Lucie shifted nervously on her chair in the captain's cabin as the captain himself studied Lucie and Zinaida. He seemed to try and look through the girls as if he was trying to find something special about them.
"How is it that ye escaped me pirates and the fires we set to yer town?" he finally said.
Lucie shrugged and Zinaida snorted, "Maybe because your pirates are not good enough to find us."
"I guess ye are better at surviving than we thought?" the captain said. "Since ye managed to escape everything me pirates sent after ye, I'll 'ave to give ye a little reward."
"Great," Lucie muttered, dreading what he would say. It could never be good when pirates are concerned.
"Ye get to live o' course," the captain said, "But ye will work on the ship."
"What will you be expecting us to do?" Zinaida wondered.
"What Clara does."
"Clara?" Zinaida asked, unsatisfied with his answer.
"Ye will see. Now, I think its time we meet 'er." The captain stood up to lead the way out of his cabin.
As soon as Lucie met Clara, she knew that they could be friends. She was a shy and quiet girl but she was very kind. She had thick black hair and dark eyes. Lucie could tell that she had been on the ship for a while because her dress was torn in multiple places and had many stains. If you didn't know her, you would think she was a pirate just by the way she looked. Lucie knew better. Instead of blood and vengeance, there was that hollow sadness lingering in her eyes.
"So... what exactly will we be doing?" Lucie said after the captain left.
"Cooking food, cleaning, and staying out of the pirates' way," Clara answered casually. "The usual."
"Sounds like what we used to do," Zinaida said dryly. "Just this time, we are serving a whole crew of bloody pirates. Almost makes me want to go back and serve your brothers instead, Lucie."
"Anyways, it's about time we get dinner started," Clara said. "We need to get it done before the pirates raid the kitchen."
"Sounds like my brothers," Lucie laughed at the bittersweet memory.
Life on the pirate ship was boring. Nothing happened. All the pirates did was work and get drunk. There was the occasional fight and their arguments got a little more physical. Other than that, nothing happened.
One night, Lucie lay down on her cot wishing that could live somewhere else other than the ship. Maybe not particularly back home to Clovelly, but definitely somewhere else. She would live anywhere if there was a place she could live freely. If not, she would like to at least go back to Clovelly. At least there things happened, and she had a chance to get away from her brothers. There, she could walk down to port looking for pirate ships that would never come, and only wonder about what the sea was like. Here, Lucie's only safety was the kitchen and the little room beside it where the girls slept. There was little freedom on the ship.
That night, she dreamed for the first time since she came to live on the pirate ship. Lucie was sitting on the masthead looking down upon the pirates as they moved about the ship doing their work. As she watched, she saw the captain come out to oversee his crew. He began to walk along the deck, watching each man at his work.
Forgetting she was only dreaming, Lucie suddenly realized she was in full view of any of the pirates on the deck. She was afraid someone may look up and spot her on top of the wolf. She didn't dare move in case someone may see her move and finally find her on top of the masthead. She watched as the captain continued to slowly walk around on the deck, making sure all the men were on task. The ropes seemed to be following each pirate as they worked, but none of the pirates seemed to notice. Slowly at first they began to move faster and wind themselves around each pirate. Soon every pirate was strung up in the air suspended by the ropes. Lucie stared in awe wondering how the ropes moved as if they had a mind of their own.
"After you capture the pirates, you can do whatever you want with them. I don't care." Lucie looked around trying to figure out who spoke to her.
"Why do you want me to capture these pirates?" Lucie asked, once she realized it was the wolf who spoke to her.
"I don't want my captain to be a pirate. I would rather choose my own captain. You are going to be the next captain," the Lupi Mari replied.
"Me? Are you sure?" Lucie said, surprised that the ship was even talking to her. "But I'm only a girl."
"It does not matter what gender you are, just the heart you have." The Lupi Mari shook her head throwing Lucie down onto the forecastle. Lucie hit the deck with a thud, but it didn't hurt her. She stood back up and looked down onto the deck below, instead of pirates suspended in the air, a crew of girls stood there idle on the deck. She could not identify any individual but she could tell that every girl had her own sword by her side and they were all laughing with each other freely. They all seemed so happy... so free.
"How can a crew of girls control a ship? We are not strong like men," Lucie asked after a while.
"I can sail myself," the Lupi Mari replied. "I can sail you anywhere. Just tell me where to go."
"What about the rope trick?" Lucie questioned.
"Just tell me whenever you need my help, and I will capture them for you," the Lupi Mari answered. Before Lucie could ask any more questions, the wolf turned back to wood and the dream faded away.
"Hey, Lucie," Zinaida shook her awake. "Are you gonna sleep all morning? We need to get breakfast started."
"Yeah, I'm up," Lucie muttered, sitting up. She stared out the window thinking of her strange dream. The two girls walked into the kitchen where Clara had already started cooking.
Lucie looked around the kitchen. What if we didn't have to work for these pirates anymore and instead work for ourselves? What would it be like to be free for once? "I need some fresh air," Lucie said, walking out of the kitchen. Her head was still spinning from the dream she had.
"You sure?" Zinaida asked, sounding concerned. "What will the captain do if he catches you on the deck before breakfast is done?"
"I don't know." Lucie shrugged and Zinaida gave her a funny look.
"All right, just be careful," Zinaida sighed and watched Lucie walk out the door that lead to the hall.
She took the stairs up onto the main deck and peeked out before stepping out into the open. Every pirate was already up and working. Only the captain wasn't present, but that didn't matter. A couple of the pirates noticed Lucie as she walked outside, but they didn't bother her too much.
"You ready?" the Lupi Mari spoke in Lucie's mind.
"Yep, lets do it," Lucie answered and the ropes came to life. Just like in her dream, the pirates were flung into the air. She laughed at the surprised expressions on their faces. Of course, the captain came on deck to see what all the trouble was. He stopped and stared when he realized the pirates were all hanging from the ropes. He didn't have long to register what had happened before he was also flung up into the air.
"Hey! What are ye doing?!" the captain yelled down at Lucie. "Get me down from here and we'll fight fairly!"
Lucie smiled, "I'm afraid I can't do that. A fight with a pirate is never a fair fight."
"Can't do what?" Zinaida asked as she walked up on deck with Clara. "We heard all the noise and wanted to make sure you were fine."
"What happened here?" Clara asked, tipping her head back to look up at them.
"The ship did it," Lucie answered.
"The ship did this?" Clara sounded really surprised.
"Yep, I'll tell you later," Lucie said. "For now, let's put these pirates in the brig."
"Won't we need them to steer the ship?" Zinaida asked.
"The ship can steer herself." Lucie smiled. She walked over to the captain and grabbed his sword. She had Lupi untie the rope around him and set him on the deck. "Into the brig," she ordered.
Grudgingly, the captain moved forward down the steps and Lucie followed after him. Zinaida and Clara walked around taking the swords from the pirate sand piling them off to the side.
"Hand me your keys," Lucie said as soon as they reached the barred door of the brig. The captain handed the keys to Lucie and walked inside hesitantly. Zinaida and Clara began leading the other pirates down into the brig as well.
"We'll bring your food down later." Lucie said and walked upstairs.
"Will you finally tell us what this is all about?" Zinaida asked as soon as they reached the kitchen. "Why do you suddenly think we can sail a ship by ourselves? We're just girls!"
"Who says we are the ones sailing the ship?" Lucie asked.
"Then who is the one sailing the ship?" Clara said, setting breakfast on the table. Lucie explained the she had the night before. Telling in detail of what the ship had told her.
"Wait... so we are to believe that somehow this ship somehow has its own soul?" Zinaida asked. "And that it chose you as captain?"
"Yep, that's pretty much it," Lucie said. "For now, let's transform this from a pirate ship into our ship." As soon as breakfast was done and all the pirates fed, the three girls went down into the hold to see what was there.
"This place is a mess," Zanaida said when they walked into the hold.
"No kidding," Lucie replied as she walked over to one of the crates and studied its spilled contents. "Looks like all they wanted was to get to the rum."
"This ship was not owned by pirates for very long," Zinaida said. "There would not have been so much stuff here. Someone else must have lived here not too long ago."
"Well, we better get started," Clara said. "Let's put all the things we are going to keep on one side of the room, and stuff we don't want to keep on the other side." The girls quickly got to work to sort through all the boxes.