I stood up from Hopkins's side. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of my temple leaving a shiny wet trail. The stale air was thick around me and held the lingering stench of sickness.
"Well, Hopkins you seem to be fully recovered." I informed the elderly man.
His face lights up in a smile. "Thank you so much Elizabeth! I was afraid that I wasn't going to make it this time."
"Not on my watch." I replied. "It will be going now." I said and took my leave.
I climbed the solid wooden stairs and was greeted by the cool sea breeze. I took in a breath of the fresh air and let it out with a sigh. The salty sea air blew through my curly brown hair. I felt something nuzzle my hand and looked down.
"Hello Cronus." I greeted the monstrous sized dog.
He looked up at me with dazzling amber eyes.
"Come Cronus let's tell my father the good news."
He accompanied me to the captain's quarters. The floorboards creaked under his 110 pound frame. As we were walking a seagull dive bombed me. I ducked nearly taking a bird to the face. Cronus let out a bark, sending the white and gray bird flapping away.
"Good boy, Cronus." I praised the black beast.
We continued to the captain's quarters together. When I reached the solid wood door I knocked on it three times and waited for a response. I lifted my hand again to knock when the door swung open.
"Ah, Elizabeth, my beautiful daughter, what can I do for you?" The dark haired captain asked.
"I've come to inform you that Hopkins has fully recovered from his bout of scurvy." I informed my father.
"That is fantastic!" He said patting me on the back, "There is nothing you can't heal. The crew and I are lucky to have such a talented healer with us. Why, we never would have made it this far without you."
"I should be thanking you, Father. After all you allowed me to come along even though Mother objected."
"When we casted off nearly six months ago you had just turned 18 and that was the age I was when my father took me on my first six month trip. And I wanted my first born to have the same experience."
"And no one thought I could do it because I'm a girl." I replied bitterly.
"And you have proved them wrong. Every last one of them!" Father said with a beaming smile.
"Captian! There is an unknown vessel approaching!" Father's second in command, Hitchcock, yelled from the main deck.
Father and I exited his quarters to see what all the fuss was about. Father reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his telescope. He held it up to his eye and let out a curse under his breath.
"Father what is it?" I asked.
"It's the lowest of the low."
"Pirates." I said grimly.
"Indeed. Liz, I want you to go below deck. And stay out of sight."
"What? No! I will not hide like a coward!" I growled.
"If we do run into trouble I will not put my own daughter into harm's way!"
"If can take care of myself!"
"And what if they find out that there is a girl on board! Then what do you think they will do!?" He yelled.
"You're just like Mother!" I hissed.
His jaw snapped shut. "Very well you may stay up here but only if you put on a hat, don't talk, and keep Cronus by your side at all times."
Cronus cocked his head towards my father when he heard his name.
"Yes, Father." I bowed my head in thanks.
Father nodded at me then disappeared down the stairs to the main deck to prepare for our "guests". We had a good 10 minutes until the other boat would be close enough to board us. We could try to out sail them but that would only make them chase us. And when they did catch up to us, which they would, it would be a thousand time worse than just facing them now. I dashed down the stairs and into the belly of the ship. Down the hall and second door on the right were my living quarters. I threw the door open startling Rhea who was laying on my bed. She barked a greeting. I patted her on the head. Crossing my room I knelt down next to my cedar trunk and heaved the lid open.
I rummaged threw it. "Come on, come on where is it." I mumbled.
When I found my hat I tucked my hair up into it as I walked to my dresser. I took off the key for the dresser that I wore around my neck as a necklace. Its worn leather string was barely hanging on anymore. I fumbled with the key in my haste. When I did manage to stick the key into the lock of the drawer and open it I pulled out my sword. It had been my grandfather's and then my father's. This sword had been passed down for generations in my family. And Father had given it to my before we left. I had yet to use it or even take it out of its seth. I picked it up out of the drawer. I set down my prized possession on the bed. I took off my belt slid the sword seth through it. I put back on my belt and headed out of the room. I closed the door behind me and went back up the stairs this time accompanied by Rhea. Cronus was waiting for me to return by the top of the staircase. He greeted his mate, Rhea, with a nuzzle. Now that the pirates ship was closer I was stunned by how big it was. At least twice the size of our ship and our ship was pretty big. We all waited in anticipation. The silence was deafening on my ears. I had never seen real pirates before. Once I saw a ship through my telescope but it was from miles away and now we were about to be boarded by real pirates. As much as I didn't like them I couldn't help but be curious. There was no movement from the other ship. They were waiting. Making us antsy on purpose. They were trying to shake us before they even boarded our ship. Cronus let out a low threatening growl. His body was stiff and and his ears were erect. His eyes were trained on something on the ship. I kneeled down next to him to see if I could see what he saw.
"What is it Cronus?" I whisperd.
Then I saw it. I saw him. A young boy about my age from the looks of it. He was wearing tan trousers and a loose black shirt. He froze when he saw me looking at him then he winked at me and in the blink of an eye he was gone. I stared at where he had been for a few moments wondering if I had just imagined him. Then there was a thunderous crack as a plank of wood made contact with our ship. I jumped in surprise but recovered quickly. You can't show any fear around those cowards. I recalled some words of wisdom that Hitchcock shared with me.
"No fear. I will show no fear." I repeated the words to myself.
The click of boot heels on wood silenced me. The first pirate to come aboard our ship wore black pants and an elegant blood red coat. He walked with so much confidence that he could only that he could only be the captain of the pirates. Accompanying him on his right side was what looked to be his second in command, a short, stubby man with graying hair and a huge bald spot. And to his left was the young boy I had seen earlier. He too walked with confidence and also a smug grin. It was the kind of smile that immediately made you hate the person's guts even if you had never meet them before. This time both Cronus and Rhea let out low growls. I silenced them with a quick shhh. They both fell silent but remained poised to attack at my command.
"Well, what do we have here?" the pirate captain asked to no one in particular.
No one said a thing or moved a muscle. My father made the first move by approaching the pirate.
"My name is Captain Black and I wish to speak to the one in charge of this fine vessel." Captain Black said.
"I am the captain of this vessel and I wish to know why you have stopped us." Father said in a stone cold voice that even scared me.
I had never heard him use this voice before. Not even when he was really mad at me or my brother. I glanced around at everyone else and none of them seem surprised by this change in tone by my usually very upbeat and perky father. Whenever Father came home my little brother, Thomas, would immediately ask if he had seen any pirates. Father always said he had never meet a pirate in his life. But now as I watched him expertly dealing with this pirate captain I came to the grim conclusion that he had been lying nearly every time. I felt a rush of anger toward him for lying to us but then realized that he was trying to protect us and keep us from worrying about him when ever he went of his 6 month to a year journeys.
The Captain Black's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "I think the better question would be why are you in my waters?"
"The last time I checked you could not own the sea." Father retorted.
The Captain Black's grin disappeared. "You should watch your mouth, captain."
My hand naturally went to the handle of my sword. I could feel the tension in the air. Like if I were to reach up I could actually grab it. Both sides were waiting for their leaders to signal that there would be a fight. I felt like I was being watched and sure enough the young boys eyes were on me. I returned the look refusing to be the first to look away. A smirk tugged at the boy's lips. He broke eye contact with me and returned his attention to his leader. While he had been the first to look away I had the feeling I had not won that staring contest. When I looked back to the two captains the Captain Black was offering a deal.
"If you want to pass safely you will need to pay." he informed Father.
"And why would I do that?" Father asked, voice still frosty.
"Because if you pay us we can guarantee that you will not meet any trouble on your route home. You never know when pirates might appear." he said with a knowing smile.
"And what would that price be?" Father asked.
Captain Black paused and raked his eyes around our ship before they landed on me. Or rather what was next to me.
"Those two mighty beasts will do." he said.
I stiffened my eyes flitting between my father and Captain Black. I prayed that my father would not agree. I could only imagine what those monsters would do to Cronus and Rhea. Sensing my fear Cronus and Rhea moved closer to me.
"Well, what do you say captain?" Captain Black asked.
I looked at my father's eyes pleading him to say no.
"Very well." he said with a sigh.
"No!" I cried out before I could stop myself.
I felt everyone's eyes on me. Especially the young boys. I could feel them boring into the side of my head but I didn't turn to look at him.
"Father you can't trade them!" I reasoned.
"Thomas, enough!" he growled.
Thomas? Why did he call me my brother's name? Oh no. I had spoken and now everyone was watching me. What if the pirates had realized I was a girl? The three pirates looked at me curiously.
"So, do we have a deal?" Captain Black turned back to my father.
Both the captain and the second in command had lost interest in me. But not the young boy. He seemed more interested in me than ever.
The boy turned to his captain to whisper something in his ear when Father said, "We have a deal."
Captain Black signaled the stubby bald man and the young boy to get the dogs. Both Cronus and Rhea let out threatening growls warning the two men to to come any closer. The boy was wise enough to heed their warning while the second in command was not so wise and his stupidity was rewarded with a bite from Rhea. Her pearly white fangs sunk into his hand. He yelped and pulled his hand back and a burst of bright red blood came out. The boy stifled a laugh.
"Watch your tongue, Jack!" the stubby man growled cradling his bleeding hand.
Rhea licked her lips and prepared to bite again.
"Wait!" Father said.
I turned to him hopeful that he had changed his mind but the neutral expression made that hope evaporate.
"Let me have a word with Thomas." Father said approaching me.
When he reached me he leaned in so that only I could hear him. "Liz, you know that I love Rhea and Cronus, but I need to think about the crew."
"What about all the other pirates you have dealt with? Did you give them anything they wanted too? Like a coward? Without a fight?" I hissed underneath my breath.
"How do you know about that?" he looked at me surprised. "That doesn't matter right now. I am giving them what they want because we are way outnumbered and the there is no way we would get out of this without any casualties. So I am asking you to take Cronus and Rhea to their ship so we can finally go home."
The way he said the word home made me realize that I would never see home again none of us would if we didn't give these pirates what they wanted.
I looked toward Cronus and Rhea with a pained expression I nodded my head. "Fine. I'll do it."
"Thank you. I love you so much." Father said.
Using my best deep voice I turned to Captain Black. "They won't go with you unless I walk them over."
"Very well." Captain Black said. "Jack escort him over."
"My pleasure." Jack purred. "This way, sir."
I look at him nervously then turn to Cronus and Rhea and let out a whistle. They both stand and come to my side. Jack escorts me over to their ship. Once we were on the ship I saw how many people Captain Black had. Just on deck there were nearly 75 people not to mention how many I couldn't see. I looked to my beloved dogs and they mirrored my same look of sorrow. They understood. I knelt down and both my dog nuzzled me.
I stood up and so that I was on eye level with Jack. "If you treat these dogs right they will protect you with there life but if you hurt them they will tear you to pieces."
Jack returned my gaze evenly. "I won't let anything happen to them. I promise."
I narrowed my eyes at him. The last thing I expected was a pirate to promise that he would take care of my dogs that he was taking away from me.
"I'm serious. I'm a pirate not a monster." he said smiling.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Debatable.
As much as I didn't want to trust Jack my instincts were telling me to trust him and they have yet to fail me.
"I will come back for them." I told him.
"And I bet you are one to keep your promises."
"You bet."
I began to walk away and I heard the familiar tick-tack of nails on the wooden ship floor. I turned to see both Cronus and Rhea following me.
"No." I said firmly. "Stay."
They both looked conflicted but they listened and didn't follow me again. When I was back on my father's ship and the task was finished Captain Black and his second in command took their leave and I watched their ship sail off into the distance until it was nothing more than a spec of dust in the endless blue sea.