Pirate's Ransom

Chapter 17

***I almost took the day off....until I read those comments! Haha Now I am itching to write more! 

In the week that had passed since Isabella had been dubbed an honorary pirate, they had taken her under their wing and each of them had taught her something. There were roughly fifteen men on the ship and she'd learned about all of their positions. Everything from being a boatswain who kept the ship in tip top shape, to the riggers. She'd learned how the ropes manuvered through the rigging from Barlow, a surly man with dark curly hair, long beard, gruff voice, and a big smile. She'd learned from the Cooper, ironically named the same, how to take apart the wooden barrels for storage and how to quickly put them back together in the event they started to take on water. It was certainly easier to find them if they were floating than if they sunk.

She and Charlie had taken lessons in sword fighting but she wasn't very good with a sword. Her arms, while not as weak as most Ladies, they were still much weaker than Charlie's. She was clumsy with it in her hand and often couldn't swing it properly because of her lack of strength. Instead, she'd taken to the two daggers given to her. They were lightweight and made it easy to manuver. Big Ben, the tall older man teaching them had complimented her on her speed with the daggers which was something since he'd constantly berated her when she'd failed so miserably at using a sword. 

Big Ben had taught her a few times without Charlie, since he had no real desire to use daggers for anything other than backup if he were to drop his sword. Those nights Big Ben had shown her movements to practice. He'd told her that fluid movements would often do more damage to the oppnonent who would be swiping at her clumsily with a sword. While the sword had more reach, it took more brains to beat someone with only daggers. But, she had the option to throw the dagger if absolutely necessary or, if she was sure to hit her target. 

After the night of the storm, they'd taken down a few sails torn from the storm in an effort to keep from ruining them further. A few replacements were put up but with one of the main masts down, and thrown off the ship, they were headed to a semi-pirate friendly port for a repair. They would probably dock there within the next ten hours. It was that night that Isabella had planned to ask Captain Arus if he would allow her to send a letter to her father, and ask if she would be allowed to stay aboard the ship indefinatly if she were to get her father to relinquish the key. 

She'd kept her distance from the Captain, avoiding him as much as possible now that she was able to speak freely to the crew. At night she would retire to her bedding on the floor before he did so that she was already asleep. In the morning, she would often get up before him and help the cook in the makeshift kitchen before breakfast, often eating before the Captain.

She stole glances at him throughout the day and caught his gaze more than once. Isabella just didn't want him thinking that when she asked to stay, it was because of him. Sure, he was part of the reason, but their mutual attraction was unsettling to say the least. Sometimes she felt him watching her on the deck, and more than a few times she'd seen him eyeing her during her weaponry lessons. When she'd felt his gaze, her heart had sped up, her breathing grew shallow, and she'd managed to get so sloppy in her swipes that Big Ben had easily disarmed her. Each time ending with frustrated words from Big Ben. 

The sun, growing lower in the sky, meant that the men had decided to take a quick meal down below. Isabella decided to stay and watch the sunset while practicing the movements Big Ben had taught her. He told her she was to jerky when she did it and she supposed she probably was. She had a lot to learn about being a pirate if she was going to be one of them. 

She faced the bow, they were currently headed west, based on the angle of the sun in the sky. Though that would probably change shortly as they neared their destination. Slowly she tracked the movements she was to make with the daggers, each one in her hand, gripping tightly. She imagined an outline in the air and followed suit. What she really wanted to do was imagine Jonathan's head and toss a dagger at it.