The Buccaneers' Code by Caroline Carlson Page B

young to recall it, Terror, but I imagine Mr. Fletcher’s told you all about it.”
    Hilary gave Jasper a look. “As a matter of fact, he hasn’t.”
    Jasper fiddled with the hem of his coat. “I, ah, didn’t think the details were relevant.”
    â€œThey were relevant enough to Pretty Jack Winter!” said one of Wolfson’s men, and his crewmates chortled.
    â€œThe Terror should hear this tale,” said Wolfson firmly. “She deserves to know what she’s up against.” He set down his drinking bowl and looked down at Hilary.
    â€œEighteen years ago,” he said, “when I was nothing more than an apprentice to my pirate grandfather, a scallywag named Pretty Jack Winter ran the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates. He’d been president for almost half a century, but he never once thought of stepping down, and no one dared to challenge him, for he’d never been defeatedin battle. My grandfather was a freelance pirate, same as I am, and he knew better than to cross Pretty Jack’s path on a moonless night.
    â€œThen Rupert Blacktooth came along. No one thought much of him at first. He was from a family of middling pirates—nothing to write home about, the Blacktooths. But Rupert was orphaned when he was no bigger than a good-sized trout, and the High Society family that adopted his sister didn’t care to raise a boy as well. So Rupert showed up on the League’s doorstep and devoted his life to piracy. He did well in his studies, and soon enough he was apprenticed to Pretty Jack Winter himself. By the time he was thirty, he held the League records in everything from cannon firing to parrot grooming.”
    â€œI myself was a renowned parrot groomer once,” Jasper said as Wolfson sipped his grog. “But alas, I haven’t had the time to devote to Fitzwilliam’s plumage since I left the League.”
    â€œIt was treasure that Blacktooth loved most, though,” said Wolfson. “He’d amassed more treasure than any pirate before him, and he thought he’d earned the right to take over the presidency. Pretty Jack didn’t agree, of course, but that didn’t stop Blacktooth. He turned up in Gunpowder Square, just as you did, and announced his challenge to his former captain. It was the most scandalous act since Philby Figgins turned in his pirate hat and joined the Royal Navy. Mind you, there weren’t many pirates who dared togo up against Pretty Jack’s cannons, no matter how many records Blacktooth held. Still, Blacktooth had made a few friends over the years, and he managed to scrape together a crew.”
    Hilary sighed. “Of course he did.”
    â€œHe knew, of course, that Pretty Jack Winter was prouder than a parrot and rustier than an old cutlass. Why, he hadn’t fought a fellow pirate in forty years! When the battle was over and the smoke had cleared, Pretty Jack’s men were clinging to the wreckage of their ship, and Pretty Jack himself was nowhere to be found. They say his peg leg washed up on shore three days later.”
    â€œOh my,” said Miss Greyson, turning rather green in the firelight. “How inconsiderate.”
    â€œEver since then,” said Wolfson, “Blacktooth’s word has been law on the High Seas. Half the scallywags in Augusta are afraid of him, and the other half are downright terrified. So you can see, Terror, why they’d be reluctant to join your cause.”
    â€œI certainly can,” said Hilary. The idea of having bits and pieces of oneself floating about in Queensport Harbor was enough to turn the stomach of even the bravest pirate. “But perhaps Blacktooth is just as proud as Pretty Jack used to be, and just as rusty. Perhaps he won’t be prepared.”
    â€œAnd perhaps I’ll turn into a cheese sandwich next Thursday,” said Jasper. “I’m afraid the odds aren’t likely.”
    Wolfson nodded in