Broken Sails

Not in London anymore

The same night, I was summoned to Eleanor's tavern. Upon my arrival there, I found the most of unexpected surprise; Flint, along with my mother was sitting on the big table in the corner of the low-lighted room and a girl, couple years younger than me, was sitting across them. A girl, who at first didn't recognize. She was wearing a long red dress, almost fully covered with small silver details. The vibrant colour contrasting her pale face and her dark brown hair -that looked black under this lighting- was half pulled back and half hanging down covering her shoulders while hiding her long neck. She looked out of place here. My mother came up to me as soon as she saw me standing by the doorframe. Before she even reached me, she wagged her finger at me «Didn't I tell you to wear a dress today?» she sighed. «What am I to do with you, Ophelia?» Without expecting an answer she took me by the hand, like she used to do every time I wouldn't listen to her when I was a child, and hastily made our way to the other side of the room. She let go of me only when I was standing right in front of that strange girl. «This is Abigail Ashe.» my mother announced proudly. The girl's eyes brightened a bit and a little fleck of colour came back in each of her haggard cheeks. Abigail Ashe. It only took me a moment to recall the name.

She and her father would visit us back in London when we were both very young. We would sit in the big hall and play together for hours by the fireplace, while our parents would discuss whatever it was grownups discussed behind closed doors -we didn't really much care about it back then. A faint smile quivered on my lip as memories were slowly coming back to me. «It is nice to see you again, Ophelia.» the girl greeted me a warm smile and I happily returned the kind gesture «It is nice to see you too.» I saw the light in her big brown eyes brightening up her whole face; she probably didn't expect me to remember her.

We sat next to each other at the table and talked for couple of minutes. Her good manners and the way she spoke gave me a strange feeling, as if I was back in London again. «Will you excuse me for a second» I told her as I saw my mother approaching. I got up and gently grabbed her by the arm to get us a few steps away from Abigail. «How did she even end up here?» I asked her lowering my voice.

«Pirates» she replied in a serious tone. One word was enough to make me understand what had happened to the poor girl. «We are to return her to her father, he owns the northern colonies. You remember Lord Peter Ashe I suppose.» She quickly turned her look towards Abigail and I wrinkled my brows in confusion.

«Why? » I asked. She remained silent for a second trying to choose the right words to explain. Eventually she turned her attention back to me.

«Because her father, is a man we need as an ally. A man who can help us here.» Although she was right, I still didn't understand why we were supposed to be the ones to return her to him. It sounded far too dangerous. Besides, they haven't met with him for quite some time. He probably wouldn't even remembered any of us at all.

«You mean a man, that Flint needs as an ally.» I corrected her. She gently touched my elbow to bring me closer.

«If he's Flint's ally, then he's ours too.» she said in a low tone. Her father wasn't someone you'd like to have as an enemy. That much is true. And returning his only daughter to him would certainly gain his favor, however-

«We need a man of his stature to support Nassau» she continued. I chuckled hearing her say that.

«Since when do you care about Nassau?» I raised my chin to look up at her. Her face grew serious and started pressing my elbow even harder.

«I care about us. I care about our lives here. I care about what is going to happen to us shall England decides to take it all back» her voice almost cracked at the end. A sudden expression of worry took over her and kept holding onto my elbow. I shook my head in understanding, mostly to calm her down. «Alright. When are we departing?»

«We are leaving tomorrow. The sooner we get this done the better. » Flint's voice came from the back of the room. He has probably been there from the begging of our conversation.

«Well, I better start packing then.» I gave him a glance and headed to the main door.

«You're not coming.» Flint's words made me stop.

«Excuse me?» I turned around to face him.

«You're not coming with us.» he said again and I took a step in his direction.

«Whatever reason you might have, I assure you-»

«No» He cut me off before I could protest further. «This isn't up for discussion. You're not coming.» he repeated with an austere tone. I turned to look at my mother but I already knew she would never want me to be a part of something like this, so I kept quiet and exited the tavern.

From far I could see the Man o' War; Flint's new possession after the Urca hunt. Back at the beach, his men were carrying all kinds of supplies for the long voyage. They would load them onto the rowboats and from there, back to the ship. Apart from raw food, they would also bring couple dairy goats and small pigs onboard.

There was a specific moment in this routine where the boats would be left unwatched by the men, and by the time they got back again, I had about three minutes to my advantage. Nobody would notice me with my plain clothes and my big tricorn hat covering most of my facial features; it was pretty hard for anyone at all to notice that I'm a girl.

The last rowboat made its appearance on the beach when the men dragged it out of the water, on the white sand and quickly left to go fetch the supplies. I only had one chance to do this so I had to do it right and swiftly. After they had brought most of the cargo back, I got into the boat and hid myself behind the few big wooden boxes while pulling up the long, white cloth that they had for protecting the fresh food from the sunlight. I got as comfortable as I possibly could and waited for them to return. I heard them after a while, throwing more stuff into the boat. «Did you check the back?» said one of them. My heart started beating nervously, at the thought of them deciding to unravel the cargo and find out where I was hiding. «Yeah. It's all here» the other man replied. I could finally feel the boat moving and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. As they were trying to get it back in the water by jumping in, made the vessel a little heavier with the weight of their bodies. «Why the fuck is this one so heavy?» I heard again one's familiar voice, but he got no answer from his fellow crewmate and by dropping one oar into the water, accidently splashed me in the face.

The heat made it harder for me to breathe under the hard, dense fabric, so I got my head out, just enough to be able to see them through the little slot that the piles of boxes had created. The two men were rowing in unison, lowering then lifting the long paddles, barely giving the seawater time to drip below before repeating the process. None of them realized I was there the entire time and when we finally reached the ship it was time for me to go.

Since both of them were busy unloading supplies up to the ship, I found the opportunity to quietly climb outside the vessel and slowly dropped myself into the water. The sea water was pleasingly cold in contrast with the warm air. I inhaled through the mouth until I felt I was about to burst, clamped my mouth shut and dived for the other side of the ship. I didn't have a hard time finding the ladder that was hanging right next to a gun port. I quickly grabbed it with both of my hands to stabilize it and then climbed all the way up, till I entered the small opening in the side of the hull. A smell of gunpowder and rotten fish surrounded me as soon as I passed the center of the room. My wet clothes and boots made me leave a trail of wet footprints behind me as I walked. I looked around trying to find anything that I could hide myself in. My eyes landed on a wooden door to my right.

The unpleasant smell came back the moment I opened it. Inside it was full of vegetables, eggs, bags of wheat and oats, few casks of salted fish, beans in barrels and many dusty bottles of rum, boxed lying on the floor.

Well, it might be small and tight in there but I could at least spend my time properly.

I entered the cellar and stood between the boxes filled with the bottles of rum. I heard the anchor being lifted from the seabed of the sea as I sat back with my back against the wall and pulled out a zephyr green bottle from the box and hold it in my hands. «'Guess you're going to be my best friend for today» I whispered to it before removing the top with my teeth.