Gunslinger

Chapter Two- The Village

I was soon lost among the throngs of the Isles farmer market.  The one place where the rich and the poor and the lowest of the low could all mix without a questioning glance from other classes.  I supposed there were other places out there in the great wide yonder that were like the market, and one day, I intended to find them.

 The Island I had been stranded upon since I was eight years old was not a large one, it only measured five miles wide and two miles long, and was situated a comfortable twenty-some miles away from the rocky coast of the Cape of Good Hope.  We were a sanctuary for weary sailors, and a beacon of safety from the treacherous, pirate infested waters around us.

Which brings me to the water itself.  It was strikingly clear and stretched on forever in every direction.  The hues went suddenly from a shockingly bright, clear blue with pale white sand, then suddenly, far out at sea, the light gave way to a dark, almost idigo colored stream, which went on for the rest of forever as far as I knew.  

The waves clapped continually and peacefully onto our sandy shores while palm trees blew gently in a  cool wind that blew in from the Western side of the island.  The winters were mild and the summers warm, temperatures never ventured far from comfortable.  Rain came in the form of various tropical storms that occasionally blew through, but damage somehow escaped the Isles.  We were lucky in that aspect...  We were lucky in many aspects.

The only thing that the good people who resided on the Isles had to worry about was the Barbary Pirates.  They mainly resided up on the coasts of the Northern edges of Africa, far away places like Tunis and Tripoli.  Our little island was quite out of their way and it escaped the natives knowledge as to why the Pirates wanted anything to do with our hometown.  My Father suspected they had a port unknown to English government somewhere in the area and Sally and I often sat up at night or walked the edges of the Island, seeing if we could spot any ships far out on the horizon.  To me, the pirates were just something to dream about and dread, they were the legends I had grown up with and the superstitions of the Isles Natives, but they weren't in any way a part of our lives.

I spun through the market joyfully, despite my earlier anger and diappointment, weaving my way between haphazard carts of fruit and vegetables and waving hello to the merchants I was particularly fond of.  All this while I was making my way back to the Severed Mansion, my home.

It was placed perfectly, centered in the middle of the Isles and was a huge stone structure with a panoramic ocean view, it was two floors and it was beautiful, but my favorite part by far was the courtyard.

The stones in the courtyard were arranged to make a picture of giant cross-swords dripping with poison, the Severed family crest, and it was Sally's favorite part, the subtle, almost unnoticeable detail of the house, while my favorite part was all the bright, eye popping flowers, but that was what made Sally different, she noticed the little things.

I charged powerfully through the wide, rusted, wooden door that led from the courtyard to the kitchen, and kicked off my shoes, sighing in relief that my feet could once again breath, then I charged purposefully into the dining room.  

"You are late-" The butler, and my good friend, Barnes Ramirez said, a slight smile on his face.  Barnes was three years older than I was, making him twenty-one, and he was very handsome. With deep, chocolate colored eyes and a slim but muscular frame.  His hair was cut short and light brown in color, not to mention he was always smiling.

"Amila!  Where were you?  The cook just brought out dinner and your dirty!" Sally exclaimed, she was extremely orderly and the epitomy of a lady, though she was only nine.  I pulled out a chair and sat down next to her.

"Sally, no one gives one patoot if I show up to dinner dirty." I picked up a fork.

"Father would." Sally said rigidly.  "And what if you had gone on the ship Amila? What if pirates had overtaken it?  What would I have done then?  I would have been left with no one!" Sally was also terrified of even the slightest chance of meeting pirates.

"You would have had me, Sal.  You know that." Barnes pulled out a chair across from me and took a seat.

"Besides, if Pirates had taken the ship I would have beat them to bloody pulps and used them as shark bait!" I stood on my chair, barefoot and brandishing my fork like a sword, I was also painfully aware that my best dress was now ripped and muddy.

Sally gasped, "Sit down!" she motioned with her hands, "Amila sit down and be a lady!"

I obediantly plopped back down into my chair, Barnes and I stifling laughs over my comment.  We both knew that if I ever came across a pirate, I would be the shark bait.  "Now eat your peas and chicken." Sally sighed, her tiny little eyebrows furrowing angrily, and the rest of dinner passed as a non-event.

Later that night I walked into Sally's small room to say goodnight, I always found it funny that although Sally could have any room in the house, she chose the smallest, just because it would be easier to keep clean and she enjoyed the confinement.  My father had given me the room with the most windows, proclaiming me as an impulsive young child who "Needed her space"  

"Amila?" Sally whispered from under her covers.

"Good night, Sally." I whispered, and turned to walk out of the room but Sally sat straight up.

"Wait!" She called after me, and I noticed she was pulling at her two blonde braids nervously.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, panic mounting in my chest, I didn't know how to solve other people's problems.

"You would never leave me would you?" Sally blurted, her big blue eyes wide.  "Like... Like to become a pirate or something?" 

"Sal!" I couldn't help but laugh a little as I went to sit on the edge of her bed.  "That's ridiculous and you know it."

"Sometimes I worry though.." Sally trailed off.

"You worry way to much for a kid." I ruffled the top of her head and she pushed my hands away irritadedly. 

"You just remind me of that song Mom used to sing... The one about Johnny.  Sing it Amila, please!"

"Sally..." I really wasn't in a singing mood at that moment.  Given the circumstances I was quite willing to simply go back to my room and contemplate what the word marriage meant and how I could get out of it.

"Please?" Sally begged.

"Fine." I said, and began to sing:

I thought I heard the old man say, "Leave her Johnny, leave her."

Tommorrow you will get your pay, "Leave her Johnny, leave her."

I kept singing until Sally was fast asleep, safely tucked away by the warmth of her own dreams, so I sang the last line of the song as quietly as I possibly could, an deep ache forming in my chest as I sang:

But now once more to shore we'll go,

It's time for us to leave her.

(A/N, I did not come up with song that Amila sings in the end of the Chapter, it's an old song sailors would sing and it has ALOT of verses.  Depending on which one you read there are also many different versions of the same song.)