Jade of Vengeance

The Pearl was rocking gently at anchor as the sailors ferried supplies out to her from the dock in the bum boat. They were pulling easy at the oars. It would be a long day of stowing the cargo and fresh water casks. They did not wish to overly tire themselves before the work was done. Two remained on the dock watching over the supplies that would go out on the next run. Pintel and Ragetti gazed at the other pirates as they worked. Both were heartily glad that it was not their turn in the boat. Between runs they were able to rest and take things easy.

"So I have found you at last, Father dear," sneered a young, feminine voice from behind them. Neither man turned. Neither man was a father.

"I said, 'I have found you at last.'" The voice was louder this time and came from a point a little nearer.

Confused, the two men turned frowning. What they discovered was a young woman or, more accurately, a girl. She was dressed in a man's old, faded grey frock coat that was at least three sizes too large for her slight frame, a white shirt, several mismatched belts, men's boots and an oddly shaped, battered hat with an extraordinary plume that somehow had remained white even though the rest of her costume was dingy. Her hair was even more unusual in that it was knotted and braided and hung with a variety of ornaments including a bone of some sort. The most striking thing about her, though, was her very unusual green eyes. She had kohled them heavily but not well and they flashed with anger and satisfaction. Ever so slowly she drew her sword. The pirates exchanged bewildered looks.

"Have you got anything to say to your daughter before I run you through?" demanded the girl.

"But," Pintel began. "I don' 'ave no daugh'er."

"Not you, you idiot!" snapped the girl. "Him!"

Pintel cast a startled look at his skinny, disheveled friend. Ragetti stood slack jawed. Clearly this was news to him.

"Your daugh'er?" Pintel demanded and then rammed Ragetti with his elbow to shake him out of his funk. He said again, "Your daugh'er?"

"But..." Ragetti started only to stop when the girl's blade flashed to threaten his throat. He drew back slightly.

"My mother told me all about you, father," the girl sneered with venom. "All about you and how you destroyed her life and left her with me to care for. She was an innocent! You filthy worm! I have chased you across the seven seas from port to port and now I have you. I'm going to make you pay!"

"You've been chasin' 'im?" Pintel wondered aloud. "You sure you got the righ' man?"

"My mother described him to me," the girl said with yet another sneer of derision.

"Your motha?" Pintel said. "Who was she, then?"

"The most beautiful girl in all of Liverpool," the girl said with pride. "Crystal Spears was her name. And I'm Jade. A man aught to know the name of his daughter before he dies."

"When were you ever in Liverpool?" Pintel asked his friend.

"Don't know," Ragettie responded none to brightly. "Don' fink I eva was in Livapool."

"Then 'ow can you 'ave a daugh'er?" Pintel demanded. "Did you know this Crystal?"

"No," Ragetti replied.

"That's just the answer I would have expected from a liar like you!" Jade snapped. "Liar! Lie to me some more! Lie to me like you lied to my mother! A gentler soul never lived and you destroyed her! She could have had any man but she pined away for you!"

"You scum!" Pintel snarled. "Why'd you leave a girl like that?"

"I'm tellin' you, I neva' knew no Crystal," Ragetti said quite earnestly. "I neva' been to Livapool. 'Ow could I 'ave known 'er."

"Liar!" Jade fairly screamed. Her blade hovered an inch in front of Ragetti's nose. There was murder in her eyes.

Pintel was looking from his friend to the girl that claimed to be his daughter trying to reason his way through things. Finally his yellowed eyes narrowed and pierced her with a gimlet stare.

"'Ow old are you, girl?" Pintel asked.

"Sixteen," she said without taking her eyes off Ragetti. "Why?"

"Cause 'e's only twen'y-eight," Pintel said calmly. His usual truculence having been suppressed by his interest in the event. "That means 'e would 'ave to 'ave... Well... You know... When 'e was eleven years old."

"Twelve," she said.

"Wha'?" Pintel was confused. He didn't have the sharpest mind when it came to sums.

"Twelve," Jade repeated. "Twenty-eight minus sixteen is twelve."

"Right!" Regetti agreed turning to his friend. "She's right. Jus' coun' it out on yer fingers."

"I only 'as ten fingers," Pintel objected.

"Well, take off yer shoes," Ragetti suggested.

"Tha'll only give me twen'y." Pintel faced the younger pirate. "Sides, I ain't takin' my shoes of on this dock. They might get knocked in the wa'er."

"We'll jus' be careful an' you can use some o' my fingers if you wan's."

"Shut UP!" Jade screamed. She was looking less sure of herself suddenly. "My mother described you to me. I know it's you! You're the one that broke her heart!"

"When 'e was twelve years old?" Pintel asked incredulously. "Have you looked at 'im?"

"Eh?" Regetti demanded in spite of himself.

"Shut up, lad," Pintel growled softly.

"I coul' 'ave broken 'er heart," Ragetti sulked. "Bet'er than you, anyway."

"Wha's tha' s'posed to mean?" Pintel snarled.

"I'm jus' sayin'," Ragetti said rising to the challenge. "I'm younger an' bet'er dressed. An' I can dance."

"Bet'er what?"

"Both of you, shut up!" Jade was certainly loosing herself here. Her temples were beginning to throb with pain. She knew that the one eyed pirate was her father. He had to be, right? She wouldn't have chased him across the sea to one disreputable port after another if he hadn't been the one that had fathered her and then broken her dear mother's heart. She pressed her eyes closed trying to think.

"Which eye did you lose?" Jade demanded with her own eyes still closed.

"Me wooden one," Ragetti replied confused. Wasn't it obvious?

"No, damn it!" Jade snapped. The tip of her sword was vibrating with the strain. "Which eye is wooden?"

"Me lef' one," Ragetti said still a bit confused but he smiled thinking that this might clear things up. He noticed Pintel frowning at him. "Whot?"

"It's not your left eye," the older pirate drawled scornfully.

"I've looked in a mirra'," Ragetti responded with equal scorn.

"A mirra?" Pintel's jaw dropped. He was half smiling now. "Mirra's flip things 'round. It's your right eye."

"Stop it!" Jade snapped again. Her world was on the edge of collapse. The one eyed pirate named Ragetti had to be the one she was after. Her mother, her dear, sweet, loving, forlorn mother who had wasted away as a tavern wench had described him to her so many times. She peered at Ragetti with hard eyes. He was rather skinny and not overly tall but still her mother's description of him fit well. "How old are you?"

"Twen'y-eight," Ragetti said reluctantly.

"Are you sure?" Jade demanded. Her resolve was beginning to slip.

"Well, I fink so." Ragetti scratched his chin. "I might be twen'y-seven."

"Ha!" Jade cried loudly. "So you don't actually know!"

"He's twen'y-eight," grumbled Pintel.

"I might only be twen'y-seven," Ragetti quibbled.

"Well," Pintel turned superior eyes on his younger friend. "That would have made you only ten when she was conceived."

"Eleven," Ragetti corrected gently. "Eh! Where's she goin'?"

Pintel looked up to see the young woman retreating down the dock shaking her head and grumbling to herself.

"Duknow." He turned back to Ragetti. "Are you sure sixteen from twen'y-seven ain't ten?"