My Pirate Lover by Lexie Stewart Page B

am! Over here!” Her third reaction was to think it might not be Lance and search for the spear she’d dropped.
    It wasn’t Lance who climbed out of the boat that was something like a single-sailed, captain’s gig. It was a one-armed pirate.
    The amputee ran towards the island with a gait like a clumsy dressage horse, high-stepping to keep from dragging his legs through the water.
    “Josephine! Josephine! I’ve come ta save ya!” he cried.
    Josephine’s heart rose with hope and then plummeted into a pit of despair. She recognised him. He was one of Bloody’s pirates!
    Josephine snatched up her spear and ran. This pirate now chasing her across the sand was the one who had spoken up about the unfair distribution of the booty and had his arm lopped off by Captain Bloody. No doubt he was keen to make a gift of Josephine and win back his master’s favour.
    The island wasn’t built for games of hide and seek. All Josephine could really do was run around and around like a horse on a merry-go-round with the pirate chasing after her.
    On perhaps the seventh go around Josephine had an idea and cursed herself for not having thought of it earlier.
    She made a sharp right and ran towards the gig with the pirate on her heels.
    #
    Josephine’s entire body ached and was heavy with exhaustion. She felt as though she was running through wet concrete, dragging her legs and getting slower and slower with every stride. The one-armed pirate was gaining on her. His high-stepping dressage horse gait may have looked ridiculous but it did get him through the water quickly.
    The trousers Josephine had stolen off a line of drying clothes on Ripple Thief’s deck were too big for her and the only thing that kept them up was a frayed piece of rope.
    As they became soaked, they began to fall down. Josephine felt them drag at her knees and hips and tried unsuccessfully to hitch them up.
    She was aware that she mooned the pirate behind her as her knickers had also been pulled down.
    Soon both pairs were around her ankles and she pitched face first into the water, almost impaling herself on her spear.
    Sucked down and pushed along by the tide, Josephine rolled like a barrel down a hill. She flailed with arms and legs but couldn’t find the sand or the surface and all that she could see were clouds of bubbles, spiralling around her.
    She tried to hold her breath but her lungs burned and a black fog filled her head.
    She gasped.
    Salt water rushed into her lungs.
    She gasped again.
    Then she started to drown.
    #
    Josephine was surprised to wake up since she had died.
    She was an agnostic. She hoped that harp music and reunions with old friends awaited her after death but she wasn’t sure she believed it, but then again, until a short while ago she hadn’t believed in time travel.
    She opened her eyes, curious to see what the afterlife was like.
    Heaven or hell? It was hard to tell. The sky above was golden and heavenly but the face peering down at her was most definitely hellish.
    The man was as bony as a stray dog and had huge, bulbous eyes that made him look like a worried frog. His cheeks were sunken and he had pale, wispy hair on his head and chin.
    He squatted at Josephine’s side, holding something out to her.
    When Josephine realized it was a bottle of water she snatched it from him and sucked on it greedily.
    Next he held up a chunk of bread which Josephine also snatched up and consumed.
    He held up his third offering with a guilty grin.
    “Give me those!” snapped Josephine, snatching her knickers from him.
    “It weren’t me what took em off you,” gulped the pirate. “It were the sea.” He said the last bit in a hushed whisper, as if afraid the sea might hear him and take offence.
    In the time Josephine had spent in the company of pirates, she’d learnt that they were a superstitious lot. No wonder Captain Bloody was able to make them believe he was a god with a few tricks and some showmanship.
    “I saved yer other pants