Odyssey

 

Nothing, a more potent catalyst for change than a sudden war. But there is no such thing as a sudden war, it was always brewing, you either didn’t care enough, or you cared too much. This was the thought Marie had when she was sitting under the lunch table huddled with her son and dog while their world fell apart.

When the bullets subsided. Marie went to the boarded-up window and peeked through a sliver. Moments passed, and then more moments passed, she looked back to her son and released a breath she didn’t know she was holding. When the moon rose high in the sky they were moving through the streets like shadows, with a precious few things in some bags. When they reached the harbor, it was almost dawn. Marie frantically realized that the ship she paid to take them on, has already fled. Among the countless masts and furled-up sails, she saw not one hopeful colour.

Marie sat down in dejection, their dog Marly came to her and started licking her hands. As she mustered up enough courage to finally look at her son’s face, she saw it. A barebones crew quietly transporting goods into their vessel, their pale white faces and vigilant eyes betrayed the degree of their legitimacy. Marie looked back at the street she came. The street lamps are still lit. They show a town, or whatever that is left of it. Dried up and fresh blood on the stone roads. Any moment from now the Spanish soldiers will march through it cutting down anything moving. When a slender black cat landed on a broken pot, Marie’s mind was made up.

She picked up a stick and threw it to the thicket. Marly darted after it and came back in lighting speed. Kelly, now more lively seeing his best friend happy, sat on a bucket and watched. Marie threw the stick further, but Marly still found it and came back. She threw it further each time. On the seventh time, she made a motion as if throwing the stick but didn’t. Marly darted to the thicket.

Marie grabbed Kelly’s hand and sneaked aboard the ship in what felt like one quick motion. Being the widow of a captain, she knew the lay of a regular ship pretty well. She covered Kelly’s mouth and hid in the crew cabin knowing very well no crew will come in here till next night. Kelly looked to his mother with his vacant eyes. Everyone always said that she should give him to an orphanage or mental institution and remarry. But Marie could always see the thoughts and dreams behind Kelly’s big eyes. But not now, rather she can't look at them now. A light somewhere inside has been snuffed out. 

Kelly never threw tantrums or made a fuss. Not even now, but his eyes of question alone created earthquakes inside Marie. She knew that the ship will, sail soon. A waring country is easy to loot but hard to escape. She was right when a beam of sunlight came in through the porthole and moved from left to right, she knew they left port.

Before the ship had reached the open seas, they were discovered, thanks to the sigh of relief  that escaped Marie. The crew threw in many colorful suggestions, including making her the captain's keep, to killing them. Even among pirates, there are a few alive enough to feel what it was to be human. They tried to make Kelly work in the ship, but they soon abandoned the venture, seeing him make more messes in his helplessness. Marie did two people's work to earn her and her son’s keep, so no one was complaining, except the first mate, who was a firm believer in omens and that stowaways are a bad one, especially women. The men began to like Marie and Kelly. The suggestive and furtive glances gave way to comradery and fraternity. She proved her salt under the mast, and the men saw her as one of their own. Even though Kelly’s blank stares and emotionless face put off the sailors at first, they grew to like him. Even though he never talked, they let him sit atop the crow’s nest. He loved it.

One fine afternoon the captain stormed out of his cabin and summoned his troops. The merchant vessel they have been tracking is now within their reach. Even with this barebones crew with some strategy, they could take them out. When the twilight saffron tainted the sky, they laid waiting. Pretending to be an English ship, they signaled for assistance and when the ship came in reach, they blew it straight to hell. Marie was in the boarding party. She cataloged and confiscated the goods while the men did the heavy lifting. All who raised their swords in resistance lay to rest in Davey Jones' locker. The rest were given rescue boats and set free. That was Marie’s idea. When the captain enquired her why she had let them go, she cunningly replied that leaving survivors will build fear in sailors, as the stories get told, the more exaggerated they will become. The quartermaster divvied up the booty and gave all their shares. Marie’s first earning in her life, that isn’t measly.

They touched water in many seas. Many moons and constellations rolled over up above. The nameless ship of the Spanish sea sprung stories far and wide. Some more fantastical than others. Many stories had a witch who had eyes as black as coal, a fierce warrior of sea. They raided and sunk many vessels. Almost all of them were small trade ships. They used geography and crookedness to win, but when the stories were spun a small ship with a few crew and a witch struck terror in the listener’s heart. The stories gave Marie a name: Mad Marie of the Nameless Ship. Kelly did scrubbing and cleaning most of his days. They still sleep together as he is afraid. 

As they were returning from a loot near Constantinople a fierce storm took the ship in its clutches. Waves came in like slabs of stone. After tying down the cannons, Marie awaited orders. She had already locked Kelly in the captain’s cabin. Fierce thunder came down with such wrath that some of the crew started praying. The captain’s orders melded with the sea mist and curses. As the ship rocked and creaked in uncertain directions, Marie climbed the mast to unfurl the mainsail. When she reached the yardarm, she saw it. Clouds as dark as the volcanic soil spread out as far as the eye can see. Thunder rolling around them, defying gravity. Electric blue flashes showed between clouds like a spider on the ceiling threatening to fall. Sea waves built mountains and trenches in seconds and vanished in the blink of an eye. Nobody was sure if somebody had gone overboard. As the rain pushed down in fury, the crew waged war with the weather, with no escape in sight. Marie took the mast rope and slid down. With her, landed an earsplitting thunder. The crew was losing faith by the minute. All looked to the captain, who looked to the heavens. Time moved slowly but surely. They survived the storm. The ship is in shambles.

When they made port to restock and repair, the captain called everyone together. He announced that the storm was a calling from the god, and he is stopping all this and will start a life on land and that they are free to do the same. Taking his bounty, he walked out of the ship without so much as a backward glance. Kelly came to his mother’s side and looked out to the small port town spreading from the beach. For a moment she closed her eyes and saw in her mind’s eye a small home with Kelly where she could make living sewing clothes. She looked at her pocket full of coins. And walked back to the mast. “I claim this ship” Marie’s voice boomed through the ship stopping every sailor who was leaving. They were all leaving. “I will use all my coin to repair and make this ship more deadly. Who is ready to sail under Captain Marie Burkhardt?” Nobody moved an inch or showed a slight sign of consideration, they all stood frozen.

After a long pause, the first to say eye was the first mate, then the whole crew joined in the chorus. Marie has been saving up coins. She used it all. They reworked the mast and sails to make it faster. New, better, and more guns and rigs. When captain Mad Marie called, sailors from taverns answered. Her stories gave her the privilege to choose only the best. When the work was done and the ship restocked, they set sail. When the sun was rising on the pacific, opposite it, the ship captained by Marie Burkhardt was sailing. On its stern in blood red, encased in black is written ‘The Nameless’ when the quartermaster asked for a heading, the captain said “bring me the nearest Spanish military ship, I will christen my ship in the Spaniards’ blood.” Equipped with the best and newest weapons money can buy and a crew of sailors with boiling blood, the military ship didn't even have a chance. When the last unsurrendering soldier was cut, Marie personally let the rest go in an escape boat. That escape boat is the last thing of their mother ship still unburned. When they reached a safe distance, they looked back to see their mast sunk halfway and the pirates still staying, watching, and they could imagine the fire in her eyes as she exacted revenge. Revenge for what, they didn’t know, but her eyes were ablaze with it. Stories of ‘The Nameless’ spread throughout the continent. No Spanish ships were safe from Mad Marie. She traveled as far as the Americas to hunt the Spanish. Many scratched their head, wondering why a woman would have such vengeance on the Kingdom of Spain. But few knew Nicholas Burkhardt, killed by the royal army. Marie will never tell that story, and Kelly can never tell it.

The witch of Portugal, Mad Mother, Dying Gull, many names was given to the tailor women by many people. Many believe she does all this for vengeance, many believe she does this for her previous captain who was killed by the Spanish, and that they were in love. Many believe she is possessed by the devil. Many believe she is a Spanish spy creating a smokescreen. But only one person knows, she sails because the motion has possessed her, and to stop moving would be to stop living. In the constantly moving sea, she feels centered and steady. Much like the people lost in deserts or islands, she has also found balance in the chaos and is now unable to live without it.