Chapter 1
Pirates weren’t even supposed to have grandmothers, were they? Even so, the old woman named Nairnie was still aboard the ship, and there wasn’t much anyone could do about it.
Mardon Fisher manned the helm as he sailed the Falcon away from the port of Ravenscar where his older brother, Tristan, now resided with his new wife, Gavina. It didn’t feel right to leave their captain behind, but it had been Tristan’s choice to leave piracy forever. Mardon and his younger brother, Aaron, hadn’t even tried to talk him out of it since they saw the way he’d fallen hard for the girl. Every man turns vulnerable at one time or another at the feet of a beautiful woman, Mardon supposed. But not him. All the women that Mardon had ever been with were the ones to fall at his feet instead.
Nay, getting trapped into marriage was something that would never happen to him! He’d be a fool to ever actually marry any of the women he’d taken to his bed. Then again, most of them had been whores and weren’t interested in marriage, so it wouldn’t be a problem. His life of a pirate gave him the freedom as well as the riches he wanted. That was good enough for him.
“Tristan is a fool,” spat Aaron, the youngest of the three brothers, jumping down with bare feet from the rigging, landing at Mardon’s side. “He never should have gotten married.” He pulled an apple out of his pocket and shined it on the sleeve of his shirt.
“I agree,” grumbled Mardon, feeling that their brother’s decision had been bittersweet, and a bit traitorous to them as well. Since Tristan’s departure, Mardon claimed the title of captain of the Falcon, but still he missed his brother dearly. “Tristan also broke our promise of always staying together.”
“Well, now that you’re captain, Mardon, how does it feel?” Aaron took a big bite of the apple, filling the air with a loud crunch. He looked up at Mardon with curious ochre-colored eyes. A strand of his long, blond hair covered half his face.
“I don’t know. I haven’t even had a chance to think about it yet,” answered Mardon, curiously eyeing up some kind of commotion on the main deck. “Little brother, now that Tristan is gone, I’ll need you to step up into my old role as quartermaster.”
“Stop with the little brother crap, because I didn’t like it when Tristan said it, and I don’t like hearing it from you, either,” mumbled Aaron, taking another bite of apple and chewing as he spoke. “And I don’t know if I want to be quartermaster. After all, I’m used to being the ship’s bosun.” Aaron was not one for confrontation, which is something the quartermaster dealt with on a daily basis regarding the crew.
“Then stay on as bosun but be quartermaster as well,” Mardon suggested. “Or at least for now until we get things figured out.”
Aaron swallowed the bite of apple. His tongue shot out to quickly lick his lips. It seemed as if he were considering the idea. “I want double the share of any treasure if I do. After all, that’s what you always got as quartermaster when Tristan was captain,” he pointed out.
“Yes, you will. That’s the deal. Captain and quartermaster both get a double share of any booty.”
“I see.” Aaron looked down, finishing off the apple. “Plus, I’ll still maintain my share-and-a-half for the position of being bosun, too. Right?”
Mardon bit his tongue, not wanting to admit aloud that Aaron wasn’t worth all that. True, he was great at keeping the ship clean and in shape, and even getting the crew to work together when it came to sailing or swabbing the deck. The crew liked Aaron. However, once he had to start breaking up fights or handing out punishments, Mardon honestly didn’t know if Aaron had it in him to do it. Because of Tristan, they were in a jam right now. Mardon had to do whatever it took to have a functioning ship and crew.
“For now,” he hesitantly agreed. “We’ll take it one day at a time and see how it goes.”
“Great!” Aaron smiled and stood up straighter, chuckling to himself. “I’ll get almost twice what you get and you’re captain.”
“Aye, you will. Well done, little brother. You always were skilled at being a thief, and robbing me blind has just proven it.”
“You’ll call me ‘Quartermaster’ now, not little brother,” said Aaron, throwing the core of the apple over the side of the ship. He wiped his hands on his breeches. “Quartermaster,” he repeated with a nod. “Aye, I think I’m going to like this new position after all.”
“Don’t let it go to your head,” griped Mardon. “Remember, if you sluff off just once, I swear I’ll give one of your positions to someone else and take back everything I’ve promised. Now, get down there and see what all the commotion is about.” Aaron frowned. “Quartermaster,” Mardon made sure to say, watching his brother’s mouth turn up into a snide grin.
“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” said Aaron, running down the stairs of the sterncastle with newfound energy.
Mardon knew exactly what the commotion was about because he’d seen their grandmother, Nairnie, waving to Tristan from the bow of the ship as they left port. He should have turned right around and left the old woman on shore where she belonged but, instead, he’d turned a blind eye and let her stay. For some odd reason, he felt as if he didn’t mind. He supposed he was trying to fill the empty gap that Tristan left in their lives now. Somehow, he had a stronger sense of family with his grandmother there.
Aaron bolted back up the steps within moments with Nairnie and Goldtooth right behind him. The old woman was mumbling something and shaking her head.
“Mardon, it’s just Grandmother,” said Aaron, smiling as they approached. “It seems she snuck back onto the ship and didn’t stay back in Ravenscar with Tristan and Gavina after all.”
“Cap’n, I found her hidin’ in the burned-out galley,” announced Goldtooth. Goldtooth was a big, burly man, having gotten his nickname because of his gold front tooth. “Do ye want me to throw her overboard?” He, like the rest of the crew, wouldn’t think twice about getting rid of a woman since it was known that a female on board would only bring them ill luck. After all, hadn’t they seen that happen when Tristan’s wife, Gavina, was on board? Mardon hoped now that he was captain, he could avoid anything that would bring bad luck upon their heads. Mardon, Aaron, and also the crew had become fond of Nairnie, so he wasn’t sure that he really wanted to get rid of her after all, bad luck or not.
“Get yer hands off of me, and stop talkin’ nonsense, ye big oaf!” Nairnie, a short, plump, older woman had been found floating in the sea, thrown from another ship in a storm. Mardon and his brothers had brought her aboard. “Where’s my ladle? I need my ladle,” complained the old woman, slapping away Goldtooth’s hand, looking for her oversized spoon that she’d been using as a weapon against all the pirates rather than for scooping stew.
“Nay, no one is throwing my grandmother overboard. Leave her be,” commanded Mardon, staring out to sea.
“Are ye sure?” asked Goldtooth. “After all, ye know it’s bad luck to have a woman on board.” His eyes flashed over to the galley where Nairnie had been cooking. A fire had taken place there that nearly lit the ship up like a torch.