It’s like I’m watching in slow motion as it happens. The ridgeback closes the distance impossibly fast, and Gus whips his head around, eyes wide with alarm. The monster’s snarl freezes my blood. It darts it’s head forward, rows of white teeth showing, going for Gus’ leg.

“No!”

My cry is high pitched, strangled sounding. Gus jerks his leg up just on time, and the Ridgeback’s huge teeth snap shut on the empty air with an audible “click”. It lunges again, a savage roar ripping from its throat. Gus takes the knife from his teeth and lashes out with it, scoring a deep gash on the creature’s snout. It rears back, and the sound it makes is horrific, a squealing, wail.

When I look down Gus is climbing again, teeth gritted in concentration as he tries to hold the knife in one hand and haul himself up with the other. The ship is still rising up into the air, agonizingly slow.

 Too slow, I think, it’s too slow. Gus is going to get eaten because the damn ship is too slow.

Beyond Gus I see the ridgeback dart forward again, and a warning scream rips from my throat. Gus curls his knees up to his chest just as the creature snaps at him again. Instead of getting Gus the ridgeback only gets a mouthful of rope ladder, and for one terrifying second I think it will hold on and bring the entire ship crashing to the desert sand. Instead the ridgeback snorts and spits out the rope, mouth curling back in a disgusted snarl, it howls up at Gus.

I sag against the rungs of the rope ladder, shutting my eyes, relief making my muscles watery. He’s out of range now. The damn thing can’t reach him any more.

“Oy!”

A man’s voice is calling to me from above, and I glance up, squinting past the bright sunlight. Someone is leaning over the railing ofthe ship, gesturing at me, “come on, damn you! Hurry! I won’t let no bloody ridgeback take the ship down. Get up here!”

I take one last look down at Gus, relief unfurling the knot in my stomach as he gives me a nod. Then I begin climbing again, hand over hand. Slowly  my eyes adjust to the sun, and I can make out the man’s face. I take in his appearance, his square jaw covered in dark stubble, grey eyes that flick impatiently from me to Gus, the goggles slung around his neck and the too- long windswept hair.

Pirate.

Everything in me wants to climb back down the ladder. Everything in me has seized up, is shrieking a steady “warning, warning,warning”.

I know this type of man. The type that will shoot you as soon as look at you. The type that will charm your socks off while robbing you blind.

“Come on,” he says impatiently, holding out one arm, “you want to stay here?”

One more glance back down and I see the ridgeback. I’m not sure if the monster is much safer than the pirate, but at least the pirate is better looking. I sigh and climb the rest of the way, then stretch up to take his hand. He gives me one sly, sideways grin before he grasps my hand in an iron grip and hauls me up so fast it makes my head spin. My feet hit the deck, and I stagger forward, off balance.

“Steady on!’The pirate’s hands are on my waist, keeping me from falling.

“Let go!” I snarl, and tear myself out of his grip, running to the side and leaning over so I can see Gus. He’s nearly to the top, and I stretch my hand out,

“Here, Gus!”

He looks up, pushing dreadlocks out of his eyes, “It didn’t eat me,” he sounds relieved.

“I know,” I give him an encouraging grin, “now grab my hand.”

I ignore the pirate when he comes to stand beside me. Gus grabs my hand and I grunt with the effort of pulling him up. The pirate has his other hand, finally he’s up, stumbling onto the deck, panting.

“That was close,” the pirate says cheerfully.

Finally, now that we’re all safe, I look around the deck of the airship. It’s a small craft, and the wooden deck isn’t more than  twenty or so feet across. There are a few other men on board and most of them ignore us. They haul on ropes and talk in low voices to one another. One of them, a skinny boy who looks no older than Ellie, is scrubbing at the deck on his hands and knees, a battered old bucket of soapy water beside him.

A few of the men glance at us from time to time, and the knot is back in my stomach now. The weight of the gem in my pocket seems to have increased again. They’ll kill me for it, any one of them will do it, I’m sure of it.

When I look over at Ellie she’s pulled the brim of her hat over her eyes, maybe trying to block out the pirate’s curious stares. She shifts from foot to foot. Finally I look back at the pirate, startled to catch his grey eyes in the process of examining my face.

“Jasper,” he sticks out one hand, and for a moment I only look at it, before realizing he wants me to shake it. I extend my own cautiously. His grip is firm and warm, and there’s no hint of brutality or violence in his easy grin.

“I’m Molly,” I say, pulling my hand away as soon as I can, “and this is Ellie, and the one who almost got eaten is Gus.”

Gus nods at Jasper, brown eyes wary. Ellie doesn’t say anything, or even seem like she’s registered the exchange. She’s got her arms crossed over her chest, hugging herself, clearly uncomfortable.

I glance away from the ship, out at the landscape moving slowly past. We’re leaving this place. That’s all I care about.

“Where’s this ship going?” When I shift my eyes back to Jasper it’s unsettling to see he’s still staring at me.

“Setting down in London,” he says, “you’ll have to find your own way to Bristol from there.”

Gus is looking from my face, to Jasper, back to me again, “you’re the captain?” He says abruptly.

“Nah…” Jasper starts, and then there’s a sudden banging sound from behind us, and we turn to see a man emerging from a set of stairs in the middle of the deck. As he comes into view my stomach drops like a rock.

He’s huge. A behemoth of a man.

When he finally gets all the way up the stairs, his shiny black boots emerging last, I estimate he’s around six foot seven, maybe more. The worst part is he’s not skinny-tall either. He’s every bit as husky as he is tall, and all dressed in tough leather armor. There’s a terrible scar across his face, warping his skin all down one side of his cheek and neck, making it look like melted wax. One eye is milky white, and the other is so dark it’s almost black. On his head is a three sided hat, typical pirate style, and he has a pair of beat up looking goggles slung around his neck, like Jasper.

Instantly every man on deck is at attention, all eyes are on the captain. The three of us, Gus, Ellie and me. Our eyes are on him too. My eyes are frozen on him. I can’t seem to tear them away. He’s frozen my feet to the deck in absolute terror.

The captain stops and surveys us, meaty hands on his hips, his brow crinkles, like he’s trying to work something out. When he finally speaks his voice rumbles out low and threatening. I feel like I’ve just woken an angry bear from hibernation.

“What’s this lot?” He says, “this isn’t the bloke what paid me.”

My mouth opens but nothing comes out. I can’t even breathe properly. Thankfully, Gus steps forward and says, “Er..he couldn’t make it. He sent us instead.”

The captain takes one heavy step forward, and his good eye sweeps over us, pinning us to the deck, “Well, you know what the agreement was then. Half before, half after.”

My stomach sinks, “Half…” I falter when he turns to look at me, “as in…money?”

It’s a stupid question. I know. When he takes another step toward me I deeply regret opening my mouth. Beside me I see Jasper shift, and when I glance sideways at him his face is slightly pale. Something about that makes me even more terrified. He knows his captain better than I do. What’s the man about to do to us if we can’t give him the money?

The captain steps up, right in front of me, and I have to tip my head back slightly to look at him. It’s like facing off with a ruddy oak tree. The palm of my hand tingles. I want to rest my fingers on my knife, but I don’t move my hand. I’m too afraid to move.

He lowers himself down until we’re face to face, and I can see every disgusting detail. I can see the twisting contours of the scar, how it molds his skin into unnatural shapes. I can see the white mist over his bad eye. Then he opens his mouth and I can see his rotten teeth.

“You got the money, girl?”

There is complete and utter silence, the only noise is the dull thrum of the air ship and the thump of boots on the deck as the pirates go about their business like nothing is happening.

I struggle to find something to say, “Look, things didn’t go like we planned…” I don’t get to say anything else, because he straightens up and roars out, “Unacceptable!”

I shriek as he darts one thick hand out and grabs my arm. His fingers are like sausages, rough, and crushingly strong. They wrap around my upper arm, bruising my skin. He drags me forward, towards the stairs, and I grab my knife out of my belt and slash at him, drawing a thin line of scarlet across his shoulder. He whirls around with a roar of annoyance, smacking at my arm, hitting it so hard with his fist that my entire arm goes numb, and the knife clatters out of my fingers.

Behind me Gus yells, and I turn to see him bolting across the deck towards me. One of the pirates drops the cable he’s holding and grabs Gus, spinning him around with a punch to the face. Ellie is screaming, moving forward. Jasper grabs her arms and I hear him say, “don’t!”

Then I can’t hear anything but my own outraged screams as the captain drags me down the stairs. I bash my fists against his shoulder, trying to get him to let go of my arm, but it’s like he doesn’t even notice. I stumble on the stairs, and he practically carries me down, my heels drag, making thumping noises down the staircase. We go through an open section filled with hammocks strung wall to wall, lit by flickering gas lamps. There’s a door at the end, and he drags me toward it. He kicks it open, revealing a small, cramped cabin. It’s filled to the corners with brass fixings. Silver candlesticks and chests, piles of coins and even strings of pearls here and there. Jewel encrusted wine goblets sit on the long oak tables in the center of the room, and there’s a bowl made of silver piled with fresh looking mangoes and apples.

The captain’s room.

My stomach is twisting, and I think I’m going to be sick. He drags me to the corner, to a bed of silk sheets and fancy embroidered pillows, and shoves me forward. My angry shriek is cut off when I do a face plant and get a mouth-full of silk. I scramble upright as fast as I can, my entire body tense. The massive man is just standing there looking down at me, hands on his hips.

My voice comes out shaky and I hate myself for it, “Don’t try anything, mate. You do…and your face will be even worse than it is now.”

Instead of getting angry his mouth slouches upwards at the corners, in something like an amused sneer, “lass, I’d love you to try. Now, have you got my money or not?”

“I told you,” I say evenly, “there’s been a mix up, however, once we get to London…”

“You’ll slip off an’ I’ll never see you and your little mates again,” he shakes his head, twisting his face in a mockery of disappointment, “aye, my dear. I know you lot. You’ve got street rabble written all over ya.” He takes a step forward, and I can’t help it, I shrink back against the bed. He’s too massive. It’s hopeless.

Screw that, I lecture myself angrily, come on, Molly. If he tries anything you give him everything you’ve got. Even if it kills you.

And it might. In fact, he probably will. I watch him warily, a scared rabbit cornered by a large and mangy dog. He takes another step closer,

“Seeing as you obviously ain’t got any money, there are…other ways you can repay the flight expenses.”

Every nerve in my body screams. He’s standing over me now, so close that his knees touch the bed, leaning over me.

“Don’t you touch me,” my voice is a scared whisper, and it only makes him smile, a hideous gash in his scarred face. When he reaches out I flinch back, but he pins me to the bed with one massive hand in the middle of my stomach. The other hand is on my leg, and revulsion crawls through me as he slides one hand up the outside of the my thigh.

I open my mouth to scream, but his hand suddenly runs over my pocket and he freezes, his fingers lingering on the hard shape of the jewel.

A wave of hot rage runs through me, “You can’t have that!” I lash out with one fist, catching him in the gut. It’s like punching a cement wall, and he only laughs and presses me harder into the bed with his hand, using the other to dig into my pocket. I try to latch onto his wrist, try to block him from getting the jewel, but it’s useless. He pulls his hand back out, holding the ends of the silver chain. His eyes grow huge, and he lets out a low whistle,

“Bollocks, girl! No wonder you didn’t want me in there. Look at this beauty!”

He stands back, and the bed creaks when his weight leaves the surface. He doesn’t even look at me anymore, not even interested in whatever it was he was about to do. He only has eyes for the jewel now, round eyes shining with greed. Part of me just wants to sag with relief, shut my eyes and melt into the mattress. But another part, something deep in my stomach, is stirring with rage.

I hiss through my teeth at him, “Give.that.back. Now.”

He eyes me with interest, “How’d you get your dirty little paws on this, huh? You must have sticky little fingers.”

To my horror he sits back down on the bed, and the springs of the mattress shriek in protest. He reaches out with one hand and grabs my face, his fingers pinching my skin, “maybe I’ll keep you and you’re jewel. Think you’d make a good pirate wife?”

“Sod off,” I spit at him, and he starts to laugh.

There’s a sharp “thump” from across the room, and the captain looks up, his fingers still on my chin.

My eyes are watering, but I can see who’s just walked in the door. The pirate who helped me on the ship, Jasper. He stands uncertainly in the doorway for a minute, and then his mouth firms into a straight line and he strides forward.

“Look, we can’t go taking prisoners…”

The captain is up and across the room in two strides. He sweeps out one arm and backhands Jasper across the face, sending the smaller pirate flying sideways. I gasp as his head cracks the wall and he slumps down onto his knees with a groan.

The captain growls, “what have I told you about your opinion? I don’t need it.”

He turns back to me, the jewel swinging on the end of the chain. His eye fixes on it and he chuckles, “Now you’ll fetch a pretty penny.”

My eyes are fixed on him, and I hold my breath when his other hand reaches for the jewel. Was the copper right about it? What will happen if he actually touches it?

His other hand closes around the black jewel, fingers curling around it. I stare intently at him, at his twisted face.

Nothing.

Nothing happens. Of course nothing happens. What exactly had I expected?

Still. I feel disappointment crushing my chest. Now what? Now I become a pirate captain’s slave and he sells my jewel? What will happen to Gus and Ellie? My eyes are still fixed on the captain’s face, and he looks up and grins at me. That’s when I see it. Just a tiny tendril of black crawling up his neck, a trail of black, ropey looking vein just under his skin.

Goosebumps shoot up both my arms.

What the hell is that?

It’s as if the pirate captain reads the look on my face, because he loses his smile. He glances down at his arms, puzzled. The bare, brown skin is being invaded by crawling black tentacles, tiny lines that snake slowly up his arms underneath his skin, consuming him slowly. His eyes grow wide, and he looks up at me, panicked.

“What the hell is this? What’s this?”

When he drops the jewel it clatters to the floor, rolling forward, the chain dragging behind it. It stops at Jasper’s left shoe, but he doesn’t notice. He’s still holding his head and groaning, blood dribbling from between his fingers.

The captain’s eyes are bulging, and he clutches his throat. He says nothing, but small, strangled noises are coming from his throat. When he drops to his knees it makes the cabin walls shake. Now he’s clawing at his neck frantically, and I watch in horror as the veins grow thicker, and the blackness spreads in star-burst patches all over his skin, eating him from the inside out. Turning him rotten. The darkness creeps over his face until I can’t see his scars anymore, until I can’t see his skin anymore. The flesh peels and cracks, and I finally have to close my eyes or risk vomiting. My stomach is turning so violently.

Seconds go past, and I hear a bone-jarring thud as his body hits the floor.

Someone says in a low voice, “what the…”

My eyes shoot open. Jasper is staggering to his feet, eyes fixed on the captain.

            I say, “don’t touch him!” and my voice comes out shaky and hoarse.

Jasper glances at me, grey eyes round. His nose is still dripping blood, and the open collared shirt he wears is covered in it, but he doesn’t seem to notice, “What happened?”

            I glance down at the jewel, which is still sitting by his foot, unnoticed on the floor, “he touched something he shouldn’t have.”