Pirates Again

“Where are you, Kat?”

Katerina huddled on top of Cedric’s armoire, smothering her giggles as he roamed the house looking for her. He checked every closet, and under her bed.

“Kat,” he called, laughing. “Okay, I give up. You win. Come out.”

She stayed in her hiding spot until her brother came into his room, checking under his own bed. When he stood back up, Katerina leapt off the armoire and onto his back. He toppled forward onto the bed.

“Got you!” she crowed. Cedric laughed and bucked her off. She rolled across the bed, giggling wildly.

“Okay, you got me,” Cedric agreed. “How’d you even get up there?”

“I climbed up on the dresser and then on top of the armoire.”

“Okay, well, please don’t tell Dad you did that. He’ll have a heart attack and then negotiate his way back from the dead to skin us both. I don’t think he likes us playing hide and seek since you hid in the pond and he thought you were dead.”

“I had a reed to breathe through,” she protested. “I just knew you’d never think to look there. You never find my hiding places. I’m the hide and seek champion.”

“Well I am in awe of your humility.” Cedric tugged playfully on her curls. “No more hide and seek for today. My pride can’t take much more being bested by a nine year old pipsqueak.”

Katerina stuck her tongue out. Then she brightened. “Let’s play knights and dragons instead!” she said. Cedric groaned.

“No, you make me be the horse and then you somehow also get to be the dragon.”

“Please, Cedric? I’ll let you be the dragon this time! I promise! Please?” Katerina widened her eyes as much as they’d go. Cedric laughed again.

“Not the baby owl eyes. All right, come on.” He boosted her up onto his back so she could pretend to be a knight charging in on their white steed.

“You can be the dragon this time, but the knight wins,” she told him.

“You are the shadiest little creature,” Cedric told her. Katerina giggled again.

“Does the noble steed at least get a carrot?” he grumbled.

“Lots of carrots for the best horsey ever,” Katerina said, clinging to his neck. He shot her a smile over his shoulder.

“Only the best horse for the bravest knight,” he said.

Katerina’s eyes fluttered open and she sat up, smiling a little from her dream about Cedric. She really had been a little demon child, driving her father and big brother crazy. She supposed sailing miles from home and trying to outwit a band ignorâtes to save her brother from Ezra’s stupid antics would kind of make up for it, though. She folded up Rhys’s jacket and stood at the rail, just looking out over the water. Rhys joined her a few minutes later, handing her some bread. She smiled, accustomed to his presence now. The rest of the crew still made her a little wary, but they mostly left her alone aside from the frequent staring.

“You seem particularly thoughtful this morning,” Rhys remarked.

“Current circumstances notwithstanding, I always loved the ocean,” Katerina said, nibbling her bread. “When I was little I used to stand with my feet in the water and try to turn into an octopus. Then I’d go home and test it out by literally trying to climb the walls, hoping I’d be able to stick to them. I almost broke my neck a couple of times. My poor father had to explain that I couldn’t actually turn into an octopus and then deal with all my sulking afterwards, for a whole week.”

Rhys looked amused. “Do you still try to turn yourself into a sea creature?” he asked.

“No, I abandoned my octopus dreams,” she laughed. “I still think it’s grossly unfair that I can’t climb the walls though. Sometimes I regret all the mischief I can’t cause.”

“I sense that you still find ways to create some,” he reassured her.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you mean, Rhys,” she said, lowering her eyelashes demurely. He snorted but he still looked amused. Katerina gave up on her innocent face and her lips quirked up in an impish little smile.

She tagged along after Rhys like always for most of the morning, grimacing when she spotted Lewis approaching them. He was no doubt going to drag her off to that horrific kitchen again. She ducked behind Rhys, who glanced over his shoulder with his eyebrow raised.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Pretend you don’t know where I am.”

“Katerina, I’m pretty sure he already saw you.”

“Shh, eyes front. He’ll definitely notice me if you’re talking to me.”

“He already saw-“

“You need to go down and help secure the cargo and supplies. There’s a storm coming in,” Lewis told Rhys.

As if to demonstrate his point, a large wave rocked the ship, making them all stumble. Lewis cursed.

“Hurry up,” he snapped. He made his way down the steps to the hold and Rhys and Katerina followed. There was an ominous distant boom of thunder as they made sure the barrels and crates were all secure. Katerina yelped as another wave hit and she was nearly thrown clean off her feet. Rhys managed to catch her before she brained herself on the wall. Lewis uttered a string of foul words as he fell into a pile of crates. Once they were sure things weren’t going to go flying around the hold, they moved back up onto the deck. There was chaos up there as people rushed to secure the sails so they wouldn’t be damaged in the storm. The wind had picked up, and dark ominous clouds had moved in overhead.

“Oh,” Katerina muttered, remembering that hers and Rhys’s things were all on deck instead of tucked away below. Everything would get soaked in the rain, if it didn’t just fly overboard. She scampered off across the deck like a frightened rabbit, startling Rhys. She almost lost her footing several times, but she managed to collect their bags and Rhys’s jacket. She nearly ran right into him as she made her way back. It was hard to stand without wobbling now, and a large wave crashed over the side of the ship.

“Galley,” Rhys said, steering her toward it since it was the closest option for shelter they had. She could barely hear him over the wind that had picked up. They managed to get inside and get the door closed as a torrential downpour began outside. A cupboard flew open and scattered pots and utensils all over the place.

“You see,” Katerina said, swatting her hair out of her face, “this is another situation where being an octopus would come in handy. Literally, because, you know, eight arms.”

Rhys let out a bark of laughter. Katerina edged along the wall, trying not to get tossed by another roll of the ship.

“Thankfully the two arms I possess managed to save our stuff from being swept away,” she said, plopping the bags on the floor.

“I appreciate it,” Rhys replied.

“And to think, I actively tried to avoid coming in here today.” Katerina slid down the wall to sit on the floor, nudging a pot out of her way. Rhys made his way over to sit beside her.

“Sorry,” he said. “I think we’re going to be stuck in here for a little while though.”

Katerina crossed her legs and wedged herself into the corner, to avoid sliding all around the galley. “As long as I’m not being forced to peel potatoes with the dullest knife in existence.”

They sat in silence for a while, just listening to the storm rage outside. She wondered if this was like the storm that had gotten Cedric lost. She still had a knot of worry in her stomach, but she thought about her dream from that morning, and she felt an unfounded certainty that he was alive. She still had no idea how she was going to find him, but she stubbornly refused to give up hope. Giving up wasn’t the Dashwood way.

Katerina was shocked to find herself being gently nudged awake sometime later in the day; somehow she’d managed to nap through what had felt like a hurricane. She rubbed her eyes.

“Is it over?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think so. I don’t hear the wind anymore,” Rhys said. The ship wasn’t rocking so precariously anymore either. They collected their things and stood, prying the door open and peeking out. Sure enough, they could see blue sky and what looked like a port on the horizon.

“I wonder where we are,” Katerina mused aloud. “We’ve been heading southwest for a few days, we must be near either Togona or Roulante by now.”

“Quite the geographer, are you Miss Katerina?”

She edged away as Captain Notley sidled up next to them. He flashed her a cool glance. “We’ll be sailing into the harbor at Togona in about an hour. I trust that you two won’t think you can pull any funny business just because we’re restocking supplies and making some minor repairs.” His eyes narrowed at them coldly. “Because if you try sneaking off-“

“You’ll find us and inflict a punishment worse than death,” Katerina said. “We remember, Captain Notley.”

“Good. Keep remembering it.”