“I swear I saw him faint at the drop of her name,” said Old Bill.
“She’d give any man the night shivers with her soulless eyes,” added Nick McCuallha.
Roundabout Tentacle Bay fishermen and landlubbers fear full moon nights when the sea is calm and the wind is light.
“Damn that creature and her demon crew. Bout time someone put a harpoon through her chest and give us all peace” barked Jimmy Downs.
“The Night Mistress wouldn’t die if impaled with a hundred gaffs. She can only be sent back to hell with her crew,” remarked Tom Clary.
The night was late, and the ale had run out, so the men—all but Terry Jones — picked themselves up and headed home.
Terry’s Pa had died at the hands of the Mistress a dozen years back when she attacked his boat. Terry swore an oath he’d see her hang or die trying.
As the moon crept higher, the wind calmed. The water witch would soon be hunting.
“I’ll send you to Hell if it means my hide,” muttered Terry as he loaded his boat with barrels of black powder.
It was about ten bells when the sailor headed out of the harbor and into open water. Terry ensured he lit up his boat like a floating Christmas tree to draw in the Mistress and her crew.
As the village’s lights faded from view, Terry ran fuses to the barrels, primed his pistol, and then waited.
As a crow seeks a decaying corpse, the Night Mistress’s ship approaches Terry’s boat.
“Well, the rat has smelled the cheese,” said Terry, moving to the ship’s bow.
The Raven glided toward the fishing boat. “I have no catch this night; if you want the boat, it’s yours. Leave me my life is all I ask,” cried the fisherman.
“We be taken your boat and your life if you please,” said the Mistress.
The Raven came alongside Tarry’s craft, and as it did, the fisherman pretended to run to the boat’s stern to escape.
“Jump if you want; we’ll fish you out. A young man like yourself will fetch a fine price at the slave market,” said the captain.
Terry waited for the crew to secure the Raven and pulled the trigger on his pistol. “I’ll see you in Hell before I let you take me or my boat,” Terry cried, then leaped over the edge.
The Raven’s crew scrambled back onto their vessel and attempted to untie the rigging. “Hurry, or it’s Dave Jones we’ll be answering to,” cried the Mistress.
The explosion threw Terry clear of any falling debris. The Raven split in two, sending the Night Mistress and her crew straight to Davy Jones’s Locker.
The next night, Terry sat at the Drunken Pelican drinking when Old Bill shuffled in, all wide-eyed.
“They found the bow of the Raven washed up near the lighthouse,” said the man.
“Did they now? Tell me, Bill, did they also find my pistol, and what’s left of my boat?” asked the fisherman.
Old Bill’s mouth fell open, and a huge grin crossed his face. “Your old Pa is dancing a jig in heaven, that I can tell you,” said the man.
To this day, Tentacle Bay has never seen the Night Mistress or her demonic crew. Terry’s shrewd thinking and a bit of black powder ensured no other father would head to Davy Jones’s Locker.
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