Well Now it's actually Chapter 7! LOL Sorry for that. Maybe I shouldn't update at 4 am next time.

Chapter Seven: Longings Of A Landlubber

"Where are we going?" Katie demanded.

Captain Effy had rushed on deck and barked orders excitedly, but her employer had missed most of what was said and all she heard were charting terms that she did not understand. She stood behind the captain as she checked a compass and was pulling the wheel to turn the ship in the right direction. The sun was just coming up and it spilled into the sky blood red. The wild woman let out an anxious sigh; her ship was patched and roughly mended, and she had been hoping for smooth sailing, but the morning sky was telling her differently.

"Where are we going?" Katie repeated.

Effy couldn't help but tease a little. "After the Lament."

"Listen here," the redhead stormed. "I demand to know what is happening from here on out!"

The captain gave her another amused look and then pretended to take her seriously. "Yes Ma'am. We are setting course; we will be floating on the ocean in this direction for a while and eventually we will see a ship. That ship will be the Lament, on which I am sure you know is your sister. Upon seeing the Lament, we will prepare to open fire and take the ship under our control. At which time you will be reunited with your sister and all will be sunshine and daises," she finished.

Katie knew she was being condescended to but she found it hard to feel offended when the one talking down to her was acting on coordinates she received from a glorified pebble. How the brunette had made any sense of the cryptic babble the isolated lunatic had spouted out, Katie would never know. Why would they set out on a course, based on the witch's instructions, when the witch had also told them there was no point?

"How can you believe that the witch knows where they are, but not believe that we are doomed to fail? She said that too," the redhead asked defiantly.

"I believe in her…" Effy said. "But I believe in myself more…"

The gulls followed them for a while before retreating back to the island; the brown eyed girl sighed and watched as the land shrank away. In her opinion this whole ordeal couldn't end soon enough; and when it had, she would make sure that she lived far away from any ocean. She turned around and leaned on the railing, her head resting on her crossed arms, and gazed into the water. The ocean gleamed and the spray from the waves made little flickers of rainbows in the ever increasing daylight. Her red hair whipped about her face and her dress rustled between the slats in the railing. Katie closed her eyes and tried to imagine long stretches of land, or hillsides and mountains, but the images wouldn't focus in her mind. She tried harder and the image of her family's orchard bloomed in her mind; she smiled to herself.


It had been under the budding apple trees of that orchard that she'd had her first kiss at age ten. She had pulled the stable master's son out into the grove and kissed him and then promptly alerted him to the fact that when they were old enough, they would get married. They were inseparable for weeks after that. He followed her around anywhere he could and she would sneak away from Emily by pretending to play hide and seek—until her mother found out. It hadn't really occurred to Katie not to tell her parent; it had just been fun to have a secret. Jenna took her into her room and sat her in front of her large dressing table and began to brush her daughter's hair.

"You girls are very special," she had said. "We are a family and as a family we all depend on each other. Katherine, do you know what love is?"

"Love is a smile in your heart when you see someone," ten year old Katie had said.

"Yes, I suppose it is, but it's not as easy as that," Jenna had said. "The heart doesn't know what it loves—it has to be told what it needs so that it can love the right way."

Her mother had then calmly explained to her that because their family had no son, it was Katherine and Emily's duty to make sure their family stayed strong. She was special, being the oldest, and she had to watch out for her sister and help her learn to love the right kind of person as well.

"But he is the right kind," little Katie had insisted with tears in her eyes. "Why can't he be? He loves me too…"

"When I was young—older than you, but still young—I had a best friend," Her mother said. "And we were the prettiest two girls in the entire city and we had many suitors, but Gina only had eyes for one boy. He worked for my father and I am ashamed to say I helped them meet. They were happy, for a while, and then my friend discovered she was pregnant and we were all so scared and the boy promised to take her away so that her parents couldn't punish her. So she left with him, taking with her a large sum of her parent's money, but their secret still got out and the family was left in ruins. Scandals are bad for business, you see, and without any other children…"

The story was true, but Katie didn't see the problem; they got away and had money and a baby. She felt sorry for the girl's family, but it didn't seem so bad.

"So they were ok?" the little red haired girl piped.

The look on her daughters face frightened Jenna and, even though she didn't know for sure, she had made up the end of the tale. Saying that Gina had been abandoned at some dismal port, that the boy she had loved had took all the money, and her friend had lost the baby and died of some terrible disease. By the time she was done, her daughter was crying and the mother hugged her close and promised that if she did what she knew was right, life would stay beautiful and as it should be.

The next day Katherine had marched straight up to little Freddie, slapped him across the face and told him never to speak to her again. That she hated him and he would never be the right kind of husband. She had stomped way in determination and never looked back. Even after James had been born the eldest sibling had kept the fear of the wrong kind of love in her heart.


"Strange place to sleep," Effy said briskly in the redhead's ear.

Katie snapped back to the present and looked around. "I wasn't sleeping—I was just thinking."

"About?" the wild girl asked laughingly.

"Sea shells," the girl lied.

"Suit yourself," Effy said, obviously not believing her. "It's time to eat."

Katie watched as the captain traipsed across the deck, stopping to give Fist Mate Thomas a pat on the back as he stood at the wheel, and ambled down the stairs. The brown eyed girl took one more wistful glace over her shoulder, scanning the horizon for land, and then followed the captain to their quarters to eat.


The climate was changing as the Lament sailed south and Emily was shocked when Captain Campbell had offered to take her out on deck. The redhead trembled a little at the thought of all the men on board.

"I thought…you said…the men?" she said nervously.

"That's why now is the best time to get out of the quarters," Naomi said patiently. "We've just been in port; they've had liquor and ladies, so they will be good for a while as long as I'm with you."

Emily still seemed hesitant; the ordeal she'd had when they docked had shaken her. She'd never been afraid like that before; her family had kept both her and her sister very sheltered, more so than she had ever known, and it had never occurred to her so many people like that existed in the world.

The captain recognized the look in the girl's brown eyes; it had been the same for her once and she imagined it must be worse for Emily, coming from a wealthy family that probably never had to deal with the dark part of the world. That was why she wanted to get her on deck so badly; the men would ignore her, as they had been strictly instructed, and maybe that would help.

"I know you hate being cramped up in here," the captain insisted. "So come on out. I promise nothing will happen to you."

Naomi took her hand softly and looked deep into Emily's eyes. "Come on," she said with the gentlest tug of the girl's arm. "Let's see what that backbone can do."

"I want to change first," Emily said, reluctantly pulling her hand away.

The blonde walked to the window and looked the other way while the redhead changed out of her dress and into the manlier garb they had purchased while in port. She struggled with the trousers and the captain stifled a laugh, causing her to blush. Emily blushed and continued to fidget with the pants. Finally she felt ready and turned, surprised at how comfortable the clothes were. For weeks she had wondered what wearing pants was like; the captain didn't seem to have a problem with it. She headed for the door, still shaking slightly, and the captain pulled back the bolt. Naomi paused, noticing the still nervous look on the girl's face, and bent down. She pulled the small dagger out of her shoe and tucked it gently into Emily's boot.

"Thank you," the redhead said gratefully.

When the door opened, all the men on deck turned and stared; Emily shifted uneasily and Naomi gave them a hard look, which went unnoticed, so she cleared her throat gruffly. The men snapped back to their tasks and the captain led the girl to the wheel.

"Where are we?" Emily asked as she scanned the horizon.

"Along the coast of France," the captain surprised her by saying. "Just out of sight."

The redhead smiled as the warm air swirled around her and the sun beamed down on the deck. She listened to the wet soft sound of the waves and the crisp rustle of the sails. It amazed her how much she actually loved being on board the sailing ship; despite everything, being out to sea gave her an undeniable feeling of freedom. She batted her brown eyes and giggled at the irony of it all; she felt freer as a hostage on the Lament than she had in her own home. Her mother had kept such a close grip on her for years; things her sister had been encouraged to do, she had been held back from. Beyond the fact that wine had been healthy for Katherine, but un-lady like for her—it was smaller things like the hobbies that were acceptable, the books that were appropriate to read, the people she was expected to embrace or ignore, and the list went on forever in this manner. All of it would have made so much more sense if the rules had been the same for her as for her sister. It seemed that Katie and James had been everything that Jenna had ever wanted in a daughter and son, leaving Emily trailing behind and feeling as though she was always the disappointment. James had always shown what her mother described as an appropriate interest in the fairer sex and Katherine had been encouraged in her endeavors that related to boys. Emily felt an all to familiar pain in her chest; she missed her sister - despite all their differences she loved Katie. It had never occurred to her, in all her years of trying to find a little space to herself, what it would truly be like not to have her sister with her.

"She's a looker, she's a looker," came a familiar squawk and Emily turned to see the bright green fowl flapping excitedly towards them.

JJ perched proudly on the captain's shoulder and surveyed the redhead quizzically. The blonde smiled and laughed despite herself; Emily had noticed over the past four weeks that the captain always seemed to try to hide her feelings, especially joy.

"JJ seems to have a little crush on our…guest…" Cook teased loudly.

"I think he hates me…" the redhead said nervously; the parrot was always looking at her like she was doing something wrong.

"That's just 'cause you don't have any biscuits," the first mate laughed as he fished in his pockets.

He pulled out some crumbly crackers and held them out to her; Emily involuntarily stiffened as he came closer. She felt instantly ashamed for suspecting him—he'd been nothing but cheerful every time she saw him. She blushed a little and thanked him as she took a few crackers from him.

"Pay the ransom!" JJ begged and she offered him a biscuit gingerly.

The parrot took the cracker, flapping excitedly. Emily laughed as he nibbled the snack excitedly and then hopped from the blonde's shoulder to the redhead's.

"I'm JJ…" the parrot crooned in her ear.

Cook laughed. "I told you…he's putting the moves on 'er already."

"I'm Emily." The girl laughed back.

"Ems, Ems…" the parrot attempted.

"It might take him a while," the parrot's owner defended.

"Didn't take him long when you were teaching him inappropriate nicknames for his captain," Naomi pointed out.

The first mate shrugged and reached over to take the bird off of Emily's shoulder before heading back onto the main deck to check the mens progress.


Katie was picking absent mindedly at her food; she ate slowly even though she hadn't been sea sick in the past week, but she wasn't going to take any chances. The captain sauntered in loudly, her hair swinging madly, dripping water all around the room. Effy pulled over her jacket and rung it out before tossing it onto the chaise and throwing herself tiredly onto the bed.

"You're getting the bed wet!" Katie shouted irritated.

"The bed can handle things getting a little wet." The captain smirked.

"There's enough water around us. I don't want to sleep in it," the redhead spat.

The brunette jumped up and gave her a mock bow meant to mean as you wish your highness and deposited herself on the lounge. Her clothes were soaked all the way through and clung to her body; the legs of her pants were still dripping puddles onto the small carpet beneath the chair. The girl's brown eyes became narrow slits when Effy caught her staring.

"You could change into some proper clothes you know? Behave like a civilized person?" Katie huffed.

"You're not very gracious considering I am braving storms and terrible waves to help you," the captain said coolly.

"For money," the girl pointed out.

"Oh I would have done it for free…" the brunette said offhandedly. "But that would have been a mistake anyway considering you've turned out much less fun than I anticipated," she added with a sigh.

"Convenient," the girl rolled her eyes.

"Not as convenient as I had anticipated." Effy laughed.

Captain Stonem jumped off the lounge, sending a light spray towards the bed as she did so, and pulled something off the end of the clothes rack. Katie flinched as the water sprinkled her face and let out an angry huff. Seconds later, something landed on the bed next to her and she picked it up gently; it was a simple necklace made of some twine, a few beads, and the shell from the witch.

"What's this?" She asked.

"It's a necklace—you put it around your neck and wear it. Some people consider it jewelry…" the wild girl chided.

She batted her brown eyes, taken aback for a moment before regaining her train of thought.

"Well some people might…" Katie said as she dangled the trinket between two fingers, "but they would obviously not have seen any real jewelry if they did."

"Suit yourself," the captain said, snatching the necklace back and fastening it around her own neck. "Though, I thought civilized people accepted gifts graciously. Guess I don't know that much about fine society after all."

With that, the blue eyed girl pulled her jacket back on and left the room; Katie could hear her barking orders to the men and the sound of her heavy footsteps overhead as she took back the wheel. The redhead rolled over in the bed and stared out the window as the rain drove into the waves so thick that it looked like the entire world was nothing but water. She rolled back to the edge of the bed and tugged the pillowcase out from under the bed; she gazed at the doll for a few minutes. She could hear the muffled sound of Captain Stonem singing what she could only assume was a lewd sailor song about mermaids or loose women and tried to ignore it. When the men joined in and the captain began stomping to the beat above her head, she tucked the doll gently back into the case and stuffed it back under the bed. Katie stood and glared at the ceiling for a few more minutes.

"God's sake!" she yelled as she stomped to the door and flung herself angrily out on deck.

Well, I hope this chapter satisfies. Hope the flashback wasn't handled too badly... As always leave me a review pretty please if you can. ^_^