Pirate By Blood

Chapter 1: Caught

CHAPTER 1

Caught

One night, Maleen was gazing at her locket by the light of the stars: looking at her initials on the back, stroking the engraved texture of them, clicking the latch open, looking wistfully at her father’s portrait inside and wishing to be with him, then snapping it shut repeatedly. She sighed. Some of the memories from when she was small were sometimes so vague and blurry in her mind that it was sad. Sad that she could remember little about her time spent with her father. All she could remember very clearly was that he was wonderful – great, brave, heroic, funny and wonderful to cuddle up to on a cold night. She remembered when he used to play with her – let her imagination go wild out in the streets and they would pretend they were pirates hunting for buried treasure. But she also remembered the day her father stopped playing games. He said that the game they played was too dangerous, and he went away on more and more trips on the sea. Maleen saw him less and less. Then one day he made that promise...the promise that he broke...

            Maleen blinked hard and blocked out the rest of the memory. She refused to let herself see any of the bad things. They were wrong. Not right at all. Her father was wonderful – he broke no promises, and always played with her when she was little. That was the way she would remember him – wonderful, because that was exactly what he was.

            She got up from leaning against the small house and walked over to the end of the alley. It had a great view. She could see the bay in the near distance – the moon and the stars casting reflections of brilliant white light onto the Caribbean Sea. It was a lovely warm night – comfortably warm, not the kind of heat that made you sticky with sweat – and Maleen smiled. She loved it when it was like this; quiet, romantic, and dark. When it was dark no one could see her – no one could shout or yell at her, and no one could see the three rings that had been tattooed onto her wrist – that was something her mother had told her to keep secret as soon as Maleen decided to get it a few years ago – as an extra memory. Her father had the same one in the exact same place. But the tattoo must not be seen by anyone in the red or blue uniform, her mother had said. Maleen hadn’t been told why, and she hadn’t asked. All she knew was that the tattoo must not be seen.

            She looked at the sea and the small waves rolling up the small sandy beach. She looked at the dock and the ropes and the little rowing boat with both ores and the...

            Wait a second...rowing boat...

            She looked again, just to be sure – but it was definitely there.

Maleen couldn’t believe her luck. She glanced up and down the alley and what she could see of the beach. No one would notice. No one would know if she just took the boat and went on her way. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for her – this may be her only chance to start her dream. This may be her only way off this stupid island that had imprisoned her all of her life.

            “Perfect!” whispered Maleen, half to herself, half to the sleeping dog at her feet, “Come on Fido, good boy! Quick, before someone sees!”

            The dog didn’t move for a moment. He just opened his eyes sleepily, glared in a lazy kind of way, then settled back down to sleep again.

            He was a lovely dog, usually, but Fido did love his sleep.

            “Come on, Fido!” Maleen hissed in a harsh whisper, yanking at the dog’s neck, “You know how much this means to me! It may be the only way I can see my father again. We have to go!”