The Black Seagull (eBook)

A Cape pirate adventure, Book 11

Gerrie Radlof (Autor)

Pieter Haasbroek (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
82 Seiten
Pieter Haasbroek (Verlag)
9780000727435 (ISBN)

Infos

A legendary pirate.

A deadly lie.

A battle for power on the lawless seas.

Plunge into the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1720), where the treacherous waters of the Cape of Good Hope are just the beginning of a worldwide adventure.

In the treacherous waters of the 18th-century Indian Ocean, Captain Oloff is a name whispered with fear and respect. A force of nature and a living legend, his command of the seas is unchallenged. Until one accusation of treason threatens to destroy him.

When the ruthless and ambitious Captain Reedert Ferlo seizes upon a dying sailor's last words, he discovers a secret that could shatter Oloff's reputation and turn the entire pirate brotherhood against him. Ferlo hungers for power, and with every deception he spins, he draws the noose tighter around Oloff's neck.

As lies spread and alliances fracture, Rynette, the woman Oloff loves, is thrust into the storm. To protect him, she must risk everything. Even as doubt and betrayal threaten to break her faith. With enemies closing in and cannon fire echoing across the seas, Oloff faces an impossible choice. Fight to clear his name, or embrace the darkness to survive.

The Black Seagull is a swashbuckling pirate adventure novel filled with treachery, romance, and relentless high-seas action. Perfect for fans of nautical historical fiction, epic seafaring thrillers, and classic pirate adventures, this unforgettable tale will sweep you into a world where loyalty is fragile, power is ruthless, and freedom is worth dying for.

Set sail on the legend. Discover the eleventh book in the Oloff the Sea Pirate series today!

Textauszug

11. THE BLACK SEAGULL

Chapter 1

“There’s something floating on the water, Captain Ferlo,” sings the lookout from the crow’s nest.

Reedert Ferlo picks up the spyglass where it lies before him on the railing of the quarterdeck. With a quick glance up the mast, he establishes the direction the lookout indicates.

It looks like a piece of driftwood, but on top is a black bundle. It might be the form of a person.

“The sea is littered with pieces of masts and sails!” the lookout calls again. “There was a fierce battle here not long ago.”

Reedert surveys the vast, undulating water surface around them from the eastern horizon to the western horizon. As the lookout said, there had been a sea battle, but it could have taken place a day or a week ago. For the past few days, the weather had been calm and the wind had only playfully fluttered the sails. The wreckage pieces would therefore not have drifted far from each other.

“Change course, helmsman,” commands Ferlo. “Let’s see what’s floating on that wood.”

The Black Seagull is a privateer with scarcely thirty cannons. It is elegantly built and slices through the water at a fair speed with its slack sails.

Ferlo keeps the spyglass fixed on the object. At two hundred paces, it is perfectly clear to him that it is the body or the corpse of a person.

The helmsman turns diagonally against the light breeze so that The Black Seagull lies almost motionless next to the bobbing pieces of mast, which are still held together by the tattered sails. The large ripples caused by the rolling ship drift the wood with the body on it away from the side. A few of the crew have already climbed down the ladder and, from where they hang just above the waterline, they hook the rough raft closer.

“It seems to me he’s still alive, Captain!” reports Reedert anxiously. “We’d very much like to hear what he has to say.”

One of them jumps onto the piece of mast, but it rolls under his feet and with a scream he tumbles into the water. The others laugh and mock him coarsely. The poor creature lying so still is almost dragged into the sea as well.

They succeed in picking him up, and because he is barely a skeleton, he is easily brought on deck.

Ferlo crouches next to him. The man is still breathing, but his eyes are now closed and he is apparently unconscious. It is clear that he has been without food for a long time, perhaps a week, possibly longer. His beard is matted together, his eyes are hollow and deep in their sockets, one of his arms is bare and it is thin, as if only the skin is stretched over the bone.

“Take him to the cabin next to mine,” requests Ferlo in that soft, half-polite manner that is so inappropriate in the company he constantly keeps. And yet the crew obey with an alertness and enthusiasm that one would not have expected.

Reedert Ferlo is of slender build. He is thirty-two years old. His features are fine and quite attractive, but his eyes are cold like his soft voice. There is not a man on The Black Seagull who has not yet realised what is hidden behind that cool gaze.

Ferlo only owns this single ship. It is seldom that he sails the open sea alone as a pirate captain. With The Black Seagull, he would not make much headway against the large and well-armed merchant vessels that sail the trade routes between Europe and the East here between the east coast of Africa and Madagascar.

Usually he offers his services to the powerful captains of Deelen Bay, and then he sails with their fleets and shares in the spoils. The young Reedert Ferlo is sought after among the pirate captains, because he is known as a man with a fine sense of judgment. In a fight, he is like the devil himself. He stops at nothing, he shows no mercy and he expects no mercy. And there are even some of them who fear him, because as soft as his voice is, so unfathomably deep is his merciless cruelty.

He follows the few pirates as they carry the man into the cabin. One of them is the so-called doctor on The Black Seagull and he begins to nurse the creature. Ferlo stands by the porthole and gazes silently out to sea as if he is unaware of what is happening around him. But when the man’s eyes suddenly flicker open, he is quickly at his side in a few strides, and yet as if he had not exerted himself at all.

“You can go,” he informs the others. “Too many of us might frighten him. I want to talk to him as one doesn’t know how much he will be able to speak, or for how long,” he adds in a subdued voice.

Ferlo is alone with the stranger whom they have just rescued from the sea.

“I am a friend,” says Reedert calmly, but clearly. “Can you hear me?”

The two bloodshot eyes are fixed on him. He imagines that the expression in them is intelligent, as if the man even recognizes him. “Yes,” it comes hoarsely and whispering.

“Who are you?” Ferlo then inquires, while bending lower to hear better.

“Obregh... Captain Haak...”

“You are one of Captain Haak’s men?” Ferlo is intensely interested. Captain Haak is second only to the Admiral of Deelen Bay in the Indian Ocean. “Then you will know me,” he continues when he sees that his deduction is correct. “I am Captain Ferlo. I am your friend. What happened?”

“There... there was a battle. Haak is dead... ships all sunk.”

This news hits Ferlo like a punch. He stands up straight. Captain Haak dead! His fleet destroyed! Only an opponent with a fleet of warships would be able to do such a thing.

“Who?” he now inquires. “Who did it?”

“Oloff... Captain Oloff...”

Ferlo’s eyes narrow. He looks at the man with concern, not because he cares much whether the poor creature breathes his last here or not, but because he wants to extract as much information from him as possible. Now it seems as if the man is delirious. He must have been drifting around on the pieces of mast for a long time.

Oloff? The man is talking nonsense. Oloff and Haak are the two captains with the highest prestige in Deelen Bay. They occupy the honorary positions on either side of the Admiral at the large oval table where the court of Deelen Bay sits. Why would Oloff move against Haak and wipe him off the surface of the sea?

“Captain Oloff and Captain Haak are friends,” says Ferlo, emphasizing each word so that the other must understand him... “When they last left Deelen Bay, Captain Oloff sailed south and Captain Haak north. Why...?”

The man tries to shake his head. His lips tremble and his lower jaw moves as if he wants to speak, but cannot get the words out. He tries to stop Ferlo as if he is on the wrong track.

“No,” he finally gets out... he was on the Oosterprins. Haak had captured him.

Ferlo steps back from the bunk in disappointment. The man is talking incoherently. He is talking nonsense. Not a word of what he says can be accepted as the truth.

“Oloff escaped,” the man continues, to Reedert’s surprise. “Then his ships attacked... the Seewraak... Jansje Meer...”

“When was this?” Ferlo steps closer with renewed interest. If the man is delirious, he will continue to talk incoherently. Then he will not be able to repeat the same story. He will be able to test it easily.

“Week ago.”

“You say Haak captured Oloff first?”

“Yes, Oloff... He wanted to steal the Oosterprins... Haak’s prey.”

“I know,” says Ferlo and this statement satisfies him. He knows that Captain Haak left Deelen Bay to intercept the Oosterprins with its rich cargo. The man is therefore still in his right mind if he can remember these facts.

“You say Captain Haak is dead?”

“Yes.”

“He is dead because Oloff attacked him and destroyed his fleet.”

“Yes, he attacked in the night. Haak... had no chance.”

“Are there any more of you who survived the battle?”

“I... I don’t know... didn’t see... I think I’m the only one.”

A faint smile plays around the corners of Ferlo’s mouth. The expression in his eyes, however, does not change. The life of the man before him has no value for him, the information he has just received, does!

“Did Oloff simply let the ships sink?” he asks again.

“The spoils... he plundered everything first.” The man coughs haltingly. “Water,” he asks so softly that Ferlo can barely hear him.

“In a moment,” he says coolly. “I’ll send you water in a moment,” he says coolly. “First, tell me if you know why Oloff did this.”

“Water,” the man repeats weakly on the bunk.

“I’m telling you that you’ll get it in a moment. Why did Oloff do it?”

“Water.”

Ferlo turns around, annoyed. This fellow is a pirate. He is one of the brotherhood of Deelen Bay. And yet there are thoughts swirling in Ferlo’s head that hold such possibilities for the future that he would not want this man to pass on his knowledge to anyone else.

Ferlo is only one of the minor captains in Deelen Bay. At the large oval table where their positions indicate their rank and status, he sits at the farthest point from the Admiral. Reedert Ferlo sees his future very clearly. The Admiral is old. The day will come when he is no longer there and then he, Reedert Ferlo, wants to sit in his chair.

At the moment, he is little more than a henchman for several of the larger captains. He is just returning from a raiding expedition in the north with Captain Markus Tarrog, Red Mark, as he is known, and the third captain in rank in Deelen Bay. But no, he corrects himself, now that Haak is no longer there, Red Mark will be second....

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.8.2025
• Übersetzer: Pieter Haasbroek, Ai
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• ISBN-13: 9780000727435 / 9780000727435