The brigantine Pearl Maiden sailed into the harbor at Port Royal, Jamaica on June 10, 1674 at about ten in the morning. The fore main and jib were the last sails still set. The crew had been furling the others since the harbor came into sight. As she approached closer, the crew aloft on the foot ropes and horses on the fore mast main yard began pulling that sail up to the yard and tying it securely in place. When Captain William Blackburn deemed the Pearl Maiden was close enough to coast into an anchorage, he nodded to his First Mate, Alec Johnson. Mister Johnson in turn shouted, "Strike the jib", to the crew on deck.
With the jib down and the other sails furled, The Pearl Maiden coasted over the calm water toward Port Royal. When Captain Blackburn nodded again, Mister Johnson shouted, "Let go the port anchor."
There was a splash as the anchor was released from the cat on the port side bow and dropped into the water. The two sailors standing at the port bow watched the heavy anchor cable pay out until the flukes of the anchor caught on the bottom. They had done this often enough they didn't wait to hear Mister Johnson's order to secure the anchor cable around a cleat. Once the anchor cable tightened, they cleated the heavy cable home.
Once the cable was cleated, The Pearl Maiden's momentum caused her to heel over as she stopped moving forward and turned. As the crew aloft climbed back down the ratlines, she stopped turning and sat quietly in the calm waters of the harbor.
The next order, to lower the longboat and the captain's gig from the davits, was carried out quickly because the crew wanted to get ashore as quickly as possible. Already the Quartermaster had brought his chest on the main deck and was ready to distribute the shares of the result of their last raid to each of the crew. As soon as The Pearl Maiden was secure, the crew would be off to Port Royal for some good food, a lot of drink, and an accommodating woman or two.
The Quartermaster had paid out Captain Blackburn's share in pieces of eight and gold doubloons as soon as he brought his chest onto the main deck. The mates were also paid in coin. The rest of the crew was paid partly in coin and partly in what jewelry they'd been able to capture from any passengers. The jewelry would be converted into coin by the many dealers in Port Royal. The Quartermaster was aware of the customary rate of exchange and paid each man accordingly.
Once his crew of oarsmen had been paid, Captain Blackburn ordered them to launch his gig. After a short row from The Pearl Maiden to the piers at Port Royal, Captain Blackburn told his crew he would return in two days and they should be ready to take him back to The Pearl Maiden.
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As Captain Blackburn walked into Port Royal, he was smiling. He had little worry that his oarsmen would be waiting for his return to the pier. Most likely, they would have spent all their coin within the first day. Such was usual. They were men who spent weeks at sea eating the tasteless rations given them, sleeping in a rocking hammock suspended from the ships timbers in a damp nook of the Pearl Maiden, and with only other men for company. To be on shore with a seemingly endless supply of good food, good drink, and willing women was their reward for risking their lives while at sea.
The cost of that reward was high in terms of coin, but the resulting pleasure more than offset the risk of earning that coin. In a day or so, all would return to The Pearl Maiden with no money but many stories to share during the days and nights at sea.
Most of his crew would be headed for the taverns for it was in them the women would be found. Captain Blackburn was bound for a pub where he knew the owner and his wife. This was for two reasons.
The first was his personal preference. After weeks of the mostly boring work of operating and maintaining the Pearl Maiden broken only by the short times of excitement and terror of attacking a large ship, his men would have little restraint regarding food, drink and women. The taverns would be noisy and filled with drunken men either looking to fight or looking to end up under the blankets with a naked woman.
The other reason was that he was somewhat well-known in Port Royal and that carried some risk. He was one of the most successful pirate captains who anchored in Port Royal and his ship, the Pearl Maiden, was known to be faster than most. More than one captain had promoted himself to that position by killing the captain of his or another ship.
In the pub, he felt safe since the normal clientele were known to him and to the owners. Any stranger entering the pub would be carefully watched by Hiram Smithson and his buxom wife Eleanor until the stranger's intentions could be determined. Hiram and Eleanor's three children often played in the pub area and Hiram and Eleanor were quick to stop any foolishness or display of temper. As well, the men in the pub, most of whom were pirates with reputations for being unrepentant killers, treated the children as their own and would have protected them from any potential harm with their own lives.
Still, Captain Blackburn was always cautious in any surrounding. Being aware of his surroundings was what had kept him alive through numerous attacks on Spanish ships. When he entered the pub, he paused to survey the other patrons, and seeing only familiar faces, he took his usual table on one side of the room and facing the door.
Eleanor quickly walked to his table, and William smiled as her large breasts moved sensuously under her dress and her wide hips swayed from side to side. He reflected that Hiram was a lucky man to be married to Eleanor. She was not of the same ilk as most of the women in Port Royal, that being because she had never entertained a sailor in her bedroom in exchange for gold or silver. She had traveled from England along with Hiram and had worked at his side to build his business. Eleanor was also a cook of some renown and only served the freshest of meats, fish, and vegetables to her guests.
When Eleanor stopped at his table she smiled.
"William Blackburn, it has been far too long since you sat at my table. It is good to know you are well and as handsome as ever. What may I get for you tonight?"
William grinned a sly grin.
"First, I think a small roast of beef with potatoes, onions and carrots along with a mug of Hiram's ale. Later on, a room for two nights. I would be very grateful were you to join me and allow me to see why Hiram smiles nearly constantly."
Eleanor tittered.
"William, you know full well that I only share Hiram's bed and no others..."
She smiled then and her eyes sparkled.
"...not that the thought of doing what you suggest has never crossed my mind. T'would be an interesting and shall we say, a very filling experience I think, so to speak. Now, you sit in your chair while I fetch your ale and dish up your roast."
It was a repartee that played itself out every time William entered Hiram's pub and he enjoyed it. Like all men, William missed the attentions of a woman, though unlike most of his crew, his desire was not so much the pleasure of sheathing his manhood inside a woman's snug passage. It was a need for companionship of a person who was refined and soft rather than coarse and hard. He was not without the basic desire for a more intimate relationship, but he chose to leave that desire unfulfilled until such time as he met the right woman.
