I wonder what he was trying to do. Edith pondered as she made her way down to the beach, away from the north Docks. He obviously wasn't going to steal it on his own and sail away right then and there. Perhaps he was trying to create a diversion for a bigger group that will take a different ship while the guards are distracted?
Soon, she reached the water. She continued walking along it till she arrived at a large crag that stretches far up towards the sky. There she quickly looked around to check if there aren't any people in the nearest vicinity, before shrugging off her dirty white shirt, rugged ankle boots and worn brown trousers, leaving her only in a pair of cotton underpants and a band around her breasts as she walked into the water. At first, only her feet were met with the cool waves. Encouraged by the feeling, she continued till she is submerged up to her knees, at which point she dove into the water and started swimming down towards the bottom.
At this spot of the island, there is a quick drop where the ocean floor descends from hardly a metre to well over 12 metres, due to an underwater cliff of sorts, who's precipice is not too far from the beach. Edith has been coming to this spot for years, diving down and exploring. Occasionally, she even spots something laying on the seabed; with so many merchant vessels sailing by daily, it isn't uncommon for some cargo to drop over the deck as it is being prepared for outloading. She's found bottles of alcohol, the occasional coin. One time she even found a necklace that kept her fed for a month and bought her a much needed new shirt and trousers after she sold it at the Merchant Exchange. The old ones had been barely holding together. Unfortunately, that was the only time she found something so valuable. Still, diving like this brought her a great deal of comfort and enjoyment, and the most adventure she was able to find under the limited circumstances. Not to mention the hygienic benefits.
After spending about an hour swimming around and making countless dives down to the seabed, Edith got out of the water and sat down on the rocks nearby, letting her body and undergarments dry a bit before shrugging her clothes back on. By now, she could tell by the warm, orange hue of the light that the sun was beginning to set.
Ordinarily, Edith would be shuffling around the Sailor's Maiden at this time and for several more hours, serving ale and whatever Pete would manage to put together and pass off as food, while listening in for any interesting news or stories. Today however, she found herself with an uncharacteristically large amount of free time, and having managed to almost get arrested and go for a long, pleasantly uneventful dive, she chose to spend the rest of the time with family.
Unfortunately for Edith, this did not mean cosy dinners by a fireplace, or coddling a sibling's newborn child; she hardly had any family. She knew next to nothing about her mother, starting with the fact that she existed and ending at the fact that she probably birthed her at some point, and all she knew of her father was that he had been a privateer during one of the wars at the end of the last century. With so many being waged all the time and no education in sight, Edith hadn't even the slightest clue which. This left her only with Matthew, her uncle from her father's side; not that she could tell.
Matthew was a man in his late 50s, with a harsh face, and a not-overly pleasant personality to match it. He was a sailmaker, which meant that his hands were rough, having been pierced with needles and overworked far beyond anything healthy. Wrinkles were ever-present on his face, though Edith always suspected it was more from the constant frowning than old age. Otherwise, he was of a strong, lean build, with light brown hair and blue eyes. The colour of his hair somewhat resembled Edith's, not that it was particularly unique, but his eyes were a sea blue unlike hers, which were a darker, midnight grey, with subtle dark blue undertones under a certain light; a feature that apparently came from her ever so mysterious mother.
YOU ARE READING
Half-hour Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Aventura"There are actually people named Smith, you know. The fact that every other Billy uses it as a fake name however can be mighty irritating to those of us who actually hold the name." Edith Smith. Daughter of a privateer-turned-pirate, who dreams of n...
