Miya Black, Pirate Princess I: Adventure Dawns (17 page)

"It's so beautiful here," Miya said, gazing somewhat longingly at a golden beach on one of the larger islands. "From the outside you can't even tell how pretty it all is. It's really a shame we're in a hurry, I'd love to stop and explore, maybe find some fruit, go for a swim, have a picnic—go fishing, even."

"It would be interesting to spend some time observing the fish here, certainly," said Sola.

"Yeah, that sounds fascinating," said Miya, her face straight.

By the time the sun was setting they'd nearly made it through the chain, ready to head out for the open ocean once more, towards Biscuit Cove.

"It's getting dark," Miya said, looking up at the sky. "And we definitely deserve a proper break after all that excitement this morning ... what do you say, Sola? Let's drop anchor by the island over there and rest for the night."

Sola nodded, and they prepared to anchor off the island, which was one of the larger they'd seen, large enough to have a small beach and even a bay of sorts. After dropping anchor and preparing the ship for rest, Miya borrowed Sola's canoe and had a little paddle around. At first she had some difficulty, being used to rowing squat, stable dinghies, but after a while she got the hang of it.

"This is pretty good!" Miya called to Sola, who was sitting cross-legged on the deck, using Miya's knife to sharpen his spear. "I think I prefer a dinghy but still, pretty fun! And you can get it really moving!"

Miya zipped around the little bay for a while before landing on the beach, running barefoot on the sand for a few minutes before putting her sandals back on and exploring the thick foliage beyond, dozens of bright red butterflies cascading out of the narrow trees as she crashed between them. Miya stopped to gaze up at the butterflies as they fluttered away, the fading sun making them glow like lanterns against the pale blue of the dusk sky.

It was starting to get properly dark by the time Miya made her way back to the beach, a string bag filled with wild banana passionfruit tied to her belt. She smiled as she saw a dim glow coming from her ship—Sola must have lit a hooded lantern on the deck, she thought. The sky beyond the ship was a dark grey-blue, the moon shining bright in the sky, dozens of stars already visible. For a moment Miya just stood there, on the sandy beach, an immense feeling of
rightness
inside her
—
never mind all the troubles of the world, in this moment, in this perfect moment, everything was fine.

"Wow, you've already got dinner all ready!" Miya said, after pulling herself onto the main deck. "Is that a fish?"

"I scattered some biscuits into the water to test, and this one came to feed," Sola said. "But only this one. Perhaps you could call it luck, or a gift from the ocean."

"In any case, well done!" said Miya, as she finished tying up Sola's canoe. "Canary blues are pretty good fried, or you can stew them up ... although without any spices or stuff it'd be kind of bland. How do you normally cook your fish?"

Sola shrugged. "Some lime juice."

"Like ... fried with lime juice?"

"Just lime juice."

"You mean
raw
?"

Sola smiled. "I had a similar reaction when I first learned about 'fish stew'."

"Well ... maybe if I get a bit hungrier," said Miya. "For now, we've got delicious bananas—and look, fresh banana passionfruit! And, um, ship's biscuits!" She paused, trying to think of something positive to say about ship's biscuits. "They're ... they've been properly stored and aren't full of bugs!"

The two of them ate together as the sky darkened further, feeling full at the end of the meal but not quite satisfied. Miya tried a small strip of raw fish and admitted that it wasn't quite as gross as she'd expected, but that she was probably fine not having any more right now, thank you.

They talked, as they sat and gazed up at the starry sky, about their homes and more innocent days; Sola laughed deep and long as Miya told him about the time Lars and her father had attempted to 'liberate' Lars's dog Sam from the Blackport pound, an incident that had ended with the two of them being lightly trampled by a dozen dogs of various breeds, and Miya giggled through Sola's recounting of the time he and his cousins had 'borrowed' a rather large aunt's dress to use as the sail for their raft—his description of the dress as it "instantly filled with wind and sent the raft down the river faster than we could chase" had Miya snorting with laughter in a very unladylike manner.

"Mum tells me all the time about how there are so many more stars out here than where she grew up," Miya said, as she sat gazing up at them alongside her brother. "Really, I can't imagine there being any less than this ... what would that even be like? Just a big black sky? Just thinking about it makes me feel a bit weird. The night sky, but with no stars ..."

There was silence for a moment. Then Sola cleared his throat:

"You mean like a cloudy night?"

"No! Sola, where is your sense of romance? I'm sure it'd be different, somehow it'd be different. I'd really like to see it, even if it was just once—I wonder if you could still see the moon? That'd be weird, huh? No stars but just a big moon hanging there ..."

Miya thought about this for a moment, then shivered, then yawned hugely.

"Oh, excuse me," she said. "Maybe I should get to bed, we'll have another busy day tomorrow."

Sola nodded as Miya stood, although he remained sitting, gazing out at the moonlit islands.

"How about you? Are you going to bed? Do you sleep, ever?" Miya asked. Sola laughed.

"Yes, I'm tired," he said. "I was just enjoying the view. I never knew that there were sights such as this."

"You've never come into the Trinket Chain before? But it's so close to your island!"

Sola shrugged. "Perhaps my home is too sheltered. When everything you need is at hand, there is little reason to travel far."

"Huh. I can see heaps of things wrong with THAT way of thinking. Although actually I can't talk since I've never been here either. The islands are pretty, though."

"And such difference, so close. I'd never seen a fish like I caught this evening. What else is there in the world?"

"Aha!" said Miya. She grinned and punched her brother on the shoulder. "You're getting a taste for adventure! The thirst for exploration, the burning desire to know what's over the next horizon, knowing there'll always be another horizon, ah ..." Miya gave a happy sigh. "Adventure."

Sola nodded. "Maybe so."

"Anyway, I'm gonna get some sleep. See you tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow."

Miya stretched again, took a deep breath of the night air, spun around once, then went off to bed, falling asleep almost as soon as she lay down.

*

Miya woke early the next morning, before sunrise, and after eating a breakfast of banana passionfruit and ship's biscuit with Sola they had set out. It was another clear day, the winds constant and the waters calm, the Black Swan skimming along steadily as they left the Trinket Chain behind and headed into the open ocean.

Miya spotted a sail in the far distance just before noon; a big, heavy merchantman. It was flying a green flag.

"Independent trader," she said to Sola. "Coming up from the southern islands. Maybe stopping at Biscuit Cove for supplies or trading—headed for Algernon, I bet. I hope they don't run into any of Badger Pete's lot."

"It seems as though Badger Pete doesn't have a presence in this area," said Sola. Miya shrugged.

"Too many ships from outside the archipelago, maybe. He doesn't want to risk running into a decently armed trader."

They spotted a few more ships as the day went on, the frequency increasing as they neared Biscuit Cove.

"There goes a fast one," said Miya, looking through the spyglass. "It's a sloop, heading south-east by the looks of it. Maybe headed for the Highland."

"We should be near Biscuit Cove now. Maybe I'll perform another check, to make sure."

"Another one? You've done, what, two in the last hour?"

"Three," Sola admitted.

"Do you like doing them or something?"

"It's not a chore," he said, after thinking about it for a moment. Miya shook her head, smiling.

"You're kind of odd in some ways, you know," she said.

The sun had just touched the horizon when Miya first spotted their destination, and by the time they could see it properly it was truly dusk. Biscuit Island turned out to be a rocky, rather uninviting place, but as they rounded it and saw Biscuit Cove the reason for having a port here became obvious; the cove was a natural crescent moon shape, with craggy rock walls surrounding a squat, sprawling town that crouched against the island. The docks themselves seemed fairly informal, half a dozen reaching out into the ocean, no two the same length—it looked like they'd been built to accommodate the flow of sea traffic, more length added as and when it was needed. Dozens of long, tall torches provided light along the piers, thin spirals of black smoke vanishing into the night.

"Oh my goodness," said Miya, standing at the front of the ship, alternately looking through her spyglass to get a close look and lowering it to get a wider view, trying to see everything at once. "Do you see this, Sola? Are you looking?"

"I'm looking," said Sola, his tone lacking in enthusiasm.

"So am I," breathed Miya. "What a port ... it's exactly how I imagined it. Well, not
exactly
exactly. But it's as good as I imagined it."

"Miya, I ... I will stay with the ship. I don't trust this place."

"I know! It's SO untrustworthy!"

They brought the Black Swan in smoothly, Miya jumping off onto the dock far earlier than she should have, clearing a three-metre gap with her enthusiastic leap. She tied the Swan to the front cleat while Sola did the same with the rear, then she approached a dock worker loitering nearby.

"What do you want, girl?" he asked.

"Princess," Miya said, automatically.

"Eh?"

"Sorry, force of habit. I am a princess but you're not my subject, so don't worry about it. I've just brought my ship in, it's that one there. The Black Swan."

The dock worker looked at Miya's ship, then spat on the dock.

"So what?" he said.

"Isn't there a signing in procedure? Register my name and ship and place on the docks?"

"Heh. You're a fish, ain't ya darling?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your man there minding it for ya?"

Miya looked back at Sola, who was standing on the deck, arms crossed.

"My 'man'? Well, I guess so, but—"

"So what are ye bothering me for? He looks big enough."

"I just thought—"

"Can't see anyone stealing a ship that ugly anyway."

Miya bristled.

"What? Did you just say 'ugly'?"

"Eh, don't take it personal, fish. Heading into town?"

"Yes, I need to take on supplies. We have a long journey ahead of us," said Miya.

"Huh. Mind yerself, then. Not everyone's friendly as me."

The dock worker sniffed and spat again, then lit a smelly cigarette and leant against a pile of crates.

"Well ... okay. Whatever."

Miya turned and waved to Sola, who nodded back at her, then she made her way up the pier, looking at the ships as she passed them, trying to guess what kind of person might be captain of each, and looking out for any that seemed like they might belong to Badger Pete or his gang. There were dozens of ships docked here, mostly sloops, flat and sleek, with a few merchantmen and trade frigates mixed in, as well as a couple of fat old galleons.

Traders, thought Miya. Just traders. If Badger Pete's gang are here then they're hiding well.

The docks were quiet, and the people around barely even glanced at Miya as she marched by. Neither the people nor the docks were particularly clean, but then they're docks, Miya thought, they're not supposed to be clean. The water around here smells weird, though, kind of sour.

Miya made her way off the docks and climbed the steps into town, looking around with shining eyes. People were everywhere—here, near the docks, it seemed like it was packed to overflowing. She counted five pubs on the dock front alone, the patrons spilling out onto the streets, drunkards singing and shouting and fighting noisily. It smelled awful, like garbage on a hot day mixed with the reek of cheap alcohol and stale sweat, but Miya ignored this (as best she could, at least).

"Girl! Hey, fancy girl! Better turn back now!" came a call from a tall man wearing a greasy overcoat, this drawing howls of laughter from those he sat with. "It only gets worse the deeper you dig!"

Drunk, thought Miya, ignoring him as she walked past the pub, heading further into town. She looked around for a place to buy supplies as she made her way along the busy street, but it seemed like they only had two kinds of building here—pubs, taverns, bars or otherwise 'places to get drunk', and those unmarked. What people that weren't staggering around in the streets drunk were mostly sat on crates or barrels or leaning against walls, talking in hushed tones or staring at her—in fact, now that Miya was further away from the docks, almost everyone not rendered senseless by drink seemed to be paying an awful lot of attention to her. Well, Miya reasoned, it's not every day a pirate as young as me walks into town, I bet. And, the thought struck her, these ARE pirates! My parents LIED to me! Pirates don't just live in stories or in distant, savage lands, here they are, right here, just a couple of days sailing from home! There's no way you could just call these guys 'raiders' or 'smugglers', these are genuine pirates! Dozens of them, hundreds of them, a whole town FULL of them! 'There might be a couple still around, I suppose', hah!

It took everything Miya had to keep herself from smiling happily as she walked through the streets (she figured wandering around grinning at everything wasn't really a very good pirate-y look).

"Oops," she said, as she almost walked into the back of a tall man with no hair. He was shirtless, with a large, complicated sea-dragon tattoo on his back. Miya quickly looked away as he turned—then she steeled herself and looked right back at him.