CHAPTER 5
We had not long arrived back in the city of Edinburgh. It had been a long and tiresome journey, and as I climbed off of Valentine, I could barely stand as a crippling pain seared up my legs. It felt like a train had just crashed into my groin.
"Horse riding not quite your thing then?" Leonardo jibed.
"Not really," I managed to force out, my teeth clenched in pain.
It was early hours of the morning, the darkness not long surrendered to the light as an orange glow licked the landscape, shadows appearing behind buildings from where the sun had not yet touched.
I stood there and just gazed for a few moments. If I were to leave with Leonardo and go to his homeland, I would probably never see this country again, never get to fully experience it beyond the walls of a city. It was a very sentimental few seconds until I came to my senses and remembered how badly this country had treated me and so many others.
I would be glad to see the back of it!
A slight smile pulled the corners of my lips and Leonardo noticed.
"Don't worry, you'll love my country. You see this?" he pointed with his finger along the horizon and lowered his voice. "This is nothing compared to Italy. And the food! My mother used to make this thing... sublime... it was a big round bread with tomato and cheese and chorizo and olives! She called it a pizza. I will make you this when we get there, yes?"
My mouth watered at the thought of this... pizza thing. It certainly sounded delicious. I nodded my head vehemently.
"But for now, we must get enough money for the train back to London, and to board a ship. It won't be cheap."
I nodded. "The train arrives in an hour if I remember correctly. Give me one of your pistols."
He hesitated. "Why?"
"We need money."
"Oh, you know of a porn shop?"
"Yes," I said. He handed me the pistol.
"We should get a good price for it, it's a great pistol."
There was a bank on the street just ahead of us. I headed towards it with Leonardo at my side, still nattering on about some drivel about his pistol or Italy probably. He seemed to be in a very good mood which was nice. More chirpy than usual.
I opened the door of the bank, the pistol hidden for the time being underneath my arm.
"Hello," I said to the man behind the counter.
He looked up from counting money and smiled.
"Hello, how may I help you both today?" he asked politely.
I smiled back. "I would like to make a cash withdrawal."
"How much of?"
I pulled out the pistol from underneath my arm and cocked it. "As much as we can carry."
"That was sexy," Leonardo commented, breathless from running as we stopped behind an alleyway. "I wanted to throw you down on that counter and have my way with you right in the middle of that bank." He leaned his head back against the stone wall, eyes closed as he bit his lip. "I think we're going to need a private carriage when we get on that train."
********
We paid for a ticket each at the station and prayed that no one would recognise us yet. We boarded the train but unfortunately, much to Leonardo's disappointment, there were no private carriages.
He had, however whispered promises in my ear about what was going to happen when we got on the ship. He'd informed me that there are lots of secluded places on big ships, and as we sat down in our seats opposite each other on the train, I felt myself flush as I recalled just what he'd promised.
He smirked knowingly at me and I narrowed my eyes at him, fully aware that I was blushing now even more.
We sat in silence on the train for a while, just staring out of the window.
What were we? I mean, were we together? I knew the answer to that was no. Were we friends? Kind of. What friends were there that regularly, for lack of a better word, fuck each other though?
Ones with benefits.
I was basically just a portable whore for him, one that he didn't even have to pay because I was so wrapped around his finger. All he needed to do was flash those pearly whites, and I'd be a puddle at his feet. There was no hope for me.
It wasn't like he was the type of man to settle down either, even if we were 'together.'
I glanced across at him to find him smirking at something behind me.
I turned in my seat to see a pretty, dark haired girl. She was the opposite of me with very dark brown hair, brown eyes and a thin, petite figure, as opposed to my blonde hair, blue eyes and slightly more plump and robust figure. She was looking up at him through her long lashes, pure seduction in her eyes.
"Excuse me for a moment."
I turned back around to see Leo's retreating figure head in the direction of the girl he'd been eyeing. I watched, green with envy as he waltzed over to her like a prig, smoothing his hair with his hand on the way.
He sat opposite her and they began talking. The rattling from the train was too loud for me to eavesdrop what they were saying, and Leonardo's Italian accent was too hard to lip read, much to my annoyance.
The girl bit her lip at something he'd said and smiled, still looking at him like she could swallow him whole.
She probably will be in a minute.
That thought did not rest well. I wanted to walk over there and knock her teeth out. Slut.
After a moment, they both got up and began walking towards the exit of the carriage, leading into what I assumed to be a quieter one.
Did he even remember my existence? Did it matter to him?
Fine then. If that's how he wanted it to be then I would just do the same.
I looked around the carriage for someone relatively good looking and pouted when I realised that no one even came close to Leonardo's devilish good looks.
My eyes struck one guy who looked average-ish. I stared at him for a long, awkward while, waiting for him to notice my presence.
When he finally did, I attempted the same seductive look that the girl had done on Leonardo that apparently gave him an insta-boner. I even licked my lip for added effect.
The guy made a weird face and looked back down at his newspaper. Damn. Maybe I needed to practice... or persist like a bird of paradise trying to woo a mate with a series of strange dances.
I continued with the awkward staring and he looked back at me and stuck his middle finger up.
Rude.
I decided to cut my losses and go back to moping over the fact that Leonardo was currently probably bending someone other than me over a table and fucking her ovaries into her intestines with his Jurassic Pork Suasage.
I glanced at my reflection in the window and almost jumped. My blonde hair was greasy and messy from going days without washing or brushing it and my dress was dirty and worn.
No wonder Leonardo had gone elsewhere. I looked disgusting.
I sighed.
Not long later, the girl came back through the door, her hair hanging out of its neat updo and dress not done up properly, and Leonardo followed her, shirt undone more than usual too.
She looked very angry, and waves of frustration rolled off her with every step she took, whereas, Leonardo looked confused and discombobulated.
I wanted, more than anything at that moment to ask just what had happened, but knew I couldn't. Instead, I just took satisfaction in that the slut had been disappointed... somehow.
We didn't say a word to each other for the whole journey back to London.
We arrived at the final stop and got off of the train at London. I still didn't feel like talking to Leo, but it had to be done eventually. It was stupid anyway to get jealous over someone like him. I knew what I was letting myself in for the moment I became attached to him.
"Where's this ship we're supposed to be boarding then?" I asked, the words coming out more wearily than I intended.
"We need to find one," he responded. "We'll go to the docks."
"Remember, people may know who you are and try to stop us if they see you."
He nodded, somewhat distracted and carried on walking. It wasn't too far to where we needed to go and after quite a long, stressful and silent walk, we were finally overlooking the estuary and its many boats and ships that lined either side.
The tide was out, and as we looked over the area in front of us, my eyes caught a sight of a big, beautiful ship. Its white sails were billowing out in the breeze, pulling the vessel inland, and on the bow, right at the very front, was a figurehead of a unicorn.
"That one," I said decisively. "We're going on that one."
"We don't even know if that one is going to Italy!"
"I don't care, I'm going on that ship."
He opened his mouth to speak again, but I 'shushed' him, making a zip motion across my mouth, and repeated it when he tried to talk again. I was angry with him. He was lucky I wasn't fisting his throat.
We both watched in silence as the great ship cut gracefully through the water up the estuary and came to a stop as the river became too shallow to accommodate the huge vessel. A couple of men jumped off and skilfully caught onto the rusty ladders on the estuary wall, climbing up to the top with a thick snake of rope which they tied to a big metal rod which stopped the ship from floating away when the tide came back in.
"Let's go and speak to the captain," I said, already walking away.
"You can't just go and demand to see the captain!"
I did the zip motion again over my mouth and subsequently ignored him.
I would bloody well go and speak to the captain because I was the one carrying the money in my cleavage.
I walked towards where the men were climbing up on top of the wall. "You there," I said in my best aristocratic accent.
Leonardo stifled a laugh behind a cough.
"I wish to speak with your captain."
The scruffy, bearded man looked at me up and down carefully before grinning and looking towards his friend at his side. "Oh yeah? Good luck." They both walked off.
I pushed up the sleeve of my dress and grabbed onto the ladder rails.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Leonardo shouted. "Are you crazy?"
"Yes, and I'm going to speak to the captain," I yelled back. I was already half way down the ladder but the ship was quite far away. I would have to jump across.
I turned so that my back was to the ladder and my heels stood on the rungs and leaned back to give myself opportunity to jump. What was the worst that could happen? I would just get a little wet and that's not such a big deal. I needed a good wash anyway.
I flung myself from the ladder and two thoughts came immediately into my head as my hands let go of the railings. One: the ship was further away than I originally thought, and Two: I had hundreds of pounds of paper money tucked away in my cleavage that would be ruined if it got wet.
Luckily, I managed to grab a hold the rope on the ship. Only now I was stuck. I didn't have enough strength to climb up the rope to the top of the ship.
"How's it hanging?" Leonardo laughed from up on the wall.
"Help." I squeaked.
"Ha-ha. No. You shouldn't have done it, should you?"
"Remember that I'm the one carrying all the money, you idiot. If I fall in this water, it's going to be ruined!" I yelled.
He was quiet for a few moments, and then I heard boots clanging down the rungs of the ladder. They stopped. Then there was a loud splat noise as he clung onto the longer rope hanging from the ship and swung face first into the side.
I almost fell as I started laughing so hard.
He leaned over towards me and grabbed hold of my rope, pulling us closer together. My hands were above my head, hanging on to the rope so that I wouldn't fall, so there was nothing I could do to stop him when he dipped his dirty hand into my boobs and pulled out the wad of money.
"Hey!" I screamed.
"It won't matter now if you fall, will it?" he jibed, climbing up the rope with ease like he was a monkey in disguise.
You shitty arse holed, spaghetti eating chimp!
"Help me now, you piece of meatball, before I-I..."
"Before you what? Cut the rope?"
"Help me up!"
"Help you up what?"
"Help me up the fucking rope!" I yelled.
"Magic word?"
I growled in frustration, my arms going deader by the second from being high above my head.
"Help me up... please!" I ground out.
"Of course, M'Lady."
He jerked the rope, almost making me lose my grip and heaved me up the side of the ship with ease. The muscles in his forearms were flexing with each movement and it did things to my insides... not necessarily bad things, but... things.
I finally made it onto the deck to find that I had an audience. About six men stood around me and clapped sarcastically.
I suddenly had a very, very bad feeling that this was a pirate ship, judging by the way the men were dressed. They all looked incredibly scruffy and rugged, and also like they hadn't washed in a decade.
One of them suddenly came forward and drew a sword. "Who be en'ering our domain?" he said lowly, eyeing us both suspiciously through a pair of narrow, beady eyes. I didn't doubt that if the wrong answer was given, he wouldn't think twice before impaling us both on that cutlass.
"We come in peace," Leonardo responded, slowly pushing away the weapon. "We have come to barter a deal with your captain. Where might we find him?"
The middle-aged man regarded us for a long moment before putting his cutlass back into its sheath at his side. "You betta come this way 'en, matey."
We followed the scruffy brute along the huge deck until we came to a door near the back of the ship. There was a ladder either side of the door which led up onto a higher deck, but he knocked on the door and a very strong, stern voice drawled, "Enter," from the other side.
The man opened the door and spoke to the owner of the voice inside. "Two people 'ere to speak t'ya, Sir."
"Send them in then, Smith."
He gave us a mean sneer as he moved to the side to allow us to pass, showing brown, foul teeth.
Through the door, directly ahead of us was a man with his head faced down, pawing over a map on the desk in front of him. Several tools including a compass, sextant and a few other things I didn't recognise were scattered about the desk.
"Hello, er... Sir," I stammered.
He immediately looked up as he heard a female voice and looked between us both.
I saw then that this man was quite young, in his early thirties, with a dark blond beard and matching long hair. Blue eyes regarded us both from beneath a tri-corn hat. He was undoubtedly good looking and well built.
"Hello there," he replied, putting down the pencil he held in his hand. "What brings you aboard my ship?"
This time, Leonardo answered. "We are looking for a safe passage to Italy."
The captain smiled and walked closer to us. I noticed that little creases appeared in the corners of his eyes.
"Then you're in luck. That is, is you have... sufficient funds."
The Captain was quite well spoken. He sounded like he belonged in Cambridge.
Leonardo pulled out the wad of paper cash from his chest pocket and showed him.
"Bah! Paper money is no good to me. I want gold, jewels. I can't barter with that rubbish unless I'm in Britain."
"Guess where you are now?" I said sarcastically before I could stop myself.
He looked shocked for a moment before smiling again. "I like this one very much." He stroked his beard. "Because I like her so much, I'll make you a deal. I will allow you both a safe passage if you let me take your woman here to my bed."
I slapped the man across the face hard.
He stepped closer again until I was backed up against the wall and leaned forwards until his nose was almost touching mine. "I dare you to do that again," he growled.
"Your breath stinks like rotten worms," I said lowly. "Back the fuck up or I'll blow your balls off." I pulled the hammer back on the pistol that I still carried from when we were at the bank earlier.
He looked down and saw that I was in fact currently holding his balls at ransom.
He smirked. "I like a woman with a bit of bite in her." He moved back and took the paper money off Leonardo. "Lucky we're in Britain."
The ship didn't set sail again until late that night, when the tide came back in. So, instead of waiting, Leonardo and I decided to go and find somewhere to wash and buy some new clothes.
It had felt so nice to finally be able to wash. My skin no longer felt sticky and clammy, but soft and smooth. And my hair was no longer resembling a Rastafarian's, but was shiny and smelled of roses.
Once I'd done, I went downstairs in the shop to find Leonardo. He had had a shave since last time I saw him and had his hair trimmed. It was wet and followed the curve of his head and neck until it flicked out slightly at the bottom, just coming short of the tops of his shoulders.
He was wearing a new white shirt and baggy black trousers. He still sported his usual long black leather jacket though, and I suspected that it still stank like wet dog.
"What the hell are you wearing?" He grimaced.
I looked down at my chosen outfit, which consisted of a pair of baggy black trousers, tucked into black bucket top boots, and a black cotton shirt.
The jacket I chose was my favourite part. It was black (surprise) and was corseted at the back, bringing the waist in. I had never seen one like it, so when I did, I just had to have it.
"I'm not going to run around with a bunch of dirty pirates looking like a princess, am I?" I defended myself.
"So you dress up as a man instead?"
I frowned. "I don't look like a man!"
"Whatever you say, Bessie. And they're not pirates. They're privateers."
"Same difference. I don't want to get raped."
"It's not the same difference. They're basically pirate hunters! And if they wanted to have their wicked way with a pretty young girl, they would do it, whether you were dressed as a man, woman or bloody dinosaur."
He called me pretty! He thought I was pretty!
"Yeah, and if you ask them, half of the men will tell you that they are ex-pirates, you idiot. I expect that filthy Captain is and all!"
Leonardo rolled his eyes. "Okay, Mr... I don't even know what your last name is."
"Sullivan," I offered.
"Bessie Sullivan?"
"That's me."
"Bessie De Leonardis..."
My heart fluttered a little bit at the thought of someday having his last name.
"Nah doesn't sound right," he said afterwards.
Ruined it.
"Anyway, let's get back to the pillagers and plunderers. It's better than walking around this dump hole."
We walked back from the small outfitter's shop and made our way back to the ship. I gained a few weird stares on the way from passers-by. Probably due to my outfit.
One stuck up woman even commented as we passed, saying that it was 'sick' and 'disgusting' for a woman to wear men's clothes. I stuck my middle finger up at her and told her to fuck off.
I was, however, feeling less and less comfortable in my new outfit as time went on. And the thought of being stuck on a ship with a bunch of dirty men didn't feel at all appealing.
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Hello there! Thanks for reading so far. If you enjoyed, don't forget to vote and comment! I love hearing from you :)
-Gennie xx