Description
Jack woke up the next morning to warm air below his stomach. Below? He groggily opened his eyes, and as soon as his vision cleared, he saw a pit with a small glowing fire right below him. He tried to move, but he was tied to a stick like a kabob, suspending him just above the fire pit.
“Oi! Hey! Somebody help me here!” Jack called out.
He heard giggling off to the side. The giggles weren’t just from any pirates though, they sounded like they came from children. Oh no...the McFlemming children...
“HEY! You better get me down from here RIGHT NOW, you—you bilge rats!” Jack demanded.
“Why should we?” one of the kids asked with an evil smirk.
Another one of the children threw a large block of wood into the pit, making the fire grow twice in size. The tails of the flames flickered just below Jack’s face. He could almost feel the burning sensation of the flames barely reaching his nose. He tried blowing it away to no avail.
“THAT’S IT! ONCE I’M DOWN FROM HERE, I’LL HAVE ALL YOUR BLOODY ARSES FLOGGED! YOU HEAR ME?!” Jack shouted.
“You’ll be down from there once you’re freshly cooked!” the children laughed once again.
“HEY! What are ye rascals doing with the whelp?!”
To Jack’s relief, “Quick Draw” McFlemming showed up with a bucket in hand.
“We were just making the family breakfast,” one of the children pleaded with puppy dog eyes.
“What did I tell ye all about playing with fire?” McFlemming reprimanded.
“Only play with fire when raiding or pillaging,” all the children cited in unison.
“Good. Now get out of here,” McFlemming ordered.
The children took off back to the house as McFlemming threw the bucket of water into the pit, dousing the fire. “Ace” Brannigan showed up to the smell of the fire.
“Oi! Is somethin’ cooking here?” Brannigan asked.
“Aye, the kids were cookin’ the boy again,” McFlemming explained.
“Blast, I thought we were having freshly roasted bacon for breakfast!”
“No! There’s breakfast in the house. Let’s go eat,”
The two turned to go eat, leaving Jack hanging there above the pit.
“Um, hello? I’m still stuck here!” Jack called out, bouncing up and down on the stick.
The two turned around back to Jack and looked at each other. “Oh, right.”
Later in the day, Teague brought Jack back to the brothel again for “business”. The girls openly greeted the two and Teague went upstairs with Madam Lavina, and Madam Claire had went up with another pirate earlier. The two remaining lasses waited downstairs with Jack, sneaking him chocolates and giving him tips and tricks. Teague never bothered to make Jack wait outside anymore since he was now older, and there would be no use forcing him outside since it was clear he had trouble making and keeping relationships with others around his age.
Jack looked out the window at people passing by in the street. He stared off into space when the girl he had seen before came into view. She wore a dark blue dress and her wavy hair was brushed behind her ears. Jack watched as she appeared to be speaking to someone else across the street.
“What’re you staring at, Jackie?” the girl with black hair and darker skin, Madam Donna asked.
“Nothing!” Jack jumped and quickly turned as he had been caught.
“I want to see what he’s looking at!” the brown haired girl, Madam Abigail chimed in.
Both of the girls pushed Jack aside and looked out the window.
“Hey! I wasn’t looking at anyone in particular!” Jack said, trying to push the girls out of the way.
Madam Claire had come down with the pirate she had just finished tending to and escorted him out the door.
“Hey! What are you looking at?” Claire asked, joining the other girls at the window.
“Is it that girl over there?” Abigail pointed to the girl he was looking at.
“No it wasn’t!” Jack objected, trying to close the curtains.
“Oooh! Jackie likes someone!” Claire sang out in a sing-songy tone.
“WHAT?! No I do not!” Jack protested, stamping his foot on the floor.
“Your trousers tell a different story, mate,” Donna smirked as she crossed her arms and pointed below his waist.
The other girls giggled as Jack looked down, and what he saw horrified him. A pitched tent! Right below his belt, poking through his trousers! His face grew beet red.
“Th-that is not my fault!” Jack stuttered as he struggled to adjust his britches.
“Aw! No shame in that, dear! Everybody gets those feelings,” Donna reassured with a comforting smile.
“Oh great!” Jack exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. He sat on the couch and crossed his legs. “I don’t need ‘the talk’ from all of you! I’ve heard it from Teague and that was already scary enough!”
“Oh, you may have heard it from Teague, but you will need to hear it from a girl’s perspective,” Abigail winked, taking a seat next to him.
Jack looked up at the girls. “So? What do I do now?”
They were silent for a moment before Claire jumped in with an answer. “First, you’ll need to go ask the girl out!”
“Great idea!” Abigail excitedly agreed.
The two pulled Jack up from the couch and pushed him to the door, with Donna just ahead of them.
“WAIT! NO! Not right now! I haven’t bathed in weeks! I probably still smell like rum! MY SWORD IS STILL UNSHEATHED!” Jack yelled, struggling in their grip.
Donna opened the door and the girls pushed him out onto the street, locking the door behind him. The girls rushed to watch through the window.
There was no getting out of this one. Jack adjusted his trousers again so his tent wasn’t as visible and nervously walked across the street to the girl who had just finished her conversation.
The girls watched as Jack went up to her and began to talk. The two spent a few minutes talking and it appeared they were hitting it off well. The girls squealed and whispered to each other when they heard a knock on the door. They opened it to see Jack at the door with a smile across his face. They pulled him in and bombarded him with questions.
“What’s her name?”
“What is she like?”
“Is she nice?”
“Did she say yes?”
Jack shushed the girls and began to speak. “Yes. Her name is Anne and I have a date with her tomorrow evening!”
“Yay!” the girls cheered and hugged Jack.
Madam Lavina and Teague came down the stairs. They stopped dumbstruck at the sight of Jack being hugged by the other girls without context.
“What did I miss?” Lavina asked.
“What the hell happened?” Teague questioned.
“Oh, nothing!” Jack and the girls all responded in unison.