Stepping on land again was a surreal feeling. On one hand, I was able to finally leave that floating prison. But on the other hand, I rather liked being able to float on top of the waves. I did not realize it until my feet were on the cold hard ground. It makes me feel still and constrained.
We arrived on a beach were there are no other individuals in sight. It is just nature all where the eyes can see. Only the captain gets off of the ship with me. Neither of us brought any items with us. I don't have anything, but I thought that the captain would have brought something. Once we both got our footing on land, the captain waves off the crew. The ship sails off without us.
"They will come back for us in four days once business is complete." The captain states before turning around. I stand there and watch the ship sail off. The massive object getting smaller and smaller as it gets further away. The captain grabs my wrist and pulls me toward him.
"Come on. Make haste. We have things that we need to get done today." The captain states. We walk at a quick pace through the forest past the beach. He continues to hold onto my wrist guiding me through the trees until we get to a stone path.
"We are going to stop at a town really quick this way." He points down the stone path. We walk in silence for a while. Eventually, he lets go of my wrist and I follow slightly behind him. After an hour of two of walking I grow weary of the silence and try to start a conversation to keep myself entertained.
"You seem really familiar with this location." I quickly take a few steps so that we are walking side by side.
"Well, I have been here for business plenty of times." He keeps his eyes focused straight ahead. No intent on continuing the conversation.
"Was there no more direct way to get to this town?"
"Of course, there was. Just most places do not take kindly to a pirate's ship stopping in their docks."
"I'm sure that they would have done nothing to stop you. The bad and mighty Captain Bloodstone."
"I could of if I wanted to. Doing so would have drawn too much unnecessary attention to us though. Best not to draw to much attention to ourselves. Now can you be quiet. I prefer to take this walk in peace." He quickens pace so that we are no longer side by side and I am following him again.
Fine, be like that. Maybe silence would be preferable than listening to that oaf speak.
We do not speak for the rest of the journey into town.
The town that we go to is quite quant. It is a good middle-sized town. There are quite a few shops to look at, but it is not horribly busy. We enter the middle of town where there are several stands to look at. There were many stands selling fish, which led to the whole town square to have a slight fishy smell. There were also stands selling fruit, toys, freshly cut flowers, spices.
There was one stand that caught my eye in particular. I stop following the captain for a second to admire it. It was filled with the most beautiful jewelry adorned with coral and pearls that would glisten in the sunlight. I could feel a large gloomy presence come up behind me. I tilt my head backwards to see who it is and of course it is the captain. We make eye contact for a second.
"Are you coming?" He asks me and then glances to what I was looking at before returning his gaze to me.
"Yeah, sorry" I speak softly so that only he can hear me.
He grunts and takes me by the wrist and drags me into one of the buildings. I am rushed with the scent of fresh cut bread and pastries. It has a very cozy feel. I would rather enjoy my visit here if I had different company. There is a slightly older lady behind the counter with flour dusted on her face. Her eyes light up when she sees us and comes rushing forward.
"Julian. It has been forever how have you been!" The lady rushes over and gives a large hug to the captain. She releases her hold on the captain and her eyes make her way over to me. "And who might she be?"
"Lucia." I say.
The captain pulls her closer and whispers aggressively into her ear. Her face droops down for a couple of seconds before a fake simile is plastered onto her face
"I see. Well, it is good to meet you Lucia. Any friend of Julian is a friend of mine. Why don't you come in the back and help me with some bread, while he finishes his business around town."
The captain gives me a curt nod. I guess that is my signal to go. I follow Lucia into the kitchen into the back.
"Why don't you frost these cookies while I prepare some dough."
She pulls out a tray of cookies and some icing.
"Just drizzle the icing on the cookies like so."
She stuffs the icing into a bag and squeezes it out on the cookies in a zig zag pattern on the cookie and hands the bag to me. I mimic what she does and create a slightly messier version of her cookie. She heads to the other side of the kitchen and begins working on her dough.
After several minutes of awkward silence, the lady speaks up. "My name is Isadora by the way, but people normally just call me Izzy. I forget to introduce myself earlier. I apologize for that."
"Don't worry about it"
"So," Izzy says while mixing some ingredients. "What do you think of Julian?" I try to get a good read of her face, but I can not tell what she is thinking. Why does she care?
"He's fine I guess" I mumble out a generic response.
"Any feelings whatsoever of romance." I scoff and almost let out a little laugh, but I hold it in.
"No. Definitely not. Why do you ask?" She furrows her eyebrows at this statement.
"Was just curious is all. It has been a while since Julian arrived with someone new in tow. And you seemed less peculiar than the last one."
"Less peculiar in what why?"
"Hmm. Well... I guess it is hard to put my finger on exactly what is wrong. Something just seemed a little off. Anyway, lets get back to work there is a lot I have to get done."
We work in silence after that for a couple of hours before the captain returns. He is carrying several boxes full of items. When he comes back. Izzy pulls him aside and speaks quietly into his ear. He just gives a grunt and an eyeroll. She whispers a little more loudly this time.
"You have to take this seriously."
"Fine." The captain says loud and clear. "Well, we will just be getting out of your way then. Don't want to take up too much of your time with the big order coming up."
"Ok. So long Julian and Lucia. Hope you have a good visit in town."
"We will" He responds to Izzy before directing his attention back to me.
"I got us a carriage to take us the rest of the way there."
"That does not seem very inconspicuous." I remark.
"How is tha..." He begins slightly annoyed and then takes a breath, "It is someone I know. And it is fairly normal to take a carriage around here. No need to be concerned. "
He opens the door to the carriage and holds his hand out for me.
"After you." He says
I take his hand and he helps me up into the carriage. He goes around and gets into the other side.
"To the cabin"
YOU ARE READING
A Pirate Melody
RomanceGrowing up Lucia had two rules: 1. Never speak a word to another individual 2. Never set forth in the ocean She was told that she was cursed as a baby and if she did either one of those things, terrible misfortune would befall both her and those...
