Saudade (Published under Indie Pop)

Chapter 17: The Thief and the Murderer

Chapter 17: The Thief and the Murderer

I stared at the distant vessel and watched it sail at an easy pace amidst the waves - it seemed to be carrying a lot of loads. I looked at the eager and expectant faces of the pirates and then to the ship ahead of us. It seemed ignorant that we were coming after it.

I heard a noise from the top of the rope ladder and waited for Alon to show up. When he appeared, he nodded at me and stood silently as he watched the cargo ship with his telescope.

"You need to come down right now!" I heard Erasmus' voice from below. I looked down at him and saw confusion and worry in his eyes: confused about how I got here and worried about how I would come down. I felt the hammering of the absolute fear against my chest and I knew that coming down wouldn't be that easy.

"Primrose!" He called again.

"Yes! I'm coming down!" I shouted back and turned to Alon. "It wouldn't be so hard, right?" I asked.

He looked at me and nodded again. Alon was never chatty with me so his agreement that it wouldn't be hard to come down didn't really help. I started to move towards the top of the ladder and grabbed the rope and with one deep breath, I started to climb down.

The morning wind blew colder and stronger as it matched the speed of the Obsidian - leaving goosebumps of fear on my skin. The waves started to become bigger making the ship jump in every passing of it. I squeaked as my feet sent flying into the air but my hands refused to let go of the rope ladder and I cried in pain silently as my body slammed hard against the post due to the impact.

"Primrose! Are you alright?" I heard Erasmus' frantic voice again from below me.

I tried swallowing my fear and answered, "I'm alright!"

But my voice was not convincing as it quivered upon saying those words. I took another step down on the ladder; the trembling of my body was shaking the rope. The moon and the stars were so enchanting last night that the sun probably got jealous and was making me regret everything.

"Skull! Help her."

I stiffened as I heard Erasmus called for his pirate name. And despite the fear, I couldn't help but feel conscious about my appearance. He was watching me and I was holding on to the rope tightly for dear life - probably in one of the most embarrassing way. And I just woke up! Who knew what my hair looked like or if I left a trace of drool on my face? I couldn't believe he would see me like this.

"She put herself up there. She should know how to come down."

For a moment, it took my fear away and replaced by uncomfortable annoyance. I turned to glare at him which was a bad decision because it just made my situation worse. Instead of looking at him, I looked at the whole ship swaying below me and it made me feel dizzy.  How could I still be so high from the ground when I already took numbers of steps down? My teeth were chattering because of the cold and the fear that had doubled ever since I looked below me. I couldn't move. I couldn't make myself continue climbing down.