The Captain

fourteen

Bonnie approached me after everyone had dispersed. 

"You okay? Looked like you were in pain."

"Just my ribs. I'll be fine."

"Let's take a break anyway. You did really well for your first day."

I smiled at her.

"Thank you."

We sat down near the back of the boat. She handed me a canteen and I took grateful sips of water. 

Comfortable silence enveloped us before she broke it.

"How old are you?"

I looked up, surprised. 

She looked a little sheepish. 

"Sorry, just, I can't quite figure it out. Based on Kenneth Thompson's affinity for younger girls, I'm gonna go with...somewhere between sixteen and nineteen?"

My heart sank at her remark. 

"Seventeen actually. I turn eighteen in August. Lots of people were surprised at how late I got engaged, actually. My sister is fifteen. What do you mean about Mr Thompson?"

She fiddled with a loose thread on her shirt.

"He's notorious for always having a younger girl around. Daughters of friends, that sort of thing."

A wave of nausea passed through me.

"Amelie... She's going to see him for help... You don't think-"

"Oh no! Oh sorry, no. I didn't mean to scare you or anything. You guys are still engaged, he wouldn't try anything. Besides, she's got that cute boyfriend of hers to protect her."

I laughed a little. 

"Fletcher. Yeah."

Despite her assurance, I couldn't help but feel sick about the new development. What other secrets was my fiance hiding? I still knew practically nothing about him. 

I shook my head. It didn't matter. If everything went according to plan, he would have to find another girl to marry.

"How old are you? And everyone else?" I asked curiously.

"Almost twenty. Nell hit me with a spoon when I asked because apparently, it's disrespectful to ask a lady her age, so she's a mystery."

I laughed a little at that. 

"Dalt is oh I don't know, twenty-six maybe? I know Ernie is almost fifty, Tim's like thirty and Charlie is like twenty-three or something. He's not much older than Maverick. The captain's only twenty, I think. He doesn't like talking about how young he is, though. Says it undermines his authority."

"How on earth did he become a captain so young?"

She glanced around, to make sure nobody was listening.

"He never knew his mom. She dumped him on his dad right after he was born. You can imagine the chaos, the notorious Jack Sparrow, taking care of his infant son. Anyway, he was raised on the Black Pearl by his dad and the crew, been a pirate since age 5. Then maybe a year and a half ago, his dad died. The boat sunk, nobody knows how or when, but the whole crew went missing, his dad along with it. He doesn't like to talk about it."

"I had no idea," I said softly.

"Yeah, he's the only one who really knows what happened to them. So he commandeered a ship," she gestured to the Mermaid's Revenge, "and started building his crew out of Tortuga and Port Royal."

I watched Maverick chat with Dalt as Bonnie spoke. 

"Ernie was the first addition. An old friend of his dad's who owed him a favour. He was retired but came back into this life. He loves it though, he was too bored in retirement. Anyway, I was next. They caught me coming out of my old convent, offered me a chance, and I took it."

I actually almost snorted. 

"What's funny?"

I shook my head. 

"Sorry, I was just trying to imagine you as a nun."

She laughed at that too. 

"Yeah, it was about as ridiculous as you'd expect. Anyway, Charlie and Dalt were working together at a tavern in Tortuga, but they'd gotten into trouble with the navy. Something about taxes, and so they joined us. Maverick caught Tim trying to pickpocket him at a port once, and instead of killing him, let him join the crew. Nell... well I'll let her tell you that story."

Charlie approached us. 

"Telling her everyone's life story?" he joked. 

Bonnie nodded. 

"Yep. Now all that's left is to hear hers."

I glanced at my hands. 

"There's not much to tell, really. My dad started his trading company, met my mom when she was visiting from France. They got married, had me then Amelie. Mom died a few years later on her way home from visiting her family in France. We never really knew a lot about her, even dad, but he used to say I looked like her. We don't even fully know what happened, just that she was lost at sea. Anyway, that's why we speak french. I was raised on it until I was about nine, and then we kept up the lessons after she was gone."

Bonnie and Charlie watched me intently. 

I felt a little awkward. Was I really going to trust these people with my whole story? I guess I was already trusting them with my life. 

"Then uh, dad got sick. He and Kenneth Thompson had been rivals, but they decided to merge companies. To secure that, Kenneth and I got engaged. I've never actually met him, just exchanged a few letters. The ring came in the mail. Amelie didn't know my father was sick, so we made up a story about me being lonely so she could come with me. The Alexandria was one of Kenneth's ships, obviously... And you know the rest."

The silence hung around us. 

"I never realized... I mean it's insane that your dad would send you to marry someone you've never met, right?"

I shrugged. 

"It's what he thought was best. The best way to protect us, and the company."

Charlie shook his head. 

"Still seems insane."

Someone called for him. He looked up, then after nodding to Bonnie and I, walked away. 

She turned to face me. 

"So you never had the option to marry for love? Doesn't that bother you?"

I looked at my hands. 

"My entire life, after basically raising Amelie, I knew that I was going to have to marry for status. That would protect me and her. I wasn't taught about love. I was taught how to be a good mother and wife, how to be seen and not heard, how to sew and sing. Love wasn't in the job description."

I smiled ruefully at her.

"You really love your sister, huh?"

I nodded, staring out at the water, wondering what she could be doing right now. I didn't care as long as she was safe. 

"I do. More than anything."