Florence Earle, The adventures of the Sapphire

IV

It is nighttime. The ship is peacefully floating on the water. It's quiet, most of the crew have gone to sleep, some still silently laughing about drunk jokes made hours ago. The only people above deck are Victoria and me, lying on the forecastle, looking at the stars, passing a bottle of rum back and forth. "So, how did you get on this ship" Victoria asks, handing the bottle of rum back to me. I take a long gulp, "It's a long story.." "Tell me, I'm not going anywhere" That is true, she's part of the crew now, though we do have the whole Royal Navy out looking for her. The chance we'll survive this is small anyway, though the Sapphire is one of the fastest ships sailing the oceans right now. "All right" I say, hoisting myself up on one elbow, facing her.

"I was really poor when I was younger, my brother died and my mom died of heartbreak of the loss of her child. My father was drunk most of the time, he lost his job when I was 16. Money was running out quick so I had to get a job. No jobs available for girls, especially young girls, given I didn't want to become a prostitute. Desperate times called for desperate measures so I stole some boys clothes and boarded a ship. The ship was part of the fleet of the East Indian Company, we were at the middle of the sea when we got hijacked by the crew of the Sapphire, most of the original crew died in the battle or were thrown off the ship. When they found out I was a girl they were going to rape me and then throw me overboard as well. That night another pirate ship came, waking everyone with the sound of canons. They locked me beneath the deck while they fought, I managed to free myself. When I came back on the deck, the crew of the Sapphire was losing. Many men had died and even more were wounded. I thought that this was my chance, if I could just get to the rowing boat I could escape these horrible excuses for human beings and get back to my dad." I stop and empty the rest of the bottle of rum. Victoria is still looking at me with anticipation of what comes next. I get up and get another bottle of rum. "But you stayed" Victoria says. "I did" "Why?" she asks. "I got to the boat, and was ready to go when I saw how bad the situation was going, they couldn't hold the other pirates off much longer and given how many of the crew of the Sapphire they had already killed, I didn't think they would be nice to me when they captured me. So I turned around, grabbed a cutlass and started fighting with the crew." "Did you win? How did you become captain? Come on, I want to know" She insists. I get up and walk away, I can feel her looking at me. I turn around, swaying the empty rum bottle in front of me. "Sorry sweetheart, that's a story for another night with another bottle of rum."