A Pirate in Time (Completed)

30

Ikem was the first out of the water. He pulled himself up by the bottom rungs of the ladder and began to climb with an unfettered eagerness to get away from the island. Water streamed off of his body and fell back into the sea beneath him with small, trickling splashes. Once he was midway up the side of the ship, I looked to Jay, who was treading water beside me.

"Ladies first," he nodded towards the ladder.

I rolled my eyes but swam forward regardless. Like Ikem, I was eager to leave. I let my tail become legs again. Despite its speed and agility beneath the surface, the thing was quite heavy above it. My scrawny noodle arms had enough trouble hoisting my normal body weight.

I made my way up the ladder slowly but steadily. My muscles burned with the effort but I pushed on, telling myself there were only a few rungs left to go. And as it turned out, that was true. 

I pulled myself over onto the deck of the ship and gulped in air. My lungs had not yet fully recovered from the long swim in addition to the climb. I sat with my back against the banister, and a few minutes later, Jay appeared. He didn't look nearly as winded as I did.

He stood beside me as he eyed the men approaching us warily. It hadn't even occurred to me that this ship might be a hostile one. Ikem had seemed nice enough, but maybe he was just doing that so I would help him escape.

"Well, well, well," a taunting voice boomed through the crowd of accumulating sea men. "If it isn't Captain Jeremiah Jackson Jr."

"Oh hell," Jay muttered under his breath.

"Though you haven't really been much of a captain lately if I've been hearing right. Can't be a captain without a ship and a crew."

Wait. That voice. I know that voice.

"It's a temporary setback," Jay's gaze burned a hole through the crowd as he searched for who I could only assume was their captain. "One that I intend to remedy once I find myself at an adequate port."

"Is that so?" the man stepped forward.

I let my damp hair fall in front of my face as I stared into the wooden planks beneath me. I didn't want to look at the man. I was afraid that my guess at his identity could be wrong, but I was even more terrified that it could be right.

"And who is it you've brought with you?" he asked, his attention now drawn to me. "Did they let you keep your kitchen wench when they kicked you off your ship?"

What was it with pirates and kitchen wenches? Maybe they just liked women who were multi-functional or something. 

I heard footsteps approaching me. My muscles tensed up and I clenched my eyes shut, not wanting to lift my head to face him.

"Leave her be," I heard Jay's voice say weakly. He really was in no position to be making demands here. It was two against a crew, and I barely knew how to fight.

The man's fingers gripped my chin and my face was pulled up so he could see me properly. Once the hair fell out of my face, tears started to well up in my eyes at what I saw. Standing above me, with a bewildered and conflicted expression, was the scraggly and dirt covered face of my dead uncle.

"Elizabeth?" he whispered in a voice so small I could barely hear it. I nodded, unable to form words as a small crease made its way onto my forehead from holding back tears. His eyebrows drew together as he studied me.

Suddenly he straightened his spine and turned to address his crew. "None of you are to lay a finger on my niece. Punishment will be severe enough to clean flesh from bone. Is that understood?"

"Yes Cap'n," they replied in unison.

"As for Mr. Jackson," he turned to look at Jay, daring him to object to his next statement, "let him earn his keep on this vessel until such times as he has found his port. Now, back to work, the lot of you."

I was no fool. After spending a few months in the company of pirates, I realized what my uncle just did. He had stripped Jay from his captain privileges and made him no more than a cabin boy in the crews eyes. He'd be swabbing decks and cleaning the galley from now on. But, at least they weren't going to kill him. 

I looked to Jay, who seemed unconcerned by this statement. Instead, he was staring at me like I was a brand new enigma. I got to my feet awkwardly and brushed myself off. His gaze never left me.

"I thought I recognized your name on the day we met," he muttered next to me, "but it never occurred to me that you were kin of Paulie Procter."

I didn't respond as my uncle turned around. Having composed myself slightly, I swallowed the growing lump in my throat and spoke, "I thought you were dead."

Uncle Paul's face softened, "I was. I was thrown overboard in that storm. Saw my vessel crash through the reef before I was pulled under. Breathed in enough water to make me go unconscious. When I resurfaced, a ship picked me up and I became a pirate."

"Shockingly similar stories you both have," Jay inputted with his arms crossed over his chest. Uncle Paul shot him a glare but looked back to me worriedly. 

"Are you alright Ellie?" he asked using the nickname he'd given me when I was younger. "What happened to you? How do you know Jeremiah?"

I shrugged, trying to look nonchalant about it, "His ship was the one that picked me up. One minute I was at a graduation party on Danny's sailboat, then I was in the water. When I woke up, I was aboard the Marauder's Phoenix."

"That boy was always trouble. Even when he was younger," Uncle Paul muttered, referring to Danny. He turned to Jay then, speaking in a more authoritative tone, "You should be getting to work Mr. Jackson. If you go down to the galley, I'm sure Cookie can find something for you to do. As for you Elizabeth, you and I are going to do some catching up away from prying ears."

I nodded in agreement as Jay walked away in search of the galley. Without another word, I followed my uncle through the cramped spaces below deck. I still couldn't believe that he was alive.