Ghosts of the Past Chapter 8

Garin’s plan seemed simple enough. And he made it clear that it might take me a few days before finding me a way to get home, but if it meant getting home at all, I would take the risk. The plan was to make it seem like I had given up on going home and instead decided to join with Garin’s crew. Indeed, it did seem simple enough, yet there were plenty of risks that I would have to take. Though what truly made it hard for me was knowing that everyone on board the Pawkeet was willing to take even greater risks, all so that I could get back to my family.

Right now though I had to focus on the moment, focus on the plan as we went ashore. It was my first time being on dry land since I was first rescued from Scarblade, so it felt kind of weird. We had arrived at a place that I remember from my grandmother’s stories, which she called ‘Scurvy Island’, a notorious pirate hang out. It made me tingle with excitement and nervousness as we walked down the dock and into the village.

“You alright, Lisa?” Garin asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good. If you’re going to be part of my crew you can’t be lookin’ all jumpy,” he said, giving me a small wink. I nodded again and followed him and Jacques further into the village. That was another part of the plan, making sure it was known that I was a new member of the crew, not in a way that would raise suspicions, but just enough to make it seem a fact.

Scarblade had been known for frequenting Scurvy Island, so he was bound to have eyes and ears everywhere. It probably wouldn’t be long before he made a move. Knowing that, I couldn’t help but wonder when that move would be, or what it would be. What if Garin’s plan failed? What if everyone was taking this risk for me for nothing? It seemed the only thing that could roll through my mind were questions like that.

“Lisa?”

“Hm?” I turned away from my thoughts and found myself focusing on Jacques as he addressed me.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Not wanting to sound like I’m doubting you guys, but what if this doesn’t work?”

“To be honest I don’t know if it will.” Garin said. “But it’s the only plan we have, aside from an all out attack on the Revenge, and no offense, I won’t risk my crew in something like that.”

“I understand. I don’t want you all to take any more risks than you already are anyway…” I said, frowning and looking at the ground. Garin put his hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, chin up. No matter what happens, we’ve got your back,” he said. “We owe that much to your grandmother.”

“Still hard to believe she’s gone…” I heard Jacques say quietly. I frowned again, but after a moment smiled and elbowed Jacques in the side.

"Considering how bossy she was I would have that to be a good thing." I said. Jacques chuckled lightly.

“So you’ve heard about her nickname, eh?”

“Yup. Actually, I was hoping you guys could tell me more about what she was like.” I said, unable to keep my curiosity contained. Sure, I knew my grandmother when I was little, but I didn’t know much about her when she was younger, and had her adventures.

Other than what I heard from her stories, at any rate.

“Is it true that she would… go Berserker?” I asked.

“Oh yeah!” Jacques said with a nervous laugh. “Whenever that happened is was always smart to just duck n’ cover! Unless you were Garin here or Sam.”

“Yeah. She always listened to Sam a bit more than she did to me, to be fair.” Garin said. “She had a soft spot for him.”

‘Considering how adorable he is, I can understand that!’ I giggled for a moment, then looked at Garin. “What would set her off, anyhow?”

“Well,” Garin paused as he thought for a moment. “Once it was because she saw a young boy get struck for begging some rich toff for food. This other time it was because some drunk in the tavern made an unwanted advance. During those moments we just knew to stay clear and wait for it to pass.”

“Aye,” said Jacques. “She’d always get this look in her eyes, and her body would get all tense, like the way an angry tomcats does.”

“Hence her name?” I asked.

“A little bit.” Garin replied. “When we first met her, right off the first thing you would notice about her were those eyes; same color as the ocean when a storm was about to break. And the way she would move during a fight. What she lacked in brawn she made up for with that footwork of hers! She was fast! Not as fast as Jacques here but, damn, was she fast.”

I couldn’t help but notice the tone that Garin was using. The way it sounded, he spoke about my grandmother with particular appreciation and reverence. There was also a hint of fear behind it when he mentioned the times she could go Berserker. It made me think about the years that I had known my grandmother, and how much she must have changed after being part of Garin’s crew, learning to control her anger, and leaving behind that life of adventure to lead a family life.

As we walked into a tavern I wondered how I was ever going to go back to a normal life after I got home. Sure, I missed it, but I knew without a doubt that I would also miss having adventures like this.

And I wondered if she had known that too.

I fooled Jacques and Garin into a nearby tavern, where some of the crew were already seated waiting for us. The tavern was pretty busy, and reminded me of those old pirate movies I used to watch with my friends. I made sure to stay close to Garin and Jacques as we made our way towards the others, especially when I noticed the stares from some of the patrons, none of them welcome ones. It was like a bar, but worse…

When we finally reached the table, Talak stood up and pulled a chair out for me. “Thanks,” I said to him as I sat down.

“No worries.” Talak smiled and sat back down as a short, stout barmaid walked over to our table.

“What’s your pleasure, mates?” she asked with a thick, somewhat cockney accent.

“Mother’s Ruin,” Garin said.

“Make mine the same.” Jacques added.

“The rest of us will have some Hog’s Head.” Talak said.

“Uh… Nothing for me, for now, thanks.” I said, lifting a hand. The barmaid nodded and walked away. I have to admit I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t Hannah the Brave who was serving our table, but if what I remembered from my grandmother’s stories, she lived on a different island.

“Not much of a drinker, eh?” Garin asked, looking at me.

“No,” I shook my head. “I’ve never had alcohol before, though I’ve never liked the idea of trying it. Something else I carry over from my gran, I guess.”

“Yeah, Sea Cat wasn’t much of a drinker.” Garin said. “She did love her wine though. Give her a fresh cork and she could name the age of the brew!”

“Yeah!” I laughed, remembering once from my childhood, at the neighborhood Christmas party, my grandmother had opened a bottle of wine and let me smell the cork to try and guess what year the wine was.

“I remember once we were in this tavern on Mystery Island, and a brawl broke out that we got caught in,” Bill started to say. “And the Cat managed to get hold of this bottle of wine and bashed some bloke’s head in with it, but then, ha! She started letting him have an earful for makin’ her waste a good vintage!”

“That wasn’t on Mystery Island, that’s when we were in Altador, scoping out that festival for a good score!” Jim protested.

“No, no, Altador is when we all took turns trying that pickled cheese! Remember?” Jacques said.

“Oh yeah!”

“Ha! Poor Sea Cat had her hands full with us that day!”

“Especially with Garin!” Talak laughed. “He was literally turnin’ green!”

“I was not!” Garin argued, his cheeks turning a bit pink.

I laughed, tossing my head back as I listened to the others banter back and forth with one another. Hearing them talk about my grandmother like that, the same way I talked about her with my family and friends, I almost forgot that I was in some strange new world, far away from my home and loved ones. At the same time though, it made me realize how much I missed them. I looked up at the ceiling for a bit, then leaned my head back upright as the barmaid came back with the boy’s drinks.

“Thanks, lass.” Garin said as he took his drink, tossing a silver coin to the barmaid as she walked away. “Alright boys, drink up, then we’ll discuss our next move.”

“What is our next move?” I asked, laying my elbows on the table. Garin took a drink from his mug, then looked over at me.

“We set a trap, of course.”