Pirates at Heart

Chapter 9: Leap for it

"Keep up." Scorpia's voice bounced off the walls of the alleyway and managed to escape through the thin passageways of tight space .

"Can't anyone tell me what going on?" My question was answered with silence, even from Bonnie, until Scorpia stopped in her tracks causing us to crash into the back of her.

"We'll need to get some high ground. Give me a leg up, mateys." Bonnie and Raven instantly obeyed, kneeling down on the floor and holding out their hands which cupped Scorpia's foot as she lifted it. The girls hauled her up onto a stone window ledge around 2 meters from the ground. She managed to climb up onto the roof of the building from there and she rolled down a piece of rope for us to climb.

The other two managed to get up relatively easily but my heart started to thump hard. I had never been the most athletic or strong. It was time to learn my lesson.

"What are you waiting for?" Scorpia interrupted my thoughts with a confident flick of her dark hair whilst peering down at me with a judgment written on her brow.

"Stop rushing me. I'm coming now.." I took hold of the rope with both of my hands and gave a sharp tug on the prickly vine to ensure it was safe.

"If you're worried we are going to drop you, don't. You're light as a feather. Not like Bonnie." I ignored her comment as Bonnie was clearly much skinnier than me. Letting my body weight shift from my feet to the rope, I managed to wrap my legs around it and carefully shuffled myself up the rope with a lot of effort. I feared that the rope would snap baring my weight but I knew I didn't weigh THAT much. My brain was just being irrational in a fearful time. Taking shallow breaths, I didn't look down and only up at Scorpia's glowing hazel eyes.

"That's a good girl. Now take my hand. Quick!" She outstretched her hand and without a second thought, I took it. Her hand was strong for a young woman and I could feel her strength immediately as she pulled me up onto the roof of the building.

"I'm up!" I laughed, exasperated and exhausted. Bonnie smiled and hugged me tightly.

"Ahoy! You're starting to get the hang of this. It took Bonnie WEEKS before she managed to do something remotely like that."

"Hey!" Bonnie shouted, her voice loud and clear. Scorpia continued.

"It was just instinct for me, of course." She raised her chin smugly and confidently started to lead the group again.

"The rooves here are quite flat meaning we can just jump from gap to gap." She demonstrated, stepping over a miniature gap between two buildings. The streets were packed with thousands of houses within very close proximity to each other meaning travelling unseen was easier than ever.

"Some of these buildings are a little lower than others meaning me might have to jump down. Like so." Scorpia bent her legs and propelled herself through the air, landing on the lower building. The other two did the same but when I did it, I landed on my ankle and a strange cat-like howl burst from behind my lips.

"OUCH! WHOSE FUCKING IDEA WAS THIS?" I rolled on the floor, cradling my injured foot and feeling rather sorry for myself. I simply wanted to go home and drown my sorrows with a cup of beer. I had been restricted on my beer intake since the crew classed it as a 'drinking problem' but I disagreed with that label because it was not a problem and simply a quick solution to my life issues. I didn't see a problem with that?

"You'd better be quiet. Or we'll be caught. You've barely bruised it. Keep going. Don't make me have to carry you."

I groaned angrily whilst Bonnie and Raven pulled me to my feet. We made our way through the town, jumping from building to building, avoiding being sighted, that was until we reached a problem that I couldn't solve with beer.

"I swore this gap wasn't this big before. Wasn't there a gutter pipe we used to climb across or something?" The other two shrugged, fearing to be wrong.

"Ah well. If we can't go around we'll have to go through, aint that right princess.... Isobel?"

"Huh? Oh.. yeah." I had barely been listening. My brain was filled with the frothy, bubbly, delicious liquid that would quench my thirst.

"Alright. Stand back." Scorpia retreated to the opposite side of the building the gap between the buildings was around 7 feet wide.

Staring straight ahead, Scorpia started to propel her body forward with her strong muscular legs for strong run up, as she reached the end of the building, she pushed off from it and leaped majestically through the air. The golden sun peaked from behind her, setting her all aglow as her hair lifted from the motion of the jump and flowed beautifully in the wind. She landed in a crouched position on the opposite side of the gap with a great smile on her face. Dust particles flew through the air as soon as her boots hit the ground.

"Who's next?!" Her voice boomed from the other side. Bonnie raised a shaky hand and copied Scorpia's movements. She retreated to the back of the roof, ran along it and flew through the air until she landed safely on the other side. She waved enthusiastically at us; her teeth shining with pride. Raven did the same and somehow landed safely in a standing position. Now it was my turn.

"Lucky last. You going to join us?" Scorpia's voice called. I swallowed hard and tried not to look down.

"Don't be frightened! It's not as bad once you just jump. It'll be over in a flash." Bonnie called comforting words to me as I approached the back end of the roof and prepared to run. Lowering my head, I stopped the chattering of my teeth by forcing my jaw to close. Inhaling, I stood in a ready stance, exhaling, my limbs propelled me towards the gap. Nothing could stop me. My heart pounded furiously as adrenaline coursed through my veins. I felt as my legs pushed off from the building and I felt though I was floating in the air. However, I started to fall rather quickly and noticed I wasn't going to make it..

The look on Scorpia's face was indescribable as I outstretched my arms and managed to catch myself on the edge of the opposite roof. I was dangling from my weak fingers. This wasn't going to end well.

"SHIT. HELP."

"Oh my god! Don't panic." Scorpia immediately rushed to her knees to help me up but before she could try I already felt my fingers loosening their grip on the edge of the roof until I couldn't hold on any longer and fell from the roof...