Billy had dozed off but awoke to find Riio snuggled up against his chest,
and his arms around her. Her face was buried in his shirt and he moved
his
mouth out of her hair.
Gently he pushed back the wispy fringe covering her forehead and kissed
the golden-brown skin behind it. She stirred and gazed sleepily into his
face, which was framed by the mane of raven hair and still covered the
one
eye.
Forgetting what he had been told by his captain, he kissed her, and she
didn’t pull away.
***
“UP! Get UP!” Hook was hammering on the cabin door and the pair leapt
out from underneath the blanket, where they hadn’t moved for the past
five hours. Riio adjusted her top and Billy pulled his vest back over his
shoulders where it had slipped from in his sleep, before he threw the bolt
and cast open the door once more to find Hook in all his terrible glory
squinting at them.
“Ah good…I hope you both slept well – there’s work to be done.” He then
thrust a list of tasks into Riio’s fingers and sent Billy to do his usual
chores. “If you’re going to spend time on this ship you’re going to make
yourself useful. And I wouldn’t try and escape, medear – the crocodile’s
in
an unusually determined mood this morning.”
Riio noticed the gentle ticking and looked over the side of the vessel.
Sure
enough, Croc was circling the boat and Riio knew crocodiles could move
uncannily quickly when they wanted to. She was just about to think about
flying, but Hook appeared to read her mind, and momentarily flashed a
pistol behind his cloak.
“Occasionally,” he murmured. “I can be a better shot with the pistol than
with the sword. If you would like to take the risk, that’s your choice.”
He strode off and Riio sighed, and started to go through her tasks.
“Did you touch her last night, boy?”
Billy shook his head gravely.
“Are you sure?” Surely the Captain was toying with him now. Billy nodded
and started to sweep the floor again. Before Hook could question him
further, a resounding “@#%$ off” reverberated across the deck. Jukes
shut his eyes tight and waited a couple of seconds before checking that
his
assumption was correct. He groaned. He was right…she’d said that word
again. Hook was beyond himself.
“Good grief girl! Never have I known such a foul-mouthed, insubordinate…”
“If you could control your men I wouldn’t have to be so foul-mouthed! It
seems to be the only language they understand!”
She turned her back to Hook and crouched down to wash the pots in the
small bucket. Hook stormed towards her, fuming.
“Now see here, girl. I…what’s THAT!?” Hook pointed in disbelief at the
small
of her back. Riio answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
“It’s a tattoo.”
“A tat…bloody…a buggering…what is the world coming to!”
“Not your world, just mine.”
Hook snarled at her and trudged back to his cabin while the other
crewmembers looked on. Mason gave her a disgusted look.
“I’m the one with the tattoos round here, girl…”
“Sorry!” She grinned and carried on with her pots. Starkey looked very
much like he would like to strangle her but decided against it as the
Captain had given them all a severe warning about going near her the
night before. He caught sight of Jukes giving her the thumbs up beside
him and resorted to giving him a clip round the ear instead. Riio decided
that she had best try and keep her moth shut now – pretending that the
night’s events hadn’t happened worked very well for her, but not for the
men who had been on the receiving end of Hook’s wrath. Smee hobbled
over and tapped her carefully on the shoulder.
“Begging, your pardon, miss, but the cap’n would like to see ye in his,
err,
office.”
Riio went white. She hadn’t even done anything yet. Smee accompanied
her to Hook’s cabin and shut the door on the pair of them when she was
inside. Hook watched her over steepled fingers.
“I do hope you weren’t put off the pirate life by the little, ah, incident
last
night?”
Was he mad? Riio gawped at him. Three grown men with a murderous
background had nearly robbed her of her virginity and this man thought
that there was a possibility of her not being bothered by it. She decided
against telling him this and resorted to shaking her head, eyes cast down.
“Are you sure?” Surprisingly, Hook’s voice was soft, almost reassuring.
She wanted to tell him she wanted out. She was going to tell him she
wanted to leave the ship and go home, to the Lost Boys if not the real
world. She nodded reluctantly at him. Captain Hook sighed.
“Fine, fine. You stay aboard this vessel then.” He looked almost upset.
More like disappointed though, Riio thought to herself, this man knows
his
workers – he knows what they’re capable of. Hook pulled a small bag out
of the desk drawer beside him.
“There’s only one job here for you, melady.” He threw her the bag. “Put
this on. You’re a serving-girl. When you’re not helping young Jukes with
his chores, you will serve in the kitchen with Cookson.”
Riio pulled a disgusting frilly dress out of the brown sack, with a plunging
neckline and bodice. She grimaced.
“Put it on.” He ordered.
“Can’t I wear the top on its own?”
“PUT IT ON.”
“I can’t work in a skirt,” she reasoned. Hook considered this. He held
out
his hook and she draped the degrading piece of material over it. He
dragged his hook through the waistline, separating the top from the
bottom and handed it back to her. Riio gave him the sweet smile she saved
for when she needed or had got her own way. James Hook went pink on
his cheeks and barked at her to get working. She was about to shout back
at him but was saved from making that mistake by Jukes, Mullins and
Smee tumbling through the door, which had given up the straining fight
against the three of them leaning against it, trying to hear what was going
on inside.
“WORK! Why do I not see work! Every one of you out there NOW and get
shifting before I split ya and send ya down as a new playtoy for the croc
and bear this in mind ladies and gentlemen: I’m. Not. Happy.”
And with that, he slammed the door on them.
“It’s not funny.”
“It is!” Jukes snorted. Riio was standing in the nasty blouse with her
jeans
on the bottom.
***
“Tonight.” Stated Peter. “We attack.”