Not all treasure is silver and gold - Chapter 5

I don't know how long I'd been sleeping, but when a rough hand shook me gently from my slumber, there were no longer streams of light peeking from between the black curtains in front of the small window.

The only thing I noticed was the pulsing of my sore head, and the headache that spread itself from the back of my skull to my neck and eyebrows. It took a little while before I realized why the pain was bothering me in the first place.

Pirates. The Black heart. The captain. It slowly came back to me as my eyes opened and my body stirred, making my heart ache and my insides tense. Why couldn't it have been a bad dream? Why couldn’t I just be home?

My cheek was resting on the silk pillow, warmed by my heat, and my body was curled up into the foetus position. My head and knees were resting on my chest with my arms wrapped tightly around my shins.

I wanted to move, lift my head and sit up straight. Only then I realized the hand was still placed on my shoulder with nails painted black and precious stones sparkling on the fingers. Fingers short and broad instead of long and slender.

Not the Captain's.

I didn't know whether that frightened or relieved me.

"Bam. Bam. Wake up little Bam. Come on now."

Finally my head lifted itself. Literally itself as it had happened before I realized I'd done it. His accent totally caught me off guard, like it had the first time we met. Which must have been....today, really. Because I now knew who it was standing by the end of the bed. There was only one pirate with that accent.

I looked behind me to find I was right. That I was not rescued by the British. That it was indeed the pirate called Dani who had woken me. The pirate with the spiderleg-hair.

He greeted me with a boyish smile on his friendly face, a steaming teacup in his jewellery covered hand and a burning oil lamp in the other, which litthe now darker room better than the black candle on the desk.

The teacup was a porcelain one. Pink and white. Decorated with little flowers and a golden rim. And so incredibly out of place.

"Aaah, there we are. Finally awake. You must have been very tired, I can imagine." He spoke cheerfully, as if he was speaking to an old friend. And every word spoken in perfect English. It was as much out of place the teacup in his hand.

I didn't feel safe with my back towards him, so I turned around instantly. Too fast, as it turned out, since it suddenly felt like my head was hit by Migé all over again. I whimpered softly as I sat up, my hand massaging my skull and facing Dani who shook his head with a laugh.

"Easy now boy, you probably have a light concussion." He explained as he placed the steaming cup on the captains desk together with the lamp, and I feared that was as bad as it sounded.

It was when I placed both my hands on the bed next to my hips to keep my balance, that I noticed the small pile of clothing next to me on the bed. Not very colourful as it only contained black and white pieces of clothing, with a tri-corner hat placed on top of it. It seemed the same one as the captain wore, only a smaller version.

"You'll be fine, don’t worry. Are you feeling any better? Did the captain take good care of your injuries?" Dani asked me light-heartedly, returning to the bed as he held out both his hands for me to grab on to so he could lift me off the bed and into a standing position.

I obeyed, because what else could I do? I let myself be lifted gently and effortlessly by those strong arms as I now stood up straight on both my feet. I noticed how small he was as I faced him. He was practically the same height as me, and even I was small for my age.

"Y-yes…sir." I replied nervously to his earlier question, not knowing how to address him but knowing I had to give an answer.

But when he simply laughed in my face, I knew I had once again made a mistake.

"Don’t be silly little Bam. You can just call me Dani."

He gently tapped his hand against my cheek a couple of time as a form of introduction as he let go of my hands. His playfulness with me confused me, and I didn't know what to expect from the man. He seemed so kind and caring, so unlike a stereotypical pirate. And like the captain, he seemed very unpredictable.

I could easily guess that this entire ship, along with it's crew and captain, was nothing like any other pirate ship in the world.

"The captain asked me to wake you up. He wanted to take you with him so you could join him at the dinner table, but he found you asleep and he didn’t want to wake you since you seemed so far away."

My eyes widened at this comment, a jolt of fear rushing through me. He had seen me, asleep on his bed in my most vulnerable position. He'd been alone with me in this room again without me knowing it. Was that why the room smelled a little more like smoke than it had before? Or that he had haunted every second of my dreams with his face and voice.

"He asked me to make you tea, since I'm the only one who can do it properly, to make you feel a bit more at home."

Dani smiled proudly, taking the cup off the desk again and handing it to me as I tried to free my mind from the captain. Alone, with me facing away from him, sleeping, and his eyes boring into my back.

The sweet, herbal smell that rose from the cup he handed me was very familiar. It smelled exactly the same as the tea I had drank yesterday afternoon. The same tea I drank every morning, and every afternoon ever since I was little boy.

I started to notice my own hunger and thirst now my senses where stimulated by the strong smell.

I Looked up again with my hand now curled around the warm cup, and saw Dani smiling at me with a look of excitement and full of expectation.

When I took a small sip to please him, and tasted the flavour, I noticed it was indeed the tea I had been drinking my entire life. They had taken it as well. Stolen it, before they had sent my father’s ship to the bottom of the sea.

**

"Good, isn’t it?" Dani bounced, making me nod shyly. "I was so excited that you actually had it on board with you. It seems like ages since the last time I had a decent cup of tea myself, so I took the liberty of making me one too. You won’t tell anyone, will you?"

He winked at me, placing his finger to his lips as if we now shared a deep secret together. I only shook my head to assure him, not knowing what else to do.

He petted my back as I finished my tea with small sips, stilling my thirst and increasing my hunger. Dani waited patiently for me without speaking, before he reached for the pile of clothing with the hat placed on top next to me. Explaining to me it's obvious purpose.

"Now Bam, since you're late for dinner, the captain requested you join him and the rest of the crew for their late night drink. He gave me these clothes to dress you in, so you'll fit in with the rest of the crew."

I almost dropped the now empty cup when he commanded me to undress myself, and he quickly took it from me with both hands.

"Careful Bam." He warned, carrying and petting the teacup as if very precious to him, before placing it back on the wooden desk again.

It wasn’t as much about the nudity that frightened me, it was about the only positions I had left being taken from me so cruelly. My clothes, my jacket, my shoes. It was all I had left. It was all that reminded me of home. Of who I really was.

"I’ll help you dress and undress, since you might not be used to these kinds of clothing." Dani offered kindly, placing the pile of clothing on the floor next to my feet.

Before I could even protest, he was already taking my jacket and sliding it down my arms, and I bit back tears that formed behind my eyes as he folded it neatly and placed it on the bed. Undoubtedly to make an other pile of clothing that would contain mine. A pile I would never see again after he would take it with him to god knew where.

I whimpered when he took off my scarf, but he didn't notice as he carefully folded it again. I bit my lip when he pulled my shirt over my head, having my upper body exposed as I shivered. Not from the cold, but from the grief of having to give up my precious things without being able to speak up and claim them back.

I felt no threat from him whatsoever as he didn't even looked at my exposed flesh. He wasn’t exploring me with his eyes and stripping me naked to my bare soul as the captain had done without even touching me. He was just dressing the captured boy on a ship. I knew he wouldn't harm me, but the feeling of having every little thing I owned being slowly taken from me bit by bit was just too much to take.

It was when he kneeled down to take off my shoes, that I couldn't take it anymore.

"No, not my shoes. Please."

It was out before I knew it and I saw Dani looking up at me in confusion. A frown on his tanned forehead and his eyes slightly widened.

"What’s wrong Bam?"

His face grew more concerned when he saw a tear escaping from the corner of my eye, but continued nonetheless with undoing the expensive buckles my mother had given me.

"I-I don’t want to wear other clothes."

I heard myself cry, and Dani nodded in sympathy.

"I know, but you'll have to. I’m sorry Bammie. Captain’s orders."

It wasn’t the answer I was hoping for but there was nothing I could do to stop him. If he'd just understand and listen. If he would just….

"But my buckles. They were a gift from my mother. Please I…"

"Bam, you're a cabin boy now. You will posses what the captain will give you to posses. That's the way it is."

Dani corrected me and putting me in my place. I knew this was indeed the way it was, and was silent as he undressed me completely. I knew I had crossed a line. Any other pirate would have taken my life or tortured me for showing weakness. I knew I was lucky having Dani here instead of Migé or any of the other guys. Or the captain.

I was naked now, standing in front of the bed and trembling all over. I had never been naked in the presence of another human being. At least not since I had turned eleven.

But he paid no attention to the state I was in as he started to redress me. Making me step into my breeches without putting any undergarments on my privates. Something I hadn’t experienced before.

He had given me black breeches to wear, but not silk like the captain’s, and a white low cut shirt that exposed my hairless chest, just like the rest of the crew was wearing. A black waistcoat to fit over it, and as the finishing touch, the tri-corner hat that fitted perfectly over my brown curls.

No shoes, no accessories, no nothing. This was all I got.

"There you are. Very handsome. Almost like a real pirate."

Dani smiled at me, trying to be nice to me but failing when he mentioned the pirate part, which made me cringe. I look despicable. Mother would never approve.

Still, he gently slapped my back and quickly took away the pile of my now old clothes, so I wouldn't have to look at them any more. Almost as if he pitied me. I was probably looking pretty pitiful with my small, swollen eyes from the sleep and the crying, and with my shoulders shaking like a little straw.

I watched him putting them into the captain’s chest before closing it again. No lock. Nothing seemed to have a lock here.

"Come on Bam. I’ll bring you to the captain."

**

The walk was long.

In fact it really wasn’t, but it seemed ages. Being led trough the long hallway in the dark, without knowing where I was going. The wood under my bare feet was rough and I knew it would give me splinters and callus on the heels. Something rich people didn't have. Something I should never have to experience.

I heard noises and laughter coming closer as Dani led me to the dining room with a firm hand on my shoulder. I wished he'd just hide me behind his broad back and shoulders.

The smell of tobacco and rum, giggles and laughs and the scraping of moving furniture on the floor welcomed me as I saw a dim dancing light obviously produced by candles and oil lamps coming from the end of the dark corridor. Shining through an open door filled with the crew. The room I was required to enter.

I felt my body resist as we came closer, pushing back against Dani’s gentle hand as he started to push me forward with more strength. There was no negotiating this with him. He might be kind, but he was a pirate.

I jumped as suddenly the pirate called Burton appeared from the doorway into the hall we were in. A cigarette in his hand and a smile on his face as he noticed us.

"Eey Dan, look what a good job ye did." He commented cheerfully, pointing at me as I looked away.

"Thanks Burton . Are you turning in already?"

" Neeh, I’m givin Gas an early break. I’ll take the wheel for an hour or so."

The men talked as I tried to disappear underneath my hat. Unfortunately it wasn’t working.

"Well G’night Dan, G’night Bam." Burton spoke before passing us and walking off as Dani wished him a similar good night.

"Be polite Bam. Always reply to comments like that, it's expected of you." Dani warned me. More for my own safety if anything, I knew. I could no longer be invisible, because it would be the death of me. I needed to become one of them, just for now.

Finally he pushed me the last few steps along the corridor, coming face to face with the room filled with all the men that I feared most in this world.

They were sitting around a long square table, drinking rum and beer with cigarettes in their hands while talking and playing card games that were unknown to me.

Golden chandeliers dangled from the ceiling that was almost blue from the smoke rising up to it.

At the end of the table, the captain.

Hatless with his dark curls flowing wildly around his pale face, and coatless, having only his low-cut black shirt flowing around his thin frame as he looked up spotting me at once.

"Bammie, don’t you look adorable."

**

It was the first thing he said, a cigarette dangling from his swollen lips that now curled into an enthusiastic smile. His diamond eyes boring straight into mine as he put down his glass ever so slowly. Making all the men look up to see me standing in the doorway, with my back leaning against Dani’s hands.

All of them started talking at the same time as they all found something to say.

"Aye, would ye look at that."

"Who’s shirt be that? I’m missin’ one."

"He looks a little pale don’t ye think?"

"Who's getting’ his shoes, I liked those."

I could not separate one word from the other as all of them ranted drunken nonsense while laughing, making me feel like a tiger in a cage. Watched and judged without any opportunity to defend myself.

Thankfully it came to an end as the captain spoke up to silence them instantly after taking a long drag from his burning cigarette.

"Shut up ye scurvy dogs, all of ya. I’m talking to Bam and Dani."

I heard Dani chuckling behind me as he pushed me forward, making me walk up closer to the table. "I’m glad you’re pleased Captain."

A warm smile spread on the captain’s lips as he gracefully pulled his cigarette from between them with his fingers, and pressed it into the golden ashtray before him on the table. His dark strands of hair falling in front of his eyes as he bend slightly forward to be able to reach it properly.

"I knew I could trust you with this, well done Dani." He complimented the man who now let go of my shoulders as he sat down in the only free chair around the table, his face beaming from the compliment as if he had just received a wonderful reward.

I swallowed hard. Dani was kind to me yes, but he wasn’t on my side. The glint in his eyes as he spoke to his captain….the glint all the men had in their eyes as they spoke to him. Great respect and almost humbleness. Nothing I had ever expected to see in a pirate’s eyes.

"Thank you Captain."

Why wouldn’t he take his eyes off of me? Why did he intimidate me like this? Even while speaking to someone else.

After taking another sip from his glass, taking his sweet time with every single movement he was making, he suddenly seemed to take in the room with a small frown, as if for the first time. His perfect shaped brows knitted before he finally spoke his mind.

"There aren't enough chairs here. There’s not one left. What happened to the rest of em?" He asked, underlining his words with dramatic arm gestures as he pointed to the other head of the table. Supposing there had been chairs on that spot before.

Some of them even made an effort trying to remember with their drunken heads as they frowned, as others just giggled. The man named Bazie on the other hand, spoke up at once.

"Remember Cap’n, we set them on fire last week to throw them against the sails of that poncy clipper we passed."

The eyes of the captain lit up as he chuckled with his deep, penetrating voice, obviously remembering the mentioned moment with fond memories. As only a cruel, heartless creature like himself could remember such violence.

All the others seemed to remember just the same as they all roared in laughter right along with him as I winced. I couldn't believe they took pleasure out of such destruction.

The captain ran his fingers along the golden ashtray, speaking of them making a good profit that day with a smile on his face before he seemed to realize the original problem. No chair left for me to sit on. I was the only person standing in the room, and it made me feel all the more exposed.

Looking around him with those crystallized green eyes as I was standing at the other end of the table he was leaning on, he addressed the two men sitting next to him.

"Jyrki, Jussi, move over for our guest. We will get some of the chairs from below tomorrow." He commended, waving his hands as if trying to shoo a cat, but both men protested immediately.

"No, why move for that little brat? He’ s been sitting on beautiful chairs for his entire life. It’s time he learns his place and sits on the floor."

"That’s right. We aren’t going anywhere."

I expected the captain to have an outburst and punish his crew for their disobedience, but he only sighed and smiled like a parent at his whining but adorable children.

"Boys, boys, ye both have the nightshift remember? Ye should head upstairs now anyway."

He spoke light-heartedly, having both Jussi and Jyrki making a face. The way the captain dealt with them made me realize he was used to this kind of behaviour from them. It surprised me how patient he could be.

"Arr Burton just went upstairs to take Gas's shift for a while."

"Aye, he’s just a cabin boy Captain. C’mon, I haven’t finished me grog yet."

A groan escaped Migé, sitting on the right side of the table and playing with a dagger. Obviously fed up with the two men bickering as he balled his fists tightly, but the captain simply seemed to think their words over.

He fingered his golden earring as his eyes shifted back to me, making me shiver as a mysterious smile crossed his perfect features. My knees started to buckle underneath me and my arms began hugging my chest tightly. He was up to something, I knew, as his other hand run innocently over his smooth exposed flesh from his chest.

It made me wonderful what it would like underneath my fingertips. If it would feel as soft and silky as it looked. Only for a second, before I shook it out of my head.  These thoughts were defiantly unheard of.

"Very well, you lads make a fair point. I think there's only one thing left to do with little Bammie over there."

The mysterious smile turned into an evil grin as he shoved his chair backwards with a scraping metal on wood sound and a low giggle. Making my heart pound in my throat.

I took a step back, afraid he was going to walk over to me, but realized he stayed seated as he now exposed his black silk clad thighs and upper legs to me that had been hidden underneath the table, crossed like a woman would have crossed her legs, before he lifted one to place them neatly next to each other. His knees touching as he arched his back in a feminine way.

My eyes widened as I finally understood his intentions when he patted his upper legs gently with a sinful look decorating his flawless face as the other men laughed loudly in amusement.

"Come Bammie. Sit, sit."

It was what I feared.

He was truly making me do this.

He wanted me to sit on his lap.