Washing Up Free Part One of Two

Welcome to Tuesday. This story came about after input from Beth over at Writer B is Me.  Thanks, Beth, for the feedback. I promise, there’re mermaids=)

Since I’ve changed the posting schedule, the posts this week are a little longer to accommodate the same story length that I was posting  in three days. Let me know if it seems too long.

Otherwise, thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoy.

Washing Up Free

“You don’t have a choice,” her father said. “The boy ran off. That leaves you in my care until I find a new suitable match.” He spun on his heel and stalked away, slamming his bedroom door at the end of the hall.

Liz swallowed the familiar lump in her throat. There was no “new” suitable match. Even if she liked someone her father chose, no one would have her. Not after the first boy ran instead of marrying her.

Gah! She didn’t want a suitable match. Liz stomped down the hall and entered her room. She stared at her bed while she leaned back against the door, and then made her decision.

Dropping to her knees, she dug beneath her bed until she found her flowered duffle bag.

“I won’t be property.” She threw several pairs of clothes in and pulled open the drawer next to her bed for a tie for her hair. Her hand paused over a folded letter. His letter. Her hand crept up to the ruby necklace she wore. Growling, she pinched the hair tie and slammed the drawer shut. He’d rejected her. Left town.

Peeking into the hall, she made sure her father was still hiding out in his room. He was. No big surprise.

The docks weren’t far and she had enough, barely, for passage. It was time to try life on her own.

***

The ship swayed and creaked beneath her feet. Waddling across the dark deck, Liz caught herself on the outside rail.

She’d never get used to the motion. At least it didn’t make her sick like some of the other passengers. The woman she bunked next to was positively green since they left port.

That’d been two days ago and still the woman moaned and retched. Liz didn’t blame her but neither could she stand the smell.

“Hey, Chap!” Hollered the heavily bearded man at the helm.

A sailor paused before going below. “Yeah?”

“Tell the Captain something’s caught in the rudder. Can’t keep course and we’re heading into the islands.”

“Capt’n’s sleeping, Easley. He’ll skin me for waken ‘im.”

“Chap, I’ll skin ya for disobeying!”

Easley’s bellow made Liz cower against the side. Like he sensed her watching, his head swung around to stare at her.

“What’re you looking at, girl?” he asked.

Chap took the opportunity to disappear below deck.

Liz shook her head and scampered away. She didn’t like Easley, he’d stared at her when she boarded like he was considering how easy it’d be to rob her. She’d tucked her necklace away but he’d still seen it.

Reaching the nose of the ship, Liz leaned out and breathed deeply of the salt air. It spoke to her of adventure and of a second chance.

Closing her eyes, she listened to the beat of the waves against the hull. The rhythm thudded evenly like a drum. Thud, thud—thud, thud. After Easley’s shouting, the rhythm was soothing. As she listened, the deep tones were joined by a lighter patter, like hands beating against the thick wood.

Liz’s eyes snapped open as she realized the waves couldn’t be making the sound. Leaning farther out, she came face to face with liquid green eyes surrounded by blue specks. The eyelashes were white. They blinked.

Sucking in a breath, Liz held it, mesmerized by the intelligence and beauty in the face. Wow. She pulled back, overwhelmed, and then leaned forward again, hoping her imagination wasn’t running away with her.

In a silvery flash, the creature disappeared.

Leaning out farther, Liz tried to spot the creature again but only waves rolled below.

The ship lurched forward and Liz lost her balance, slid farther over the rail, and latched onto the side at the last moment as the ship lurched again and her feet swung into the air.

“Help!”

Her voice was lost in the shouting of the sailors above. She’d never been known for her strength. Even hauling a wash bucket stretched her abilities. Her fingers let go without her mind’s permission, leaving nail marks in the wood of the railing.

Screaming, Liz hit the water with her mouth open. Salty, freezing ocean bombarded her. She was pushed one way, then the other until, miraculously, her head popped out of the water.

Liz sucked in air to scream but the sound died in her throat.

The ship canted on its side and, now that her equilibrium was back, she could hear the screaming on board. Several figures plunged over the deck and splashed into the water. They were the lucky ones. With a rending crack of splintering wood, the ship buckled and sank like something pulled it down.

Liz swiped at her eyes. This isn’t real. But even as the waves tossed her around, she still saw the lines. Something was attached to the ship. She could see the rock the ship had run into. Splinters and debris floated around it, but she could also see the last bit of the hull.

With an unnatural jerk, the last part disappeared, giving off a sucking sound.

Liz cried out. So many people were on board but there was nothing she could do. She could barely swim herself, much less go diving for people.

A head popped out of the water, spluttering through a large beard. Liz hesitated. Easley. She didn’t really like the man but there wasn’t much of a choice. It was either face the ocean or face the man. She’d rather face the man. At least she kind of understood him.

“Master Easley!” A wave smashed into her, shoving her under with her mouth open again. Flailing for the surface, her hand smacked something, and then she was grabbed and pulled upward.

“Of all the—“

Liz cringed at the bellow. She tried to push away but Easley wouldn’t let go.

“Stop thrashing or I’ll dunk you.”

Liz stilled. Looking up through her lashes, she gauged his face. His eyes bulged in a face so red, Liz wondered if he’d been burned. His lips were rolled inward to the point that all she could see was beard.

“No ship goes down like that,” he said. “What happened? How’d you end up out here?’

“I…I don’t’ know,” Liz stuttered, partially from fear and partially from cold. She couldn’t feel her toes anymore and her fingers ached with a bone deep pain.

“You had to see something!”

“Som…something pulled it down.” Liz finally managed to free herself by suddenly pulling away. She put several feet between them before stopping.

“Pulled it down?” Easley glanced around but even the others who fell from the deck didn’t make it. Nothing moved but debris.

Grabbing a broken board, Easley shoved it at Liz. She dodged just in time before it hit her chest. Finding one for himself, he hugged it against his chest.

“Get kicking,” he ordered. Then, to himself, “fates hate me. Leave me with a useless girl and…” he continued muttering.

Liz didn’t protest. Men didn’t like to be contradicted. She kicked to follow the sailor, hoping he knew where he was going.

***

He did, in fact, know where he was going but kicking to the first island took until the wee hours of the morning. It was a spot of land so small Liz could walk around it in a matter of a few minutes. She didn’t care. It was land and that’s all that mattered. She crawled onto the gritty sand and collapsed. She’d lost feeling not only in her feet, but her legs and hands and arms. That only made the burning in her shoulders worse.

Easley didn’t let her sleep, however. Kicking her legs, he said “get up.”

Liz cried out. Where his boot connected felt like thousands of needles stabbing her. He stepped back with a hand resting on the knife in his belt.

“Why?” she asked as she sat up.

Easley assumed she was asking about getting up. Really she was asking about everything. Why’d he kick her? Why’d she have to move? Why’d the ship sink on the eve of what was supposed to be her new life?

“Something sunk the ship,” he said. “Trust me, there’s only a few creatures strong enough and they’re not pleasant. Now walk around the island, see how big it is.”

Groaning as she pushed off the sand, Liz asked “what about you?” It was a mistake. She knew it as the words left her lips.

“Get moving!” He stepped toward her but Liz scrambled to her feet and started walking before he could deliver another kick.

“I should know better.” She kept the words low so Easley didn’t overhear. He was a smaller man than her father but that didn’t matter. The temperament was the same, and he’d demand obedience.

Liz just wanted her own choice, the freedom to work her own farm or own her own shop. The village would never allow such a thing, though. She was her father’s until he married her off. Period.

But they said in Verdon, a woman was her own person. Could own property and have a say in who she married. Liz wanted it so bad she ached with the thought.

Sitting down out of sight of Easley, Liz pulled her hair off the neck and stared out at the ocean that now sat between her and Verdon. She was no sailor. Easley was her only chance now. Put up with him until then. In Verdon I never have to see him again.

Pushing to her feet, Liz continued on until she rounded the island and Easley came back into sight. He sat against a downed tree holding a small coconut. Spotting her, he held it out.

“Open it.”

Liz couldn’t help herself. She glanced at his knife.

“Ain’t getting my knife,” he said, seeing her look. “I won’t have it dulled.”

“But—“ she cut off as he stood up in a rush.

“Figure it out.”

Backing away, Liz turned only when she was far enough from him to be sure he couldn’t hit her.

“And I’m worthless?” she went back to a small cove she’d seen on her short walk. One side harbored an outcropping of rocks. Finding one with a sharp edge, Liz smacked the coconut on it. “Lazy, worthless, deman—“

“You don’t have to put up with him.”

Liz stilled with the coconut above her head. Looking over her shoulder, she met blue-speckled, green eyes. The woman’s hair hung in waves around her face and was the color of seaweed.

Liz gaped. She wanted to step forward to see the rest of the woman but she was afraid to, and the rocks obscured everything but her shoulders and head.

Resting her arms across a rock, the woman placed her chin on her arms and grinned at Liz.

“Name’s Vivian,” she said, “and you don’t have to put up with the bearded man.”

Liz glanced up the beach before stepping closer.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s not your only way off this island.”

To Be Finished on Thursday…

Blessings,

Jennifer

P.S. I love feedback, so if anyone has suggestions, questions, or comments on what they like or what doesn’t seem to work, please let me know. Just be gentle to my poor thin skinned feelings. Thanks.