A Pirate Stole My Heart

Chapter 7

~ Chapter 7 ~

Charles loosely put his arm around my waist as we entered Black Jack’s Bar. I heard him chuckle as I stepped back from the scene. There were at least two fights going on at either side of the bar, gathering crowds and they went on. Almost everyone in there was drunk because of the drinking contests. And damn, could people scream any louder?

Men were calling out to me as I walked by, which caused Charles to tighten his grip around me.

“Ah, Mr. Jones! Nice to see you again my boy!” A large man stood up from a table surrounded by young women.

“Nice to see you too, Jack,” said Charles. He faced me. “Jack, this is Aria, she’s with me.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you, my dear,” Jack said as he brought my hand up to his mouth.

“Pleasure’s all mine,” I said nodding my head to him.

“So what brings you here today, Mr. Jones?” Jack asked.

“I need a few more crew members. We lost a few accidentally,” said Charles.

“Lost accidentally, Jones, or shot on purpose?” Jack said with a laugh.

Charles made eye contact with me and I raised my eyebrow, waiting for his answer.

“Shot…” Charles mumbled.

“Shot by whom, Charles?” I asked smirking. “We haven't encountered any other pirates recently.”

“I shot them…” Charles mumbled again, shooting Jack a look, who looked as though he was trying to hold in laughter. “A crew, Jack.”

“Ah, yes, a crew,” Jack said. He stood up and banged the handle of a knife on the table. Everyone in the bar stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Jack.

He motioned to Charles and he stood up.

“My name is Captain Charles Jones,” started the captain, causing a few girls to giggle. He winked at them and I silently gagged. “ I am in need of a few crew members. You can sign-up over here,” he held up a piece of parchment. “But!” he continued. “You must be able to endure horrid weather, sleepless nights, surprise attacks from other ships, and the wrath of this lady right next to me.”

A few people laughed but then their laughter faltered when I started cleaning my fingernails with the knife. This could be fun! I thought.

Charles smiled but then continued. “You can come sign your name now if you want to join my crew… if you’re brave enough.”

The scraping of chairs filled the room and pretty soon there was a long line of people lined up in front of us. One man after another, the list started to grow. Some men look small and weak, while others looked big and strong. One man in particular came accross to be more intimidating than Charles or even Perkins. He wore an eyepatch over his left eye but it didn’t cover the bright white scar running down his face. He had tattoos covering both of his arms and up to his neck- images of skulls and war scenes. His belt held guns the size of my arms in it and his hand wasn’t writing his name was holding a sword.

After he was done writing his name, he looked up to Charles and said “Happy to serve ya, cap’n.”

“He he just come out of a battle?” I asked Charles quietly.

“I don’t know, but one of his tattoos looks familiar to me. I’ve definitely seen that symbol before…” he trailed off in suspicion.

A total of nineteen people signed up to join the crew. Satisfied, Charles rolled up the parchment and stood up. “Men!” he said to the new crew members. “Welcome aboard.”

They followed us out of the bar and onto the ship and piled on to the lower deck, meeting the crew and drinking rum. I noticed that there were new barrels on board- probably filled with more food and supplies.

The captain took my hand.

“Come with me,” he said. He brought me to the upper deck and handed me the unopened bottle of rum he was holding. “Johnson, you are dismissed, go meet the new crew members.”

“Aye aye cap’n!” replied Johnson as he stepped away from the ships wheel.

I smiled at Johnson. “Have fun and don’t get too drunk,” I said waving at him.

He chuckled. “I could say the same to you, lass,” he said motioning to the bottle of rum in my hand.

I felt the heat rise to my face.

“Good-bye Johnson,” Charles said impatiently.

“Aye, cap’n, as you command,” Johnson said with a knowing smile. “But remember, no babies on board.”

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