Raw Winter

Chapter 2: Treasure

             Winter was restless by bedtime. She raced up and down the stairs, tireless. Her mom wasn't so spry, but caught her on the way down. She nearly staggered, but not quite. She held her like a squirming puppy, laughing as she said, "I thought you would be tired! Today wasn't exciting enough for you?"

"It was so cool how you told that prince to fuck off," she laughed, hugging her mom's neck, unaware of how precarious it was to carry her up the stairs like that, and how hard she was trying to keep her balance.

"Who taught you that word?" She scolded. "You shouldn't be saying that. It's unbecoming for a young lady."

"I learned it from the men by the docks. They say stuff like that all the time," she laughed. "I want to be a sea admiral one day. I want to hunt pirates!" She cheered, her arms flying up in the air, and her mom came close to tilting back, holding the wall with one hand and her waist with the other so she wouldn't.

"That's enough, Winter! Enough!" She said, her voice coming very close to raising. Her mom went on, "You don't think sea admirals curse like pirates, do they?"

"Xerxes sometimes does," she answered, her voice hushed, "like the time he accidentally poured salt instead of sugar in his coffee."

"But he doesn't often," she insisted. "Why do you want to be a sea admiral, anyway? Don't you want to run the shop after I'm gone?"

"You're going to live forever," she answered softly, finally settling down as she carried her into their shared room. Her mom knew the time for her sleeping in her own room in her own bed was coming, but not yet. "Besides, I want to save lives. I want to chase pirates and make sure that man won't bother you anymore."

"What man?" She asked, setting her on the bed and combing her hair.

"The big, scary pirate man that you pretend to like," she answered, folding her arms and puffing out her cheeks.

"You mean Daverel? He's a good man," she answered softly, though she didn't sound convincing. "He just doesn't make the best life decisions. There's nothing to worry about from him."

"Uh huh," she answered.

"No more talking now," her mother reproached, lying her down and crawling into bed beside her. "It's time we get some sleep. We can talk all about it in the morning, can't we?"

"Okay, ma," she answered as she snuggled against her. She felt excited about the idea of being a sea admiral. She didn't miss how her mom had wanted her to stay, but she couldn't imagine staying here and running the shop forever.

Even though she wasn't sleepy yet, she could hear her mom's soft snoring, and it helped. It amazed her how quickly her mom could fall asleep. She closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come. She could smell bread baking, and it comforted her, and before she knew it, she was asleep.

And then she was awake.

It couldn't have been long since she had fallen asleep, or it could have been hours. She really had no way of knowing other than it was dark outside. Only it wasn't dark inside like she thought it would be. The first thing she noticed was her mom wasn't beside her. She groped and searched for her, but she definitely wasn't there.

She stood on wobbly feet, and the next thing she noticed was the smell of bread burning. It wasn't a light smell, but overwhelming. It smelled expensive, and it smelled lavish. it smelled like something only very rare nobles that almost never came to the shop to buy, but when they do, they compliment it endlessly before they go. They wouldn't compliment this. It was a burning mess. Her heart beat faster and faster.

"Mama!" She called. "Mama, the bread is burning." Her throat was raw, and she was feeling sick. She didn't know what to do about that, but she knew what her mom had told her about what to do when things were on fire. She started crawling on her stomach.

"Mama!" She crawled towards the stairs to get the first glimpse of fire flickering downstairs and people moving.

And she could see the hungry eyes of the pirate that had been talking to her mom the day before gazing up the stairs. She thought she was behind something that hid her, but she was wrong. Anyone looking her way would see her there.

Daverel glanced at the other figures and then back at her as if assessing something, but she couldn't guess what. He then started sprinting towards her, two and three steps at a time. She shrieked as he grabbed her, and he tried to cover her mouth so the others wouldn't hear. He held her against him and cursed, dragging her down the stairs. He started toward the door, but someone caught sight of him.

"Daverel, you old dog! What do you have there?" He scuttled over to him, and she could hear the click of this other man's peg leg.

"It's nothing, Tert. Get on now! Shouldn't you be back on the ship by now, you damned idiot?" He said, trying to ward him away with his tone.

"A girl! The bitch did have a daughter, didn't she? Damned old cow; but you smoked her out!" He cackled. "The captain is going to love this. He already found the deed and their papers. What's the bitchling's name?"

"Maybe I'm keeping her for myself," he answered. "Keep your damn mouth shut, you shambling bag of waste."

"Don't get snippy, Dave," Tert scoffed. "What's yours is mine, and what's ours is the captain's. I think I'll have to tell him about this mutiny of yours...maybe get me a piece of pie for a change, you son of a bitch."

"Damn you," Daverel barked. "Can't have anything for myself without you sticking your damn thumb in it. Fine! I'll show her to the captain."
Winter could feel him shaking, and she didn't know why. She was stunned and confused when he had been carrying her down the stairs, but now she was catching up. She started screeching and trying to bite at him, but Tert was striding over to her, and a second later his dagger hilt hit her head and everything was gone.

The next time she woke up, she was lying on a bed that was lavish and covered in fine silk and satin covers. She could make out a chest that was overflowing with gold and gems. She tried to sit up, but her head was still spinning, and she immediately wanted to throw up.

"Don't move too quickly now. I imagine you're rightly confused about where you are, and I imagine you've got yourself a little knot on the noggin now," a man said to her. He was larger than life, his hair majestic, dark and curled. It was long and went halfway down his back. Most of his teeth were missing, but gold replaced the ones that were missing. He had dark, void-like irises that still glittered like gems.

She stared at him for a long time before asking, "Can I touch your hair?"

He appeared taken aback before laughing hard. "Sure you can!" He moved forward after catching his breath from laughing so hard. He shuffled as if one of his legs hurt, but anyone who saw him walk would say he moved like an eldritch creature ready to pounce on the living more than anything else. He seemed to have a supernatural grace about him.

She could practically smell whiskey on his breath as she tugged at his curls, her eyes wide with wonder. He asked her, "Do you know where you are and why you're here?"

It finally occurred to her this wasn't where she was meant to be. His smile didn't seem as friendly as it first seemed on further inspection.

"You're here because my ship took you," he answered softly. "And my ship is the Red Liar, and I'm the captain of said ship. My name is Hades Smith. Can you guess what part you play on this ship, little missy?"

"Am I your new cabin boy?" She asked dizzily, her stomach still twisting from the way the ship swayed. She had wanted to be an admiral, but she supposed this would have to do for now.

"Oh no, missy. I don't think so. You're too valuable to squander. You're a treasure to be sold to the highest bidder, but don't fret. As long as you're our treasure, you're going to be safe and sound. People will pay a lot for the likes of you," he told her, as if this was good news for both of them.

The ship creaked beneath her, as if in agreement.