HOME | DD

Description
Danica turned around and Renard stumbled back, he noticed something was different, certainly sterner. “I’ll kill them, I’ll kill the all. Even if it takes me till the day I die, those men, all of them, will die at my hands. I will dig up their dead bodies just to drive a sword through their heart, and I’ll leave them out to let the wolves eat at their carcass. I will kill them, they won’t get away with this.” He reached out for her and tried to touch her shoulder. The green in his eyes softened as if he was caring what happened to her now. Danica jerked back and hoisted Michael better on her hip. “I want to thank you Renard from saving my brother and me from what would have possibly been death. I also want to thank you for giving us a room and space on your ship, but that will not be necessary after a few months or so. We wouldn’t want to be a burden on you and your crew. We will be leaving you and your ship in two months time. Yes, I think that will be ample time to regain our position and find some family a good distance away from those murders.” Michael whimpered his last bit of a cry. “I would also thank you at this time if you would show me to the room you were promising a few minuets ago.” She held her head high as though Renard was another business associate of her fathers that was showing her around his or her home. Renard was caught offguard but soon regained his balance. He sighed, scratched his head, but decided to let her go. “Kirie! Come help Ms. Danica and her brother to an empty room for the night.” He nodded to her and left, if she wanted to play cold heart, he could too. The small red head that had warned Renard of the intruders ran up and held out his hand. “This way ma’am.” Danica nodded and followed him.
Once in a cabin, she laid Michael down on the bed and covered him up, he had never been a cold-blooded boy. Danica on the other hand could stand almost any weather under the right circumstances. A small table with a candle was in her room and already lit nicely. She sat down at it and started writing a list, things she would need to do in the next two months on this ship.
Money
Find Family far away
Get good connections on the men
See if there is a trust fund of some sort for Michael or me
Find out how to work a boat, if I’m going to have one to kill those men I need one too.
Danica scratched this one out. Her mind was starting to come to her; she couldn’t kill all of those men. She would simply go high and convict them to death, much more satisfaction there. She continued her list, things like clothes and quick money to pay for rent in this room. As she was finishing there was a knock at her door. It opened and the beautiful man from before walked in carrying a tray of good smelling food. “Renard wanted me to send this to you in case you were hungry.” Danica smiled, “Sure put it on the table here, I’ll eat it in a minuet.” The man did as told. “What was your name again?” she asked him, he bowed when he gave it. “Percival madam. Simply Percival.” Danica bowed he head back. “Pleasure to meet you simply Percival. My name is Danica, Danica Baroudi and that child over there is my brother Michael Baroudi.” Percival nodded his head. “It’s almost time for the crew to go to rest, would you like anything else?” Danica shook her head. “I’m tired now, I think once I eat this I’ll crawl in beside my brother, God knows he’s going to have nightmares.” Percival nodded and left the room quietly.
Danica turned back to her work and folded the piece of paper up, stuffing it away in her cloak. As she did she felt something heavy in the pocket, it was cold and heavy. She knew what it was before she pulled it out. It was a small box filled with small trinkets of her mothers. She had put it there a few days ago when she went riding, she had meant to lay it at her grave in honor of her death three weeks before but it had rained and she had to turn back. With a single tear, Danica opened it. A ring, a locket, a barrette, an earring, and a gold hoop sat in the box. All of the items including the box were silver and green except for the gold hoop naturally. With a sniffle she reached in and pulled out all of the objects. She knew she could sell the box, her father had bought it for her a year ago, since it was the color of her favorite things of her mothers, but everything else would stay with her at all times. Slowly she put all of the objects on and placed the box back in her cloak. The silver was cold and familiar as it lay against her chest, finger and earlobes. The barrette could wait. She let a sigh escape her lips; she was done crying and it was time to move on. With a small chuckle for some reason, she picked up the bowl that was holding what looked like really good clam chowder and ate it. She left the crackers for Michael when he woke up. Danica blew out the candle and lay down beside her brother, letting his now warm body comfort her.
~~**~~
It was well into the next day when Danica heard a noise from above. It sounded like a hundred boots were stomping around, purposefully trying to wake her up. Well, it had worked and she sat up. She reached out to touch Michael and make sure he had slept when she realized his side was not only empty but cold as if he had been gone for a while. In sheer panic Danica jumped up and flung open the door and ran out. “Michael!” she shouted trying to find him. She started to calm once she heard his laughter when she started going above deck. “Michael!” This time she called a little more calmly, this time just trying to see where he was. “Up here Danni! Lookie I’m a crow baby!” Danica couldn’t find him at all and when she finally she looked up she realized what he was talking about. “Michael! That’s the Crow’s Nest! It’s a place for a look out to spot land! Not for baby crows like yourself!” Michael gave off a huge round of laughing and someone else did too. It was Renard! He was up there with him; well at least he was completely safe. “Michael! Can you come down for a second?” she called up, hand to her eyes to block out the rising sun. “Fine!” he called and Danica saw Renard swing his leg over and haul Michael. She gritted her teeth as Renard carried Michael down in one arm while maneuvering on the slippery rope with only the other. Finally, they were safely planted on two feet. “Danni! Danni! Guess what I’ve done today? He ran up to her arms open, Danica bent down to scoop him up. “What has my little Prince done?” she tickled his tummy, if not for herself, then for her brother. “I ate with the crew, then one of the sailors taught me about ships and what things were called. Then another told me about knots! I learned tons of ways to tie a knot. I even tied a cup to the mast! It was so good even Renard couldn’t get it off.” Danica looked to Renard who shrugged and pointed to the mast. Sure enough, there was a silver cup tied to the mast. The knot looked ridged but safe enough. “Well, that’s impressive! What else?” she asked. “Well, when the other sailors had to go to work, Renard showed me how to steer and what the Crow’s Nest was! That’s why we were up there!” he pointed to the Crow’s Nest and Danica smiled and kissed his head. “Well, you’ve had an exciting day. How about we go downstairs now and find things to make new clothes with!?” she asked and Michael shouted for joy.
Without warning he took off for below deck, Renard walked up to her. “You need new clothes?” he asked. “Oh, well I thought since were going to be on a ship a dress wasn’t exactly appropriate. I’m not going to tear your clothes to recreate. I’m just going to find scraps and redo ours. I’m definitely going to shorten and lighten this dress and use the extra to make a new shirt for Michael, any extra will go to hair tie backs.” She waved it off and Renard gave her an incredulous look. “Well, we have tons of scrap clothes around here. As you might have heard, I am kind of a good Pirate, but a lot of places we…scavenge…is not as useful as the rest. Actually we just did a project, tons of clothes, maybe you can find something down there without cutting up your stuff.” He pointed to the dress she was still wearing, it was definitely tired and had seen better days. The skirt was wrinkled and worn, and the bodice was filthy with dust and horsehair. “I guess so, I’ll do that, thanks.” Danica gave him a distant smile.
Sure enough, there was a single room devoted to scrap clothing. Michael was already scavenging for things and had a growing pile in the corner. “Sissy! Look at this coat!” he held up a blue trench coat with gold buttons with some kind of insignia. “Oh, how pretty, I’ll keep this. Michael, Captain Renard said we can take as much as we want, so instead of getting a shirt or two, he said we can make a whole wardrobe, but a small one mind you.” She wagged her finger. Michael’s eyes grew big, “Yeah!” he shouted and dived head first into a pile of clothing. It was a good hour or two before the siblings had a good large pile in front of them. Now the job was to pick things out they could alter, and put things back they either didn’t want anymore or was to big or small to alter. Michael’s pile was bigger than Danica’s by a little, but he had more things put away because of his size. “I’m sorry but I don’t have to tools to do that drastic of altering.” She pointed out and put the black trousers with gold trimming back. While they had been there, the two had sorted it out and organized it a little so it wasn’t so hard to find where things were. Finally, they had finished; each sibling had about three shirts and four pairs of bottoms. Danica had two pairs of boots while Michael had three. While Michael looked for scarves and things Danica looked through jewelry, hey she was still a rich mans kid. She found a few rings and three sets of earrings that were appealing. Michael ran up to her with over ten scarves. “You and I can wear them on our head!” he suggested. Danica nodded, she did need some things like this anyway. “Good, idea. Michael why don’t you go change and put away those clothes in a safe place. We’ll need them one day.” She mentioned as he walked away. A the door he turned, “Sissy? I know you’re sad but those were not nice men. I’m still glad Mr. Renard saved us, if it wasn’t for him we would be like daddy.” Michael sniffled and left before Danica could say anything.
She stared at where her brother had stood and with a sigh, dropped her shoulders. “Well, its official. My six year old brother is stronger than me and I’m eighteen!” She started thinking of her age and what she could do with it. Then a thought came to her mind. Her father and her hand been talking about marriage earlier. (Oh, that felt like so long ago) and he had mentioned a man who was willing to join with her father if she married his son. That’s what she’d do! Go to the man and ask for help. She’d explain as much as she could and ask for them to house her and her brother in exchange for the marriage! Then with a sigh she knew it was impossible. Once anyone figured out her father borrowed bad money at one time, no one would take her. Her father’s business might still be alive though. With an exasperated she changed her clothes and ran out on the deck.
“Renard!” she called, cupping her hands around her mouth, Michael was being showed how to cast a small net. He turned and waved at his sister, she waved back. “Renard!” she called again. “Yes.” Renards deep voice came from behind her. She jumped, “I need to talk to you. I think I know how I can fix things for my brother and me for a while, or maybe forever if I can do it right. But I’ll need your help.” He motioned for her to walk into his cabin office, which was on the main deck. She reached down to pull up her skirts but got air, she looked down and realized she wasn’t wearing a dress anymore, but an old red and white shirt that only had one strap left and a ripped skirt that came up to her thighs. She had placed a red bandanna on her head to keep her hair out of her eyes.

Description
Danica turned around and Renard stumbled back, he noticed something was different, certainly sterner. “I’ll kill them, I’ll kill the all. Even if it takes me till the day I die, those men, all of them, will die at my hands. I will dig up their dead bodies just to drive a sword through their heart, and I’ll leave them out to let the wolves eat at their carcass. I will kill them, they won’t get away with this.” He reached out for her and tried to touch her shoulder. The green in his eyes softened as if he was caring what happened to her now. Danica jerked back and hoisted Michael better on her hip. “I want to thank you Renard from saving my brother and me from what would have possibly been death. I also want to thank you for giving us a room and space on your ship, but that will not be necessary after a few months or so. We wouldn’t want to be a burden on you and your crew. We will be leaving you and your ship in two months time. Yes, I think that will be ample time to regain our position and find some family a good distance away from those murders.” Michael whimpered his last bit of a cry. “I would also thank you at this time if you would show me to the room you were promising a few minuets ago.” She held her head high as though Renard was another business associate of her fathers that was showing her around his or her home. Renard was caught offguard but soon regained his balance. He sighed, scratched his head, but decided to let her go. “Kirie! Come help Ms. Danica and her brother to an empty room for the night.” He nodded to her and left, if she wanted to play cold heart, he could too. The small red head that had warned Renard of the intruders ran up and held out his hand. “This way ma’am.” Danica nodded and followed him.
Once in a cabin, she laid Michael down on the bed and covered him up, he had never been a cold-blooded boy. Danica on the other hand could stand almost any weather under the right circumstances. A small table with a candle was in her room and already lit nicely. She sat down at it and started writing a list, things she would need to do in the next two months on this ship.
Money
Find Family far away
Get good connections on the men
See if there is a trust fund of some sort for Michael or me
Find out how to work a boat, if I’m going to have one to kill those men I need one too.
Danica scratched this one out. Her mind was starting to come to her; she couldn’t kill all of those men. She would simply go high and convict them to death, much more satisfaction there. She continued her list, things like clothes and quick money to pay for rent in this room. As she was finishing there was a knock at her door. It opened and the beautiful man from before walked in carrying a tray of good smelling food. “Renard wanted me to send this to you in case you were hungry.” Danica smiled, “Sure put it on the table here, I’ll eat it in a minuet.” The man did as told. “What was your name again?” she asked him, he bowed when he gave it. “Percival madam. Simply Percival.” Danica bowed he head back. “Pleasure to meet you simply Percival. My name is Danica, Danica Baroudi and that child over there is my brother Michael Baroudi.” Percival nodded his head. “It’s almost time for the crew to go to rest, would you like anything else?” Danica shook her head. “I’m tired now, I think once I eat this I’ll crawl in beside my brother, God knows he’s going to have nightmares.” Percival nodded and left the room quietly.
Danica turned back to her work and folded the piece of paper up, stuffing it away in her cloak. As she did she felt something heavy in the pocket, it was cold and heavy. She knew what it was before she pulled it out. It was a small box filled with small trinkets of her mothers. She had put it there a few days ago when she went riding, she had meant to lay it at her grave in honor of her death three weeks before but it had rained and she had to turn back. With a single tear, Danica opened it. A ring, a locket, a barrette, an earring, and a gold hoop sat in the box. All of the items including the box were silver and green except for the gold hoop naturally. With a sniffle she reached in and pulled out all of the objects. She knew she could sell the box, her father had bought it for her a year ago, since it was the color of her favorite things of her mothers, but everything else would stay with her at all times. Slowly she put all of the objects on and placed the box back in her cloak. The silver was cold and familiar as it lay against her chest, finger and earlobes. The barrette could wait. She let a sigh escape her lips; she was done crying and it was time to move on. With a small chuckle for some reason, she picked up the bowl that was holding what looked like really good clam chowder and ate it. She left the crackers for Michael when he woke up. Danica blew out the candle and lay down beside her brother, letting his now warm body comfort her.
~~**~~
It was well into the next day when Danica heard a noise from above. It sounded like a hundred boots were stomping around, purposefully trying to wake her up. Well, it had worked and she sat up. She reached out to touch Michael and make sure he had slept when she realized his side was not only empty but cold as if he had been gone for a while. In sheer panic Danica jumped up and flung open the door and ran out. “Michael!” she shouted trying to find him. She started to calm once she heard his laughter when she started going above deck. “Michael!” This time she called a little more calmly, this time just trying to see where he was. “Up here Danni! Lookie I’m a crow baby!” Danica couldn’t find him at all and when she finally she looked up she realized what he was talking about. “Michael! That’s the Crow’s Nest! It’s a place for a look out to spot land! Not for baby crows like yourself!” Michael gave off a huge round of laughing and someone else did too. It was Renard! He was up there with him; well at least he was completely safe. “Michael! Can you come down for a second?” she called up, hand to her eyes to block out the rising sun. “Fine!” he called and Danica saw Renard swing his leg over and haul Michael. She gritted her teeth as Renard carried Michael down in one arm while maneuvering on the slippery rope with only the other. Finally, they were safely planted on two feet. “Danni! Danni! Guess what I’ve done today? He ran up to her arms open, Danica bent down to scoop him up. “What has my little Prince done?” she tickled his tummy, if not for herself, then for her brother. “I ate with the crew, then one of the sailors taught me about ships and what things were called. Then another told me about knots! I learned tons of ways to tie a knot. I even tied a cup to the mast! It was so good even Renard couldn’t get it off.” Danica looked to Renard who shrugged and pointed to the mast. Sure enough, there was a silver cup tied to the mast. The knot looked ridged but safe enough. “Well, that’s impressive! What else?” she asked. “Well, when the other sailors had to go to work, Renard showed me how to steer and what the Crow’s Nest was! That’s why we were up there!” he pointed to the Crow’s Nest and Danica smiled and kissed his head. “Well, you’ve had an exciting day. How about we go downstairs now and find things to make new clothes with!?” she asked and Michael shouted for joy.
Without warning he took off for below deck, Renard walked up to her. “You need new clothes?” he asked. “Oh, well I thought since were going to be on a ship a dress wasn’t exactly appropriate. I’m not going to tear your clothes to recreate. I’m just going to find scraps and redo ours. I’m definitely going to shorten and lighten this dress and use the extra to make a new shirt for Michael, any extra will go to hair tie backs.” She waved it off and Renard gave her an incredulous look. “Well, we have tons of scrap clothes around here. As you might have heard, I am kind of a good Pirate, but a lot of places we…scavenge…is not as useful as the rest. Actually we just did a project, tons of clothes, maybe you can find something down there without cutting up your stuff.” He pointed to the dress she was still wearing, it was definitely tired and had seen better days. The skirt was wrinkled and worn, and the bodice was filthy with dust and horsehair. “I guess so, I’ll do that, thanks.” Danica gave him a distant smile.
Sure enough, there was a single room devoted to scrap clothing. Michael was already scavenging for things and had a growing pile in the corner. “Sissy! Look at this coat!” he held up a blue trench coat with gold buttons with some kind of insignia. “Oh, how pretty, I’ll keep this. Michael, Captain Renard said we can take as much as we want, so instead of getting a shirt or two, he said we can make a whole wardrobe, but a small one mind you.” She wagged her finger. Michael’s eyes grew big, “Yeah!” he shouted and dived head first into a pile of clothing. It was a good hour or two before the siblings had a good large pile in front of them. Now the job was to pick things out they could alter, and put things back they either didn’t want anymore or was to big or small to alter. Michael’s pile was bigger than Danica’s by a little, but he had more things put away because of his size. “I’m sorry but I don’t have to tools to do that drastic of altering.” She pointed out and put the black trousers with gold trimming back. While they had been there, the two had sorted it out and organized it a little so it wasn’t so hard to find where things were. Finally, they had finished; each sibling had about three shirts and four pairs of bottoms. Danica had two pairs of boots while Michael had three. While Michael looked for scarves and things Danica looked through jewelry, hey she was still a rich mans kid. She found a few rings and three sets of earrings that were appealing. Michael ran up to her with over ten scarves. “You and I can wear them on our head!” he suggested. Danica nodded, she did need some things like this anyway. “Good, idea. Michael why don’t you go change and put away those clothes in a safe place. We’ll need them one day.” She mentioned as he walked away. A the door he turned, “Sissy? I know you’re sad but those were not nice men. I’m still glad Mr. Renard saved us, if it wasn’t for him we would be like daddy.” Michael sniffled and left before Danica could say anything.
She stared at where her brother had stood and with a sigh, dropped her shoulders. “Well, its official. My six year old brother is stronger than me and I’m eighteen!” She started thinking of her age and what she could do with it. Then a thought came to her mind. Her father and her hand been talking about marriage earlier. (Oh, that felt like so long ago) and he had mentioned a man who was willing to join with her father if she married his son. That’s what she’d do! Go to the man and ask for help. She’d explain as much as she could and ask for them to house her and her brother in exchange for the marriage! Then with a sigh she knew it was impossible. Once anyone figured out her father borrowed bad money at one time, no one would take her. Her father’s business might still be alive though. With an exasperated she changed her clothes and ran out on the deck.
“Renard!” she called, cupping her hands around her mouth, Michael was being showed how to cast a small net. He turned and waved at his sister, she waved back. “Renard!” she called again. “Yes.” Renards deep voice came from behind her. She jumped, “I need to talk to you. I think I know how I can fix things for my brother and me for a while, or maybe forever if I can do it right. But I’ll need your help.” He motioned for her to walk into his cabin office, which was on the main deck. She reached down to pull up her skirts but got air, she looked down and realized she wasn’t wearing a dress anymore, but an old red and white shirt that only had one strap left and a ripped skirt that came up to her thighs. She had placed a red bandanna on her head to keep her hair out of her eyes.