The Witch's Eye
Kitten's New Life pt. 4
I stand behind my wife’s right shoulder as she addresses the crew. We have come a long way. Pirate to proper in such a short time. The crew was strong and healthy. We hadn’t had anyone jump ship at port for a few months now. The consistency of a veteran crew was beginning to pay off. They stood at the ready, anxious as they were, because they never missed an opportunity to hear from their Captain. She is beauty and power and now mother. Her glow outshined the rising sun. I was excited for leave as well. We needed to check in with a doctor to see how her pregnancy was progressing and I needed to get my plans to the shipwright.
“Listen up, men. We sale under the witch’s eye tonight.” The men grumbled. “Oh, cut it out. It’s just a full moon, you bunch of superstitious…”
“Kat…” I say quietly behind her. She takes a deep breath.
“Stay close to dock, within ear shot of the bell. Don’t get drunk and don’t get fat. If any of you are boozed or have a belly bigger than mine, I’m leaving ya here.” They chuckle. “Our cargo is needed in the islands by tomorrow and we’re being paid well to get it there. We are going to run fast tonight, so I need you all tip top.”
“Aye,” they reply in unison.
“Go, ahead boys.” They scramble for the ramp like children fighting for the last dessert. Kat presses both hands into the small of her back and stretches. Shooly watches her carefully. He’s noticed the change as well. She’s moving a bit slower, holding her belly as if to carry the weight with her arms instead of her lower back.
I lead Kat to the ramp and hold her hand as she slowly makes her way down. Shooly is behind her with a hand on her shoulder.
“If the two of you don’t stop mothering me, I’m gonna stab one of you.” Shooly laughs but doesn’t remove his hand. She sighs and accepts the additional safety. We step onto the dock to find a nervous looking man with wired glasses waiting for us.
“Excuse me, ma’am.” He pulled his hat from his head. “Are you Captain of the Morning Star?”
“Aye, but give me a moment, this kid is kicking like a siren’s got hold of her.”
“Her? You think it’s girl?” I ask.
“What? No, I just don’t want to call him, her, whatever, an ‘it’. Doesn’t sit well with me.”
“No, no, it doesn’t does it. That’s our child, a human child, not some…thing.” I hadn’t considered it before. My mother helped quite a few woman in with child birth and there was no denying that it held all the same dignity that we do.
“Ok, what is it?” Kat looked to the man wiping his glasses as he waited.
“Your bill of lading and manifest, ma’am. My employer is asking for confirmation that it will be delivered tomorrow.”
Kat looked to me and I gave her a nod.
“It’ll be there.”
“Very well. Here is your commission. Signed and sealed.” Kat took the rolled paper and inspected it. She gave the little man a nod and handed the paper to Shooly.
“Can you get it started? Fisher and I’ll take over so you have some leave time as soon I get checked out.”
“Aye, Captain.” Shooly began looking over the paper work and inspecting the near by crates.
I take Kat’s hand and we make our way off the dock. The nervous little man runs to catch up with us.
“Ma’am, are you sure your man is able to handle this. It is precious cargo.”
“Yes.” Kat says shortly. Her hand and arm tightens. Her gaze is locked forward.
“But he’s a…”
Kat stops and turn on him. He reels back.
“Very well.” The man hurries ahead and turns down the main road out of sight.
We make it to the shipwright’s shop first. Kat and I step in and the man greets me with a smile, the smile of a well paying job. I sit Kat down and lay out my drawing for the man to see. His apprentice comes out from the back and watches over our shoulders.
“Can I get you a coffee?”
“Yes!” Kat says.
“NO,” I give her a look. She scowls and curses under her breath. “We have to see the doctor. The First Mate is expecting you. We need to sail tonight.”
“We can do that,” the apprentice says energetically. The old man stands and contemplates.
“Aye, I reckon we can.” He pushes the young man on the shoulder and gestures for him to start gathering tools and materials.
I walk back to Kat and hold out my hand to help her up. She looks at it with disdain, stands herself and pushes through the door. I cannot wait to get a cup of coffee back in that woman.
The doctor is just around the corner. I gesture for Kat to wait outside and enter. The bell above the door rings as I enter. I look around the room, no one. Good. I’m not having my very pregnant wife sit in a vat of illness. I open the door again and gesture for her to enter.
The doctor brings her back and inspects. I’m not sure what he’s looking for, but his face tells me everything is progressing as normal. He tells her to take it easy and to let me help more. I smile, which just annoys her even more. Now being mothered is doctor’s orders.
With a clean bill of health, we three stop for some food. Kat had never been a shy eater, one of the things that drew me to her. No dainty bites of lettuce. She ate like a person who liked food. Now that she was eating for two, I usually ordered something and just pretended to eat until she finished her plate. I’d tell her I wasn’t actually hungry and let her polish that plate off too.
We make it back to the deck about mid-day and Shooly is finishing up with the cargo. The shipwright and his apprentice are working on my plans.
“What in the world are you doing to my ship?”
“We’re going to be a laughing stock.” Shooly stood with his arms crossed.
“I don’t really care what other people think,” I say. “I care about keeping us alive.”
“What are they?”
“Kind of like armor. See, cannon fire is rarely direct fire. Frankly, if we so close that we are getting direct fire, we’re done anyway. Most cannon fire is more like catapulting. Sending a ball way up and landing it on a ship. Now, if they drop one on our deck, again, nothing we can do. But all the reading I’ve been doing and talking with the shipwright, most cannon fire hits the broad side. Makes sense, right, its the largest target.” I watch and Kat and Shooly take it all in. “These plates with large half spheres will deflect cannon fire. See, as the ball comes down, it punches through flat timber. These bubbles along the broad side will redirect the energy of the cannon ball.” They share a look and Kat raises an eyebrow. “Ok, think of it this way. If you were standing there,” I position Shooly directly in front of me. “If you are square to me like that and I punch you square in the gut…”
“Nothing will happen, because I’m made of steel.” We laugh.
“True, but assume you’re not.”
“Other men would crumpled by such a punch.”
“Now,” I turn him a bit. “If I make the same punch, but you are angled, what happens?”
“A glancing blow,” Kat says, starting to understand.
“Exactly. I’m trying to make it so that we receive glancing blows instead of getting crumpled.”
“Ok, hey, I said I trusted you and I do.”
“It still looks stupid,” Shooly says.
“Aye, it does.” My shoulders slump. “But it’s better than sleeping with Davey Jones running under the Witch’s Eye.” She gives Shooly a pat on the arm. “Go, we’ll finish up.”
I set Kat in the shade and made sure she hand plenty of water. I had learned quite a bit about loading a ship over the months, but Kat still had to give some direction. By nightfall, we were loaded and the shipwright had finished his work. He’d needed to hire a few extra hands, but was able to make it happen.
“That’s still more sail then she’s built for, but we secured it better, so you should be able to run longer. If you start to hear her timbers cry, pull’em in.” The old man takes his coin and shakes my hand. I turn and look at the ship. It really does look stupid.
“It’s time to call them in.” Kat says from her seat. I hustle up the plank and ring the bell three times, the Morning Star’s signal.
The men make their way back to the ship and get to work.
“You making a trip under the Witch’s Eye, eh?” A man steps out of the shadows. He stands wearing his wealth on display. Kat steps up next to me.
“Yes,” I say flatly. I don’t like him. There’s something off.
“Since you’re into night runs, I have an offer that can make you quite a bit more money for the same run.”
“We’re not pirates.”
“Neither am I, but here we are, the eye of the moon the only thing watching.”
“We don’t run people.” Kat says, staring the man in the eyes.
“People? These aint people. I bought them and royalty you’re shipping to pays a nice price for them.”
Shooly sees us and doesn’t like what he sees. He lengthens his stride until he next to Kat. Normally, he would be just behind her, but this time he takes a position just in front of her.
“The Morning Star is an honest ship, and we don’t work with slavers.” Kat spit on the man’s shoes. She had never shied away from conflict. She can’t be instigating a problem with the baby about the come.
“Funny, how it’s dignified when you do it,” the man looks at Shooly, then back at Kat. “But wrong for everyone else.” Kat made a move, but I and Shooly were prepared for it. “You should have taken my offer.” He turned and left.
Kat paced in fury. Shooly stood like a statue until the man disappeared.
“I hate slavers,” Kat spit again.
“We need to go. Now.” Shooly hustled down the dock and checked for any more crew on their way. He pushes a couple into a run and all head up the ramp. He waits for Kat and I. Together, we get her up the ramp and settled into the Captain’s quarters. She is still fuming, redirecting her anger the boots she pulls off and throws. Shooly places a large hand on my shoulder and pulls me outside. He closes the door behind us.
“We need to run,” he says, urgency in his eyes. “Tell the men, but do it quietly.”
“Why?”
“That slaver will want to sink us for saying no.”
I hear the rich man’s warning, “You should have taken my offer.” Shooly is right. I approach each sailor and tell them that we are all hands and getting ready to run. The panic is in their eyes, but they don’t show it on the face. The men start working double time to set with the tide. I make my way to the quarter deck with Shooly.
“Once you’re in the wind, let me know and we’ll let the extra sails out. We should be able to make it all the way to deep water before we have to worry about stress on the ship.” Shooly nods and turns the rudder wheel. The journey from dock to cove is slow. I can feel the nerves of the sailors as they have tightened everything up. They are like taught bow strings waiting to let loose. We clear the cove and wind fills the sails.
Boom.
There’s a whistle in the air.
“Cannon fire.” Shooly calls. The splash sprays the deck. “Let’s run,” he says to me.
Boom.
Another whistle. I’m not going to have time to let the sails out.
The ship jerks and bounces in the water. A glancing blow. It worked!
I kick the pully lock and the left sail catches the wind and pulls taught. I run and kick the right pully and the right sail does the same. The Morning Star sinks low in then shoots forward. I rush to help Shooly with the rudder wheel. There is more cannon fire, but they could not adjust for our increase in speed. It splashes down well behind us. We keep the sails out and speed across the ocean. The Witch’s Eye above us, watching as we escape her curse.
The Morning Star never complains about the extra sail, so we let her run. We arrive at the island nearly a half day early. I supervise the men as they pull in the extra sail and then inspect the port side, where the cannon ball made contact. It had hit the bottom half of a plate, so the sphere directed the energy of the ball down instead of through. It might look silly, but it gives us enough time to let out the extra sail and run.
I open the door to the Captain’s quarters to tell Kat about it and find her laying on the floor, pressing her back against the wall, breathing heavily. She looks at me and I know. The baby is coming.
I step back and call to Shooly. He immediately calls for extra sail. I run to Kat and gather her up. I stand at the rail, holding Kat. Two men stand holding the plank read to secure it as soon as we are in port. Kat doubles over in pain.
In the distance a small parade is heading towards the dock. A man in bright orange and gold sits upon a horse that high steps forward. A group of people fuss behind him.
Shooly gives the command and the men drop the dock. I carry Kat down as fast and as carefully as I can.
The man on the horse stops, raises his hands.
“Surely, this is the Morning Star, arriving as her name announces.”
“I need a doctor?” The man reins in his horse and looks at me. “Please, wife is having the baby.”
“I’m Captain of the Morning Star…Please.”
“I am Prince here and have many physicians. Please set her on my horse and she will be cared for.” I hesitate, looking at all the people behind him. I cannot just send my wife and child off with a stranger. Kat winces in pain. I have no choice. “My advisor will bring you to her. You have my word.” An elderly man in rich green robes steps forward. I look to Kat and she nods. I lift her onto the horse in front of the Prince, who reins his horse around, knocking a servant into the water. He spurs the horse and they are off.
I look to the advisor and he points the way. The elderly man does his best to keep pace with me, but I have to stop and wait for him. We make it to the palace and I am ushered to a small building within a garden that might be beautiful if I cared about anything else right now. I push open the door and Kat is lying on a bed roll, brow drenched with sweat, holding a beautiful bundle. I fall to my knees next to her. I kiss her.
“It’s a girl.”
“You knew it. Didn’t you?” She nodded and began to cry. I kissed her again and pulled both of my girls into my arms.
These stories just seem to be getting longer and longer. I’m going to be honest, it got so late that I did not get a chance to edit. I apologize. I also apologize for the literal translation the AI Image generator took on my description. Best I could do this late at night though.
If you enjoyed this and would like to read the first 3, they can be found here:
This is in response to the Flash Fiction Friday prompt by
on