A Motley Sisterhood of Pirates!  BOOK Three  (Part Fourteen: Blog Seventy)

By Dan Watt and Taylor Norris, co-authors of the Rita Walker series

No one knows Master-at-Arms “Dizzying Blade” Sadie’s story.  And that’s good, because except for the occasional flashbacks, neither does she.  Alejandra and Jo Anne told her they found her under the bodies of tall men with long hair and scraggly beards with round eyes.  Also in the longboat were three shorter men with long, raven hair, thin moustaches and goatees, and slanted eyes.  All the men were dead from wounds and dehydration.  The strange thing is, Jo Anne told her, the positions of their body gave the impression they were on the same side.  Alejandra, Jo Anne, and Ship Builder were checking the bodies for anything useful, when Jo Anne touched Sadie’s hand.  Jo Anne said she jumped ten feet back when Sadie moved.  Sadie, remembers vaguely drawing a knife and brandishing it at them, before nothing more again, for a long time.

Where her acumen for martial arts and weapon usage came from?  Well, no one knows that either. But she does love practicing the fighting movements with and without weapons.  The deep cut she received on her right forearm while conquering the Freya is annoying.  “Unibrow” Nippi and Janice did a fine job keeping it septic free with the herbs from the sea, but there’s still a nagging pain.

She steps out of her cabin and as she watches the morning crew cleaning the deck, she sees the tall form of First Mate Zala walking towards her. “Morning Master-at-Arms,” Zala says with her Ethiopian accent.

The girl looks like a goddess warrior with her red bandana and white blouse shirt accentuating her dark tan.  Sadie glances at her own pale skin.  European, and northern, she assumes.  Her gaze turns to the morning crew.  It’s so hot, a number of the girls are topless with only a loin clothe on.  Accept the ones scrubbing the deck; they have cloth wrapped around their knees.  “Hot this morning, First Mate.”  Sadie wonders if she has an accent.  None one else, sounds like her.

“Admiral Alejandra requests your presence,” Zala says with a slight bow of her head.

“We’re both elders now,” Sadie tells her, reaching up to clasp the girl’s muscular shoulder. “No more bowing the head out of respect.  And you may be a captain some day.”

“But you taught me how to fight.”

“We all need to pass on our skills to the up-and-comers.”  She thinks of Amelie and Arsema.  Arsema is now First Mate on the Freya, and Amelie and her octopus, the Master-and-Arms.  She laughs.

“What’s so funny?” Zala asks. “I was thinking of our Amelie and her blekksprut.”

“Her what?”

That’s a strange word for me to say, where did that came from, Sadie wonders.  “I mean, octopus.”

• Maegan Curlyo as Master-at-Arms “Dizzying Blade” Sadie (picture by Ben Kraehling)

  Taylor Norris, RMT, as First Mate ‘One Eye’ Olanis:  taynorris@gmail.com (Kitchener-Waterloo)

With thanks to Joanne Gosling (Navigator ‘Storm Caller’ Master Jo Anne): Joanne is an Interior Decorator who specializes in closets: Jgosling@calclosets.com Calclosetsjoanne or Joannegosling22@gmail.com Leah Weir (Helmswoman ‘Wheel Turner’ Synthia): model and cover editor;

Andraya Watt as Assistant-Master-at-Arms, Amelie

Maegan Curlyo as Master-at-Arms “Dizzying Blade” Sadie (pictures of Maegan by Ben Kraehling)    

With Thanks To: Fire & Steel for the Medieval Rapier:  http://fireandsteel.ca/

Alex Watt for background pictures

Daiana Duca for background pictures

Krissy Karmaschek for background pictures

Tags: Female Pirates, Science Fiction, Story Telling