The Pirates of Fainting Goat Island

by Teresa McCullough

  After Lina sat down, the conversation became general and I ate my meal in my usual place.

  The pirates no longer pretended. They openly practiced swordsmanship and conversations about their work became common. They still remained reasonably polite to each other, and me, but I didn’t realize how much they were acting before. I understood why Lina and Amapola feared them. The discussions about casually killing people were meant to shock me, but that didn’t make them lies.

  Although I wanted to leave as soon as I knew they were pirates, the reality was worse than the theory. They must have enjoyed fooling me before, and now they took pleasure in my horror at the details of their lives away from the island. I tried to conceal it but wasn’t entirely successful.

  “… but I killed him anyway,” Kalten said at the end of a long story that I had to listen to because Vlid and I were putting away food he brought. I managed not to react and could see Kalten was disappointed.

  “He’s exaggerating,” Vlid whispered after Kalten left.

  “But not completely lying,” I guessed.

  Vlid gave the tiniest nod. The vacant look, which briefly disappeared from his face, returned, and he left.

  Merko insisted on agility training onboard the ships, which the men grumbled about, but bragged about their results. For safety reasons, they carried sticks, not swords, but they jumped from one ship to the other, stick in hand. Jerot complained that it put him behind on his repair work, but it was only for a couple of hours every other day, and when they practiced moving between one pair of ships, he worked on the third ship, including the Red Lion which hadn’t been damaged by the volcano.

  When there was no sign of the Rocky Coast Pirates after a week, the guards became less diligent, assuming there was nothing to guard against. I brought food to the two men who guarded the Lodge, just to keep them awake. It wasn’t so much the food, since the men were well fed, but my seeing whether they were on duty that helped them stay alert. But that wasn’t the only motive I had. I was having nightmares and often couldn’t sleep. I kept seeing the men I helped kill lying on the ground. Sometimes, in my dreams, they would get up and whisper, “You killed me.” Feeding the guards gave me a purpose when I woke up.

  Merko’s men obeyed him in some areas, but it was partly because they agreed with him. He protected me because he was afraid I would protect myself in a way that wasn’t ethical. My claim that I was willing to lose my ability to enhance to retaliate against harassment from his men must have been his incentive to keep me safe from them. But he couldn’t control them in everything. The guards were on duty, but not on alert.

  It was early one morning, and I brought out a hunk of bread for Kalten, whose appetite was related to his size and made me certain he would want it. Instead of walking the perimeter, he was lying on the ground, snoring loudly. I looked out and saw three men coming up stealthily toward him. “Wake up!” I shouted.

  Kalten responded quickly and was on his feet, sword in hand, but the men rushed him. I used enhancing to trip the first man in the group and got lucky because he fell in such a way as to make another man have to slow his charge. That meant Kalten dealt with one man. I yelled for help while Kalten’s sword clashed with the oncoming man’s sword.

  I was able to trip the invader and Kalten’s sword cut his shoulder as he fell. The second guard heard my call and was running toward the fight while yelling for more help. The wounded man tried to attack Kalten, who stepped back. I kept the enemy’s sword moving enough so he lost his grip and it was thrown toward me. I picked it up and stabbed the man in his leg, horrified that I could do it, but Kalten was fully engaged with the other two men and help hadn’t yet arrived.

  I kept the sword in my hand and used enhancing on Kalten’s attackers to trip them, one at a time. The second guard helped Kalten kill all three men. Kalten relieved me of the sword, which I was holding awkwardly.

  I walked back inside, shaking, partly in fear, but partly because I attacked someone with a sword. Attacking with enhancing seemed so remote, and I had the assurance that I was using it ethically, or else I would lose the ability.

  I wanted comfort and Roddy was the only source. I knew where his room was, since I sometimes heated it. It was on the ground floor, the fourth door on the right. I crept down the corridor to his room, knocking softly and whispering, “Roddy.” I heard sounds inside the room. What was Roddy doing? I gently tried the door, but it didn’t open. I heard a scraping sound, and he partially opened the door. I saw he moved a trunk away from the door. I thought he felt reasonably safe here.

  “What’cha doing in my room, girl?” Roddy said, while he closed the door after I entered. He also closed the window, which I was surprised to see was open, since the night was cool. The room was tiny. It must have been a servant’s room, with a narrow bed and a chest constituting the only furniture.

  I sat on the chest and said, “I just helped kill three men.” Seeing that I was shaking, Roddy pulled the blanket off his bed and wrapped it around me. I explained what happened.

  When I finished, he asked, “Can you still enhance?”

  “I think so. I could until the end of the fight.”

  He flipped one of his slippers in the air and I made it go further. “Ezant doesn’t object,” he said.

  “Well, I do. It was easier from a distance. Only it wasn’t, because I kept waking up from nightmares and didn’t want to go back to sleep. But this is worse. I want to leave this island. I want to go home.”

  “Is Ship Town home?”

  “Yes. It is for me. Could we use the Eagle to escape? I know you couldn’t sail it alone, but Lina and Amapola want to go. Vlid too.”

  “Do you trust Vlid? Is he intelligent enough to help? Can he keep a secret?”

  “Yes, to all three questions,” I said. Especially the last. How long had Vlid kept the secret of his intelligence? “But I am confused about Vlid. I couldn’t Control him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I described how he attacked Merko even when I ordered him not to.

  “Maybe his protecting you balanced the meals you fed him,” Roddy said uncertainly.

  “But he didn’t really protect me then. Attacking Merko with a knife when Merko had a sword? That’s not protection, but suicide. Vlid didn’t want to fight Merko even with both weapons.”

  “Your father said he never knew when he Controlled someone.”

  “I don’t either. I had to learn to be careful on how I word things, or I could waste controlling on getting someone to pass the salt. It’s not like enhancing. I can feel enhancing work.”

  “Maybe Vlid didn’t like your cooking,” Roddy said.

  This got a smile from me, and we dropped the subject of my being unable to Control Vlid. I told Roddy about the rowboat in the cave. That would get us to the Eagle, but I knew Merko kept guards on it all the time. Usually, one man was on it, often Jerot. It was more a matter of making certain that any group of men who decided to steal it would have to attack one of their own. One man couldn’t sail it. Roddy said he would talk to Vlid and I told him I thought I might be able to Control Kalten to help us escape.

  At dinner, Kalten talked about my help in defending The Lodge. No mention was made of my waking him up, however. His story was of stealthy attackers, making full use of available cover and a guard who may not have been alert enough, but was awake and on the job. No other pirates could be truth-tellers, or his story would be different.

  Merko went to his room and came back with a small purse of gold, which he handed me. I took one gold coin and handed it back to him. “I want some blue silk, enough to make me a dress. I’ve always wanted a silk dress. Maybe I can persuade Amapola to make it for me. I want some books. I think I’ve read everything on this island. I’ll add to my list before you leave.”

  “What do you think I am, your servant?” Merko asked good-naturedly.

  “All I ask is that you hand it to whichever of your men you think could fulfill my wishes best.”
I didn’t want to say that the gold was worth nothing to me here. I couldn’t spend it, and I thought Merko eventually expected to get it back.

  Merko started looking around the room as if to decide which pirate would make the best shopper. I was afraid he would pick Kalten. If Kalten did me a favor, I might not be able to Control him. “One quarter,” I said. “Whoever does it, gets to charge me twenty-five percent more than it cost him. That’s assuming that he doesn’t cheat me and pretend he spent twice as much on it.”

  Suddenly, there were volunteers. I picked a man that I thought would be a good choice. He dressed in clothes made by a tailor, and wore expensive, well-fitting boots. He knew how to shop, and the men approved my choice with a lot of kidding. I hoped they got the real message that I intended to convey, which was a lie. I hoped they thought I was content to stay here.

  But I wasn’t content. Roddy told me he talked to Vlid, who would join us in our escape as well as some other people that Vlid didn’t want to name for safety reasons. Milea and Little Vlid? I could understand Vlid not trusting Roddy. Milea’s and Little Vlid’s safety had to be of paramount importance.

  “The signal to go is when Kalten and I have Lodge guard duty. You take care of Kalten, tell Lina and Amapola when to go and send them to my room. I’ll attend to everything else,” Roddy told me. “Vlid said that he can arrange the Eagle to be unguarded. He wouldn’t tell me how. Are you sure you trust him?”

  “Yes.” I was sure, but I didn’t understand why I was sure. I stopped my monologues to him in the kitchen, partly because I knew he could talk back and partly because the island women talked to me. It wasn’t that they said anything important, but I no longer felt isolated. Lina and Amapola also talked to me, but they were busy with their tasks, which didn’t bring them to the kitchen, where I spent most of my time. There was a surprising amount of wood in the Lodge, and the pirates weren’t gentle with it. Lina repaired trunks, shutters, shelves, and railings almost constantly. Amapola sewed the men’s clothing.

  When Merko commented that I wasn’t talking to Vlid, I replied that other people were talking to me. I didn’t tell him I wasn’t satisfied by these conversations. Vlid paid more attention than the women did. They never revealed much about themselves. After telling some stories from Ship Town that weren’t reciprocated, I talked to them on the same shallow level they talked to me about day-to-day events.

  I didn’t tell them about my parents’ deaths, although I thought about them a dozen times a day. Their deaths were too important to be shared with people who didn’t care. I certainly wasn’t going to talk about wanting to leave Fainting Goat Island. It occurred to me I could have talked about Geltor and my failed relationship, but I thought about him so little, that it didn’t matter anymore.

  I could have told them about my grief when I found out he was unfaithful, but the fact that I no longer grieved meant I could both talk about it and I didn’t need to. He crossed my mind about once a week now. I could talk about the guilt I still carried about sleeping with him without marriage, but that would insult these women who were sleeping with the pirates.

  I talked about the weather and cooking.

  I kept up my nighttime wandering, although the nightmares were receding. I still got them, but not every night. The repairs of the Rockfall and the Eagle were going slowly and finally after two weeks the appropriate pair was on guard. There were always a few pirates gambling with cards or dice, sometimes until dawn. I went downstairs and while passing the main room, I asked, “Who’s on guard?” although I knew the answer. But I asked it every night and wanted to be consistent.

  The answer confirmed what Kalten and Roddy were on guard. “Well, Kalten will want a lot of food, and Roddy is almost family, so I better bring them something special.” I spent the last several days making my presence known, when I left to feed the guards but slipping in as quietly as possible afterward. I wanted them to think that was normal.

  My bundle of possessions was already stashed in the kitchen, making it easy for me to grab and exit by the kitchen door. I left it near the building and went to find Kalten, bringing food.

  “Hello, Kalten.”

  “Heleen, what did you bring me tonight?”

  “Bread around a cheese filling with spinach, onions, and a little sausage. It’s hot, so you will probably want to eat it before it gets cool.” Now came the time for the order. “Take it behind the first cottage and eat it on the bench over there. Take a nap afterward. You may even tell people I drugged it.” I didn’t want him hurt because of this, although I knew that feeling was illogical. “But don’t go around the Lodge until it’s time for your shift to be over.” That should give us time to reach the stairs.

  There. It was a clear-cut order. If I Controlled him, he would have to obey. He took his food and started in the right direction. I paused long enough to see him vanish behind the cottage and waited a minute to see if he was immediately returning. That was not the place he was supposed to be. I Controlled him.

  I wanted to run, but so far, I did nothing incriminating, if such a word could be used for escaping from criminals. I grabbed my bundle and headed for Roddy’s window, softly knocking once on the shutter. It opened and Lina and Amapola crawled out awkwardly, first handing me their bundles. Roddy met us at the stairs down to the harbor. He was wearing a sword, since it was required for guard duty. We went as silently as we could, not wanting to alert anyone. When we reached the bottom, Milea was there.

  “Little Vlid?” I asked her quietly as the others got into the rowboat that Vlid brought.

  “He’s onboard,” Milea replied. She didn’t have a bundle and was barefoot in her nightgown.

  There were two sets of oarlocks, and Roddy and Vlid rowed carefully, so not to make much noise, but they weren’t successful. Someone from the Red Lion saw us, and one man came to the dock and started running upstairs. I hoped we would be gone before he could get help.

  I used my enhancing to make it easier to move the rowboat. All bundles were lifted onto the Eagle. It was too dark to see who was behind the unseen hands that helped Lina and Amapola onboard, but Amapola gasped when she boarded. I stayed with the rowboat.

  Roddy and Vlid rowed to the front of the Eagle. Roddy caught a rope tossed by someone onboard and tied it to a ring on the rowboat. Now the men used all their strength to row. Using enhancing, I sped up first the rowboat, and then, after she started moving, the Eagle. We headed for the shallow end of the harbor in the west, away from the ships that might chase us. There was a narrow place where the Eagle could go, but the other ships couldn’t.

  It involved a bit of maneuvering to get there. Belatedly, I realized I should have tripped the man who ran upstairs. There weren’t enough men in the harbor to chase us. Our real fear was from Merko and his men.

  “Change to enhancing the rowboat,” Vlid said. “We need to reposition the Eagle to get through.” I obeyed. When we reached the critical part, getting the Eagle through the narrow passage, I held my breath. Necessity made me breathe before it was through.

  Once we were through, Roddy and Vlid brought the rowboat alongside the Eagle, and both helped me board. They abandoned the rowboat and relied on the sails. The wind would blow us into Goat Island, but we headed north to take advantage of some of it. I then got a look at the man who joined us.

  It was Jerot.

  CHAPTER 11

  I assumed Roddy would be captain for this journey, but he took orders from Jerot. I was baffled that Jerot was with us, because he was Merko’s trusted second. “Keep her on course,” he said to me.

  I threw all my enhancing into it and nearly fell as we hit a wave. I moderated my enhancing, but Jerot ordered me not to slack off. He then guided me to enhance us to get maximum distance from Fainting Goat Island, going with the wind, which unfortunately brought us partially around Goat Island. When we were clear of the island, we saw the Red Lion come out of the east end of the harbor. They were chasing us. I had hoped they would be slower getting s
tarted.

  “One sail’s torn,” I exclaimed, noticing it for the first time.

  “I know,” Jerot said. “I hoped we could get out of sight before it matters. Merko knows this ship is a temptation for anyone who wants to leave and deliberately kept the torn sails. Kalten checked it today, and if I took them down to mend them, the guards on the other ships would see it and report.” Sails. Plural. The other two sails were torn? In the dark, I couldn’t see.

  A gust of wind caught the sail and I heard a ripping sound. The tear became larger. Jerot and Roddy hastily took down the sail. I called down into the hold, and everyone came up, including Little Vlid, who was clutching Milea.

  “Amapola,” Jerot ordered, “get your sewing equipment. We need to mend this sail.”

  “It will blunt my needles,” she protested.

  “Now!”

  She went. Jerot apparently knew how to give orders when it mattered.

  “We need some cloth to help mend it. What can we use?”

  Milea pulled off her nightgown. She was naked underneath it. Roddy grabbed the gown and used his knife to cut a large swath off. Vlid took off his shirt and handed it to Milea. Vlid showed a muscular, hairy chest. I didn’t realize how masculine he was under his loose, goat-hair shirt. Jerot handed Roddy a threaded needle he must have had ready. Roddy positioned the cloth on the sail. Amapola came up and started pinning it in place while Roddy sewed.

  “Do you have another needle?” I asked.

  Amapola pulled one out of a box and I started to go down to help but was interrupted by Jerot. “No, keep enhancing.” He was doing something with the rudder while Vlid was doing something with one of the smaller sails.

  Milea took the other needle from Amapola and tried to thread it. “The thread’s too thick for the hole.”