Where The Stories Come From

Part 17

The pirates march both James and myself onto their dinghies. They keep James' head forced down and have their guns pointed at the both of us. One of the pirates slits the rope binding my wrists. They row us back to their ship, where we climb up the ladder to get onto the deck. I look around and I see a man with a bare back and his wrists tied to what seems to be a kind of rope ladder. His knees are limp and he looks incredibly weak. The captain grabs my arm and throws me at the man as soon as my first foot hits the wood of the deck. I use the rail of the ship to catch my fall. I look over at the man. His head is down, but I recognize his scraggly hair and scruffy beard. It's Elias. I walk over to the side of him and place my hand on his back. He looks at me and immediately perks up. "Christine..." he pauses as he tries to stand up, but his knees give in.

"Shh. Shh," I try to comfort him. I kneel beside him. I crawl under the tunnel that his body has made against the ship. I put both of my hands on his cheeks, and I begin gently stroking my thumb up and down for a moment before I press my lips to his in a tender kiss. I feel a hand wrap around my arm and pull me out. I let out a small screech. The man grabs my other arm and pulls them close together to restrict my movement. All the pirates seem to be lined up for some reason.

I hear the clanking of the captain's boots on the deck as each man gets silent. "Gents..." a booming voice bellows over the crowd. "This man right 'ere has betrayed the brotherhood of this crew for this trifling wench," he says as he gestures to me. "Now, Elias." The captain turns to face him. "Was she worth it?" Elias keeps his head down and doesn't respond. I see McFadden nod to someone rather far from him. From the crowd of pirates emerges an enormous man that I don't believe I've ever seen before. He towers over McFadden as he walks up front and center unraveling his whip. I start to feel sick. "The only appropriate punishment for a crime of such caliber is this: fifty lashes to be administered immediately." My heart sinks and my body goes numb.

One...two...three...four...five...six. I try to close my eyes and look away, but one of the men grabs my hair and pulls my head back to keep it facing Elias.

Seven...eight...nine...ten...eleven. His back is infested with small, red lines dripping all the way down. He's not even a quarter of the way through.

Twelve...thirteen...fourteen. I know he's strong enough to bear this. I don't know if he knows, however.

Fifteen...sixteen...seventeen. The noise of the leather hitting his back is unendurable.

Eighteen...nineteen...twenty. The marks on his back seem to be getting deeper and deeper.

Twenty-one...twenty-two...twenty-three...twenty-four...twenty-five. Half way done. I know he can do this.

Twenty-six...twenty-seven...twenty-eight...twenty-nine...thirty...thirty-one. The man holding my hair suddenly pulls it back with a load of force. So much so that I am almost pulled down.

Thirty-two...thirty-three...thirty-four...thirty-five...thirty-six...thirty-seven...thirty-eight. Elias isn't even trying to hold himself up anymore. He's too weak.

Thirty-nine...forty...forty-one...forty-two...forty-three...forty-four...forty-five. His back is completely red with a waterfall of blood. I can't bear to see it.

Forty-six...forty-seven...forty-eight...forty-nine...fifty. Fifty lashes, and not a single sound uttered by Elias.

The man torturing Elias steps away, blood splattered all over him. "Cut 'im down," the captain says. Another pirate steps up to him with a knife and cuts the ropes binding Elias' wrists. He falls to the ground, unable to stand up. I watch helplessly. I would give anything to just go up to him and carry him to a bed to treat his wounds. His body just lays limp on the ground. "Back to your stations, men," the captain commands. The pirate holding me let's me down gently. I run up to McFadden.

"Captain McFadden, sir." He ignores me. "Sir!" I cry out.

He stops in his tracks. "Yes, missy?"

"Please let me treat his wounds. That's all I will ask so long as I am aboard this ship. Please, sir."

He walks toward me and gets very close to my face. "I'll allow it. You can take 'im to your same cabin back there, but he is in yer charges and no one else's."

"Yes, thank you, sir." I rush over to Elias, still unmoving on the ground. I crouch down to him and I place my hand on his cheek. "Elias..." I say, hesitantly. "Elias, give me your arm. I'm going to help you." His eyes barely open, but they open enough to recognize me and the situation. "I need you to help me. I'm not very strong if you can believe it." He smirks at my little joke. "For just a moment I need you to muster up all of your strength and help me to help you." I grab his right arm and drape it over my shoulder. I raise him up onto his knees and grab his left arm with my hand. Together, we hoist him up and I help him to drag his own body to the cabin at the rear of the ship. He walks along with me, his feet dragging a bit. His legs suddenly give out and I'm almost taken to the ground. "Come on, Elias. There's only a few more steps. You can make it. I promise. Just a few more steps." He stands himself back up and I look up to see where we are. I immediately find James standing several feet away from me. He is forced to his knees and looks up at me helplessly. I can't help him. It's a miracle the captain even let me tend to Elias. I drape Elias over my back to free up my hand before opening the door. I get the handle far enough down to open the door. I kick it open as I grab Elias' hand again. I lead I'm to the bed and lay him down on it, his stomach facing the mat. "Is that alright?" I ask.

"Yes," he mumbles.

"Good," I respond. "I'm going to get some things to use to tend to your wounds. I sprint out of the room, holding my my skirt so I don't trip. I rush to the galley to boil some water on the stove. I open the barrel of water and put a couple ladle scoops into a pot over the fire. I rip a long strand of fabric off of my wedding dress to use as rags for his back. I wish I had another choice of fabric, but I unfortunately do not. I wait patiently for the water to come to a boil. It starts bubbling in the pot and I take the pot out of the fire using the ripped strand of fabric as a protector for my hand from the heat. I pour the water into another bowl that I've already set aside. I take that bowl and run back to the cabin to find Elias trying to get up. "Elias, don't try to stand," I command. "Here," I say as I put the bowl on the floor. The brisk evening air has cooled the water down quite a bit already. I dunk the pieces of my dress in the water in preparation to apply them to Elias' wounds. The water is still far too hot for me to put my hands into comfortably, but I don't really care. These welts and cuts on his back must be taken care of immediately. I take the fabric out of the water and wring it out. "Stay still. This is going to hurt," I warn. I place the sodden rags directly onto the wounds. He squirms and grunts in agony. "Elias, I'm so sorry, but I have to do this. If I don't, they'll get infected which would be even more painful." He finally settles down and I finish cleaning his wounds until there is not but some pink gashes left on his back. Unfortunately, I have nothing to wrap it up with. I remember something. Elias brought my trunk from the ship I was taken from into this room. I walk over to the corner to where it used to be and lo and behold, it's still there. I reach in and pick out a tattered, old slip that goes under my gowns, and I proceed to tear it into shreds. I wrap several of the pieces around his back in order to cover as much of the wounds as I possibly can. Once the majority of his back has been covered, I sit down on the window seat, where Elias sat when he rescued me. The roles have been flipped. His eyes are closed and he lays limp on the bed. I'm certain he's gone to sleep. The sun has abandoned the sky, so I decided now is as appropriate a time to sleep as any.