Page 67 of Escaping Pirates
“So…you pretend to be a boy? And you’re a bounty hunter? But why—” My mind couldn’t settle on any one question. Finally, I managed to stammer, “W-w-why join up with pirates?”
Gil smirked. “The most effective way to take down any crime ring is from the inside. And every group is always happy to have a small, weak boy join who is eager to please and do the dirty grunt work. You hear things working for pirates and criminals you wouldn’t otherwise, which is highly profitable for me. I told you before: I plan to be rich. So anytime the captain needed his desk organized or wanted someone to carry things, I always volunteered with a great attitude and he never realized I was memorizing all his records so I could sell that information. He wasn’t worried about me. After all,Gilcan’t read.”
“How…how old are you?” My brain was still jammed.
She tugged at the strings dangling from her tunic so theslight gap in the fabric was cinched up. “Let’s just say older than fourteen.” Gil’s sailor shirt may once have been white but had turned a faded grey color and was streaked with the same brown grime that covered her neck and was smudged onto her face. She shot me a wicked grin. “Don’t act so surprised. It’s not like I’m some magical fairy godmother or anything. Just a girl who happens to be good at passing herself off as a boy.”
“For months at a time?” I spluttered.
She shrugged. “It took practice.” Then she shot me a playful expression that unsettled me just as much as any Harsh had given me. “And if you tell anyone, I’ll cut out your tongue.” The smile looked friendly, but her eyes told a different story. “That’s a promise.”
I could see her lips moving to form the words, but they sounded all wrong. This was Gil, the boy I’d grown fond of and cared for like a younger brother, but at the same time, I didn’t doubt her for a minute. Was she my savior or a madwoman?
“Let’s get going. That bounty expires soon, and I don’t deliver packages late.”
“No!” The word burst from me. “I have no idea who you are or what your game is, but I’m not your…yourpackage.You said you were going to help me, and I’m so…”Confusedwould be the understatement of the century.
She chuckled slightly. “Elena, let me tell you something. Between you and me in a fight, you will lose. In a footrace, you will lose. Based on your track record up to this point, I am confident in saying that you won’t be able to escape by yourself, from me or from anyone else. All you need to know is that you’ll be safeifyou do exactly as I say.”
“What if I don’t?”
Gil laughed. “I was asked to bring you in alive, butthere’s no rule about whether you need to be conscious or not.” She tilted her head to the side. “You’re spunky. I like that, and I’d rather not see you harmed, but that doesn’t extend as far as not collecting my paycheck so you can sulk in peace.”
Was there anyone left in the world who didn’t see me as simply someone to control? Harsh and his daughters had never hesitated to abuse me, Tyrone lusted after me, and now Gil—or Jillian or whatever I was supposed to call her—saw me as a paycheck.
Yes, I answered myself. Harlan cared. But who knew where he was right now? Was he safe? As far as I could tell, the only way to protect him was to go along with the plan. How I wished I was like Peter Pan, able to fight, or like Gil, who could outwit others. The knowledge of my own powerlessness was crushing.
I continued walking beside Gil. Was she telling the truth that it was Dahlia who’d put the bounty out for me, or was that yet another lie? Was I supposed to talk to Gil? Or would me talking to her give her more information? I thought back to all the conversations I’d had with Gil, believing her to be a chatty, upbeat young boy. Had I let anything slip? No wonder her disguise was so successful; she had everyone fooled. Who would think of a young, eager-to-please boy as any kind of threat?
“You don’t have to look at me like that,” Gil chuckled. “I haven’t once injured you, and I don’t intend to as long as you cooperate.”
“You’re using me.”
“It’s not personal. I use everyone.”
“Why?” I asked. How could she be so casual about it all?
“That’s no concern of yours.”
“When was a bounty put out for me?”
“A few hours after that ball you went to with the captain.”
This cool, indifferent Gil was at complete odds with the bubbly, talkative boy that I could barely peel away from my side while on the ship.
We had reached the steps of the palace. Dahlia was waiting at the door, Korth right behind her.
“Just the package I was waiting for,” Dahlia said with a smile, handing a coin purse over to Gil. “You’re quite the courier, young man.” She flashed a knowing wink. “You have my thanks.”
Gil grinned, the boyish charm solidly back in place, complete with bouncing on the balls of his feet and bright-eyed interest. “My pleasure, miss, it was all my pleasure!”
“The additional bounty I put out for the man aboard the other ship, is there any update?”
“No, ma’am. TheKraken’s Revengeisn’t in Ebora right now. Last I heard they were somewhere between Berkway and Haven Harbor. I can’t do nuffin’ for someone who’s on a ship that isn’t here.”
Dahlia ran her tongue over her teeth. “But you could if you wanted to, I presume?”
Gil’s face twitched. “With the right motivation I might be persuaded.”
