The Bastard Girl (The Bastard Girl Series, Book #1)

Chapter 21~ A Reunion

Chapter 21~ A Reunion

I'd imagined what it'd be like reuniting with my father. I'd imagined it so much that the dream had strayed farther and farther away from reality every time I indulged. He'd see me and forgot about the past. He'd leave his murderous ways behind him. I'd run into his arms and never let go. We'd be a family again. We'd be something my mother could be proud of.

It most certainly did not play out this way.

After the fabulously rich Indian ships had been emptied of all their valuable contents, the remaining survivors were loaded aboard The Fancy as prisoners. When everyone was aboard, my father's crew began ushering prisoners below deck.

Edmund and I lagged behind in the crowd, unseen and unheard. "Edmund, put me down," I whispered, defiantly.

"No. If you keep walking, your foot will go out for good."

"Let me go."

"No-"

"Edmund Hemingway, I swear to god, if you don't put me down right this second I will take a handful of your hair and rip out your scalp," I growled, snatching a fistful of his bronze-colored hair from behind. He didn't hesitate a moment more but gently stood me back up.

"What are you doing?"

I took a deep, shaky breath. There, twenty feet away, stood my father, talking aside to another crewman.

"I'm going to greet my father."

"Wait-"

But I'd already started weaving through the crowd of men. Edmund shoved through, clawing in my direction and calling to me.

"Edmund, stop. This is something I have to do," I said without another look behind.

There he was. My father.

"Stop!" called out the Cabin Boy. His hand shot out and grabbed my arm. I shook him off, glanced behind me, and suddenly tripped on other prisoners. My breath hitched in my throat and snatched up my heartbeat. With a pained yelp, I tumbled forward—out of the crowd, pulling Edmund out with me. Suddenly, I was on my hands and knees there before the captain.

The air stopped moving. Only our breaths remained anymore. There wasn't a more intensified moment in all my life. Nothing, not even a fortune teller, could've prepared me for it. Hesitantly, I raised my eyes to my father and found his own staring back at me. I'd never seen such total shock on a person until that moment.

In a split second, four crewmen whipped out their guns and pointed them straight at Edmund and me.

I didn't move. I didn't stir. For, I was immovable at that moment, enthralled by that single, fleeting instance when the last few years had never occurred and I had never left my father's side. And how he saw me! Like how a priest sees into the shattered soul of a sinner. Once the eyes attach, they never let go.

Edmund, stiff as a board, whispered in harsh pleads as if we were in the presence of the most unforgiving god. I still hadn't made up my mind on that matter just yet.

"Constantine. Constantine, say somethin'. Say somethin', Constantine. I'm beggin' you. Say somethin'."

His anxious pants soon died away as did the guns and the crew and, eventually, Edmund himself. Once again, I'd resumed a solid state of mind. But, I'd returned with words.

"Father."

I'd said the damned words nearly a million times before, but suddenly this felt different, like ice upon my lips. A blessing or a curse?