Wandering Wolves

Hellstrand Meet Oliver

"Look fellas, he's running!"

"I can get him from here!" Grim shouted just as he threw a rock straight at my head. He was right. He could definitely hit me from there. A trickle of blood went down the right side of my face as I heaved myself over some shipping crates. Welcome to the town of Ameliasburg. One of the biggest harbors for merchants and all their goods. Fortunately for me that means a lot of crates to climb and hide behind. After giving those brutes a runaround I managed to make it to the final bridge leading to my home. I say bridge it's a rope bridge, an almost barely hanging on rope bridge. Opening the door to the house the sweet smell of chicken soup filled my nostrils.

"I'm home!" I set down my pack which I had filled with smuggled goods. Two bottles of medicine for Anne, five apples, a new pair of black boots and a sewing kit to fix my jacket. Anne got up from her chair when I came in, her hand went to her mouth when she saw the blood on my face.
"Again, Matthew? Honestly you think they would give up with you after all these years." She took a cloth out of the cupboard and wet it in the sink.

I took the wet cloth from her, "You know how they feel about pirates. They're never going to stop."

Pirates. Now I'm not a pirate, my mother is. The island of Ameliasburg hates pirates since they always come and steal their goods. I steal their goods to, only because nobody in this town likes my family. The famed Hellstrands. My grandfather was a famous pirate, when he died my mother took over as captain of his ship, The Hell Gate. This happened when I was really young, I don't even know what my mother looks like. To this day she still hasn't returned nor has anyone seen The Hell Gate. This town still harbors hatred for pirates and me being the son of one doesn't help much. The only reason they let Anne and I stay here is because of my father. My father is a famous marine scientist and well renowned doctor. The marines have allowed us to stay in this cottage because of the work my father does for the marines. Honestly I don't even know what he does for the Marines, I haven't seen him in years either. He left the island for some huge project he's working on. Now it is just Anne and I who live here. Anne isn't related to me in any way, she is a long time friend of my mothers.

The only things I know about my mother I know from Anne. Unfortunately Anne has always been very ill. One of the reasons why I think Anne never left on The Hell Gate with my mother is because of her illness. For as long as I can remember she has never once went a single day without coughing. The island won't supply us with any medicine or doctors for her so I steal what I can from the docks.

"Thank you for this though." She brushed a hand through her long blonde hair and picked up the two medicine bottles. "My fits were getting a bit worse today."

"You look tired"

She grinned, "Are you saying I just look like shit but in a nice way?"

Rolling my eyes I threw the cloth in the bin, "You are the most beautiful woman in the world, Anne."

Laughing she tossed me one of the apples, "You know how to get yourself out of trouble. Save that for when you do actually find yourself a girl. God help the girl who can handle how much trouble you get into."

"Shut it, I'm a saint." I chomped down on the apple as I sat on the window ledge. Peering out I noticed a ship that had just docked. I say docked but no way in hell would this island let that sort of ship attempt to come anywhere near it.

"Whoa, there's a pirate ship here." Anne had walked up to the window. "I know that face, that's not your mother's ship."

I scowled, "I wasn't thinking that at all!"

I was actually. Even so that's not her ship, confirmed by Anne here. There could also be the possibility that my mother lost her ship and is now on board a different one. Would explain why no one has seen The Hell Gate.