A Pirate in Time (Completed)

9

"White sails, Cap'n!" One of the men shouted from the crows nest. Jay craned his head to look up at the man. In response he pointed and shouted down, "Off the starboard bow."

Jay turned his head accordingly, squinting at the horizon with his hand shielding his eyes from the sun. He cleared his throat as he turned on his heel.

I followed him as he made his way up to the helm. His quartermaster offered him a spyglass which he accepted and brought up to his eye.

After a few moments, a broad grin lit up his face.

"It's the Bloody Dutch Girl, and she's heading our way," he stated happily, "Adjust course, Mr. Kingsley. It is about time we pay our old friends a visit."

A sly grin spread across the quartermaster's face as he spun the wheel.

Jay's eyes were glued to the ship as we came closer. The distance was closing quite quickly, and it was only when we could make out individual sails that Jay remembered me.

His expression changed a bit as he looked to me. Suddenly, he took hold of my arm and started dragging me down the stairs.

"Jay!" I protested, "What are you doing?"

He didn't stop or acknowledge my question in the slightest. Before I knew what was happening, he opened up the door to my quarters and pushed me inside.

I turned around quickly, expecting some sort of explanation.

"Lock yourself inside and barricade the door. You don't open it for anyone, do you understand?" he asked.

My eyes widened, "Jay? What's going on?"

He reached into the folds of his vest and pulled out a small dagger. He handed it to me while he spoke, "I am the captain of this ship and if you value your life you will do as I say. We are coming upon a ship of the worst kind of pirates and they are not particularly fond of me or any... cargo... I may be carrying," he said as his eyes swept over me, "I cannot guarantee your safety if you leave this room. Am I understood?"

I nodded my head in shock as Jay closed the door and ran back up to the top deck.

I threw the bolt on the door and picked up the chair in the corner. After wedging it under the knob, I stepped away from the door.

The sudden sound of cannon fire made my heart splutter in fear. Rushing to the porthole, I could see the front half or the other ship coming up alongside us.

A plume of smoke and a thunderous boom sounded from the other ship. Then suddenly the sound of splintering wood forced me to back away from the window.

I started shaking, not quite sure what to do. Out of a mixture of fear and self preservation, I tucked myself into the corner farthest from the outer wall with my legs pulled up to my chest. I held the dagger in my hand in a white knuckle grip. This was not how I imagined spending my day today.

The men's voices morphed into a huge chaotic blob of noise, making one command harder to distinguish than another.

I curled tighter in on myself as another bout of cannon fire ripped through the ship.

I lost track of time after a while. The other pirates had boarded our ship a few minutes ago and the battle cries mixed with the earsplitting clanks of metal on metal had my heart racing.

I didn't really want to know how we were doing.

Sudden voices from the hall had me holding my breath.

"Quick, search all that ye can. Anything valuable goes back to de ship!"

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself silent. The heavy clunk of boots echoed down the hallway as someone jogged to the end. Another moved in the opposite direction.

My heart rate heightened significantly as I heard someone enter the room next to mine. I could hear them turning over objects and breaking things before letting out a huff of annoyance. Then the sound of their boots left the room and stopped outside the door.

They jiggled the knob and tried to push open the door but it stayed in place. It felt like something was squeezing at my heart.

With a grunt of frustration, I heard the boots back away from the door. The man then rushed forward and threw himself into it. The door emitted a not-so-comforting crack but did not give just yet. I squeezed my eyes shut as the man threw himself against the door again.

One more time and the door splintered off its hinges and fell to the floorboards. The man tumbled in after it.

The first thing I noticed was the god awful smell. Like rotting fish and heavy body odor. The man actually smelt sour.

He hadn't noticed me tucked away in the corner yet, but it wouldn't be long. He had a long scraggly black beard that didn't appear to be too sanitary and his clothes were browned and yellowed from lack of proper care.

The man snorted up the snot in his nose as he walked further into the room. While he busied himself searching through my little belongings, I silently and slowly rose from my spot and tried to sneak through the open door.
However, fate had different plans for me. I stepped on part of the splintered door and it made an awkward crunching noise. The man spun around, his eyes narrowing at me before a nasty grin spread across his face. His teeth were yellow, rotted, and falling out. I cringed as he stepped closer to me. I was still too far from the door to try to make a run for it. He would surely catch me.

My heart was slamming against my ribs as I tried to think of a way out. The man pressed forward and I felt a lump form in the back of my throat.

"What have we here?" he pointed his sword to the area below my chin. It wasn't a comforting feeling to have cold metal pressed against your throat.

"Don't touch me," I finally found my voice and a small bit of confidence.

The man chuckled darkly, "A feisty little wench ye be," he removed his sword and stepped closer, placing his arm on the wall behind me to prevent my escape. Panic had me frozen in place, "What's de matter, girly? Ye scared?"

I really wished I had taken that self defence class seriously now. Where's the pepper spray when I need it?

Wait. The dagger. He doesn't know I have the dagger.

I continued to stare at him, pressing myself as far against the wall as I could. He grinned again, his putrid breath fanning across my face.

Not able to take anymore, I slammed the knife into his side. He howled in pain and immediately stepped back. I pulled back the knife and tried to ignore the sight of blood as I turned to run. I didn't get very far before a hand closed around my arm.

I was jerked backwards and lost my footing. The man let go as I fell. In a whim of quick thinking, I used my momentum to spin around and swipe his own feet out from under him.

I scrambled to my feet and stumbled out into the hallway. The other one was just coming out into the hallway, so I turned and sprinted the other way. I heard heavy thuds behind me as they followed me.

The steady rhythm almost matched that of my heart. I was in trouble.