Wild Bay: A Coastal Caribbean Adventure (Tyson Wild Thriller Book 41) by Tripp Ellis

Author:Tripp Ellis [Ellis, Tripp]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tripp Ellis
Published: 2022-05-22T23:00:00+00:00

28

“Are you sitting down?” Demi asked, milking the drama.

I groaned. “Don’t tell me. We got some kind of court order to stop the salvage?”

“Nope. I think we’re in the clear on that one.”

My brow knitted with curiosity. "How so?"

“That ship isn't the Le Mer Royal."

That hung there for a moment. "But the canon you pulled up had the ship's name etched into it."

"Some of the coins I found were minted after 1565. After the ship sank. It couldn't be the La Mer Royal."

"So JD's pirate theory is correct. Someone besides Jacques De La Fontaine raided the Le Mer Royal."

"It may not have been another pirate."

My brow wrinkled again. "What are you getting at?"

"I've been digging into this," Demi said in a hushed tone. "You’re not gonna believe this. It sounds crazy."

I knew Demi pretty well. She wasn't crazy. She had a good head on her shoulders and wasn't prone to exaggeration.

"I think Captain Durant looted his own ship, scuttled it, and absconded with the treasure and jewels he was supposed to be returning to Spain."

"What makes you think that?”

“Stay with me. Captain Francois Gaston Durant and his crew were on the lam. They probably assumed a new identity, avoided major ports, and traveled under a different flag. Perhaps they paid off local officials. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but this was before the Internet and GPS tracking,” she snarked. “You could drop off the map back then.”

“I’m aware.”

“The first appearance of Richard the Terrible is in 1569, when he attacks a merchant ship in the Caribbean."

"What does that have to do with Durant?"

"Richard the Terrible plunders the Caribbean for 10 years, mercilessly attacking ships under any flag. A survivor of one of the attacks described Richard the Terrible in his memoir as the Ghost of Durant. Said he was the spitting image of the former captain. He had served under him briefly almost two decades prior."

"So his recollection could have been a little hazy."

"He said Richard the Terrible’s ship, the Royal Revenge, had unnatural speed, and its captain an uncanny sense of battle, reminiscent of Durant.”

"So, you think Richard the Terrible is Françoise Gaston Durant?”

"I do. And I believe that ship you found is the Royal Revenge. Here’s where the story takes a little twist."

“That wasn’t twisted enough?”

"Richard the Terrible terrorizes the Caribbean for almost another decade until his crew mutinies. Thirty or so, including Durant, are marooned on an island to die. The remaining crew, under the command of William Blackstone, pillage for another 20 years until they are sunk by another French ship, the Royal Esprit.”

“And you learned all of this from a book?” I asked.

“Three books and a dozen Internet forums.”

“This is good news,” I said.

“I’ll look for more evidence of my theory. It’s not Jacques De La Fontaine’s Black Rose, but the legend of the Royal Revenge is nothing to snub your nose at. Who knows? It might even be worthy of a museum.”

Jack had high hopes for building a pirate museum. Those hopes were dashed when we learned of the possibility the wreckage might belong to the French government.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.