Jack Henry stoked the coals of the forge in the black smith's shop in Nassau. He manned the bellow force air over the flame until the coals glowed red hot. Carefully he placed a ladle with lead ingots into the burning inferno. It took but a few minutes for the lead ingots to turn into a silver liquid that he carefully poured into molds. And thus through the night Jack prepared musket balls.
Captain Bonnie had agreed to train twenty men but only twenty to form a landing party under Jack's command. And Jack had agreed that only the best shots from among the crew. Come the dawn, the pirate crew of the Fortune would test their skills as marksmen. And Jack was determined that only his men, mostly from the village of Frisco would pass the test.
As each mold cooled, Jack broke the mold and finished the task by placing the musket ball into a vice grip to form a perfect round ball. And each perfect musket ball he placed in a small pouch that he wore upon his right side. Yet for most of the musket balls, Jack broke the molds early while the lead ways still too soft and rather than placing the ball perfectly in the vice he created a flat end on one of the sides. Jack knew that the small imperfection would cause the the musket ball to fly wide or high but never straight. These he placed in a small pouch that he wore upon his left side. By a slight of hand, in a not so fair contest, Jack would have his own men in the landing party.
As the Sun rose above the horizon Captain Bonnie roused the crew of the Fortune.
"Arise ye dogs, for today we have business upon the land. To the boats!"
The crew of the Fortune rushed to the boats which were quickly lowered away. The men heaved hard upon the oars as the entire crew made for the shore.
Once landed the crew lined up in single file. Jack had placed a wooden target at 30 paces. Each man would have one shot, a single shot to hit the target. As each man stepped forward, Jack handed him the musket, the powder and a single musket ball. As each man stepped forward, Jack looked him square in the eye, and then reached into a small pouch to retrieve a single shot.
Every man from Frisco received a musket ball from the right pouch and every man who Jack did not trust to be his own received a shot from the left pouch. Every man from Frisco hit the mark, and all others missed the target completely.
Captain Bonnie began to suspect that something was amiss. As he knew his crew well, and many a pirate he knew to be a good shot in times past seemed to miss the mark this day.
"Enough, I have seen enough, give men that musket Jack." Captain Bonnie snarled.
Jack handed Captain Bonnie the musket and a single shot from the right pouch. Captain Bonnie carefully inspected the musket. Taking powder, he carefully measured the powder, wrapped the musket ball in a small piece of cloth and rammed her home. He primed the the firing pan, cocked the flintlock, aimed the musket and gently squeezed the trigger. The musket belched forth fire and smoke. The perfectly formed musket ball fired straight on and hit the target.
Captain Bonnie, knew in his heart the somehow Jack had rigged the contest, and yet could not quiet determine how he had done it. Without proof it would be dangerous to confront Jack, for Jack Henry was not a man to be trifled with. As Captain Bonnie stared at Jack he noticed that Jack's hand had slid over the hilt of his sword. Captain Bonnie would wait to confront Jack.
"Jack, it seems that ye have yar own men for the landing party. Who knew that those fishermen from Frisco would be the best shots among the crew. But I tell ya Jack, firing a musket is one thing but maneuvering as a company of men is an entirely another another matter. "
Captain Bonnie pointed to two men who had been standing together watching the contest in somewhat disbelief having both missed the mark.
"Jack see those fine fellas over there, both of them are deserters from Her Majesty's Army. They will train yar men to fight as one."
"I thought I would be training the men, Captain." Jack replied.
"Captain it is Jack, and ye thought wrong of the matter. For though ye command the landing party, tis I who commands the crew."
Jack simply nodded. He knew he had been outmaneuvered. He had his landing party and Captain Bonnie had his loyal men in the midst of it.
At dawn every day, the drummer boy from Frisco would beat to the landing crew to quarters. The longboats were lowered away. From dawn until dusk the landing party marched in formation to shouts of Captain Bonnie's loyal men.
And thus did Jack spend his winter days in Nassau training his own men, for his own purpose, all under the watchful eye of his Captain.
Jack had one more move to make before the end of winter. A move that surprised even him with how quickly Captain Bonnie had agreed. Jack had suggested, and Captain Bonnie had agreed, that the landing party should also have a single cannon, mounted on a hand pulled caisson.
The first stage of Jack's plan to rid himself of Captain Bonnie had proceeded with almost complete perfection with only a slight hitch, not al of the men were his own.
Captain Bonnie had watched carefully as the fishermen of Frisco had been drilled. He was eager to put their skills to the test.
As the days grew longer, the occasion did arise to put Jack's men to the test.
Sally Brown and her ladies from Charleston had spent the winter months entertaining the men from different pirate ships that also sought safe harbor in Nassau. For Nassau had become one of the few ports in the Caribbean left open to pirate ships. And when pirates of full of rum and in the company of lovely ladies their tongues did begin to wag too freely.
Sally herself had entertained a Spaniard who had had too much drink and too much trust in her loving embrace. For the Spaniard did tell a tale of a small outpost on the southern tip of Florida called St. Maria del Sol. It seems that this small outpost had but one single task. The task of seeking any stranded treasure ships that may come aground in the dangerous waters off the Florida Keys.
The Spaniard, had tired of his life in the Spanish Army and had deserted his post one night. In the middle of the night, he stole a small boat and headed for the Keys. He had not been a week upon the isle when a pirate ship appeared upon the horizon headed for Nassau. The Spaniard had eagerly joined the crew but had not disclosed a secret that he had learned while in St. Maria del Sol.
A secret that only the talented Sally Brown could get him to reveal. During the Fall passing of the Spanish Treasure fleet on of the galleons had been ground ashore on the Keys. The Commandant of the Fleet had sent word to the commander of the fort at St. Maria del Sol to retrieve the ship or at least the treasure. The commander of the fort had successfully towed the galleon off the beach and to his outpost where the galleon rested at harbor with its hold full of silver from Mexico. A true prize for any pirate.
The outpost at St. Maria Del Sol was heavily fortified and a match for any single ship that may try to enter the harbor. In his drunken state the Spaniard had let slip that while the fort could defend against a single ship, the defenses would be hard pressed if a fleet of ships would attack. Further he had confided in Sally that the fool of a commander had not placed any cannon facing the land, as he believed that no one would attack by land only by sea.
When Sally had confided all she had learned with Captain Bonnie, his mind quickly devised a plan for fame and fortune.
For he had not a single ship at his command but three ships. What is more he had a landing party, armed with muskets and a cannon. Captain Bonnie's mind had been set, he would attack the fort at St. Maria del Sol with his three ships by sea and with Jack's men by land. A treasure galleon would soon be added to his growing fleet and fortune.