The arms appeared again and my body was lifted off the ground leaving me dangling above the rough wood. My only support was a bony shoulder covered by greasy rags.
I kicked my legs, trying to disrupt Johnny and escape his arms. The skirts flew up with my motions, the metal underneath became visible to the sailors around us. Not only did their stares find their way up my skirts, but the cold breeze also did as well.
"Let go of me, you broot." I clawed at his arms, fingers digging into the tough skin on his hands and finding their way to the earlier wounds, but he didn't drop me.
"Hold your tongue." He climbed up the boardwalk and I stopped struggling, afraid he would lose his footing. "This is The Black Voyage."
I froze, my heart skipping a beat. The painful truth creeping in. Johnny stopped walking and I felt my body drop as his arms released me onto the wooden deck.
The wind was knocked out of me as my back connected with the boards. My chest heaved as my lungs tried to fill themselves, the thick corset making it harder. Not only was the sudden impact shortening my breaths, but the hysteria that was creeping its way in was making it hard to think.
"I told ya' not to harm the goods," The man who I now knew as Captain Pierre said as he walked over, boots thumping on the wood. "Hey there, lassie."
I coughed as I stood up, scrutinizing the men. The crew seemed to be in worse shape than their captain. With dirty clothes and hungry frames, they looked the part of pirates sailing through forbidden waters. I knew not all of their transactions were legal, myself included, but they made no effort to hide their actions.
"You're Captain Pierre, the man I paid to smuggle me across the Atlantic?"
With only one level and a small navigation platform, the ship didn't look like it could make it out of the bay let alone across the ocean. The boards under our feet were cracked and a thin coat of slime resided on them. If that wasn't enough, the sails were patched every few inches and contained the same unidentifiable mixture. The wind caught them and carried the smell of rotting seaweed down to the lower deck.
"Yes, Miss Maurea and I would like the money now if ya don' mind." He stepped forward, arm extended to the bag in my arms. "Now, please. We ain't carrying ya for free."
I retreated as he tried to close the distance. Before I could make decent headway, my back hit Johnny's chest and I was forced to stop.
"I do mind, Captain." I clutched the bag to my chest and scurried around the flesh wall behind me. "You will get the money when I arrive safely in the Caribbean."
"That ain't our deal," he hissed, face turning animalistic with his teeth bared at me.
"No," I replied, "but you'll receive the money either way. I don't plan to swindle you and include a small sum for your patience."
His teeth grit together and I could hear the grinding of bone on bone. His knuckles were bone white as his fingers closed on each other. His body shook like mine but for an entirely different reason.
"Johnny, grab her bag and bring me my money," he hissed out of the corner of his lips.
The sack was ripped from my hands as Johnny closed the distance once more to strip me of my belongings. The bag was emptied quickly, the objects deemed unimportant scattered at their feet. Both men tore through the burlap with a hunger that presented itself in their eyes.
"Please, Captain." I froze, watching Johnny empty my bag. "The money isn't in there."
The last of my possessions hit the floor and Johnny passed the few coins that had been littering the bottom to his captain. I could see him fingering the picture of Isabella, the last image I would ever have of her.
"Is she your sister?" Johnny looked up from the image and I nodded. "She's fair. Less than you, but still good."
My fingers curled as Johnny spoke, itching to grab the photo again. I could see the outline of her face as the ink showed through the glossy photo.
"Please put that down," I spit, not wanting the photo to be tainted by him.
"Then tell me where the money is." Captain Pierre grabbed the photo roughly and I tensed. "Ya can have your nick nacks back then and only then."
"Alright," I admitted, "it's in the Caribbean. A small bank holds the payment."
My heart was thundering against my rib cage, the pounding blood flooding through my veins as I tried to maintain the distance between us. Their anger crossed the small space and they didn't need to be close to repulse me.
"What do ya mean it's in the Caribbean,' ya Lil witch?" Captain Pierre reached forward, pulling my curls back, and tilted my head up to look down at me. His skin was pale and sickly with thin wrinkles invading his features. Watery blue eyes met my bright ones in a clash between dull and bright.
"The letter your accomplice is holding is the key." The Captain's head turned away from mine and I breathed in the clean air. "I have to give that letter to my associate who will then give you the money."
Around us, men worked to prepare the ship for departure. Figures were clinging to the mast as they checked the sails and around us, people were loading and unloading cargo. One man passed with a large crate filled to the brim. Glass bottles with amber liquid clinked together and I gulped, knowing the full scope alcohol could have on men.
"What happens if we kill you and give him the letter ourselves?"
The fishing knife from earlier was poised at my neck, the two grimy men staring down at me. I wasn't short, average height, but the two men towered over me.
"You don't know where he is," I said, feeling smug. Isabella and I had poured over every detail before my escape. She had warned me about the people I would be sailing with, but I never imagined they would kill me instead of giving me safe passage.
"Fine, lassie." The older man hissed, "You'll just have to stay in your cabin and stay out of our way."
The knife lowered and I followed it with my eyes until Johnny had re-sheathed it. With the scrape of steel on leather, I relaxed, my fingers uncurling with the half-moon circles remaining.
"However," my eyes snapped up to the dry blue eyes, "the boys are excited to know a woman is on board, so ya wanna stay inside your cabin."
I looked around the deck and found the eyes of the sailors were trailed on me. I shivered and the pit in my stomach grew as I thought about what the captain was implying.
The idea of being trapped in a cabin with any of them was enough to make me nauseous and the twisting in my stomach increased. I wished I could hide away and fade into nothingness until the voyage ended and I was able to escape into a new life, but the notion was impossible.
It wasn't the first time a man had looked at me like that and it wouldn't be the last. The men I had the unpleasant fortune of meeting were all possessive, black-hearted characters who I could live without.
I nodded and Pierre handed me the photo. Isabella's smiling face looked up at me. Her dark hair curled at her ear and tanned skin matched mine, but her brown eyes differed. They were older and more stern, the dark orbs always hidden under long lashes. I was fortunate enough to inherit my mother's sapphire eyes, though I had never seen them. Isabella rarely smiled when I was absent. Her face matched the life she was given.
I would miss her more than anything else and I had thought about trying to bring her with me, but I lacked the power to do so. Her sacrifice was something I could never forget and someday, somehow I would repay her for her years of care.
"Johnny, take 'er to the quarters and explain the rules." The tattered, blue coat parted as Captain Pierre pocketed the coins and walked away to yell at his workers.
I bent down to collect my possessions and letter, the blue ink-stained on the edges of the crumpled paper.
Johnny stood above me and I could feel his smug expression at the image of me bowing at his feet. I bit my lip and kept my head down, focusing on the task at hand and not the repulsive creature above me.
"Hurry up, woman. I have work to do," Johnny complained as I grit my teeth knowing he didn't. He had been in the tavern before and had been prepared to assault me minutes later.
"Please show me to my room," I said, standing to follow him into the heart of the ship. I took one last look at the crowded wharf and sent a farewell to everything I had ever known as I disappeared down the stairs into darkness and danger.