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CALISTA
The next morningstarted early with a shocking amount of noise that dragged her out of bed in alarm. Calista had been having the best dream, that she was being rocked to sleep in an adult-sized cradle on a desert island that had frozen pina coladas just waiting to be downed…
Someone had shot a gun!
There were several exclamations heard through the wooden walls, several doors opening and closing, and she’d quickly managed to don her corset, tying it snugly like Marie had shown her as she exited her room to see what the commotion was.
If this was a pirate ship – were they about to encounter another one? Was a battle at sea planned? A bombardment? She had no idea what to expect… including the sight of the captain standing boldly, holding a smoking, strange looking rifle on his shoulder.
“Good morning, crew,” he said simply. “We’ll hit the galley shortly…”
The man paused as unbelievably, a bright green parrot flew overhead and settled on his shoulder. Literally. If you took a picture of him in costume right now with that mop of hair that covered half his face, the cutlass at his side, the rifle on one shoulder, and the parrot on the other?
It was the complete stereotypical pirate you would read about in books – which made her realize he was trying hard to pull off this image.
It’s an act,she mused. The man was no more a pirate than the rest of them, but rather an employee being paid to do a job – and trying to hit every aspect of it.
“Is that thing named Polly?” the goth teenager asked sarcastically.
“No, Purple, the bird’s name is not ‘Polly’and please do not feed her any crackers,” the captain replied. “This is Meatloaf.”
“I love wenches,”the parrot whistled loudly, causing everyone to laugh as the captain actually cracked a smile… catching Calista’s attention for the first time. Behind all those messy locks and heavy hat that had to be exceedingly warm – the captain had a nice smile.
“I know, Meatloaf. You love wenches…”
“I love wenches!” the parrot began again, squawking loudly and flapping its wings slightly as it adjusted its perch on the captain’s shoulders. “Yarrr! I love wenches!”
Calista couldn’t help herself – she raised her hand to ask about the parrot’s name… and was ignored.
“Alright, crew,” he said, causing a few of the others to chuckle as they realized he was ignoring her deliberately, making her cheeks redden with embarrassment. “Into the galley – then we’ll tackle the ropes.”
She filed in line, wishing that Marie was sitting with her and wondering where the other woman was… hating that she was the butt of everyone’s entertainment, because she was being flatly ignored.
Was this because she’d called him a name to his face the first time that she spoke to him? If so, she really couldn’t blame him… but it was a little childish to act like this, too.
It was funny because no one ever asked what you wanted to eat, but rather you were handed a plate, with a serving, and that was it. Today’s plate held a large pile of scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon, and a slice of toast, along with a small tangerine.
Shepherd began to speak while they were eating, walking around the table, talking to them, while Jared watched from a corner. Thankfully Bo was nowhere to be seen, which made her wonder if Marie and Bo were the cooks that morning.
Calista hadn’t seen any other crewmembers on board.
“When people think of a pirate, the first thing that you picture is some maniacal, angry man with bushy black hair and who’s either yelling orders or laughing, and definitely he’s missing teeth…”
“Like the captain?” Ric volunteered, jeering slightly.
“Watch it, Blue…” Jared growled from the corner, crossing his arms. “I don’t believe you’re his favorite, and he’ll be looking for volunteers to walk the plank.”
“As I was going to say,” Shepherd recovered, speaking over the two men. “Scurvy was a significant problem for pirates and sailors when they set out on the seas. They couldn’t figure out why their teeth got loose in their mouth or began to fall out…”
“That’s why you pay good money to see a doctor,” Dr. Suarez interjected, looking distinctly proud of himself,wanting to make sure everyone was aware that he thought he was better than all of them.
“It doesn’t take a doctor to figure that out,” Calista muttered before her brain could stop her – quickly turning every eye at the table and the two crewmen directly to her. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“She’s right,” Shepherd agreed. “Sorry Red, still don’t see the need for a plastic surgeon at this particular time period that we are discussing.”
“Your captain sure does…”
Jared did come off the wall this time – and Shepherd stepped in front of him, the two men whispering to each other hotly under their breaths.
