The Scourge - Pirates & Privateers

Chapter 8 : The Drydock

Martin dashed through the alleyway like a hound after a fox. He tore past a band of drunken sailors, scarcely slowing to avoid their flailing bodies. As the buildings grew from shacks to houses, he turned a corner and narrowly avoided colliding with a flock of parishioners herding themselves out of a ramshackle church. An elderly couple staggered into his path, and in an effort to avoid them, he tripped on his own feet and toppled forwards, taking out the legs of the cleric on his way down. The cleric fell face-first to the road with a splash. The parishioners gave a squawk and scattered like flustered hens, then cooed with worry as the holyman pulled himself from the gutter, his black habit painted with a fine brown veneer. Shocked and deeply ashamed, Martin felt the urge to stop and apologize profusely before helping the poor man until he was sure he was alright, or until the cleric stopped yelling at him, but there was no time. He picked himself up, gasped: 'sorry' at the congregation, and dashed away, the snarls of the angry priest trailing after him.

It wasn't until he reached the ruins of the old shipping district, towards the mouth of the bay, that he stopped running.

'Odd sort of place to keep a ship, isn't it?' he heard in a familiar, cut-glass accent. Faint though it was, the sound of Emily's voice made his heart flutter with relief, but sank again to hear a much darker voice answer her.

'She's for repairs right now, but they're almost finished; be raring to go by morning, on my honour.'

'I should hope so. I expect you to earn that thousand, sir. The last men who promised to take me to Barbados were overpriced and asked far too many questions.'

'Questioning is a dangerous habit, miss, you may lay to that,' a second voice, more nasal but still fierce, said. 'My old dad died from asking too many questions, he did. Well... that, and the pox.'

Martin poked his head around the corner and saw Emily, glowing bright with her copper-red hair and sapphire dress, a leather satchel over her shoulder, in the company of two men. Both of them were tall and just as drunk as the other, judging by their pink complexions, though one was significantly more muscular than the other. The broad-shouldered one, with a dragon tattoo of Far-Eastern design running from the top of his shaven head to his neck just below the collar, walked just ahead of Emily. His companion, a rat-faced, lanky sailor with a receding hairline and one ear swollen like a plum, followed close behind.

They ambled down a narrow passage towards the reinforced courtyard door of the abandoned dry docks. Even from a distance, Martin could see that the gate was bolted with a heavy lock securing it.

'You know,' the man with the swollen ear put his hand on Emily's shoulder and pointed her to a disused cobbler's shop to the side of the passage. They turned and, in panic, Martin ducked a little more behind the wall. 'This place used to be so pretty, once. My old dad used to work in this here shop, fixing boots.'

Cautiously, Martin peaked around the corner and watched as the man with the bald head took hold of the padlock and drew a long knife. The blade winked and Martin's heart seized. His desire to leap out and reach Emily, to tear her away from them and run, was overwhelming but his legs stubbornly refused to move. He tried to call out to her, but his voice caught in his throat.

Bald-head struck the padlock with the butt of his knife and broke it with a hollow thunk. Before Emily could turn around, he slipped the blade beneath the fold of his jerkin, then grinned over his shoulder.

'These locks, eh? Don't make 'em like they used to anymore. These new-fangled ones sometimes need a bit of encouragement.' He prized the lock away, letting it clatter uselessly to the sand, then slid the bolt and opened the gate with a bow. 'After you, milady.'

Emily gave a gracious curtsy. 'I must say,' she remarked, 'you're both much more courteous than the other crew.'

'We aim to please, miss,' Swollen-ear smiled, then when Emily had disappeared behind the gate, his face darkened as he took one final glance behind him before he too slipped behind the gate.