5:00am
Oldy sauntered in and helped himself to salty breakfast stew.
‘Didn’t you go with Li?’ I asked.
He shrugged, ‘I came back.’
3:00pm
‘Who stole my boat?’ Sol screamed.
Oldy raised his hand. ‘You’re a fine captain. We won’t need it.’
Sol said, ‘You’ll live – for now.’
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I may have mentioned that Blackbeard really was evil. As usual, I’m taking my best information from the 1724 book “A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates”. (I do own other pirate books, they’re just not as cool.)
Blackbeard’s name originated “from that large quantity of hair which, like a frightful meteor, covered his whole face and frightened America more than any comet that has appeared there a long time.
“The beard was black, which he suffered to grow of an extravagant length; as to breadth it came up to his eyes. He was accustomed to twist it with ribbons, in small tails, after the manner of our ramilies [sic] wigs, and turn them about his ears. In time of action, he wore a sling over his shoulders with three brace of pistols hanging in holsters like bandaliers, and stuck lighted matches under his hat, which, appearing on either side of his face, his eyes naturally appearing fierce and wild, made him altogether such a figure, that imagination cannot form an idea of a fury, from hell, to look more frightful. . . his humours and passions were suitable to it.”
So he looked like pure evil, and acted like it, too.
Observant “Pirates of the Carribean” watchers will note than one pirate has a particularly impressive beard, which is smoking throughout the entire movie. It’s clear the costumers read the same book (which is also well known as Robert Louis Stevenson’s inspiration.)