11
One of those you like to call lovers
I mmediate winds began to rise, moving the ship’s sails like the skirts of a dress in a dance. The black flag was hoisted high, its fabric snapping in the wind, and for the first time, I caught sight of the emblem on it: a grinning skull framed by a pair of white, feathered wings. A symbol that likely meant this ship was able to fly.
The sea began to move the vessel with great force, as if to remind us that if we didn't end up falling prey to The Crown's Justice, we would to one of the whirlpools.
The captain was about to head to the helm when I grabbed his arm and shouted, “They want to corner us, we will end up swallowed by one of the whirlpools!”
“What's your point!”
“Do you have a bow and arrow in here?”
“What?”
“A bow and arrow! ”
He looked stunned and confused, but somehow, he managed to laugh out loud. “If we survive this, you're walking the plank!”
He was gone within seconds, running to the helm with Duke.
I sighed in frustration and looked around for something that could serve as a bow, a lever to propel anything pointed. The Crown's Justice was a ship large enough to destroy us in its path, it had three rows of cannons from which we would not survive if they continued to get so close. So the only solution was to avoid the approach.
I spotted a broken oar from one of the boats lying on the deck, and suddenly, a plan began to take shape in my mind. If I tied my thin, elastic tights to it like a rope, I could fashion a bow strong enough to use.
Grabbing the oar and quickly removing my tights, I ran barefoot towards the helm.
“Turn starboard!” I yelled to Duke.
“Are you mad? They’ll barrel us over if I do!” he screamed back.
When I reached the helm and the captain and Duke were close enough to hear me, I explained, “This ship beats The Crown in speed, we need to get far enough from the currents so that the sails can then propel us in a straight line.”
I started tying the tights to the oar and testing the flexibility of the handmade bow.
“What the hell are you doing?” It was the captain who asked this time .
“Give me your sword and turn starboard,” I said, offering him my hand.
“Pardon?”
“I'm going to dock the anchor of that ship and buy us enough time so your sails can push us out of sight and leave them behind, but I need you to get us out of the currents so we can catch speed in a straight line without any obstacles.”
“How in the name of the Gods are you going to drop anchor from here?” Duke asked.
Captain Pierce looked down to my hand and with a playful knowing smile, he took out of his boot one of the pink diamond-tipped arrows that Diego had given me just this morning. “Figured you might need this.”
“You stole this!” I said, grabbing the arrow from his hand.
“It was more like a loan, I would say.”
I raised an eyebrow and pressed my lips into a thin line as I silently questioned his sanity. My eyes narrowed in clear disbelief, enough for him to notice because immediately, he began justifying himself, “Those are diamonds, they weren't going to be of any use lying in that old barn.”
“They were a gift.”
“Ah yes, a wedding gift… What was his name again?” he asked, smiling, and I still stood by the theory that everything amused him. Smiling and joking at a moment like this was proof enough.
“Did you take more? ”
“You're going to have to get us out of here alive if you want to find out,” he said, his smirk evident in every syllable.
I faced Duke who was on the helm. “Turn starboard, please.”
He looked at Captain Pierce as if to ask for permission and the captain arched a brow at him. “Well? Didn't she ask polite enough for your liking? Maybe he wants another please, I bet he hasn't heard a please come out of a pirate's mouth in his life. Love, ask Duke if he wants another please.”
“For the love of the Gods turn starboard!” I yelled as I positioned myself with the bow as close to The Crown as possible.
The ship began to turn, and in seconds, we had it next to us. I could see the faces of some of the soldiers as the ship approached. They were an entire navy, and we were only five people on a vessel.
I watched as they readied the cannons, my voice rising in a frantic scream for Duke to close the distance.
“May the Gods show mercy upon our souls.” I heard him
mutter.
“Closer!” I still couldn't see the anchor from my position. I needed to get closer.
I took the bow I made and rested it on my shoulder, positioning the arrow on the tights that I had tied as a rope. It was somehow humorous the fact that moments ago, I thought I would be shooting with an unfamiliar sword, and now, I was holding the arrow with the sharpest tip imaginable, because apparently, a pirate had found enough time between orchestrated kidnappings to steal.
I closed my left eye and kept my gaze on The Crown .
I was not going to miss this shot.
“I wouldn't want my ship to become a sieve if it's not too much to ask!” The captain's voice echoed from behind.
“This is nonsense!” I heard Duke shouting at the same time. “Of all the ways to go, I never imagined it would be like this.”
I rested the nock of the arrow on the tights and stretched back as I took a deep breath. I could now see the anchor and the small lever that held it to the ship.
With the hand that held the tights, I touched my nose with my index finger, and my bottom lip with my middle. The voices around me evaporated and with the target set, I let go of my hand and the breath I was holding. In seconds, the arrow was thrown out with immense force and fell exactly on the small crank, breaking it in half and causing the anchor to fall hard to the bottom of the sea, making The Crown to stop abruptly. And before I could lower the bow, strong winds blew in our direction causing The Rebecca to pick up speed.
Because of how fast we were going, I held on to whatever I could grip and smiled as I watched us leave The Crown's Justice behind.
It worked.
“Bloody hell.” I heard Duke mutter as I turned around to face them.
A triumphant laugh escaped me, as if the impossible had just unfolded before my eyes. It really worked .
My bare feet pressed against the wet wooden floor as Captain Pierce approached me, surprise evident on his face. He looked me up and down, shaking his head, before asking, “What kind of pirate are you?”
My laughter kept bubbling up as I let out a sigh, and answered him with a wide smile, “One of those you like to call lovers, I suppose.”