Symphony (Ladies of the Vinyard Short Story)

The Song of Greed: Scene Six

The pier stood in its semi-solid existence holding Melody up along with and Keziah's presence. She had begged her family to allow her to do this they had only agreed if Kez joined her. Truthfully, she had been glad that he was coming with her in support. The note had said nothing of multiple people delivering the money, not that they had any intentions of delivering it. She and Kez had discussed their plan a thousand times before this moment. She turned to him.

"You ready?" She asked with slower than normal movements.

He nodded, his jaw tense. "Let's go,"

It was Melody's turn to nod before they walked to the boat, the boat that was her father's. It's wood and sails bringing comfort to Melody's soul. A man greeted them by the opening of the ship. His face weathered probably from a life at sea, his left eye was gone covered by an eye patch. Melody didn't want to think how he lost his eye. He stepped forward gripped her by the arms and tugged them behind her back. She didn't know what happened to Kez. The one-eyed man shoved her forward toward a grate in the floor that lead to the below section of the ship. It held the cabins for the sailors and the captain. Two men scurried forward opening the grate, while one eyed pirate shoved her down making her trip and fall as she reached the bottom. Hard, merciless wood caught her causing her body to ache, but before she could think the one-eyed man had ripped her from the floor. He then began to shove her forward Melody stumbled as she stepped. The eye patch vagabond kept guiding her until they reached the captain's cabin, her father's cabin. The man jabbed her into the cabin where she came face to face with her father, who was strapped to a wooden pole, his face beaten. His eyes widened but he didn't move his head. The sight hurt Melody's heart as she swallowed trying to keep the emotions safely tucked in her chest. She saw men like ghosts hovering in the dark corners of the cabin ready to attack. She turned her head and gazed at a man with a bright red beard and hard hazel eyes staring at her. Saffron. His thin lips curving into sly smile. Melody withheld a shiver; the man's appearance wasn't eerie but the look in his eyes slightly scared her. Melody watched as the man, like a snake, slithered from his chair and slinked over to her father. He began caressing his face with an evil gleam. Her father turned his face away.

Melody could see the man's mouth moving the whole time, but she had never been talented with oral movements. The man's face seemed to darken as he turned towards her. Melody became aware it probably looked as though she were ignoring his words. Suddenly, he stomped up to her and slapped her. The sting in her cheeks reminded her why she was here. Melody straightened after the slap instead of withering like the man must have expected. Slowly, he stepped back and assessed her. Finally, with a disapproving eye he walked over to her father seemingly speaking, then she felt it a kick in the back of her legs. Kez must be right behind her. She smirked at the knowledge, good... no, perfection. She opened her mouth repeating what she wanted to accomplish in her head and as though through a funnel of water she heard, in husky tones, herself speak.

"T-ttthhe mmmoney iiss inn theee satchel," Her words were slurred, but her heart exploded in excitement at her ability to speak orally. The man eyes sparked but darkened at her slurred speech. Suddenly, her arms were free and she was able to reach for the brown lather bag at her side. She reached inside and for dramatic effect she looked to her father. She made sure her facial expression was depressed. Melody pulled out the envelope that held the "money."

Saffron reached out greedily for the "money." Suddenly, his eyes became distracted at something behind Melody. She smiled because she knew what he must be seeing. She looked over her shoulder to see one-eyed-pirate on the ships floor unconscious. The red bearded man suddenly jumped like a wild monster toward Kez. Melody's heart jumped into her throat in fear for Kez. She must continue! They hadn't come this far for nothing, with a surge of adrenaline she rushed toward her constricted father. She headed for the back of the pole before throwing the satchel off. The satchel landed on the floor by the pole. Melody dropped to her knees besides the pole where father was and reached inside the satchel. Quickly, she grabbed out a dagger from her bothers collection and started hacking away at the layers of rope around her father's wrist. After a painful minute of hacking she was able to get through the first layer of rope. However, before she was able to celebrate a man's strong, muscular arms wrapped her middle. He held on tight. Melody didn't allow herself to make any noise. She kicked her legs for minute before creating a rather hasty and possibly risky plan. She lowered her head before throwing it up and whacking the man in the jaw. The back of her head throbbed but it was worth it when the man let go. She stumbled forward. Melody quickly recovered. She spun around and kicked the man in groin to make sure he didn't recover any time soon. The man fell to the ground in pain. After that, she picked up the dagger from the floor and continued hacking through the second layer of rope. Finally, she got to the finish line and the ropes fell from her father's raw wrists.

Her father rolled his shoulders for second before motioning her forward with hot intensity, but Melody couldn't just leave without Kez. She halted and pointed to Kez, her father's scowl deepened before he reached for a dagger that looked identical to the one, she had just used, and his body became extremely tense. Melody didn't have time to stop him before he charged forward ramming right into Saffron's. The men fell to the floor in a tumble. The red bearded villain ended up on the ships hard floored bottom with a knife to his throat. Melody just stood frozen and not sure how to respond. Kez came to the rescue and lifted her to his shoulders. In fear, she allowed him to carry her out of the room. Melody felt like a coward leaving her father, but she knew he could take care of himself. Kez ran quickly for having a full-grown woman on his shoulder. Melody would admit to herself that she wasn't a big girl. They were, by some unforeseen miracle, able to get off the boat without hardship. Apparently, Saffron wasn't prepared. Keziah set her down on the edge of the pier. He turned to run back into the fray. Melody grabbed his arm he turned back. She wrapped her arms around his chest giving him a quick hug. He let her go and signed one word before running off.

"Hide," she did just that.