Blurred Horizons

Ben tore into his and Scarlett's quarters at the sound of her scream, his heart in his throat.

"What's wrong?" he asked frantically, finding her on the floor beside the crib. "Is Gigi hurt?"

"She's gone, Ben," Scarlett said raggedly. "They took her."

Ben went to her, pulling her to her feet as she sobbed. He took the piece of parchment clenched tightly in her fist and read it. He felt his blood turn to ice in his veins.

"Who?" he whispered fiercely. "Phineas kidnapped you, and he's dead."

"Nathaniel and Phineas were best friends," Scarlett moaned.

Ben tensed. He turned and paced the room while Scarlett sank onto the bed. "Ben, he'll ruin her. Assuming he doesn't just kill her he'll raise her to be ruthless and when she gets old enough..." she trailed off, another choking sob escaping her throat. "They'll just use her and hurt her. Oh my god, my little Gigi."

Ben leaned against the desk, his shoulders rigid. He knew the way Phineas had raised Scarlett after he took her. He knew the kinds of things he and his crew had done to her, how they treated her. The idea of Nathaniel doing those same things to his helpless little Gemma ignited a rage in his heart that he had never felt before. He was only dimly aware of his hand lashing out and knocking the case that had once contained the amulet sailing across the room to shatter against the wall. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself.

"I'm not going to let that happen," he said. "I'll kill every last man on his ship before I let that happen. We're going to get her back."

"We don't even know where his ship went," Scarlett said. "Or even if he's on a ship, since The Serpent was destroyed." He faced her and she was looking at him with sad, hopeless eyes. "They could have gone anywhere."

Ben strode from the room out to the quarterdeck. The entire crew looked up at him nervously, except for Thomas, whose eyes were filled with concern.

"When was the last time one of you morons remembers having my daughter?" Ben asked, his words slow and icy.

"I had her last night," Elliott said weakly. "She woke me up around two or so in the morning. So I walked around the deck with her for a bit, and then one of the new guys offered to take her for a while. He said he had younger siblings and had dealt with babies a lot so I figured he was better off with her anyway. I was half asleep, so I let him take over."

"Nathaniel Everett has kidnapped her," Ben said flatly. The silence that descended over the Silver Spirit in that moment was so heavy Ben could almost feel it pressing on him.

"Does anyone know anything about what became of Nathaniel after his ship was destroyed?" Ben asked after several beats.

"I heard rumors that he won a new ship in a bet," one man spoke up, almost timidly. "If the story is true then he now captains a ship called the Cutlass."

"It's not unlikely that he would have traveled out this way," Stephen added. "He can't go back to London because of what your sister did to him, and he probably doesn't have anywhere else in Europe to go. So he'll probably stay somewhere in the Caribbean."

"Set sail toward the Bahamas this instant," Ben said. "We need to find that ship.

The crew sprang into action before he'd even finished speaking, scrabbling to set the coordinates and raise the anchor. Clearly whatever look they saw in Ben's eyes convinced them if they didn't find Gigi in record time he'd throw them overboard one at a time. He wasn't entirely sure himself that he wouldn't do just that. Thomas came up beside him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"We'll get her back, Ben."

"We were gone barely two days and they lost our infant daughter," Ben said with disgust. "They're twenty-five grown men and they can't even keep track of a baby."

"They'll do everything in their power to get her back, I can promise you that. You've done a fine job putting the fear of God into them." Thomas chuckled quietly. "Go be with your wife. She must be worried sick."

Ben nodded and returned to his quarters, finding Scarlett sitting on the bed and holding the blanket from Gigi's crib.

"One of the men has heard that Nathaniel procured another ship," he said, his tone now much gentler. "We're going to scour the globe for him, Scarlett. I promise you I will find Gigi."

Scarlett managed a tiny smile. "I know you will."

He went to sit beside her, pulling her close to him and kissing her forehead. He didn't know how long they stayed that way, but at some point they had fallen asleep because Ben was woken by shouts on deck. Scarlett stirred too, blinking her eyes.

"What the hell is going on now?" she grumbled. They went and joined the crew, finding them leaning over the railing of the ship and talking and pointing animatedly.

"What's going on here?" Ben demanded. "Don't you all have jobs to do?"

Most of them backed away from the sides of the ship quickly, leaving only Thomas and Doc standing there, seemingly talking to someone. Ben and Scarlett went forward to investigate. Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Not again," she groaned.

"There you two are!" called a chipper voice that Ben was now familiar with.

"Ivanna," he said. "What are you doing here? I thought you lived by the island."

"Well I did," she said. "But with the heart of the island demolished, I'm free to swim wherever I want to now. But I'm still drawn to sailors in distress. It's my nature, you know. And I'm sensing quite a bit of distress from your ship. What's the matter, Benny?"

"A rival captain has taken my daughter."

Ivanna gasped. "How awful!"

"The trouble is we don't know where he's gone. He's on a ship called the Cutlass."

"Leave it to us," Ivanna said. "We can find the ship much faster than you will and lead you right to it. And then we'll get your precious baby back."

"We?" Ben said. Ivanna's face lit up with a mischievous grin. She let out a long, low whistle that echoed through the twilight. The water around the ship began to churn a few moments later, and Ben stared with amazement as at least two dozen mermaids surfaced, waving cheerfully at the dumbstruck crew.

"You didn't think I was the only mermaid in the sea did you?" Ivanna laughed. "These are my sisters. Sisters, this is Benny and Scarlett. They need our help. So, you five." She pointed to several mermaids bobbing in the water nearest her. "Swim as fast as you can and find a ship called the Cutlass. There should be a baby on board. She was stolen and we're going to help our friends get them back. Understood?"

The mermaids nodded and dove under the waves, their tails slashing the water quick as lightning as they swam away. The rest drew closer around the ship, looking up at the pirates eagerly.

"This is terribly exciting," one of them said.

"Shh, Theia! It's tragic. These poor people have lost their baby," another hissed.

"Oh." The first mermaid, Theia, looked crestfallen. "I didn't mean that was exciting. I just meant us helping them is exciting."

Several others began talking to the crew and Scarlett heaved a long sigh.

"As if this situation wasn't dire enough," she muttered. "Now we're infested with damn mermaids."