Fancy

Since I was uncertain on the value of some of the books, I had arranged with Cian that he would come back in two days, so I had some time on me for research. The evening had turned out quite pleasant, and I found myself daydreaming. I didn’t get out much, and it was rare we got humans under 50 in here.

“Jamie!”

Uncle`s shrill voice woke me effectively and I straightened like a soldier. Although we had equal shares in the shop since I inherited daddy, he was by all means the boss.

“Yes, Uncle Callum?”

“Anything new?”

Every day the same question, and I answered the same as always. “Not much, Uncle.”

Then I remembered the books from last night. “Well, I had a man here yesterday with some books he wanted to sell. I was uncertain on the value of some of them, so I asked him to come back tomorrow, if you have the time to check them over today?”

Uncle Callum nodded while reading the paper and drinking some coffee. “Sure, just come with them to my office.” He looked up from the paper, “Not right now, that is. I have some business to attend to first.”

I had to stop myself from saluting mockingly and smiled instead. There was always business. I handled the bills, and the paperwork, and appraised most of the books that came in, except the ones I was uncertain of. I don’t know what “Business” took so much of his time. He huffed into his office, and I was left to myself.

Our bookshop isn’t a Waterstone`s to put it mildly. We specialize in old and rare books; we are the one to come to when you are in search for something special. And if we didn’t have the book in question, chances were that we, or Uncle, could get it. For the right amount of money of course.

I lifted the crate up from the floor and took the books out gently. Beside from the travel-books, the Marquis De Sade, and the pamphlet, there were three more books. One was “A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates.” The author`s name was Captain Charles Johnson, but most agreed that it was a pseudonym. The original was from 1724, but this version was a later copy. The second a well-known classic; “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson, I loved that book. Stevenson had actually used “General history” as a source when he wrote “Treasure Island”. The third was harder. It didn’t have an image on the cover or writing on the first page. I glimpsed around, our only customer at the moment were deep in an old bible. I grabbed the cotton-gloves and took the small book over to the desk so I would have better light. The cover was in skin but weathered. It had cracks and one corner was ripped off. I couldn’t decide on the smell, salt maybe? Gently, I opened the first pages one by one, till I reached letters.

Captain`s log for the “Fancy”

In the words of Henry Every starting September 1695

I watched as the men had their way with the women on board the Ganj-I-Sawai. Sparkes dragged one…

I dropped the book. I`m certain my heart stopped for some time before it started again with a thunderous rhythm. My hands were sweaty and my mouth dry. It couldn’t be. I reached for the book again but stopped when I saw my hands shaking. I stepped back from the desk to calm myself.

“This has to be fake, no way a diary from Every finds it way to me.” My brain was screaming to me. “No one has ever mentioned such a thing,” it continued.

“JAMIE.”

God damn it, my hair would turn grey after this day. My first attempt at answering didn’t go so well, my second was better, but not by much.

The man reading the Bible looked up, annoyed by the shouting. I glared at him, we weren`t a damn library.

“You can come with the books now.”

I turned to the pile of books and made a swift decision. I took the logbook and laid it in my bag behind the counter. I then carried the other books to Uncle`s office.

“Here you go, Uncle Callum. I have made a report, if you just can let me know if my approximates were satisfying?”

I didn’t meet his eyes, just kept my own stare on the books. “I will, you have much to learn if you want to keep your place here.”

I had no answer, I couldn’t keep reminding him that I owned just as much as him.

“Is it ok if I go out for lunch? There`s only Father Riordan out there.” I nodded my head in the direction of the priest. Uncle just waved me off, and I struggled to keep my walk normal on my way back to the counter.

I took my bag and my jacket and nearly ran out of the building. Outside, in the dim light of a February evening, I looked both ways so I wouldn’t get hit by a car, then I jogged carefully across the street and down to my favourite pub, The Fiddler`s Arm. Inside I glided into a booth, thankful the tourist season was some time away. The girl behind the bar shouted my order into the kitchen and I smiled to her, I loved being a regular. The warmth of the cosy bar made me relax, but my hands were still shaking.

“You want a coke, Jamie?”

I shook my head, I needed something stronger today. “Give me an ale?” She raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. Seconds later a big pint stood before me and I took a big swig. I wiped the remnants from my lip and opened the bag. There it was. It couldn’t be, but what if?

I opened the page and read the first passage. How could I check if it were authentic? Instinct told me to keep it away from my Uncle, for now anyway. I knew some about authentication but not enough. I thought about who I could ask for help and I reminded myself that I had to read about how books in the late 1600`s were made. Then reality hit me; this wasn’t my book. I had no business taking this. I groaned and closed my eyes. What to do? If I told Cian that I thought he had the diary of Henry Every in his possession, he would think I was mad. My personal devil chimed in; I didn’t have to tell him at all, he didn’t know what kind of books he`d brought with him. Maybe he even didn’t know how many. And what if he did? My conscience interrupted. I decided to read some more to get a better feeling for it before I talked to Cian about it. No need in getting his hope up, was it? I had until tomorrow to decide what to do with the book. If it was indeed Every`s, it was worth money. A lot of money. The food arrived, so I hid the diary, didn’t want to get grease-stains on it. While I ate, I forced myself to honesty; I had to admit it was the possibility of the mention of the treasure that lured me in. One of the biggest Pirate treasures in history, if not the biggest, and I might have clues to its whereabouts in my hands.

We made good way over to Bourbon, and the men were in good shape, although a bit tired. Some of the men from France and Denmark wanted to stay behind after I had counted out their share, we had enough crew, so I granted them leave. We had gold enough to dazzle the eyes, we could buy more men if we needed. There was some quarrel about where to go next, the eyes of the world were upon us after our successful raid, so we had to choose wisely. After some discussion (and some fights, damn that Israel) we ended up on our way to Nassau. (The new name for Charles Towne, named after some German city) I have purchased 93 slaves, which will help us on the way. When we reach the Bahamas, I think it will be wise to not use our Indian gold there, so we can use the slaves as currency. Now we have Ascension Island in our sight, meaning we are halfway across the Atlantic Ocean. It will be good to touch land again, and to get some fresh water. The Island is uninhabited, but maybe we can send some men to fish.