Aboard the Jackdaw: Under Edward Kenway And The Black Flag

4: A Thief In Their Midst

"Time for work!"

Adewale boomed as he unlocked the cells. Anna rubbed her sleepless eyes. Her neck was sore from being curled in the fetal position on the wooden floor, and her hands were tender and red from yesterday's endless hard work. She felt the presence of a fever growing inside of her, and her lungs heaved with the revolt of the air: she had begun to catch Brig Fever.

With another little cough, she stood up quickly and walked out of the cell to join the others. Her sharp eyes watched Adewale as he put the keys to the cells in his left belt pocket.

There it is: left pocket. Not too deep, that's good news.

The prisoners reached the deck in time to see the first of a pink sunrise lingering in the sky. Anna bit her lower lip. She was confident of her ability to steal the keys, and the plan to lower the rowboats and escape, but what then? More slavery? Starvation at sea?

"Prisoners, here!"
Motioned Adewale with his pistol.

The prisoners curiously gathered around a heap of pirate clothes. Most of The Jackdaw crew was watching.

Adewale announced,
"We will have none of those horrid red British uniforms onboard The Jackdaw. Grab whatever fits and change. You have three minute!"

Anna's eyes bulged. The British quickly began to pick spare rags out of the pile on the warm deck.

Anna's lungs heaved anxiously as she looked towards the quartermaster and then to the Captain Kenway watching from a distance. The pirate captain was leaning against the outer railing of his ship and his arms were comfortably crossed. He noticed her fear and smirked with a playfully suggestive eyebrow.

Anna tightly shut her lips together and nervously approached the pile. Some of the men had begun to change.

"Oi! Here comes the girl, boys!" Teased the  shirtless pirate Joel.

The crew began catcalling.

"Save the best for last!"
Sang one.

"Can I get a private view of the goods, darling?" Teased another.

The pirates continued to snicker.

Anna looked at Adewale through a grinding jaw.
He nodded at the pile,

"You too, I'm afraid." The African quartermaster confessed in a rather soft tone.

Anna was balancing fear and anger by the weight of a feather. She was not wearing a Royal Navy uniform, so there was no need for her to change. Her mouth opened and shut wordlessly. Her old brown dress shifted nervously beneath her. She absently felt the thinness of its fabric on her legs. Her garb was so thin and worn, she was truly one snag on a hook or one man's tug away from falling full-frontal before a gang of lawless, lonely pirates. She glanced at Captain Kenway at the helm, who was still watching but this time impatiently tapping his index finger on his bracers. The pirate captain was the only man who had even mildly defended her honor. 

Perhaps it was best to change now under the captain's protection than for her thin garb to fail her unplanned with him not around. But, she could not feel anything other than shame and anger at the fiasco to care. 

Anna quickly grabbed the smallest shirt and trousers left in the pile. She looked around. Every hungry pirate eye was looking at her, including Captain Kenway and Fonte.
With a sigh, she undid the strings on the top of her dress and pulled the dirty, off-white Caribbean shirt over it before sliding the dress off underneath. The pirates whistled as the only thing covering her legs was her underwear.