Treasure of the sea |Lesbian story|

CHAPTER XLVI

To defeat boredom, I spent those long hours of walking chatting with Louise. She told me about her life and I told her about mine. She was Irish and had emigrated to Philadelphia with her parents when she was just six years old. She told me about the long crossing and how her father had died of consumption a year after they arrived in the New World.

"We left Ireland to seek a better life here, but things haven't changed much."

"I'm sorry."

"Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if we'd stayed in Ireland."

"Would you like to go back?"

"No. I don't think so, no. I grew up here. Ireland is just a mere memory that I almost certainly idealized."

Although of different personalities, her company cheered me up. I enjoyed conversing with new people and understanding how they thought.

Audrey had developed quite a crush on Harris, who kept lavishing all the attention he could on her. She talked to him all the time, posing in exaggerated ways and laughing at everything even when it wasn't funny.

All in all, the two newcomers had integrated rather well into the group. None had ever dared to disobey an order from Arenis; they had well understood that it was better not to provoke her. Louise continued to complain about her, however, without being heard, "I can't take it anymore. If that one doesn't give us a break within the next ten minutes..." Still, she never did anything. She just kept moving forward, huffing and throwing glaring glances at Arenis. Arenis, for the duration of the trial, had shared a cell with them, though a few times she had ended up in solitary confinement for misconduct. Louise had revealed to me that most of the time she had remained silent. She had ignored them completely. On the day of the escape, however, Arenis had released them, too, without hesitation, and for that Louise was grateful.

"Have you heard?" asked Bill suddenly. He was alarmed.

Arenis froze and strained her ear. We all unsheathed our swords and began to circle around, carefully observing the forest around us. There didn't seem to be anyone there, but I too had heard noises in the distance.

Suddenly, we saw five men wearing long headdresses and holding bows making their way through the bushes and tall grass. They wore their hair in long braids and one of them had tattoos on his right arm. This one noticed us and alerted his companions, who quickly grabbed an arrow from the quiver and stuck them, after which they strung their bows and aimed at us.

Audrey screamed in fear.

"Drop your weapons," Arenis ordered. "Everyone raise your hands in the air. We surrender."

And so we did. I let my sword sink into the grass and raised my arms in surrender.

The Indians stood there, their bows outstretched, undecided what to do. It was clear they were as frightened as we were. The one with the tattoos, who was evidently the leader of the group, nodded and the bows were lowered. The man approached, taking small steps, his arrow still stuck if we tried to attack him.

"Who... is you?" he asked, with a bizarre accent.

It was Arenis who replied, "We're just passing through. It is not our intention to harm you."

The man squinted. He understood little.

"My name is Arenis. What is yours?"

"Abooksigun," he replied. "You warriors?"

Arenis shook her head. "No. We're pirates and we're lost."

I turned my head abruptly towards her and squared her badly. Ah, now she was admitting it?