Old York, the owner of the general store, noticed a lion-like emblem etched onto one of the cannons. It was the mark of the Red Lion pirates.
"That's one of Red Lion's cannons!" Old York almost blurted out.
The pirates watching nearby were astonished. They had all heard about the recent battle between the Red Lion pirates and the Sea Wolf pirates. Word was that Red Lion had come off a little worse.
But "a little worse" usually meant heavier damage to the ships and a few more dead. It didn't mean losing this many cannons!
If they had lost sixteen cannons, they hadn't come off a little worse. They had been crippled.
One of the pirates asked Odys, "How did you pull it off?"
Odys blinked. "Pull what off?"
"How did you steal so many cannons from the Red Lion pirates?"
Odys smiled. "Couldn't they be spoils of war?"
The pirate paused, plainly taken aback, then glanced toward the harbor. "Do you have another ship?"
"No."
"Hahaha..."
"Heh, heh, heh..."
Odys's answer drew laughter and derisive chuckles from the pirates.
They had seen him unload the cannons from that small seagoing ship. Red Lion's crew had a large pirate ship, and Taylor alone had a bounty of 6,800 pounds.
The crew had three ships in all, each much bigger than Odys's.
The pirate who had questioned him suddenly drew his sword. "You'd better be joking. Otherwise, don't blame me for what happens next."
Pointing a drawn sword at someone while talking was a peculiar pirate custom. Sometimes they even pointed guns at each other.
That pirate had a sword, while Odys did not. In this sort of "conversation," everyone considered the armed pirate to have the upper hand.
Before Odys could reply, Old York said, "Put your sword away.