A Mermaid's Tale

Chapter 6

Arthur watched as four of his crew carried a strange apparatus down a wide plank and onto the dock. A mild and pleasant wind tugged at the large feather on the Captain's new hat. He had bought it as soon as they landed in Gaal, even though he was not exactly fond of that particular article of clothing. It was just necessary to look the part.

"Easy does it, boys. We wouldn't want the cargo to get damaged."

The four men looked at each other uncomfortably. They were well aware of what was in the apparatus, but they didn't think of it as cargo. It was known by the entire crew that the mermaid had saved Christov's life, and it seemed wrong to still think of her as cargo. None of the men dared to speak against their captain though.

The Queen Lady creaked next to the dock as the apparatus was lowered onto the deck so the men could rest. The thing was a large rectangular crate that was held up by two poles. It reminded Arthur of a casket, but he tried not to think about it like that. He just wanted to make the sale and leave. There was no room for regret in this transaction.

He had already made contact with his potential buyer, who was more than willing to accept any price Captain Kirkland asked if he was telling the truth. Arthur didn't feel an ounce of remorse when he asked for one thousand gold pieces since it was his job as a pirate to extort money from people, although he thought it was a fair price after everything he had gone through to get the mermaid here in one piece. It still made his large eyebrows twitch in irritation when he thought about what went down on the Bloody Rose. Francis had that coming for a long time.

"Let's keep moving. I want to collect our gold and leave as soon as possible," the Captain said.

The four men groaned as the lifted the heavy crate between the poles. It wouldn't weigh so much if it weren't half full of sea water, which sloshed around inside with every step the pirates took. The docks echoed with the sound of heavy footsteps as the group moved toward shore. Unlike most pirates, being on land didn't faze Arthur, but he felt plenty uneasy now. Something seemed off, and he just wanted to leave with his hard earned gold as quickly as he could.

A quieter, more frantic thumping sound came from the crate. Captain Kirkland was wondering when she'd start fighting, but he paid it no mind. It was too late. He was already committed. Not to mention it had taken him hours after the rescue to convince himself he didn't care about the mermaid at all. She was just another business venture, nothing more.

The thumping became increasingly panicked as they got closer to shore. It was starting to drive Arthur insane, and he turned around to face the crate as soon as he stepped off the dock and onto a hard packed dirt road. The four men were a little behind due to their heavy load, and the Captain watched with crossed arms as they joined him on the dry land.

"Can't you make her stop that-"

He never got to finish. Some kind of energy shot out from the crate and knocked everyone to the ground. The crate crashed on the road and broke in several places. Arthur was overcome by the strange scent of something he couldn't quite put his finger on as water leaked from the broken apparatus. It reminded him of gentle sea breezes mingled with the faint smell of ozone, which made him think of the thunderstorms that rage over the ocean in the summer months. He couldn't tell where the smell was coming from, but it faded much too quickly for his liking.

"Wot the bloody-"

"Cap'n, what was that?"

"Me poor 'ead..."

The Captain's men were beginning to shake off their shock. They slowly got to their feet, and one of them helped Arthur up too. Only a trickle of water was leaking out of the broken crate now and it pooled in a shimmering puddle. Nothing else moved, and no one seemed to be eager to get closer.

"What do we do, Cap'n?"

"We check the cargo," Arthur answered. He made sure to keep his tone even and authoritative despite the emotions churning inside of him.

The Captain took a step forward, and then another. A growing sense of dread made his feet feel like they were encased in lead, but he forced himself forward. The top of the crate had come loose, so he tried pry it away. It didn't want to come loose at first, but after a few more tugs it broke away from the rest of the apparatus.

Arthur's heart stopped.

What he saw was so horrible that it felt like his heart literally paused mid beat. The Captain clutched the front of his jacket as panic welled up inside of him. It really did feel like his heart stopped, and what he saw in the crate didn't help either.

A very shallow amount of water was still in the crate with the mermaid sitting inside. She looked worse than Arthur felt. Her eyes were impossibly wide and emotionless, like she couldn't believe what she saw. The Captain could hardly believe it himself. He didn't know what the energy or smell was, but one thing was for sure. Arthur wasn't going to get paid anytime soon.

No one would believe the girl sitting in the crate was a mermaid.

~000~

I huddled in a corner hugging my knees to my chest. That was something I had never done before in my life. Another sob shook my shoulders as tears slid down my face. I knew since the moment I was caught that my life as it used to be was over, but I didn't think I'd have everything taken from me.

Something awful was going to happen, and I felt it. I pounded on the sides of the crate, but no one listened. The instant I crossed onto land something had happened. It was so fast that I couldn't even think about what was going on. I just felt. There was power, so much power that I surprised myself. I've never handled that much before. Then there was a crunch after I fell, and light streamed in through the cracks that appeared in the crate. That's when I saw.

I shook the thoughts from my head. The more I lingered on it, the worse I felt. I absentmindedly scratched my right leg as I tried to think about something else. My hand froze. That's right, I had legs now. Sorrow and anxiety made my chest tighten. My beautiful fin was gone, and all that was left were these gangly human limbs, which were covered in some kind of material the pirates called trousers.

Arthur had covered me with his coat and carried me back onto the ship. He took me into a room full of elegant furniture with maps on the walls and clothes strewn everywhere. I was still in shock when he carefully set me on a soft bed. He dug around in the mess of clothing and handed me some items without looking. It didn't occur to me until later why he was blushing like crazy, but I was too upset to care. I couldn't bring myself to feel awkward about my nakedness when I had lost something so precious to me.

I found myself scratching my leg again and forced myself to stop. Maybe if I convinced myself it was a nightmare, I would wake up, and everything would be fine. Of course that wasn't the case, so I sat in a ragged heap and continued to sob.

~000~

Captain Kirkland paced on the deck like a madman with the crew watching anxiously. Even the four men that went with him had no idea what had happened. Arthur had rushed off with the mermaid and had yet to say a word about it to anyone. He didn't even notice the others moving around him to keep the ship on course. All he could think about was the mermaid that wasn't.

He didn't understand what had happened to her, but he knew that the weird energy and the disappearance of her fin were connected. Unfortunately, he didn't know how. Luckily, he knew someone who might. He had given the order to sail north as soon as he stepped onto the deck of the Queen Lady, and then stepped into his private quarters.

The mermaid hadn't said a word the entire time. She just stared with blank eyes as he set her on his bed and shoved a shirt and pants into her hands. Arthur had tried to look as little as possible. He may have been a pirate, but that didn't mean he wasn't a gentleman. The Captain did his best to not ogle the poor girl. He couldn't stop the blush that crept onto his face, however.

Arthur left as soon as he could and closed the door. As an extra precaution, he locked the door from the outside with an old skeleton key, which he slipped back into his breast pocket when he was done. He had been pacing on deck ever since. The whole situation was so strange that he couldn't even bring himself to be upset about not getting paid, but he was determined to get his gold one way or the other. He was sure of that.

The jagged coast of the Northern Continent glided past as Arthur's ship sailed smoothly on the Sea of Norden. A small cove came into view with a sandy beach and thick forests behind that. Captain Kirkland paused his pacing to stare into the depths of the trees as the Queen Lady turned to enter the secluded cove. If anyone could help the mermaid, it was Ojigwa.