A Tale of Mermaids by Ann Parker

Author:Ann Parker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical fiction; Pirates; Piracy; 17th century; coming of age; female centric; female led; c 1600 to c 1700
Publisher: Troubador Publishing
Published: 2022-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

Six

September 1688

‘Victor’ had been on the pirate ship for a few weeks now and she was not sure what to make of it. Contrary to her previous position, she was not there to run the captain’s errands. They taught her to navigate the ship on her own; she could now go in the rig as if it was land, keep the helm through a storm and take care of the cannons. She enjoyed exploring the galleon and already felt really attached to it. She particularly loved the figurehead – even though she had never had the opportunity of seeing it in full. It was a mermaid getting ready for war, a sword in one hand and a knife in the other; Vivien was fascinated by her and spent most of her free time on the forecastle looking at it. Overall, the crew liked her, but she could tell that they were not telling her everything. Yet, she also had her secrets and she knew that they felt it; the first mate, One-eyed Harry, kept a close eye on her, seemingly expecting for the girl to betray the crew. She heard him once mumbling that the captain was too good and trusting.

A few weeks after she joined the crew, Vivien had really bad period pain. It did not happen often, but that day, she could barely move out of the hammock. She refused to call the doctor and just accepted a bit of food and water. One of the female crew members, a blonde woman called Daniela, gave her a strange look, but the girl was in too much pain to really pay attention. The following day, she felt much better and resumed her chores. Before lunch time, she was summoned in the captain’s cabin on the aft. It had never happened before and Vivien was a bit scared; she checked that her knives were in place and, a bit reassured, she knocked at the door and entered. The captain’s stateroom was bigger than she had expected, with large windows at the back offering a breath-taking view of the ocean. The room had a large bed, several chests, shelves with a few books, a desk and a couple of chairs. Sitting in one himself, the captain invited her to sit.

“I have been made aware of your travesty, little girl. Care to explain why you lied to us?”

Vivien’s heart skipped a beat. From what she had seen, the captain was not a bad man, but she had seen when she arrived on the ship with Evan that he did not like to be lied to. She answered, her chin bravely out, “No one asked me if I was a boy or a girl. I cannot be considered guilty of your assumptions.”

The captain kept on looking at her, his light blue eyes not showing any emotion. Suddenly, he broke out into a smile that radically changed his face, making him less intimidating and scary. “Fair enough. What’s your name?”

She hesitated for a second but did not see any reason not to answer.

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