A Pirate tale

A long time ago, the kingdom of Spain ruled much of what we call now Central America and the Caribbean. Their domination was opposed by the British, but not using the Navy, no.

The British used pirates.

There have been many tales written of those times, and this may not be the strangest ....

At the docks of the great city of London, a young man moves carefully, occasionally looking at a piece of paper he carries.

The docks are a place of bustle and noise, which only made finding what he was looking for more difficult.

But nothing made it as difficult as the fact that officially, the ship didnt exist.

Still, he eventually found the ship nestled quietly behind a barge.

He took the piece of paper out his pocket again, and sighed.

Not for the first time, he wondered if this was really a good idea .....

He carefully went up the gangplank onto the ship, and started looking for someone willing to talk to him.

He hadn’t been on board long before he realized what made this particular ship unique.

It was crewed by women.

He stared for several moments before one of the crew noticed him, and aggressively approached him.

“Whatcha want here, little boy?”

“I ... I need to speak to your Captain, please.”

“She’s a busy lady. What’s your business?”

He handed her the piece of paper. “Here. Read this.”

The crewmember whistled. “Whew. So She sent you, did She?” Just a mo.”

The crewmember left, leaving the young man alone surrounded by the crew as they continued their tasks. Not being a sea-going person himself, he had no idea what they were doing or why, but whatever it was kept them busy enough to allow him to try and organize his thoughts undisturbed.

“So, what does Herself want?” A voice said, startling the young man out of his inner review.

The Captain was a large woman, and she towered over the young man as he timidly handed her the paper.

He tried not to fidget while she read the paper carefully, but he was still glad when she had finished and looked at him.

“I have no room on this ship for passengers. I only take crew. I cannot help you, no matter what I owe Herself.”

“I’ll work my passage, if that’s what it takes. My father MUST be told what’s going on.”

“I only take women as crew, boy. Can you be a woman?”

“If it means getting this message to my father in time, yes. I’ll be a woman for the voyage, as much as its possible for me to be one, and as good as any woman in your crew.”

The captain did a slow appraisal of the boy’s appearance. He was slender, his hair longer than most boys would consider normal, and there was something about the way he stood, moved and talked that seemed to hint at a hidden femininity.

“Perhaps you could, at that....”

The captain shouted to the crew, “All right, ladies! I have to go back ashore for a bit, I expect this ship to be ready to sail when I return”, then she said quietly to the young man, “All right, lass. Let’s get you ready for your first tour of duty.”, and then she led him back off the ship, and into the bustling city.

The captain strode through the city with a fierce and determined look.

“May I ask where we are going?”

“To find what you will need to be a proper member of my crew. Fortunately, I know someone at the Globe theater, who might be able to help us.”

And indeed, a short time later they were in front of the theater, and the captain was striding toward the back entrance like she owned the place. She knocked, and a man opened the door, took one look at the captain, and let them both in.

“Ah, my dear Catherine Keys. Have you decided to give up the sea and be mine?” said a middle-aged man who was sitting in the back of the theater surrounded by costumes.

The young man recognised the man who spoke, he had seen him perform in this very theater many times.

“No, you old rascal. This young man needs to become a member of my crew. Can you do it?”

The man got up, and looked the young man over .

“What is your name, young man?”

“Fffff... Francis, sir.”

“Well don’t worry, lad, we’ll have you a right looking lass in no time.”

“Y... you think you can do it?”

“You’ll be easier than some who have played girl parts on stage. Just leave everything to me.”

Francis found himself being pulled by the hand toward a large room full of women’s clothes, and the older man said, “Take everything off.”

The young man shrugged, and began to take off his clothes despite the Captain still being in the room.

Soon, they had put him in a corset that squeezed his already small waist even smaller, and it even gave him a bit of a bust at the same time.

Because he was to be a sailor and work his passage, they avoided some of the more elaborate female costumes, but they managed to create a wardrobe that would be functional while emphasizing his status as a woman.

Once his appearance was changed, the old actor gave him a few lessons on walking and talking like a girl, and couldnt help but tell Francis “You take to girl stuff like a natural!”

“So I see,” The captain added. “Seems like you’ll have no trouble fitting in.”

“I wont let you down. Just get me to my father.”

“All right. Time we were getting back to the ship. We got a rough voyage ahead.”

The two of them made their way back to the ship, and very quickly they were onboard, and ready to set sail.

The first mate showed the new-made girl around the ship, and soon had her doing all kinds of tasks, seeing where her limits might be.

In what seemed like no time at all, they were far at sea, and she was so absorbed in her new routine she stopped worrying about the message she needed to send, and simply lived in the moment.

Days passed.

Francine found she liked the easy way the crew interacted with each other. She began to understand why the captain only wanted women, a man would change the whole dynamic of the situation.

And even as she thought that, she realized she saw men as the “opposite” sex.

That she was a woman.

And it was clear that the rest of the crew saw her the same way.

They had been sailing for almost a month when the Captain asked her to step into her quarters.

“You’ve done well, Francine.” the captain said.

“Thank you, captain.”

“We should be nearing the Caribbean Islands by nightfall.”

“Thank you Captain. Do we know where my father might be?”

“I was going to ask you that.”

“According to the message I’m to deliver, he was supposed to be near Barbados.”

“Good enough. Have you thought about what you will tell him about your appearance?”

“The message I carry will prove I’m his child. What he feels about what’s become of me is beyond my control.”

“And have you considered what you will do once your message has been delivered? I should tell you we have no plans to return to London in the immediate future.”

“I have, and if you’ll have me, I’d like to continue to be a member of this crew.”

The captain smiled and said, “You’d make an excellent addition, but I foresee one problem.”

“What problem?”

“For obvious reasons, I cant ... fraternize with the crew. Yet I have found myself terribly attracted to you.”

“M...me?”

“You find that surprising?”

“Well, kinda.”

“You are something truly unique in my experience. You were born male, but you have taken to living as a woman with the ease of someone born for that gender. You work hard, but you are also gentle. And you are beautiful.”

The young woman blushed.

“But ... what do I do? I ... no one has ever felt anything for me before.”

“Let me think on it, we dont have to make any decisions until we give your father your message anyway.”

“I better get back to work, then.” the young woman said, and left her cabin.

Francine went back to the main deck, and tried to focus on her tasks, but she found it difficult to focus. Love was the last thing she expected to find living as a woman on board a ship filled with women, but here she was, wondering what she should do.

Fortunately, there was still a lot to do before she got to her father, so she decided to focus on the tasks at hand, and try to hold off on worrying about what happens after until after actually comes.

It took the rest of the day to make it to the port at Barbados, and once there, the captain said, “I’ll check with some contacts I have in town. If your father’s location is known, they will know it.”

Francine nodded, and tried to keep busy while the Captain was gone.

An hour passed, and then the Captain returned.

“We’re in luck, he’s expected to come tomorrow.”

“So do we wait in port?”

“No, lets go outside the port. The fewer people who see us talking to your father, the better.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Francine went to work with the crew, and soon the ship left the harbor, and found a good place to drop anchor and wait.

Once all the tasks that could be done were done, Francine retired to her bunk to try and wait for her father. Would he accept what she had done to deliver the message? And would he accept that even after it was delivered, she would not be returning to the male life she had left behind?

“Hopefully, I will find out soon ...” she thought.

Her wish was granted, as an hour later there was a signal from the captain, and she headed for the deck.

“We’ve got your father’s ship to stop under a flag of truce, and you’ll have to go over in the rowboat, Francine. You ready for this?” the captain asked.

“Ready as I will ever be.” Francine said.

She climbed into the rowboat, and sat with the captain while two crewmembers rowed it the short distance to the other ship.

Once there, she climbed the rope behind the captain and then they stood on the deck together.

Moments later her father appeared, and she bit her lip as she watched him approach.

“Your signal was ... interesting. You have a message for me?”

“I do.” Francine said, and handed her father a rolled note she had kept by her heart since her mission began.

Her father unrolled the note and read quickly.

He then looked at Francine carefully.

“Who are you?”

“I am the only one who could be trusted to deliver this message.”
“You’re ...”

“Your child, yes.”

There was a long pause.

‘Is this .... permanent? Can you go back to being my son?”

“I could. I do not wish to.”

He sighed, and then said, “I have to go answer this message. I ... may not be able to see you again. So let me say this now, before I leave. I love you, my ... daughter. May God go with you wherever you go.”

Francine gave him a hug.

“Good luck .... Daddy.”

“You too ... daughter.”

Francine left her father’s ship with tears in her eyes.

Once back on board their own ship, the captain had the crew prepare to leave the bay and head back out to sea.

Once they were underway, Francine went to the captain and asked, “Well, where do we go now?”

“There is a little island north of here called Gustavia. I think I want to go there, and retire. I have a feeling that your message to your father means the life of a pirate is going to get even more ... complicated. I’ve been thinking of doing it for years, but there was always one thing missing on that island.”

“What was missing?”

“Someone to share it with.”
“You mean you want ... me?”

“If you’re willing. It would mean never going home to England.”

“Even if my father survives whatever my message means, I dont really belong there. Its not likely they would ever accept me as a woman. And ... I’m pretty sure I could be very happy with you.”

“Let’s go north, then.”

The two women kissed, and Francine said, “North it is.”

*****

Epilogue.

No one knows the fate of Francine and Catherine, except that neither ever returned to England, and Francine never saw her father again. He would play a major part in the struggle between England and Spain, but that is another story ...

End.