Pirates' Destiny: In Hazardous Pursuit

Chapter 14: Sailing Into the Dark (Lucy)

 I wasn't exactly confident in Evie's pirate expedition. She had, after all, only met him once before, and he had not only threatened to kill the governor's daughter, but he had also taken his leave without her, breaking the promise he'd made her. Not to mention the horrible stories I'd heard from the men in the bar about him being branded a pirate by the East India Trading Company for killing at least fifteen of their employees.

 One of the men I'd been sitting with called himself Fisheye, and he claimed to have witnessed Jack Sparrow sinking a ship's crew that he'd bartered with and couldn't seem to repay. However, Evie was the one out of the two of us who knew how to sail a ship, and I wouldn't put it beneath her to report me to the British government if I dared stand in her way. She had let me free, after all; but though she seemed like a kind person, I wasn't sure I quite trusted her yet...her or her judgment.

I led Benjamin and Markus back to the boat, and allowed them to inspect it. "This is a very small ship, miss." Benjamin said apprehensively.

"It's the best we could do. It's not exactly ours." They looked at me questioningly. "We commandeered it." I replied, and Markus shrugged.

"It'll do." he said.

"Evie has plans to name it The Voyager. I've overheard her talking about it to herself. She does that a lot." I said as we all climbed aboard and the men set to work in exploring the boat. I leaned against the railing at the stern and gazed into the dark waters below; my father was back home, where I wish I was right now. I can't say the many times I just wish I'd never gone in to work that day.

  If I had just stayed in bed, I would be at home right now taking care of my father. He was a strong man, my father. I had my doubts about his abilities since the accident, but I knew he was a fighter. The accident greatly troubled my father; for he despised not being able to do his work. His father and his father's father before him had done stable work for the governor's house through the years, and he knew the family well.

But since he was no longer able to be of service, he did not visit the governor, and the governor did not trust me well enough to divulge anything to me the way he had my father. I was a girl. Girls, especially of the lower classes, were not to be held to the esteem of the wealthy; therefore they did not acquire the same respect. I didn't like it either, but I had taken the job to aid my father nonetheless.

The governor was kind to me, don't get me wrong. But I knew that I would never be considered any more than an employee by him. And somehow I have come to believe through the years that he considered my father a friend, and perhaps even, a confidante. My father has always seemed to know more about the goings on of Port Royal than he would let on, and so I can't help but wonder all the things that have been shared between them.

I looked up at the moon; it had been ages since Evie had set out for a flag. Surely it wouldn't have taken this long. I stood up and walked towards the dock. "Is the captain coming back, miss?" Benjamin asked as I passed him.

 "Yes, of course she is." I replied and looked towards shore. "Ah!" I exclaimed. "There she is now." I smiled and met her down at the docks; she looked terribly rattled. Her hair was a mess and her jacket was gone; she carried a wooden crate in her arms. "Evie!" I said, horrified. "What happened to you?!" She shook her head.

"Doesn't matter." she said roughly, then pushed past me and walked onto the deck. "I've got us a flag, a compass, some food, and some rum. What more could we need?" she sounded almost spiteful when she spoke, and wouldn't meet my eye as she climbed the stairs to the wheel. "We're due West, boys. We'll follow the gusts out of the harbor and take our course from there. Sever the ties, we sail tonight!"

Benjamin and Markus each let out a howl of delight and went to work on cutting the ropes that held us to the dock and then securing our sails to catch the wind. All the while, Evie stood at the wheel, glowering at the meeting of the water and the sky as though she had something against it. Her eyes were wild and determined, but not like before. This was a different kind of intent; deeper, darker.

I looked to her hands and observed that she was shaking slightly as she gripped one of the spokes with her right hand, and the compass she'd found in her left. The box she'd brought on board was sitting at her feet. Something had gone very wrong. Suddenly, she bent down and reached into the crate, and produced a black flag with a skull and crossbones printed in white on both sides.

 "Boys!" she called, and they looked at her. "Secure this to The Voyager's mast." Then she threw the flag down to them and they cheered with excitement. "It will not be raised but by my command." She paused and took a deep breath, then stepped close to the railing in front of the wheel and spread her arms wide. A bit dramatic, but the two boys ate it up.

"Men, m'lady, we sail as pirates now."