Chapter Four

Sarafina awoke, only just then realizing she'd been asleep, to the sound of footsteps entering the brig. The light she had seen farther off, earlier, was gone now; it was nighttime, and very dark outside. A figure approached, carrying a lantern and some clothes.

“Sarafina Smith?” the person inquired. He sounded like a boy who was probably somewhere in his teens.

“Yes. Who are you?”

But just then, as the person hung his lantern from a long nail protruding from a post, Sarafina recognized him. Curly, blond hair spilled out from under the dark blue cloth that covered his head, and the blue cloth, along with the navy vest he wore over his white-ish shirt, matched his dark blue eyes. Besides those things, he wore tan-colored pants, brown boots, a brown belt, and a fair amount of dirt. But his face was definitely what gave him away. Sarafina had seen it many times before, on “wanted” posters all over England.

“Jesse Torret?!” she gasped in fear, awe, and shock, answering her own question.

Yes, this was Jesse Torret, the most wanted thief in all of England, known for stealing valuable items and large sums of money from the well-guarded homes of the rich. He had been imprisoned only three times despite all the thieving he did, and each time almost killed, but he had somehow escaped each imprisonment. The last instance, however, had come extremely close to the hangman's noose, and for a while the 15-year-old thief had seemed to disappear completely. But here he was now, smirking at Sarafina.

“Yeah,” he said, amused. “I ran away to the Bloody Mary a few months ago, when some genius almost had me killed.” He scowled as he remembered this.

Sarafina was too stunned by the presence of the infamous Jesse Torret to say much. Jesse noticed this and shook his head, smiling smugly again. Then he unlocked and opened the door to Sarafina's cell, handed her the pile of clothes he'd been carrying, and closed and locked the door on her again. “Change into those. I'll be outside in the hold. Call for me when you're done...Captain Larkurr wants to have a little chat with you.” And he walked out of the brig, leaving the lantern hanging from the nail in the post. Well, at least the thief had enough manners to respect Sarafina's privacy.

Sarafina wasn't so sure she wanted to have a “little chat” with the captain, but she didn't see what other choice she had. So she put on the clothes: a white, short-sleeved dress, a brown, plaid, wool skirt to go over the bottom half of the dress, a red sash, black stockings, tan boots, and a red cloth for her head. She relished the warm, dry fabric, even the scratchy wool--it was the warmest. Oh, nice, dry clothes...why hadn't she received these four hours ago? But no matter. “Jesse! I'm done!”

Jesse walked back into the brig. “Took you long enough.” He unlocked Sarafina's cell and pulled her out. “Let's go.”

Captain Larkurr was waiting for them in his cabin. “Jesse Torret,” he said as Jesse pushed the door open after knocking. “You possess a reputation as a good thief, but if you're going to be a decent pirate, you need to follow orders from your captain promptly. You're not your own boss anymore, kid.”

Jesse shoved Sarafina into the captain's cabin. “Here's the girl.”

“Stand outside the door,” Captain Larkurr ordered Jesse. “I'll get you when I want you again.” Jesse nodded and left.

“Sit down,” Captain Larkurr commanded Sarafina. She sat in a chair across the desk from him.

“Why did you want me to come here?” Sarafina asked. She should have been killed, and she knew it. Under normal circumstances, she would be--and the Bloody Mary wasn't even normal. The captain and crew were known for being extremely cruel. Maybe he was planning on torturing her...but why hadn't he started right away then?

“I'm asking the questions,” Captain Larkurr snapped.

Sarafina fell silent.

“You said you didn't see the flag of my ship when you tried to board. Whether that's true or not can be decided later, but I have a different question right now: why were you in the water in the first place? A young lady like you would never be found in the water ordinarily, and that's for sure.”

Sarafina gulped. “I...uh....slipped off the dock.”

“Oh, really? And you decided to swim all the way to my ship from there?”

“Yes. I mean, no. I mean...”

“Give me your ring.”

Sarafina looked down at her precious ring in alarm. “My...my ring?” How did he know about her ring, anyway?

“That's what I said, little girl.”

“But--”

“Give it to me, NOW!” Captain Larkurr slammed his hands down on the desk as he said this. Sarafina jumped and quickly slipped off her ring, handing it to him. He studied it for a few moments, turning it over and over in his hand and letting it catch the light coming from the candles on either side of the desk. Yes, this is it. He set the ring back on the desk. Sarafina quickly snatched it up.

“Do you know what that is?” Captain Larkurr asked, pointing at the ring.

“Ummm...it's my ring,” said Sarafina.

Captain Larkurr bit his lip, trying to stay outwardly calm. “Yes, I know that,” he said with a fake smile, in a too-calm, too-kind voice. “But do you know what it means?”

Sarafina shook her head.

“Good,” said Captain Larkurr.

“What does it mean?” Sarafina asked.

Captain Larkurr stood up. “You're not finding out.”

Sarafina frowned. “Why?”

Captain Larkurr slapped her hard across the face. “That's not for you to know.”

Sarafina held her hand to her face and glared up at him as a tear slid down her cheek. The slap hurt, and living in Aunt Dorothy's quiet, dull house, she wasn't really used to much physical pain.

“Going to cry, are you?” Captain Larkurr laughed menacingly, then looked out one of the cabin windows thoughtfully for a moment. “Well, I guess it probably won't hurt for me to tell you...since you're helpless anyway.” He laughed again, then sat back down in his chair, picking up a bottle of rum from his desk and taking a quick swig. “Ever heard the legend of the Pirate Rulers?”

Sarafina shook her head.

“Of course you haven't. You're just a naïve little girl,” said Captain Larkurr. “I'm not going to tell you everything, or you might get big ideas in that little head of yours. But I'll tell you this: the legend says that there's a Pirate King and a Pirate Queen, both with a ring like yours. They're supposed to rule the seas together in a reign of terror. But first they must find each other.”

“Wait--I'm the Pirate Queen?” Sarafina couldn't believe it. She definitely didn't think of herself as the pirate sort--she had always been afraid of pirates, and not harmful in any sort of way.

“Yes. You are.”

“Then who is the Pirate King?”

“If I knew that, little girl, I would have killed both of you already.”

“And I suppose you'll kill me now?”

Captain Larkurr's mouth smiled, but his eyes did not. “A tempting idea, little girl. But no. I need to find the Pirate King also. Now that I know the legend is true, I must kill you both.”

“Why do you need us both at the same time?”

“I don't. I need you to lead me to him.”

Sarafina frowned. “Sorry, but I don't know where he is.” She actually smiled a little, despite her fear. “And neither do you, apparently...so I guess you won't find him. I guess he'll survive.”

Captain Larkurr stood up and slapped her again. “You little rat,” he hissed. “Do you want to die now? For your information, you'll lead me to the Pirate King whether you like it or not. The same force that pulled you to jump into the water and swim to my ship--and yes, I know about it--will also pull you to the direction where the Pirate King is. Now that you know who you are, there's no stopping yourself from moving in the Pirate King's direction until you find him. You may have even moved in his direction before you knew, in your sleep, when you had less control over your body and mind. But in any case”--Captain Larkurr took another swig of rum--“you'll lead me right to the Pirate King and then I'll kill you both.” He smiled evilly.

“You can't do that!” Sarafina shouted, standing up.

“What's to stop me?” Captain Larkurr laughed, took Sarafina by the arm, opened the door of his cabin, and roughly shoved Sarafina out. She fell to the deck. Captain Larkurr walked out of his cabin and kicked Sarafina in the stomach. “Jesse!” he barked.

Jesse had been sleeping. He hurriedly scrambled to his feet at the sound of his captain yelling at him. “What?” he asked, blinking a lot and trying to look alert.

“Guard this girl,” Captain Larkurr ordered. “Constant watch in the brig. Keep track of what direction she's moving. Skylar will switch with you at dawn--you'll have night watch and he'll have day watch. When your watch is over, report to me the direction of the girl's movement.”

“Yessir.”

“Now, GO.”

“Yessir.” Jesse quickly tugged Sarafina away to the brig, Sarafina holding her stomach and glaring at Captain Larkurr as they walked across the deck.

Captain Larkurr walked back into his cabin, slammed the door, and slumped into a chair by his desk. All this time he had thought the Pirate King and Queen were just a myth, a story made up by sailors for telling on the deck in the moonlight. But the Pirate Rulers were real, and the stories were true.

And now the Pirate Queen was on his ship.

The Pirate Queen was on his bleeding ship! Captain Larkurr cursed and reached for his bottle of rum again--then stopped. Why should he worry? He was Captain Brutus Larkurr, after all. And he had the Pirate Queen in his captivity...a girl of only 13 years. He smiled slowly. The girl was no threat now. She would lead him to the Pirate King involuntarily, and then he would kill the two of them with pleasure.

He laughed to himself, then reached for his rum, took a long drink, and threw the bottle so it smashed against the wall of his cabin, just for the fun of it. He strode out of his cabin, ordering an unfortunate, random pirate to clean up the mess inside.