A Pirate's Life for Mei

Jie

Mei

The St. Vincent volcano lit up the night like unholy fireworks of death. Flaming orange comets spewed through the ash and smoke, streaming lava trails behind them. Then a section of the mountain rim folded and a magma waterfall poured forth, setting fire to the jungle as it descended towards the sea.

"I think it's heading towards the camp," Juan mused aloud. "I guess, one way or another, leaving isn't a bad idea."

The others murmured in agreement.

"We were running out of fruit, too," Lance acknowledged.

They stood in the surf, hands on the catamaran's 'pontoons', the longboats turned into floats, ready to push it out into the waves. The anchors had already been retrieved, and all the weapons they could muster were packed into the trunks on the deck.

Putin was bound and chained to the deck just before the mast, lying on his back. One of only two Carib warriors left in the tribe manned the tiller. Four Carib women of various ages and Winny stood in the surf alongside the prisoners, giving them very wary looks, but were ready to jump aboard once there was enough water to float the ship and support their weight.

The rest of the tribe had crammed into four canoes, all of them already out on the water. Piles of fishing gear and nets, tools and weapons, were stacked in between men, women, and children. The Caribs gave the volcano fearful looks and worried amongst themselves, perhaps about what wrathful deity had been angered, or perhaps just about the way their home was now lost to them. Terrible events had descended on these poor people, party from random chance and partly due to their proximity to the prison colony.

A cynical mind might say that they were only reaping their due; they were cannibals, after all. And hadn't they been the ones to abduct people without provocation? But Mei felt more empathetic, even though they had kidnapped her. They hadn't asked for their world to be invaded by overpowered foreigners who slaughtered them wholesale, enslaved them, and brought plagues the Caribs had no resistance to.

Mei and the others heaved together, pushing the catamaran into deeper water. Then it took some effort to turn the vessel around and point it the other way. The women scrambled aboard first, then the men had to shove the boat further before climbing aboard themselves as the boat started to drift away from land. They settled on the deck, everyone sitting because it was unstable and there were no sides to the ship. And then they all turned their heads to watch the might of the volcano behind them.

A shadowy shape appeared at the edge of the jungle. It loped down the beach towards them.

"Hey! It's your cat, chica!" Cheeto excitedly pointed out.

Mei hesitated, then turned to look, feeling guilty. She hadn't forgotten it. She'd tried to forget it. Surely it was better off left behind, wasn't it? It was a wild animal. And they were about to try and raid a town and steal a ship. They couldn't bring a jaguar along for the ride, no matter how fond Mei now realized she was of it.

Distance opened between the catamaran and the beach; growing darkness separated them.

The jaguar ran faster until it reached the edge of the surf, waves lapping at its paws. It stared after them.

She felt a twist in her gut. This was the right thing to do. Why was she being emotional about this? That was just silly.

The great cat turned left, then right, indecisive. It paced back and forth, growing anxious. Giving the departing ship a forlorn look, it raised its head and made a low roar that sounded something like a wood saw.

Rather than scare her, the sound hit Mei right in the heart. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to let tears come. Was she crying? Why? She was doing the right thing leaving it behind!