Roy came up on the deck from below. It was a sunny day with a wonderful breeze. The Untamed was cutting across the blue waters of the Caribbean fast. They were making their way to Tortuga. They needed a fresh supply of food and water, not to mention rum.
Roy spotted his captain, Shelly, on the deck. She was checking everything around the ship, making sure everything is alright. A tall girl of nineteen, with fair skin which turned tan due to constantly staying under the sun, her round face and cute nose might have given people the impression that she was an innocent young lady, if it were not for her deadly eyes. Her right eye was dark brown in colour, and seemed to have a deadly spark in it. Her left eye was covered with a black eye patch. Her wavy shoulder length black hair was tied in a loose ponytail behind her. A few stray strands of hair swayed with the wind as Shelly worked across the deck.
Not one of her crew, not even Roy, has asked Shelly about how she lost her left eye. The crew only knew that Roy found Shelly all covered in blood and lying on the deck of a ship as it entered the docks of Tortuga. She had already lost her eye by then. Roy nursed her back to health. Then one by one, Shelly had handpicked and gathered each of her crew, ten in all, including Roy. And one fine day, she set sail and began her career of piracy.
Roy walked across the deck and went to Shelly. “We’ll be reaching Tortuga soon, cap’n”, he said. “Good,” said Shelly. Now that she was back on her ship, and sailing across the sea, she seemed more relaxed. Her voice was not so cold anymore. “Keep an eye on the horizon, Larry!” she shouted to the young boy who was sitting up at the crow’s nest. “Aye!” the thirteen year old boy shouted back. “You forgot to say Cap’n, lad!” yelled Gary at his younger brother. A good looking boy of seventeen, Gary loved to joke, though he was wary of Shelly. He was coiling some rope at one corner of the deck. He winked at Roy, smiling. Then, when he spotted his captain looking back at him, he hurriedly went back to his work.
Roy let out a small laugh as Larry shouted back “Aye, Cap’n!” He looked sideways at Shelly. Even she smiled a little. “Don’t you think that Larry is a little too young to be on a pirate ship?” he asked. Shelly looked down as she thought of an answer. Then she said, “Nope, the experience is good for him. Besides,” she added, “there wasn’t anyone there to look after him. At least we can keep an eye on him here.”
Roy looked at her for sometime. Then he asked, “You really love this ship, don’t you?”
“Of, course,” Shelly replied shortly. She tightened a rope.
“You know,” Roy said as he watched her, “you never quite told me how you got this ship.”
“I stole her,” Shelly said simply.
“Yes, but how?” Roy asked again.
“Yes captain, how?” came another voice. Shelly looked around, and in spite of herself, laughed a little. All her crew had gathered around her and was listening intently. To Shelly, they looked liked eager little children, waiting to listen to a story. Little Larry had come down from the crow’s nest. His face was shining brightly. He loved stories, and this one was about his captain! He was very happy.
Shelly took a deep breath. She didn’t want to say it, not yet. The pain was too much. But, she also remembered that her crew deserved to know. They had come to her when she asked them, worked hard on this ship, did everything she asked them to do. So, leaning against the railing of the ship, she began her story.
“It was three months ago. I was at the Spanish port of Campache”, she began, but was interrupted immediately.
“How did you get there?” Larry asked. Shelly glared at him. Larry became quiet at once. Shelly started again.
“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” she said, “I was at Campache with,” she paused a little, “another girl.” She looked down. She could feel twenty pairs of eyes on her, wanting to know about her companion. But when she didn’t answer, no one bothered her about it. She was grateful to them. She looked up and continued her story.
