The Pirates of Fainting Goat Island

by Teresa McCullough

  I didn’t know whether to be upset that my father hid this from me or proud of how he used his magic. He used it for the benefit of the community.

  “But it explains something,” Beaden said. “We all knew he had money when he moved here. He didn’t when he died, although the Pelican was profitable. He didn’t have any because he spent it. He spent it on the town. We owe you now.”

  “No,” I said. “If it weren’t for me, none of this would have happened.”

  Beaden shook his head. “Roddy came to me when you decided to leave. He thought there was something wrong with those people you went with. He couldn’t give me a reason. I thought he would just miss you. We all knew you wanted to see more of the world than Ship Town. We didn’t want to stand in your way. We should have seen, should have stopped you.”

  “It was my responsibility,” I said. “My decision.” My terrible decision.

  “You just lost both your parents,” Roddy said. “No one could expect you to be able to make good choices.”

  “We sort of decided for you,” Beaden said. “We thought you would never have another chance as good as this one. It would be unfair to keep the Captain’s daughter from what we thought was an opportunity.”

  Yet they couldn’t take the blame from me. They wouldn’t have let me go if I hadn’t wanted to go.

  Beaden asked Vlid, “How come she couldn’t Control you? The Captain didn’t seem to have trouble Controlling anyone.”

  “You heard her say that she shouldn’t be able to Control someone to do anything they find morally wrong. I thought it was morally wrong to stand by and let Merko hurt her,” Vlid replied. I was surprised the explanation was so simple. Vlid then asked what we could do to help.

  The next day Roddy and Lina went to a carpenter’s shop and started building shutters and doors, not just for the Pelican, but for the whole town. Vlid was right. They needed nails and tools. Vlid gave the anvil to the blacksmith, who happily went to work making and repairing hinges.

  The tiny rowboat we brought with us became a fishing boat. Vlid felt he could make three usable fishing boats using pieces from five damaged boats. Even Little Vlid contributed by fishing off the dock or running errands. I spent my time carrying a tallow candle around in a ceramic mug and heating everything. It saved on firewood. I also went into the woods and helped the loggers one day. I could do things remotely, which made it safer.

  I was heating the massive block of bricks with a candle when Cranket found me a few days after we came. “I’m going back to Lagudia,” he said. “I’ve arranged for a couple of men from here to be crew. Don’t worry, I’ll return. Vlid’s made me a list of what is needed. We’ll have plenty of time to found our dynasty.”

  He took me in his arms and kissed me. I clung to him and returned the kiss, not because I would miss him, but in gratitude.

  My gratitude was slightly less than it might have been when I found out he arranged for the Mercy to be filled with firewood. He took the firewood that wasn’t seasoned, which was easily spared, but it somehow seemed petty to take it. He told me that Beaden the trip would be a loss, but the firewood would allow him to do some trading on the way back.

  I was happy to help Ship Town and glad that Cranket trusted me enough to let me stay here without him. Vlid and I carefully didn’t interact in any way that suggested we were more than just friends. I avoided following him with my eyes. I only saw him when there were others around. Yet I was always aware of him. We had less in the way of private conversation than when Little Vlid prayed. Before that time, we could talk. Now it wasn’t allowed. I can do this, I kept telling myself. Ship Town needs Cranket and I need to keep my bargain.

  I had nightmares about Merko. His revenge was calculated to make the town have a slow death. Without the help we brought, people would fight over clothing, shutters, and doors, just to keep warm. By the time winter was over, people would be fighting over food. I was glad we reached Ship Town before it came to that. I hoped Merko would think it was enough, but I feared he would come back to the weakened town and strike again.

  So far, the town hadn’t been torn apart. People crowded in a few houses, sleeping huddled together on the floor. This allowed less firewood to be burned than before the pirates, because at night there were only a few houses to heat. Instead of falling apart, the town came together.

  Whatever work I did during the day, in the evening I used the pot I brought from Lagudia to fix some kind of stew, often from the game brought back from those who hunted in the mountains. There were four women who scoured the mountainside for edible plants. My stews weren’t culinary delights, but they were nourishing. Most of the tables and benches that used to be in the tavern mysteriously reappeared, even though people paid for them.

  Some came with bowls and returned to their cottages, but many stayed for the warmth and camaraderie. One evening I sat down next to Roddy and ate my bowl of an odd mixture of fish, rabbit, grain, wild garlic, and Queen Anne’s lace roots. A fisherman with his wife and child were opposite us. Lina, who was next to Roddy, was talking to the fisherman about the repairs she was working on in his home.

  Vlid, Milea, and Little Vlid were at a nearby table talking to Beaden and his wife. I heard Vlid say in a voice that was a bit louder than usual, “They may come back.”

  “Why would they?” Beaden said. “They can’t know Roddy and Heleen are here.”

  Lina stopped midsentence.

  “Maybe not Merko, but other pirates. This would be a good base,” Vlid said.

  “It’s not that defensible,” Beaden said.

  “No. But it has other characteristics. It has a good harbor. It’s isolated. In some respects, it’s better than Fainting Goat Island, because it’s closer to more ship traffic.”

  “Roddy,” Beaden said in a loud voice, “Do you agree with this nonsense?”

  “It isn’t nonsense,” Roddy said, echoing Beaden’s volume, “particularly since treasure hunters may drive Merko off Fainting Goat Island.”

  The whole room was quiet now. I thought my own fears of Merko were a product of paranoia, but Vlid and Roddy shared my view, and they knew Merko.

  “I can’t see how they could take over the village,” Beaden said. “It would be dangerous for them.”

  “Not after they killed all the men,” Milea said. “They would leave a few women to grow vegetables, tend the chickens, and serve the men. Serve them in both senses of the word.”

  There was a brief silence and then a babble of voices. Arguments broke out while people angrily discussed the likelihood of pirates coming. After a few minutes, Beaden thumped his bowl on the table. It took quite a few thumps before the room got quiet again.

  “What do you recommend?” Beaden asked Vlid. “I assume you’re not telling us this to make us unhappy.”

  “A plan,” Vlid replied. “A signal to know when to act, and a plan of attack, taking advantage of anything we can. There is no point in attacking the pirates in a haphazard manner with swords. They practice that, and we could never compete. Arrows from the hill next to the dock for a starter.”

  “And if they climb the hill and attack the archer?” Beaden asked.

  “By the time they get through the thorn bushes, the archer can fade into the mountains,” Roddy said. “The only archers here are also hunters.” The hunters knew the mountains and could move with stealth.

  “This building is the most defensible building we have,” Beaden said.

  “It’s also the first building they will stop at. I doubt we could be organized before they take the Pelican,” Vlid said.

  The discussions went on quite late. I eventually went to bed, letting others decide what should be done. A week later, they started drills and practices. The drills became the entertainment when little was left for the men to do. The women were busy turning the skins of the animals that filled the stewpot into warm clothing and hastily turning whatever cloth was available into additional layers, but the men couldn’t hunt because the mountai
ns became too snowy, and there were not enough boats for all the fishermen. I was grateful for my cloak and the warm clothing Cranket insisted we had, although I gave one of my warm dresses to a childhood friend.

  The Mercy came with supplies. The local men who went to Lagudia were full of tales of their adventure. Jerot had a few of his own.

  “Cranket managed to stop in four ports on the way back, sell our cargo, and come away from each of them with something he could sell profitably further south,” Jerot said as he sat at a table in the Pelican. “His last stop filled the hold with wool, which he sold in Lagudia. I’m not saying he paid for the supplies he brought, but I don’t think he lost much money on the trip.”

  Jerot gave me a letter from Cranket saying that business was keeping him in Lagudia. It said that in four pages, detailing the kind of business, and talking about our upcoming dynasty.

  CHAPTER 19

  Cranket came for me in late winter. Things were going well in Ship Town, and Vlid took Cranket to where they built fishing boats. Some of the men who worked on ship-building before the Sweetwater was diverted by the earthquake were helping him, along with younger men who were learning the trade. Cranket visited the dry docks, telling me that he wanted to invest in a shipyard here.

  It was an unusually warm morning although foggy. Little Vlid had gone to check on sheep with a local shepherd. Milea was fileting fish while I washed the floor of the Pelican. Jerot was chatting with her while her two-month-old son was asleep in his cradle. Jerot looked fit. It took him a long time to recover from his beating, but he had his old confidence back. Perhaps not completely, since he wore his sword.

  Vlid and Cranket returned, obviously continuing a conversation they had about the proposed shipyard. I gave Cranket a hug and he smiled at me.

  “I’ll get you some cheese bread,” I said. “You must be hungry.”

  The bread was on a low shelf, hidden by the counter, and I stooped down to get it. I heard the door Roddy built opened again. I expected to hear friendly greetings but there just footsteps. I stood up and saw three men in capes coming in. Capes? Most men found them cumbersome for work. I realized Jerot had his sword drawn.

  One of the men had a sword pointing down at Milea’s son. It would take only the slightest movement to kill him. Merko and Kalten came in the door. Two other pirates I recognized came with them.

  There were seven of them and there was only Jerot with his sword. Vlid wore a knife, but it was a tool not a weapon. I realized the capes concealed their swords. Merko threw his cape off his right arm, freeing his sword. He was wearing leather, which he always wore when he went pirating. An earthquake came. It was a mild one, but definitely there. It was one of the two possible signals for an attack, the other being the beating a certain rhythm on a large metal tub. I suspected the earthquake originated in this room. The man holding the sword over the baby held it in position in spite of the earthquake.

  “No one moves,” Merko said. With incredible slowness, he and the other men came all the way into the room and closed the door. They moved too slowly for enhancement to hurt them. “Jerot, drop your sword.” Merko sent a rapid glance to the man threatening Milea’s baby.

  “No,” Jerot said.

  “The baby will die,” Merko said.

  “Knowing you, you’ll probably kill your son anyway. I wish to live a little longer. How long will I live when I drop my sword? A minute? Thirty seconds?” His voice was calm and reasonable in spite of the tension in the room.

  There was no fire I could grab. Even if I did have a fire, if I used it on the man holding the sword over the baby, he would probably fall in such a way to kill the baby. The sword was pointing straight down.

  “I might at that,” Merko admitted. “So, you think the baby is mine? What do you say, Milea?”

  “He’s yours,” she said.

  Merko glanced at Kalten, who gave thumbs up.

  “I think I will enjoy killing your child before I kill you,” Merko said. “I don’t like being betrayed.”

  “What loyalty did I owe you?” Milea asked. “I had no choice.” She moved slowly toward him, just as Merko and his men moved. She wasn’t moving fast enough for Merko to order the baby killed.

  “I was good to you,” Merko said, clearly unhappy with her.

  “You were. After you killed my husband, daughter, parents, brother, and sister,” she said. When Merko looked surprised she said, “I was from the Lodge. I just happened not to be there that night.” She stopped about two yards from him when Merko turned his sword in her direction. One of the other pirates moved to keep an eye on Jerot. All this was done too slowly to be useful to me.

  “You are assuming she loves the baby,” Vlid said. “Look at the blanket wrapping the baby.

  “Who cares about a blanket?” Merko asked.

  “It’s ugly. It’s also new. It’s the only new thing the baby has. The rest of the baby paraphernalia consists of discards from someone’s attic. Milea keeps your son in the blanket because of it symbolizes something. Isn’t that right, Milea?”

  “Yes,” she said. She clearly understood what Vlid was trying to do and didn’t say anything more. Vlid thought we were all dead and was trying to save Milea’s son. Trying to save him from his father.

  “Kalten?” Merko said.

  “Truth. And it is definitely an ugly blanket.”

  “Why did you come back?” I asked. “I thought you got your revenge.”

  “It wasn’t revenge; it was politics,” Kalten said. “He doesn’t want the pirates to think he’s weak. They might vote for me next time.” He smiled at that. Why did I ever think his smile was jovial? It looked evil to me now.

  “But why come back? Why did you think we were here, when we weren’t here before?” I asked.

  Cranket made a sudden jerky movement and the man holding the sword over the baby pressed down slightly. The baby made a brief noise. Cranket froze in position, and the baby settled down.

  “You set them on us,” Merko said. “The treasure hunters. First there was that man, what was his name?”

  “Epan,” one of the pirates supplied. Epan was the clueless Councilor that questioned Jerot and me.

  “He hung around the island with a fast ship. When we came out, he would retreat. We finally guessed he wanted us to leave. We sent a skeleton crew on our ships and ‘left,’” Merko said.

  “I hung him over the side of the cliff in a rope cage.” Kalten said. “He was very eager to answer our questions after a day. We lowered a cup of water to him after he answered a few of them. He never had the nerve to cut himself down, although we left him a knife. I enjoyed watching him try to climb up. He never got more than a few yards. I don’t know how long he lived. A week? Not sure.”

  “We thought that was it,” Merko said. “Then we came back from a run and the gold was gone. Some pirates blamed the locals for not protecting it, but what could they do? We killed most of the able-bodied men, and the women couldn’t fight off invaders.”

  “We had a good run,” Kalten said. “We thought we could live with it. But the next group trashed the lodge. The place is made of stone, but the beams holding the roof burned. They lit a huge bonfire under them by bringing in furniture from nearby rooms, which wrecked the roof. The Lodge wasn’t really livable after that. It was pointless destruction.” That bothered him after what he did to Quarryton and Ship Town?

  “We need another place to live,” Merko said. “Ship Town isn’t an island, but with the mountains connecting it to land, it might as well be. You’re just a bonus.” He looked at me meaningfully.

  “Are you anchored at the dock?” Jerot asked.

  “Yes,” Merko replied. “The fog helped, but there was a fishing boat out and he saw us. If a few of us didn’t come in, it would be suspicious. That’s a nice little ship in the harbor. Is she as fast as the Eagle?”

  “Not when sailing with the wind, but in any other direction,” Jerot supplied. “She’s a bit tricky to handle.”

/>   “Trying to get your old job back?” Merko asked.

  “No. You wouldn’t trust me. But at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing that you will never be able to get as much as I could from the Mercy.”

  Merko glanced at Kalten, who shrugged, but gave thumbs up. “Epan said you were planted on us, Jerot,” Kalten said. “Either that or you just claimed to be. He wasn’t certain.”

  “He never believed me, but yes, I was,” Jerot said. “If I had my way, I would have jumped ship as soon as I learned where you were based.”

  “Why not Ship Town?” Kalten asked.

  “You would have torn the town apart, looking for me. Besides, it might have been a year before I found a way back to Lagudia.” I didn’t think Merko would look for him because he was valuable, but because he might have thought Jerot was killed by locals, and Merko could never allow that to happen unpunished.

  “Is that where you’re from?” Kalten asked.

  “As much as anywhere.” Kalten accepted that as true, which I found interesting.

  I considered using Controlling on Kalten, but I didn’t think I could do much with it. If I told him to leave, he would probably do so, but there were still too many pirates. He didn’t owe me enough for me to do something that would help us more. Could I tell him to move his arm quickly? I could move the sword away from Milea’s baby, but then what?

  I wanted to do something, but there was nothing I could enhance. There was no heat or motion. Suddenly I heard a slight sound near a window. I saw the shutter being moved slowly back and forth. I didn’t see the hand that placed it there, but there was a ceramic cup on a windowsill. I felt with my mind and there was a lit candle inside it. I couldn’t kill anyone yet. If anyone fell, Milea’s baby would be dead. I started heating the bricks as a reservoir of heat.

  Merko was questioning Cranket, who was sweating with fear. I was frightened too, but I don’t think I showed it as much. Cranket offered to pay ransom money. He started by offering for both me and himself, but switched to just himself when he realized Merko wasn’t going to ransom me. I didn’t think he would ransom Cranket, because the risks were too great, but Merko was trying to find a way to get the ransom without giving up Cranket.