by Ryan Gilbert
“With hope to survive,
Daniel Travers”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Eli? Eli, w-wake up.”
The carpenter woke with a start, instantly latching onto Margaret’s arm. Disoriented, he looked around the room, seeing the bars that surrounded them. The cell was empty, devoid of anything except a feeling of dread. A lantern swung from one of the wooden beams of the deck above, casting lines of shadows across the walls of the brig.
“How long was I gone?” asked Eli, rolling over and stumbling to his feet.
“A-at least a c-couple hours,” Margaret answered.
Eli watched as she fiddled nervously with her nightgown. He could see the fear in her gray eyes.
Giving her a gentle rub on her shoulder, Eli said, “Give me a couple minutes, and I’ll have us out of this cell.”
It was the only thing that he could think to say that might help reassure the girl.
Reaching into his pockets, he felt around for anything that he could use to pick the lock on the cell door. His coat pockets yielded nothing but dust bunnies and sawdust. The skeletons must have taken his weapons and everything from his pockets while he was unconscious. Quickly, he kicked off his shoes, prying the buckles off of them. Perhaps the prongs could fit in the keyhole.
Eli took a brief moment to listen and see if there were any skeletons coming their way. When he did not hear any clomping feet, he jammed the prongs of the buckles into the lock and tried to force it open. He was not going to stay in that cell any longer than he had to.
As he fidgeted with the lock, he could hear a slight sound coming from behind him. Without even turning around, he could tell that it was Margaret weeping. He hated hearing that sound. He always felt completely helpless to stop it.
He tried to shut it out of his head, but the girl’s tears brought back too many memories.
Their first kiss.
Their engagement.
The last time Commander Elijah Carter saw his beautiful fiancée.
Holding the belt buckles in his hands, Eli looked back at Margaret. He could see her shaking, tears trickling down her precious cheeks as she sat there, stuck in a hostile and unfamiliar environment with a man who she had thought to be dead. With a sigh, he removed the prongs from the lock, kneeling down in front of Margaret. He reached out his hand and gently took hers in his own. She grasped it tightly, holding onto him with both trembling hands.
“Don’t worry, Maggie. I’ll get us out of here,” he said, trying to calm her.
“I-it’s not that, Eli,” she cried.
“What is it then?” the pirate asked.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Maggie said, “I… I want t-to know why you t-told me you were dead.”
The question hit Eli like a cannonball. He barely even knew how to respond.
“How did… I never said that.”
Eli was flustered, floundering for the right words. None were coming to him.
Wiping her eyes, Maggie sobbed, “I’m not s-stupid, Eli. Y-you were with Captain Riggs this w-whole time. Why did you not t-tell me?”
He could say nothing.
“When y-you first c-came back to New York, why did you not s-say anything? You w-wanted me to think you were d-dead,” she cried, “Why?”
Rubbing his fingers across her shaking hands, Eli said, “I would rather you think me dead than as the man that I’ve become.”
Margaret pulled her hands out from Eli’s grasp and brought them to his cheeks. She pulled him closer as tears streamed from her eyes.
“What are you t-talking about? I l-love you,” she said.
As calmly as he could, Eli eased the girl’s hands back into her lap.
“I love you too, Maggie… but you have no idea what I am now.”
“Then tell me,” she begged.
Eli took a couple steps back, sitting down on the ground and resting his back against the metal bars. Once his fiancée knew the criminal that he was, he knew that she would want to attack him. A pirate had just killed her mother right in front of her. Knowing that the love of her life was the same thing would surely not sit well with her.
Taking a deep breath, Eli said, “Maggie… dearest… I… I’m a pirate.”
Once the carpenter said that, the girl’s blind eyes opened wide. Eli could see the shock on Maggie’s face as she sat frozen on the ground.
“I’m sorry, Maggie… but I’m not the honest man you once knew.”
Much like Eli was a moment ago, the girl was speechless. Her mind was still comprehending what she had just heard.
Before the awkward silence could continue any further, she tearfully asked, “I-Is that why you d-didn’t say anything?”
“I couldn’t have you lowering yourself to my level. I knew it would be better for you to think I was dead.”
“No!” Maggie cried, “No, it w-wouldn’t be better. Eli, y-you hurt me.”
“And I’m truly sorry for that, but it had to be done.”
The girl stood up, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her nightgown.
“Is t-that why mother didn’t t-tell me you were there? Did she n-not say anything because y-you are a p-pirate?”
With regret seeping into his words, Eli nodded and said, “Aye.”
Maggie carefully started to make her way forward, feeling in front of her with her feet. The Fancy rocked a little, forcing her to stumble clumsily. As she regained her balance, she held out her hands to the pirate. He caught them just in time, steadying her as the ship rocked once more.
She brought her hands to Eli’s face again, letting her fingers slide across his head. Now, she could feel the tension in his cheekbones, the crustiness of dried blood on his lips, and the unkempt patches of scruff on his face. In front of her stood a man who was merely a shadow of his former self. Her Commander Carter was gone. Only a pirate remained.
Standing on the tips of her toes, Maggie gave Eli a small kiss on his cheek. Her action caught him by surprise as he was expecting something more along the lines of a slap.
“I still love you,” she said, weeping as she held tightly to Eli’s shoulders.
For a moment, he hesitated, his arms resting idly at his side. He did not know what to do. Even though he had admitted to being a pirate, Maggie still cared for him. Little by little, Eli brought his arms around the girl’s back, holding her in his embrace. With each second that passed, that embrace brought them closer to each other until they were both holding the other as tightly as they could. Eli buried his face in Maggie’s shoulder as he let out tears of joy.
His greatest fear had been silenced. Maggie would never stop loving him.
Just as the two were starting to relax, the unpleasant stomping of bare bones on the wooden stairs pulled them back into the reality of their dilemma. Still frightened of the skeleton crew, Maggie started to back away from the bars, feeling her way back to the most remote corner. Eli shielded her with his body as a single skeleton stepped into the light.
“Oh, I do hope I was interrupting something,” the crewmate laughed, adjusting his trihat.
“Shut your mouth,” Eli spat at him, spreading his arms in front of Maggie.
“What’re ye gonna do about it? Yer stuck in a cage.”
“We won’t be for long. My captain will catch up to this ship, and he will destroy you.”
The skeleton threw back his head and laughed, his fingers clutching at his bare ribs. The cackling voice echoed out of nothing as his bony jaw shook.
“I’d like to see ‘im try. Ain’t nothing’s gonna stop the King of Pirates.”
“Henry Every is not a king,” Eli snapped.
The laughing stopped. Cocking his head to the side, the skeleton lurched forward, grabbing the bars and staring at Eli with his empty eye sockets.
“You dare to question ‘im?”
“You’re damn right,” said Eli.
As the crewmember reached for his belt, Eli could hear the jingling of keys. Soon, the light of the lantern s
hined on the skeletal hand which gripped the key to the cell door. With Eli watching and Maggie listening in horror, the skeleton slid the key into the lock, unlocking it and swinging the door open.
“You’re gonna regret that,” said Every’s crewmate, cracking his knuckles as he stepped into the cell.
Keeping Maggie behind him, Eli readied himself for a fight.
Before the skeleton could even take two steps, he stopped. Eli rushed at him, but the bony pirate let out a monstrous scream, stopping the carpenter in his tracks. Their captor clawed at his skull as a tiny crack started to appear, running down the front of his face like a spider web. A blue light shone out from the inside of his head, seemingly pushing the skull outwards.
FOOM
The skeleton’s head exploded in a blast of blue light. The rest of his body crumpled to the floor, along with his hat and clothes.
“Eli… w-what happened?” Maggie asked timidly.
Picking up a broken piece of the skull, Eli replied, “I haven’t a clue.
“Maybe I could help answer that,” said a quiet voice.
The carpenter jumped back in fright. The voice seemed to be coming from the ground itself.
“Who are you?” asked Eli, his eyes darting around the room.
“Down here,” said the voice.
“Where?”
Eli could still not see any sign of who the voice belonged to.
“In the hat.”
His eyes darted over to the hat, intent on seeing the owner of the voice. Squinting his eyes a little, he could make out a faintly glowing ball of blue. Unsure of what to expect, he crept closer to the hat, keeping hold of Maggie’s hand. Before long, two tiny hands appeared, pulling a miniscule Sapphire out of the folds of the hat. Eli let out a breath of relief.
With a quick chuckle, the carpenter asked, “How’d you get onboard, Sapphire?”
Fluttering her wings, the fairy said, “I flew, of course. I had to hide, but I’ve found that to be extremely easy.”
“How so?”
With a shudder, she said, “You don’t want to know.”
“Eli… w-who are you t-talking to?” asked Maggie.
Turning to the fairy, Eli asked, “Saph, would you please…”
Not even allowing him to finish his request, the fairy waved her wand, growing to her regular size in an instant. Without any hesitation, she reached out and grasped Maggie’s hand.
“I’m Sapphire, the fairy of the Red Sky,” she said with a cheery smile.
“Maggie Stephenson,” was all the girl could manage. She was still significantly surprised.
“What’s your plan for getting us off this ship?” interjected Eli.
He did not know how much longer the two of them could survive on the Fancy. With Maggie’s blindness, it would only slow down any escape attempt, even with the door literally hanging open.
“I don’t really have a plan,” said Sapphire with a guilty look on her face, “Clint sent me over here to keep an eye on Every.”
“How many skeletons would we have to fight through to escape?”
All the fairy had to do was shake her head.
“We’d never survive… even with my magic,” said Sapphire.
Frustrated, Eli stomped his foot on the ground. Kicking the skeleton out of the cell, he swung the door shut, closing it like it had been before. There was no trace that the door had even been opened.
Turning to the fairy and the startled girl, Eli said, “We need a plan if we’re all going to get out of here in one piece… and we need it now.”
Hades stood at the bow of the Red Sky, his eyes closed as he tried to keep in contact with his ship. He could feel the Flying Dutchman cutting through the waves with all its might. Even from miles away, he could tell that his crew was just barely keeping up with Every. With the pirate in possession of two magical items, their pursuit was becoming much more difficult than it should have been.
Reaching out his arms, he could feel the wooden spokes of the wheel in his hands. The darkness of his closed eyes peeled away as a vision of the Dutchman’s helm came to him. If his hunters were going to catch their prey, then he would need to lead them.
“Isn’t it a bit early to be fighting ghosts, Hades?”
The god of death slowly opened his eyes, his concentration broken. With a frown on his face, he turned around to see Ororis sitting on a barrel and smiling mischievously.
“What do you want?” he asked, slightly annoyed.
Dropping down off of the barrel, the mermaid said, “I just want to talk.”
“Make it quick,” Hades said, crossing his arms, “I’ve got important matters to attend to with my ship.”
Ororis casually waved her hand in the air. It looked to Hades like she did not even care.
“If you don’t want to hear what I know, then by all means, go back to talking to thin air,” she said haughtily.
Abruptly, she turned around like she was going to walk away. Hades knew she would not, but now he was curious.
Sighing, he asked, “What is it ye know, Ororis?”
She stopped and slowly turned her head to peer at the god in her peripheral vision. The sly look on her face nearly made Hades feel uncomfortable.
“You see, I’ve been around pirates for most of my life. I can tell when people are trying to hide something from me.”
Pivoting on her foot, she stared straight into Hades’ yellow eyes with her red eyes.
“I know you’re hiding something.”
The god raised an eyebrow, unsure of what Ororis was meaning.
“Why would I hide anything? Everyone already knows my true identity,” said Hades.
Ororis shook her head.
“No, I’m talking about something even more secret than that. I’m talking about something that you don’t want Riggs to know.”
At that, Hades’ fingers became slightly tenser, digging into the sleeves of his coat. From the smile on the mermaid’s face, he could tell that she had caught on to his reaction.
Rather than drawing out the interrogation, Hades asked, “Why should I tell you what I know?”
Crossing her arms as if to mock the god, Ororis laughed and said, “I’m not saying you have to tell me anything. If I were you, I would tell Riggs.”
“Captain Riggs cannot know.”
“Can’t know what?” asked Ororis.
For a moment, the mermaid dropped the façade of mischievousness and intimidation to show her serious side. Genuine concern showed on her face as she uncrossed her arms and clasped her hands together, almost like she was praying.
“Hades, you and I are in the same situation. None of these pirates trust us. Much as Riggs may say that he needs our help, he does not believe in us. If there was any way to gain their trust, then I would gladly take that opportunity.”
The mermaid reached out and took Hades’ hand.
“If there was even just a way to gain your trust, I would take it. Riggs’ crew is like his family, and you have a chance to truly become a part of it. I know that means little to a god like you, but it could certainly make our fight against Every seem that much easier.”
Ororis let Hades’ hand fall from her grasp. It settled at his side as he stood there in silence. It had been so long since anyone had held his hand like that. There was a gentle tenderness that he had not expected from a creature who had spent years murdering innocents.
“Just make the right decision,” she said, staring into his eyes.
As he concentrated, he could not feel any sign of the mermaid’s seduction magic. She was not trying to work towards her own ends. Ororis, the Red Sky’s former foe, actually cared about the welfare of her crewmates.
Once the mermaid turned away, Hades said, “Captain Riggs cannot fight Every.”
Ororis turned back, puzzled.
“What?”
Hades repeated what he had said, a bit slower this time.
“Captain Riggs cannot fight Every. I ain’t gonna let him.”
“Why is that?”
He took a deep breath, ready to reveal a secret that he had been hiding ever since he had met the ragtag band of pirates.
“In order for Every to be fully resurrected, he must kill Riggs. If he succeeds, then he could very well become more powerful than me in this realm. There have been several times when I have had to pull the Captain away just to keep him from Every.”
“Like when?” asked Ororis, curious.
“Before the Red Sky brought you and Ms. Hamond aboard, we were battling Every in Delaware. The Captain was close to getting his head blown off before I whisked him and his crew away from the battle. Luckily for me, he thought it was Every’s doing. Also, why did ye think I stopped the Red Sky back in New York? It certainly wasn’t just to help all of you get onboard. It was the only way to keep it far away from the Fancy while my hunters destroy Every.”
With a sarcastic look on her face, Ororis asked, “And how are they faring with that job?”
Hades’ silence spoke for itself.
“I thought so,” she said.
The mermaid left Hades’ side, making her way to the steps. As she laid her hand on the rail, she cast one last glance back at the god of death.
“Like I said, Hades, make the right decision.”
Having said that, she walked down the stairs and disappeared into the darkness of the lower decks. Hades was left alone, pondering what to do. If he told Riggs, then the Captain would most certainly be angry with him for keeping secrets once again. If he did not tell Riggs, then there was a chance that the Captain could charge headfirst into another battle that he could not win.
Neither choice was easy to make.
Eli paced around the inside of the cell, hands clasped behind his back. For hours, he had tried to come up with a plan to escape, but nothing was coming to him. Maggie was not much help to him, and Sapphire, even with her magic, could do nothing to help the two escape. There was always the possibility of death awaiting them should they leave.
“How about if we ambush Every? His crew will have to let us go if we have their captain,” said Eli, throwing out ideas as soon as they entered his head.