Micah Saunders

THE FLYING GANG - EXCERPT

THE FLYING GANG 

A Play in Two Acts 

by 

Micah A. Saunders

Scene 2 

(1713, aboard a ship, the Marianne, off the coast of an island. PAULSGRAVE WILLIAMS and SAMUEL BELLAMY sit together. BENJAMIN HORNIGOLD is looking through a spyglass at the shore with EDWARD TEACH beside him. HENRY JENNINGS enters, flanked by CHARLES VANE. JOHNSON sits next to BELLAMY and WILLIAMS, unnoticed by all. He begins writing in a journal.) 

JENNINGS 

Hornigold – What do you see? 

HORNIGOLD 

(Still gazing at the shore.) 

Salvage camp of some kind. Likely as not trying to fish up that Spanish ship that wrecked in the storm. 

VANE 

By rights, sunken Spanish gold belongs to us! That’s the way it’s always been! 

JENNINGS 

Calm yourself, Vane. 

BELLAMY 

However crude, he makes a point. It’s our right. 

WILLIAMS 

But it’s not our right anymore, is it? Not since the Crown signed it away to the Spaniards. 

VANE 

Damn the Spaniards! Damn the Crown! Why should we be out of work just because the war is ended? 

BELLAMY 

The king wants to maintain peace. Pretend he doesn’t still want Spain to burn. 

WILLIAMS 

And in the process, he pretends we don’t exist. 

BELLAMY 

Let’s be honest, gentlemen. Not much has changed at all. The king never respected our profession. We were a means to an end, and now that that end has been achieved, we’ve been discarded. 

JENNINGS 

Careful, there. King is known to hang fools who speak ill of his name. 

BELLAMY 

He’s got no friends here to tell him, has he? 

WILLIAMS 

Aye. I wouldn’t piss on him if he burst into flames. 

JENNINGS 

Wouldn’t be so sure, Bellamy. 

BELLAMY 

Who amongst us would bend a knee before the bastard? 

JENNINGS 

Hornigold’s an Englishman, through-and-through. 

TEACH 

Aren’t we all? 

VANE 

We don’t all have a Union Jack hanging in our quarters. 

WILLIAMS 

Is that true, Captain? Would you tattle to the king if we insulted him? 

HORNIGOLD 

If you insulted him? Mr. Williams, if I wanted to tattle, you’ve all certainly given me enough ammunition already these past months to have you all hanged for defamatory sentiments.

BELLAMY 

It’s not defamatory if it’s true. 

HORNIGOLD 

Point being - if I was going to turn against you, I’d have done it long ago. I’ve no loyalty to king, only God and country. 

JENNINGS 

Yes, relax, boys. I was jesting. Hornigold has more reason to hate the king than all the rest of us combined. 

WILLIAMS 

I don’t know about that. I’m certainly no fan of his. 

VANE 

I’d gut that pompous fool if I could. 

TEACH 

You’d never get the chance. 

VANE 

But oh, how I’d make him squeal. 

(Time freezes. JOHNSON walks the stage, looking at the frozen men as he talks.) 

JOHNSON 

These men are - were - privateers. Sailors who had been granted rights by the king to freely rob Spanish trade vessels in order to disrupt the enemy’s economy and resources. A pretty nice gig - until the war ended and peace was forced upon them. 

(JOHNSON sits again. Time unfreezes.) 

JENNINGS 

The camp - who does it belong to, Hornigold? 

HORNIGOLD 

Been trying to figure that out. 

JENNINGS 

Well, gentlemen, the way I see it, the camp likely belongs to plunderers who have no more rights to that treasure than we do. As such, it seems only fair we are given the proper chance at it. 

TEACH 

You mean to rob them, Jennings? 

JENNINGS 

(Gesturing to the men aboard.) 

We mean to rob them. All of us. They can’t kill us all, can they? 

WILLIAMS 

They likely can– 

(BELLAMY elbows WILLIAMS in the gut to silence him.) 

BELLAMY 

How many bottomfeeders do we reckon are at that camp? 

VANE 

Not enough to handle five fine, veteran privateers such as we. Plus Teach. 

(VANE and JENNINGS snicker. TEACH ignores them.) 

TEACH 

(To HORNIGOLD.) 

Captain? 

HORNIGOLD 

(Looking at them for the first time.) 

Let’s go rob some robbers, gents. 

(All but HORNIGOLD and TEACH chuckle.) 

VANE 

Finally! 

(The men exit.) 

Scene 6 

(The salvage camp. HORNIGOLD and his men sneak in. They begin plundering all they can take quietly so as not to wake the inhabitants.) 

TEACH 

Did anyone spot us? 

HORNIGOLD 

I don’t think so. 

BELLAMY 

We’re in the clear, I wager. 

WILLIAMS 

And if we’re not? We don’t know how many men are here, do you intend to fight our way out if we wake them? 

TEACH 

God, I didn’t think of that! What if they wake? What will we do? 

JENNINGS 

Shh! Keep your voice down, fool! If you want to wake them, you’re on the right track the way you’re carrying! 

VANE 

If fighting our way out becomes our only option, you can hide behind me, Ed. I’ll play the big strong man to keep the little damsel safe! 

(VANE and BELLAMY chuckle.) 

JENNINGS 

Right, no more chatter from any of you! We speak only if necessary! 

(WILLIAMS opens one of the boxes and suddenly panics.) 

WILLIAMS 

Boys…! 

JENNINGS 

This’d better be necessary. 

BELLAMY 

(Whispering.) 

What is it, Paulsgrave? 

(WILLIAMS pulls out a Spanish flag.) 

TEACH 

Shit! 

HORNIGOLD 

No need for panic. 

JENNINGS 

Aye, they’re pillaging a sunken Spanish vessel, after all. 

WILLIAMS 

It’d be wet! It’s not exactly hanging on a drying rack. 

VANE 

(Pulling a fresh Spanish uniform from one of the boxes.) He’s right, boys. 

TEACH 

Shit, shit! 

WILLIAMS 

I signed up to steal from plunderers, not the bloody Spanish navy! 

HORNIGOLD 

Stop panicking, the lot of you! 

(Stirring in the camp. Spaniards begin emerging from the tent and notice the privateers.) 

JENNINGS 

God, now you’ve all done it. 

BELLAMY 

(Drawing his sword.) 

I believe we may be out of options. 

HORNIGOLD 

(Reluctantly doing the same.) 

Aye. 

(One of the Spaniards yells a command to his men.) 

JOHNSON 

Conflict! 

(The rest of the men, including the Spaniards, arm themselves.) 

VANE 

Oh, how I’ve missed this. 

(JOHNSON watches as a clash ensues. VANE and JENNINGS kill viciously. BELLAMY and WILLIAMS battle side-by-side. TEACH cowers at first, but finds his confidence as the battle progresses. HORNIGOLD focuses primarily on disarming, allowing one of the Spaniards to flee. The fight is won.) 

Ha! Ha ha ha! Been far too long since my blade has tasted blood! 

JENNINGS 

Spanish blood, no less. Just like old times. 

WILLIAMS 

Aye, won’t that be a problem for us? 

JENNINGS 

Eh? 

WILLIAMS 

Killing a group of Spaniards? 

TEACH 

Exactly what the king forbids us from doing these days. 

VANE 

Damn the king! 

WILLIAMS 

You can say “damn the king” all you want, Vane, but butchering a Spanish salvage camp is still a problem that'll come back on us! 

VANE 

It wouldn’t have been, had we killed them all. Hornigold let one escape. 

TEACH 

Now they know our faces. 

WILLIAMS 

(Holding his neck.) 

We could be hanged for this. 

HORNIGOLD 

Could be, yes… 

(He thinks.) 

…But they’d have to catch us first. 

JENNINGS 

What are you proposing, Hornigold? Fleeing? 

HORNIGOLD 

Nay, not fleeing. Surviving. 

WILLIAMS 

By fleeing? 

TEACH 

I, for one, am good with fleeing. 

HORNIGOLD 

We aren’t- ah, nevermind. Everyone, back to the ship. I’ve a plan. 

JENNINGS 

Care to let us in on this little plan? 

HORNIGOLD 

We make for the Bahamas. 

(TEACH has found a map of the Bahamas in one of the tents.) 

TEACH 

Whereabouts? 

HORNIGOLD 

(Examining the map.) Hmm… How about… Nassau? 

JENNINGS 

Nassau's undeveloped for the most part. Settlers and such, farmers. But no banks, not even a brothel. Not much to be gained there, I fear. 

HORNIGOLD 

Aye, but that's the point. Nothing there. We scare a few settlers out of their homes, and Nassau belongs to us. 

BELLAMY 

You want to colonize Nassau? That's a touch crazy, even for you, Hornigold. 

WILLIAMS 

I don't have much faith in this plan. 

BELLAMY 

You can say that again. 

WILLIAMS 

I don't have much 

BELLAMY 

What if this plan fails? 

TEACH 

Would you lot stop questioning the captain? 

HORNIGOLD 

Thank you, Teach. 

TEACH 

Captain Hornigold has gotten us through this far. What cause has he given you to doubt him? 

(Silence.) 

Exactly. I trust this man with my life. If he's got faith in this plan, so do I. 

HORNIGOLD 

Well, now that that's sorted, back to the ship. And take as much of this plunder as you can with you. No use in wasting the already spilled blood. 

(All but BELLAMY and WILLIAMS exit with as much of the loot as they can carry.) 

BELLAMY 

He’s just making this up as he goes along, eh? 

WILLIAMS 

Seems to be working fine for him. 

BELLAMY 

For now. Until it doesn’t. 

WILLIAMS 

That man he spared may become a problem. 

BELLAMY 

When it does, let’s just ensure it’s a problem for him, not us. ‘Till then, we play nice. Freedom is one thing, insanity is another. 

(They exit.)