The Pirate and the Soldier Boy

Chapter 6

Carmen stood at the bow, hand resting casually on the railing, the other on her sword hilt. For nearly a year she had been on The Siren, not setting foot on land the whole long while. A line of captives stood by the edge of the ship, waiting to be pushed off to swim the 400 meters to shore. She was now used to this. Her captain had a strange moral system, and one Carmen didn't completely agree with. Which led to her personal system of balances. One that she would probably be killed for if anyone on the ship found out.

The first woman was pushed off board, and Carmen counted the seconds until she hit the water. She held her pointer finger out over the edge of the railing in the universal sign for "one".

The next woman was pushed off, and Carmen gave a small shooing motion with her hand, and there were two splashes, almost simultaneous in the water. It was slightly louder than the splash before, and she hoped no one would notice. Her face stayed steady, but her heart raced with adrenaline, and she had the grace to silently thank Olive for teaching her to bluff properly while playing cards over the last few months. Or, rather, taking all her money in cribbage and dice until she taught herself.

When there were nine heads bobbing in the water, Carmen moved her hand against the railing with three short taps, followed by a rest, and three more taps. Another swimmer started forging towards the shore, and it was barely distinguishable in the low light that he hadn't come from ship. His short hair wasn't visible in the water, for which Carmen was grateful. She hoped he made it, as she had given up two nights sleep on night shifts to make sure no one else had checked the bowsprit netting, or seen her giving food to the person stashed there, soaking from the sea spray, but alive. Maybe he had a daughter her age, who would now not have to go through the pain of losing a father that she did. This was the flower on his grave. A gift she would never stop giving her father until she died. Which, given the nature of her occupation, may not be too long at all.
* * *
Weeks passed in relative order off the coast of Spain. Any ship that had been sighted had turned away quickly on sight of the colors flying at their mast, and the waves and skies had been calm and blue.

It was Carmen's turn in the crow's nest on look out on a bright morning, and she stood contented with her lot in life, feeling the wind blowing through her hair and seeing the clouds float past. Piracy really wasn't that bad, if you ignored a large part of the work. Even if she could swim, Carmen would be torn on whether she would leave. This place had become a home to her, almost. Albeit a home where she was under constant house arrest and had to scrub the entire top deck every Friday.

A spot arose on the horizon and she lifted her telescope. Miniscule even in the enlarged view, a ship moved across the lens, white sails billowed out, pushing it fast in their direction. Carmen whipped into action. "Captain! Army ship approaching on the starboard side!"

People sprung into action below. Jenna yelled back up. "Switch the flags!"

Normally when they spotted ships on the horizon, it was too late to switch to a different flag, but with the advance warning, Carmen was able to scamper over to the black flag and switch it for something friendlier. She then slid down the rigging as fast as she would dare to grab weapons and prepare to board the other ship. Anything she could do to get on deck first.

As they pulled alongside the smaller ship they poured out from behind the railing, yelling and shouting enough to raise the dead as they went. Carmen's feet were the first to hit the deck, and she swung her sword at a rope tied to the mast, sending a heavy crossbeam swinging and half a dozen people off their feet or over the edge of the ship.

As more people came on behind her, Carmen dove into the middle of the crowd of people, hiding from her comrades and moving towards the stern of the ship, following a figure she had seen dart in there earlier. She reached the general's quarters and located a bulge in the curtains where a person may be hiding when she felt something cool and sharp slide across her neck and an arm tighten across her shoulders, pinning her against someone behind her. She calmly took her hand away from the hilt of her sword and raised both of her arms in front of her (or as far in front of her as she could with the effective seatbelt across her shoulders) to show she was unarmed.