Page 22 of Hooking Captain Teeth

The lady steps over Richard’s flailing body as she retrieves her knife. Blood splashes on her lacy dress and shiny boots. I can’t believe my eyes when threads burst from her wrists to wrap around two other plainclothes officer’s necks. As they struggle with the bonds, their heads turn purple. The lady leans back to tighten them as her short companion fights his way through the excited crowd with his machete raised. As he beheads the first disguised security man, the lady sags with exhaustion against the tent.

Clouds form in my peripheral vision. I force my gills to open, but they are shrinking into my rounded hips. The cuffs of six weights plunk to the sand as my tentacles absorb into my legs. I claw at the glass to lift myself to the top. My neck strains as I tip my head back as far as possible. When my lips breach the surface, I heave and cough. My arms paddle with the weights resting in my palms.

I don’t know how long I will last.

“Aye, aye,” is shouted from all around as the tent is pierced in a ring at the top. Sword points extend a foot through the canvas as they rip down the sides. The tent flaps in ribbons as the loose pieces fall to the ground. A pirate steps through each of the new openings,surrounding the show’s occupants. They pull women and children from the tent's confines so the presumed innocent can scamper home without injury.

“Aye, aye,” yells Bettina, to my astonishment. She removes a cat-o-nine tails from her waistline. I thought it was a decorative belt, but as she whirls the leather around her head, I know better. She copies my favorite way to drag sailors from their boats but uses the whip instead of a tentacle. The leather wraps around a disguised officer’s neck as he rushes toward Teeth. She tugs it to the left to sweep the man off his feet. Instead of hitting the gentle waves of the Caribbean like the sailors I torment, he crashes to the unforgiving dirt floor. Blood puddles bloom around his still form.

As the strength drains from my aching arms, I smile with pride at her.

“Chub, Catalina, free the prisoners on your side,” Teeth calls over the mele. A tingle resonates through my bones with the volume, authority, and overall timbre of his voice.

“Aye, aye,” replies the spider lady and her companion.

“Eze,” Teeth calls to the tallest man on the north side of the tent. “Free the gentleman closest to you.”

“Aye, Captain,” he yells as he sheathes hisshort sword. Another pirate steps close to his left side to cover him. The two men hold fingers in their ears as Eze shoots off the lock.

The shot is louder than expected as Teeth shoots the lock off my tank. His furrowed brow presses against the glass as he checks on me. My lungs seize as water flows down my throat. Not enough air. My thoughts cloud. When did my limbs become so heavy? I blow a kiss to see him smile one last time before my eyes drift closed.

12

Captain Teeth

“Lift off the lid, or my next shot will blow your nutmegs into pudding,” I whisper to the idiots guarding Sabrina’s tank.

Between her sister’s drama and the late arrival of me hearties up the tent’s rigging, this has taken far too long. The whistles of the local authorities sing along the streets. That’s what I get for allowing the children to go free—and the mothers to whose skirts they clung. One of those buggers went to the lobster soldiers and local devils on patrol. If we don’t wish to find ourselves in hempen necklaces while hanging from the Sheriff’s picture frame, we must get aboard and weigh anchor.

“Not so fast,” says a slimy little man over my shoulder. The confidence in his eyes flares when his security stooge holds a knife to my Adam’s apple. “This is myshow, and these animals are my property.”

“Animals?” Bettina’s sputter of rage comes out faster than my mind can go. “This human woman is an animal?”

I step aside so the larger man can see Sabs lying in her tank. She’s an excellent actress. I almost believe she’s conked out. Blimey, she lives in the ocean. Certainly, she breathes underwater? Perhaps she looks dead because she breathes like a shark and her mouth is closed…sharks hold their mouths open.

“My Kraken!” The little man’s shouts rush my blood, pulsing at my temples.

She’smine.

I unsheathe my dagger and press it to his bulbous belly. “My lady love needs air. Now call off your man and open her tank, or I’ll gut you like a fish.”

“You wouldn’t! My security will have your head,” he shouts, raining spittle down the bottom half of my shirt.

“Catalina,” I yell. Silky threads wrap around the security guard’s neck and wrist.

“What’s this?” He yells as his dagger falls through his fingers. His opposite hand claws the tether. From across the room, Catalina weaves a lattice between his neck and wrist. If he yanks his wrist hard enough, he may strangle himself. Avast ye! I love what Chub and Catalina have devised to protecther in a fight.

“This is your exit or your last stand,” I say with my namesake smile. “Your choice.”

Yellow-bellied, giant landlubber steps backward.

“You can’t leave me,” the shorter man blubbers. “We have a contract.”

“Not enforceable by colonial law. I know the generals,” the guard says as he turns on his heel. He stomps to the perimeter with his wrist hanging from his neck. He grabs himself in a hand necklace to save face, but me hearties laugh as he passes. I nod to the ratline climber holding the perimeter to allow him to disappear into the night.

“Tank’s open,” stammers one of the tank’s attendants.

Sabrina doesn’t stir with the jostling of the water. My heart races. I knock on the glass. Her hair waves around her hips, but otherwise, she’s still as a marble statue. Panic, bile, and my last sip of rum surge up my throat.

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