......The wooden ladder was raised hastily from the deck of the wharf by the black dock workers, and my men lashed the top rungs to my heavily laden ship. I gave my men instructions to keep the ship heavily guarded, and to not let anyone on or off the ship while I was away.

I posted my most loyal officer, Jax, to stand watch outside my personal cabin, and the devil will receive any man who dares break the seal of my door.

There is a dark history to this wharf and I need not add to the storied tales already told. Standing before the ladder, just 21 steps keeping me from joining civilization, I breathe in a deep breath and ponder what lies ahead for me.

The freedom to move more than eight score paces is a craving that all men aboard ships have after too long within tight confines. The flatness and solid feeling of ground beneath my feet will replace the unending unevenness and rocking that my legs have become accustomed to. The sight of buildings and smoke from chimneys cutting hard into the luminescent sky will be a welcome relief from the boredom of the watery, uneventful horizon that drives seafaring men mad.

I will delight, like a child, in the wondrous smells, form and texture of nature. Trees and flowers...snow and ponds that harden with ice...birds that nest and sing their beautiful love songs...the birth of life that ushers in Spring to the pall that winter brings upon its arrival...My mouth will thrill to the sweet tastes that fresh fruit and sizzling roasted meats will bring to it.

But most of all...I have craved the soft touch of my loving woman. I have nearly gone insane with the absence of your your body plied tightly to mine...accepting my flesh deeply within yours...allowing my love to wash over you like the incoming tide makes the shoreline its home. Only dreams have given my heart and body relief from your absence and they are...*CRASH*...

I instinctively fall to the deck of the ship as the sound of splitting oak is heard overhead. Seconds seem like hours as I wait for the next clue to reveal what is happening to my ship. **Whirrrrr...Snap....BOOM** As I look up to where the noise is coming from my heart sinks as I see the mainsail mast snapping like a frozen twig..it falls through all of the mastline rigging and crashes to the deck no more than 30 feet from where I lay. I spring to my feet...roses in hand ...and search the deck for my crew and the starboard side for the cause. I curse this wharf as it's past has entrapped me again. My crew groggily rise to their feet and wade through the tangled mass of splinter beams and haphazard rigging as shouts and weapons rise in unison...all directed towards the starboard side where incredibly, a three masted schooner lies within spitting distance.

Recognition comes quickly to me as I see the colors flying on this devil ship's rigging...it is the Sea Witch...the very same ship we ran aground in a game of cat and mouse along the sandy shoals of Portugal, some 100 days past. It is captained by the very same man that I nearly killed in the Tavern those few short days before I left on this last voyage. His obsession my Whisper has lead him on a course that has nearly killed him twice...and tonight he will breathe his last breath. My woman and my ship will no longer suffer from the this devil incarnate.

My men see the wild anger in my eyes and as shots of lead find their targets and bodies lie lifeless on the Sea Witch's main decks, I jump the canyon that separates our ships with vengeance driving me onward. My blade surgically renders lifeless any obstacle that crosses my path as I search for the spineless captain of this death ship. As the night once again grows quiet...and all that can be heard is the straining of my crew as they throw overboard what remains of the Sea Witch's crew...I head down to the quarters of Captain Taggart. The ghostly glow of the oil lamps make every shadow a potential enemy and my heart is beating wildly as my anger drives me on.

I come upon the half open door to Taggart's quarters and I kick the door off its cast iron hangers. It shatters in a thousand pieces and I charge into his room...blade ready to end the life of this most miserable, wretched man. I spin in a circle and he is gone..vanished, except for the sweet fragrance of a Spanish cigar..long since expired. His escape confounds me...making my soul scream...as I thought I finally would rid our lives of this madman.

I sigh as I head topside..and order my crew to secure both ships and to guard them until I return. I have a rendezvous with my sweet Whisper and the events that just unfolded will remain a secret to her...as the night of this reunion is ours. We will feast on one another with a freedom from such entanglements...I want her mind and body attentive to satiating our desires. Whisper and SlideR will be one again. I reach the side of my ship once more where the ladder remains fixed and I bend down to gather up the deeply hued roses for my Whisper. I secure a loaded pistol from Jax, my second in command, and take my first step towards the Tavern..where my lady is toiling.

The grimy streets, darkened by the night, feel strange to me as I move through them swiftly on my way towards you. I feel like a foreigner to this place, an uneasy accord to what may lie ahead. The noise from the two story building that lies before me is reminiscent of the life a Tavern creates. Where men erase the pain of their harsh existence but swirling beer and taking after the bar wenches.

I anxiously approach the din..wondering if my wench Whisper will be there. Wondering if the Tavern owner will freeze when he sees me..knowing that I nearly killed a man the last time I entered those cursed walls that create a hell on earth for most of its patrons. I take out my pistol and cock the hammer..put it back into my overcoat and ready it for use. The sounds of the raised wood walkway that bring me to the Tavern's doors creaks and announces my presence. I swing open the doors after taking a deep breath...and as all eyes turn towards me..I feverishly scan for my lover and my enemy...terribly mixed emotions flood my body as I take in what is before me.

Bar wenches turn their shaggy heads in unison as I make my way between the stiff-backed wooden chairs and my heart sinks upon not seeing Whisper's face. Taggart is not there either. I exhale and take my hand off the cold steel of my pistol and remove my hand from the coat.

Franklin, the Tavern owner, moves behind the bar slowly..his eyes transfixed on me..and his hands are making movements under the bar..hidden from view. I lock my eyes on him..standing tall I approach him..letting him feel my power and presence. He best not move quickly or it might be his last. I feel a quiet cloak of silence overtake the dark, smoke filled room, as men pull their chairs closer to the tables to let me pass unobstructed. I take a chair at the odd corner of the bar, kittycorner to the room so I can keep an eye on the front door and the Tavern's back room.

Franklin pulls his hands up from behind the bar..spreads them wide, with fingers spread open..an admittance to them being weapon-free. I slowly shake my head and order a Rolling Rock. As the beer is banged down in front of me, I sense a body close to me, and as I whirl around suddenly..the fresh form of a woman is merely inches from my body. I look into her face, and her scared look melts and a reassuring smile replaces it. Robin, Whisper's good friend, a bar wench I have known for years stands before me and will surely tell me what my heart is desperate to know...where my loving Whisper is. A tear rolls down her face..as she knows the long drought between Whisper and her Captain will soon be but a memory.

I touch her shoulder with my hand..I feel her body tremble..and she leans forward and whispers in my ear that Whisper is waiting for me at the pool...at the end of the South Woods Road. She tells me to be careful..and I sense a warning behind the admonition. I thank her, lean into her tear stained face and gently kiss her...and finish my beer. I throw some gold coin onto the bar and call Franklin over. I tell him what happened down at the Wharf and he sits in stunned silence...his hands rubbing together nervously. I will be back, I warn him, and will finish what I did not do so many months ago.

I stand and leave as I came in..as forty pairs of eyes trace my every step out the door. As I walk away I hear the outburst of nervous chatter begin again in the Tavern and know that before daylight returns to this New England town..the news will be out that SlideR has returned with vengeance on his mind and will have reclaimed his loving wench Whisper, as his lover...his life...his prize.

The walk to the South Woods Road is long and isolated...and the thought of seeing my Whisper erases all other thoughts from my mind. As I turn off the main road and head onto the cart path that leads in a southerly direction, I spy the golden light that guided me safely home. As I pass the lighthouse, its image more striking that I remembered, I marvel at the strength Whisper has shown and the love she carried for me..to make that beacon live so fully. It personifies her love for me...and the desire to keep the flames and emotions burning..despite the absence and treacherous life she endured.

Emotions wash over me as I approach the hidden road where Whisper is waiting for me. My body is responding to the thoughts of her freshly cleansed body..emersed in the cool pool..preparing for me to take her deep and hard...soft and gentle...forever mine.I try to calm my physical excitement...to no avail...my hardened cock and quickend pulse override my mind's incantations and I let my body have full rein of its needs.

Tree branches sweep across my shoulders and soft leaves melt underfoot as I turn the last corner before the rock outcrop that defines the edge of the pool. I know the beating of my heart can be heard from thirty paces away and I slowly take a deep breath before I reveal myself to the pool and the woman I love.

As I step onto the sand that makes the beach a white ribbon, I see not more than 20 feet away, my favorite pink dress carefully laid over a hemlock tree branch..and I stop dead cold in my tracks. It is the same dress I removed from her so many long nights ago..the last time we shared our love..so many months ago. The anticipation..fueled by the months of lonely nights..the aching in my heart for the chance just to see this woman who I love so much...is now within my grasp. I savor this knowledge and all of the pain and longing that I have endured..I let flood through my mind for the last time. It's overwhelming pain is released into the beyond and I take my last step onto the sand so that I may see my Whisper.

I catch my breath and my heart soars as Whisper is submerged up to her chin in the dark luxurious waters of the pool. Her wet, dark hair pulled tightly to her head...the dancing water reflecting the moons lovely glow makes the scene surreal. Whisper's eyes sparkle as she pulls her hair back and begins to move out of the pool. Still not seeing me..I watch as she emereges..her wonderous body is more lovely than the golden beaches that are the jewels of the Spanish coast. Her breasts have no equal and she moves like a cat..sensually slow..knowingly proud and strong. My soul takes flight and I find myself float towards her..as if on a cloud...and she turns her head towards the approaching shadow and our eyes meet. Never have I experienced the surge of emotion and passion that coursed through me as we moved towards each other.

The tears that freely flowed over my Whisper's face were soon flowing over mine as our bodies and souls came together as one on that white ribbon of sand. My arms engulfed her body, and its wetness soaked into mine as surely as her love and passion did. I turned my head into hers and my kisses glide over her wet hair....down her neck....and I take pleasure in drinking in her salty tears. I feel her arms attack me with a strength only lovers possess and her lips found mine within moments. Whisper's tongue glides over mine in a passion dance that takes my breath away as I succumb to her willingly. The force of our bodies colliding together and her clawing fingers raking across my muscled back send shivers through me and my hands slide over her shoulders and down her naked back.

Never have my hands encountered such a delicious treat...my Whisper's skin is smoother than the finest Egyptian silks and softer than India's renowned cashmere throws. Her lust for me is matched only by mine for her. As our passion freely flows between our entangled bodies we pull away from our first ravaging kiss...my trembling voice can barely speak the words that my mind has held so dear over these long, lonely months..."I love you my sweet Whisper...". My eyes well up as both words and tears pour forth and her face brightens as she accepts my proclamation of love. She looks into my eyes, knowing the journey back to her has been filled with terror and lonely despair, and her hand wipes away a tear that streams down my face.

She slowly shakes her head in acknowledgement but no words come forth. She attempts to blink away the wet tears forming under her eyes but emotions surge to the surface and she buries her head into my shoulder. I feel the strength that she has so bravely maintained slowly melt away as herr body falls softly, motionlessly into mine. The demands of keeping our love alive has taken its toll on my Whisper and I wrap my warm overcoat around her and lift her spent body into my arms.

I walk over and gather the pink dress up, then turn and walk across the sandy beach and begin making my way back to the lighthouse. It is there where our love will be consumated. It is within those circular walls where our journey will end..as it once began..in the throes of passion and desire. My world has been returned to me...I no longer sleepwalk in the darkness that loneliness cursed me with. My lungs take in the salty Atlantic air and my muscles harden with her in my arms....fueled by her passion.

My pace quickens as I daydream of laying her down beside me in the goose down bed...before a raging fire...where I will nourish you with my love and caresses. Her body will once again experience the sensation of my thirsty body...turning tongue to sweet flesh as I carry her spirit to places she has only visited in her dreams. Carefully guiding her body to accept mine...as we pleasure each other and drink from each others overflowing offerings. And her mind will rest easy knowing that she will never toil in the recesses of the Tavern, as my bounty will provide for her every need.

I have come home to you my sweet Whisper to give you the gift of prosperity and fulfillment, as we can now share our lives and loves together.

As we approach the winding path that leads to the lighthouse, she presses her lips to my ear and whispers...............

The waves that make the ocean so treacherous were ferocious once more, as my hands could not find a sturdy mastiron to hold onto. My ship and I rolled uncontrollably from side to side and my body crashed hard against the wooden decking that held this ship together. The cold air, mixed with the driving rain, shrouded my vision and I knew we were in the unwelcome hands of Neptune, Lord of the high seas.

It were as if his hands were pushing the watery swells into mighty proportions to see if mere mortals had the courage and temper to withstand his angry reprisals. Men trying to master the most powerful force on earth...he would have none of it, this, on the darkest day I had ever known. As he growled, the winds howled forth in encouragement...sending one towering wall of water under my faltering ship...raising it high onto its crest..only to plunge us down beneath the fragile surface of what was to be our final resting place..a cold..suffocating watery grave.

As I swallowed my last breath, resisting the certain fate that lay before me...my body rolled one last time and my head crashed onto the deck. I gasped for air and to my surprise my lungs filled with cool freshness and my foggy brain felt a little less numb.

As my senses rekindled and recognition was found once again...my face was lying flush against a dry hardwood decking. Sensing no shipboard movement, I raised my head and I stared directly at a circular wall that made the lighthouse its own. A smile raced across my face as the phantom dream lifted and I settled into the secure nest that my sweet lady Whisper had made for us...a peacefulness falling over me knowing that the woman of my dreams..the woman I would give my life up for is merely a breath away.

I lay still beside her not wanting to break the slumber I know she must be enjoying. I dare not turn to face her, as I know my hands would betray me...their desire to reach out and touch this woman..who touched me so deeply last night.

So I lay silently next to her, knowing that her breathing behind me must be that of a contented lover...soft and easy..revelling in the joy of quenched passion. I close my eyes, wanting to retrace the images from our early morning rendezvous..images that are freshly etched into my memory. My body still feels warm from the ravages of our lovemaking...her mouth caressed my body in ways not enjoyed since our last farewell so many months ago. I still feel her mouth devouring my hard cock...and the gentleness of her tongue raising my blood to a boil. My lips can never forget the sweet wetness they encountered as they sealed over her mouth ..fell onto her breasts..and then left a trail of kisses over her stomach and down to her thighs...leaving my tongue to explore deeply within her secret garden. Her screams still reverberate through my memory as she responded to the lashing of my tongue and, after pulling me over her writhing body, the joining of my body with hers.

Never has the touch of her searing love so fully swallowed me as I drove hard into her body...each thrust drawing me so much closer to explosion. The smell of her body responding to mine and the heat we generated was intoxicating and my heart quickens from such recollections.

I cannot find sleep with these emotions running through me so I roll over to face my sleeping Whisper. As I reach my hand out it falls onto a pillow and I open my eyes, startled. Whisper is not lying next to me. The wool throw is hung over the solitary chair next to the spiral stairway and my lover is gone.

I rise quickly, wrapping the wool cover around my still naked body and a paper falls to the floor. I pick it up and in Whisper's handwriting it says:

We forgot the flowers AND my shoes. I will be back soon. All my love. Whisper.

My mind starts racing..the flowers...I must have dropped the flowers when I picked Whisper up..as she fell into my arms. And now she has gone to recover them, the romantic that she is, with the darkness of night still holding the sun in prison far below the horizon.

The hair raises on the nape of my neck, as my warriors heart takes over, for the darkness has a way of creating grave misfortune upon those naively disregard its nature. I dress quickly, making sure my pistol is at the ready, and I fly down the spiral stairway at a windward clip. I try to calm my beating heart as I run along the shadowy path that will take me back to the pond. I reassure myself that this has been her home for many years and that she is known, loved and protected by all. One nagging doubt tries to scuttle my optimism but I hurriedly crush it before it can take hold. I will not think the unthinkable. I expect to see Whisper round every corner I take, yet vast empty darkness is all I encounter.

I slow to a walk..becoming ever more anxious as I near the rock outcrops that line the pool..this can't be happening to me..to us..I begin to think. Pessimism begins to overtake optimism as I round the corner and I see not a trace of Whisper. My worse fears flood my being as the moonlight illuminates the ribbonlike beach where there lays..the torn remains of the red and white roses that my Whisper had come to reclaim.

With a broken heart I drop to my knees before the torn and trampled roses. My fingers reach for them and gather their broken blades, once so proud and beautiful, they now resemble so many teardrops as they lie lifeless in my hands. "Why does life", my heart screams, "play so cruelly with me and my love"? Must there always be pain and separation between my lover and I? Oh whose making is this theft of my Whisper?

As I place some of the trampled red and white petals in my overcoat's inside pocket, I pledge to the God's that seafaring men pray to, that I will find the evil bastards that have stolen my lady and make them face me as their judge, jury and executioner. I will spare no mercy with my judgement on them! Scanning the ground for clues I see Whisper's barefoot imprints on the soft white sand along with another set of heavy boot imprints. My stomach is in knots as I see signs that the heavy boots seemingly came from behind where Whisper was standing and there are none of Whisper's footprints leaving the sand. My heart is beating wildly as I now know that she has been taken against her will..by who? I don't know.

As I walk back towards the rock formation, my eyes looking for more clues, I think I see another set of footprints. These are different than the first pair I found, as they are uneven in their gait. The right imprint is much deeper than the left...maybe someone with a limp..or..OH MY GOD...my head fills with anger...could it be that bastard Captain Taggart? My hand falls quickly upon my pistol, as I pull it from my coat, I will be ready for the son of a bitch.

The trail of the two men vanishes as the path from the hidden pool emerges onto the well travelled roadway to town. I cannot tell if a carriage or horses met these men there and took their precious cargo to places unknown. I decide to return to town and confront those in the Tavern as to the whereabouts of Taggart and his surviving crew members. Surely, with a knife under a man's throat..the truth will flow unteathered like a swift river.

My legs grow weary as I approach the wretched town running full stride. My body is used to the heavy hauling of onboard work and I lack the endurance for such endeavors, but my fright and anger make a potent stimulant and I push onwards at a frantic pace. The sooner I alert my crew, the sooner my Whisper will be back in my arms. In my wild-eyed rush back to town I notice a reddish-orange haze starting to creep up from behind the watery horizon and I realize that daybreak is near. The racket my boots make as I run across the wooden sidewalks is harsher than any rooster could muster and I break through the Tavern doors.

The handful of patrons that have not yet passed out are jolted back to reality and they wrestle to clear their minds. Franklin, the tavern owner, quickly turns his back to me and I see his head lower, as if he is searching for something. As he rises back up and turns around he lets out a gasp as I have my tuna gutting blade firmly ensconced under his quivering chin. His eyes fix on mine and they dart quickly away as they sense the rage I am feeling. I hear the sound of hard steel falling onto the hardwood bar floor and the pistol he once had in his hand lays lifelessly alongside the rum keg. As he swallows hard, the knife opens a fresh crease on his neck and the warm sensation of liquid running over my fingers somehow gives me a moment of satisfaction. I hate this fool of a man, as he had given Captain Taggart and his crew free rations and temporary shelter after I had shot him. He allowed those worthless, disgusting men to eat and drink in the Tavern where my Whisper worked...making her life pure hell, day in and day out.

My urge to end this man's life makes me tighten the blade against his quivering throat and I tell him in a voice that sounds ominously final..."Where is he? What have they done with my Whisper?" His raspy voice chokes out a sentence that does not satisfy me so I slide the knife a little deeper into his widening wound and I think to myself that Taggart must own this man...for he is willing to die in my hands.

This admittance brings the realization to me that Taggart must have bought many friends within this seaside town and my plight to find my lover will be an undaunting one. I need to get back to my crew...mobilize them to help me search the town for traces of Taggart and his men. I need to get Jax to .....

A piercing pain wracks my body as I fall to the bar room floor. The side of my head feels terribly damaged as a heavy rum bottle explodes against it...glass shards flying into me and showering the floor where I lay. As I try to regain my senses, let alone my feet, a sickening wooziness overtakes me and I slump on the bar counter. I hear the thunderous footsteps of drunken men trying to escape from the tavern before my retribution with deadly force takes them hell bound.

My hand finds the pocket where the loaded pistol is harbored and I pull it out. I raise it up in the air and fire a shot wildly into the dark hued rafters. My eyes clear just in time to see Franklin stumbling over a drunk that had fallen in his attempt to escape my fire. His hand is holding his throat and he takes a look back at me just as my pistol fires again. The Tavern door splinters from the dead weight of the tavern owner, as he crashes through it, and out onto the muddy street. He will lie, cheat and steal no more. He will no longer play the master to my wench Whisper.

I grab a bar towel and place it aside my temple..trying to ebb the flow of blood seeping into my eye. I steady myself and move towards the shattered door and emerge into daybreak's ghostly light. I eye Franklin's lifeless body sprawled headlong over the steps that lead to the dirt street and a dispassionate growl escapes my lips. I walk slowly over the dampened walkway to the side of the Tavern and climb the wooden stairs to the wench's living quarters.

As I open the door a man appears from the room three doors down on the right, and his eyes cloud over in fright as he sees me approach. He is not a seafaring man..you can tell by the size of his stomach and the softness of his face. He freezes as he sees my blood stained head and the pistol in my hand. He surely heard the gunfire from the Tavern below and was trying to leave before any trouble came his way, but alas, he was too slow.

I raise my pistol and take aim at his chest and his knees go weak and he collapses to the ground in a heap of weak humanity. As I move over him, the wench Robin shows herself to me from the very room this shadow of a man had emerged. She pulls him up, embarrassed and trembling from fright at the wound she sees, and I tell the man I mean no harm. I order him to go to my ship and return with Jax and half of my crew. Robin tries to come to me as she knows something terrible has happened to Whisper..but I push her away and I make my way down to her single room.

My hand turns the black door handle and the door creaks open...revealing a small room..sparsely furnished..and the site of my farewell to Whisper so many long months ago. Matches on the bedside table scratch across my leather belt and explode into flame. I light the whale oil lamp and stagger with it to survey the small closet that lies against the outside wall. I feel pain in my heart as I tear myself apart..how could I ever have let Whisper live like this? Whisper, so beautiful and strong willed, a jewel worth protecting and polishing...and this was her existence while I toiled at sea. My desire to make things right with her has never felt stronger and my anger at those that have stolen this jewel runs wild.

Hanging within the closet are some brightly colored long dresses that she wore so sensually, pink leggings, shoes, two or three pieces of jewelry that I had gifted her with, and a heavy overcoat...the kind the wharf men wear. I turn to her bed and see that it has not been slept in. The lighthouse had been her home for some time now.

Feeling woozy again I sit down on the bed and it pulls me in..soft and seductive. I balance myself and begin to rise but I fall back onto it hard. My hand reaches out as I fall and fingers grab the pillow at the head of the bed. It proves to be little help as I roll onto the bed..the pillow flies through the air and hits the lone picture that adorns the wall. It crashes to the floor and I hear a thud along with the broken glass.

Looking over at the carnage I see a dark object lying on the floor. I focus my eyes and I make it out to be a book of some sort. Where did it come from...what could it be...did I miss this before in my search? Carefully, I pull myself up off the bed, head pounding, and I walk through the broken glass and over the twisted picture frame. I reach down and pull the small leather bound book from the wreckage. I move over to the window and crack it open. It is filled with Whisper's handwriting. I have found her diary! Surely, I think, this will not give me any clues as to the circumstances to her abduction. My gut tells me that Taggart is trying to exact his revenge for my love of Whisper and the fortunes that my ship houses back at the wharf. Is he looking for a ransom? An exchange of my lover for riches? Stupid man, I think. I would, without pause pay any ransom that I had for the safe return of Whisper to my arms. But Taggart is smart, if not devilish, he knows that I would never rest until I tracked him down and took his life from him slowly. He has more sinister motives in mind, I fear.

A cold rage shakes my body as the thought of him stealing you for one reason...he wants to take Whisper for his own pleasure. That desperation drove him to haunt me and hunt me in foreign waters. It drove him to nearly sink my ship at the wharf. And the thoughts of her body being made to pleasure that man is nearly unbearable. I shake my head with anger and the pain from those thoughts and the wound stagger me. I hear from the window the sounds of boisterous men pouring into the Tavern below and I recognize the loudest voice of all to be that of Jax.

Pausing before I join them, I open the diary to the last written page. I stand in shocked disbelief in what I read....

.....I would rather take my own knife and put my dearest Captain SlideR into heaven's sacred care, than to let him know what I was forced to do, some six weeks ago. I did it for love. I did it to release myself from the torture that I was enduring. I did it for us.

  ......The commotion being stirred up by Jax and the crew as they stormed through the street below and into the Tavern shook me from my stilled disbelief. I know that diaries are windows to the soul, where precious truths are housed in a cloak of secrecy from all others, save the writer. But how could Whisper's words be real? How could the woman I love..that I know better than anyone else in the world write these words. Words, whose edges cut sharper than any killing blade I have ever wielded. Words, whose impact strike me harder than the rum bottle Franklin broke against my temple.

The pain from what I read cut deeper than the wounds that layed open my head. I fold the book closed, an act that I hoped would imprison the words from seeping into my consciousness and I place the diary in the front pocket of my blood stained shirt. Turning to the door I draw a deep breath, fortifying myself for the task that lay ahead. The search for my Whisper...and now the search for truth. My heart was more certain that I would find Taggart first...and the truth latter.

Walking down the dimly lit hallway I see Jax, followed by four men, charging towards me. His eyes immediately see the fresh wound to my head and he puts his strong arms around me and helps me negotiate the stairs heading down to the Tavern.

As we descend the rickety stairs, I order the four other men to roust the wenches from their quarters and any foolish men that have stayed to taste their wares.

"Bring them all to the Tavern as I need answers" I bark! I step onto the raised sidewalk and spy two of my men hoisting Franklin's lifeless body onto a horse. "Bringing him to the doc's for boxin up" the shorter man shouts...and I nod my head in approval.

My twenty or so men have rounded up all of the Tavern patrons that were in the Tavern at the time of my assault. The task was easy, as the heavy smell of rum and their glassy eyes from too many days of drinking gave them away. The fact that they were stumbling down the street as my men raced toward the Tavern didn't help their cause either.

I sit down on the edge of a wooden table and survey the collection of wenches and despots. The wenches looked frightened and timid as their minds could only imagine what had turned this early morning into Armageddon. They mumbled in hushed tones and I heard them mention Whisper's name in nervous sentences. The men, on the other hand, sat straight up in their wooden seats. Fear was etched into their weathered visages as they had been shepherded like cattle to stand before Captain SlideR.

The fear was well-founded. The rage and suffering they saw from the man standing before them made even the most innocent of them search their souls for any possible wrong doing they may have committed against Captain SlideR. They knew him to be a fair and hardworking man. They have reveled in the tales his crewmen have told over the years..of wild adventure and bareknuckle bravery..of dispassionate loyalty and savage temper to those that dare cross him. Captain SlideR is a man both revered and respected, yet feared and avoided by others. Many prayers were being offered to the Lord as he slowly stood up and spoke. His words cut through them like a blistering bullet and the wenches huddled together and wept as he spoke..

"My Whisper has been stolen from me as I slept in the bed she had prepared for my return. I am certain one of the two men that have abducted her is Captain Taggart".

The uneasy movement of the heavy wooden chairs echoed throughout the Tavern as the men nervously fidgeted, readjusting their positions and sitting even taller now. The wenches moved even closer together as if trying to be protected from being kidnapped themselves. They looked pitiful.

"As you probably already know, Taggart tried to ram my ship at the wharf last night and me and my crew laid waste to more than half of the bastard's crew. We took his ship over and now his renegades are running free throughout the town. Some must have made their way in here and I want to know everything they said". I looked over in the direction of the wenches and I repeated.."I want to know everything they said..do you understand me?".

As I looked at them huddling together I suddenly realized that I didn't see Robin there. I scanned the room to see if she had been sitting elsewhere and she was gone. As I was telling Jax to run upstairs and fetch her, a hardened wench whose name was Penny..named for her penchant to turn tricks for spare change..blurted out that she had seen her running away from the Tavern after I had entered Whisper's room. I told Jax to send two of his men to track her down and bring her back as Whisper and Robin have been known to share their secrets with each other. Perhaps she knows more than she wants to tell me.

The stories that unfolded before me over the next 30 minutes of interrogation sent chills through me..as surely as the north wind does in the height of winter. Captain Taggart had spent his last nickel to purchase and outfit his ship so he might track me down and pirate my bounty as I returned home. He was driven by his hatred for me as his damaged leg was a constant every day reminder of the pain I had inflicted on his life. The most information came from a drunken shipmate from that devil ship and Jax needed only to sever one pinkie from his right hand to make him divulge whatever information we wanted.

Upon seeing our steely resolve to gain whatever bit of information we could and sparing no lengths to get it..the wenches revealed that Taggart had lusted for Whisper so mightily that he had offered her a treasure in jewels and spices to forsake her Captain SlideR. He viewed her as the most valued prize in his competition with SlideR and would go to the ends of the world to either gain her heart or cease his from beating! They cautioned me that my Whisper had remained true to me despite the constant threats and harassment Taggart and his men subjected her too. But in the back of my mind I couldn't forget the passage from the diary that plagued my mind.

Nothing made sense to me anymore. Taggart wanted me dead and he wanted my riches to throw at Whisper's feet. But he was now a desperate man..with no money to make any deals..as he still had me to deal with..and he was holding Whisper against her will. A ransom was out of the question because Taggart knew that I would follow him until my dying days to seek my revenge for what he had done to Whisper.

"He has my Whisper and he needs money desperately" I said outloud, as the last shred of information was drained from the wretched collection of wenches and patrons.

Splintered wood flew across the tavern floor as a man walked through where the Tavern's door used to hang. The remnants of the door crunched under this man's feet as he walked boldly up to Captain SlideR. He loomed over SlideR, with sweat on his brow. His arms and hands were blackened from forge work..he was clearly the local blacksmith.

"I don't stick ma nose inta other's buzinezz" he said haltingly, "but I heard sumpthin bout the lady Whispa being stolin from ya and she always treats me like a gent in here."

I stood up and looked the man straight in the eye. He continued..."Thought you might be needin to know that a seafarin man rented 2 of ma horses tonite..took off down the way of da lighthouse."

Finally I had a connecting link between the kidnappers and their destination. The lighthouse was just south of the town and only one road that was fit for horses passed by it. The bastards would never travel back north into town so they must have continued in a southerly direction. It was ten miles to the next town and I know all too well that no one could keep my Whisper from being noticed. Her beauty and sharp tongue would easily draw the attention of the early morning merchants that travelled that road.

Thinking out loud I surmise that "Taggart is nearby. He needs access to his men and there is too much at risk to chance being seen with my Whisper." I thank the blacksmith and hand him two gold coins. He pushes my outstretched hand back to me and shakes his head, saying "I done owe this ta ma Whispa...come wid me to da stable and take whatever ya need. When ya have her back in ya arms, then I will reconsida." Feeling energized, I yell to my crew to meet me down at the stable.

It has been hours since I awoke to the absence of my Whisper and the course of my life from that early morning moment to right now has become a bewildering maze to me.

I have seemingly lost the only woman I have ever loved and trusted with that love...I have killed a man out of rage. I stand here with a badly injured head, with pain not nearly as deep as that which is felt in my heart. With no answers to the hordes of questions that I have running through my mind..I wonder if Whisper ever really loved me.

I find that notion impossible to believe, as there has to be a rational answer to calm my soul. With my head feeling woozy I walk from the Tavern back onto the street once again. I follow my men as they follow the blacksmith down to his shop. I had told Jax to forge ahead and round up some local men who know the town and countryside around it. Not being from this wretched town I must rely upon the local knowledge from others. I am certain that the gold that I will offer as payment for their services will bring many good men to help us ruin Taggarts plan.

As we round the curve I spot Jax talking to two men. One of them dressed in trappers clothing and the other one dressed in somewhat finer clothes. As I approach, Jax turns towards me and says that these two men have volunteered to help lead us south in search of Taggart and Whisper. I nod my approval and join them as we walk on in the darkness to the blacksmith's livery.

The more finely dressed man, his eyes penetrating and dark, pulls out a bottle of whiskey from his saddlebag and shoves it towards me. I need to keep my foggy head clear and I shake my head no. He smiles and says that it is for the wound on my head, and he pulls out a clean white handkerchief, applies some amber liquid to it, and I place it upside my temple. A burning wave of pain rushes from the wound and wracks my body. I try to steady myself but to no avail and he and Jax put their arms around me as we continue walking. I am not used to needing assistance but I welcome the aid.

The man says he heard what happened in the Tavern..and how terrible he felt that my Whisper had been stolen from me. Staring straight ahead the man said in measured words "I can understand the loss of a loved one...for I too have been pained by such a loss." I didn't say a word and he continued..."I am actually quite close to recovering from that loss though..but I will help you find your woman first."

I shook my head in acknowledgement and asked him how long he had been in this area. "Long enough", he answered in that strangely monotone voice..."Long enough to be able to help you find Whisper." As I heard these words I felt a certain confidence that I could rely upon him to lead me to her!

Upon reaching the livery I assembled the men into three parties. The first would be headed by Darby, a roguish Irishman that has been with me on every adventure since I first went to sea.

"You take seven men and comb the town for more of Taggarts crew. Gather them up and take them to the Tavern for safe keeping. And when the two others find Robin, I want to know immediately! No drinking Darby", I warned him

He would interrogate them and if anything new surfaced, he would send word quickly. The second group would have Jax in charge.

"Take six men and head down to the next town to the south...move quickly and mix in...I want you to know what is going on there before anyone else does...take the fastest horses and be on your way."

I decided to take the trapper and the other man..as they seemed to have the interest and knowledge of the area. The remaining 8 men would go with us as we'd cover all trails that lead off the main road that heads south...looking for those two horses traveling together. I figured that Taggart was holed up just a few miles from here..and that his destination was probably the next seaport town. He wouldn't dare travel during the day so we needed to search those side trails quickly and post guards along the road at night...hidden..waiting for a false move. I told the men to prepare themselves for a week of rations and that I was returning to the tavern to see if the wench Robin had been gathered up by my men.

Somehow I felt she had some clues to what may have transpired before Whisper's abduction..and more importantly, I was desperate for answers after reading her diary. I tried to keep my mind from re-entering the door to that portion of memory that overflowed my being with doubt. But the nagging questions keep slipping back into my subconscious..ever present ..Creating a cold, almost withdrawn anger. I was clearly not in control of the events that were shaping my life. It were as if I was watching a play, with a cast of characters I admired...with a plot I thought I knew. But yet when the climax approached, the plot changed and the characters were mere visions of their former selves.. and the play turned tragically around. I was feeling my life slip away from my control and being placed in the hands of others.

I have resisted all my life from letting others dominate the direction I travel and the routes I chose to take..and I'll be damned if that will happen to me now! I slam the door shut on those nagging questions and start my way back to the tavern. As I entered the tavern, one of the men who I had sent to track down Robin came up to me and said that they had found her hiding in a hay barn on the outskirts of town. She was quite wild and very afraid he said..so they put her locked in her room over the tavern with the other man guarding her until I came back.

I told the trapper and the other man to wait downstairs and to pull together fortifications for our upcoming search. The trapper went in to the backroom of the Tavern to rummage for food while the other man grabbed a bottle of rum, unhooked his saddlebag and pulled out a silver plated pistol and and and ebony derringer. The quality of the craftsmanship was remarkable and they seemed oddly out of place in the possession of a man who, at first sight, did not have the means or disposition to warrant such ownership. His eyes looked up and met mine, as he caught me staring at him. A smile crossed his face, void of emotion, I thought, and he slid the hollow point bullets hard into the empty chambers. I wondered who will be the recipient of those deadly missiles..whose life they would erase from this world. I liked this man's cold hearted demeanor. He had a job to do and he seemed ready and able to execute that job. Jax had found a man to my liking!

The man guarding the room stepped aside and unlocked the door that led to Robin. As I enter, I see her standing over in the corner, looking out the small window that opens up to the street below, a small wool blanket thrown hastily around her shoulders, and she spins around in a jerky motion. No longer staring out the window, she finds herself staring directly into my eyes. I can sense the confusion that she is experiencing and I walk over to her and hold out my hand for her to take.

She tugs on her blanket, drawing it tighter around her, and her eyes cannot find mine. She is shaking uncontrollably and fear is driving her further and further away from me. Seeing her reluctance to accept me I put my arm around her and lead her over to the bed. I sit her down and pull up the lone wooden chair in the room and sit directly in front of her. I take her hands into mine and ask her why she ran away from the Tavern at the sounds of the gunfire. Why she felt the need to hide. What was she hiding from? Who was she hiding from? Her lips begin to quiver and nothing comes out...except for the tears that are falling down over her face and into my hands. She needs to know that I have read Whisper's diary and that I have been deceived in some way..although it is not entirely clear.

Whisper's entries were painful confessions to having misled me and of unthinkable consequences soon to befall her...yet the accounts lacked detail and my mind could only imagine the most terrifying implications. I pulled the diary from my pocket, her eyes watching my every move and I said..

"I know of the trouble Whisper has gotten into Robin." I was obtuse in this statement as a way of letting her think I knew more than I do..and she raised her head and spoke.

"Then you know he has come for her? You know that she was to return with him and she agreed to his demands just so she could spend her last free night with you?"

I try to hide the shudder that explodes through my body as her words tear my heart to pieces. My worst fears are unfolding right now..right before me as this wench continues to speak..

"When Whisper didn't come back I thought she had run away with you and she had warned me that he would wreak havoc in the tavern and to all who helped and loved her. Then I heard the gunfire and I knew he had come for me...to take me as his revenge." She started to cry again and I could hardly hear her say.."and now Taggart has taken her and I fear for Whisper's life as much as I do my own." I wrap my arms around Robin and confide that I will protect her..that she has been a good friend to my Whisper and that my men will stay with her until I return.

As I stand up to leave she tells me to be on the alert for a man named Jarred, for he is the devil that has come after my Whisper. She said that Whisper had told her that Jarred would be just as happy killing Captain SlideR as taking her back as his property. My eyes narrow and I acknowledge her warning...now I have two men that want my wench...and they are both like ghosts to me. How could this day become more bizarre?

I leave Robin to her single windowed prison and head back to the Tavern to collect my men. Upon entering the tavern to collect my men I hear a commotion coming from the gutter that adorns the first floor overhang. I scan upwards and to my total surprise and shock I see Sebastian.

His wings are flapping awkwardly as he is trying to gain my attention and when he sees the broad smile that takes over my face he flies down and lands on my shoulder..with a scrunched up piece of paper. I excitedly unfold the scrap and it reveals to me a sketch of what looks like a map..showing a river with tributaries emanating from it.

My heart soars and the adrenalin screams through my body as Whisper..in her resourceful way..had found a way of communicating where she might be stowed away. Whisper is a woman that I have loved hard and long and her mental strength had been one of the first things that impressed me about her...it is what made me see her to be a very special person. No matter what has happened to get her entrapped in the untenable situation she is now in...I still feel the love for that woman...a love that will always be with me. A love that will erase from my mind the incomprehensible decisions that may have caused her to falter in her earlier years. I fell in love with her as Whisper..and my desire to get her back is renewed with uncompromising desperation.

I move quickly into the tavern with this new found information, but decide not to tell the others of its presence. With a growing confidence I call on my men to assemble and I ask the trapper if there is any rivers flowing from the hinterlands and into the sea. He scratches his head and says that the nearest one is over 150 miles away. He says there are only wetlands in this general locale..and as the mountains fall to the sea..there are only streams that lead out to the ocean along with some strange underground water flows. I turn towards him and inquire...

"Underground waterflows??? You mean cave systems? There are caves in this area?"

The trapper laughs out loud and says that there are some of the most extensive caves in the entire east coast..up in the mountains that line the coast.

"I know them real well SlideR", he says. "Spend most of the early Spring trapping the bear out of them there caves."

I knew immediately that Taggart had taken my Whisper to the one of those caves...now it was my job to track that bastard down and reclaim my woman. I call out for the men to gather up some canvas rags, oil and wood torch posts.

"We are going to search some of the caves in the southern side of this county" I say with self confidence. "Let's get to the livery and take a wagon for the supplies and six horses." The men all leave the Tavern and head down the street to the livery but I stay behind to pen a note to Whisper. I need to let her know that I am with her, regardless of what she has been suffering through. I write:

My dearest Whisper, Your message has found me alive and on my way to you. I have gathered my crew and some locals that know the area to help find you. I know Taggart is the bastard that stole you from me. But he has not extinguished the fire in my heart for you. Be strong my sweet lover and know that you will be in my arms soon. Always yours, Captain SlideR.

I attach the handwritten note to Sebastians feet, stroke his ruffled feathers, and send him on his way. My eyes never leave his flight, and he heads due south..just as I had figured he would.

I head out the Tavern to join my men and I hear a banging on the window coming from the second floor of the Tavern. I look up and I see Robin frantically banging on the window and flailing her arms around..in an uncontrollable hysteria. She is screaming something that I can't quite discern...and pointing down the street at my men. She looks like she has seen a ghost and I see the arms of my man pull her away from the window. I wish I knew what had frightened her so..but I have more important things to do....