The Pirates of Fainting Goat Island

by Teresa McCullough

  He turned to one of his men. “Kalten, did she tell the truth?”

  Kalten stuck his hand out with a thumb up. “Yes. Everything she said was true.”

  I turned and stared at him. “You have truth-telling magic?” Some of what I said was misleading, but true. I was lucky that I didn’t actually lie, because truth tellers were reputed to only know whether a statement was true or false, not whether it was misleading. Those with truth-telling magic were used in courts and for negotiations.

  “Yes, he does,” Merko said.

  “Was Merko telling the truth?” I asked. The pirates seemed shocked that I would dare ask, but a bit amused.

  “Yes,” Kalten said. He said it promptly enough and cheerfully enough that I believed him.

  “You’ve got spunk,” Merko said. “Too bad you don’t like pirates. But no, you can’t leave. You’re still useful. I’ll continue to pay you and ensure you’re well-treated.” Meaning he was the only one allowed to hit me?

  I wasn’t surprised by his reaction, but I was disappointed. I wondered if he expected me to stay here forever.

  Merko turned to Vlid, who acted like he wasn’t paying attention, but I was sure he was. “You, on the other hand, attacked m—”

  The earth shook and Vlid turned toward a window, although it was too dark to see anything outside. This put Merko directly behind him. I looked around the room and all eyes were on Merko, except Vlid’s. Merko paused a long time, and everyone was still. He drew his sword so slowly, it made no sound. As soon as it was out, a bigger earthquake came. Vlid fell, as did a couple of the pirates who were standing. Vlid couldn’t have seen Merko coming. There were no mirrors or shadows to give him away.

  “I think the island is protecting him,” I said.

  I overheard a pirate say, “I don’t want the island to be mad at us.” His tone wasn’t jocular. I thought everyone knew that magic was done by people or gods, not by anything inanimate.

  The men murmured and Merko looked around for support. Seeing he wasn’t getting it, he said, “It seems it is. I’ve never seen an island have magic though.”

  “Why did Vlid give you your sword back?” I asked.

  Merko appeared to be unhappy with the question, and I realized he hadn’t admitted he lost it in the fight. I said, “I was the one who made you fall. I was gentler with you than I was with the other pirates.”

  After I said it, I realized I lied about being gentle, and Kalten could tell Merko. Merko probably wouldn’t kill me for lying, but it might make it harder for me to escape if he knew I would lie to him. I wanted him to trust me.

  When Kalten started to speak, I was certain he would betray me. I saved his life, but I hadn’t attempted to Control him. “She’s telling the truth.” I was shocked at his lie supporting me, but then understood what the problem with truth-telling magic was. It was only as trustworthy as the person with the magic, who could lie. Kalten lied for me, not because of magic, but because of gratitude. Merko was not in as much control of the pirates as I’d thought he was.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised that someone who lived by “theft and death and strife,” as the song said, had no hesitancy in lying. I told the truth as much as possible, and my description of what happened with Vlid was partially true because I feared that if I lied too much, I would be inconsistent. It made sense to conceal things, not change what was true.

  Merko looked at Kalten and shrugged. “Well, in that case, I understand why you won that fight on Goat Island.” He stepped over to Kalten and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder with his free hand. He turned to me and said, “I’m not sure why he gave me back the sword, but I don’t usually kill those who don’t fight me, even if they give a little bit of fight at first.” Vlid hadn’t gotten to his feet, and wasn’t even looking at Merko, who took a step toward him. The next earthquake was very mild. When it stopped, Merko sheathed his sword.

  I was puzzled. I assume that Vlid caused the first earthquake, but he wasn’t looking at Merko to time the second and third one. Milea wasn’t here, so that ruled out her.

  Merko came over to me and took my chin in his hand, raising it up so I looked in his eyes. I held his stare and didn’t struggle. “Don’t defy me again, or I may make an exception to that policy.” Merko already demonstrated he was willing and able to hurt me. I believed he would do it again and would be clever enough to do so in a way I couldn’t protect myself. He let go of me and looked at Vlid, saying, “Let him go. I don’t think he would understand what we were punishing him for.” In a challenging tone, he asked, “Does anyone else want to leave?”

  To my surprise, a man spoke up. Chork, if I remembered correctly. He was sitting in a chair in the corner. “I do. Next time you take a trip down to Southwind Island. You know I won’t be able to fight with this.” He pointed to his splinted leg. “Even if this heals completely.”

  Merko looked at him, probably noticing the gray in his hair. “That’s reasonable. But we don’t go that far south often.” He frowned and paused. “We could take a trip down there, once we get the ships repaired. I think you’ve earned your retirement.”

  Murmurs of approval came from the men.

  Jerot said, “And they probably won’t chase us this far north if we do a little business while we’re there.”

  Merko said, “That’s the way to think.”

  “We should probably do it on the way home,” Jerot said, “or Chork might be associated with it. I’d hate to see his retirement ruined.”

  The men seemed to approve, but Merko looked speculatively at Jerot. “You weren’t thinking of retiring, were you?”

  “Of course not!” Jerot protested. “I haven’t earned enough to retire on. At least not in the style I’d like to live.” After a pause, he said, “I would like to live the life of a rich man.” Several of the pirates made comments amounting to “me too.”

  Lina spoke up. “Can I leave?”

  “Have you earned enough to retire on?” Merko asked, with amusement.

  “If I’m frugal,” she replied.

  “Kalten?” Merko asked.

  Kalten put his hand up with his thumb down.

  “Lying to me, Lina?” Merko asked.

  “I want to leave,” Lina said. “Those pirates frightened me.”

  “No one is leaving until we get the Rockfall repaired,” Merko said. “We’ll go down in three ships, the Rockfall, the Red Lion, and the Eagle.”

  “The Eagle?” I asked.

  “That’s what I’m calling her. She’s a fast yacht, damaged in the tidal wave. The Rocky Coast Pirates had a navigator onboard her, who would follow us, but run if we chased her. Eventually, they guessed where to look for us.”

  “How did you learn about the navigator?” I asked. It didn’t seem likely that the other pirates would tell Merko.

  “Vlid isn’t the only one with a cousin. I recognized him just before I killed him.”

  Merko looked around the room and saw Roddy. “You have a room here and you sometimes eat here. Did you do anything to defend us?” I realized another reason Roddy had for staying away. He was a hostage to my good behavior. I knew would trade my enhancing ability for Roddy’s life, and Merko must know that too.

  To my surprise, someone spoke up. “A group of Rocky Coast archers were caught in a sudden downpour. Wet bowstrings don’t work as well.”

  Merko nodded. “Then you can take your share of guard shifts. We don’t know if all the Rocky Coast Pirates are dead.”

  “True,” Jerot said. “But we still should have some kind of celebration that Heleen is back. I missed her cooking.”

  “We can have the guards take short shifts for tomorrow’s dinner, giving everyone a share of the good meal,” Merko said. “Did you bring up the supplies we brought for her to use yet? I thought you had a lot on the Red Lion.”

  “Not yet. I didn’t want to trust Milea to use them. I’ll see they’re brought up tomorrow morning.”

  Merko turned to me, saying, “I w
ant a magnificent dinner tomorrow. One worthy of our victory.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” I said. Things seemed to be going back to what they were before the other pirates attacked. Yet to me, they would never be the same.

  CHAPTER 10

  There was a discrete knock on my bedroom door. I was in my nightgown but saw Lina and Amapola similarly garbed outside my door. I let them in.

  “We’ve come to apologize,” Lina said.

  “We didn’t have much choice,” Amapola said. “We had to obey Merko.”

  “Apologize for what?” I asked.

  “Not telling you, that Merko wanted you to use your enhancing to protect himself and the other pirates,” Lina said. “We were ordered not to talk to you.”

  They certainly obeyed that order. There was one chair in the room, and I gestured Lina to use it. Considering her age, I thought she might be more comfortable in a chair. I sat cross-legged on the bed, and Amapola sat on the chest.

  “Were you enhancers?” I asked. I remembered their reactions to the Ezant twig ceremony. Clearly it meant more to them than the other ceremonies Roddy and I performed.

  “‘Were’ is the right word,” Lina said bitterly. “I was here for weeks before they were attacked. There were two ships, and I sunk one of them. I think they were from Lagudia.” Lagudia was a major trading city. Ship Town often had ships that stopped there also. “They were probably tired of pirates attacking their ships. By then, I was too frightened of Merko not to obey him.” I didn’t find Merko frightening until he tried to get me to attack the Rocky Coast Pirates, but she may have understood him quicker than I did.

  “I don’t know who attacked,” Amapola said. “The first time, I had no idea Merko was a pirate. I’d only been here a few days. Ezant let me get away with it, because I didn’t know. The next time was months later, and I knew. But I was afraid of Merko. I thought … I thought since I got away with it before that Ezant would let me do it again.” She hung her head and didn’t look at either of us.

  “How did you come here?” I asked Amapola, but Lina answered.

  “I was married at sixteen to a carpenter who was twice my age,” Lina said. “He was a younger son, and his nephews were displacing him in the family business. We moved to a small town north of Lagudia. No children, so I helped him. By the time he died, I was doing half the work, more than half the work. But people didn’t want to hire a woman, and the only enhancing I did was fire enhancing, because I inherited the ability through my father.” Only women could enhance, and few men knew enough about enhancing to teach it. Fire enhancing is the easiest kind of enhancing. “I was surprised to see how much you can do. Merko came in the summer. I ran out of money and no one would hire me for anything. It seemed like a gift from Ezant.”

  “But you knew what they were when you visited Ship Town. Why not leave there?”

  “Ship Town was so small and isolated, I didn’t think I could find work,” Lina said. “Can you imagine coming to a strange town in the middle of nowhere and trying to find a job? Besides, Merko made us leave our money behind.”

  If the people who knew her wouldn’t support her, how could she expect strangers to do so? Yet I knew the people in Ship Town. They would not let anyone starve, particularly someone who was willing to work.

  Lina continued to explain. “The pirates are so lazy, they’re happy to have anyone who can work. There aren’t any carpenters on the island. Almost no trees and hardly any wood.” They really needed the wood they bought in Ship Town, because there was so much that was made of wood. Lina had plenty of work here.

  I looked questioningly at Amapola, who got up and looked out the window into the night. “I was a fool,” she said bitterly. “My mother was an enhancer but died when I was small. My father taught me to worship Ezant, saying it would help me. He died when I was eight. His sister, my aunt, was a seamstress and she took me in. We were poor, very poor. When I was old enough to enhance, she sold my services to heat houses. Only no one thought it was work, so I had to work as a seamstress also.”

  I understood that attitude. My mother attempted to educate the villagers at Ship Town, but largely failed. Enhancing was work. I would be more tired after a day of enhancing than after a day of serving customers at the Pelican.

  “I was coming back from heating a house one day, and I met Merko. It seemed like it was an accident, but I think he planned it. He told me I was beautiful, and he courted me.”

  “You are beautiful,” I said.

  “My aunt taught me that beauty is a luxury of the rich. It doesn’t mean anything,” Amapola said bitterly. “I ran off with Merko, and now I’m here. It was sweet at first. I loved him and thought he loved me. Now I sew for some of the men. Some of them want their clothes made by a big city tailor. I’m not very good with men’s clothing, but many of them don’t care if they don’t look stylish. But I was worried if I didn’t make myself useful, they would find a use for me.” It wasn’t hard to imagine the use she was thinking about. Sometimes, I worried about it myself. My enhancing wasn’t perfect protection. I hoped they liked my cooking enough, so they would consider that a sufficient contribution.

  “He can’t let us go,” I suddenly realized. “This island can’t be secret. Even if people don’t know where it is, it must be visible for miles.” The cliffs that gave us a beautiful view of the ocean would be visible from quite a distance away. “Someone must know approximately where it is.”

  “You mean if I described the island as a haven for pirates, some city like Lagudia would send a fleet to clean them out?” Lina said. I nodded.

  “So, what do we do?” Amapola asked. “Stay here until Merko loses and doesn’t return? The islanders won’t treat us well. Even if they did, we would be stuck here. They don’t have ships.”

  I got up and opened the door, checking the hall, since what I was going to say was too dangerous to let anyone hear. “The Eagle,” I whispered. “Roddy would know how to run her. He could teach us, and we could all escape. There might be some islanders who would go with us. He spends a lot of time with them. He might know whom to trust.”

  We discussed it in whispers for some time. Neither Lina nor Amapola believed we would actually escape, but both agreed to be ready to leave with what they could carry at a moment’s notice. They left the preparations up to me.

  I briefly considered the possibility that either of them would go to Merko but rejected it. What would they have to gain? They were very well treated but the end was inevitable. Someday, Merko would be killed. Whether he was replaced by one of his underlings, another band of pirates, or the locals, Lina, Amapola, and I would lose our privileged status. The one thing that Merko would not give any of us was freedom.

  I was too tense to oversleep. Merko wanted a magnificent meal, and that’s what I would give him. The first step was the bread. The supplies Jerot promised me weren’t there, but until someone was awake who could tell me where the food was, I made do by mixing enough dough for twenty loaves. On the rare occasions when a shipload of sailors came to the Pelican, my mother and I would make bread together.

  Milea came in with two other island women. “Do you need any help?”

  I put the two women to work kneading, but asked Milea if she could find out what supplies were available. “I don’t think Merko will be happy if we served him bread and porridge,” I said.

  Vlid came with a wheelbarrow full of food, and several pirates brought up supplies from the ship. I started making the meal. A few hours later, Vlid brought a second load of food, and I had the menu planned. Stew didn’t seem festive enough, which meant I had to stay in the kitchen and use enhancing to cook. The women followed my orders well, and for the first time, included me in their conversation.

  Jerot’s supplies included several hams, which furnished the main course in the meal. With yams, onions, peas, and noodles, I was able to serve something sufficiently different and enticing. I used half of the bread dough to make bread with nuts, raisins, and dr
ied apples.

  Even with competent help, I was busy all day and exhausted by the time the meal was served.

  Lina and Amapola took their usual seats in the kitchen, but Merko said to them, “This is a party. Join us.” Warily, they took their plates and started toward the group. I remembered how I felt when I was in their position, but I had enhancing skills to protect myself.

  Jerot stood up and said, “Amapola, I would be happy if you sat by me.” He looked at the man on his right and said, “There’s space over at that table. I would appreciate it if you would move.”

  The man hesitated, glancing at Merko, who said, “Now we know why Jerot never gets elected leader. ‘I would appreciate it if you would move,’ is no way to give a command.”

  Elected? Merko was elected? But then it made sense. He was careful of his popularity and what other means would be used? If a man owned a ship and recruited pirates, he might stay in command for a while, but they were pirates. They wouldn’t respect property rights. Fighting for leadership had obvious disadvantages as well.

  The man moved and Amapola sat by Jerot. She was on the end of the row, which meant she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone but Jerot. That left Lina standing there, looking forlorn. She couldn’t retreat to the kitchen and her ugly face and grey hair didn’t appeal to the pirates. Roddy stood up. “You,” he said, pointing to the man next to him. “Move. Make way for a lady. Lina, sit by me.” He turned to face Merko. “Is that how it should be done?”

  “That’s how it should be done, but I can’t see why it should be done,” Merko replied.

  “I always liked a younger woman.”

  “Younger?” Merko said mockingly.

  “She’s younger than I am,” Roddy replied.

  “Is she? She doesn’t look it,” Kalten said.

  She did look younger. I realized her grey hair and unattractive face was misleading. Her face alone might put her at forty, which was definitely younger than Roddy. Roddy appeared younger than his age because he was lean and muscular, and moved with agility. But I remembered him discussing with my father some stretching they both did to make moving easier.