Chapter 5 Bloody Pilots
Evelyn arose that morning stiff as a board, from not only dueling her sister but from sleeping on the deck of the ship. She glanced over to see Jessica still fast asleep so she nudged her to get her to wake up.
"humm.." Jessica grumbled and rolled over in the opposite direction.
Evelyn did not like this response so she stood up and nudged Jessica with her boot this time thing it might get her up. Jessica grumbled and continued to lie there. Evelyn getting an idea smiled and reached down and grabbed Jessica's hands and pulled her to her feet.
"Oy, what in the hell did ye do that for?" Jessica stood there trying to get her balance.
"To get ye off your lazy arse." Evelyn said as she placed her hands on her hips.
Jessica continued to glare at Evelyn, while it did not seem to faze Evelyn since she looked towards the wheel to see Karine standing there with a smile on her face. It was clear that Karine had seen the whole thing and had loved every minute of it. It was also clear by Karine's face that she had been awake all night and had not even dozed off. Evelyn walked towards her sister with a look of concern.
"Ye get any sleep?"
"Not unless ye wanted the ship to sail off course."
"Aye then I will take that as a no." Evelyn smiled. "Well then I will take over while ye go and get some sleep."
"Aye, captain" Karine let her sister have the wheel as she headed blow deck to get some sleep.
Jessica had also gone below deck to the galley to see what she could try and make for the three of them to eat. Evelyn took this time alone to let her mind wonder. She wondered what they would do once they reached Tortuga and whom they would meet. She wondered if they might split up and go their separate ways. She allowed her arms to go on autopilot as her mind wondered; she even became so deep in her thoughts that she did not notice Jessica come back on deck with food for the two of them to eat.
"Oy is anyone home?" This caused Evelyn to snap back to reality. "Please tell me ye noticed the bit of green land that we are headed for."
Off in the distance you could see land that would take them two days to reach at the rate they were going. Evelyn looked to where Jessica was talking about and yelled for joy. This caused Karine to sit straight up right in bed even though she was below deck she could still hear Evelyn's scream. Running back on deck Karine had her sword drawn and ready for anything.
"What in the hell did ye scream for?"
"Karine look there is land, and we should make it in about two days." Evelyn said as she pointed in the direction of the island. "It isn't Tortuga though."
"And it is no where on any of the maps Karine." Jessica said as she looked up from her maps.
"Then I say we head for this island not only to see what it is, but to restock on our supplies if we can. We need some fresh water and I am sure that there is water on that island and there is bound to be fruit and all that we can eat and pack aboard the ship." Karine looked excited as she looked towards the new island.
"I should plot it on our maps to so that we know that it is there for future use." Jessica said as she stood over the maps with her compass.
The wind was beginning to pick up, as if it knew that the girls wanted to get to the island as soon as possible.
"By the looks of the wind we just might get there sooner than expected and just in case I want the two of ye to practice again so that I can feel better like you are ok to be on your own on the island."
"Aye, but after you eat something." Evelyn said as she pointed to the food that Jessica had brought up.
Karine sighed and sat down to eat. She did not realize how hungry she was until she started eating. Evelyn looked at Karine and smiled. She knew her sister was hungry and no matter how stubborn she wanted to be she still had to listen to someone. Karine finished eating and stood up ready to take the wheel.
"I suggest that you and Jessica go and change into your other clothes seeing as how those dresses will not suit you well on the island." Karine stated as she took the wheel from Evelyn.
Both Evelyn and Jessica went below to change and came back up in the clothes that Evelyn has bought them when they first set sail. Jessica raised her sword first to her sister and waited for Evelyn to react. A clash of metal was heard as Evelyn brought her sword up to meet Jessica's. Evelyn smiled as she saw her sister step back in order to gain her balance. Karine watched from above at the wheel and occasionally shouted out a step or two. It was plain to see that both sisters' had learned a lot while they had been on their voyage. Karine watched as Jessica brought her sword through the air, which caused Evelyn to duck to the left. Evelyn swung her sword to her right causing Jessica to block it. Both women continued to dance around the deck as the clash of metal was heard.
Evelyn paused a moment to push a strand of hair out of her face and then swung her sword at Jessica again.
"There will not be a moment for ye to fix your hair in battle ye know?" Karine yelled down to the two of them.
This caused both women to stop and place their hands on their hips. "What? I am just reminding ye that in battle there is not a moment to make sure you look good, the only thing on ye mind should be the fact that ye want to live."
Evelyn took advantage of the moment and swung her sword at Jessica, causing her to duck. Jessica only glared at her sister, seeing as how she knew that she should not have gotten distracted, and continued to fight her. Evelyn's moves started to get more graceful as she took her time when fighting Jessica. She would spin around once and bring her sword only inches away from meeting Jessica's and then switch direction and raise the sword up high. Evelyn was giving Jessica quite the challenge and Karine was enjoying every bit of it.
Watching her sisters practice only reminded her of how little they actually knew about what they were getting into. There was so much more to learn that neither of their parents had taught them. Karine had to figure out a way for them to be safe before it drove her crazier than she already was. Karine watched Jessica and Evelyn battle for a good amount of the day until the sun was high into the sky. Both Evelyn and Jessica were out of breath and completely worn out again. Karine left the wheel long enough to get both of them some broth since their water was not safe to drink by itself.
"I think we all need to save our strength after this. There is no telling what we will encounter upon that island." Karine said after she took the two empty cups from her sisters.
"Ye are right, so Karine what do ye think will be on the island?" Jessica said as she placed her sword back in its hilt upon her hip.
"Ye know Jessica I really am not sure what we will find, but I do know that we need to find fresh water and fruit so that we can eat."
"Maybe some strawberries?" Evelyn smiled.
Karine only shook her head and walked to the bow of the ship. From there she could see the island closer. There really was no telling what in the world was on that island and Karine didn't like it. She got this odd feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. A few weeks ago they had seen Davy Jones Ship out in the water and now they are approaching an island that is not on any of Jessica's maps. But there was no way that they would make it much farther without fresh supplies, so they had to stop no matter what. There was just a days travel left and then they would drop anchor and take the dingy out to the shore. After that who knows what will happen. By this time tomorrow they would be ready to leave the ship but until then they just had to wait. In order to pass the time Karine decided to leave the bow and head below decks to start preparing dinner and to also prepare thing for tomorrow.
After a few hours Karine came back on deck with two bowls in her hands. Since she had eaten while she cooked she was able to take the wheel while they ate.
"Oy, soup again?" Jessica sighed as she took the bowl.
Karine just rolled her eyes and handed the other bowl to Evelyn and took hold of the wheel.
"I shall take the watch tonight Karine so that ye can get some rest."
"Thank ye Evelyn, but are ye sure?"
"Aye, woman ye haven't slept well in several days let me worry about ye for once."
Karine smiled and nodded as she gave in to her older sister. Evelyn always had this way about her where when she was worried about Karine or Jessica she would turn all motherly and tell them what to do. Even though it got on Jessica's nerves Karine actually enjoyed it. It meant that she no longer had to worry and could relax a bit.
After Evelyn had finished she took the wheel from Karine allowing her to rest. Karine rested against the rail of the ship not wanting to go below deck yet. Sitting on the ship with her sisters and watching the sun go down reminded her of the days where they did not have a care in the world. Karine and Jessica always were getting into some kind of trouble and Evelyn would have to bail them out. All three sisters could be seen laughing as they remembered the days when they were younger.
"Do ye remember when Evelyn finally decided to climb that tree with us Karine?"
"Aye, and it was funny too!" Karine said as she tried not to laugh.
"Hey now we do not need to talk about that!" Evelyn glared at her sisters but still kept a smile on her face.
"Ye ripped your dress and had to have Karine sew it for ye so that mom wouldn't get mad."
All three girls laughed at that thought seeing as how it did not matter that Karine fixed the dress cause their mom still found out anyways and made them stay inside for three days after that. Jessica finally stood up to go and wash their dinner dishes so that they would be clean for tomorrow morning. When she came back she saw Evelyn smiling as she nodded towards Karine. Karine was leaning against the rail fast asleep. Jessica walked over and knelt beside Karine and nudged her softly. Karine slowly opened her eyes and yawned.
"Come lets get ye to bed." Jessica helped Karine up and draped an arm across Karine's shoulders. Both girls went below decks to get some sleep while Evelyn stayed awake and took control of the ship.
"Oy!! Get your lazy arses out here and get ready to make land!!" Evelyn yelled from her place behind the wheel. Both Jessica and Karine came flying upon deck. Jessica was in the process of tying back her hair and Karine was trying to put on her boot. Both girls were dressed in their breeches and coats. Karine went over and started to free the dingy while Jessica dropped the anchor of the ship. Once the ship had stopped Evelyn let go of the wheel to fasten her sword to her hip.
"Evelyn ye gonna change out of that dress?"
"No, not enough time. Besides I'm too impatient in order to see what be on that island."
"Fine soot yeself." Karine said as she dropped the dingy into the water.
All three girls climbed down the rope ladder on the side of the ship and into the dingy still attached to the side of the ship. After all three were seated inside Karine untied the rope and pushed them away from their ship. Karine and Jessica worked together to row their raft to the shoreline while Evelyn took the chance to close her eyes and rest. Upon reaching the shore it took all three girls to pull the raft into the sand so that it would not float away.
"Now do we want to work together in gathering up the items that we need or shall we go separate way?" Karine said as she managed to gain her land legs again.
"I say separate but stick as close to the shore line as you can." Evelyn said as she placed a hand on Karine shoulders to steady herself.
"That's fine by me lets meet back here before noon." Said Jessica as she looked towards the sky to see just how long they would have before noon.
"Good that gives us several hours in order to gather up anything that we need." Karine stated "And if ye get into trouble fire off one shot with your pistol into the air and we will come running."
All three girls headed off in separate directions. Evelyn followed a path leading into the island, Karine went to the left of the island, and Jessica to the right. Karine managed to find a banana tree and climbed to the top and threw a couple bunches down to the ground. On the other side of the island Jessica was picking up coconuts and taking them back to the boat. Both Karine and Jessica ended up meeting up at the dingy at the same time. Karine threw in the bananas she found and Jessica threw in the coconuts. Both girls had also found water so they placed the small barrels that they had filled into the boat as well. Before they had time to go back and gather more supplies they heard the click from a gun being readied.
"Get into your boat and sailed back to your damn ship or a I end her life now."