Cody.â
âNo shit?â
âNo shit.â
The man took the jar from Hickok and examined it carefully. âYou do look like him.â
âItâs him,â Annie said.
The man gave the jar back to Hickok, studied Annie. âMy, but you are lovely. And who are you?â
âIâm Annie Oakley, this is Sitting Bull, and Wild Bill Hickok.â
âWell I will be twisted and peed on. I am honored. I know of all of you. My name is Bemo. Captain Bemo to my friends. This ship is my creation, the
Naughty Lass.
âI named her that because she was a bitch to build,â Bemo said. âMy original name for her was
Sea Shark,
but no one in my original crew liked that one. Lots of grumbling about the name. I changed it to
Nasty Sea Shark,
but that didnât excite anyone either. I even considered
The Real Nasty Sea Shark,
but by that time Iâd lost everyone. I should have just called it what I wanted. I didnât have to answer to anyone. Not then. But, I wanted to please. Finally, I decided on the
Naughty Lass.
â
âBy the way, weâve heard of you, too.â Hickok said. âAnd the
Naughty Lass.
â
Neither Hickok nor the others mentioned Bemo had been considered a pirate, noted for destroying vessels on the high seas. It had been his way to combat war, destroying the ships that made war or carried goods for war. Every navy in the world put a price on Bemo and his ship, but the bounty came to naught. Since the attacks on ships ceased, it had been thought for the last few years that he had lost himself at sea.
âBut youâre supposed to be dead,â Annie said.
âDonât believe everything you read,â Bemo said. âAnd while Iâm on the subject, there were some photos that got out. Meâ¦unclothed, and wellâ¦I just want to say, if you saw those photos⦠Well, it was cold.â
âPhotos?â Annie asked.
âTaken by a disgruntled crew member. A female crew member, I hasten to add. I posed for them, caught up in the moment, you might say. Quite a mistake. They appeared in some French periodicals. So, again, donât believe everything you read, or see. In fact, Iâm certain those photos were doctored. They can do that sort of thing, you know.â
âDonât believe everything you read is right,â Hickok said. âIncluding the stuff in Buffalo Bill dime novels.â
âSome of itâs real,â Cody said. âAnd I thought it was
Naughty Ass.
Not
Naughty Lass.
Iâm a little disappointed.â
âCome,â Bemo said. âSit. Iâll have food brought. All of it from the sea. Afterwards, seaweed cigars.â
âI hate Iâll miss that,â Cody said.
âYouâre being snide,â Bemo said. âBut you really will miss out. This seaweed is high in nicotine. Quite tasty. Better than Cuban, actually. The only thing missing is it isnât rolled on the thighs of Cuban women. Thatâs how itâs done, you know.â
âIf thatâs true, I miss it already,â Cody said. âThe Cuban cigars, that is.â
âThese were actually rolled on the thighs of my crew,â Bemo said. âThatâs not something I like to consider while Iâm smoking.â
âBy the way,â Hickok said. âWho is your crew? They are unusual.â
âUgly,â Bull said.
âYes, they are,â Bemo said. âTheyâre monkeys. Or they were. They have been altered through surgery, genetics and chemicals. Their intelligence has been raised, and for the last twenty years or so, they, andâ¦others, have been receiving training in all the basics. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic. The last part gives them trouble, but they try. I think their English is quite good, donât you? Come. Please. Take a seat.â
The seal didnât give up his seat. He gave them a quick, uninterested glance, went back to reading.
There was plenty