“Heelllllooooo!?” I heard a call. “You told me to meet you here, and I am here!”
It was time.
We had kidnapped the Great Pirate Aideen – a valuable treasure worth many gold. Now, as my partners and I were hiding in the brush near the meeting place, I thought of all the trouble we had gone through to get her and wondered what the great prize might be.
Earlier in the day, we had tracked down Witch Hazel to buy an immobility potion. This potion would make our captive’s legs go limp during the duration of her captivity. Bartering with the Witch was impossible, and we even received a threat if we did not return her bottle in pristine condition.
Next, we had written two ransom notes. As our colleague, Arianna, dictated a detailed note, my partner, Ashildr, and I made separate copies.
Ashildr and I have worked together many times. I’ll always remember the first kidnapping we pulled off together.
We had posted one note on the board and delivered the other to the Captain John S. Beauregard himself.
Now, we were rejoicing at the sound of him waiting at the bridge. He had heeded our note and come to rescue Aideen. Arianna took her station as a guard and Ashildr and I went to meet the captain.
“Hello, Captain,” I taunted, as we stepped into view.
“Having a fine day, are we?” Ashildr asked.
“Well I was…” He answered.
I addressed the task at hand. “Did you bring us what we asked for?”
“It depends on if you brought the girl.”
Suddenly, Aideen started yelling, screaming, anything to draw attention to her hiding place. Ashildr and I made quick eye contact, connecting with our minds. Instantly, Ashildr turned back to go shut our captive up.
I stepped forward, blocking the pirate captain from exiting the bridge. “Drop your weapon”.
“I am a pirate,” he said, swinging his sword. “I do not drop my weapon.”
“Where’s the 9,000?” I said, demanding the price we had asked.
The pirate counter offered a sum, still pretty large in my mind. I was willing to accept it, but wanted to battle for larger. As I was concocting a counter offer, another man strode into the background. I didn’t pay much attention to him. He had no special dress. He was probably just a peasant who wondered into the wrong place at the wrong time. Beauregard glanced at him, as well, but payed no heed.
Once we agreed on a price, I held my hand out for the money. Ashildr came back then with a cheerful, “Hello, fair Midnight. How is it going?”
“Bring me the girl, then you shall be paid in full.”
“We want half now.” I stated.
“800” he said. Normally, I would be appalled at such a low sum, but the stranger was coming closer now, and I was starting to get wary.
“900,” I countered just to get the last word.
He pulled out the money and gave it to me. We turned to get the girl pirate. We had made a deal, after all, even if it was not the original one. Ashildr had done a wonderful job at shutting her up, I thought.
As we came upon our hiding place, we stopped in our tracks – Arianna’s dead body greeted us in the middle of the path. The girl pirate was nowhere to be found. Ashildr ran after the fleeting voices, and I turned, bound and determined to confront the pirate captain about this rescue.
I took two paces back towards the bridge and then found myself under attack. Beauregard and the “peasant” (who turned out to be a pirate) came upon me mercilessly – and without a word.
As I fell back into the thicket, my last thought was, “It was a trick, and now they will leave me here to die alone”. Then the surprise came. The captain ordered me to be taken prisoner. What could he want with me? He had rescued Aideen, hadn’t he?
As we rounded the bend, we saw poor Arianna. I sighed with relief as I noticed her chest rising up and down. She was alive! The Pirates uncaringly forced her to her feet and prodded us along at sword point. We came to a clearing, where we met up with Ashildr again.
Ashildr is a talented swords woman. She knows what she’s doing with a sword. She was able to hold back the two pirates for a little while, and she even injured the captain in the leg! But alas, we were soon outnumbered, and she was taken prisoner as well. What did they want with us? They had their girl, they had their money, what more could they get from us?
When we got back to town, they led us to a platform. Trial. You know. The thing that’s supposed to be fair. Many people gathered around us, and started calling threats. Execution. Fines. Stonings. Witnesses testified that this was not our first kidnapping. It wasn’t looking good. I actually don’t remember much of that trial.
I remember waking up to a field surgeon. My neck stinging like fire. Beside me, a healer was working quickly to heal Ashildr.
I studied the crowd. They had turned away from us, and were now facing a new sight: a pirate had been taken into custody. I realized by the shouts of the crowd that he had been the cause of our pain and my near-death.
He was sentenced to a flogging. We stayed and watched for a bit, though Arianna ran at her first chance. Bless the girl. Her first go at kidnapping had ended rather traumatically.
After discussing our payment (a fine is better than execution) with the captain, Ashildr and I picked up our weapons, and headed out of town, discussing our next scheme.
~Midnight