A Pirate's Life for Me: Part Two

      The figure standing before Dani was not much taller than she was. She could not properly make out the shape, but she knew it was a male voice that had spoken to her. He looked her over, let out a low grunt, then turned her back around and started leading her forward. Luckily he did not put the knife back up against her throat. Dani had no idea where he was taking her, who he was, what he was, or why he felt the need to drag her away like this.

      After walking for about ten more minutes, they reached the shoreline, and Dani saw a little island separate from the rest of the island. The figure shoved Dani into a little rowboat, and they began rowing to the small island. Dani could see a silhouetted building against the horizon with lights on inside of it. When they reached shore, the strange figure led her up to the doorway, stopped, and slowly creaked open the door.

      Everyone in the small saloon turned and looked at the duo that had just entered. They were all sipping grog and talking about various things, but they stopped everything when the two walked in. The creature let go of Dani, and she whirled around to see who her captor was. Dani felt her heart stop when she saw who was standing in front of her. The Pirate Lupe looked straight back at her.

      "Found her near The Angel," said the Lupe, obviously to the others in the saloon. One of them spoke up, saying, "Well now. What's a pretty young'n like ye doing out thar by that old ship?"

      Dani had not the courage to speak. Slowly, everyone started contributing to the conversation.

      "Well, a pretty young lass like you don't needs to be out that by that cursed old hunk of wood."

      "Aye, especially not a foreigner like ye."

      "Well, where did ye come from? Yer clearly new to these parts. Poor thing, ye look scared out of yer wits!"

      Dani could do nothing but stare. She looked around at each of the speakers. The tall Lupe was the most incredible thing in the room. His very eyes showed a gleam of glory and bravery, as if he was just waiting for an excuse to go on an adventure. He had multiple battle scars.

      One of the pirates stepped forward, taking Dani by the arm. Instinctively Dani pulled away.

      "Oh, come here, darlin'. I'm not gonna bite ye. We best get ye some warm water to soak yer feets in afore ye catch yerslef a cold," Spoke a soft voice. Dani looked over her shoulder into the eyes of a green Aisha. She had bright red hair, and was wearing an ivory dress that came to her knees. Dani recognized her from one of her books about Krawk Island. Her name was Loretta, one of the Fontaine Sisters. Dani spotted Rosetta's done-up hair among the small crowd of people, and knew that she was inside of The Golden Dubloon.

      She gave in to the soft tug of Loretta on her arm and let the Aisha walk her over to a chair. The Lupe followed her, acting as a guardian. Dani felt uncomfortable having him following her, but she figured that he wouldn't hurt her.

      Rosetta came out of the kitchen holding a little tin tub filled with water. She put it in front of Dani's chair, and Dani put her feet in the warm water. It did indeed feel good after being out in the cold almost all night.

     * * * * *

      Dani climbed into bed. The Fontaine sisters were letting her share their room in the back of the Golden Dubloon. The bed was soft and cushiony, greeting Dani with open arms. She fell asleep almost immediately, and she did not stir for the rest of the night.

     * * * * *

      Dani's eyes sprung open the next morning. The Lupe was standing over her bed, staring her straight in the eyes. He was wearing a gruff expression, and he spoke in a low tone.

      "Come on, ye needs to git out of bed. We got some things we need to talk over."

      Dani crawled out of bed, and ambled hastily after the Lupe, who was walking at an extremely fast pace.

      He walked out of The Golden Dubloon, and walked over to the same small rowboat that they used the previous night. The Lupe rowed in fast, powerful strokes. Near the shoreline, the Lupe jumped out of the small rowboat into the shallow water. He pulled the boat, along with a mesmerized Dani, to the shore. Dani jumped out, and again attempted to follow the Lupe. She almost had to run to keep up with him walking so fast. He led her all the way over to The Academy and, without stopping or waiting for Dani, he entered the training school.

      Cap'n Threelegs was walking around cleaning everything made out of glass that was within his reach. Dani could hear him muttering to himself, cursing and saying things such as "darn that stupid backstabbing little....." and "I'll teach him to stab someone in the hindquarters without warning, why I'll...." and other things that trailed off into silence.

      "Well, hello thar, Tallin!" The Eyrie turned around, and glanced at the Lupe, immediately ceasing from his conversation with himself, "How've ya been?"

      "Fine thanks. Listen, there's somethin' I need to talk to ye about," the Lupe replied, motioning his head toward Dani. Dani looked at the two of them, confused, scared, and embarrassed. Tallin, she thought. This must be the Lupe's name.

      The Lupe walked back over to her, and motioned for her to follow him. All three of them walked into a small room adjoining the larger one they were just in. Cap'n Threelegs and Tallin sat down on a bench near one of the walls; Dani sat on a bench right a cross from it.

      "All right, there be's some things we need to clear up," said Tallin. "See, we don't like foreigners coming to our island without notice. Especially not a pirate like me. I don't like seeing others drudging around me ship," Dani could do nothing but stare. "So tell me. What's yer name?"

      Dani gulped, and managed to grunt, "Dani."

      "Dani ,eh?" Tallin replied. "Well Dani, would ya mind tellin' me what ye was doin around me ship, in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain?" His voice wasn't exactly calm.

      Dani kept her head down, but spoke as best she could.

      "It was all an accident. I didn't mean to trespass."

      "Well," this time it was Cap'n Threelegs that spoke, "how would it be an accident?"

      "I had no idea that it was his ship!"

      "So, what was ye doin' searchin' it like ye was?" Tallin argued angrily.

      "Well, I just wanted to have a look around. I didn't know I was doing anything wrong. You can't blame me for never being around here before," she argued back. Despite her fear of being interrogated like this, she wanted to get the point across that she really hadn't done anything wrong.

      Tallin refused to admit that Dani was right, and he continued to fight back aggressively, "Well, ye should keep to yer own business no matter how new ye are to these parts."

      Cap'n Threelegs butted into the fierce argument with an incredible shout.

      "WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT YER TRAPS FOR TWO SECONDS? My goodness. I've never seen any two go at each other like that, even in me most aggressive training. Now, Tallin, leave the poor girl alone. She is new to this island, and we've got to consider that a'fore anything else. There's no way that she could have known that that was yer ship. Now, uh, Dani, is it? Yes, you must understand this one thing: Tallin ain't exactly the most understanding thing in the history of Lupes, so sometimes his anger just blows," he looked at Tallin menacingly, but the Lupe made no comment, "now Dani, can you please explain to us why you're here?"

      Dani slowly explained everything that had happened over the past few days. She explained everything about Ysabel, and how mean she had been, and how she had not been supportive at all. The other two watched her, drinking up every word she said. When she finished, she had her head in her paws, crying quietly.

      "Please," she said, "please don't send me back. Don't send me back."

      Tallin was wearing a look of shame on his face as he said, "Don't worry, we promise won't send ye anywhere."

To be continued...