Cutlass Anne

Cutlass Anne - Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Forty-nine

"You look beautiful," Jane said as I twisted my hair up into a proper hairstyle.

"Mother's dress is amazing."

"You would have made a fine lady," she smiled.

"Those days are long lost for me."

"Does it hurt much?" she asked.

"What?"

"The wound." She glanced down at my stomach.

I looked down, not noticing I had been holding it.

"Only a bit. It will take time for the pain to subside. I am just happy to be alive."

"You had us all afraid." She turned her head to the side.

"I am sorry, Jane."

"I do not know what I would do if I lost you, Anne. I never knew mother. I was so young when she passed; you have been everything to me."

"And you have been my everything." I hugged the girl.

"What happened? How did we end up here?" she asked so forlornly.

"Are you not happy?" I stopped what I was doing and watched her.

"I am very happy. I love Christopher so very much, but I often wonder how we ended up in such circumstances. Just a few short months ago we were content to go swimming in the bay and be kids. Now we are married. You are a pirate. It is almost as though we were robbed of our lives."

"The greed of a few men is what has driven us to such points in our own lives. While I do wish we could go back to our carefree days, I do not regret where we are. Do not fret about me being a pirate. I am not really a pirate. I am more of an uncommissioned privateer."

"How so?" she asked.

"We do not intend to participate in piracy on merchant vessels and navy ships, only on other pirate ships."

"Why?"

"To keep other girls like you safe. To stop bullying and harassment. Even if we only stop a few, that will be fewer pirates on the waters," I said, looking into her sad face.

"What about John Jacks?"

"I have no doubt in my mind that at some point Flynn and I will run into him again."

"Are you afraid, Anne?"

"No."

"How can you not be?" Jane asked.

"I am not entirely sure, but I do not fear the man any longer."

A soft knock came from outside the door. I could hear the people gathering on deck beyond. I stood and looked at myself once more in the mirror. My mother's dress was a bit out of fashion, but it was lovely. It was an immaculate shade of white lace and hung off my shoulders. The sleeves reached my elbows before elongating to the ground. The train was long and extended a good five feet behind me. Jane tucked the simple yet elegant veil into my hair and kissed my cheek. She wore a beautiful pink dress that was more modest than my own. The sleeves extended to her hands, and the fabric was thicker than my own. She handed me the white and pink roses she arranged for me that morning and picked up her own single pink rose.

It was not how I imagined I would get married, but this was better. I knocked lightly on the door and it opened. Ryder bowed next to it; he was in his best attire.

"Lady Anne, the captain awaits you on the helm," he said.

I nodded and shivers ran up and down my spine as I heard the collective group of people gasp. Men removed their hats and women dabbed their eyes.