Ruby-Rose breathed a sigh of relief as the ship's timber groaned from the gentle rocking of the sea. After forty-five minutes of hearing nothing but folk songs the ship had finally crawled back to life, The Oracle had the misfortune of being lumbered by a sudden dead calm in the wind. The young captain stood up from her chair and walked out of her cabin, quartermaster Laurie was calling out orders to resume their duties. The men shuffled along to their posts, glad that they were on their way at last.
"Put her to the wind gentleman; who knows how long this gust will last. Secure the sail bolts Mister McFadden, I will not have my ship looking tardy" Ruby-Rose bellowed. A young curly-haired boy no older than fifteen climbed across the beam and attended to the task at hand.
Ruby-Rose held her breath as the young man followed her order then climbed a little further down. Guilt had always crossed her mind whenever she looked upon the affluent Drew 'Dockers' McFadden: Given his nickname from his constant presence in the Charlestown dock area, after a few weeks Captain Sparrow reluctantly agreed to take the lad on despite having doubts that haunted her one year on from being recruited.
The sky was almost cloudless and the pirate princess was worried that another dead calm would obstruct their journey and delay them even further. The young captain took the wheel to occupy her mind away from those thoughts and to clear away the lingering vision of Jack standing alone on the jetty.
Stop tormenting yourself girl, it would never work. She thought how would it…you're both pirates. You believe in nothing you answer to no-one, is that the right recipe for marriage?
"Of course not" She voiced a little too loudly than she intended; Thomas Laurie turned to her and walked up the steps towards the upper deck.
"Anything wrong Ma'am, we are behind schedule but have faith Captain -the crew will compensate the time lost with hard work"
"That was never a question Thomas, a captain that has no faith in her crew is an inept one indeed. No, Mister Laurie I was merely talking out-loud a rather daft thing when so many eyes are watching you" –
The Scotsman nodded and chuckled at his captain's honesty, there were times where he viewed it as uncalled for but a leopard could never change his/her spots.
"You laugh at me Thomas, do you think me mad?" –
"Not at all Captain; your traits are somewhat…unorthodox to what I'm used to" –
The young pirate froze at this reply, her confidence was threatened and it was an obstacle that was unacceptable to a Captain of a vessel, but she could not help it. However hard she tried she could not cast out her insecurities, Thomas Laurie bowed his head before looking up at her.
"But none of it is harmless, truth be told it can be quite refreshing" –
Captain Sparrow smiled while the quartermaster went back to his corner, another moment of fear passed without incident. She stood there in silent contemplation for an hour, her troubled mind being soothed by the gentle sound of the ocean and the calm and quiet tune of an accordion. She asked Quinn to take the wheel when Ana Maria appeared from below deck and walked over to her.
"High time you made that speech of yours, the men are getting curious some of the crew are already on edge. Secrecy is never a good thing Ruby-Rose especially to those who live by suspicion" She said under-her-breath.
Suddenly the curtain of denial was being pulled away Ruby-Rose was relieved when there was no complaints or grievances so far somehow she knew it was too good to be true. Looking now at the strapping, hard-working men that served her she realised they were all already despondent and nonchalant with the journey; it was something that had to be remedied and soon.
"Oh very well, I never enjoy this part of the job…go round up the crew Ana Maria" The young Captain sighed in reluctance
"Aye, EVERYONE UP ON DECK: Giles, Crawley, Beckett – You too young master McFadden" The Jamaican addressed the those that were down in the Mess hall then gazed up as the boy sprawled along the rigging and climbed down.
The superior officers stood in the front of the assembly, eyeing any potential troublemakers. Ruby-Rose coughed out her nervousness and steadied herself against the banister, after a moment's pause she began her speech.
"Ladies and Gents I believe it's time I squared with you, the only reason I left it so late is that our departure was so in haste so – My apologies"
The pirate princess took another deep breath and brushed her hand along the carved beam just to look at something other that the near two dozen pairs of eyes that were looking at her.
"We are to travel along the Cayman trench, the waters should be rough perhaps a little treacherous but it's nothing we're not used to" –
"I take it there is a grand prize at the end of all this" Daniel Beckett piped from the back row; Broad and robust frame towering over the ganglier crew members. A tattered bandanna covered his shaven head, his face was wide and menacing – A wild and rough-edged sod that had more enemies than friends, but a captain could not overlook the obvious advantage of having such a man on her ship. Keeping him in line was a tricky business that sometimes involved keeping her weapons close at hand
"Yes Mister Beckett there is, a prize above most prizes and meagre booty we have taken over the years…I plan to take The Solstice to ransom" –
Some of the crew laughed, others were baffled and had to be told by their bragging counterparts. The laughter itself was shattered in pieces of nervousness, faithlessness, a bit of sarcasm and those that were genuinely excited by the prospect.
"A troublesome fare this time eh Captain Sparrow?" Beckett mocked, the glint in his eyes warned Ruby-Rose that his was testing her, she knew she had to be careful with her reply:
"Perhaps…Having doubts Mister Beckett? Work well and your reward will be plentiful, slacken and you'll only have yourself to blame….that goes for all of you sea devils. If luck is in our favour it would be our best day yet, I have faith in it…do not let me down" –
Ruby-Rose glazed a stern eye over the brute who had failed to rumble the Captain's nerves. It was a risk she faced almost on a daily basis but she could never give in for if she did everything that was at her command would be lost. She strode confidently into her cabin and slammed the door shut, quartermaster Laurie sent the men back to work while Ana Maria crept into the cabin to aide Ruby-Rose with the much-despised job of making navigation coordinates for the ship.
Drew McFadden was swabbing the deck with his fellow shipmates Ben Crawley and Albert Finch: Ben Crawley was a keen Mariner and had been a ship's hired hand since he was a boy. He had spent his adolescence on three different vessels and now that he was two years shy of reaching thirty he was serving the legendary Ruby-Rose, though being a humble servant's son, Ben Crawley lived a good life. Albert Finch was the appointed folk singer aboard The Oracle, a Cornish man in his late forties with a greying beard and old clothes. He was favoured by all who heard his sonnets, tales and songs of the country he left behind, nobody knew about his old life back in England or if he even had family. But he seemed satisfied with what he had aboard The Oracle that included the captain's fondness of him.
The three men sat there scrubbing the dirt off the timbers, it was an unpleasant chore but it was something that had to be done.
"Bruiser shouldn't goad the captain like that, he thinks she can't fight but I know she can, seen it with my own eyes I have" Drew said boisterously.
"A musket and a fist are two different things lad, she's a champion with the sword but she wouldn't stand a chance without it" – Old Albert replied hoarsely
"She would if she chopped the fist first" Ben quipped they all paused at this remark then chuckled quietly. The quartermaster had silently observed their conversation and had to intervene, as he caught sight of Daniel 'Bruiser' Beckett climbing up the rigging with mean eyes staring at the boy.
"Keep to your work gentlemen and drew you should know better than to be a victim of Beckett's wrath, watch yourself son" Thomas Laurie whispered, to this the boy kneeled further to the floor and carried on swabbing in complete silence. Thomas Laurie walked cautiously away to survey the rest of the ship's maintenance.