The Belladonna

Chapter 14

The village refused to take the pirates stolen money, though not because it was stolen. Instead they gave them all the needed and even offered to load the ship for them; which Dustin declined. Sky had spent the night helping the injured people wash and gave food to them. Her body was tired and her head was pounding. Early in the morning, before the sun had come up, a lady, the one who had taken Nandi, had told Sky she was welcome to wash in a bath up stairs and that if she wanted them, there were fresh cloths that she could have.

Sky had never been so grateful to be clean. She had spent a long time scrubbing the grime from her body and by the end she could no longer see the bottom of the basin. Sky was glad to see they had left her pants and a shirt rather than a dress and she put them on enjoying the feeling of soft cloth. In the room she also found rags and wrappings to replace the ones she had lost on the Brig. She stuffed them into her shirt and when she had come down Thomas was there looking tired, grumpy and hungover. He told her that they were leaving in a few hours and that the captain wanted to see her.

Dustin was giving orders to the men on his ship as some of his crew said their farewells to the townspeople. Sky tired not to notice that Marle and his lover were giving each other a good bye neither of them would forget any time soon. She turned to the Captain. He was dressed in light clothing with his long jacket over the top. His ever present hat sitting upon his head, its huge feather blowing as the wind picked up. She wondered if he held any feelings for the woman he had lain with last night.

"I have a proposition," He told her when she walked onto the deck, "We will take you to Karniva, but in return," He paused to look at her, "You offer us your service." Sky almost tripped. What?

"No!" Sky yelled causing some of Dustin's men to look at her. "I told you I would never, ever let you-"

"Not that kind of service Sweetheart." He grinned at her like a cat and Sky felt all the blood rush to her face. "Every single man on this ship has to earn their keep. If you want to sail with us, you have to as well."

"I don't want to sail with you." Sky reminded him. He didn't seem to hear her as he inspected his men were doing their correct jobs. They were currently standing on the main deck and all around them the pirates worked to fix the sails and the side railing that had been hit by the Brigs attempts to sink the ship. Failed attempts.

"Considering you managed to get onto a navy ship you must have some skills." Dustin looked back to her once again trailing his eyes up and down her body, though not in a lewd way. "You can fire a pistol. That much I know." Sky didn't point out to him that when she had shot the officers it had been mostly luck in the heat of the moment rather than skill. "Also," He continued, "that you seem to be very good at incapacitating men." His eyes were sparkling with amusement and Sky couldn't help but notice how beautiful they were in the sun. She didn't give him a response. What does he want me to say to that? "Have you ever sailed before?"

Sky felt an odd sense of deja vu as this was what the officers had asked her before she was able to sail on the Brig. But this time everyone knew she was a woman and though that was good in a way, it also meant she was the only woman on a ship of about thirty men.

"I have." She answered him. "I can also navigate; by map and compass, but if need be I can use the stars." Sky was happy when his eyebrows rose impressed.

"Sounds like you were raised on a ship." Sky didn't see the point in telling him that was more or less true. The captain turned away from her and craned his neck up to see the platform at the top of the main mast. "Fane is our navigator." He told her and Sky remembered the small man who seemed to live at the top of the mast. Sky could see that he was up there now and looked like he was reading a map.