The Cavalcade of the Pied Piper Ch3

The Cavalcade of the Pied Piper

Ch. 3

   A storm was coming. I could smell it in the air. Looking down at the map I grabbed my compass and measured the distance. With the winds steady at twenty knots, we should be safely on land at our destination before it would hit. I sighed. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to fare a storm at sea.

     I looked out my window. The sun had dipped another few meters. It was time for some entertainment.

     Jim the Toothless, my first mate, knocked on the door.

     “Capt’n, it’s time.” He said his voice slightly muffled from behind my five inch door made of solid mahogany. I got that from the Orient. Nice folk, always insisted on us not having to pay. I smiled to myself, remembering.

     “Everything set up?” I asked as I opened the door. He smiled revealing his missing teeth. It always seems that most pirates don’t have good dental hygiene. Well, I don’t mind and it seems that it just comes with the job. He nodded. Great, I could use some distraction. Hope this little squirt actually has something to offer. If he wins I’ll welcome him to my crew, if he doesn’t, well, I just won’t get a new crew member.

     I walked out on the top deck overlooking the whole crew waiting in anticipation. Usually only half the crew actually show up to these kinds of events. Most of the larger, muscular men without brains tend to think of this sort of thing as ‘theatre trash’ and ‘waste of time.’ Odd that they would show up at all.

     I leaned back on my captain’s chair set high and out of the way so as to be able to see everything, I noticed why most of the crew decided to grace this boy with their presence: he had refused the dagger offered to all fighters. Being pirates, when I said ‘unarmed’ they automatically reach for their dagger. The last person who refused the knife killed their opponent with his bare hands, and he ended up as my first mate. I glanced over at Jim to see what he was thinking. Seated farther off and closer to the fighting arena formed by the huddle of bodies, he sat coolly evaluating this boy. Perhaps this will be more entertaining than I thought.

     “Bring out this…captain,” I said sarcastically, “let’s see what he’s got, aye?” The crew erupted in cheers and I swear the boy turned another shade paler. The whole crew started beating and stomping as slowly, very slowly, the old captain was brought up from the brig in full body chains. Of course, the chains were a joke; no one would ever be able to escape from our ship, let alone get a punch in. The chains did make the old captain look even more meager with them on, though. Having lost his oversized hat and his look of dignity, he looked utterly broken in the face of all these pirates.

     The boy stood there looking even more pathetic then he did before as slowly the full body chains of his previous captain were undone. When the chains lay on the deck, completely forgotten, a crew member, Fin I think his name was, held out a dagger. All was still for a second as the boy’s eyes widened. The captain stood perfectly still and in a blink of an eye grabbed the dagger and lunged at the boy. Barely missing the tip of the blade, the boy jumped away.

     “Wh--Why are you doing this?” the boy yelled over the noise of the crowd. They both started circling each other. The previous captain did not respond except to lunge once again. The boy was slightly too slow. The dagger cut into his arm leaving a flesh wound not very deep, barely a scratch. Why isn’t the boy fighting back? Does he think his captain might have mercy for him? He might be a bigger idiot then he looked.

     “Sto--stop this infernal--” the boy stated but didn’t have a chance to finish for the captain had kicked him in the stomach and had fallen on his back. Perhaps he is an idiot, perhaps I had overestimated him. Being on the deck the boy was at a disadvantage and the captain took the chance to jump on top of him. Punching him twice with his other hand that was not holding the dagger, the boy was almost limp.

     This had become boring. I no longer wanted to see the end. The boy hadn’t refused the dagger because he was strong enough without it; he refused it because he was a ‘gentleman’ as he would probably call himself. The boy didn’t think the dagger would be offered to his previous captain, and if he did think it would be, he most likely thought the captain would refuse it as well.

     The poor, haggard, previous captain raised the dagger over his head for the final blow. Great, I’ll have two bodies that will need cleaning up after this. The boy, screaming, raised his hands in defence. The dagger came down.

     What just happened?

     Everyone on the ship was frozen in utter surprise. The captain had thrust the dagger down towards the boy’s chest. The boy, throwing up his hands in defence, had willingly impaled his hand with the dagger to save his life. Everyone stared. The old captain himself had frozen, looking down at the hardened face of the boy staring boldly up at him as his own blood dripped from his wounded hand.

     “This is the difference between you and me,” the boy started to say quietly, for the ship had gone silent so everyone could hear what was being said. “I will honour our unarmed fight.” Reaching up he grabbed his previous captain by the throat and launched himself on top of the man. Having forgotten himself, the captain had not defended against the boy’s attach and in the shock had let go of the dagger in the boy’s hand. Now in a choke hold with his back on the deck and the boy on top, he struggled to get out. The boy held firm and, leaning in close, whispered something that obviously wasn’t heard by anyone else for the crew was now hooting and howling. The captain’s body twitched until, finally, it was still. The previous captain was dead. All watched as the boy stood up and slowly pulled out the dagger from his hand. Looking down at the captain’s dead body, he flung the dagger into the deck.

     Darkness had seemed to fill him where he stood, all bloodied and serious. The crew was silent until a low cheer started from the back and, just like that, the darkness was gone.

     I smiled. What an interesting boy.

     “Celvin Van Arnam,” I yelled and the crew once again fell silent, though not as ominous a silence as before. He looked up at me and smiled seeming to be over all the events that had taken place moments ago. “Celvin Van Arnam,” I repeated for those who had not heard when they had been screaming, “you are now, officially, part of the crew.” The crew burst into cheers once again as I turned back to my cabin. Jim followed me.

     In the privacy of my chamber doorway I stopped. Turning to look at him I said in a low voice “Watch his every movement.”

     Jim nodded, smiling.

This boy was certainly turning out to be very interesting.