The Mermaid Pirate

Chapter One: Filthy Pirate

Running down the pier, the cold night air smashes against my face turning my cheeks bright red. My long black hair whips behind me as I laugh with glee at my latest steal. A golden necklace with big and shiny red rubies studs and a matching bracelet lay in my leather pouch tied to my side. 

Captain Nate will be pleased. 

I keep running towards the boat yard where I will easily lose these dimwitted guards. They are chasing after me as hard as they can to try and catch me. I know if I were to be caught, I will be immediately hanged. Not for stealing though, stealing gets you 30 whips in front of the entire town; and that’s nothin’! 

“Stop, you filthy girl!” a guard cries out into the night. Filthy? That’s insulting. I bathe regularly...

“Disgusting pirate! You will be hung for your crimes against the King! Your body shall rot in front of the entire town! Even if you’re a girl!” Another spits out. I leave behind another trail of careless laughter. It’s slim that they’ll catch me, the guards never do. My laugh echoes into the deep night, overlapping the sound of the guards’ thudding boots on the wooden docks. The guards are starting to tire and I hear them slowly fade away and then eventually stop as I have gotten too far ahead of them. I laugh once again in triumph. I have always loved getting away from the guards, it gives me such a thrill.

I turn to the right and run into a sleeping neighborhood. I silently jump onto a crate of wheat and hoist myself onto a straw roof. I lay in the straw sweating, panting, and waiting until the coast is clear. Only once, the guards walk past the home, still looking for me and then disappear down an alley. I wait a few minutes before moving and my stomach growls hungrily.

I could use a midnight snack before I get back to the ship. 

I slip on my black hood and climb down from the roof. I look inside the window and I see a plate of half eaten bread and a wedge of cheese. It’s not much but it shall do for now until I get back.

I crawl through the tiny window and reach the kitchen undetected. As I reach for the bread I see it is stale and hard and the cheese has started to mold. Disgusted, I throw the food down and start to look for fresh food. While looking, I start to take in the home. It’s a small, poor looking, cottage with only one couch and a small table with four chairs with nothing more for decoration except a small, handmade-looking green rug. 

“Stop! Please. Take what you want. We are nothing more than humble villagers. Please, we have nothing more than one silver and three copper. Take it and leave my wife and children alone!” a shaky, male voice barks out from behind me.  I turn to face the voice and see two young children, too skinny to be called healthy, hiding behind a worn down young man who all gasp when they see I’m a pirate. A frail woman is silently crying and peaking out from a door frame. They’re starving. My heart instantly reaches out to the children. Memories of my own starving childhood flicker into my mind. The endless nights of being chilled to the bone and so, so, hungry. Begging the rich for one copper coin but all I ever received from them are the same pitiful looks. That’s why I steal from the rich and never the poor.

I remember my prizes in my pouch. Nate only expected a necklace from the nobel daughter’s... “I won’t hurt you and I won’t steal from you, if only you let me go quietly. Do not call the guards.” I look at the children again, “Your children, how old are they?” I ask.

“My oldest is eighteen who is out for work, my middle child is seven, and my youngest is three.” the man nervously says. 

I smile, “My brother is twenty-three and I am seventeen.” The man simply nods, clearly unsure what to do. I reach into my pouch and take out the gold and ruby bracelet. “Here. Please take it to a man named Gruff down by the Dark Piers. Tell him...” I pause before saying my name, “Charlie sent you. He will help you trade the bracelet for money.”