Chapter 7 - The Captain's Tale

Before we continue, it must be made clear how much danger our heroes and heroine were in. For, while Sammy swam in the ocean and Celia cooked for the crew and Barney threw up over the side, all the time, the evil captain was plotting.

The Captain was called Scar, because he had a big scar on his face and pirates aren’t very imaginative. He had given it to himself, but no-one knew that, and everyone who saw it thought it made him look very fierce. He loved fighting, and the sea, and jewels. But mostly he loved gold. He had loved it ever since he was a little boy. On his seventh birthday his father, who had been a well known and greatly feared pirate in his youth, had let him into the plunder room at the family home. They had a great big house in the islands, with seventeen bedrooms and lots of servants, because Scar’s father was Captain Ruthless, and as his name suggests, he was ruthless in his plundering attacks, and consequently very successful as a pirate. He had been able to retire comfortably at the age of thirty, and marry a governor’s daughter, whom he had carried away to her only mildly exclamatory protestations. He had a special room in his enormous house, set aside to store the wealth he had accrued. Before that day, Captain Ruthless had never permitted his son to go into the room, fearing he might be squashed by the weight of the gold. Scar could remember it perfectly. It had been the best day of his life...

The plunder room was very large, and packed solidly with beautiful things. Scar’s seven-year-old eyes almost burst with awe. There were coins of gold, and coins of silver. They spilled out of great wooden chests, and enormous piles of them that covered the floor. There were jewels of every kind imaginable – rubies and sapphires and emeralds. Scar’s favourites were the rubies, because they were the colour of blood, and he liked blood. There were crowns stolen from kings, and beautiful dresses taken from sailors’ daughters. There were swords and guns and ornately wrought daggers. And all of it gleamed and glinted and reflected the flames of the torch. Captain Ruthless did not approve of electric lighting. He did not want it in his plunder room because it would ruin the atmosphere. Scar’s father led him through the piles of riches and told him rollicking tales of life on the sea, full of sword-fights, and booming cannons and gold. Scar decided, as he weaved through the gold after his father, that one day he would be a great pirate.

Scar’s wish did not quite come true. He became a pirate it is true, but never a great one. By the time his father died and he was free to take up a life on the sea, the time of pirates was nearly over. Merchant ships were armed with machine guns and bombs, while his pirate ship’s weaponry was more traditional, tending towards cutlasses and cannons. As a result of this, he found himself running through both crewmen and ships at an alarming rate. The plunder room of the family home was now almost empty, and he badly needed a successful capture. He had been reduced to docking at Yarel, because he couldn’t afford docking fees anymore, and if he lost this ship, that would be the end of his life of adventure and excitement on the seas. He would have to return to the island and become a salesman like his brother. Scar would do anything to prevent being associated with his brother, who was rather effeminate and often made fun of his pirating abilities.

Scar’s lack of success at pirating had made him bitter. He had wanted badly to be like his father, who had been large and intimidating, but had always told brilliant stories at dinner parties. Nobody wanted to hear the story about the time Scar’s ship was blown apart by machine gun fire before they got within cannon range. So Scar sulked bitterly and kept trying. And every time, something ruined his plan.

His first ship had been glorious. It was made of dark wood, trimmed in gold, with a mermaid on the front just like in the books. His flag had looked magnificent on the mast, and his crew was truly piratey. One of them even had a parrot. He had stepped on board, ordered the crew to “Weigh Anchor!” and stood in the bow feeling omnipotent and raring for action. Unfortunately, he soon learned that looks weren’t everything, and his glorious ship was both slow and sinking. He ordered the crew to commandeer the first ship they saw. It turned out to be a navy battleship and his ship was blown to pieces the second he opened fire. He was pulled from the wreckage and taken off to prison. Two years in there before he managed to escape during transfer, and take to the sea once more.

His second ship, crewed by an entirely different set of men, was more modest, but solidly built. He checked it floated before they left the harbour. Everything was going swimmingly until they attacked and his second ship was cut up by machine gun fire. This time no-one rescued him and he washed up 3 days later, nearly dead, on an island.

After he found his way off the island, he purchased a new ship, hired new crew for huge amounts of money, and set about making an intricate plan to uncover buried treasure, since his attempts so far to plunder ships had failed spectacularly. A month into the journey, his crew realised they were lost, mutinied, and marooned him on an island.
Most people would give up after this, decide pirating was not for them, and take a nice job in a bakery selling cakes and loaves of bread to little old ladies. But Scar was nothing if not persistent. And piles of gold cannot be obtained by working in a bakery. So, bitter and nearly forty, Scar was still pirating.

A greedy man is always trouble. A man who is both greedy and bitter is worse. But a man who is greedy, bitter and desperate is truly a person to be afraid of, because they want everything, they want it now, and will seek revenge on those who thwart them. And they have nothing to lose. Scar was one of those people. With these three unsuspecting youngsters, his chance had come.