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Calypso’s Revenge
He shoved the dark brown, smooth leather cap further onto his head as the ship plunged into the ocean yet again. His small trunk rolled across his room, followed by his desk, then his chair. Quill pens haphazardly sprawled over the once pristine floor; ink splotches splattered everywhere.
He gripped onto the doorknob leading from his captain’s quarters to the tiny balcony outdoor balcony. Wrapping his arm across his chest, he held his coat flush to his form. With a slight twist of his wrist, the door flung open; the knob ripped from his hands and pounded into the wall, cracking the wooden paneling. He stepped into the atmosphere; the wind howling around him like a wolf preparing for revenge. The smell of sea salt mixed with rain assaulted his senses, and he couldn’t help the smile that stretched onto his hardened face. This was home; a lonely home, but a home.
The ship’s forefront ascended another wave, the water rising like a tall mountain right in front of his eyes. He slid toward the thin railing, his boots not giving him enough grip to combat the waters powerful arms. Sea foam bubbled at the surface, splashing into his eyes and drenching every dry space the rain buckets missed. The ship plummeted through the foreground; the bow dipping into the ocean and pooling around his feet. A gust of wind wailed around him, aggressively knocking his feathered hat off his balding head and carrying it into the treacherous waters behind.
“How much trouble be thy sister getting into back there?” Nicole glanced over her shoulder to the small group communed around the eldest Earp. Hooting and hollering ensued all around the table as the brunette danced in celebration. Raising the bottle of rum to her mouth, the redhead took the final swig of heavenly liquid.
“Whatever thou are thinking, forbear.” Waverly replied, her eyes following the captains. She grabbed the bottle from Nicole’s hand, disappointment flashing across her face as she realized it was empty. “Because 'tis going to be much, much worse.”
“Jolly,” She ran a frustrated hand through her hair and drummed her fingertips against the bar.
“I am going to run to the loo,” The shorter woman announced. She slid off the tall bar stool, her feet pounding onto the cement floor.
The redhead’s pupils hardened. She swallowed roughly, her eyes stabbing through each pirate who might have been watching her girl.
“Wouldst thou like me to join?” She raised the empty bottle to her lips as she tried to fight off the growl threatening to escape.
“No, I shall be fine.” She stepped onto her tippy toes, laying a soft kiss on the other woman’s forehead. “Thou are sweet though.”
Nicole’s vision followed the other woman through the crowd until she was out of sight. A deep breath lodged into her throat, locked inside her until the woman was back at her side. What could she say? Tortuga was a dangerous place, and she would be a fool not to worry about a beautiful girl like Waverly.
Swiveling on her chair, she leaned her elbows against the bar and watched the eldest Earp garner the attention of all the buccaneers.
“Didst thou hark what befell that woman?” A brittle voice whispered behind her ear.
“That young woman?” Another sound replied. The redhead’s ears perked up as the two behind her continued their conversation. “Wasn’t she in line to be the queen of Virginia?”
“Aye,” The elderly woman spoke yet again as the clinging of glasses filled Nicole’s ears. “She was arranged to marry Robert Del Rey, but one morrow she ran away, never seen by him again.”
Nicole bit her lip with agitation; of course, BoBo would change the story to make himself look like the victim.
“Robert Del Rey of the East London Trading Company?” The woman gasped. “He is so handsome! How could she leave that gorgeous man?”
Nicole’s anger boiled within. No longer feeling the need to be incognito, she turned to the barkeep and her patron, ready to interject when-
“I hear he’s a thousand pounds richer and one hundred pounds lighter,” A man leaned against the bar, dropping his sweaty rag on the counter. “When she turned him down, he received all of King Earp’s inheritance, and that wench was left with nothing.”
“Is that so?” The woman popped open a cork from a bottle of rum and slid it over to the new customer.
“Aye,” He replied. “’e bought pounds an’ pounds o’ gold from the West Indies as an investment. The ships should be crossin’ the ocean in just a few days. Would be a shame should anyone intercept them.”
Sparkles of hope and faith sprinkled through Nicole’s green eyes as temptation and greed spiked through his own. With a sinister smile, he snatched his rag and wrapped it around his sweaty forehead.
“Thanks for this here, wench,” He raised the bottle of rum and nodded his head with a stench so strong that Nicole wondered why she hadn’t vomited upon his arrival.
Settling back into her seat, Waverly turned to the redhead and smiled, “Didst thou grab us more rum?”
“Nay,” Nicole responded on high alert as she felt all eyes on the two of them. “We need to be gone.”
“Fine,” The youngest Earp responded as she took in her girlfriend’s uneasy demeanor. “Is something wrong?”
Nicole set her hand on the small of Waverly’s back, leading her through the crowd of drunken pirates. She kept her close, maybe closer than necessary, but she would not lose her again.
“Wynonna,” She smacked the woman on the back to get her attention. “We be leaving.”
“Yarr,” Wynonna hollered in agreement. Without another word, she stood from the table and filled her pockets with the loot from the middle of it. Her hands slid into her pants pockets and her fingertips circled around the shiny silver locket she had just won.
“What is going on?” She asked, tucking her long brunette hair underneath the large pirate cap.
The dimming sunlight stretched across the never-ending beach. The sand scrunched underneath her feet, her dark black boots getting pulverized by the tiny grains. Nicole looked over her shoulder twice, making sure no one was following them.
“BoBo used the money from your inheritance to buy gold. The ship is on its way from the West Indies to the colonies.”
“That little-” Wynonna paused for a second, her mind flipping through pages of her new dictionary. “Help a wench out, Nicole, what word am I looking for?”
“Scurvy dog?”
“Thank you,” The eldest Earp clapped her hands together. “That scurvy dog!”
“Don’t thou regard we should'st leave it alone?” Waverly asked, slipping her foot over the ship wall.
“Wave, we are pirates now.” The brunette reminded her younger sister. “This is what we doth!”
“Waverly,” Nicole stopped, laying her hand on top of Waverly’s arm. Her thumb traced figure eights into her skin, heat flooding the shorter woman with each touch. “He took something from not only thou, but from Wynonna too. Something that there been rightfully thys, and we hast every right to get it back. He doesn’t need thy father’s money, nor doth he deserves it.”
“And thou shall be fine?”
Nicole took another step forward and pressed her lips to the other woman’s forehead. “We definitely will be okay.”
“Fine then, let’s go raid that ship!”
“Thou won’t regret it.” The redhead tucked the woman underneath her chin, holding her close. Turning to the crew, she bellowed. “All hands on deck!”
“Yes!” Wynonna cheered beside the other two. “We are finally going on our first pirate mission!”
Waverly lay on her back as the uncomfortable hard wood jutted into her figure. Her arms slid behind her head and supported her back as she gazed into the dark night sky. The gentle sway of the ship calming and relaxing her, almost rocking her to sleep like a newborn baby in its mother’s arms.
“The sky is so beautiful at night,” She announced as she took a deep breath, her mind being lulled to dreamland. “You can never see all these stars in the city.”
“It is gorgeous,” Nicole agreed, her eyes falling upon the woman beside her. She tucked her arm under her head and rolled onto her side, taking in the beautiful sight in front of her. She snaked her arm around Waverly’s waist, her thumb brushing against the small bit of warm tanned skin.
The younger woman looked over toward her voice, an embarrassed smile dipping across her face. She shoved the other woman’s shoulder, her pearly whites glowing from between her lips. “You aren’t even looking!”
“I can see the stars sparkling in your beautiful hazel eyes,” Nicole said, pulling herself closer to Waverly on the blanket. Her warm body flushed against the other woman, protecting her from the trembling sea breeze.
“You are so sweet,” Waverly said. She rolled onto her side, shoving the captain onto her back. Within seconds, Nicole found herself pinned to the ground, the younger woman straddling her thigh. “Why did we wait so long, Nic?”
“Because we were young and stupid,” The redhead replied as Waverly laced their fingertips. Her entire body tingled as the younger woman lowered herself, eliminating the small gap of space between them. Within an instant, she felt the woman’s hot breath tickle against her lips and then capture her mouth with her own. A moan fell from the redhead’s mouth as Waverly’s tongue assaulted hers, but instead of a white flag being raised, she snatched the brunette’s shirt, flinging it onto the ground of the ship’s deck.
Pressing her palm flat against Nicole’s chest, she tore apart for a split second, desperate to catch her breath. Her eyes blinked once, then twice as she saw a shadowy figure off in the distance.
“Nicole,” Waverly called, her fingertips scrambling around the ship as she tried to seize her shirt. “There’s a woman on the ship!”
“Yeah,” Nicole chuckled, sitting up straight. “Wynonna, I know.”
“No,” She pointed off in the far-off distance, flinging the shirt over her head. She shoved her arm through each sleeve and ran her hand through her hair, desperate to make herself more presentable.
“Who the bloody hell is that?” Nicole asked rhetorically. She stood to her feet, sheltering the younger woman behind her.
“Yo ho, me harty,” The captain greeted as the figure seemed to draw closer and closer. The moonlight shined on her, illuminating one side of her face. Her long black hair shined in the light, soaked with gallons of ocean water. “What may I do for thou?”
“Capt’n?” The woman spoke, her voice croaky as if someone or something had been clawing at her throat.
“Yarr,” Nicole concurred. “Captain Haught. Can I help thou?”
“Thou this and thou that,” She drawled. “It almost sounds like ye do not belong ‘ere, Cap’n Haught. Was ye born a sailor?”
“Nay,” Nicole responded. Waverly squeezed her palm as insecurities engulfed her senses, like the shore at high tide. “Be there something I doth for thou, besides me accent being a joke to thee?”
“The ocean called me.” She chatted as if it was as obvious as the color of her hair. “An' it led me to ye.”
“Fine, but why me?” Nicole sputtered, her eyes shining in the light. “There be dozens of ships in the sea.”
“Aye, because yer have something I be needing, and yer ship be the only one with a woman Cap'n.”
“What doth being a woman hast to do with it?” Waverly tiptoed from behind the taller woman.
“Ah, the lover,” The stranger smirked, her rotten teeth pressing against her bottom lip. She moved forward, her fingertips skimming against Waverly’s angel soft cheek.
“Never touch her,” Nicole smacked the woman’s arm from her girlfriend, fire fuming and smoke puffing from her ears.
“Is all fine out hither?” A hungover and wearied Wynonna Earp queried as her feet trudged up the remaining stairs from the cabins to the top deck. “Thou disturbed mine sleep!”
“Aye, Wynonna,” Her sister answered, but the eldest Earp continued her trek to the middle of the ship’s deck. “Go back to sleep.”
“Who the hell are thou?” She shrieked as noticed the haggard stranger.
The intruder roared a deep, fully bellied laugh. “Ah, the reckless sister.”
“What did thou just say to me?”
“Wynonna…” Her sister lectured yet again.
“Me love be a prisoner to the sea, an' 'e be only allowed to touch land once every ten years.” She lit up with both excitement and sadness, as though she locked the feeling within her heart for decades, and she only now found the key. “We 'ave plans to meet at Cayman in two days, but I cannot step foot on the island unless I be aboard a ship. The ocean told me ye would brin' me to 'im.”
Wynonna chuckled. “The ocean speaks now? That’s new. Can only pirates hark it?”
“Wynonna,” Waverly squashed her sister's foot with her sock clad one. “Be quiet.”
“I am sorry, ma’am,” Nicole immediately fell into her colonial roots. “We be currently in route to meet a ship outside of the West Indies. Cayman would be out of our way.”
“Nicole,” Waverly set her fingertips on the other woman’s arm to gain her attention.
“We can’t,” Wynonna reminded. “We need to meet the ship to receive what is rightfully ours.”
Nicole rubbed the back of her neck, calculating the speed and distance to the West Indies. “Any distractions or diversions means that we shall not make it.”
“But Nicole,” Waverly whined. “What wouldst thou doth if that was us?”
“I am sorry, ma’am,” Nicole said. “But we can’t. Waverly, we need to get to that ship, for thou, for Wynonna. Life isn’t permanent, and should something happen to thyself, I want to know that thou be safe and secure.”
A look of disdain filtered through Waverly’s face, but she quickly recovered before anyone could notice. “All right, Captain. I trust thou.”
“I am sorry,” Nicole apologized for the third time. “We shall be passing a small island morrow we can drop thou at. Wynonna, may you set her up in a cabin for the night?”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Wynonna saluted.
“Ye will pay fer this here!” The newcomer cried. “I will get me revenge!”
Wynonna Earp felt a sudden tug at her stomach as the ship heaved through wave after wave. She opened her eyes as nausea swam inside her belly. She blinked once, twice, then three times as yellow and black eyes reflected from the dim sunlight filtering into the room. She scratched her eyes, but the pupils did not disappear, but moved in the slightest inch.
“What kind of joke doth thou regard this is, Haught? Putting thy parrot in my room.” Wynonna shot a frustrated palm through her long hair. Bizarre, she did not recall setting her hair in a braid before turning in for the night.
She gawked at the bird for several lengthy, excruciating seconds, but it still did not blink. Starting to get creeped out, Wynonna flipped onto her back. Beside her, a warm body snuggled closer and closer to her, as if reaching out for more warmth.
“Baby girl, Haught couldn’t keep thou warm enough last night?” The eldest Earp snickered. While the Captain was good person, she was not good enough for her baby sister. Would anyone ever be? She had to admit she was much better than Robert Del Rey, though. Taut nipples dragged across her skin, provoking her to surge in fright.
“Waverly!” She squawked, shoving her sister away from her hard and fast. “Why are thou in my bed, naked?”
“Nicole,” Waverly moaned, curling in closer to the woman.
“No, no, I am not Nicole,” Wynonna corrected, thrusting her away yet again. With each passing moment, sunlight cascaded into the room, allowing her to fully take in her setting. She didn’t remember her trunk being there, or a couch leaning against the wall, or her cabin being this large. So maybe this wasn’t-
“Shit!”
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“No, no,” Wynonna sputtered as her sister’s hand brushed against her upper thigh. She bolted from the bed, the cold breeze smacking against her body. Well, Nicole’s body. “I’m not Nicole! And please stop touching me, baby girl. Methought thou were bleak before, but it’s even more sickening now.”
“Wynonna?” Waverly called. She scratched the sleep from her eyes, but still Nicole stood there, chatting and moving like her older sister. She bit her lip as her pupils traveled over Nicole’s taut breasts, to her tight abdomen, and finally to her-
“So, the curtains doth match the drapes, huh, Haught?” Wynonna snickered. “I had always wondered, yet-”
Before she could utter another word, Waverly chucked a white shirt at her head. “Put something on so I can forbear ogling you.”
“Thou can’t stop checking out all this? I mean, now I know what thou see in her, Waves. Look at these abs!” Wynonna poked at Nicole’s abdomen and her finger came bouncing back.
“How the hell did this befall?”
“I don’t know.”
“And how the hell doth we change thou back?”
“Why, you don’t like me like this, baby girl!”
“No, I don’t crave to make out with my sister’s body! It’s disgusting!”
The door flung open, displaying a naked redhead to the entire hallway.
“What the hell did thou do, Wynonna?” Nicole, trapped inside Wynonna’s figure, charged into her own cabin, tugging at the tight leather shirt swaddling her stomach and emphasizing her chest. “And why does thy apparel hast to be so tight? Why can’t thou wear normal-sized apparel?”
“I’m not sure that’s Nicole, baby girl,” Wynonna held the white shirt in her arms. “I’m sure she would have knocked before opening the door, right Nicole?”
“Shove it, Wynonna,” Nicole peered to the other woman, cringing as she recognized her own naked form. “And please, for god’s sake, put something on!”
“Sheesh, what is wrong with both of thou and mine nakedness!” She thrust the shirt above her head. “Thou would think thou would at least enjoy it, baby girl.”
“Not when I know my sister is the one inside of that body!”
“What did thou do, Wynonna?” Nicole attempted to take a large step, only to realize that her tight pants would not stretch.
“Me?” Wynonna asked, cramming Nicole’s legs into her baggy pants. She stretched the pants out, her eyebrows lifting in concern. “How are you even attracted to this, baby girl? She’s got luscious curves, but she doesn’t wish to display them?”
“May thou focus for five minutes, Wynonna!” Nicole screamed. “Did thou eat anything funny last night?”
“Not lest thou are talking about Doll’s-”
“Nope, nope,” Nicole held Wynonna’s hands over her ears, cutting off the noise from her mind as Waverly’s vision bounced from woman to woman. “I don’t want to hear that there.”
“What about thou, Haughtcakes? What did you do last night?” Wynonna watched as the other woman’s focus turned to her sister. “Ew, I mean that I figured.”
“Shut it,” Waverly heaved from the bed and held her arms out, as if separating the two from an incoming fight. “I don’t think it twere something either of thou ate-”
“Then what kind of disgusting disease did this one here join home with?” Nicole inquired, gesturing to her own form.
“Me? What about thou, Ms.-”
“Stop!” Waverly bellowed. “It must hast been the woman from last night, the one who randomly appeared upon the ship?”
“No,” Wynonna rattled her head. “People don’t just randomly body swap other people, baby girl. Even for pirates, that’s a long shot.”
“What did thou do after thou brought her to the cabin, Wynonna?” Nicole’s tone gritted with anger and agitation.
“Nothing!” Wynonna held the redhead’s hands in the air as if she was waving a white flag. “I told her to hast a good night.”
“And that there be it?”
“Aye,” Wynonna repeated honestly.
“Yet it had to be her, right?” The youngest Earp hypothesized. “She said she thrust vengeance upon thou for not bringing her to meet her love.”
“Shiver me timbers, thou be right!” Nicole sputtered. She tore through the door, Wynonna hot on her heels.
“Tis a fine day to sail the seas, lasses,” The woman beamed a sinister smile. “Did you wake up comfortable?”
Within a split second, Wynonna pushed the woman into the room with an unknown strength. Long red hair tangled in between her fingertips as she wound her fist to punch the stranger in the face.
“Wynonna, stop!” Nicole screeched. She pushed the red-headed figure away from the long brunette.
“’ave you changed yer mind yet, Captain Haught?” Her tongue clawed at her lips as she took a gasping breath and stared at Wynonna’s figure.
“Thou didst this, didn’t thou, sea witch?”
“No, Earp,” She argued. “I am not the sea witch. That be thy mother. And aye, aye, I did. I learned my best tricks from ‘er.”
“Well, change us back!” The eldest Earp whined like an infant without its bottle.
“Ye think it’s that simple, little lass?” She spit back. “Take me to me lover, and then I will change ye back.”
“Why the hell doth thou think we would do that?”
“Thou have a deal,” Nicole replied without hesitation. She leaned forward, swiping the soft foreign hand against the intruders.
“All hands ahoy!” Nicole roared from the crow’s nest. She examined the bustling pirates on the deck, none of them giving her a second glance.
“Uh, Nicole,” Waverly shouted from below. “Maybe Wynonna shouldst try. Since she, thou know, looks like thou.”
Nicole looked back and forth between the two women, horrified to see her own face smiling back at her. “Okay, fine, Wynonna.”
“Me?” Wynonna’s face lit up like a Christmas tree dressed in lanterns, seconds away from catching the pine needles alight. “Hey assholes! Get thy asses up here!”
The buccaneers’ faces masked with confusion before they glimpsed from one another before serving orders, lining up at the base of the lookout tower.
“How did that work?” Nicole clawed the back of brunettes’s neck,, the curly hair irritating her skin. “I thought killing them with kindness would make them respect me more.”
“Okay salty scurvy sea dogs, woof.” Wynonna continued. “We be taking a detour to the Cayman Islands before we intercept the ship heading from the West Indies.”
“Do I really talk like that there?” Nicole murmured to the youngest Earp.
Shouting erupted as the men comprehended the new route. Horror struck not only their faces but also threaded their tone. One man shouted above all, “Will we be able to steal me booty?”
“Will we, Nicole?” Wynonna mumbled to the woman taking shelter in her own body.
“Arr,” Nicole responded. “We will have to intercept the ship closer to the New World, which will make it riskier. But that’s when we thrive, right?”
“Great job, Haught Dog,” Wynonna set her arm on her own shoulder, the new position foreign to the eldest Earp. “Could not hast quoth it better myself.”
“No, thou couldn’t.” Nicole launched down the unsteady rope ladder like she had been doing it every day for the last decade. Because she had. The other woman followed behind, her feet getting tangled up in the cable. “Now go on, Captain. Go change the ship's direction.”
“What? No. That’s thy job!”
“But thou be the Captain now, aren’t thou? So, thou get the responsibilities that there go along with it. I just get to snuggle with me lass.”
“Thou try that in that body, and I will dispatch you.” Wynonna wiped her callused hands on the redhead’s jacket, dreaming that the roughness on her palms would dissipate. Turning to the happy-go-lucky intruder, she hissed, “Are you happy now?”
“I won’t be ‘appy until I’m on that their island.”
“Wynonna, where be thou going?”
“To steer the ship, of course. Thou said I am the captain!”
“Would thou hate me if I killed thy sister?” Nicole asked her girlfriend. Without waiting for a reply, she chased the older woman, cursing her slightly shorter than normal legs.
“Wynonna, thou best not think of touching that there wheel!”
“Oh, thou mean thus?” Wynonna swung the wheel with such speed that Nicole felt her stomach rise into her throat. She jetted forward and grasped onto the spindles before the ship spun out of control.
“Thou cannot do that there, Wynonna!” She cursed. “There be other people on the ship besides thyself! People thou need to think about.”
“Like mine sister?”
“Yes, exactly like thy sister.” Nicole attempted to shove Wynonna out of the way, but she did not drift from the wheel. It wasn’t difficult, seeing as she was in a much stronger body. “Let me drive.”
“No,” Wynonna held tightly to the wheel, Nicole lurched forward, her hands holding onto the wheel.
“Uh, Wynonna…” Waverly hesitated. With no warning, the water below stirred and lashed against the strong ship wall. Darkness prevailed as heavy black clouds dueled with the large puffy white ones, blocking the sun’s bright warm rays.
“Look, thou don’t know what thou be doing!” Nicole argued.
“Nicole!” Waverly called. The brunette paused, the spindles falling from her hands. She looked at her girlfriend, who was aggressively pointing toward the sky.
“Shit,” The wind continued with its angry wrath, morphing the medium size waves into mountains upon mountains. Forgetting she wasn’t in her own body, she shouted at her crew: “Mast the sails!”
The men peered at her with confusion crashing into their faces. “Just do it!”
The men ran through the rain-soaked deck and crowded around the masts. Nicole followed, sliding across the slippery ground, as Wynonna’s shoes were no match for the soaked wood. Oh, how she wished she was in herself again.
“The mast be goin’ to rip!” Xavier Dolls screamed as the wind tore against the white material. The sound of cracking wood filled the vast ocean.
“Everyone grab onto a piece of the rope!” Nicole shouted. “Between all of us, we have to be stronger than that board.”
“Ya mon,” Dolls agreed. Stretching high above his head, his fingertips threaded through the knot, untying the mast from the keel.
“Well, I don’t know about thou,” Wynonna squeezed the other woman’s arms, and then flexed the ones currently attached to her. “I definitely hast the strength.”
“Arr,” Nicole spit in frustration. Wind slammed the rain into her face, as if tiny stones rocks were being chucked at her slightly tanned skin. “I know thou do.”
Wynonna’s eyes sparkled as a gust of wind pushed against the mast, causing Xavier’s biceps to tighten. “I know where I’m going!”
“Thou be gay right now, Wynonna!” Nicole shouted, probably louder than necessary.
“That’s what thou thinks!” She slid against Xavier, gripping tightly onto the rope. Each time he yanked the rope and took a step back, she acted as a barrier, causing his figure to grind against hers.
“You know,” Waverly whispered into Nicole’s ear as her own arms tightened. “This would be sexy if thou weren’t in my sister’s body.”
“Tell me about it,” Nicole said as the younger woman’s backside settled into her lap. The waves spun the boat to around, creating a miniature cyclone. Her knuckles turned red from her strong grip, and the rope burned her palms.
“Can thou please help?” Waverly shouted over to the stranger, her stomach bouncing like a Yo-Yo inside of her. It was only a matter of seconds before she would need to empty its contents over the rails.
The ship jolted to the side, the sudden force tossing the occupants through the air. Nicole released one of her hands from the rope and wrapped it around the smaller woman’s waist and yanked her closer. She would let nothing happen to her.
Undisturbed by the ship’s slant, the wretched-looking woman hung over the side of the railing. Her fingertips jetted against the frantic waves, and her lips curled into a circle. She chanted in a foreign language: “Avunculus placet praestat componere fluctus. Desine quaeso tempestate.” (Uncle, please calm the waves. Please stop the storm.)
“Do ye know who that there be?” Xavier asked the redhead. Sunlight, the calm sea, and sanity returned as the boat lurched into an upright position. The buccaneer’s figures pounded against the wooden deck from the sudden inversion.
“No,” Wynonna released Nicole’s matted, wind blown red hair from its braid, her mind forgetting she had never learned to weave her own hair. “Doth thou?”
“Aye,” He licked his bloody lip, cracked open when he bit down during the sudden impact. “That be Calypso, the sea goddess.”
“Really?” Wynonna chuckled. “Hey Nicole, didst thou know we pissed off an actual goddess?”
Nicole’s eyes bulged as she watched the gears spiraled inside her first mate’s mind. His eyes flickered from Nicole to Wynonna and back again.
“Wait,” He stuttered. “Ye be not the cap’n?”
“Not at the instant, no,” Wynonna answered. “But if thou desire to see this hot body, I would let thou in on that secret.”
“Wynonna!” Waverly chided. “Do thou know how to keep silent?”
“No, not really.”
“Avast, Dolls,” Nicole requested. “Would thou help me tie up the masts?”
“Arr,” Xavier smacked down on the brunette’s shoulder. “This here be definitely me cap’n.”
The sun rose again for the third time since Calypso arrived on the ship. A thin island appeared on the horizon with its reflection glistening in the water. Nicole watched from the crow's nest as the ship made its steady approach and the outline of the land became more clear with every one of her passing breaths.
“Well, well, well, Captain Haught,” Wynonna leaned against the pole of the lookout and looked up to the brunette, squinting from the sun’s bright rays. “Looks like thou survived in mine body. Thou didn’t get any strange tattoos, or anything didst thou?”
Nicole dashed down the rope ladder with ease and joined the other woman on the deck. “No, though I really should have. Pass the rum.”
Wynonna held up the half empty bottle, which the captain snatched instantly. Nicole took a long swig, the alcohol burning her throat.
“Well, I really hope you like the flaming phoenix ass tattoo I picked out for thou.”
“What?” The brunette bulged her eyes. “Wynonna, thou didn’t!”
“Ahoy, Calypso!” The redhead waved her hand. She strode over to the woman, ignoring Nicole’s question. “Methinks it’s about time thou switch us back, huh sea goddess! I will miss these long gams though.”
“Yeah, Calypso,” Nicole agreed. “Not that we didn’t enjoy thy visit. But thou have people to see, and we have booty to steal.”
“Ye did ye job, Cap’n.” The woman’s eyes crinkled with joy. “Yer father would be proud.”
“Thou knew mine father?” The brunette shoved her hands in the tight leather pants pockets, a look of uncertainty coasting through her features.
“Aye, ye look just like 'im. Well actually,” She pointed to the redhead, “She looks just like 'im. Ye be a jolly buccaneer, Nicole Haught.”
“Wynonna!” Waverly raced to the small group, a small locket jingling in her hands. “Thou dropped this in thy room. Don’t tell me thou stole this from Tortuga.”
“Wynonna…” Nicole chided.
“I will be grabbin’ that there,” Calypso snatched the gold heart-shaped locket from the youngest Earp’s hands.
“Hey, wait, that’s mine.”
“Actually, it be mine. 'ow else did ye think I found ye?” She flipped the locket over, tracing her fingertips over the letters engraved on the back. “hose be me initials. Master. Jones gave me this here the last time I saw 'im. Nine years an' 365 days ago.”
“And thou bin blaming me for being a lass!” Nicole raised her arms over her head. “It bin thy fault the whole time!”
“Wait,” Wynonna faced the older woman and ignored the Nicole’s accusations. “Davy Jones, as in Captain of the Flying Dutchman?”
“That’s the one.”
“Wow, he’s like a legend!” Wynonna gleamed. “What? There were even stories about him in the colonies!”
“Well, methinks it is beautiful,” Waverly reached her hand out to the sea goddess, locking it in the other woman’s. “We enjoyed having thou with us, Calypso. Come visit us again anytime.”
“Aye,” Nicole agreed, “Just please make sure we can remain in the right individuals next time?”
“Right, yes,” Calypso waved her hands into the salty sea air. With her eyes clenched shut, wind gusted around the group, causing their stray hair to fly about as the sea swelled below. “Retro redire. Pertinent ad locum transferre.” (Back, Back. Transfer them back to the place they belong)
In a squall of wild wind, silvery fog ejected from both women’s mouths. As each gasped for air, the substance slipped down their throats, pummeling them both to the ground.
“Holy shit,” Nicole cursed. Her arm massaged her suddenly pained neck as red hair cascading in front of her eyes. “Shiver me timbers! I be back, really! I be me again!”
“Thank god for tight pants!” Wynonna celebrated. “Oh, how I have missed the!”
“I be getting thou actual fitting pants for thy birthday!” Nicole announced. Waverly held her hand out, helping the captain to her feet. Nicole tucked the smaller girl into her arms, settling her chin on the top of her head. “Thanks Waves.”
“I have missed thou.” Waverly rocked onto her tiptoes. She glanced down to the redhead’s mouth, her tongue swiping against her own lips. She wrapped her arms around Nicole, their lips brushing together for the first time in days. As a moan slipped from her mouth-
“Cap’n,” Dolls interjected, his full attention on Wynonna. “We be nearing the island. Would ye like us to drop the anchor?”
“Arr,” Nicole declared, causing the man’s attention to flicker in confusion.
“Cap’n, ye be back to ye self?”
“And oh, so glad to be.” Green eyes twinkling with glee. “But I would watch out for this one!”
The redhead nodded her head toward Wynonna, sending her a less than subtle wink. Xavier smiled, his pearly whites reflecting the sun’s bright rays. He hung his head low as he stepped from the crew, his thoughts locked onto his task.
“How are thou feeling?” Waverly questioned Calypso. “Excited? Are thou feeling butterflies?”
“Nervous, but definitely excited.” She said. “I really 'ope that there 'e still loves me.”
“I be sure he will,” Nicole responded, drawing the shorter woman back into her side. “Absence just makes the heart go founder. Trust us.”
“Anchor be dropped, Cap’n,” Dolls announced. “You can depart whenever ye be ready, Ms. Calypso, ma’am.”
“Thank you, Xavier.”
“And Waverly meant it,” Nicole told the sea goddess. “If thou need anything, just let us know.”
“Thanks Captain,” The woman smiled as the group’s steps fell in line with her own, following her to the back of the ship. With a smile on her face and her heart pounding wildly, the sea goddess treaded onto the golden sand. Together, the crew watched with glimmering grins as she floated through the beach, past the driftwood and flora of dry seaweed, almost as if by magic. The thin tuffs of grass whispered sweetly beside her in the soft gusting breeze.
“Someone pass me the rum,” Wynonna commanded. “This love sap will cause meself to hurl.”
Calypso sat at the water’s edge, sifting salty sand through her smooth pale fingers. Her back hurt from the hours upon hours of waiting, but still, she protested to leave. In the distance, the sunset met the horizon line, spreading light upon the water’s edge. Rich hues of red blended into a rainbow of oranges and purples. The sun’s warmth faded away, as did its light, as Calypso’s arms became lined with goosebumps.
The sliver of moonlight spilled into the dark, reflective water, lessening the never-ending darkness of the sky. The stars glittered high above her head; the wind bustling around her. But still he never showed.