I closed the notebook and looked up. "Yes? If it is about the deadline of the midterm paper, then sorry, I can't extend it."
He grabbed the left strap of his backpack and sat it right. "No. It's nothing like that," he muttered. "Do you have 5 minutes?"
I nodded. "Let's continue this conversation in my office." I scooped up my things and strode out of the room with my student in tow.
Once in my room, we sat at the desk. He took off his backpack and perched on the chair with it in his lap.
Checking my arm clock, I sighed, placed my forearms on the desk, and leaned closer to him. "What can I do for you, Mr. Burleigh?"
"You told us to find something in our family, possibly an heirloom to write about in our paper." I nodded in agreement. "I've found something." He reached inside his bag, fumbled around, then slowly extracted a small yellowish paper box. "It looks kinda old." He took off the top of the box and placed the lower half in front of me. "But I don't want to waste my time if it's just a bijou."
"It's beautiful." I stared with wide eyes at the ornate gimmel ring. With a huge smile on my face, I asked, "May I?".
He nodded in agreement, so I carefully picked up the jewel. The three pieces still interlocked flawlessly, two hands clasping a red heart.
"You are right, definitely an antique one." The gold lost its once perfect shine. So did the precious stones. Now, besides the golden yellow, it had darker tones too. "The engraving isn't easy to read... Those are definitely not names. Maybe a quote from the Bible." Twirling it between my fingers, I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head to the side. "I would wager it is from the early 17th century, possibly Dutch"
Mr. Burleigh's face lit up. "Really? I never knew I had Dutch ancestors."
My fingers brushed over the ruby heart absentmindedly when it hit me. I froze. My sight blurred and the world started spinning.
OH, no, no, no! Not now! Why can't I be in charge of this just once?
Then everything went blank.
My eyes flew open but I didn't dare to move an inch. My head was laying on a grayish pillow. I was in a bed, but where and when? The linen didn't felt fluffy or even clean, for that matter. It reeked of a foul odor mixed with something salty. The combination of those and the gentle continuous swaying led me to believe I was on a ship. I sat up and cautiously looked around. The cabin didn't have much furniture, a big desk with chairs, two dressers, a chest, and the vast bed I currently occupied. Moving the linen blanket from my lower half, I looked over myself. The yellow breeches were too wide and the whiteish shirt way too long. Suddenly, the door sprang open, and a handsome, rugged man entered without knocking.
"You are finally up, Anne," he said with a sly smile.
Ok, that's better. I'm Anne.
He sat on the bed, pulled me close, and kissed me. I whimpered in surprise but, I couldn't have a too strange reaction. They seemed cozy with each other, so I just went with the flow and kissed him back.
So that is how it felt to be licked by a walking ashtray.
Finally, he ended it and said, "Come on, get up. We are closing in on them. The Dutch won't know what hit them." He rubbed his hand together and laughed wickedly.
At that moment, a person stepped inside the room. "Captain, you are needed on the deck." He smiled again, grabbed the other woman in trousers, and gave her a thorough smooch as well.
What the...
"Thanks, Mary." He patted her bottom then stepped out. The woman stayed for a moment. "Isn't it exciting? Hopefully, they will have plenty of food and gold." She made a move to leave, then looking back over her shoulder, she said, "Prepare to fight. They won't give up easily." With that, she stepped out the door.
When I was finally alone, I sprang out of bed and tip-toed barefoot to the dressers, and struggled to clothe myself.
Anne, Mary... Oh no. Anne Bonny. I am Anne frickin' Bonny. It all makes sense now. And the Captain is Calico Jack.
As I sheathed Anne's sword in full men's clothes, I thanked the heavens for the sword-fighting classes I had taken. Stepping out to the deck, I had to remind myself to be careful and do as she would have done it.
"Prepare the guns and start to shoot," shouted Calico.
Soon a series of fire in the holes sounded. I wrinkled my nose when the strong smell of burnt gunpowder hit me. The shots were just for warning with minor damage to the hull.
"Move closer," Calico instructed the helmsman on the poop deck. "Don't wreck it much."
After the crew had managed to grapple hook and tie the Dutch ship to ours, the sailors surrendered. Much to some pirates' chagrin, the others were eventually left stranded on a small island.
When the mood started to skyrocket, I fleed to the cabin's safety. Mary must have been close by because she showed up right after me. About a minute later, Jack came in with a shit-eating grin on his face and a bottle of rum in his hand, badly humming a tune.
He raised the bottle high and made a slurry toast. With a thud, he put his drink on the table and fumbled inside his jacket pocket.
"Come here," he said to Mary, grasping her hand to pull her close. "I got you a little something." After placing a gold necklace around her neck, Calico brushed his lips over her neck.
"Thank you." She turned to show her gratitude with a kiss.
Following the brief interlude, he swayingly stepped in front of me. "And for you, me Darling, I have something special." He presented me with the very same ring that Mr. Burleigh had shown me.
Burleigh, of course... Anne's future husband. Anne Cormac Bonny Burleigh.
"I got it off of a nice young lassie." He lowered his head and slowly leaned in to kiss me as he slipped the ring to my left ring finger.
Finally, the nightmare is over.
The spinning started again. Everything blurred all of a sudden.
I came to in my office. Trying to clear my cluttered mind, I rapidly blinked.
"Everything alright? It looked like you were miles away for a minute," said Mr. Burleigh apprehensively and poured me a glass of water.
"Yeah, it felt like it. Thank you!" Taking big sips, I drank the whole glass. The fog cleared up. "Are you from Charleston?"
"No. But I think my great-great-grandfather was from around there."
"If I were you, Mr. Burleigh, I would look up my family tree and focus on maybe my 8th great-grandmother from the early 18th century," I suggested mysteriously.
