Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom

had boarded the Lindesfarne in London, excited to be fulfilling his
ambition of seeing the world.
All had gone well with the voyage until, off the coast of Spain, the
Lindesfarne was captured by pirates—taken without a single shot
being fired. Herded up on deck by the pirate crew of Le Requin,
Beckett, seething with fury, had stood with the other passengers, many
incoherent or weeping with terror. Finally, the pirate captain appeared.
He was a handsome villain who wore an elegant emerald coat. Moving
with a leisurely swagger, he’d inspected his captives in silence, then
introduced himself as “Captain de Rapièr.”
While his crew of cutthroats stripped the Lindesfarne of everything
valuable, the captain interviewed his captives, so he could decide
whether they should be held for ransom or sold into slavery.
When the captain approached Cutler, the eighteen-year-old, in a
red rage at having his career plans thwarted, defied him, demanding
their release, promising that he’d see them all hang. At first Captain de
Rapièr had been amused by Beckett’s audacity and spirit, chuckling at
him as though he were a cute, but yappy, puppy. Then Cutler had
unwisely informed the captain that the cut of his elegant coat and its
fastenings was considered completely out of fashion in both London
and Paris. Seeing from Captain de Rapièr’s expression that he’d
finally scored a palpable hit, Cutler had then laughed in his face.
The pirate captain got his revenge by turning Cutler over to his
crew, saying they could “play” with this one. With cries of joy, the pirate
crew slapped young Beckett around, then formed a gauntlet and
spanked him with the flat of their swords. But that was just the
beginning of his ordeal.
Stripping him naked, they hoisted him upside down, to dangle fifty
feet in the air. Cutler had hung there, spinning slowly, hearing them
laugh, too terrified to struggle. By the time they’d lowered him down, he
was choking and sobbing incoherently. Captain de Rapièr had
laughed uproariously.
The worst threat was yet to come. As Cutler lay sprawled on the
deck, surrounded by the jeering cutthroats, several of them announced
their intention of torturing him. They took out their knives, remarking
that he really didn’t need all of his fingers and toes, did he?