A Red Ribbon

Written by Snapper for character development of James Snapper

Part One

Snapper awoke to the sound of his dinghy smashing into something large and wooden. He had been drifting aimlessly for some time while he drunk himself silly and ate half stale bread. His first reaction to the sound was to sit up with a start. His second reaction was to empty the bottle of rum that was rolling around in the bottom of the dinghy. He then stood and shaded his eyes against the bright Caribbean sun to see what he had crashed into. Only then did he notice the sound of English voices and the looming vessel above him. Several poorly dressed sailors and deckhands leaned over the rails of the ship and shouted down at him. They tossed down a rope ladder, and Snapper decided that whatever fate was up above was worth facing. He searched around briefly and found his red coat, sword, and flintlock. Putting them on, he faced the hull of the ship and pulled himself up the rope ladder; no easy task in his condition. An arm reached down to help him up, but he shook it off indignantly.

The drunken pirate fell over the side of the ship in a heap. It took him a second to stand up and fully observe his surroundings. It was a merchant vessel and not a particularly successful one by the look of things. It was crewed by far too few men for a ship of its size, and it had several holes in it from cannon fire. Snapper was relieved. Had the vessel belonged to the English Navy, he would have certainly died by the noose without even a chance to fight back. The ship had clearly been recently raided by pirates, and the crew had the look of those who had just seen ghosts. Snapper had to resist smiling as he imagined his old friends being the ones to take the ship. A thought then occurred to him: his red coat had caused the merchants to mistake him for a British officer, which is why they must have intercepted him and decided to save him.

Snapper felt some instinctual disgust at the idea of being mistaken for a redcoat, but he knew that his best bet was to go along with it. Thus began several days of the former pirate captain pretending to be a British officer whose ship had been destroyed in a raid. He regaled the merchants with a tale of his heroic stand against his enemies in the name of his king and his miraculous escape into the dinghy. If any of them had questions about why he had so much rum with him and why he seemed so much less dignified than other navy men they had seen, they did not ask.

Snapper sailed with them to Port Royal, where their shipment had been meant to go. When they arrived, however, Snapper found himself facing British soldiers that were searching every ship for ill-gotten goods. He couldn’t change his lie in front of the merchants, so the soldiers brought him to their commander to report on the sinking of his ship. There was no way to back out, and when he could not name a vessel that matched any of the records the commander had, his disguise was revealed. His old red coat may have been enough to fool the merchants, but when compared to the real garment of the redcoats, he was caught.

Part Two

Luckily for him, they did not know fully who he was. However, they assumed he was no upstanding citizen and clapped him in irons. He was sentenced to a decade in prison for impersonating an officer in the King’s Navy. Snapper had a long time to think deeply about the choice he had made to leave the island. He regretted it at times, but he also knew that the longing for the sea had grown strong in his heart, and he had needed to leave. By the time he had served half of his sentence, and was 28 years old, he escaped.

The story of that escape from a maximum-security prison is indeed very thrilling but is not the subject of this tale. He managed to find a tavern friendly to pirates and was able to hide there until the search for him had died down. He joined the first pirate crew he could find as a member of their cannon crew. This return to his roots was very fulfilling after such a long time away from freedom.

Part Three

After two years aboard this ship, Snapper was made Master at Arms of the vessel. He was simply going through the paces, though, and his life seemed to have stalled. As a part of his duties, he began to spend time in council with the captain and the other officers.

The Navigator on that ship was named Benjamin Harper. Snapper and he grew close after they realized that they shared many of the same positions in debates among the officers and the captain. The two began to spend more and more time together, and they began to sit at the bow at night and talk while they watched the stars twirl overhead. Benjamin was a thoughtful and quiet man who was born in London to a semi-wealthy family. He had always been fascinated by the stars and the artistry of navigation by their guidance. He worked as a navigator for that navy for a time, but eventually joined the life of piracy after a woman was hanged aboard his ship for her involvement in the harboring of pirates. He was the same age as Snapper, with blond hair and green eyes. His brow was often furrowed and his cheekbones were pronounced.

Things were not all well, though. The captain was a cautious man and feared greatly that the two were plotting against him. When word of this reached Snapper and Benjamin, they simply rolled their eyes. They did not care for ship politics anymore. When the ship made landfall in the Carolinas, the pair resigned from their posts and headed inland with a modest amount of gold that they had saved. Snapper was 32 and ready to leave the sea behind.

Part Four

The two purchased a piece of land far away from any big towns, for fear of judgment and persecution. They posed as brothers when they spoke to anyone who had questions about two men living and working together on a farm. When eyes were turned away from them, they were truly happy. Benjamin was the first person since Snapper set sail in his youth to know his full name, James Snapper. The fulfillment in this sedentary life was something Snapper never thought he would find.

The day came, though, when a dark cloud overtook their joy. Though they did all they could to remain hidden and secretive, those around them still spoke, and gossip was a favorite hobby of the inhabitants of the surrounding lands. The 13th year of their lives together had seen their first truly bountiful harvest. Though they tried their hardest, neither were particularly good at the farming they set themselves to. Snapper was elated to finally have some excess corn to sell in town, and he went on a two-day trip to do so.

When he returned, he found Benjamin hanging from the big tree in their front yard. A sign was strapped to his neck that read, “Fear the Lord thy God.” Snapper’s grief was indescribable, but he knew that he had to abandon peace. He buried his love on a hill overlooking their home and cut from his red silk shirt a strip of cloth that he kept in memory of him. He went to the barn that he and Benjamin had raised with their own hands and opened a dusty and long-ignored chest. He pulled out the old coat, sword, and flintlock that he had sworn to abandon.

Snapper was filled with bloodlust that rose from his very core, and the rivers of that land ran red as he avenged his loss. He was like a demon as he slew each and every man and woman that had participated in the murder of Benjamin Harper. The red ribbon, he tied in his hair to keep the hair out of his eyes as his fury encompassed the region. Soon, though, a force of British soldiers began to hunt for him. His fury subsided and his heart was left empty save an unabiding pain and sorrow.

He left that place and made his way to the coast where he stowed away on a vessel headed for the Caribbean. Eventually, he made his way back to Isla de Oro, though he did not consciously seek it. Perhaps it was the only home and place of happiness that he could remember. Perhaps the island called to him in some way. Regardless, he found himself standing again on its shores and welcomed back among the pirates of Puerto Dorado. He was amazed though, to find that time had not passed on the island as it had in his own life. He was tired and now 45 years old, with his hair graying and his eyes marked by the emergence of wrinkles.