The Casquette Girls (32 page)

The pirates chained all the passengers of the S.S
.
Girond
e
togethe
r,
packed us into the dining hall, and bolted the door so they could raid the ship without distraction.

Whilst trapped, my thoughts spun. If I revealed my true nature, there was no guaranteeing I wouldn’t be burned at the stake afterwards, even if everyone on the ship was saved as a result.
It was the most dreadful night, Papa.

For hours, we wondered which would be
crueler: to kill us immediately, or to leave us on the open ocean to starve and bake to death under the unyielding sun? Most of the girls prayed with the nuns, as did some of the crew. My thoughts were with poor Captain Vauberci, who the pirate captain had kept on deck.

Eventually, our crew began to sing songs and sip flasks of spirits. The more time passed, the drunker they became, and the sadder the songs sung. By the time the sun rose again, most had made peace with God and were ready to walk the plank, but I was wide awake an
d
no
t
content to rest eternally on the floor of the Atlantic.

And then the strangest thing happened, Papa.

Absolutely nothing.

No one came to get us. We heard no more noises. Another hour went by and still nothing happened. The others became restless, as the peace they had made with death faded. Something was clearly not right.

I made eyes with Cosette from across the room to tell her I was going to leave, and then focused on the shackles that bound my wrists until the metal expanded enough to slip my hands out. Everyone was so excited when they saw I was free, they did not even question how it had happened.

Breaking the lock on the door would have been an impossible task without being noticed, but then Cosette began to sing a lullaby. Minette joined a phrase later, and then Lise, until everyone was under the spell of the melody. The diversion made it easy for me to focus on the inner workings of the padlock until it popped open and fell to the ground on the other side of the door. I slipped out as they began the second verse.

With haste, I ran down the deserted hallway and climbed the stairs that led to the deck, but when I tried to push the hatch door open, it barely budged. Something was lying on top of it, trapping us below.

A little focus on the hinges, and they slowly pushed the heavy wood up. Sunlight infiltrated the crack, and a dark liquid dripped onto my face and shoulders. I wiped it away, and my hand came back smeared red. My heart pounded as the hatch opened, and the corpse that had been weighing it down slid to the deck.

My arms bent to shield my eyes from the blinding sun as I climbed out from below. When the scene before me came into full view, nothing could have prepared me for the sight. I ran to the edge of the ship as bile leapt up my throat.

The ocean breeze whipped my hair around, and the splashing waves glittered beautifully, as if the bloodbath behind me had not happened.

Despite knowing the answer, I wandered the deck to see if anyone was still alive. Bodies were strewn about as if it was the aftermath of a great battle, but there had been no battle; there had been a slaughter. Corpses draped from the blood-sprayed sails and hung from the railings like
des décorations de fêt
e
.
Every throat had been ripped out, and every pirate had died with a look of terror on his face. My fingers tingled; I knew exactly what had happened. Who
…
wha
t
had answered our prayers.

Do not mistake me. I had no sympathy for the pirates who had seemed so prepared to leave us locked up.
Au contraire
, a rush of excitement overwhelmed me, knowing we had not been defeated.

At the front of the ship, the pirate captain had been impaled with a large harpoon; the scent of blood choked me as I grabbed the drenched ring of keys from his belt.

I ran back down below to release the others.

The look of horror on my face must have begged for silence because no one pressed me for news.
I led the way back to the deck, hearing the gasps behind me as one by one they took in the carnage. Tears escaped my eyes when I noticed the dead bodies of a few of our men, who had been caught between the two deadly factions.

“
Sacrebleu
!” whispered Minette.

“I don’t understand,” said Lise. “Are they protecting us?”

“They aren’t protecting
us
—” I said.

“They are protecting their food source,” Cosette finished.

Right then, the beautiful red bird squawked from the crow’s nest and then swooped down to land on Cosette’s shoulder, singing a few notes as if in agreement.

The rest of the hostages flooded onto the deck, each more stunned than the last. Screams fled the orphans. Some of the crew shed tears when they found the bodies of their brethren. The nuns seemed the most confounded of all. They fell to their knees in prayer, but knew not whether to thank God for our survival at such a cost of life.

As the crew raced around the ship, fearing irreparable damage, we found Captain Vauberci gagged, bound, and stuffed into a closet. He had only a few broken ribs and very little recollection of the previous night, although he twitched when asked about it. After many swigs from his flask, he became his old steadfast self and commanded preparation for the seamen’s funeral.

Though it was apparent to all that something unnatural had occurred, Captain Vauberci announced that the few sailors who had perished on deck had defeated the pirates and died heroes. Of course, this was absolutely preposterous, but no one wanted to think about the alternatives. Songs and prayers were sung with haste, both because of seamen’s superstition and fear of damage to our ship.

Shortly after the funeral, the captain made the announcement we all feared: “The S.S.
Girond
e
is beyond repair. We have no choice but to abandon the ship.

Eager to flee the
gory scene, every passenger, even Martine DuFrense, assisted in transporting our cargo onto the pirate ship. One of the crew assigned the rooms, and then once the orphans ensured their precious dowry
cassettes
were safely aboard the new ship, they began to scrub the cabins. But no amount of cleaning was going to remove the years of grime accumulated by the pirates.

While the captain and his top mates scurried around the ship, investigating the rigging, the triplets and I tackled the giant black rag on the flagpole and tossed it into the ocean. In its place, we hoisted the flag from the S.S
.
Girond
e
,
and then Captain Vauberci claimed the ship for the King.

The night crew took their posts, and all the passengers retreated to their new cabins, while the Monvoisin sisters and I stole a few more minutes on deck. We watched the dark silhouette of the S.S.
Gironde
sinking under the full moon.

“Is it possible we will be done with these monsters after tonight?” Cosette asked.

The three of us knew it was not pirates to whom she was referring.

“We can hope,” said Lise, as the distance between the ships became greater.

I nodded slowly, but hope wasn’t enough for me. I grasped their hands and concentrated on our old ship one last time.

We were stronger together.

The girls began to sing, and soon enough a fifth voice joined us – the exotic red bird who was perched once again on Cosette’s shoulder, looking perfectly in place next to the beautiful girl. When I turned back to the ocean, all I saw was a growing flame floating on the black water, bright against the black sky.

Smiles spread across our faces as the flames engulfed the ship, the pirate corpses, and anything else aboard the S.S
.
Gironde
. We sang the last notes of the song and then retired for the night.

Both exhausted and enthralled, I entered the squalor of my new cabin. By what miracle of God could we have simultaneously survived a pirate attack
and
rid ourselves of our original predators?

I immediately flinched when I plopped down on the rough mattress of a now-dead pirate. I expected to find a rock underneath my back, but instead pulled out a smooth, round stone: it was milky and iridescent like a very large opal.

I sat up quickly, recognizing the stone as the glint from the pirate captain’s eye socket. A trophy. Like a cat leaving a dead mouse as a gift for its owner.

I didn’t know whether to feel grateful or threatened, but my intuition led me to the former. The fiery itch in my palms begged to differ.

My medallion was next to it – the chain was broken but otherwise perfectly intact. I quickly mended the metal and slipped it back around my neck. The familiarity brought an immediate sense of relief. This, of course, didn’t last for long— I didn’t know
who
had placed the treasures on my bed, but I knew
what
had. We may have defeated the pirates, but we had not escaped the monsters.

October 27
th

Isaac 7:22 p.m.
Hey, wanna hang out tonight? I know it’s kinda difficult with the curfew, but maybe ur dad would let me come over?

I looked at the little brass alarm clock. 7:34 p.m. I’d been staring at the text message for twelve minutes. In that time I’d written at least six different responses and been unable to send one of them.

Determined, I typed in a dumb joke, but then quickly hit the back button until it vanished. My eyes flicked back to his message.
Like it’s my dad’s permission I’m worried about. He’s never home anyway
.
The thought of being here alone with Isaac made my stomach jerk. At the same time, the more I avoided Isaac, the more my stomach seemed to jerk. Although, I’m not sure if it counts as avoiding since he was at my house every afternoon… more like ignoring. I’d been counting the hours ’til the weekend to have some peace. This text message had popped up just when I stopped counting.

For the rest of the week after “the incident,” we both continued to pretend like nothing had happened. Like we never kissed. Like he never demonstrated some kind of magical ability in front of me. But ever since that night it had been hard for me to focus on
much else.
How am I supposed to think about Kafka when every bird I see reminds me of Isaac… and the memory of my face being ripped open, and… and that kiss?
The only time I could remotely distract myself was when I was translating Adeline’s diary.

My fingertip traced the thin line on my cheek where the crow had attacked me.

“It’s not possible, Adele.”

Brooke’s words echoed in the back of my mind: “
Oh my God! Can’t you ever just let something good happen to you without sabotaging it?”

Is Isaac a good thing trying to happen to me – and here I am convincing myself that he slashed my face open? What kind of twisted freak am I
?
Images of sketched feathers flashed in my mind. I clammed up. The thought passed.

“You’re being ridiculous… Isaac is
no
t
the crow,” I yelled. My gut told me otherwise.

I grabbed my phone, but before my thumbs could get a word out, it buzzed with a lengthy text message from an unsaved number.

unknown 7:38 p.m.
Hi, Adele. Little sis initiation starts this week and we thought it would be nice to include u since u weren’t here freshman year. Slumber party at my house 2night. We’ll pick u up. Wear ur favorite pjs! xo Annabelle

xo Annabell
e
?
My phone buzzed again.

Désirée 7:39 p.m.
Did you get an invite from Annabelle? I told her I’d pick you up. Be ready at 8:30.

I love that Désirée just assumed I would participate in these shenanigans.

Before I could overanalyze anything else, my thumbs flew over the screen, typed one little word, and hit send.

Adele 7:40 p.m.
Okay.

“Okay?”
Am I so determined to avoid Isaac that I would rather hang out with Annabelle’s clique?
“Seriously pathetic, Adele. You deserve whatever you get from Annabelle.”

From what I had gathered over the week, Sacred Heart had some kind of tradition to pair freshman (Little Sisters) up with juniors (Big Sisters). The Big Sisters were supposed to guide freshmen over the next two years and then pass on the Big Sister title when they graduated. I had the feeling that inclusion wasn’t really what Annabelle had in mind for me tonight, but whatever stupid scheme she was cooking up seemed like marshmallows after reading about Adeline’s and the triplets’ problems.

Vampire problems.