- The Fight

The piratequartermaster, Maro, saw two galliots

Comingtowards the carrack; the first one had ten cannons.

To start themaneuver on the carrack, he asked his pilots.

They wereattacked by a volley of fire; maniac in action,

Maro caughtup with this army and replied with another

Volley offire, but he had to retire the carrack.

Then, thearmy came alongside it and fought in a smother.

This assaultwas preceded by some flurries of the bullet attacks.

Using themuskets and some small arms designed for superior

Accuracy,the army could leap from ship to ship;

Once theships had met, the battle had been waged; ulterior,

They usedlong polearms and swords which were kept on their hips.

The firstgalliot approached and used the bowsprit,

A protrusionwhich was angled upward from the bow,

To chargethe flank of the carrack; some pirates wanted to quit.

The bowspritpenetrated the breeze upper the low

Waist of theopened deck, in the middle; it could be used

As aconnection between the ships; a part of the army

Fiercelyattacked the pirates making them be confused.

The shipscollided; raw in front of the enemy,

The hiddensoldiers started to shoot; they held the fire

At a closerange; this ship was narrow for the artillery,

But intosaving some honest lives they had to inquire.

These gunswere placed on the centerline by the military.

The piratesturned to the opposite direction, but they were

Attacked bythe second galliot equipped in the same way.

The banditscould barely put up a resistance; their deaths were near.

The fighthad lasted until it was all done in their play.

The firstgalliot caught the carrack with the help of

The otherone; Maro ordered one of his crew to cut

A small holein the carrack to make this ship sink thereof

And to hurrythe soldiers to save the hostages, but

They wouldneed to know if there was a way to swim to the shore.

Theyabandoned quickly the carrack; the result of the fight

Was thevictory of the army, stopping the devil's roar.

They tookthree pirates captive; three escaped in the waters' night.

The governorhad the loyalty of a gentleman

Whilekeeping his word in front of Frederick and while

Dedicatinghimself to protecting any merchant

And anypassenger; they disembarked on that emerald isle.

(Frederick,Pedro, Naimah, Miguel, Cruz, Ivan, Pedra, Chiara, Francesca and the remainedcrew went to Prinylas. Cruz was injured but still alive. At least, while havingtears in his eyes, Frederick embraced his junior who looked exactly like him.The child smiled and touched his father’s face with his little hand. Geraldineembraced Frederick and kissed him while crying.)

The governorhad built frigates and galliots to maintain

Safety onthe coast and to guard them against the invasions.

Then, he sentthem to capture the pirate ships hoping to gain

Peace,wealth and a good fortune for the future generations.

(InPrinylas, in a bedroom, Ivan and Erica were talking while lying on their bed.)

(Ericasaid,)

I love youand I have proven it to you so many times.

Maybe itwould be healthy if we would remain simple

Peasants towork in the fields; I miss this life sometimes.

You're myman and I listen to you, '' she drew her wimple.

(Ivan said,)

''Sometimes,you're exhausted, '' '' I'm afraid of getting sick, ''

''All thetime, I need to protect you; it's hard for you to live

On your own,'' '' you make a lot of money; you want them quick, ''

''I'm likemy aunt, but I also replace a nice way to give;

(Ivan continued…)

I like tobuild a wealth, not just to spend them for my needs, ''

''This iswhy you sold everything you had in Russia and

Started abusiness elsewhere; you followed your instinct leads;

You don'tthink positively when you don't have the needed funds,

''

(Ericareplied. Ivan asked her…)

''Do yousuggest this is the reason why my Turkish store burned?

I've toldyou that after I had returned from Russia, someone

Threatenedme near the border and took my fur I had earned.

It could bethe nun's ex-husband, '' ''It could be anyone, ''

(…suggestedErica. Ivan replied.)

''It couldbe another fur trader; anyway, there is

A disruptionin the business conditions; Naimah has

The sameopinion; I started doing business,

'Cause Iwanted a big family, but my life became a haze, ''

(Erica was agreat observer.)

''Becauseyou started to get into some risky affairs, ''

''Are youtalking about the gold? '' ''Yes, '' ''I needed new

Relationships;all remained to this nun for her future years

Was thisgold, which had been deposited to the bank, ’’ ‘’It’s true,

’’

(….concludedErica. Ivan continued…)

‘’ She metme and gave me the map and the document

Thatempowered me to accompany the messenger

To Russiaafter traveling across the continent.

I wouldreceive twelve kilos of gold for this adventure.

She had sentan act to one of her friends living in England

Authorizinghim to take the gold out from the bank

And to pay amessenger to bring it home, '' '' I understand.

''She wroteabout some security conditions, '' ''That ship sank,

(Ericacontinued…)

But maybethe sailors had been killed before sinking.’’

‘’I have totell you a secret, '' '' Why do we go to Portugal? ''

''Because Ifear of that person who fired my shop after taking

My fur; withthe remaining money I opened this life portal-

I bought ourtrip; I couldn't turn back to talk to the nun.

I shouldmeet the messenger; '' ''Why have you created problems? ''

''BecauseFrederick didn't keep his word; he preferred to run.

He hadpromised me to stay two weeks in Athens before I embarked.''

(Erica askedhim…)

''Why did hechange his mind? '' ''Because of what had happened in

Selanik; Heconcluded that he had been chased by the pirates.

I neededtime to go to give the map, '' Ivan said with a grin.

'' To waitfor me to come back, you would stay there in silence.''

(Ericashould stay on the ship to wait for Ivan. She said…)

''Maybe thatpirate followed us and killed the messenger.

Let's thinkpositively, '' '' He took the gold; we need protection.

Moreover,the nun told me that she hadn't informed her

Ex-husbandabout the gold because of losing his affection.

This womanwants to donate her gold in exchange for freedom.

The map isvital to her as the commission is to me.''

'' Themessenger came with his servant in this garden of Eden.

Why didn'tthey take the ship? '' ''To watch it sailing on the sea! ''

(…exclaimedIvan and continued…)

If somethinghad happened to the gold, he would have asked

Theauthorities to investigate the missing, ’’ ‘’ At least,

He shouldverify this transport in the port of Constanta.

Imagine howsome poisoned thoughts could spoil the hope's feast! ’’

(… exclaimedErica. Ivan asked…)

'' Where doyou know this from? '' '' I've read his journal, '' '' I must go

To tell thegovernor everything I know and to ask him

To help me,'' ''This nun is very important to you; although

You don'tsay it, you do it; means not making money on a whim.''

'' Iunderstood the idea of freedom in life,

Especiallyfor a woman; I wanted to fight against

An old,Russian mentality; started with an inner strife

While hopingto replace some ways to achieve true happiness.''

(Ivancontinued….)

'' Don'tforget that I overcame my own human condition.

''I think itis also about the faith that spurred you; read

Somechapters aloud for me before sleeping; your diction

Is nice, ''''Hope it's not philosophical; don't turn in the bed! ''

(‘’Just alittle, ’’ replied Erica and fell asleep.)