Chapter 17 #2
“You only sing when you’re drunk.” Mr Smith regarded her much like how a father would in disappointment or worry at a daughter. His lips drew into a thin line, his bushy brows furrowing. He squinted at her, as though inspecting her current state. “You should slow down.”
“Perhaps I am a little intoxicated.” She gave a shrug, then swayed them from side to side in the embrace she’d forced them into. “I’m just excited.”
“We’ve almost got the Laughing Siren!” Naeem cheered, taking the bottle of rum from her hand to raise it in the air in salute before drinking from it. Apparently, she was sharing. “How long have we been waiting for this day?”
“Over three years.” Rosetta smiled, turning her head up to the stars with joy. “For three long years we’ve been hunting her.”
“About bloody time,” Mr Smith added in.
“I thought you’d die of old age before we got her.”
“Little shit.” Mr Smith reached around Rosetta to slap Naeem in the back of the head.
“You still could. The night’s still young.”
This time, Rosetta heard the slap Mr Smith delivered and even she winced.
“Quit it, Johnny boy!”
“Stop it!” she yelled with a stomp of her foot, before they could get into some sort of brawl. It wouldn’t be the first time Mr Smith had chased Naeem with a sword or gun, threating to cut or blow his head off.
“I can’t wait to hold her wheel in my hands,” she said to them, clenching and unclenching her hands. “To weigh the anchor and see the wind fill her sails.” She huddled them in closer until they were almost face to face and lowered her voice. “And to finally–”
A set of boots stopping directly in front of her cut off her words.
“First, we have to procure her,” Alister said down to them, like he wanted to cut in on their fun. She hadn’t even realised he’d moved from the quarterdeck. He’d even managed to get a new bottle. “Like I said, we could sink it. You’d be smart not to get too excited.”
She pulled away from Naeem and Mr Smith, so they were no longer huddled together. With her back against the railing, she met his gaze with her own, a bright grin filling her features.
“And I’ve already told you. If I can’t have it, I want it at the bottom of the ocean.”
“I’ll drink to that!” Naeem shouted with glee, chugging from her bottle. He handed it to her, leaving her barely a sip’s worth.
“Why do you always do that?” She shoved him, forcing him forward, then delivered a heavy slap to his back. “Sod off and get me another, you selfish prick.”
Naeem crawled away a few paces before getting to his feet. He tripped, knocking into Alister by barging into his shoulder.
“Ahoy there, Captain.” His tone had a sneer to it; he didn’t see him as his true leader.
Alister grabbed the man’s shoulder and shoved him away. “Go get her a bottle, lad.”
All three of them watched him stumble away.
He knocked into multiple people and almost fell against men throwing dice. They stood with their fists raised in anger for disturbing them, only to realise it was an accident by a clearly disorientated drunk man.
“You know he isn’t coming back, right?” Mr Smith pointed out with sincerity, his fluffy brows furrowing in concern.
He rubbed his hand through his full-fledged but neatly shaped beard, then adjusted the rim of his glasses so they sat better on his face.
“He’ll find a place to pass out,” Rosetta confirmed, nodding her head in his direction. “He’s useless when he’s like this.”
“Damn that boy.” Mr Smith sighed, rising to his feet. “I better help him, otherwise we’ll be fishing him from the water again.”
There had been an odd incident of Naeem walking on the deck of a previous ship with heavily drunken legs, and he stumbled sideways and over the railing. It’d taken them some time to realise he was floating away asleep. That was quite a night.
She watched Mr Smith chase after him now before her gaze turned to Alister.
“Well?” She raised a brow at him, leaning back against the railing to appear calm and collected. “Are you going to sit or are you going to keep standing there like a big, tall idiot?”
She knew he must have come to speak with her. Alister rolled his eye and had the audacity to sigh like she was bothering him.
He took a seat on the steps, sprawling his body against them.
Leaning back on an elbow, he kicked one leg out straight while the other stayed bent.
She couldn’t help thinking he looked remarkably self-important with how he’d positioned himself.
After a few minutes, she shuffled down to the very bottom of the steps so she’d be able to hear him better.
Up went the bottle as he took a drink.
“Yes!” She held her hand out. “Hand it over.”
“Nay.” He swiped it to the side, out of her reach. “Get your own.”
She gave a pout. “If I get up, I’m not coming back.”
She could see he wanted to deny her, was mulling it over heavily. He eventually sighed in defeat and placed the base of the bottle in her outstretched hand. The glass was cold in her warm palm. She took it, drank deeply, then handed it back.
“You’ve a strange relationship with those two,” Alister commented, nodding his head in the direction they’d gone.
His face was dull, as if he didn’t really care, but she’d noticed he often pretended to be disinterested.
Alister liked everyone to believe nothing much bothered him. “Been curious as to how you met them.”
Rosetta pursed her lips, her eyes squinting in suspicion. “Are you trying to get to know me, Alister?”
He gave her a grin that told her he was fine with being caught so quickly. “Aye.”
“Why should I tell you anything? You haven’t shared anything of yourself.”
He rubbed at his cheek, turning his head to look at the water. “Guess that’s true. What do you want to know?”
“Really?” she asked with a note of surprise. A spark of curiosity came to life inside her, and she tucked her hair behind her ear as she leaned closer. “You’ll really answer?”
He gave a shrug. “Depends on what it is.”
“Why are you searching for this treasure when most don’t think it exists?” She brought her knees up so she could hug them, making herself comfortable.
“I promised the previous captain that I would search for it and prove he wasn’t insane,” he admitted, his gaze returning to her.
“Like on his death bed?”
Alister gave a deep chuckle. “Kind of. Do you know of the pirate Cole ‘Mad Dog’ McCarthy?”
“A little.” Rosetta gave a small shrug. “He searched all his life, sailed over every part of the world, to find the Raider’s treasure trove and never found it. He’s the reason everyone thinks it’s a myth.”
“When he got too sick to carry out his duties as captain, he told the crew to vote for a new one, pushing my name forward.” Alister took a swig of his bottle, then shifted his gaze to the tall tower of rock they were docked beside.
“The men were happy to have me as their captain, and I promised him I would search for the treasure trove in his stead.”
Wait... that’s how he became captain? That was such a simple story! She expected some sort of grand, epic tale.
“Do you know what he died of?”
“A bullet to the head.”
Rosetta reared her head back. “I thought he was sick.”
“Aye, he was. Could barely stand.” Alister looked down at the bottle, a dark expression falling over him. “So, he placed his pistol in my hand, stood on the railing of his ship, and told me to shoot.”
Her eyes widened, her mouth falling open in disbelief. “And you did?”
“Aye. Shot him right between the eyes.” His gaze swept over her grimace. “He loved the sea, refused to get treatment on land in case he died there. He wanted to be with the water, but he was a hindrance. He was a sick man on a ship. He was in the way, and he knew it.”
“And here I thought you had a heart.” She laughed, trying to hide that she was balking at his tale.
He folded his arms across his chest defensively.
“That’s why I did it. He asked for the mercy of a quick death, and I gave it to him.” Alister gave a huff, running his hand over the top of his head. “How did you become a captain then?”
“Ughhhhh.” Rosetta groaned so loudly she was sure the nearest port heard her. “That is such a lengthy answer. Much has happened over the years. We will be here all night.”
“I’ve got time.”
Rosetta shook her head. “I’m usually asleep at this hour.”
“Fine,” he relented with a chuckle, clearly realising she had no intention of answering. “How did you meet Naeem? Like I said, your relationship with him is odd. The crew have noticed as well.”
Rosetta turned her head up to the stars to look for encouragement. How do I answer that?
“I have known Naeem since I was fifteen,” she told him, not pulling her face from the sky.
Alister’s dark brows creased deeply. “You knew him before you become a pirate?”
“Distantly, yes.” She ran the pad of her thumb over the edge of her nails absentmindedly, a minor distraction. “I only befriended him right before we decided to run away together.”
“Like lovers?” Once more, his expression was bland, but she thought she heard a hint of an emotion in his voice.
Rosetta gave a bellowing laugh. “Not at all! We just decided we should run away and become pirates together. He helped me do that.”
“Is that the truth?” She could tell Alister didn’t like her answer by his narrowing gaze. “Because that sounds like some made-up fantasy story of a girl.”
“That’s exactly what we did. We both decided we didn’t want to be where we were anymore, and we used each other to get away. Because I’m a woman, Naeem was the man I needed when my voice was meaningless. If I wasn’t pretending to be a man, that is.”
“You pretended to be a man?” There was a crinkle of humour in the corner of his eyelid. “You’re a bonnie lass. Did it even work?”
Rosetta’s lashes flickered in surprise at his compliment. It had been delivered so smoothly, but he’d never directly commented on her features before. The sound of waves lapping at the sides of the hull filled the silence.