Pirates' Destiny: In Hazardous Pursuit

Chapter 16: Strange Saviors (Lucy)

I felt hands pulling on me. My arms, my legs, my stomach; no part of me was safe from the hands. If I had been conscious enough, I would have let them know just where they could put their hands; however, I was in no position to do so, since every time I attempted speech, all that came out was water.

I blinked my eyes hard, trying to free them from the salt water they'd accumulated. 'Where is Evie?' I wondered, ask the hands continued to pull me. They were pulling me up somewhere; I blinked again. In front of me stood a scraggly man with a concerned look on his face. Behind him was a certain William Turner, and behind William, a swaggering form that I felt as though I should recognize.

I tried to study him harder, but before I got the chance, I was dragged further on to the deck of the ship, and the man with the scraggly beard bent down and wrapped a woolen blanket around my shoulders. "Are you alright, miss?" he asked. I nodded.

"Where's Evie?" I asked immediately.

"She's after you." the man in the back said. I knew that voice; now who did it belong to?

"She's alright?" I inquired, looking round at the still-fuzzy faces surrounding me. Suddenly, my rescuers turned their attention to the other side of the boat, and rushed over, speaking in madly excited voices. Very strange men, they were. Will bent over to have a look at me; I could tell it was him by the outline of his hair. I remember that hair breaking a pirate out of prison...and offering me the same deal.

"So, you just really didn't want to go with me did you?" he joked as he examined my arms, turning them this way and that. I chuckled.

"I really didn't want to go with anyone. Someone convinced me otherwise."

I felt his smile appear on his face as he replied, "Yeah, Evie has that way about her." I decided to let him think it was Evie who convinced me; no need for anyone to poke around asking questions. "Your eyes will be fine, by the way." he said. "The salt water does this to them sometimes. It'll be several hours, but it will clear." I nodded a thanks and we sat in silence for a few moments.

"How long have you known her? Evie, I mean." I asked, breaking our hush.

"Fifteen years." he replied softly. "And in all my years of knowing her, I've never seen her do anything like this before. Not even attempt it; this is new, even to me. However," he paused. "her attitude has not changed. When she is determined to get something, she'll get it, no matter the cost. You tell her it's impossible and she'll only try harder. That's the kind of person she is; she doesn't accept no when she believes the answer to be yes."

"Come on, miss!" I heard the scraggly man call to someone from the other side of the ship.

"Evie? Are they talking to Evie?" I asked, becoming excited.

"I believe so. I'm going to set you up with a crew member's bed and you need to rest. Come on." he tried to pull me, but I wouldn't budge.

"I need to see if Evie is alright." I said firmly.

"I'll let you know when we pull her up and if there's anything wrong, you can come. But you need to rest, you've been through something terrible. Now come on." I sighed, and let him pull me up and lead me below decks, wondering all the while how I got here. William laid me down in a hammock and covered me with more blankets, and he dried my hair off with a cloth, then left it there.

"I'm Will, by the way." he stuck out his hand for me to shake. It seemed as though he had at least seven fingers to me, but I could tell it was a hand, at least.

"Lucy." I said, sticking mine out and allowing him to do the rest. "Good to properly meet you, Will."

"You as well. Just let me know if there's anything you need. I'm gonna go pull up our very stubborn friend, mm?" we both laughed in agreement and he went back above decks, leaving me in the dark. Without much to see down below decks, I couldn't help but let my mind wander. I was with pirates, on a commandeered ship; I suppose I shouldn't have been all that rattled, since I was with an inexperienced tailor on a commandeered boat not 24 hours ago. Yet, I couldn't seem to get over the fact that I was now traveling with real pirates. Evie probably would be thrilled once she was pulled aboard.

I didn't want my life to be dangerous; I didn't necessarily fancy too much excitement. I liked my life on Port Royal fairly well: joking round with my father, taking care of the most beautiful of horses, seeing how long my fingernails would grow before they broke... 'I wonder if I could ever grow my fingernails long enough to pick a lock with.' I pondered on this idea awhile before deciding that my nails would have to be made of pure steel not to snap in an iron lock.

I allowed my eyes to wander around the space I'd been put in; there were cots everywhere, one for every crewmember. 'What happens if the boat rocks?' I wondered, picturing the entire crew sliding off their hammocks and skidding across the floor, ending up in a massive pile on one side of the ship. I chuckled at the image and squirmed in my own hammock.

'How long will it be until they find us, I wonder.' I thought. I knew the navy was searching for this ship, and although I doubted that the disappearance of a horse thief and a tailor with the Commodore's boat was more important than the kidnapping of the governor's daughter, and the commandeering of the Interceptor, I was sure that the royal navy would not mind picking up two more fugitives on their way once they found us.

The pirates would fight; Evie would fight. Would I? I would have to decide what side I was really on; if I went with the navy, I would die, if I fought with the pirates, I would most likely die. I only know how to fight with a pitchfork and the rather small butter knife, so unless they had a pitchfork on this ship, I was fairly screwed. I vowed to ask Evie for sword lessons when she was well. With that thought swirling in my mind, I allowed my eyes to close and my mind to slip into unconsciousness.