Page 9 of Shiver Me Satyr

“I got it,” I reply quickly, although I missed the entire lecture. “Be careful with fire because there isn’t a fire brigade like in Boston. Got it.”

“And you aren’t to enter the kitchen again—at least not until my beloved is safely on land in Mexico. You endanger my wife again, and I’ll hang you from the Crow’s Nest by your nutmegs. Savvy?”

“Clear.” These clothes are ruined. I loved this shirt. Would Catalina mend it for me? I pick the singed cuffs. Are they salvageable?

“Oh no,” Chub says with a growl. “I see the wheels turning in your head. Don’t go guilting or begging me hearties to mend your clothes. You take your carcass to the forecastle deck and mend them yourself. There’s a band of men mending the mizzenmast sail from yesterday. They can help you.”

“What, I?”

“I think the words you’re looking for areaye, aye, quartermaster. If you can’t handle that, just salute and move your arse out. You can disrespect those landlubbers, but I won’t have it on my boat. You owe Catty an apology and Betts some gratitude for saving your arse, but those are for another day. I doubt your yellow belly could apologize now.”

I hate that he’s right. I hate that I’ve been coddled and don’t measure up to the pirates who surround Betts. What I hate most is how much I crave her admiration—I’d settle for approval at this point. Is it because I’m used to charming the chemise over a woman’s head in the first hour of knowing her? Is Betts a challenge, so I want her? Or is it because she puts limits on my behavior and defends her boundaries with the fierceness of a lioness?

“I’m sorry, Catalina,” I mumble as I retreat to the galley where my hammock hangs at the back. I don’t wait for a response, nor do I meet their gazes. What I’ll find there, I won’t be able to stomach—not in this mental state. My nerves are as frayed as my cuffs.

I kick my hammock, sending the books on it flying. Dust shrouds me as the stolen captain’s logs clomp on the floor. If only Magda were Captain again. She wasOtherand understood the desperation to fit in while maintaining what makes you special. Being a vampiress made her a prisoner of the captain’s quarters during the day. Well, my father’s master plan made this boat my prison—a plan everyone knows but me.

What would she do?

She would storm the helm and demand that Betts share the plan. How many times did she describe such a scene with Branko in her logs? Too bad I’m not made of the same salt as her…but what if I could fake it?

They want me to mend my own clothes? Fine, I’ll sew every hole closed and reinforce it with the iron will of a satyr—including the hole my family punched into my heart. Then I’ll tuck the troublesome organ in the deepest recesses of the sea with the octopi, starfish, and creatures of the darkness…the brothers and sisters to the best Captain who ever lived…Magda. I’ll learn her cold, vicious ways from her writings.

Maybe someday, I’ll wear a shell frostier than Betts.

5

Captain Betts

That no-good Beau Nasty nearly killed us all. He’s a walking disaster waiting to happen. Why didn’t I kill him the first night? I’m a failure as a pirate. Why didn’t I let the flames consume him and save the kitchen? When I saw him dazed in a ring of fire, I didn’t hesitate to sacrifice my body to save him. How does he show his appreciation for the rescue? With his sugar stick poking at my person! Disgusting, rude, and…and…infuriating! Days later, and I still want to slap him.

Why did I jump to save him? I wish I knew. I could say my reasoning was to keep my crew happy—the arrogant rake has grown on the ratline climbers like a boil…because I allowed him to butter them up with his lies.

Oh, his outrageous lies! The more stories he tells, the less we believe, but somehow even that fault endears him to the crew. By revealing he is less traveled and worldly than me hearties, he removed the class barrier between us. Had he really traveled to all those places, they would have dismissed him, along with his fancy clothes and patriarchal views. If they hadn’t educated him on the pirate code of equality, I would have beheaded him by now. What will it take for me to do the job I was hired to do?

“All clear in the galley, Captain!” Gretta appears on the sterncastle deck, covered in soot. She’s a short, portly pirate, butsmarter and more tenacious than mateys twice her size. Usually, she’s in the Crow’s Nest or learning the cannons, but I tasked her with helping Catty clear the charred floorboards from the galley. The job took a few days, but we didn’t need the extra weight of the charred floor aboard.

“Thank you for helping, Gretta,” I reply, leaving the wheel to follow her gaze to the portside rail.

Everyone aboard has their eyes glued to the little bump on the horizon. I didn’t realize how much the crew was squirreling for a prize. Teeth handed me the boat with the intention of running a ferry or courier service. He and Sabs didn’t believe I’d succeed in the sweet trade because I’m a rule follower. I was, but I’ve grown from Bettina the Church Mouse into Captain Betts. Will a life on the straight and narrow be enough for the crew? Will it be enough for who I have become?

Is it fair for me to turn the boat from the sweet trade when pirooting’s what they signed on to do? We need the other boat’s tar to patch our hull, grog to drink, and now, new planks for the galley. Hell, I bet the son of a biscuit eater scorched the flour! We need this prize more than ever.

“Gretta, Gretta, I love how you address me by my name. After so many years of just being theBearded Lady, you have no idea how wonderful it is to be seen. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.” She spins with her arms wide like a young girl. I can almost picture her in a sundress with ribbons in her hair. Renewed hatred for the men who stole her innocence boils in my heart.

“Those sideshow owners were monsters. I’ll never forgive them for caging you and my sister. They nearly suffocated her in a dirty tank—” I shiver as I recall my sister’s kraken form chained and broken in a tank of murky water. That’s why I never chained Hybris in the hull. I couldn’t live with myself if I putthat lifeless, hopeless expression on someone’s face. I’d rather keelhaul him…which I can’t seem to do either.

“Until you saved us all,” she says, crossing the sterncastle deck to join me at the railing. “We’re so grateful to you for giving us a home and a purpose beyond serving as amusement for mean people. You could have saved Sabrina and left, but the crew opened its arms and welcomed all of us.”

“That’s whatPatricia’s Wishis about,” I say, reaching for the spyglass on my belt. “We include everyone, whether they are rich, poor, orOther. When I lost my tentacles, I was as lost as you. Returning to the sea wasn’t an option—I’d drown. Sabrina had Teeth, so she didn’t need me. It’s always been just us. Without her, I had nobody.”

“But now you have us,” she says, wrapping her meaty arms around my shoulders. “We are at your beck and call.”

“Don’t go that far. This boat gives everyone a voice,” I reply with a nervous giggle. “In fact, we need a vote on what to do about that.” I hand her my spyglass and point to the blob on the horizon. Her eyes widen as she stares at the instrument. My cheeks ache with my wide smile as I offer it to her again.

“A ship? A prize? Are you considering taking it? Really?” She bounces on her toes, knocking the spyglass against her freshly shaved cheek.

“Want to ring the bell? I think we need a vote.” A smirk twists my lips. Her enthusiasm is infectious. Confidence builds in my chest as she dances around the helm. Her world is about to change. I hope she doesn’t lose her innocence when the boat brings violence back into her life. If the sideshow owners couldn’t break her, let’s hope the sweet trade won’t.

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