Taking the Old Mary
The raging mass of black water met the undisturbed starry sky with a smudge of foggy horizon. 20 foot waves pounded the sailing ship and tossed it about like it was a paper boat.
My kind of weather.
"Put the cannons away until we're in reach!" I shouted, "They'll come loose before we reach our target!"
The crew obeyed, and I heard the raspy shriek of the rusty weapons being pulled back into the lower decks. I checked that off my mental list and ran in front of the Captain's steering wheel to get a better view. The Captain tried to protest about the Captain-in-waiting blocking his view, but knew better. Though only eighteen, I was the best pirate on the entire ship. Arguing was asking for a fight. Even if he wanted to protest, he couldn't, for he was mute. And because he was mute, Razor, the nick-named teen, would be taking his place tomorrow. Goodie.
I must have been in a particularly jolly mood, because I shouted, "Work harder, you scallywags! Their gold will make us richer than the King and Queen of England!"
A few rowdy pirates shouted, "Aargh!" in agreement, but other than that, the crew remained silent as they worked; tying down cannons, unlocking the lower decks for the crew of the ship we planned to take.
It wasn't long before the fastest ship in the sea, our pirating ship the Red Shark, caught up with the slow old boat meant for the rich. As we approached, I notice the words painted on the doomed liner. It read, Old Mary. Well, as slow as it crept on the seas, that figures.
When we could see the Old Mary's deck better in the fog, I noticed guards hanging onto the sides of the boat with death grips, and the bravest (and stupidest) ones who decided to hold their ground slipped and slid around the decks like fish-out-of-water. As we drew parallel with the Old Mary, I heard shouts from the soldiers on the other ship. Shouts of, "It's the Red Shark" and "They've come to loot us" and even "Bring out the weapons". Like they stood a chance.
My crew began to swing to the Old Mary on ropes, flooding the decks and dripping down the staircases, looking for gold.
"Eh, Cap 'n, you come 'n with?" Ed, an aging looter with a wisecracking personality, paused before swinging on his rope to the Old Mary.
"Naw, I'll hold down fort, Ed," I grinned, "Now go! I'll see you at the wheel!"
Ed grinned. I watched as he flew out of sight and joined the battle on theopposing ship.
It had only been about ten minutes before I saw Ed at the captain's wheel of the Old Mary. He nodded to me happily, and drew the ship as close as possible without colliding the two. Ed's aging, fast, but when taking ships he still acts like a little kid. I watched silently as the Old Mary's defeated crew hopped from their boat to mine, glaring at me with looks of, There's the evil pirate captain that took our ship. And yes, they could tell. With my long black hair in a ponytail and a black pencil moustache. Most of the people crossing decks were soldiers, with long tailcoats of red. But there was also a blonde-haired teenager. He looked about the same age as me, but his short wheat-colored hair was tucked back into a ponytail. He looked like one of the Governor's children, with his fancy clothes. I somehow pulled a bit of information out of my memory about it, how rich people's kids traveled a lot to send messages to other rich people from their parent. He glared at me and stopped, making a whole line of human dominoes.
"Speed it up, kid!" Ed yelled, supervising form the other ship.
"That can't be the captain!" Gold-Hair spat, "He's as old as I am!"
I casually crossed my arms and leaned against the post holding up the sail. "That's about the only thing our lives have in common, mate," I chuckled, "But you're correct. I'm not the Captain."
The whole line halted. "Ha! I knew it!"
I bounced off the top deck dramatically, a ten foot drop at least, and slowly walked up to the black-haired-teen. He gritted his teeth as I drew closer. And right in front of his face, I told him, "I'm not the Captain…yet. Old Sea-legs up there–" I pointed toward the man steering the ship, "–is mute. Therefore, I'll be taking his position."
"Not very soon, I predict," Gold-Hair rolled his copper eyes.
"No, not soon enough," I corrected happily, "Tomorrow!"
Gold-Hair's eyes widened and he grimaced. "Tomorrow? Oh, then tomorrow's gonna be the worst day of my life." He started forward, and I noticed a small marking on the tail of his fancy vest.
"Wait up, mate!" Gold-Hair stopped at my words. "What's your name?"
The boy took a deep breath and mumbled, "Parker."
"Oh dang," I murmured under my breath. Louder, I said, "Well, Parker, we may be meeting again."
Parker raised an eyebrow and continued forward without a word.
By then, Ed had left the sailing to Bamboo, a middle-aged thief with a thin smile. I pulled him over before Parker went down the stairs. "Ed, look at the back of that kid's vest," I pointed. "What do you see?"
Ed squinted. "A bunch of fancy embroidery and a flag…"
"Look closer at that flag, mate," I pointed. "Which flag is it?"
When Ed realized he sighed. "Ooooh…"
"You know what that means?" I pressed. I noticed a black-haired boy my age and also a blonde-haired girl my age pass by before Ed finally got the bigger picture.
He looked at me giddily, "Parker is the Prince of England!"