Piracy Upon the Sea

Amelia

The second day continued to be very promising and in an alarmingly fast rate I gained another four crew members which made a total or one deck boy, one first mate, one cook and five crew.

"Is it time we be sailin' now?" Skippy asked as I boarded the ship, carrying a barrel of good, mulled wine with my new first mate following me up the gang plank, rolling a barrel of rum.

"Soon," I answered. "I think I want a few more men first though and we're still a little low on supplies." Skippy nodded, taking the barrel from me and heading below deck as I traversed the ship, resting my hand on the polished mast pole. She was in good order. In need of a new name and a patch or two on the sale but she'd been looked after good.

"Captain," Meredith,my cook, greeted me, the word rolling from her mouth like the blossoming of a rose. A few of the new men (I still had just the one woman) grinned and nudged each other so that I was rethinking my decision of hiring them. Meredith reassured me though. She blatantly ignored them, asked me if I'd like a meal to which I nodded and then disappeared back to 'kitchen'.

Brigid

I grimaced. "You could spare yourself the pain." I told him. "Death for rebellion must be the worst sort, based on slow torture to make an example." I shuddered involuntarily.

He grimaced. "I'll die like a man in the fight for my freedom. Death is death."

I knew I could not convince him, and feared being overheard, and so I merely shook my head sadly and strode off to find Siofra. She was down in our little cabin, head bent in whispered conversation with Oisin.

"May I have a word, Siofra?" I asked, smiling as sweetly as I could at the pair of them given the tension and fear which were coiling their way through me.

Siofra nodded, and got to her feet, following me to a far corner.

"Your plans are spreading like wild-fire." I whispered. "It's only a matter of time before Anchorless gets wind of them. We need to get off of this ship before he realises that you're the ringleader."

"Oisin..." she began, but I cut her off.

"Oisin has sailed under Anchorless for years, we can't count on his loyalty."

Siofra put one hand on her hip. "He hasn't ratted us out yet, has he? If he really was loyal to Anchorless, he'd have gone to him straight away. Besides," she smiled, "He wouldn't do anything that could see either of us hurt or killed, given how he's in love with you."

I frowned. "Don't be ridiculous!"

She grinned back. "I'm never ridiculous, Brigid, you know that!"

Amelia

"Get the decks clean," I informed my men, "I want to be sailing soon." There was a chorus of agreement and buckets and scrubbing brushes were fetched, most of which seemed to be falling apart so I decided to head down to the general store and get some more.

While there, I picked up a few more buckets and barrels too and hired a man to help me convey them to the ship.

"Oh yes, some good brushes these," he chattered continuously on the way. "And I take it you be a pirate? Oh don't worry, I was of that nature too one time. Sailing the seas, robbing folks. All a lot of fun."

"Oh?" I responded absently.

"Yes, yes, good times. You know, I'm a great shot. And good at keeping track of stock. And robbing. Did I tell you I can rob?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Okay then. Work isn't so easy to find these days."

"I know. You can leave everything here."

Brigid

I had to get her off the ship. Granted, that had been the goal all along, but now it was more urgent than ever. I needed to come up with a plan before the situation escalated.Shaking my head, I stalked away to the other end of the ship and busied myself with my tasks, by mind whirring all the while.

I hadn't properly formulated an idea when Oisin started shouting from his lookout post. I looked up at the sky. It had turned to a menacing shade of blue-black, and the clouds were surfing across it in tight congregations. It was only a matter of time before the storm was upon us.

The ship was turned violently around. It looked like our visit to land would come sooner than I had anticipated.

Amelia

The man put down the barrels and equipment and left with a heavy sigh. I did not turn to watch him go but instructed that the old brushes be thrown overboard and the new brushes distributed. Then I left the ship and spent some time traversing the dock, selling the odd piece of jewellery and collecting rumours from the other pirates in the area. Apparently there was a hidden chest on an island not far from where I was docked but to get there I'd need a map and that happened to be one item I was sadly lacking.

"You don't happen to have one do you?" I asked the man who had informed me of this chest.

"To that island? No but I've got others. Care teh take a look?"

"Aye. I'll take a look." He reached inside his waistcoat and took out a rather large wad of parchment. I turned the pieces over carefully, reading some of the small, squiggly handwriting. I selected a few that looked promising or at the least less fake than the others and asked how much he wanted for them.

"That one will cost you eight pieces of silver," he replied. Immediately I ducked and heard the dagger thud into the wood work beside me. I cast a quick look around as I turned over the table and crouche beside it with my informant. Pirate code and not just any pirate code. Royal pirate code.

"Are you..." I started to ask.

"Here, this one will do you," he said, "and the price is to kill them two."

Hmmm...I'm a bit stuck....

Try and have your ship dock at wherever my character is. That way you can join her crew!

I apologise in advance for this, and all the posts I make tonight. I'm forcing myself to write something,

Brigid

Shouts rang out across the deck as Oisin and Anchorless gave their orders, and had them relayed. The rain had begun to lash down from the heavens, and the wind was raging mightily. I tied my scraft more securely around my hair, and hurried to pitch in, calling to Siofra to do the same as I went. It wouldn't be a good night to be thrown overboard. I smiled in spite of myself. There would hardly be any good night for that.

It was with difficulty that we managed, eventually, to reach dry land, though given the strained conditions, provided both by the ocean and my sister, I couldn't relish in the moment in tthe way which I always imagined I would.

Amelia

I stared at the man a moment longer, drinking in his features. Medium height complimented by broad shoulders, a few disfiguring scars, dirty brown hair and dark eyes. Then I nodded, pocketed the map and dived over the table, drawing my pistol.

"Out of the way lass, ye don' know wha' yer dealin' with," the first of the pirates drawled. I shot him through the chest and then ducked aside as the taller man fired back at me. Drawing a small dagger, I launched it into the throat of my assailant.

"Nice work," my informant said before standing and brushing himself off. "Consider the map paid for." With that, he left the tavern and I followed shortly afterwards, making my way down towards the docks. It was about time to be leaving.

"Any news?" I asked my look-out who nodded.

"Ya migh' be wantin' teh check out what washed ashore," he replied.

"Oh?"

"Couple o' pirates," he explained.

Brigid

"Girl!" Anchorless called. "Which one?" Siofra snapped. "We have names. You'd think that..." I elbowded her to make her shut up.
"I don't care, either. I need one of you to go with Oisin, and these two lads here to scout out the area. Doesn't look like we'll be in a position to set sail for a while..."

"I'll go." I volunteered before he'd finished speaking, as I wanted Siofra to stay on the ship. If Oisin and the boys were coming, it would give her the perfect opportunity to plan her mutiny further, and I couldn't allow that to happen, not now that the chance we'd been waiting for was upon us.

Siofra raised an eyebrow at me, knowing what I was up to. I shrugged, then smiled sweetly at her.

"Come on then." Oisin said, beckoning to myself and a couple of the lads whom I knew had been plotting with Siofra. "Let's get a move on before it gets dark. Rain seems to be stopping..." He looked out at the sea. "Don't like teh look of those waters, though."

*Apologies for the double post, I'm trying to resurrect this.*

Brigid

I nodded, cast Siofra a warning glance, and followed Oisin and the boys off the ship.

"Stay close." Oisin called. Inspired, I made my way up to the front of the group and took to his side, brushing his shoulder lightly with my fingers for the briefest of moments. He stopped suddenly, and turned to look at me.

"Spread out." He ordered roughly, after a moment had passed. "Skip, you and Billy go this way," he gestured boradly to the left. "And Robbie and Chris, you go right. Girl, you come with me."

I hesitated for a moment, then swallowed. "Alright."

I expected him to say something, but he didn't. "Look!" I exclaimed suddenly, more to break the silence than anything else. "Another ship."