Pirate By Blood

Chapter 16: Tortuga

CHAPTER 16

Tortuga

The journey was a quick one, and the sea decided to be good to them. They travelled fast, but peacefully and Maleen relaxed the whole way.

She lay on her back with her eyes closed, for the most part; just lying under the sun and feeling the last warm rays of the day seep into her skin. The air was fresh and clear; she could almost taste the saltiness of the sea.

It took them the rest of the day, though, and it was dark by the time they made port at the small island. They were all glad to finally be on land again, but Maleen was disappointed – it was a hot, cloudy night and she couldn’t see any stars. As she looked up at the sky and saw nothing but black, something deep inside of her wrenched – a jolt that tugged at her heart strings.

It was a strange feeling; a mixture of many emotions she had experienced in her past. There was loneliness and longing and complete despair and desperation. She felt isolated and quail – vulnerable to everything that went near her.

And yet...

Yet she also felt hope – which went against all the other feelings she had inside of her. It was almost a...second sense; her mind trying to tell her something that she knew deep inside of her, but she couldn’t quite bring to the front of her mind.

And in that little corner of her head – that little thought that she couldn’t quite reach – she could feel that hope just waiting to get out. She could feel the faith and delight of something she hoped would happen in the future; something she somehow knew would happen.

This knowledge was so certain, it almost frightened her.

“Well? What d’you think?”

The thought vanished from Maleen’s head as if it had never been there in the first place. All of her attention was drawn to answering the question that Simon had directed at her.

“Hmm?”

“Do you like it?” Simon asked, waving a hand out in front of him as if revealing the landscape to her.

“It’s...” Maleen worded her answer carefully so as not to offend; she wasn’t in an insulting mood right now, “...not what I expected.”

Simon was beaming as he looked around at what surrounded them as if it were his kingdom. He had obviously been here before.

Maleen didn’t agree with Simon’s vision of the place, though. He looked like he had been waiting to step foot on this land for years; whether or not it was true was another matter.

It was a very...simple island. It was dark because of the time of evening, but candle light filtered through many open windows and doors of various buildings all around. From what Maleen could see there was no person on the island that was sober – apart from those who were just arriving. According to what Maleen could see, it was a place where people came to get drunk – for that reason only.

‘But,’ she presumed, ‘I guess they all must have a reason. Every one of them must have a story to tell as to how they got there and why they came...most of them must be taking the edge off of some trouble that they’ve been through...’

And she was right. Most of the men and women she could see did have a story to tell. It could be from a lost love to a trouble childhood or even a shocking sight that had scarred them for the rest of their lives.

Every story was different, yet similar at the same time. Each person had their own version – their own story. Their own vision of things when they happened.