by A. E. Murphy
Hunter leads us down the steep incline but it’s not so steep that I can’t manage. I’m more worried about making it back up. He leaves us on the beach in the middle of the island as he scouts the area and Larry makes himself busy in the trees, he’s crouched low and tapping the ground with the trowel I spotted earlier.
“It’s the large one, just there,” Larry states, pointing across the pool. “Watch your step.”
Now I’m even more curious.
“Come with me,” Calder whispers, kissing my temple and leading me around the small pool of water. It’s so clear I can see to the bottom, it looks as though it leads to a cave of sorts below the surface. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.
As we step over a fallen tree and make our way to the largest tree on the island the ground once again becomes earth.
We round the tree just a little when, finally, Captain stops ramrod straight and my eyes shoot to where his are focused.
In the tree, carved above a large hole big enough to fit two hands into, are words etched into the ageing bark.
I reach out and touch them with my fingers before whispering, “Adonia, there’s a date, it’s faded.”
When I look back at Calder his eyes are swimming with tears and now mine are too.
“Is this where your mother was buried?”
He nods once and pulls a knife from his pocket.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to know her, Calder.” I touch his shoulder and hug his side as he digs his blade into the wood, making her name fresh again and the date beneath it, the date of her death. “She would have loved you so much.”
He doesn’t stop digging into the wood until he’s satisfied her name will stay there.
“This is why I wanted the ring,” he admits quietly, letting me remove his tears with my thumb. “It belonged to the man who raised me.”
“Captain Sullivan?”
Nodding he continues, his eyes still on the tree, “He kept the coordinates in a ring for me to have when I got old enough to sail there myself.”
My head lowers as I realise exactly what ring he’s talking about. I don’t speak because my chest is aching so much I’m finding it hard to breathe.
“It was taken from me that night… the night I got my scar.”
“I’m so sorry, Calder.”
“I wanted so desperately to meet her. I always thought that maybe, just maybe she’d be alive when I got here. A childish dream but one I’ve held onto for so long.”
I sniffle at his words and rest my head on his shoulder. “She’s still alive in you, and now in me too.” I bring his hand to my stomach. “I bet she was beautiful.”
“Sullivan always said she was the prettiest woman he’d ever met, and it was a sorry shame to see her go.”
We share a smile and I reach up again to catch the last of his tears. “Why don’t we leave some flowers or something?” I ask, looking around and seeing random bursts of colourful weeds growing in places around us.
He looks down at the dirt beneath our feet and nods.
We set off together, hand in hand and carefully pull a few plants up by the roots. I fetch water from the clear pool as he digs into the dirt with his fingers. I tip the water onto the earth to make it easier to move around and go to fetch more.
“Why did they bury her here?” I ask, looking around the island. “It’s beautiful but it’s a bit out of the way.”
Calder shrugs. “The island was meant to hold treasure and antiques from the fifteen-hundreds. The treasure of a pirate known as Red Beard.”
I laugh a little. “What is it with you pirates and naming yourselves after beards?”
He smiles, showing all of his teeth as I scoop up some more water. “I said that once. But anyway, I digress, it has been searched for by pirates, scavengers, and even governments for a really long time. There were rumours it had gone down with his ship but Sullivan knew better. The ship in question, I think it was called the Queen’s Lover, but in French… I can’t recall the exact name… sank just off the coast of Madagascar. Sullivan plundered it a while ago and amongst the ruins he found a single map that Sullivan spent years trying to restore until, eventually, it led him to this island.”
I look around in wonder. “So there could be treasure on this island?”
He shakes his head. “They searched it for days, dug up every diggable spot, tore it to shreds.”
I crouch down and finger the sand, writing my name as I let my mind wander to ancient times. “They never found it?”
“Nobody ever did, truth be told there was probably no such treasure.”
“I feel like I’m in a movie,” I say, giggling at him as I sit on the small beach and rest. He finishes pushing the few wild plants onto the grave and then holds out his hand for me.
I return to him and hug his waist as we look upon the grave.
“I hope the flowers thrive,” I whisper.
He touches the name and whispers something indecipherable under his breath in a language that sounds like Spanish. I wait for him to finish before I ask him what he said.
He simply looks at me with shining eyes and holds my bump with one hand. “I asked her to keep you safe in childbirth and after.”
“Between your mother and mine, there’s no way I’m dying, Calder.”
“I know. But it doesn’t hurt to use manners from time to time.”
Laughing again, I look at the tree and ask, “Please.”
He leads me back to the little beach and we both sit with our feet dipped into the cool water.
“I’ve got bags full,” Larry declares, grinning as he drops three plastic bags onto the sand behind us. I take a nosy inside and raise a brow when I spot mushrooms and wild onions.
Calder looks happy and is about to reply when the sun seems to shift overhead, pouring its rays onto us just right and his vivid greens flick to the cave in the water. He narrows his eyes and I pull my feet from the water instinctively.
“Captain?” Larry asks when he stands, spilling sand onto my lap and into my hair.
“What the hell?” I ask, frowning as he starts stripping off, his eyes on the cave. “What are you doing?”
He doesn’t answer, simply dives headfirst into the depths and powers on, going deeper and deeper.
“Calder!” I yell stepping into the pool. “What is he doing?”
“Not a clue, lass,” Larry replies, chuckling. “He was probably too warm.”
I watch him reach the mouth of the cave and start pulling at something. Bubbles trail to the surface, making new ripples as he kicks his strong legs.
Larry follows him in, seeing something I clearly cannot and seconds later Hunter joins them, leaving me on the sand alone with bags of wild onions and a trowel.
“Freaks,” I mutter and continue drawing in the sand.
My attention soon diverts when at last Calder resurfaces, and in his hand, which is raised high in the air, is some kind of dirty-looking object the shape of an egg.
“Catch!”
He tosses the object my way and I catch it with a bit of fumbling. Brushing off the dirt caked to the surface, I eventually uncover what looks to be brass, or perhaps even gold. I’m not too sure which. I don’t fiddle with it too much because I don’t want to damage whatever it is.
I’m still picking at the filth in the grooves of the ornament when he dives back under again and all I can do is wait.
“We are going to be rich,” he exclaims when he resurfaces again with another object.
“Yay, shopping spree,” I reply jokingly and get ready to catch the next item he throws my way.
Back on the ship there’s dancing, cheering, and a lot of drinking as the men aboard help lift the rowing boat out of the water. It is full of trinkets and coarse-looking gold bricks. The cave was full of treasure, I can hardly believe it. So much that they’re having to go back for more.
I don’t know how he saw it or how they missed it before. Larry believes the cave was likely covered the ti
me of year they went. He explained that the water would have been almost as high as the earth where they buried Adonia, which means the water would have been murky and not clear like it was. But that’s just speculation. Regardless it was a massive oversight and a good one because whatever they have is worth a lot of money. A lot.
Captain dances around the deck with the rest of them, swigging directly from a bottle of rum that has been passed around. They sing together, A Pirate’s Life for Me. It’s funny, especially when he picks me up and swings me around to, yo ho ho.
We keep the anchor , and as soon as the treasure is finally hauled up, every last bit of it, the lights come on, the music comes on and it’s time to party. Everyone starts drinking. Larry gets his gin and shares it with my brother, the rest share copious amounts of rum as I sit in the captain’s throne and look at them all dancing and having the best time.
Even Geoffrey is looking drunk with a bottle of something nuclear looking in his hand. I giggle at their antics as their mutual excitement buzzes through me.
Baby takes it all well too, dancing in my stomach along with them.
After a short while of watching them all get crazy, I leave them to it and head across the deck to look at the island one more time.
Calder didn’t kidnap me for just a ring.
He kidnapped me because he wanted to meet his mum. I can hardly blame him for that because, given the chance, I might do the same.
“I’m going to love him the best I can,” I whisper to the island’s silhouette. “I promise.”
I don’t get a reply, thankfully, because that would be creepy.
“What are you dooooooin?” Geoffrey drunkenly asks me, coming to lean on the railing by my side.
I bump my shoulder into his. “Just looking at the island.”
“We should name it,” he slurs, pointing at the island in the distance while on unsteady legs. “I dub thee—"
“It already has a name,” I cut him off and giggle. “She’s called Adonia. I think I’m pronouncing it right.”
“The island Adonia. It’s beautiful,” he murmurs and hiccups as he turns to face me in the dark. “Have you been taking your iron supplements?”
I nod. “Of course.”
He sways a little but then holds my eyes. They’re dark and hazy and I can only just make them out as the light from the party, which is at least twenty yards away, is hitting the back of his head, casting the front in a dark shadow.
“I need to say something,” he murmurs, suddenly looking nervous. “Because I am druuuuunk.” When he smacks his lips and hisses through his teeth while leaning back from the railing I try not to laugh. He almost slips but catches himself at the last second.
“Maybe you should sleep it off?” My suggestion falls on deaf ears.
“I want to kiss you,” he tells me, shaking his head and smiling again. “So bad. Like so bad.”
“Dude,” I mutter, now looking for an escape because I do not want to be part of this conversation.
“Can I? Just once? I’ll never ask again.”
“Geoffrey.” I place my hand on his arm. “You know I can’t do that.”
“It’s not a big deal.” He pouts, looking like an unruly child as opposed to a fully grown genius. “You never gave me the chance before.”
Grinning, feeling flattered and a little uncomfortable, I pat his cheek with my hand. “I’m going now.”
“Not even a little one?”
I walk away before his whining tone can affect me and join Calder on the deck.
“I’m going to bed,” I whisper in his ear when he pulls me to him for a hug.
“I’ll take you.”
I place my hand on his chest. “No, you stay, have fun with your crew. You deserve it after today.” I kiss his jaw and start to move away when he suddenly yanks me back, dips me and kisses me hard in front of everyone. They cheer, all except my brother who looks away.
I head to bed feeling lighter on my feet for the first time in forever.
“We’re going to be just fine,” I say to my stomach and give it a pat.
Madagascar is stunning. A beach paradise with so many trees and mountains. We spend an entire day on land, shopping as he promised and getting the things we need. The locals in the place we docked are so friendly and welcoming.
They’re the ones who loaned us cars and got us papers to take us to the nearest town to do the shopping and other such things. Our men are ecstatic which is to be expected and we celebrate by throwing a massive party on the beach, buying out the local fish market and meat.
There are so many of us, all on land with our row boats. I didn’t realise the ship had so many rowboats. They seem so outdated in comparison to the metal battleship in which we sail the seas on.
“How did you get the Sea Whore?” I ask Calder as he bites into a crispy bread roll full of minced beef and salad. It’s yummy, I’ve just finished my own. This is his second.
We look at the ship in the distance, not too far out that we can’t reach it after more than ten minutes rowing. It looks so peaceful and dark, I feel badly for the crew left behind to watch over the ship but Calder assures me they’ll get their turn tomorrow night.
“I stole it from another pirate when I was sixteen years old.”
I’m surprised, that wasn’t an answer I was expecting.
He chuckles at my reaction, it’s throaty, deep and so alluring. When he finishes his food and wipes his hands on a rag, he sets me on the soft sand between his thighs, his back against a large rock. The gentle waves are only a few feet from our toes that wriggle in the white sand. “The man who gave me the scar under my eye didn’t go against Sullivan because he was angry with him. He did it because we were part of a three-ship fleet. The Sea Whore back then was known as Shark Metal.”
“Dumb name.”
He nods his agreement and our eyes drift back over to the party; my brother isn’t with them unfortunately. It wouldn’t have been fair to let the newbie off first when he hasn’t earned it. My brother and I both understood and he’ll be here tomorrow.
He continues, his chest vibrating into my back, “There was the Empress Fortune, the ship in which I was raised. It was more of a freight ship that was two-thirds the size of the Sea Whore. Then there was the Sea Whore, AKA Shark Metal. And finally, the Chugger. The smallest of the three, it was more a cruise ship.”
“What a random threesome.”
“Pirates get what they can, there’s no shopping for ships these days, you need a lot of money to do that.”
I wag my brows after turning to look at him. “Something we’ll have soon, right?”
“Definitely.” He pecks me on the lips and then bites my neck playfully, making me laugh. “Well, the Chugger’s captain, O’Reilly, decided he didn’t want to follow orders anymore because he and Bastion, the captain of Shark Metal, both had a falling out over pussy.” I wonder if that’s the reason they don’t have women aboard anymore. “One thing led to another and Sullivan was forced to take sides. He chose Bastion’s side, bigger ship, more men, more power. It was the smart choice for the crew and O’Reilly sailed away from us, never to return.”
“Oh dear.”
“It was a shame.” His hands hold my stomach as our little boy kicks and rolls, showing off already and he’s not even born yet. Definitely his father’s son. “Anyway, little did we know, Bastion now seemed to think he was in charge of both ships and started swapping our men around, giving us orders, taking most of any loot we found, ships pulled up from the bottom of the ocean for example. Sullivan disagreed a lot with him until eventually Bastion decided he wanted somebody else to take his place, somebody who wouldn’t argue with him. Having already messed with the crews of both ships, he had men on the Empress to do his bidding.”
I rub his thighs, giving him all the comfort that I can as he tells this story.
“I didn’t even know what was happening until I was being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. I can’t rememb
er much, I remember the pain of the bastard’s blade as he cut my face. He was going to cut me up, all of me. I got lucky that it was just my eye. Our crew fought back, but it was hard to know who was on whose side. Everybody knew everybody. It was mayhem.”
“Jesus,” I mutter under my breath. “What did you do?”
“I tried to find Sullivan, he’d know what to do. By the time I got to him he was already dead. Bastion put a bullet between his eyes.”
“Oh my God.” My heart stops.
“Bastion was the first man I killed. I was fifteen years old, I think.”
My hands grip his thighs. “What the fuck? That’s awful.”
“It is what it is. But with both captains down it got even worse. Who was going to guide us now?” He laughs humourlessly. “Two days they spent fighting and arguing on the Empress Fortune. I knew I wasn’t safe so I did what any good pirate would do.”
“What’s that?”
“I took the other ship.”
“And so your journey began?”
“The crew split, none of them wanted to be ruled by a teenager. I didn’t blame them but the bridge was mine. Nobody else was taking it, nobody wanted to be captain and the people that did want to be captain were too fucking corrupt and nobody wanted them as captain.”
“You were brave.”
“I threatened to open fire on them if they didn’t join me and only a third of them chose to. The rest sailed away on the Empress Fortune taking everything I knew with them. For the first year of my life as captain, I slept in the bridge with one eye open. The captain’s quarters went untouched. People brought me food. I never left the bridge.”
“What made them start listening to you and respecting you?” I turn to face him, sitting on my knees, resting my hands on his knees. “Or did you just grow on them?”
“It wasn’t until my first tTyphoon that they even considered me as captain. The ship was anarchy for that first year. Nobody ate right, slept right, did their duties. Until the typhoon, and I navigated us through it to live and plunder another day.”