Chapter 4
"Now, if you just stop squirming, girlie, that would be great," Pitzel grunted after Spaghetti and he finished blindfolding, gagging, and tying Becky. "You won't be with us long, hopefully. Can you carry her on your own, Spaghetti? I have to carry this stuff for her."
"Yeah, I can manage her on my own. Oof! Hey, don't kick me in my mouth! Oh no! My tooth! She knocked it loose! Where'd it go?"
"Here it is! You were standing on it," Pitzel chuckled as he shoved Spaghetti's tooth back in place.
They got Becky onto the Scarlett Ruby, and brought her down to the cells. Pitzel's and Spaghetti's jaws dropped at the sight of the cell on the far right. The bars were covered with blankets, and the inside had furniture from the captain's cabin, including his own bed.
"It looks like you're a special guest, girlie," Pitzel finally managed to say. They sat Becky down on a chair in the cell, took off the blindfold, ungagged her, and untied her. Right before she could manage to lunge out the door, they quickly ran out and locked her in.
Becky stomped her foot. "You won't get away with this! They'll come get me before you can even sail away from port!"
"The moment we stepped foot on this ship, we set sail. Have a good night's rest!" Pitzel called back as he walked up the stairs behind Spaghetti.
The next morning, the second mate Nora came down to Becky's cell with a plate of food. "Good morning! I've got your breakfast 'ere. I'm comin' in now, so, please don't try any funny business." Nora slowly opened the door and slipped in. "Oh, you were still sleeping; sorry about that."
Becky sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes. She suddenly remembered what had happened the night before. "I refuse to eat anything until I speak to your captain."
"Oh, you plead 'Parley,' huh? The Cap'n warned me you would pull sumthin' like that," Nora sighed. "That's why he told me that he would come down to speak with you in an hour or two. Well, I have to get back to me chores. So long, girlie."
Three hours actually went past before Captain Cardinal went down to see his captive.
Becky heard his footsteps and called out, "Well, it's about time somebody came down here! I was thinking you all forgot about me. You had better be the captain."
Jake unlocked the cell door and entered; he had his captain's hat cocked down, causing a shadow over his eyes.
Becky stood up tall. "I demand to know why you have kidnapped me!"
"Because, I had to see you." Jake took his hat off and took a step closer toward Becky.
"J-Jake? Jake Cardinal? Is that really you?" Becky looked into his ice blue eyes. "It is you!"
"The one and only," Jake smiled and began to hold his arms open, expecting a hug.
However, he received no hug. Instead he got a powerful, stinging slap across his face.
"Oof! I suppose I deserved that."
"You bet you did! You've been gone for seven years! And you haven't tried to contact me once! Not a single word, not a letter to at least let me know you were alive," Becky's words weakened as she sat back down on the bed. "Why didn't you ever come back?" she asked in a much calmer tone.
"I was afraid that if I tried to come back too soon, everyone would still remember what they thought I did. Which I really did not do; you've gotta believe me, Becky. I did not steal that money. I only ran because I knew nobody would believe I didn't do it. I ran onto a ship, and they welcomed me on. But then, it was taken over by pirates, and I joined them. Now I'm here, the captain of my very own ship."
"I had always hoped that you didn't really take that money. But, if you didn't, how could you become a filthy, murderous pirate? And why couldn't you just sneak into my room by yourself, not have two of your goons come get me?"
"Hey now! Who says that I'm a bad pirate? I don't kill people; I only knock them out or wound them. Now, why I kidnapped you in the first place: I needed to rescue you."
"Rescue me? From what? I don't need rescuing," Becky insisted.
"Psh, oh really? I would say that anybody stuck marrying Nelson is in need of rescuing. Why were you even going to marry him?"
"That's true, I guess. I'm stuck marrying him because I turned away all of the other suitors my parents tried to force me to marry. I figured if I was going to be forced to marry somebody, it should be someone I know."
"Well, I was thinking…" Jake began. "…if you really don't wanna marry him, you could spend a few days with me on my ship. That way you can see that I'm not a bad guy. I'm still the same poor orphan boy you knew. Just give me one more chance. And if you don't think I am the same, I'll take you home, and you can forget that I even existed."
Becky's doubting scowl softened, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I could never forget about you, Jake. You know," Becky sniffed and pulled her locket out. "I have kept this all these years."
Jake's eyes widened. "Y-you did? I always figured you would've thrown it away or something."
"I was close to, once, but I realized that it was the only thing I had to remind me of you."
"I didn't have time to grab anything from you," Jake practically whispered.
"Well, maybe if I see that you aren't so bad of a pirate, I'll give you something to remember me by."
"Okay," he said, his eyes shining again. "My crew thinks I kidnapped you in order to get a ransom, so I have to keep you down here. But if you promise to stay in here and pretend you're locked up, I'll leave the door unlocked. Then probably tomorrow I'll announce to the crew why you're really here."
"I'll be good, I promise," Becky agreed and began scarfing down her breakfast.
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"Miss Becky," a maid called out as she knocked on Becky's door, "you need to get up now! You're going to be late to brunch!" There was no answer. "Miss Becky, this is the third time I have tried to get you up. I am coming in now." She slowly opened the door and peeked inside. Becky was not there; some of her dresses were scattered on the floor, and her engagement ring was still on her nightstand. "Oh, oh, o-oh!" the maid wailed and ran down the hall. "I knew this day would come! Mr. Goose! Mr. Goose! Becky has run away!"
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Not far behind the Scarlett Ruby lay the Viper, Captain Matthew Mimosa's ship. They had just finished escaping after raiding King George's fleet of ships returning from the New England colonies with tax money. Captain Mimosa was in his office, counting out how much money they managed to pilfer.
"Five hundred; five hundred ten; five hundred twenty." Mimosa threw an apple core into a barrel across the room; it bounced off the rim of the barrel and plopped to the ground. "Netherby! Tell Allison to get in here!"
"Yes, Captain Mimosa, sir!" Netherby immediately hit the ground running to perform the task he was given. He ran through the kitchen, then through the scullery to the small corner Allison made her own. "The captain demands your presence."
"Oooh, what does he want now?" Allison tossed her weather-damaged book on her straw bed; she dawdled in the kitchen for a few minutes and walked very slowly towards the captain's office. About six months after Mimosa had kidnapped her along with the Viper, Allison gave up hope of ever escaping. No matter what she did to anyone, whether it be completely ignoring any commands or burning all of their food, Mimosa refused to let her go.
"ALLISON!"
She quickly entered Captain Mimosa's office. "Yes?"
"Throw that apple core into that barrel."
Allison sighed and did as she was told. "Is that all?"
"No. I want you fetch me another bottle of root beer and a McIntosh apple."
She whirled around and abruptly left the room. Soon she returned with the requested items. As she set them down in front of Mimosa, he grabbed her wrist.
"Why do you always come in here, hardly say anything to me, and then leave?"
"Because I have no want of being around you longer than I have to."
"Well, from now on, when I call you, I want you to stay for at least five minutes. Is that clear?"
"Very clear. May I leave now?"
"Go ahead, I suppose."
As Allison left, the first mate rushed in. "Captain, we spotted the Scarlett Ruby up ahead! Shall we go after them?"
"Indeed, we shall! Open the sails, you slovenly sluggards!"