By Christopher Fryer
Inspired by: The Golden Vanity, a ballad from around 1635.
*
Kirk, the cabin boy, was the first to spot the Spanish vessel across the Lowland Sea, spotted it creeping up on them like a nightmare in a dream. The weather was fine, the sun was setting, perhaps they would still have time to flee. Kirk, the cabin boy, ran up to the deck to warn the others aboard the Golden Vanity.
He was but a child, no older than fifteen, and the grown sailors ignored Kirk’s attempt to spread news of what he’d seen. At first the Captain grunted, shrugging off this indecency, but with a telescope and frown of his chin, he soon had to agree.
“We are only a day’s journey from our home, from our land, our wives, and our children–now full-grown. If they have seen us then we have no choice, in this battle we are alone.”
The men were sullen by this news, for every soul knew it was no use. The Spanish ship had twice the power, this fight they’d surely lose. No ale or dance or rousing speech could help their mood improve.
Kirk studied the enemy from afar, contemplating options. At last he came up with a plan, to the Captain he quickly auctioned.
“What would you give to me if I would swim along side of the Spanish enemy and sink her in the Lowland Sea?”
The Captain said, “Oh I would give you silver, and I would give you gold, and my fairest daughter your bonny bride shall be, if you swim along side the Spanish enemy and sink her in the Lowland Sea.”
It was told there was no girl more beautiful, in all the seven lands, and Kirk wasted not a moment to take fate in his hands. He dove into the icy water, to cheers from sailors with faith in the cabin boy’s plans.
Into the Spanish hull, he bored three holes with ease, letting her fill with ocean water and bringing her to her knees. She sank in moments into the depths and not a soul survived the scene. Kirk returned to the ship, the Golden Vanity, to find much joy and disbelief.
The Captain thanked him for his work, but said without a heart, “You cannot have the things I offered, you should have known that from the start. Now walk the plank and leave this ship, swim out into the dark. I want no mention of your name, this victory will be my art.”
Kirk was thrown to his death, much to his surprise, he was cheated and abandoned, but a plan he soon devised. He swam around the ship, and to his messmates he cried, “Oh, messmates, draw me up for I’m drifting with the tide!”
They pulled him out of the sea, but not quickly enough. The boy perished from the cold, a fate the crew considered rough, but none could speak of his bravery, nor of the Captain’s bluff. They returned home safely, continued their lives, and that night the Captain heard a whisper, “I’ve come back for my stuff.”
THE END