by Ryan Gilbert
Listening to the waves lap against the black hull of the ship, Garrett stood on the main deck, just outside of the pirate port of Rebelde. The smell of rum and salt water drifted over the waves. He inhaled the stench into his nostrils and smiled to himself. The life of a pirate was a fine one indeed. No pesky morals weighed him down. He took what he could without worrying about the consequences. It was heaven.
“You bastard!”
Garrett rolled his eyes and turned around to face Julia. The girl was held back by two pirates, an extra precaution given what transpired during the last interaction between the two.
“Ah, m’ dear, how good of ye to drop in.”
Pulling against the men’s strong grip, Julia said, “Don’t give me that, Garrett. What do you want from me? Why’d you bring me up here?”
“Let’s just say I need ye to calm down,” he said with an evil sneer.
He took one step closer, and Julia drove her heel into one man’s toes. As he doubled over and let go of her, she pulled away from the other one and punched him in the gut. She just wanted to get off the ship. With Rebelde only a short swim away, she could certainly find some help there.
Just as she turned to run to the rail, she felt a heavy arm rest on her shoulder. The glint of Garrett’s metal hook kept her from fleeing any further.
“Ye see, Ms. Hamond? We can come to an understanding,” he laughed.
“Let go of me,” she said, trying to scoot away from the madman.
Deftly, he brought his hook underneath her chin and gently pushed it upward. She had to stand on the tips of her toes to keep from getting a hole in her chin.
“I’ll let go o’ ye when I’m good ‘n ready, and right now… I’m not ready.”
Garrett grabbed her by the hand and dragged her over to the mast, where a length of rope waited for its unlucky captive. He pushed her against the wooden beam and watched as his crewmates bound the poor girl to the mast.
“How do ye think lover boy’ll react when ‘e sees ye like this?”
Julia gritted her teeth and spat in the pirate’s face.
“He’ll kill you. He’ll stop at nothing to make sure that you’re dead.”
Wiping the spit from his face, Garrett asked, “Do ye want me to bruise the other side o’ yer face as well?”
He grabbed her black and blue cheek and gave it a squeeze, forcing Julia to cry out in pain.
“I didn’t think so.”
Julia tugged against her restraints, but they would not budge an inch.
Pulling the map out of his coat pocket, Garrett strode back and forth in front of Julia. He would periodically look out over the sea, waiting for something to appear. His time to destroy Riggs would come soon. That he knew.
From behind the treacherous captain, Julia tried to see what was on the map. From his ranting, she knew that they were trying to find the trident of Poseidon. From the little that she could see, it looked like any other map, but she knew that was not the case. Garrett would not have gone to all of this trouble if that was a normal map. There was something about it that the mutineer did not know.
After a couple minutes of rambling to himself, Garrett tossed the map over his shoulder and pounded his hook against a barrel. Whatever secrets the map had to offer were not revealing themselves to him any time soon.
“Giving up… Captain Garrett?” Julia asked mockingly.
He chuckled to himself and ran his hook across the mast, gauging a line in the wood and stopping right next to the girl’s ear.
“If I’d given up, then ye wouldn’t still be here. Ye’d be sleepin’ wit’ the fishes, princess… a bloody, waterlogged corpse. Now shut yer mouth.”
Reluctantly, Julia quieted herself. She wanted so much to just drive Garrett’s hook through his own neck. He was nothing more than a barbarian. Again, she tried pulling on the ropes that held her to the mast, but they would not move. It was hopeless. Looking down at her feet in despair, she gasped.
It was the map, but it was changing.
It had landed on a wet area of the deck, and, from what Julia could see, the area where the water had touched the parchment began to transform into a hidden message. Words and islands started to appear where there had been nothing before.
So this was why Garrett needed Riggs.
Quickly looking up, she saw that the pirate captain was not paying attention to the map at all. He was more concerned with waiting for Riggs and the crew to appear to rescue Julia and the ship.
Using her feet, Julia moved the map away from the water and watched as the words disappeared from the page as it dried. It was just in time too. Just as the secret message disappeared, Garrett turned around, picked up the map, and tucked it back inside his coat pocket.
On the outside, Julia did not show any emotion, but on the inside, she was smiling to herself. She knew something that Garrett did not. She knew a secret of the map.
Not aware of what the girl had seen, Garrett said, “Stay comfortable, Ms. Hamond. In a couple days, I’ll show you who really has the power on these waters.”
Once he left, Julia muttered to herself, “We’ll see who’s saying that when Riggs gets here.”
With the HMS Dagger continuing on its rescue mission, Riggs and his crew were both invigorated and confused. On one hand, they had captured the mermaid that had chased them on their way to Yorktown. There should not be any more complications on the way to Rebelde.
On the other hand, the mermaid was not acting like they thought she would. She did not make any noise to draw attention to herself. She did not try to attack the pirates when they went down to the brig to give her food. It did not even seem like she tried to escape.
It was unnatural.
Riggs was especially unnerved. From his dealings with mermaids before, he had learned to not trust the creatures. He needed to find out what was going on with her.
Turning the wheel over to Clint, he made his way down to the lower decks and into the brig. Ripper was on guard duty, but Riggs dismissed him. Somehow, he figured that he would not need someone watching.
The mermaid sat on the floor of the brig, leaning her head against the bars of the cell. She sighed as Riggs approached, heaving her shoulders. She pulled her legs closer to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees.
As Riggs approached the bars, she looked up at him with her wide eyes, begging for something, but he did not know what it was. For a second, he felt sorry for her, but not enough to set her free.
Cutting straight to the point, Riggs said, “Tell me what ye can do with that magic o’ yers.”
Pulling her hair behind her ears, she responded, “You’ve already seen it… that’s all I can do. I swear.”
“How’d ye get it?”
“The magic? I was born with it. All mermaids are, Captain.”
If she was telling the truth, it would make sense of why she was still in the brig. She could not get out.
“If you’re in a helpful mood, then are ye goin’ to tell me why ye attacked us?” he asked, crossing his arms in front of him.
The mermaid did not say a word.
Riggs stooped down to her level so that he could speak to her face to face.
“Valera, this’ll all be a lot simpler if ye answer me.”
“You won’t believe me if I told you,” she said, resting her chin on her knee.
“Try me.”
Taking a deep breath, she began, “I watched you get thrown off your own ship. When it left you all behind, I wanted to see if I could help, but all of you seemed afraid of me.”
“With good reason,” Riggs interjected.
Biting her lip, Valera continued, “When you got to that fishing boat, I heard everything you said, so I… took care of the crew. Then, I followed you all the way to… Yorktown, is it?”
“Aye.”
Staring at the wall, Valera asked, “The girl you’re chasing… you really do love her, don’t you?”
The mermaid’s innocence eased the Captain’
s suspicions. She did not seem like she wanted to seduce him. She just wanted to talk.
Placing his hands on the bars, he answered, “I love that girl with all me heart.”
“May I ask what happened?”
Pulling a flask out of his coat, Riggs took a swig of rum, cleared his throat, and said, “She was kidnapped… by a man who used to be a crewmate o’ mine… a man who’s now in control of the fastest ship on these seas. That’s what we were tryin’ to find when ye attacked us.”
“It wasn’t meant to be that. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“Well it certainly looked like that.”
“I just wanted…”
She stopped abruptly in the middle of the sentence, looking embarrassed. Even in the dim light of the lanterns, Riggs could see her blushing.
When he did not respond, the mermaid tried to speak, but it was like she could not form words. The Valera that was sitting in front of him did not seem like the same mermaid who had taken down nearly two dozen Navy soldiers.
Clenching her knees, she struggled, but she finally said, “I just… I just wanted to see Jack.”
Riggs was extremely surprised.
“Keep goin’,” he said, curious about what she meant.
“I think you know what I mean, Captain.”
She was right. He had seen that look before… on Julia’s face and his own.
“So you fancy one o’ me crew, do ye?”
Valera nodded, her face still red.
“If I bring ‘im down ‘ere…”
It was like a needle had just poked her. She latched onto the bars and sat inches from Riggs’ face. She looked terrified.
“No… no, don’t bring him down here. I can’t speak to him.”
The Captain was dumbfounded. If she did fancy Jack, why did she not have the courage to talk to him? Going up against the guns of the Navy should have taken more guts than that.
As he stood up, Valera grabbed his wrist and asked, “Can you promise me something, Captain?”
“I need to know what I’m promisin’.”
With a gulp, she said, “Don’t tell Jack… please.”
Tenderly placing his hand over hers, Riggs said, “I’ll do what’s best fer ye.”
A little smile appeared on the mermaid’s face as she let go of Riggs’ wrist. It was a welcome sight, even for her captor. Turning around, he left the room, climbing up the stairs to the main deck.
As he stepped into the dimming rays of the sun, he watched as the crew hurried about, trying to make the ship go faster. Even without him saying so, they knew what he wanted them to do. He could see them pushing themselves to the limit.
*smash*
A bottle fell to the ground right beside Riggs. He turned and saw Coral Jack, sitting in a coil of rope, hiding behind a cannon. From the looks of things, he had been drinking a lot.
“Oi, Jack. What’s gotten into ye?”
With slurred words, Jack said, “Oh nothin’ much… just memories is all.”
“Memories?”
“Ain’t nothing ye need to worry about, Captain.”
“I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about you bein’ drunk of your ass.”
“It’s not that bad. I can still fight if I need to.”
Coral Jack stood up, using the wheels of the cannon to pull himself to his feet. Once he was upright, however, he could not keep his balance, swaying from side to side. Tripping over the coil of rope, the boatswain fell against his captain, unable to hold himself up.
“Guess I was wrong, Captain,” he said with a drunken chuckle.
Riggs called Doc over and had him help Jack below deck. He would need all of his crew to be in a good condition to fight when they found the Red Sky.
Walking around the deck, he hummed a tune to himself and whispered a song along with it.
“Give me the sea;
Give me the wind.
Give me a heart
And my lover’s hand.
Steal and lie;
Steal and lie;
There are no rules,
But I will not die.
Love is a burden,
A burden to bear.
To keep it forever
So will I dare.
Riggs watched the sun fall in the sky. It would be nighttime soon, but if they came upon the Red Sky, they would not have any tactical advantages. The Dagger stuck out like a flame in the darkness with its white sails and majestic colors. If they made it to Rebelde in the night, the ship would stand no chance against the Sky. They would have to be extremely stealthy to pull off any sort of successful attack. The Captain knew that he had to come up with something brilliant and daft, or he could quite possibly lose everything that he cared about.
Waving his hat to cool his face, Riggs took a seat in the head officer’s quarters and tried to concoct a plan to get his ship… and Julia… back. It would not be easy.
“Sir, we’ve lost the Dagger. It’s too far away for us to track, and, once the sun goes down, it will be even more difficult for us to find it.”
Commodore Hamond tossed his cane to the ground and gripped the rail of the ship so hard that his knuckles turned white. How many times were those troublesome pirates going to slip through his fingers?
“Lieutenant, am I losing my mind? How did that pirate and his crew escape from two dozen soldiers and steal a ship of ours… without even a little battle damage?”
Standing at attention, Travers said, “It believe it was the… mermaid, sir.”
Picking up his cane from the ground, Hamond said, “That was not a mermaid, Lieutenant.”
“Commodore, I saw it with my own eyes. You saw it too.”
“Damn it, Travers. That was not a mermaid,” he said, pounding the bottom of his cane against the deck.
With as much as he said that the creature was not a mermaid, the Commodore knew that Travers was right. It was a creature spoken of in legends and the rants of drunken sailors. Up until that day, he had never given any thought to those myths. He did not want to believe in them. The fear of the unknown was too intimidating for him to handle, having sailed with the Navy for more than half of his life.
Those myths had just come true right in front of his eyes.
Ever since he had stepped foot on his first ship, he had been a devout believer in the Christian faith. Now, he felt like his entire faith had been shaken. Creatures like that mermaid were not part of God’s plan. Or were they? He could no longer tell.
Dismissing the Lieutenant, he limped into his cabin and poured himself a glass of wine. He held it in his hand and lifted it to his lips to take a sip, but something urged him to finish it all.
Sinking down into his chair, he took out a Bible and leafed through the pages. He tried to remember a passage… any passage… that would help him.
Unfortunately, he was too flustered to remember anything. His faith was challenged because of the existence of one thing… one creature. What other dangers lurked in the world, waiting to be discovered?
Navy training had done nothing to prepare him for this. The only monsters that he had ever fought were the ones that men hide inside themselves, monsters like their greed, their hatred, their cowardice, their pride, and their lust. None of his men even knew how to dispatch a mermaid.
He could still hear the screams of the soldiers of the Dagger as they were pulled from where they stood. He could see them splashing in the water, waiting for their demise at the hands of something that they believed to be unreal. He had failed them.
In frustration, the Commodore grabbed every map that he could find and placed them on the desk in front of him. His eyes darted from one to the other, trying to find where the pirates could hide. He needed something to distract him from his challenged beliefs.
Island after island passed in front of the man’s eyes. Try as he might, he could not think straight. When hundreds of soldier’s lives were on the line, he used to be able to make decisions that could minimize the casualti
es. Now, he was not so sure.
What else did the sea have to offer? What other creatures of legends roamed the ocean floors in search of blood? Had his faith lied to him? Was it keeping things from him? What was true, and what was false?
He could not know for sure, and it felt like it would drive him mad.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Red Sky spotted, Captain.”
Riggs dashed to the side of the ship and peered out over the sea. He could clearly see the red sails of his ship as it sat in the waters just outside of Rebelde, the moonlight glistening off the black hull. He wanted to feel the wheel in his hands once again. It pained him to see the ship for which he had fought so hard in the hands of a bloodthirsty mutineer like Garrett.
He pulled out his spyglass and tried to see if he could spot Julia, but the Dagger was still too far away to see something as small as a person.
“Clint, maneuver us behind that island over there,” ordered Riggs, directing his navigator to a tiny island right next to Rebelde.
“Aye, Captain.”
So far, it did not seem like any of Garrett’s men had spotted the ship. The pirate vessel remained where it was anchored, supposedly unaware of the crew coming to rescue their friend and reclaim their prize. As quickly as he could, Clint sailed the ship as close to the island as possible, hiding it from anyone onboard the Red Sky.
Once the anchor was dropped, Clint asked, “What be yer plan, Riggs?”
“I don’t know how yet, but we need to get over there without bein’ detected. A longboat won’t work. It’s too noticeable. Swimmin’ is too noisy.”
Wiping moisture off his brow, Ripper said, “We could use de guns on ‘ere fer a surprise attack on ‘em.”
Spinning around, Riggs said, “I won’t fire on me own ship.”
“Captain… we need to do something,” said Clint.
Riggs took out his spyglass once again and tried to look through the trees that covered the tiny island hiding the Dagger from the Red Sky. All he could see was green and brown. He could not see his ship no matter how hard he tried. He could try getting over to the island so that he could see better, but that would take too long.