Where The Stories Come From

Part 4

"I don't want to see anyone hurt."

"You're serious though, right?" I ask stunned.

"I wouldn't lie to you about your safety. Trust me." He walks through the door and back out onto the deck. The waves are still big, but they are significantly calmer. I look outside the tinted glass window and look back at the moon. Clouds cover a portion of it, but the part that is illuminated is comforting and beautiful. I think of my father, wondering if he's looking up at the same moon I am. I wonder if he even knows I'm still alive. For all I know, however, he could be the one who is dead.

I turn myself around and walk toward the wood door. I put my hand on the knob and tuck a lock of my wavy, brown hair behind my ear and turn it. I open up the door and walk onto the deck. I keep myself towards the wall so that I can slip away if anyone comes out. I step lightly on the wooden planks that form the ship. I shut my eyes and take in the salty sea-air. I feel myself start to slide down. I reach my hands to my head and pull out the few pins that hold my hair together. I gently tug at them, and, in one movement, my brown locks come tumbling down. I run my fingers through my tangled hair as attempt to brush it out. I take another deep breath, this one brings a slight smirk to my face.

My moment of serenity is interrupted by footsteps. I didn't realize how far I had drifted from my door until it is too late. "Who's there?" A voice calls. The voice clearly doesn't belong to the captain. A crew member evidently. I lift my dressing gown off of the floor and run with my aching, bare feet. I find a flight of stairs and run down them before the man has time to reach the deck. I run all the way down the stairs and find myself in the brig with all of the sailors that were taken captive along with me.

I look at them for a moment before taking my last footstep off the stairs. I see one man, with his elbows clinging to the metal bars, look up at me. "Miss Christine!" He exclaims in a whisper. I see all the other sailors look up. Their eyes immediately fill with joy at the sight of something familiar to them. I walk over to them and sit with my back to the wall in front of their iron cage.

"How do you fare?" one asks me. I find disappoint in myself when I realize that they all know my name, but there are many that I don't know theirs.

"Well. And you?" I ask not expecting a good answer.  I look down and see a small rodent scurrying in my direction. I shoo it away.

"We fare as well as those bastards will treat us."

"So not well," I reply.

"No. Not very well," he says, clearly holding back tears. This sailor, by the looks of it, is very young. Likely this was one of his first trips with the Royal Navy.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I say quickly as I look at the ground. I think about Elias and how he's been kind to me. Protective, even. They don't have anyone like that down here. No one to care for them but one another. They're all crammed into one small cell, hardly any room for one of them to sit down.

"How've they been to you, miss?" Says one of the few of whom I know their names. Daniel.

"Oddly enough, they've treated me well. I even-" I cut myself off in fear of their reaction.

"What was that?" Daniel asks.

"It was nothing," I say as I shake my head.

"Ya were clearly about to say somethin', miss," Daniel blurts as he smiles at me.

"I befriended one of them." I say as I smile at the ground. I look up for a split second and notice a look of shock and confusion on each of their faces. I look back down at the wood planks that create the floor. "He, um, he came into my room and started talking to-to me," I stutter. "He offered sympathy I, well, I suppose I accepted it." I exhale my long held breath and say, "He was very kind. He showed me kindness that no one else had. I didn't really know how to respond to the fact that a captor of mine wanted to be my friend, so-"

Daniel cuts me off. "So you trusted him. He's a pirate!"

"He's a good man!" I retaliate. Realizing that I've raised my voice, and that it's the dead of night so everyone is asleep, I turn and walk away. I run back up the stairs and up onto the deck. I look over the horizon and catch a glimpse of the sun peeking above the sea. I see the small sliver of sun begin to turn the sky a deep purple and watch for a while as the purple fades into a pink.

I watch until the sun is about halfway awake. I only then realize how long I've spent on deck. I close my eyes and inhale one last breath before my moment of solitude is interrupted by more clanking footsteps. I turn around and see two figures. I can't make out their faces in the shadows. I see one turn and start running towards me. Out of instinct, I run the other way towards the steering wheel. I hear him half whisper, half yell "Christine!" I stop and turn around to recognize Elias's face along with another boy. He doesn't look older than fourteen.

"Elias?" I ask just to make sure it's him.

"Yeah. It's me." He responds. "Me and my friend Harrison. Don't worry. He won't hurt you." The boy walks up the stairs and over to me. He extends his right arm towards me to give me a greeting. I hold his hand with mine and shake it up and down. "Let's sit down for a moment," he directs at both of us. I sit with Harrison at the top of the stairs that lead to the deck above my quarters and Elias sits one step below us.

"So...." I start for him.

"So, um. We're going to make port in France in seven days. And, um. Well. Um."

"Elias, are you alright?" I ask as I smile and rest my chin on my palm.

"Yeah, I'm-"

"Wake up ye miserable maggots!" I hear the Irish voice of Captain McFadden sound.

"Isn't that your call?" I whisper to them.

"We're fine here. The other men won't be up here for another few minutes," Harrison responds.

"Ah. Well. What am I supposed to be doing?" I ask confused.

"Not sure," Harrison says. "We've never really had a prisoner outside of the brig before."

I chuckle as a response. I look up from my knees of which I have been staring at and notice something small over the back of the ship. I stand up, step over Elias and run down the rest of the stairs. I hear Elias and Harrison murmur behind me. I also hear them get up and start chasing after me. I hear the captain begin to say something as well, but I brush it off. I run to the very back of the ship, the Jolly Roger flag whipping next to me. I stand on my toes and try to make out the small object that seems to be getting bigger. I squint my eyes and finally make out what the figure is. It's a ship.