Moonlight Waves

The Moonlighter

My heart stops as my brain tries to process the message.
The Moonlighter is coming into port.
Without even thinking twice I rush out the door, only to turn back around and run inside to my father.
"I'm sorry, The Moonlighter," I say frantically, "Father, please excuse me."
I plant a kiss on his cheek before rushing out the door again, my leather boots padding against the well worn path. A cold wind blows in from the sea, making me wish I had grabbed a shawl, but I push away the shivers and pump my legs harder.
   I make it to the town's Main Street in record time and take off down the cobblestone road for the docks. The streets are quiet as most people are at home eating their dinners, the tavern the only place cramped with people. I notice behind me Rolind's boy is knocking on doors and spreading the word, people coming out of their homes and following the road to the docks.
I look out at the horizon as I crest the hill that leads down to the shore and don't see any ship in the darkness of night. My heart sinks for a second before I scan the ships already at dock and notice a bustle of movement as cargo is being unloaded from a new arrival. And there she is. There's no mistaking her, The Moonlighter, true to her name, shining in the moon's rays. The light reflecting off her shiny wood hull. I rush down the hill, almost tripping on my own feet as my mind moves faster than my body.
I move into the bustling crowd, searching every face and trying to avoid being hit by the cargo that's being unloaded. I look back and forth before my eyes land on Robby, Ian, and Charlie standing to the left of the ship—somewhat out of the crowd. I wave enthusiastically trying to catch their eye, but their faces are turned away from me and are talking to someone else.
  I push my way through people until I'm right behind them and I slap Robby on the back.
  "Hey, strangers." I greet.
They all turn towards me and their smiles drop from their faces almost immediately, morphing into a look of sorrow. I inspect each of them, waiting for an explanation but no one says anything. I finally notice the girl they were talking to and I have to take a second look to make sure she's real.
  She's gorgeous. Like really gorgeous.
She has light brown hair that hangs just above her shoulders in soft curls and a dingy brown hat on her head. Her skin is dark from obvious long days in the sun, freckles covering every inch of her face, and her lips are chapped, but they add more to her appearance, like a thorn on a rose. She's tall and lean and gives off this feeling of utter grace about her—of elegance. She's dressed in a ill fitting brown dress that matches the raggedy hat on her head, but she makes it look like they are made of the finest satin.
Who is she?
I force my eyes away from her and look back at Robby, Ian, and Charlie.
  "What happened to you guys? Where were you? It's been half a year." I start rattling off question after question. My eyes are still searching for my sailor, watching the gangplank for his decent. He'll probably come down with Captain Dax. "Do you guys have any idea how many people thought I was crazy because I knew you guys were still alive? What happened? That's a new mast on The Moonlighter isn't it?"
  I stop talking when I get no response, no teasing or anything. "Somethings wrong", I think, "This isn't like them." I take in their appearances. They're worn, and older looking than when they left. A feeling of sorrow seems to be sitting heavily on their shoulders and they all can't quite meet my eyes. Ian's black hair is greasy and knotted, and his green eyes sad, his pale skin somehow even paler despite the red damage done by the sun. Robby's usually well kept, close cropped jet black hair is longer now and turning into dreadlocks, his dark brown complexion mixing with the dark night and his expression echoing the same sadness as Ian's eyes. Charlie, the youngest of us all, has a poorly grown, patchy red beard covering his chin, his usually long hair even longer now and tied back with a string. He can't even look at me and stares instead at his boots.
I look at Ian who has two duffel bags swung across his shoulders, Ian's I recognize as the worn out black one, and the other green one—that's not his. I'd know that bag anywhere, I had it specially made with my sailor's initial's engraved into it for his thirteenth birthday. I step forward and search the bottom of the bag for the initials I know are there: "C. R. M."
  Callum Roman Matheson
"Ian," I say quietly, not sure I want to know the answer to my question. "where's Roman?"
  "Roman?" The girl asks, startling me.
"Callum's middle name." Charlie answers her.
  "Oh." Is all she says.
"Robby, Charlie, where is he?" I ask again.
  "There was no wind for a few days and we were stuck on the eastern seas—" Robby says, but I cut him off.
   "Where is he!" I demand, "Where is he right now!"
"Nereida," Ian says, grabbing me by the elbow. "We don't know."
"What do you mean 'you don't know'?"I ask through clenched teeth. My blood starting to boil beneath my skin.
"He was taken by pirates." Robby answers.
"What? Pirates?" I ask confused, trying to make sense of what they're saying. "Pirates? Why would they take him?"
"Nereida, I'm sorry. He saved me but they took him instead." The girls speaks up.
  Who is this girl? How does she know my name?
I turn vehemently on the girl. "Why? What do they want with him? He's...He's fine!" I yell at them trying to push my way past them but they block me with their bodies. "No! No! You're wrong! NO!"
I'm yelling so loud now my voice is cracking and breaking, making my yells come out hoarse. People are starting to stop and stare at us now as they realize what's going on. But I ignore their stares and try to wrestle my way past Roman's best friends. Past their shoulders I can see Captain Dax making his way towards us but I keep looking past him towards The Moonlighter's deck, still searching for the form I want to see.
"Roman!" I scream at the ship, "Roman! No! Let me go! Let me go! Roman!"
I elbow Ian in the stomach and stomp on Charlie's foot and they instinctively back away from me, but before I can get very far the girl is in front of me and she simply opens her arms wide and folds me into a tight hug. I struggle against her at first, but then I give into her embrace and crumble to the ground like a rag doll. The mud, sand, and who knows what else already covering my dress. The girl slides to the ground with me and holds me in her arms and cradles me to her chest, slowly brushing her hands through my hair.
"I'm sorry, Nereida, I'm so very sorry." She says.
A growl of pain builds up at the back of my throat before erupting out of me. It doesn't even sound like me groaning like a injured animal.
When my throat hurts too much to even moan anymore the tears start to fall. Like a damn breaking they all rush out at once and don't stop, a unstoppable current.
"Nereida!" A familiar voice calls. "Nereida! What happened?"
I hear Amadrya come up and join the small circle around me but I make no move to acknowledge her.
"What'd you goons do to her this time?" Amadrya teases, but her attempt at humor falls flat.
"Callum was taken." Robby explains.
"Taken?" She asks, "Taken by whom?"
"Pirates." Robby answers.
The entire port is plunged into silence in a odd way of respect for me and Roman. The only sound is my sobs and me murmuring his name into the girl's coarse dress.
Amadrya kneels down next to us and places a hand on the side of my face.
"Oh, Nereida." She says softly.
"Miss Nereida," Captain Dax says, coming up to stand with Ian, Charlie, and Robby. "Perhaps you'd like to hear the full story on The Moonlighter."
I turn up my face to look at him and he holds out his hand to me. His sun-wrinkled face is pinched into an expression of pity and his grey beard reaches to his chest now, a contrast to the close shaved beard he left the island with.
  I reach up and put my hand in his and he pulls me to my feet. Amadrya immediately wraps a arm around my waist for support and guides me to the gangplank leading up to The Moonlighter.