A Pirate in Time (Completed)

11

The next hour was spent liberating the enemy ship of its cargo. We didn't take it all, just the valuable items that we could afford to store.

While the stronger men transferred the supplies, some of the younger lads pushed mops and stiff brooms across the deck, running the blood and water off the sides of the ship. The bodies had been sent into the sea a while ago.

I sat on the stairs leading up to the helm as I watched the sun melt into the horizon. My joints were sore and my arm and neck burned pretty badly. I briefly wondered if they'd get infected. I hoped not. That's not something I wanted to deal with right now.

I closed my eyes and relished the soft breeze for a moment. It was the only thing that didn't carry the subtle scent of blood right now.

"Elizabeth," Jay called my name as he approached. I opened my eyes and was surprised to see him holding hands with two small children. They looked terrified, and they were covered in dirt and filth. My heart skipped a beat. I wanted to strangle those pirates really badly right now, "You said you wanted something to do, right?"

I wordlessly sank to my knees in front of them. They looked broken, and it made me want to burst out in tears.

"Hey," I said gently, "What are your names?"

They only stared at me for a while. The older one was a boy with big brown eyes and the younger one was a little girl with soft blue ones. They were red around the edges from crying. I just wanted to hold her and tell her it was going to be alright.

Both children were dressed in rags with matted hair. That paired with the smudges on their skin hinted at how they were treated. Bloody pirates.

"It's okay," I tell them, "You're safe now. Everything is going to be alright," I cleared my throat and smiled warmly, "I'm Elizabeth."

The little boy finally mustered the courage to speak, "I'm Liam. This is my sister Rosie."

God, he couldn't be more than six. Maybe seven. Rosie must've been about three or four. She stared at me with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

I held out my hands to the pair, "Come on, I'm sure Captain Jay is a busy man."

Rosie came to me first. Her hand was so small in mine. She seemed shy, but at the same time, she easily put her trust in me.

Liam, on the other hand, was old enough to understand a little of what had happened to them. He wasn't so easily won over, but I'm sure the presence of a woman was a refreshing change. Reluctantly he followed after his sister.

"You should get them cleaned up," Jay suggested, "There's a tub in my quarters. It's all the way down the hall and to the left. If you look in the chest at the foot of my bed, you'll find some of my old clothes there. Something should fit."

I nodded my head and smiled up at him, "Yes sir, Captain."

I stood up and turned towards the stairs. I was about to start walking when the little girl spoke, "Up?"

I turned to see her watching me expectantly with her hands in the air. I smiled and picked her up. Balancing her on my hip, I held out my hand to Liam once more.

Remembering something last minute I turned to Jay, "Can you send some food after a while. I doubt they've been properly fed recently."

Jay smirked, "Yes Ma'am."

I smiled and slowly made my way to the stairs with the children. Rosie laid her head on my shoulder and Liam walked ahead with a straight face.

It's a good thing Liam didn't pull too hard on my bad arm, because I'm not sure how that would've gone over. Rosie just had to deal with my scraped elbow.

After walking down the hall, I had turned into the last left as instructed. As we walked through the door, we were greeted by a nice little living space. The room sported a couch, some comfy looking chairs, a small dining table, and a desk scattered with various papers. The wall was decorated with weapons, so I knew I was in the right place.
Moving to the only other door in the room, I found that it opened into the bedroom. I pulled the children inside.

The first thing I noticed was how good it smelt in here. At least the captain had a sense of hygiene, unlike the other pirates I've met so far. After that, I took a look around the room. The bed was pretty large and covered in brown and grey furs. At its foot was the chest that Jay had described.

Stepping further into the room, I saw that it had weapons mounted on the walls much like the sitting room. There were a couple paintings to liven it up a little. One was of a ship and the other looked like some sort of beach or cove.

As my eyes scanned further, I found another door. I only assumed it could be the bathroom area.

Pulling the kids in that direction, I found that my assumptions were correct.

I set Rosie down and began to fill the tub, which, I might add, was not any easy task. Stupid lack of indoor plumbing.

Chamber pots are the worst of it, by far.

After the bath was filled adequately, I turned to the children.

"Alright, let's get you out of those."

Rosie lifted her hands over her head as I pulled off her shirt. After undressing her the rest of the way, I picked her up and placed her in the tub. Then I turned to Liam and helped him with his clothes before doing the same.

It took a while to get all the dirt off the children, but after scrubbing them down and even giving my face and arms a little cleaning, it was time for them to get out.

After drying them off, I pulled out two of the smallest shirts I could find, which were still pretty big, and pulled them over the children's heads. After rolling up the sleeves for them, I determined that the pants weren't even worth a try at the moment. None of them would fit, and they were about to fall asleep anyway.

A short while after I got them dressed, Jay poked his head through the door to find them both curled up in my lap. They looked exhausted, but I knew we had to get some food in them.

He came in carrying two bowls of stew and a plate of bread balanced in between them.

He knelt down wordlessly on the floor in front of me and placed the food out before us. He then walked back to the door. "I'll be out here," he spoke softly, "The kids can have my bed tonight. You're welcome to stay with them if you wish. If not, you can come check on them when needed. I'll be on the divan for the night."

I nodded, assuming that was a fancy word for the couch, and nudged the kids a little, "You want something to eat?"

All those years of babysitting were coming in handy now. If I hadn't known how to handle these kids then this adventure would've been disastrous for me.

The kids were tired, and frankly, so was I. Today was a rough and exciting day.

I hope their experiences won't scar them forever. They're far too innocent for that.