The Dread Pirate Molly Hawke Ch. 03

She had been about to say "with a fair wind", but thought better of it.

Clayton just smiled, "These were a little famous for their speed."

"What then, Clayton? Can they make more than twenty?"

He nodded, "Let's just see if she holds together first. If she does, I think I can guarantee you a ride at over twice that speed. The original ones could make fifty knots on all engines wide open."

Bess laughed and shook her head, "That can't be so. Nothing moves that fast on the water."

Clayton smirked a little and pointed to the engine compartment, "Less than a hundred tons -- almost four thousand horsepower between the three engines, and a hull that lifts a little at speed" was all that he said.

After a large lunch, the three of them spent the afternoon just sitting on the quay to look at her or they walked from one end to the other trying to get used to the motions of a watercraft. Clayton had little trouble and Bess had none at all, but poor Pok seemed a little unsure.

Pok could see that after the meal, Bess was looking at Clayton and though she was a little surprised to see it, she already knew it for what it was, so before they really had a chance to begin anything, she announced that she was going to fly off for likely the afternoon, but she'd be back later.

"Pok hear Clayton's story about island. Want to go see. Want to find it."

"But you will come back, Pok?" Clayton asked, "Bess needs you and, well, I need you too."

The little demon smiled and walked back to them, "Not go away long," she said as she hugged the two of them. "Pok alla time want live with you."

She was gone a few moments later, climbing as she headed south.

Bess made love with Clayton all afternoon, but they kept asking each other about whether Pok might be unhappy. Finally, Bess decided it in her mind.

"Pok wants her own male, Claytan. She loves me and she's probably starting to love you as well already, but she knows what she wants. I think she will search for your island, but she will also keep her eyes open for the other thing. Now that I think about it, I know she will come home".

Pok was back hours later and they showed her what she meant to them.

She looked at them a little suspiciously as she lay in the bunk with them. She was happy and she was a tousled mess as she lay between them in their arms, but she thought that she saw something in them.

"Why?" she asked, "We happy alla time. Pok can have this any day and Pok happy. Why now? Like this? Miss Pok so much?"

"We wanted you to know how we feel," Clayton said.

"We were afraid that you were unhappy," Bess added, "You're my closest friend, Pok. You took care of me for so long when I wasn't really myself. You mean very much to me. To us."

"Silly," Pok smiled, "Always come back. Pok always come home." She stretched to kiss them both, "Pok cannot go, Bess. Pok here because have to be. You forget again?"

Then she remembered what she'd come back to tell them and she grew excited all over again and it was some time before Bess could get the reason out of her so that it could be understood. Pok could barely hold still as she told of it.

"Pok find place where are many ... many .... "she looked at Clayton, "What thing we live in?"

He looked at her, "Building?"

She shook her head in a little frustration, "No. This. Where Bess and Clayton and Pok sleep. What this?"

He didn't get it but Bess did. "Boat?" she asked and Pok laughed and nodded. "That way," she pointed, indicating south, "not know. Bess say she had boats -- "

The pantomime was a little surreal, but at length, she told of flying south to look for Clayton's island. She found many, but judged that he must mean much farther. As she flew, she had to dodge other demons now and then and that confused Clayton a little until Bess explained that Pok could change her skin tone in much the way that a chameleon could.

Pok shook her head, not wanting them to dwell on that and eventually she told of seeing ships sailing and of other ships which reminded her of what Bess had told her of her life long before.

"You saw ships robbing other ships?" she asked, and Pok nodded smiling as she almost collapsed from the fatigue of trying to get her meaning across.

"Not know what way to go by them, our boat," she said, "Pok can help. Bess can help, but Pok see many like that. Some make bang."

Bess felt her jaw drop a little, "You mean they ..., " she tilted her head, "have guns? Like cannons?"

The smaller demon shrugged, "Not know, but like you say when you on boats. Bang. Then see place with boats. Have guns too maybe, but not move. Not work maybe. Not have ... what catches wind."

They went out to the oak desks and after lighting the old lamp, Clayton spread out his maps on the old desks.

"Can you show me where you saw that place, Pok? It will probably look different on a map than what you saw from the air."

Pok thought about it and ran her finger along the map, showing where she'd seen the things that she had. At last, she seemed a little unsure, but her fingertip drew a small circle near the end of a large island.

Clayton laughed, "You have managed to find what many have looked for if that was where you saw it. That has to be Esquimalt. It was an old navy base, but most just call that a legend. Maybe we can find something there. It's on the way -- sort of."

"Where place we go?"Pok asked and he smiled, reaching for another chart.

"That's farther on south," he said as he unrolled the map. He pointed at a smaller land mass.

"Here it is," he said, "That's the correct old name."

Pok squinted and looked up at Clayton, "Pok not read."

"The right name is South Catalina Island," he said, "But today, people just call it Catlina."

Clayton got out his collection of charts and began planning their course and it all went well until Pok asked the one question which caused them all to look at each other.

"What about horse?"

They thought about it and discussed it some. "There's room," Clayton said, "But I don't know how she'd take to that. I can build her a stall and we can stow some feed for her. You're right, Pok. I don't like the people in the town, and I don't want to just turn her loose here."

Bess smiled, "I can keep her calm with only seven words."

Their preparations took up the next week and Clayton found a lot of empty drums which he began to fill with strained fuel and roll aboard the boat to fill the tanks.

"We'll need to fill these again. This is the other side of sailing without sails," he told Bess, "With full tanks, we can go over eight hundred miles. With these tanks here and a few more full and aboard, we can double that, but we'll have to pump the fuel out and into the main tanks by hand pump. Come on, let's go for a ride."

They motored out and left the little harbor, turning south by southwest to cruise slowly down the strait, keeping Hardy Island on their right. As they neared the end of the little strait, Clayton turned around and since he now knew that there were no floating obstructions, he advanced the throttles and the boat lunged forward. He laughed to see Bess eyes grow wide in surprise at how fast they could go and their instruments indicated just over fifty knots. As they idled into the harbor again, Clayton was relieved to see that the two girls had learned his lessons on tying up well.

-----------------------

Pok's Peril

----------------------

Jody Schlesinger was miserable and then some as he sat with his hands bound in front of him in a wagon along with several others -- new whores, or about to be. Barely twenty, he cursed his heritage for what it had given him. His mother had been a lovely woman and though it wasn't the way that he remembered her, she'd been fairly petite and many of her traits had gone to him; the short stature, thinness, and the light brown hair just like his mother's. Another trait which he'd found himself saddled with was his face. He didn't think that he even could manage to look 'manly' if his life depended on it.

He thought of his mother again and for the thousandth time, he ached at how she'd taken sick and died when he was just a young boy. His father had always looked at Jody as something of a disappointment and that was evident in the man's face at the best of times. As Jody had grown -- always slowly and never by much, that disappointment eventually turned into an ability to ignore his son as though he wasn't present in the room sometimes.

When Jody reached his teens, his father remarried and his new stepmother had a son, Thomas. Thomas was much larger and stronger than Jody even though he was only a few months older and it took him no time at all to see the lay of the land. He could say and do whatever he liked to Jody with impunity.

And so he did.

But Jody's fate hadn't been prepared to leave him alone just yet. The fever took both Thomas' stepmother and Jody's father within weeks of each other.

Sadly, it spared Thomas.

At the time that Jody's father had remarried, Thomas was already running with a bad crowd and as time had gone by; he'd gone from just a young thug to something of a profiteering mastermind who ended up running all or most of the criminal activity in town. Not long after they'd found themselves alone, Jody decided to strike out on his own, but the thought had come to him too late.

Thomas began abusing Jody and though he couldn't explain it to himself, the thin boy found himself thinking that if his stepbrother could only set aside his slightly sadistic nature, Jody didn't mind all that much. It could feel good, but Thomas loved hurting Jody as much or more than he liked to fuck him. Worse, he sometimes brought a few of his friends over and everyone but Jody had a great time then.

Thinking about it when he was alone, Jody guessed that he was the same as anyone else in that he wanted to be loved. He'd never had a girlfriend and it came to him as a bit of a surprise when he realized that he'd never even had a friend who was female. He didn't think that he had anything against girls, but they were just other people to him, and ones who never showed him the slightest interest whatsoever.

Jody was supposed to look after the house as well as sleep with his stepbrother. But though he worked at it from pretty much the time that he opened his eyes, it was never good enough for Thomas. Finally, Thomas met a girl who could keep his interest and though Jody had initially hoped that now he'd be left alone, it hadn't worked out that way.

Thomas' girl didn't like Jody and the next thing he knew, Thomas had said that he wanted them all to get along better, so he took Jody to an inn for a hot meal and a talk.

Neither the meal or the talk materialized.

Jody was sold and in chains within two minutes. Once he knew what was happening, he'd refused and he'd even tried to fight for his freedom and get the hell out of there, but the place was often used as a front to trade in young people and there had been plenty of muscle there to prevent anything like one of the unfortunates there getting away.

It wasn't until sometime later that night, after one of the slavers had used him that Jody was bashed over the head with the truth.

"You'd better get used to it," the overgrown pig had said with a pleased grin, "The boss brought you here to get rid of you. And the way to do that so that you'll never be more than a pleasant memory to him is by selling you to us. You'll only be here for a day or so, and then it's off to the south with you and as many as we can stuff into the back of a wagon."

Jody's thoughts came back to his present situation and he looked around himself from his vantage point nearest the back of the wagon. There were seven other unfortunates here with him. Given that none of them were very used to this life, it was common that at any point, there were at least two people weeping softly, the young girls mostly, though not always. It never became too much of a pity party though; one or both of the men sitting up front would bellow for them all to shut up. That would still them all for a time, at least as long as they could cry quietly.

He didn't know why, but the unhappiness of his life suddenly came crashing down on Jody then. He wasn't normally given to feeling much self-pity. Somehow, he usually kept that held at bay. But it was there all the same, just like any of them and now the way that it rose up in him was going to get him beaten if he couldn't master it soon.

He looked down. His hands were bound and it was the only way to hide his tears as he wept, hoping that one of the crazy flocks of demons found them and if he could be granted just one little piece of luck, Jody held a wish that he might be killed quickly, since he'd realized that wherever they were going to, that place required more and more unlucky people such as himself to satisfy the demand and enrichen the slavers in the process. The very next thought was a question about why that was, and the thought after that was the answer.

Because none of them lived very long lives, wherever they were going to.

He hung his head and sighed, trying to study the patterns in the worn and dirty wood of the wagon in an attempt to divert his feelings. He didn't mean to; it had come out with no warning and it hadn't been loud, but before Jody could clamp down on it, a single sob escaped him and he hung his head even more.

Seven miles away and from eight thousand, four hundred feet above the ground, a single being heard that sob out of all of the others. It was more of an awareness really, but it was enough to cause that being's eyes to open even wider. Though it was just the single sob of a young man who suddenly found that he held no hope at all for himself, it was a pathway which that being could use. That sort of pathway had been exploited by others of the type, but this particular being wasn't hungry for that sort of thing. This particular individual held no interest in possession or anything of that nature -- the pathway was all that was required to guide on.

The wings ceased beating and spread wide as the creature heeled around and turned back, using the wind aloft as a driving force from behind. This was something which had never been felt. This was something from a weary young heart and the reverberations were felt as the chord was struck. The being had never known what this heart wanted either, though its needs had been taken care of. As it came rocketing back, the skin changed color to match the surroundings and the ears strained to hear the actual sound and not only the feeling.

They were heading up a long bumpy pathway in between two thin hills not far from the water when Pok came streaking in. She saw Jody and knew him as the source right away. Slowing and moving to the other side of the wagon, she stared as he raised his tear-streaked face and her heart felt as though it had stopped with a crash.

There was a wagon-full of very forlorn people here, and she could tell that the pair of men in front had something to do with it. But she also knew that there was more to it. If she killed the men right here and freed the ones in the back of the wagon, they might die anyway -- she had no idea if any of them could take care of themselves out here, and if there was one common trait among them, she could see that they were hungry and thirsty.

For one thing, she had no idea what the right thing to do was here.

For another, she was spellbound as she hung from the bars on the side of the wagon, staring into the bluest eyes that she'd ever seen. Her own eyes were vertical black slits with gray irises which were locked onto the most beautiful human that she'd ever laid them on. As she stared, she felt things going on inside of herself which had never happened to her before, but she knew what they were.

She had no idea why or how, but she knew without a doubt that this boy was the one.

It surprised her that he was human. Pairings for her kind were rare, other than females being forced by males of other types or at best, a pair of her kind finding each other for a bit of lust. Something like the hopeful attraction that she was feeling was a very, ...

Well, if it happened any more frequently that it did, it might be called a freak occurrence.

Pok was something without really even a name for the type, though human casters such as Bess' long-dead grandmother called them lost soul demons. It had nothing to do with their souls, the term relating to the way that these thin and slightly small ones tended to be and act, as thought they were feeling a little lost all of the time. Pok had been there for most of her existence, in fact. Her time with Bess had been a relatively recent and very happy occurrence because she certainly didn't feel lost these days.

She had Bess, and Bess now seemed to be with Clayton. That meant that she had to make room to allow that and Pok understood it. Pok even felt a lot for the male and she was even happy that he was what he was. It meant that she'd now have help in looking after Bess. That Clayton had feelings for Pok was a good feeling as well, but the very best thing for Pok's little heart would be to find her own mate and the possibility that she was looking at right here almost made her tremble.

She didn't know if it could be done and she was almost afraid to try, but she found a want in herself to help and then see where it went. She could see in an instant that he wasn't a powerful male for likely any other sort of demon and even for a human male, he was a bit small and weak-looking. But she could see his heart as far as spirit went and she liked what she saw there so much. He just needed help and some confidence. Her kind weren't really the monsters of demonkind by any stretch themselves.

His cerulean eyes opened wide in shock and wonder at how his wish seemed to be about to be granted. He was looking at a demon, horned and winged - tail and all - who had appeared it seemed because he had a wish to die. He recovered quickly and wished that this end now.

Pok's eyes opened wide and she shook her head, waving her clawed hand at him from side to side. She held her finger to her lips and lifted away to come to him, wondering how it was that he could see her when none of the others could. She moved to situate herself behind him and bent her head forward.

"Not tell," she hissed softly into his ear, "Not tell, please. Not look or others see."

He turned his head a little and felt his cheek touch her warm fingers, "Who are you?" he whispered.

"Want to be boy's friend," she whispered, "Not know what to do. Boy can see me?"

He nodded a little, wondering if this was an apparition somehow, but then he remembered feeling the warmth on his cheek," Yes."

"Not be afraid, boy," she hissed, "Where you go?"

"I don't know," he whispered back, "They're taking us to be sold again, I think."

"Sold?" Pok didn't understand, but she thought about it quickly.

"What name you?"

"Jody," he replied, "Who are you?"

"Pok," she said with a little smile from the other side of the bars, "I Pok. I watch. See you here. Not be afraid."

"Listen boy," she whispered, "If you outside, free, what you do? Pok have home. Boy want go with Pok? Safe there."

He looked at her and he didn't really understand, but he got one word from it. "Safe?"

The demon nodded, "Safe. Better than here. Not be ... sold. Jo-dy stay Pok's home and think. Choose best way then, not, ... not this."

He nodded, but he didn't believe what he heard very much. He didn't know anything about demons but what he'd heard and from that, he knew that they ate people, so he said, "I'd do anything to get away. What can I do to help you?"

Pok smiled and twisted her head a little curiously, "Pok ugly. Jo-dy not afraid Pok?"

Jody twisted his head and looked at the demon. He saw those eyes and the thin way that its skin seemed to be almost stretched over that face. As he looked, he saw horns growing out of the head and sweeping back. He looked at the hands which held the bars of the cage and saw long clawed fingers. He was facing a painful death at some point, so he shook his head.