جزیره‌ی رام

Chapter six

Rum Island

The Queen Anne was badly damaged and many of its men were hurt. The captain was in his bed, with a white bandage on his head. His first mate, Mr Stewart, came to see him.

“Captain, the men have found the door to the treasure broken open. It seems Pike and his men took the Queen’s gold but left behind the treasure we found on that ship.”

“How is the ship and the men?”

“Many men are hurt, sir. Our sails are badly damaged. We’re now sailing to an island we’ve seen about two miles away.”

“Mr Stewart, have someone watch that treasure. It’s all we have left.”

The Queen Anne moved very slowly with all of its sails pulled down. The men were sitting or standing quietly along the deck as the ship anchored, a half mile from the beach.

They were tired and hurt from the fight with the pirates. The sun was shining and the island looked beautiful, but the men were not interested. The captain came up on deck and began ordering the men.

“Lower the boats! I’m going to the island to see if we can get something to fix these sails. I want to take that treasure with us. We don’t know what we’ll have to give them.”

The island had a long beach of white sand with tall, green coconut trees on it. They pulled their boats up onto the sand. As they were deciding which way to go, they saw a native boy jump from a tree and run away. The captain spoke first.

“Let’s follow him. He may lead us to his people.”

The boy led the men through the green hills of the island. He stayed far ahead of them but stopped whenever he wanted them to see him and follow.

There were tall green plants on the hills, and the air smelled of vanilla.

“What’s that smell? It smells like rum.”

“It is, and these are the sugar plants they use to make it. They break the plants apart and mix the rum in large barrels. It smells as if they’re making sweets.”

“It’ll be nice if we get to taste it.”

The men laughed as they walked on. When they came to the top of a hill looking down onto a village, they saw natives working near small houses made from trees and leaves.

The small boy they were following ran into the village before them and everyone began looking up at Captain Scott and his men. They stopped what they were doing and waited for the sailors.

A tall, dark and very beautiful woman in a white headdress was standing in front of the natives, waiting for Captain Scott.

She had large dark, eyes and she wore a gold necklace with a green stone, just like the one in the picture on Blackbeard’s ship. Her name was Queen Alliana, and she was the Queen of Rum Island.

The sailors put Blackbeard’s treasure down behind Captain Scott when he went to meet the Queen.

“I am Captain Scott of the Queen Anne from England. We’ve come here to trade our gold for anything you may have to offer, but we also have a problem. Our ship is badly damaged. We need to fix our sails.”

“Welcome Captain. I am Queen Alliana and this is Rum Island. Come and sit with us and show us what you have brought.”

The sailors sat in a circle around the treasure chest. Captain Scott sat next to Queen Alliana and all the men were offered a cup of the island’s rum. When Captain Scott opened the chest and showed the Queen the shining treasure of jewels and gold, her eyes widened and she stood up.

“Where did you get that?”

“It’s not really ours. It’s something we’ve found on an empty ship at sea. Our gold.”

“Take it away! We do not want it here! It is cursed! The man who owns it must have it back. You must take it back to where you found it.”

The Queen waved her hand. All of the natives left and went inside their houses, leaving Captain Scott and his men alone.