Ecstasy Sails

“Forego talk of where we’ve been for where we’re heading. Marrick tells me two days, maybe less. What do your maps say, Maggie?” She took another swig off the flask and swapped it with Maggie.  

The pair made way to the fore of the vessel and a fair view of the oceans ahead. There Maggie had arranged a set of crates as a station to work on her navigations. She had decorated the space with a few stolen sacks of flour to use as cushions on two of the crates. 

“Such a place of elegance, I feel I am courted Mademoiselle.” Gennie dropped onto the nearmost sack of flour. 

 “Shouldn’t crew always be courting their captain in some fashion? It is merely a courtesy to offer allies a place to chat in comfort.” Maggie smiled as she lowered gracefully into the space opposite Genie.

Maggie was nothing if not ceaselessly courteous. 

“Aye and where is my velvet cushion then?” Marrick frowned.

“You are not a captain, sir. And you have other errands to attend.” Maggie tipped the flask before handing it off to Marrick.  

Marrick  scowled at the women as upending the container offered nothing to his lips.  

“I will want that back full, sir.” Maggie grinned.  

“I’ll do my best, lass, the seas have been quiet, thanks to the gods you praise, and supplies dwindle in that silence.” 

The navigator unfurled her maps and charts for the captain’s approval. Gennie surveyed the maps, noting with nostalgia the delicate lines and marks made by Maggie’s fine hand.  

“Attende.” Marrick halted at the command in Gennie’s voice. “While you are in the holds, search again for that other rat aboard.”  

“I have an ill feeling.” Gennie frowned. “This rat is not so careless. It waits for something more than the next port.”  

“I set the powder monkey to the task, captain. That little weasel knows all the best hiding  places and surely mapped them all before we caught him up all those years ago. He’ll find our rat.” Marrick assured her.

As if summoned from air the boy was at Gennie’s back. “My cats and I will find your rat, and make a fair meal of him too.”

With a start both Maggie and Gennie turned on the youth. His hands were aloft in mock defense. 

Both women treated the boy as adoptive mothers but he reveled in startling them. 

“Zut alors, Sanji. How do you manage to sneak about so.” Gennie swatted playfully at the boy.

A shrug of his narrow shoulders was the only response he offered the women. 

“You do need more drink, pretty.” Maggie teased to hide her own shock at the boy’s appearance. “Paranoia is not becoming of lady nor captain.”  

“Ye best behave boy, or I’ll fetch Faye to give you a lesson in manners.” Marrick winked. “She doesn’t yet know the lot you stole from the kitchens a few nights past.”

At this Sanji raised his hands in acquiescence. “No, no. I’ll be sure to wear a bell when on decks. And I’ll keep my spoils to myself next time.” 

“I suppose you will steal that from the dancing girls then, Sanji? Like the flowers in your hair?” Gennie plucked free a crumpled paper bloom from the boy's long locks. 

The boy they crew took to calling three-fourths, or Sanji, had grown much sneaking between barrels and planks. 

The youth was most qualified for the job of flushing out rats, and young though he was the little rodent called Ecstasy home before even Gennie had claimed the ship as her own. “I was feeling pretty.” He snatched back the ornament and tucked into place behind his ear. 

Both Maggie and Gennie allowed a smile to pass between them. Sanji took this as his course to carry on. With a flourishing bow that rolled into a tumble he tucked behind a stack of barrels. Maggie and Gennie never saw him reemerge though they knew the boy had found some crack to sneak through below decks.

It was truly uncanny the way the boy moved through the ship, and though years had passed since he was first discovered Maggie had yet to divine how the child’s magic worked. Both she and Gennie knew though that when need arose mere mention of the boy’s name or the promise of sweets would have Sanji at their side.

Marrick too took his leave to seek a barrel to drown his troubles in properly. “I’ll bring back more rum if there be enough to share.” He called over his shoulder.  

“All thanks go to the Fair Ladies of the Sea and Winds.” Maggie laughed. 

Gennie’s mood had darkened however as she poured over the maps. With a deep sigh she crossed her arms, and rose from the crate. Pacing the deck toward the fore of the ship she leaned into the cool breezes and pressed her palms against the rail. “Two days to Topolis.”

“Two days to fresh food, water, and, with luck, crew.” Maggie added, rolling her maps and charts once more to stow in the center crate.

Gennie pushed from the rail and turned her back to the sea. She sought assurance in the navigator’s eyes. “And what if this is all the crew we need?” 

“You know not all will carry on past this next destination.” Maggie leveled her tone. “You will always have me, it’s true. And the boy, he is part of the ship, not the crew.” 

Gennie could little deny the truth of Maggie’s words. Sanji belonged to Ecstasy. It mattered little to him who he called captain. He loved Gennie, Maggie, and the rest, so long as they manned the decks. But there was a feral quality to the boy, one that had been there since they had dragged him from his hidden spaces so long ago.