Terran Times 18 - Emerald Envisage (28 page)

The plant dangled precariously over them. He took it from her and placed it a safe distance away. Seconds later, he claimed her mouth in a hot kiss as he rolled on his back, bringing her with him. She returned the kiss with the same passion, glad for their private haven.

They finally stopped, if only to catch a breath. His finger brushed a spot of soil on her cheek. The depths of his eyes smiled up at her. “I love you,” he said.

Brigit’s heart did a somersault every time he said those words. “And I love you.”

Breath gushed out of her as he rolled over, pinning her under him for another sensual kiss.

THE PIRATE
AND
THE MERMAID

Marc Jarrod

…98, 99, 100, 101…

 
1800s pirate, Duncan McBeal, heard his men counting the gold coins he and his mates had stolen from a ship they raided only several hours ago. However, his mind was not set on the successful mission of the booty he obtained. Rather, he was staring at a glowing, almost phosphorous, yet clear, emerald stone about the size of a loaf of bread. Settled in his bunkroom, the stone on his desk, he rested his head at almost eyelevel to the green rock. It wasn’t so much the rock itself that enthralled him, but what was
inside
the rock and, what he observed, swimming inside that put him in an almost catatonic state.

Three hours earlier.

For most unsuspecting ships, the Blarney Stone served as a trading ship. The craft was sailing from England to Ireland, picking up goods and dropping off their own wares as well. This was simply a cover for a more sinister purpose.

“Okay, mates, the Goliath should be coming into view.”

The Blarney Stone was hiding behind an island where it had a small mountain to help obscure the ship’s hull. Just as the Goliath circumvented the land mass, McBeal’s ship appeared as if out of nowhere. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect as the Blarney Stone swiftly came into view, compliments of the trade winds blowing behind them. When she crossed The Goliath’s path, the other craft didn’t have time to react to the impending broadside collision.

Luckily, McBeal planned well. By gauging how many knots the other ship was sailing, he timed his ship where it would cross the other’s path, but still able to avoid the impact

That is exactly what happened. The other ship missed The Blarney by three meters before it finally came to a halt. He ordered his men to skim the boat closer to the vessel in order to embark it.

Once on board, he commanded, “Look for any chests, gold and silver wares, me mateys!”

As the raiders started ransacking the ship, most of the crew of the Goliath, which numbered about twenty with no passengers, were too afraid to interfere with the pirates as they scampered about the ship like cockroaches searching for food. One of the pirates entered a sleeping quarter. When a crewmember of the raided ship realized that it was his bunk, the pirate was ransacking, he tried to keep him from going through his personal belongings. Several pirates grabbed the
intruder
and presented him to McBeal. The captain in turn, seized him, escorted him to the top deck and threw him overboard.

He snickered when the man started thrashing in the water.

 
“I can’t bloody swim. Help me!”

“Well you should have thought of that before you jumped two of my men, matey.” He continued watching the swimmer’s futile attempt of trying to save his own life. “You know, you’re lucky. If there were sharks out there, you would be their next meal and drowning would be the least of your worries.” He laughed uproariously and waited a few more seconds before he would throw a rope to the poor victim. Captain McBeal, though a pirate, had never intended to let the man drown. He is not as ruthless or diabolical as some of his compatriot pirates are. He just wanted to teach this bloke a lesson.
Nobody interferes with a raid headed by Duncan McBeal.

Suddenly, the man’s body sunk into the cold ocean. McBeal peered down in the still waters that were white with foam a few seconds ago.
Wait a minute. Where did the bloke go?
The pirate was actually starting to feel a sense of guilt about the man’s fate when he saw a head pop out of the water.

This head was wearing a red cap.
A red cap?
What in the—
He didn’t remember the poor mate having a red cap. He grabbed his telescope hooked to him in a holster, spread it out and looked into the eyepiece. What he saw was definitely not a man but…a woman. Before he could get a better look, the woman dipped underneath the waters. She resurfaced seconds later and had an arm wrapped around a body.

Oh my God!
Tilting his body over the deck wall, McBeal acknowledged him as the man who was in the midst of drowning. His body was limp as the woman helped him toward a ladder draping the lower deck of the ship. He saw the man grab the rail, which meant that he appeared to be conscious, but still looked groggy.
Thank Goodness.

Just as he was about to climb the ladder, the red-capped woman placed her hands on each cheek of his head and kissed him on the lips. Suddenly his head jerked up and it looked like he was talking to this woman, perhaps thanking her for saving his life. Then he started scaling the ladder and eventually disappeared in the ship’s hull.

Relieved that the sailor, merchant or whatever the hell he was, survived his ordeal, McBeal now trained his telescope on the woman. She had green hair that speckled in the sun along with a greenish tint to her skin and light green lips.
My God, she is beautiful. Who is she and where did she come from?

 
She looked at him.

That was when he noticed blue, almost deep sapphire eyes drilling a hole into him.
Who in the Hell is she?

The pirate was about to find out when the woman dipped into to the ocean headfirst. Seconds later, a huge green fin followed the woman’s body.

Oh…my…God!
No, it can’t be.
Before he raided the Goliath, Duncan McBeal had consumed a half gallon of rum. He now shook his head violently, trying to talk himself into believing, or at least attributing the scene he beheld, was due to his drunken state.
It has to be. There is no such thing as mermaids…are there?

One of McBeal’s shipmates broke his trance when he yelled out, “Hey, Cap’n, get a load of this.”

McBeal entered the room where the voice came from and sauntered over to the ruckus, his mind finally calming down on what just occurred with the
mermaid.
“What ya got, matey?”

The fellow pirate held up a radiant green stone about the size of a loaf of bread. Its color was bright green and…it was…glowing.

McBeal took hold of the rock and raised it to eyelevel. He noticed movement inside the rock itself.
Movement?
He shook his head savagely.
I definitely have to stop drinking so much rum. I am hallucinating again.

“Do you see what I see, Cap’n,” the sailor asked.

When he heard his first mate make that statement, McBeal now realized it wasn’t the rum.” Yes, I see it, Michael. Oh, I see it, all right. Inside the glowing emerald were what looked like fish, perhaps minnows swimming around the parameters. He drew the rock closer to his face where his nose actually touched the stone. McBeal almost dropped the emerald due to shock when he realized these creatures weren’t just fish. They were…mermaids.
No.
“That is impossible,” he murmured.

His trance was broken for the second time when he heard another voice. The voice was almost frantic and had a thick Irish brogue. “Excuse me, sir, but I must have that rock.”

“You must have the rock? Who says you shall have it, mate?

“Sir, my name is Liam. I am the man you threw overboard and that rock belongs in the ocean. I found it yesterday. My ship discovered a shark washed up on the shore. When I cut it open to cook for dinner, I found that mineral. When I understood what I had found, especially what was in it, I was going to sell it on the open market. I could have made a fortune on it.”

“Damn right, people will pay a fortune this.”

Liam started reaching for the rock and at the same time said in desperation, “Sir, you must give me that rock. I must return it back to the oc—”

Duncan instinctively flung the stone to his chest with one arm and gave a stiff arm with the other hand. “Why is this so important to you besides its value? In fact, you would rather throw it in the ocean instead of selling it?”

Liam paused before speaking. “Last night, a woman appeared in my dream…at least I thought it was a dream. She asked for the rock I found in the shark. I told her in my dream she can’t have it. She said…and I still can’t believe she said this,
those
are the ocean’s children. Ovid’s green daughters of the sea.
She said if I gave her that rock, she would marry me and bear my children. I told her I was already married. I figured this had to be a dream and ignored her wishes. Then when I woke, I
knew
it wasn’t a dream.”

Duncan narrowed his eyelids into slits. “What makes you think it wasn’t a dream?

“When I woke up the next morning, the floor was wet.”

“Well that’s normal, mate. You’re on the ocean. Water is going to splash on the deck.”

Without missing a beat, Liam responded, “Water on the deck is one thing, but water in my bunk room? We didn’t hit any storms last night or I would have been up with the rest of the crew trying to maintain the boat afloat. Besides, the floor next to my bed was completely dry when I went to bed last night.” He stared at McBeal. “There’s one thing you should know, mate.”

“What’s that,” Duncan asked, now staring at the emerald stone, once again fascinated with the swimming creatures.
Yes, this will bring a king’s ransom on the open market, wouldn’t it?

“I don’t know if you noticed, but a woman rescued me from drowning after you threw me overboard. She was the one who appeared in my room last night. She told me again, I must return the rock. She saved me from drowning on the basis that I return her stone to the ocean. I told her,
that is why we were in these waters.
I am a righteous man and I was going to do as she requested. Then…she kissed me.”

“Yeah?”

“As I said, she was the one who came into my room last night. I will never forget her. She had a red-feathered cap and green hair that shined like sparkling emeralds. Her skin had a green tint, but her eyes were a deep sapphire.” After the explanation, Liam made a third, desperate lunge for the emerald stone and almost succeeded when two of McBeal’s men pushed him away.

“Get him away from here,” McBeal said in anger.

“You want me to throw him overboard again, Cap’n,” Michael said with glee as if hoping Duncan would give in to his wish. “If you want, I’ll even spill some blood in the water so he will be shark meat.”

Duncan, still looking at the swimming creatures, responded, “Yeah, you do that mate, dump him in the—” He jerked his head away from the stone and said, “Wait!” He took several steps toward Liam.

Liam made a final plea. “Please, sir, I must have that emerald.”

Duncan squinted again. Liam’s desperate request seemed genuine. Finally, he said, “I’ll…think about it.” He turned to his men who was still holding Liam and said, “Let him go. Send him to his bunk. We’re sailing off.” He took another step toward Liam. “Let me study this a little more closely. Then I may or may not give it back to the ocean.”

That night, while his men were counting the booty they confiscated from The Goliath, rather than celebrating with his mates, Duncan McBeal retreated to his room. He lay on his bed, his back leaning against the headboard with the glowing emerald resting on his chest. The room was mostly dark except from a dim light source emitting from a lantern on his nightstand. The lantern wasn’t necessary because the stone gave out a soft greenish hue that lit up the immediate area.

Throughout his years as a pirate in these oceans, Captain McBeal confiscated jewels such as rubies, emeralds and sapphires along with solid gold bullions, silver ware and goblets. Yet, those items paled to the rock sitting on his chest. It was mesmerizing and the creatures swimming inside the emerald stone captured McBeal’s fascination.
Mermaids! Baby Mermaids?
Another thought hit him like a thunderbolt.
Is it possible this rock is an actual egg?

Still staring at the rock, he started to doze. Minutes later, he was startled awake when he felt a presence in the room. There standing at the foot of the bed was a woman. Trying to adjust his eyes due to glowing light mixed with the darkness, Duncan noticed the woman wore a red-feathered cap. He reached over to the lantern and turned a knob, which made the light engulf the room. Now he was able to see her in all her glory. The head displayed green hair that matched the color of the emerald stone he held on his chest. Her tresses sparkled like glitter and cascaded down the back of her torso, but some strands covered her chest that bulged, indicating the woman was buxom.

For a pirate who has never been afraid of anything, he actually started shivering with fright.
Is she a ghost?
Drumming up the last of his courage, he asked, trying to be authoritative,
“Who are—what do you want?”