Making Waves
By Alyssa Plant

'Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of feet on the steps at the end of the hold and the sound of keys in the lock. Abigail slipped her legs off the bench and slipped into the gloom at the rear of her cell. She didn’t know who was coming, but she had a good idea what happened to girls taken by pirates, and it wasn’t related to tea parties or puppies.'

Part two

“You wanted to see me sir?” Lieutenant Martins sighed with annoyance. He was stood before the Captain’s desk while the old man looked over some charts. Looking up, Brand cracked a half smile,
“Would it hurt you to call me Father once in a while boy?”
Edward frowned. “Well I’m not feeling particularly friendly, so do you mind if we get to the point?”
Captain Brand looked up from his charts. “You never touch a woman when we make port, yet you seem to loose all sight of anything else when you are meant to be doing your job. I don’t get you boy.” He smirked. “I brought you a little something from the raid, she down in the brig. Try and act like are one of my lieutenants in future?”

Edward looked at his father. “You did what?” he asked incredulously.

”The pretty young thing you were eyeing… one of the passengers.” His father waved dismissively without looking up from his charts.

Edward left his father’s cabin without another word.

Peter came round in a dark, damp room. He was still at sea; the gentle rolling had become easily recognisable during the voyage. Peter took a deep breath of musty air… at least he tried: For some reason he was unable to breathe deeply, and his chest felt sore. Reaching up, he felt his chest and found it encased in the stay his mother had laced him into earlier. Sitting bolt upright on the bench, the memories came flooding back to him. He was dressed as a girl, and had been taken prisoner by pirates, who assumed he was a girl. Abigail… his name was Abigail. He had to start thinking like a girl if he was going to survive this. How did girls think? He wasn’t sure.
Abigail looked around her. She was in a cell, in the hull of a ship. She seemed to be alone. There were barrels and crates around the hold. There was noise coming from above; all the regular sounds of a ship at sea that she had become accustomed too. Abigail was terrified. Where was her mother? Would she see her again? Would she ever see her father? Why was she thinking in feminine pronouns? Fingering the lacy hem of her dress, she thought for a moment. She didn’t look like a peter, or a he… and there was something unexplainably right about how she was dressed. As if the change of clothes had cleared a fog in her mind.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of feet on the steps at the end of the hold and the sound of keys in the lock. Abigail slipped her legs off the bench and slipped into the gloom at the rear of her cell. She didn’t know who was coming, but she had a good idea what happened to girls taken by pirates, and it wasn’t related to tea parties or puppies.

Footsteps rang off the deck as she cowered in the darkness. The young officer that had protected herself and her mother appeared out of the gloom.
“Please don’t hurt me.” She whimpered quietly. “I.. I’ll do whatever you want.”

The man looked at her for a moment. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He replied softly, unlocking the door and stepping into the cell. Abigail pulled herself up flatter against the bulkhead.
“Please.” He repeated. “I just want to talk to you. I didn’t know you had been taken.”

Abigail relaxed a little. The man clearly didn’t intend to rape her immediately, which was a small mercy she thought.
The man approached and offered her his hand. “Here.” He said. “Allow me.”

Accepting it with a half smile, Abigail regained her feet. Her hand still in his, she followed him across the cell to the small bench she had woken on. Sitting as demurely as she could, she turned to face the young officer as he began to speak.
“Look, I wanted to apologise. I… My father.. Captain Brand… He took you because of me.” The man said slowly. “He thought I liked you, so… I’m so sorry.” The young man replied, a blush rising in his cheeks.

Abigail looked at the young officer. He was stammering and blushing like a boy with a crush. Well he was a boy with a crush… Wait… He was? She was it…. Abigail was torn by conflicting emotions; the realisation that someone liked her made her heart flutter happily. However, the fact it was a boy made her worry. In the short time she had been a girl, it had felt sort of normal, but she knew this was just a dream… an imaginary moment that would not last. This was all wrong… this morning, he had been a normal boy. Hah, that was a lie, he had been far from normal. Fragile, feminine, pretty, not a normal boy at all… But did that make him a girl? Abigail realised that morning, when her mother tried to protect her, that she was not a boy. This felt right. She felt whole for the first time in her miserable existence. It seemed odd, strange, disturbing, but she knew now that she had to exist by the moment, it was the only way forwards.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, staring at her with a curious expression on his face. “You looked so thoughtful.” He said.
“I.. I miss my mother. And… and I’m scared.” Abigail replied quietly. “I’m sorry, I’ve not been abducted by many pirates, and I… I don’t know.”

Edward reached out and took Abigail’s hand. “I promise I will let nothing happen to you. I got you into this, and on my word as a Gentleman I will get you out.”

Abigail was beginning to like the young lieutenant. He was a kind man, and he was quite handsome she observed.

“Look, You Can’t stay here.” He announced getting to his feet. “You will have my cabin, and I will see you set to rights once we reach port.” he said, offering Abigail his hand.
Taking the Lieutenant’s hand, she rose and followed him from the dank cell.
The two made their way along dark passageways in the hold of the ship before reaching a staircase at what must have been the stern. Lieutenant Martins lead the young woman up towards the officers quarters and led her into a small but comfortable Cabin.

”Here is my cabin, I.. I’m sorry its not much, but its all I can offer.” He replied sheepishly. “I suppose you would like to rest now, I’ll bring you some food in a while if you’d like.”

Abigail nodded silently, biting her lip, and watched the man leave the cabin, closing the door behind himself.

Finally alone, she sat heavily and in a decidedly unfeminine manner on the bunk. Tears rolled from her eyes as she awkwardly unfastened the dress and let it slip from her body, Sobbing with effort and stress, she fought with the stay’s laces and finally freed herself from its grip. Slumping onto the bunk, she was soon fast asleep.

Abigail woke several hours later feeling groggy. She listened again for the sound that had woken her. There was another knock at the door.

Slipping her feet off the bunk, she pulled the dress over her shift and held it closed as she approached the door. . She knew enough to not answer the door in her underwear.

Opening the door, she saw a young woman, perhaps 20, or 21. The woman was dressed similarly to the crew she had seen. Tunic, loose trousers and her hair tied back under a scarf. Abigail’s confusion must have been obvious. The woman smiled.

“I’m Hannah. Lieutenant Martins asked me to come down and check on you.”

Abigail held the door open and invited the young woman into the cabin.

”He wanted me to help you get cleaned up, he wanted you to eat with the cap’n and the officers later.” She announced shaking a small canvas bag she held.
“I don’t have much, but he figured that you didn’t have anything to get cleaned up with.”

“I, ah, thank you.” Abigail answered quietly.

Hannah looked at her with an expression Abigail wasn’t quite sure of. Before she had chance to decipher it, the young woman had gathered her in a tight embrace.
”I know how you feel sweetie” she said softly. “I lost my parents when I was about your age. It’s scary being alone in the world.”

”My parents aren’t lost.” Abigail whispered. “We were travelling to Barbados to meet my father, and my mother… I don’t know…” she trailed off sadly.

Hannah squeezed her tightly. “The Cap’n left the ship sailing, so there is a good chance your parents will be alive and well in Barbados, but I don’t know when we will make port, much less when you can find a ship back to them. I know the lieutenant said he will get you back, but you got to understand it’s a long shot honey.”

Abigail slipped from Hannah’s embrace and frowned. “I guess.” She mumbled. “This is all still so sudden for me. I’ve not had much chance to think.”

“Lets get you cleaned up huh?.” Smiled Hannah, in a less than subtle attempt at changing the topic.

Hannah brushed out Abigail’s hair with her worn brush, and using the pale of water in the well on the dresser, helped her clean the smudged and run makeup off her face.
Abigail felt a great deal better as the older girl helped her, Hannah almost felt like a big sister. She had never expected to find a woman aboard a pirate ship, such things were never told of in the stories back home. Pirates were all rapists, murderers, violent nasty smelly men. The captains barbarous, vindictive and cruel. But these people… they were different, more like normal people.

Hannah picked up Abigail’s stay and began to loosen the laces so she could fasten it once more.
“Such beautiful clothes.” She mused quietly. “I wish I had such finery.”

“You would not lust after it if you had worn such thing.” She smiled. Even in her limited experience, Abigail had gained a deep empathy with other women with regards to the clothing expected of them. Stay’s were torturous things. Perhaps she could get some clothes like Hannah? But then, Hannah was a real girl, and the clothes were the only things that made her body appear feminine she thought with a sigh.

Lacing the girl into her stay, and fastening the buttons of the dress, she helped Abigail tidy her hair and pronounced the girl fit for an audience with the captain.

The two made their way up towards the main deck of the ship. It was early evening, and the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. A skeleton crew manned the deck and helm, keeping things in check.
Hannah led Abigail through a door towards the stern and into the captain’s quarters.

“She’s here Sir.” She announced before giving Abigail’s hand a squeeze and disappearing out the door.

Abigail stood awkwardly in the candle light of the cabin. 6 men sat around a table with the Captain at its head.

Lieutenant Martins stood and made his way over to her. “Captain, men, I’d like to Introduce Miss Abigail Goldwyn.”

There was a round of murmurs as the other officers rose and greeted her. The Captain looked… well she couldn’t quite describe it. He looked funny… It was almost as if he wanted to speak, but was holding his tongue.

Lieutenant Martins lead Abigail to a place at the table and held her chair for her. Aware she was under the intense scrutiny of the men present, Abigail tried to be as graceful and feminine as possible, Copying the way her mother behaved at formal dinners in the past.

Throughout the dinner, she was engaged by many of the men at the table, in various questions of her past, England, and other dinner topics. The captain remained quiet.

Abigail found herself laughing at more and more of the jokes the officers made. They were a friendly group, and none of them seemed to make any advances. As much as she missed her mother, she knew that she would have to be strong to make it back to her. Perhaps she could learn to enjoy this? She wasn’t treated like a prisoner, more a guest. As the dinner drew to a close. She withdrew as her mother and the other women always had to leave the men to their drinking and man time. Thanking the captain and officers, she asked The lieutenant to escort her back to her cabin. He was only to pleased to assist.

Reaching the cabin, Abigail caught Lieutenant Martins looking at her and smiled at him. As much as reality told her not to. She felt increasingly smitten by the young man. His handsome features were looking down on her with a mixture of kindness and appreciation. The man was clearly searching for something to say. Her body took over and Abigail found herself reaching onto her tiptoes to touch her lips to his. She melted into his encircling arms. Reality be damned…