Pirate Girl

Pirate Girl

“I heard tell Pirate Girl was given that name because she wore silk pajamas.”

I said this to old Ben, but he was having none of it.

“That’s not the whole story. Those jammies were a gift from the daughter of the shogun of Japan for a Persian princess. You can see the Chrysanthemum crests. I remember she stole them in the Indian Ocean, and grew fond of them during the monsoon season in the South China Sea. Said they were cool.”

“Are you sure?”

“There’s a reason, Me Lad, that Pirate Girl be called Pirate Girl, and her jammies alone ain't it.”

“So then, what is it?”

He rubbed his gnarled fingers over his black patch, as if his eye was still there. He’d lost it at Trafalgar when he was Nelson’s first mate.

“You’ll see.”

He reached beneath his bunk, with fingers as twisted as ropes in a typhoon, and pulled out a small sea chest.

“Because this is here is her ill-gotten gain. I’m hiding it for her. Those pearls were meant for the Queen of Spain, a gift from the Governor of the Philippines. The gold earrings were the only gold not melted down by Pizarro; they were hid out by Inca priests and found later in a tomb in the Andes."

His one good eye regained its luster and grew large.

"The silver bracelets and nose plugs were worn by Montezuma and stolen by Cortez. These ivory bangles belonged to an African Queen. Under that is a shrunken head she obtained on the head waters of the Amazon from some Jivaros in a canoe during her escape from Devil's Island. It’s the only thing in her treasure trove that wasn’t taken on the high seas.”

“A shrunken head?”

“I dunno. Maybe she wanted to be a head-shrinker.”

Just like Lola, whatever Pirate Girl wants, Pirate Girl gets. Lucky she wants me.

©StevenHunley2015

https://youtu.be/-g5YNPzr8NM Whatever Lola Wants

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Pirate Girl