Page 11 of Escaping Pirates
“Fetch our meal,” Sugar commanded me. “I’m hungry.”
“Of course.” At least I’d be able to sneak food off their tray when I brought it back. I dragged my feet as slowly as possible, dreaming of different ways I could escape. Setting fire to the ship would attract other people, but it would threaten my own life as well, and with so many men alert on board, the fire would be extinguished before it could put up a noticeable smoke signal. I couldn’t think of any way to set one up otherwise, and any other escape plans that I concocted on my way down to the galley became increasingly ridiculous.
The ship’s cook wasn’t a talkative man. When I conveyed Sugar’s request, he merely grunted and set a tray of foods that were much richer than the small portion of hardtack Ireceived each morning. My arms trembled as I carried the loaded tray up the stairs and back to the sisters’ quarters. Along the way, pirates watched through narrowed eyes. There were no hidden alcoves where I could pause to sneak a few bites, and it seemed that Harsh had told them about his plan to keep food away from me; I wasn’t able to get so much as a nibble.
Sugar and Blossom dug into their meal, smacking their lips and sighing contentedly as I silently swept up their fallen crumbs. I piled their empty dishes into my arms once they were finished and plodded across the deck to return them to the kitchens, but a sail’s distant fluttering caught my eye and I froze.
There was another ship, and it was flying Haven Harbor’s flag. It was still far enough away that I wouldn’t be able to call to them, but I might,might, be able to make the swim before the ships got further apart.
Without hesitation, I ran and leapt overboard, the dishes splashing into the water with me or else crashing to the deck as I jumped. The cold plunge was a shock to my system, but it wasn’t frigid. I could survive a cold swim. I wouldn’t survive much longer aboard that ship.
I burst to the surface, swimming frantically toward the other ship as shouts came from behind me. I’d never swum so quickly in my entire life. Each stroke felt like pulling on a lifeline. I was going to escape. I would be free. Those were the only thoughts in my head as I swam after the ship, shouting when I could to try and get them to notice me. It could be one of Father’s other ships, or even a ship from the king’s own navy. It was a ship that could take me home.
A shadow fell over me, and theKraken’s Revengecame bearing down on me, closing the distance with depressing speed.
“Help!” I shouted at the retreating Haven Harbor vessel. Had they even noticed my desperate bid for freedom?
A net splashed down over me, descending like the iron bars of captivity as my last chance for liberty faded from view. No matter how I fought to throw the net off, it proved impossible, and I found myself hauled up like any common fish and dumped onto the deck amid the crew, all laughing fit to burst.
“I told you she’d be excellent entertainment,” Blossom told Sugar, a smug, self-satisfied smile plastered across her face.
“That was good,” Sugar agreed. “I liked the part where her legs stuck through the netting.”
Humiliation and despair fought for dominance as I wished I could simply disappear and cease to exist. The fish-smelling net was yanked off me and Captain Harsh hauled me to my feet, fist gripped around my upper arm like a vice.
“You really don’t learn, do you?” Harsh hissed, his voice dangerously low. “There is no rescue for you. There will never be an escape. You can accept that or not, but it won’t change the outcome. You’re here to stay, and this time, I’ll make sure you don’t forget your place.”
“Want me to handle it?” The quartermaster cracked his whip threateningly, and I gave an involuntary shudder as the bloodthirsty pirates growled their eager anticipation.
Harsh cast a critical eye over me. I was already soaked, sore, and exhausted. What more could they take from me? What would a few lashes be in comparison to the misery my life had become?
A cruel leer lit up his face. “No, I have a much better idea. One that will make her much more grateful for what she has.”
Harsh’s punishment, at first, seemed manageable. Hesimply locked me in my cell with my arms suspended over my head by a rough rope threaded through the iron bars on the low ceiling. As time passed, however, the gravity of the punishment set in. If I relaxed my muscles to let my arms hang by the ropes, the rough twine cut viciously into my wrists until the skin broke and blood trickled down to my shoulders. When I kept my arms forced up, with my hands gripping the rope to loosen the tension on my wrists, my hands bore the brunt of the scratching so my palms began to bleed as well.
No matter what I did, the blood drained from my arms so that I lost all feeling. Sleep was impossible, and the only entertainment I had was kicking at the rats that skittered into my cell, but without anything to eat or drink, I lost even that motivation.
I never,neverwanted to endure this punishment ever again. Harsh was right. I became increasingly wistful, longing for the days of my captivity when I was permitted to sit, stand, and lie down in my cell as I saw fit. They had broken me, both body and spirit.
CHAPTER 7
Hunger became my closest companion over the following weeks as I slaved away for Sugar and Blossom. The dress I’d worn on the day I’d been captured had become threadbare and the formerly vibrant blue color faded to a dull gray. On days when the sisters were feeling generous, I read to them or helped them try on a dozen different outfits. They would ask for feedback on how each looked, and the one time I tried to give constructive criticism on a style that would look better on Sugar than what she had picked out, she took great offense and ordered me to get on my hands and knees for the rest of the day, scrubbing with a lye soap that made my hands smart and ache. If I ever protested or inadvertently offended the girls, I found myself back in the brig, where my hands were again lashed together overhead with the rough cording I loathed so much.
I counted to pass the time during those punishments, anything to distract me from the agony in my arms and wrists. At first, I counted the number of bars on the cell,followed by the number of steps up to the main deck, the number of boards on the floor, and the number of rats that scurried by. When I had done all those, I began counting the number of times I heard Sugar or Blossom shriek, “Daddy!”
In many ways, I thought bemusedly, Captain Harsh was the most patient man I’d ever met. Anyone who could listen to that all day and not lose their mind could equal the tolerance of the monks who spent their lives meditating in mountain monasteries. I shivered, instantly regretting the action as the ropes grated against my raw wrists.
The brig door banged open, and one of the pirate crew came to unlock my cell and untie the ropes. “Come on,” he grumbled. I didn’t even know his name; I spent all my time either with the two sisters or else locked up. “It’s tea time.”
I’d never appreciated afternoon tea as much as I did when it released me from whatever horrible task Sugar and Blossom had assigned me. No matter how much they relished seeing me struggle, nothing would ever make them miss afternoon tea.
“I want some rose tea today,” Sugar announced the moment she saw me. “With those cookies.”
“I want peppermint tea,” Blossom said, watching me through slitted eyes. “What’s wrong with your mouth?”
“My mouth?” Gently, I placed a hand up and stroked my gums, which had become increasingly sensitive in the last week. When I pulled my fingertips away, I was horrified to see a bright red stain.
“Scurvy!” shrieked Sugar. “Ella has scurvy!”
