Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom

een up to. He didn’t feel constrained by his half-promise to Blount.
The man was an unrepentant rascal, and Beckett, as well as the EITC
ships, would be better off without him.
Not for the first time, he was grateful to his new supervisor for
allowing him to sail a regular cargo vessel, rather than a slave ship.
Perhaps, when this voyage was concluded, he’d think about leaving
Africa and signing aboard ships going the other way, heading for the
Orient, or India, rather than staying here and sailing the Triangle.
Ships heading for Europe or England from the coast of west
Africa did not sail north to reach those destinations, because if they
did so, the wind would be against them. The trade winds blew west
from Africa, so vessels followed a route called the Triangle, first
heading west, across the Atlantic, then turning to sail north along the
coast of North America. Only off the coast of Greenland, or
Newfoundland, were they able to turn east, to head for England, or
points further south.
Jack sighed. Tempting as the prospect of heading out for distant
seas and lands was, if he left Africa, he’d lose Cutler Beckett’s
patronage. Would any other EITC director be willing to keep him as a
captain, at his age? He knew he was probably one of the youngest
captains currently working for the huge company. One of the main
reasons he’d been promoted, Jack knew, was the fact that there were
more EITC ships sailing out of Africa than almost anywhere else. That
was because slaves were the most valuable and desirable cargo at
present.
Jack stared at the river and shook his head slightly. It was too bad
about Chamba, but it wasn’t his problem. If Benjamin Blount was even
now whipping the lad to death, there wasn’t anything he could do about
it. Jack remembered with relief that in less than two days, he’d be back
at sea, where he wanted to be more than anywhere else. Calabar and
its shackled “cargoes” would be behind him for five months, possibly
more.
Determinedly, he turned his thoughts to the expensive cargo he’d
be loading tomorrow, bound for Liverpool. Ivory, a chest of gold ingots,
some valuable woods, bales of coir (coconut husks), spices, and
foodstuffs would fill the cargo deck of his vessel. Precious cargo,