Chapter One: The Legacy Continues
Hope and Mae remained hidden behind cannons and mounds of net. They watched as a scruffy pirate hopped upon their ship and killed the men in his way. A few more pirates hopped on deck and joined their crewmate in the massacre. Mae grabbed her twin sister's hand and led her towards the captain's quarters in hope for shelter. The girls screamed as two of the ugliest pirates imaginable popped out of nowhere and seized their long brown hair. In a moment, a big black blanket was thrown on top of them, obscuring their vision.
Mae felt unusually heavy, dizzy, and confused. Her brown eyes snapped open when she heard her name being called.
"Mae," Hope said, shaking her sister awake. Mae sat up, abruptly remembering her dream.
"Ugh, I had that dream again," she said. Her sister shuddered at the thought of reliving her past in a nightmare.
"Well... Let's just get out of here." They looked at their surroundings. The rusty brig that they were locked in had thick iron bars wide enough for a small child to fit through. There were barrels, boxes, and bottles scattered about the wooden floors. Only a dim light illuminated the dampened walls by a slowly dying candle. Hope led the way through the wide-spread iron bars and quietly slipped through. Mae followed after her, almost stumbling over her skirt.
"Sorry," she mouthed when Hope looked over at the guard. Luckily, he was still fast asleep. They tip-toed through the crew's cabin and onto the deck where two beefy pirates were asleep at the wheel. Hope and Mae's dark skin seemed to glow in the moonlight as they stealthily made their way to the rowboats. Mae got in one and checked the supplies while Hope loosened the ropes. All of a sudden, one of the ropes snapped and a shrill cry interrupted the silence of the night. Mae held on to the hanging boat as their supplies were devoured by the sea.
"Hang on!" Hope cried, reaching out to her sister. Mae reached for Hope, stretching her arms as far as they could go. The remaining rope started to snap under all of the weight. The sisters' hands finally met and Hope pulled as hard as she could. A bead of sweat appeared on her forehead as Mae reached the edge of the ship. She was able to grab onto Hope with both hands and grip the sides with her feet. The rope finally snapped and the boat was swallowed by the sea, seconds after Mae had let go. She pulled herself up and tried to climb onto the side of the ship. After minutes of agony and strain, which felt like an eternity, Mae finally flopped on the deck, panting and crying. She hugged her sister and rested. Suddenly, they felt a pair of cold hands wrap around their necks and were pulled towards the captain's quarters. The two beefy pirates that were asleep at the wheel ripped the girls' dresses as they pushed them into the captain's room. Captain Wright was sitting in his chair with a bottle of rum. His hat was covering his face and his feet were perched casually on his table.
"Cap'n," one of the beefy pirates said. "The fugitives." Hope saw Wright smirk under his hat.
"Dismissed," he said lazily, waving his pudgy fingers which were decorated with ugly rings. The pirates let go of the girls with such force that Mae actually stumbled a few feet. Rubbing their arms and massaging their sore muscles, Hope and Mae walked across the room to the captain's table.
"You," he started slowly, "Have something that I wants…"
"We have nothing but the clothes on our backs!" Hope argued.
"No doubt exactly like yer mum, eh?" Wright said. He placed his hat on the table and shifted positions in his chair. "She was a feisty one, Annie was." Mae scowled at him.
"If you want our mother, then you better-"
"It's not she I want, lassie, so keep your trap shut," Wright warned. Hope clenched her fists. Suddenly, Wright was knocked off his chair and was being strangled by a pair of small, delicate hands.
"Mae, get off!" Hope cried, trying to pry her sister off of the struggling captain.
"Gomez!" Wright choked. One of the beefy pirates re-entered the room. Upon seeing the Captain's tight situation, he yelped and lifted the girl off him. She flailed around in result of being held against her will. Wright quickly got up and grabbed both girls by the neck. "I've had enough of this nonsense! Walk the plank, lassies!" he cried. Wright took Hope and Mae by the hair and led them outside and onto a rather narrow, unstable piece of wood. By this time, almost every man in Wright's crew had woken up and was on deck. Gomez bound their hands with rope and shunned them to the tip of the plank. A short, small pirate prodded Hope in the back with his sword.
"Come on, get on wiv it!" he said.
"Patience, Rusty," Wright said, pushing him aside. "So you two thought you could outwit the talented, gruesome crew of The Relentless?" He continued, patting the railing with his ugly stump of what he called a hand. Both girls wore a reproachful look.
"Dirty, good for nothing pieces of filth," he spat. The looks on the girls' faces turned from fear to loathing. Mae gently prodded Hope with her elbow and they both turned and faced the blue ocean. "You scrawny kids dunno what yer doing, you don't." Mae and Hope stood back to back on the narrow board, pressed together. They looked over the edged and shivered at the thought of jumping down.
"Great," Mae said sarcastically. "I just narrowly escaped from being eaten by the sea, and now I'm being fed to it." Hope gave a shaky laugh, which turned into a mix between snort and a sob. There were drunken cries and laughter from the men on board.
"Jump," Hope muttered in Mae's ear. "And make it look like an accident."
"What?!" Mae muttered back frantically.
"Jump," Hope repeated. She screamed in a rather fake way, falling off of the plank and landing with a splash in the water. Mae did the same, ignoring the cries and laughter of the crew. When both resurfaced, they stared at the ship as it floated away. They swam for a couple of minutes, trying to find some kind of flotation source. At last, they found the remains of the decimated rowboat and sat on the piece of driftwood.
"Are you crazy?!" Mae cried as she caught up to her sister. "We could have died, or- or been devoured by a shark!" she said.
"I have it," Hope said quickly, grinning at her sister.
"Are you insane-" Mae stopped her rant. "What?"
"I have it," Hope repeated. She lifted her soggy skirt and pulled out a pistol. "The Pistol of Blackbeard!" She breathed. Mae grinned, taking the pistol from her hands and gently turning it over in her own.
"You still have it?" she asked.
"That's what Wright was looking for," Hope said proudly, sitting up straight. Both girls lied down on the driftwood and didn't say a word, falling into a deep sleep.
