Treasure of the sea |Lesbian story|

CHAPTER V

Time passed slowly and inexorably. Everything was so monotonous and flabby. The days were merely identical to each other, so much so that it seemed to me that time had stopped, stuck in a kind of stasis. The Galatea had been at sea for three weeks now, and the Captain had announced that there was little more than one more to go before we arrived in Charlestown.

The first few days had been a real ordeal for me. My body was obviously feeling the effects of my discomfort.

It had been a rather unwelcome surprise to discover that I was seasick. I hadn't even been able to sleep at night because of the urge to go throw up. I had eaten little or nothing the first week. Besides, it was a waste, because everything I swallowed went straight into the wooden bucket that Mr. Finney had kindly brought me. The ship's doctor had done little to help me feel better. He had merely emptied the vomit-filled containers, and that was that. Mr. Phillips, on the contrary, was very considerate of me. He forced me to eat; he refused to leave my cabin until he saw me down at least five mouthfuls of food. He treated me with absolute kindness and knew a great many nautical stories. He distracted me with them. He was the only person on that ship whose company I craved. I waited impatiently for meal-time and begged him to stay longer than necessary in my quarters.

"Tell me a story again tonight, please."

"Gladly, Miss."

We took our seats and, for a moment, both of us looked out the windows at the smooth, black sea shimmering in the starlight. Mr. Phillips cleared his throat and coughed a couple of times before starting.

"Sir John Raymer was the Captain of the Liberty, a king's ship carrying gifts from India for the prince's upcoming wedding. It carried treasures so costly and beautiful that the king had entrusted the task to his most trusted friend. One evening in late May, with stars flickering in the cloudless, moonless night, John had secluded himself on the starboard wing of the bridge deck. All was calm, there was only a slight movement of air, due to the speed of the ship, which mitigated the heat of the day spent and gave a very conciliatory sense of well-being. Sir John Raymer looked ahead, where in the darkness of the evening the line of the horizon could be discerned. While he was absorbed in his thoughts, he saw something emerging from a bank of fog. For a moment it seemed to him that he had imagined it; after all, waves always played strange tricks. Yet it had not been a hallucination. There was a ship. A ship that was heading toward them, at full speed, plying the still waters of the night. Raymer didn't want to think the worst right away. He figured it was probably just a passing ship.

"Ship to starboard!" shouted a sailor.

At that point, as the ship had come quite close, Raymer took his small spyglass out of the belt and peered inside. He looked closely and saw that on a long beam was sporting the Jolly Roger.

"Mr. Lucas!" cried Raymer, seized with panic. "Sound the alarm! They're pirates! Prepare the guns, prepare the cannons! We fight!"

"No, sir!"

"No?" exclaimed Raymer, amazed and at the same time infuriated by that answer. "Take a good look at the flag!"

At that answer Raymer seethed. What was he supposed to be observing? It was the Jolly Roger, without a doubt. Was Mr. Lucas teasing him, by any chance? Then he noticed what the man wished him to notice. On the skull's white forehead was drawn a large black star. Raymer petrified, his hands trembled, and he could not hold the spyglass still to see any further. He lowered his hands slowly and stared at the ship, his eyes wide with fear.

It wasn't possible...

"That's the Black Star!" cried the sailor, more frightened than ever.

The Black Star appears in many legends. It is the name of the ghost ship that puts a curse on anyone who sees it. He who lays eyes on her is doomed to kill his crew and then die. In fact, the Black Star didn't attack the Liberty, she just passed by her, silent and deserted. She sailed alone, with no one on board. Sir John Raymer ordered the rest of the crew to close their eyes, not to look at what was coming. Many obeyed the order, frightened, but some dared to take a quick glance, too curious to obey such an order. Meanwhile, the sailor who had watched the ship with Raymer seemed resigned.

"Mr. Lucas, you know what to do."

The sailor threw himself overboard, sacrificing himself to save his comrades. The Captain drew the dagger he was carrying and cut his throat, falling into the water, committing suicide."

Mr. Phillips stopped talking and merely stared at my expression.

"Does it end like this?" I asked, disappointed, wanting to know more.

"Yes."

"What happened to the others? Did they save themselves?"

"The Liberty was found two weeks later by a merchant ship. As they approached, they realized the ship was adrift. Men went on board, looking for survivors or at least bodies, but it was completely empty. The treasure crammed in the hold was still intact."

"If they all died, how do you know they saw the Black Star?"

Mr. Phillips smiled at that question. "Several times throughout history, unmanned ships have been inexplicably found intact, with no signs of battle or bloodshed. These ships wandered in the middle of the ocean, carried by the current. No one could ever understand this phenomenon, so the legend of the Black Star was born, a cursed ship that causes people who encounter it to take their lives. When they found the Liberty in that state, they immediately assumed the missing crew had seen her."

"Do people really believe this?"

"You don't?"

I giggled. "That's not rational."

"Well, rational or not, the legend has spread throughout the oceans. Even the sailors of Asia know it, and the more gullible ones light a candle every night before they go to sleep, praying to their spirits that they never meet the Black Star," the man said.

"Fascinating."