The Pirates
by M.C.
A pirate attack turns disastrous - for the pirates.

Captain William Johnson looked through the spyglass again. Just as he 
feared the large ship had turned towards him. He couldn't be sure yet 
whether or not they were pirates but almost everything indicated that 
they were. They flew no flag, and their ship matched the discription of 
Redbeard's - the ruthless pirate who was preying on merchant ships in 
this section of the West Indies. Captain Johnson turned his schooner 
around and tried to outrun the larger, faster vessel that was now in hot 
persuit. I was a hopeless race though. As the large ship drew closer, 
Captain Walker gulped hard; they were hoisting a flag.....the infamous 
skull and crossbones. 

As soon as the Pirate ship was close enough they threw grappling hooks 
over the side, latching on to the smaller schooner. It was over. 
Although his crew were good seamen, they weren't warriors. Even if they 
had been they wouldn't have stood a chance against these pirates. In 
addition to that, Captain Walker was under strict orders from his 
employeer - the mysterious M. Smith - not to endanger anyone's life. 
Despite working for this shipping company for five years, William had 
never met M. Smith, nor did he know anyone who had. He recieved his 
orders and payment from a third party. As the pirates began to board his 
ship, Captain Johnson ordered his men to surrender. From the quarterdeck 
of the pirate ship they saw a large man with a long red beard and their 
hearts sank. 

Fifteen large, savage looking pirates came on board and ordered that 
everybody on the ship stand together in one place. When the crew had 
done so, the leader of the boarding party demanded to know if there was 
anybody else on board. " There is one passenger ", Captain Walker said, 
" a woman ". The pirate's eyes seemed to light up when he heard this. " 
Where is she ? ", he barked. William pointed to a cabin at the end of 
the ship. The pirate walked over to the door and banged hard. " Come on 
out girly, it's time to meet your new masters ". From the inside they 
heard the door unlock, then slowly open. There were gasps heard all over 
the ship as out stepped the most beautiful women they had ever seen. She 
was at least six feet tall and must have weighed close to 200 pounds.She 
was powerfully built and had long, beautiful blond hair. But what caught 
everybody's attention was the long saber she held in her hand. " You 
boys disturbed my beauty sleep ", she said," now I'm going to have to 
punish you ". 

The pirates all began to laugh together. Indeed it did seem absured. 
There were fifteen pirates on  the schooner and probably at least as 
many still on board the pirate ship. Did this one woman really expect to 
defeat them all ? " If you surrender to me now, it'll be a lot easier 
for you.....although not as much fun for me ". The leader of the 
boarding party decided to humor her and began to attack with his sword. 
Quick as a flash she disarmed him; then, with a powerful left hook, 
knocked him out. " I hope you boys can give me a better workout than him 
", she said. From the quarterdeck of his ship Redbeard yelled out," take 
her men - cut her to pieces ". The remaining pirates attacked her all at 
once.What followed had to be seen to be believed - even those who 
witnessed it find it hard to believe. The beautiful amazon became a 
blur, moving so quickly, fighting so expertly that the pirates were soon 
on the defensive. As she disarmed them she knocked them out with one 
powerful punch. Captain Walker reached for one of the swords that was 
lying on the deck. " Please don't intervene on my behalf ", the woman 
comely said to him. " I'm quite capable of dealing with these bullies. 
Besides, I'd feel awful if you were injured; just relax and enjoy the 
show ", she added with a wink. 

As Redbeard watched the spectacle from his ship he became worried. He 
decided to move away from the schooner and blow it  to pieces with his 
cannons. The woman knew what he was doing but didn't seem too concerned. 
First things first - she had to finish with the remaining men on the 
schooner before dealing with Redbeard's ship. Two minutes later it was 
over - the fifteen pirates lay unconscious all over the ship. She smiled 
at Captain Walker and said, " you and your men tie up these sleeping 
beauties - I have a little more work to do ". With that she put her 
saber in between her teeth and effortlessly climbed up the rope of the 
mast. Holding the rope, with the sword in her teeth, she swung across 
from her ship to Redbeard's. It was a magnificant sight to behold. This 
amazing amazon, her long beautiful hair flying behind her, easily 
covered the fifty feet between the two ships. She even did a perfect mid 
- air flip before landing in the middle of the pirate ship, sword in 
hand, ready for action. " Leaving so soon, boys ? Why I wouldn't hear of 
it .Come on, let's see if you rough, tough men can handle a mere woman 
". 

She was immeadiately set upon by twenty pirates. But, as before, she was 
more than a match for all of them. Wielding her sword with a skill that 
boarded on the magicial she wove a shield of steel around her that her 
opponents could not penetrate. " Kill her men", screamed Redbeard. " How 
can you let a single woman defeat the most feared pirates in the 
Caribbean Sea ? "  " You'll find out soon enough, honey," she smiled up 
at him," I'm saving you for last ". Her sword wizardry soon proved to be 
too much for the pirates. As their swords went flying from their hands 
she finished them off with a mighty punch. Such was her strength that 
not once did she need to hit any of them twice. After five minutes 
twenty pirates lay unconscious scattered around the ship. " Well 
loverboy, it looks like it's just you and me ". Redbeard, the most 
feared pirate in the Caribbean, lost his nerve. After watching this 
magnificant woman singlehandedly defeat his entire crew, he tried to 
run......but there was nowhere to go. He was, after all, on a ship. She 
caught him, easily disarmed him, and then began to batter him all around 
his ship. Although she could have knocked him out with one punch, she 
prefered to play with him. " So this is the great Redbeard ", she 
giggled as she slapped his face back and forth. " I'm rather 
disappointed with you. But what can you really expect from a man ". 
Redbeard was barely conscious now. The mighty woman held him up with one 
finger and blasted a punch that sent him clear across the ship." Thirty 
- six pirates, not bad for a mornings work ", she said to herself. 

By now the schooner had pulled up alongside the pirate ship. Captain 
Walker and his men charged onto the deck, swords in hand..........and 
stared at a sight they would never forget. Lying unconscious all over 
the ship were Redbeard and his men. Standing in the middle of the deck, 
comely brushing her beautiful hair,  was the mighty amazon who had 
defeated them all. She smiled at the captain and said," good, you're 
just in time to help me tie them up and bring them over to the schooner 
- there's a large reward waiting for you when you bring in Redbeard and 
his men ". Half an hour later all of the pirates were tied up and on the 
schooner. They then set sail for the nearest port. The mysterious woman 
then assembled the crew and said, " when we dock you can collect the 
reward and share it equally amongst yourselves ". Captain Walker looked 
at her and asked," but what about you ? " She smiled at him and said, " 
their capture is enough of a reward for me. They've been bothering my 
fleet for far too long. Oh, by the way, I don't believe I've introduced 
myself. My name is Margret Smith......I'm your employeer ". As she 
looked at their stunned faces she laughed and said, " from this day 
forward I'm doubling your salaries - you're good seamen and you deserve 
it . And now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish my beauty sleep ". 
She turned and started to walk towards her cabin. When she reached the 
door she paused and turned around. " Captain Walker, you're welcome to 
join me if you like ". Captain Walker followed her into the cabin, and 
closed the door behind him.