Bloody Waters

Chapter 6 : Sweet Dreams

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"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We pillage and plunder we rifle and loot, drink up me 'earties yo ho! We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot, drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me..." The girl sang, skipping barefoot around the deck, her skinny, faded-blue dress flowing around her knees. Elizabeth watched and smiled at the girl- her dark brown braids softly bouncing against her back, her soft voice, sweet giggles and the rhythm of her feet hitting the wooden deck. With her long, skinny yet muscular legs and tan skin- she even looked like she belonged on a ship now.

Elizabeth looked down at her boots, starting to daydream about home, about how proud she would be to show her father this healthy being she had nursed back to perfect health.

"Mum!" A voice in the back of her mind echoed, but she did not look up, for she was lost in her thoughts as she leaned against her cabin door. And anyway, out of her many titles on the ship, "mum" was not one of them.

"Mum! Look 'ere!" The voice came again, this time to her full awareness. Elizabeth did look up, to find the girl trotting over to her, then grabbing her hand. She then lead Elizabeth to the edge of the ship, excitedly bouncing over to the side.

"Look Mum, look at 'em!" The voice came from the girl. She was calling Elizabeth her mother.

Overwhelmed with this acceptance, Elizabeth gave her burden a one-armed hug from her side, and tears welled in her eyes. For once they were not tears of sorrow. Yet she brushed them away lightly and lifted her eyes to where the girl was pointing. Out into the crashing waves, near the ship- dozens of grey creatures gracefully diving under the blue sparkling surface, then lunging back out of it, keeping in perfect speed with the ship.

"Dolphins." Elizabeth smiled, and watched the girl's sharp eyes, examining the creatures, clearly enjoying their playfulness.

Soon after, the two turned away from the edge, and faced the middle of the deck. No one was out working, and Elizabeth thought this strange. She pondered this for a minute until she heard a break out of crying and whipped around to face the girl. She had started without warning or apparent reason, she had starting sobbing uncontrollably into her hands, her body shaking with each sob.

Elizabeth bent down and laid her hands on the crying girl's shoulders, trying to lift her face to ask what the matter was. Then, between gasps of air, the girl started to speak, and looked up into Elizabeth's eyes with that same sad, helpless, pleading gaze she had right before the hanging.

"You can't help me..." She whispered. Elizabeth, startled by this, became eye-level with the girl and trying to keep calm, shakily spoke, "Why not?.."

"Mum, you don't understand..." The girl whispered, and Elizabeth was about to reply, but the eyes of the young girl rolled back in her head suddenly, and fell backwards over the side of the ship, and plunged into the crashing waves below, as Elizabeth saw, now in utter shock.

Her words that she never said hung loosely in her mouth, which was half open in disbelief. Nothing came out until at last she screamed. And screamed. But no one came to comfort her, or soothe her, and she fell to her knees and wept and screamed still. No one came to play the part as the mother, to hold her or sing soft songs in her ear. There was no one.

~

And with a start, Elizabeth woke. She was sitting next to the bed, her head resting on its sheets. She must have wandered back into her cabin, although she didn't remember it, and fallen asleep and had dreamed. She wearily stood and looked over at the form on the bed, softy breathing, at peace. A dream. That's all. A bitter-sweet dream.

Elizabeth let out a contented sigh and walked to the door. Quietly opening it once again, she peered outside. Seagulls flew by and screeched, the salty fresh air stung her lungs in a glorious way, and the gorgeous pink and yellow sky showed the entrance to a morning sun. The men outside had just changed shifts, and stiffly pulled on ropes and hauled equipment across the deck, yawning and weary eyed; very quiet at their work, barely saying a word.

Elizabeth yawned and softly closed the door, turning back to tend to the girl. The crew was done restocking on supplies and had shoved off while Elizabeth had slept, through the night. There was no turning back. This was her child now.

And as she rang out a freshly damp cloth for the girl, she wondered.

"What had I gotten myself into?"