Clark of the Future Sea

11. Beggers can't be Choosers

Kirkland and Silas stood side by side on the deck of their ship, watching the small rowboat move towards them. Silas sighed. He'd been annoyed with Kirkland ever since he had made that deal. Kirkland was sure he'd be hearing his fair share of complaints about this later.

He felt a thump against the ship as the rowboat collided with the port side. Titiana said she would get them a crew and it was about time to see how she did. The rope ladder began to shake as the first of them began to climb up.

Kirkland scowled as he caught a glimpse of the first man. He was older, a little too old in Kirkland's opinion. When the second potential crew member came up the ladder, Kirkland was sure that Titiana had no idea what she was doing. He turned his head in Silas's direction. By the look on his face, Kirkland could tell that he wasn't impressed. If he was being honest, Kirkland wasn't impressed either.

Titiana was the last to come up the ladder, she smiled as she approached them. "Captain, may I present your crew."

Titiana's boots thumped loudly against the deck as she approached the man who came up the ladder first. Now that he was standing in front of Kirkland, he couldn't help but notice the man's wooden stump. Kirkland's eyes shifted back to Titiana's.

"This is Bram Dijkman." She introduced the man. "He was a member of the Dutch Navy. Got his leg blow off during a raid, the blast threw him overboard. When his crew found him they thought he was dead. Left him adrift at sea. Luckily, he was scooped up by a couple of the guys here in the village and brought back. He's a fisherman now, a heck of a good one too.

Kirkland gave Titiana an unamused look. He was sure now that she had no idea what she doing.

She smirked. "Did I mention he's got a good shot?"

Kirkland was actually a little stunned. He turned to look at the man. Bram tipped his hat in Kirkland's direction. Kirkland could barely see the man's eyes under the brim of his hat, but at least the man had an intimidating stare.

The sound of Titiana's boots caught Kirkland's attention again. She came to a stop in front of the next man. Kirkland frowned. "A priest?" He growled at Titiana. "Do I look like I am in need of a priest?"

Titiana snickered. Kirkland couldn't see what was so funny. His eyes shifted towards the priest and the priest smirked back. Kirkland suddenly had a feeling there was more to this. The look in the priest's eye was unlike any other holy man. It wasn't love or compassion in his eyes. It was confidence and playfulness.

"This is the former priest of Saint Amand church in Uxem. Audebert Paquet." Titiana regained Kirkland's attention. "He might look like a shepherd of the lord, but I can attest to you that this man is no preacher. He's an expert with explosives and he's also an except arsonist. He murdered his whole congregation like that. Set the church on fire and watched it burn."

Kirkland stared at the priest. He couldn't say he had expected that, but he also couldn't say he wasn't fascinated. Kirkland was astonished, but he thought this priest might actually come in handy.

His murdered congregation though, that was worrisome. "Why did you burn down your church?" The upside-down cross hanging around his neck then caught Kirkland's eye.

"I killed them because they were nothing but selfish, cruel people. Who abused their children and livestock. I prayed to the Lord many times for an answer and when he did not answer me, I decided to take matters into my own hands."

Well, that wasn't as horrible as Kirkland might have imagined. There was one other hang-up that was still bugging him. "Why do you still dress as a priest?"