Cutipie Jones walked briskly along the cobblestone streets of downtown Cartagena. An old Spanish settlement, it had once been the main prey of Drake and Hawkins, then Baal and Cote. After the French sacked the town, the Spanish invested a fortune to strengthen it's defense. No pirate, let alone a gaggle of pirates could successfully seige the city at it's present state. Jones was not here to seige, he was here to relax. His ship would be in port for another week or so, as the barnacles on the hull were slowing her down.
Jones, who had become a minor celebrity in the Carribean, was staying in the Castle de Felipe, the prize of the Spanish Indies. While there, Jones found comfort in the arms of a woman by the name of Maria de Heredia, a descendent of Cartagena's founder. Despite knowing perhaps ten words of Spanish, they hit it off right away. She actually spoke English much better than he did. Either way, Jones was in love with Maria, and she with him. She wanted to sail with him to their own island, where they would live in total happiness forever. This would please Jones as well, except for the fact that he was a "pirate" by this point and could not just leave his ship, crew, and life behind. That is why Jones was walking so briskly along the streets of Cartegena. Jones looked up towards the room that Maria occupied in the castle and decided that it was time to put down the anchor and stay with this woman. Before his very eyes, his mind was changed back for him. A volley of cannonshot sailed in toward the fort, exploding the
rooms Maria and he occupied. By the time he reached the castle, he heard something that disturbed him. The cannon came from a ship captained by Cutiepie Jones!!!
Jones made a mad dash to the dockyard, but could not find his ship. Ahead a voice called out his name. First Mate Pires stood on the deck waving the captain frantically.
"We must get out of here now!," yelled Pires.
"What happened? I heard that my ship attacked the fort?," asked Jones as he climbed aboard.
"No sir! Those shots came from someone in the bay!," retorted Pires
"Either way, they think we did it. Can we sail?," asked Jones.
Both men and their crew knew they would have to find out as two Spanish Navy barques began preparing to go underway on the far end of the dock.
Jones sat in anger as Pires checked the progress of the barque pursuit. Jones had lost another love and he was being blamed for the attack that caused it. With resolve, Jones stood up and told his men to prepare for battle. Total men onboard the frigate were 120, with 32 guns on board. The
frigate turned hard and caught a strong backwind. The barques, which were sailing side-by-side would cross the frigate on each side. Along with 12 9-pound guns, the frigate had 20 12-pound guns. The barques each had 10 cannon of the 6-pound variety. Well, needless to say after three passes, the barques were dispatched easily and any stragglers in the water were impressed into the crew, which now numbered 160. After interrogating the Spanish captain, Jones found out the true attacker and this made Jones vomit all over the deck. |