2
Warning: This story does feature a death. All of this stuff is fantasy and does not reflect ANYTHING I approve of or advocate in real life.
Sarah stood on the deck of the pirate ship in the early morning light. It had rained earlier, the wood was still damp the occasional puddle reflected the morning sunlight. She was a pretty blonde in her early twenties, wearing an open blue gown over her light brown petticoat.
She gripped the handle of her knife tightly as she looked at the woman she would have to kill.
They had spotted the pirate ship following them yesterday morning. They made evasive manoeuvres but couldn’t shake the pirates as their ship drew closer and closer. They were passengers on a ship travelling to the New World in the late eighteenth century; they had no defence for the volleys of cannon fire the pirate ship unleashed on them.
They had no vast stores of gold or treasure, they had no reason to expect pirates, and they had no defences. The pirate ship closed in. They boarded the ship looking for all the gold that was rumoured to be onboard. Where was it hidden? The crew and passengers protested that they had no gold; that was on their sister ship. Angry, believing they were being lied to. They killed all the passengers and crew after they tortured them, of course.
Apart from…
Two young women were found later. Sarah Cheshire, a young blonde woman, travelling to Virginia to marry her fiancé. She was found huddled under a tarpaulin in the cargo hold. And Rosalyn Spencer, a dark-haired young beauty looking for a new life in Virginia. She had dreamed of riding those wild horses around the vast plains of the New World. She was found in a lifeboat.
Since they were found after everyone else had been killed, instead of killing them on the spot, the crew brought them before the captain. When the pirate captain saw the two healthy, beautiful women who had been delivered into his clutches. The crew could do with something after the paltry takings from that ship. They needed some entertainment. He smiled. He had a plan.
The next morning, they were led upstairs onto the main deck. The crew were gathered all around the gunwale, the top edge or upper rim of the boat's side. They were excited, expectant. The Captain had promised them something special.
The captain signalled hush.
“We had a very disappointing day yesterday. Didn’t we?” Boos from the crew.
“Well, I’ve arranged some entertainment for everyone!” Cheers from the crew.
He turned to look at the two women, standing on the main deck.
“Welcome, ladies, you are to provide the entertainment. We only have room for one passenger. So, you two will decide who it will be in a duel to the death”. The assembled pirates cheered.
A long, sharp knife was handed to each of the young women.
“The winner will be taken to Virginia, the loser will get to be dead. If you refuse to fight, we will kill both of you”. He gestured to the now frightened girls.
"Prepare yourselves for battle, I don’t like my women overdressed”.
Both women had heard the death cries of their fellow passengers; from the sounds, it had not been a quick, painless death for many of them. They knew the pirates were serious and what they were capable of. They had expected to be put to death as soon as they were found, but they had been offered a chance at life, and they both wanted to take it. Neither woman had wanted to die cowering beneath a tarpaulin. Azt least, Rosalyn thought grimly, death would be quick.
Accepting her fate, Sarah removed her dress, corset and boots, leaving her just in her underwear, a white peasant blouse and long white pantaloons. She would be able to move more freely in these, yes, modesty, but she was going to have to fight for her life. She had never done anything like this before. She had kept herself fit; she had always been a bit of a tomboy, and in her youth, she had actually done fencing, but that was more to do with posture.
Preparations complete, she looked up with astonishment to see the other woman bare to the waist. The whore!
Rosalyn was not a whore. She knew from what she had heard from other duels that there was a danger of sepsis from cuts exposed to clothing. So, she removed the problem. She would survive the fight and survive her victory. Then she looked down at her skirt and realised it would restrict her movement, so she sliced a slit on each side from her hips down to her hem. Her legs could move freely. Perfect. Modesty be damned, she wanted to live. She had lived a healthy lifestyle with her love of horses and riding. If that little blonde Moon-eyed hen was too shy to prepare herself properly, then that would be HER funeral.
They stared at each other. The knives that they held in their hands were shaking.
"You want to do this?", Rosalyn enquired.
"I don't think we have a choice..." Sarah replied.
"...and I want to live". A determined look blazed in her eyes as she said it.
"So do I!" declared Rosalyn.
"I don't want to kill you...but I will", she added.
"You can try. You'll do it over my dead body," Sarah giggled nervously. She was so scared.
"That was the idea", Rosalyn tried to sound fierce, but inside, she was just as scared.
“Begin!”
The pirates shoved the two young women towards each other. Holding their knives out before them warily, they crept towards each other, crouching, their eyes locked, circling, circling. Then it started. Sarah flicked out with her knife, and Rosalyn moved her arm out of the way. Rosalyn swung her knife before her, and Sarah stepped back and jabbed her knife towards Rosalyn’s face, which was no longer in range.
Rosalyn swung her knife again, and Sarah stepped back into a puddle remaining from last night's rain. Sarah looked down, and Rosalyn charged, her arms around Sarah, she drove her back against the mast. Rosalyn drew her hand back and plunged her knife. Sarah moved to the side as the knife was driven into the mast. Rosalyn cursed.
Sarah smashed her fist down on the wrist holding the knife. Screaming, Rosalyn released her knife, but before Sarah could capitalise, swung her fist straight into Sarah’s face, busting her lip. Sarah moved back in pain. Rosalyn resumed her task, trying to pull her damned knife out of that bloody mast. While she was occupied, Sarah moved back towards her enemy, slashing her knife down Rosalyn’s bare back. Rosalyn saw her, she moved. But not quite fast enough, she screamed in pain and fear as the knife slashed her back. It was not a deep cut, but the little buds of blood appeared on her back.
Sarah swung her knife at Rosalyn’s head, but she ducked. It hit the mast. Sarah managed to remove her knife, but Rosalyn pushed her away with her feet. On the second tug, she succeeded in removing her knife from the mast and turned to face her mortal enemy.
Straight into Sarah's left hook.
Then a knee to the face. Rosalyn gasped; her face was now a bloody mess.
With her free hand, Sarah pulled Rosalyn’s head into her raised knee while her dagger hand was raised for a blow that never came as Rosalyn pulled at her raised leg. Sarah lost her balance and hit the deck on her arse.
Knife raised, Rosalyn dived at her. Sarah rolled, and Rosalyn’s body and dagger hit the deck with a thump. Rosalyn cursed. This poxy little Moon-Eyed hen was proving a tough opponent. Fear gripped her heart as the thought that she might…
“No!”
Sarah had pulled Rosalyn’s head back by the hair, leaving her throat exposed to the slash of her knife. As it came towards her, Rosalyn pulled the wrist into her mouth and bit down hard. Sarah screamed. Rosalyn tasted blood.
The knife clattered to the floor.
Hysterically, Sarah kneed Rosalyn in the head. After the third blow, Rosalyn released the bite, rolling away. Sarah sat on the floor, her eyes frantically darting around for her knife. She was defenceless!
Rising Rosalyn stood over her, knife in hand, sweeping it before her. Sarah scuttled back, her eyes still searching for her missing weapon. As Rosalyn’s knife reached the end of its arc, Sarah kicked up, hitting Rosalyn under the chin. For a moment, her eyes went glassy, and she staggered back before coming to a stop. Resetting, she drove straight back in. Sarah’s kick hit her hand, and her knife clattered to the floor. Quickly, Sarah pulled herself up and, wrapping her arms around Rosalyn’s waist, dove straight into her, driving her against the gunwale as pirates scattered out of her way.
Rosalyn drove her elbow into Sarah’s back, splintering it. Then she swung Sarah’s body into the gunwale. As Sarah hung there, her legs splayed and wobbling, Rosalyn’s fist drove down into Sarah’s face, opening a cut over Sarah’s eye. She staggered, then swung back with a right hook into Rosalyn’s body.
Rosalyn hit back with a sickening right hook that sent Sarah’s head spinning, spewing blood and saliva. She staggered back, and then she saw it, the knife. Ignoring her foe, she stumbled for the knife.
Determined to stop her, Rosalyn rugby-tackled her to the floor. They fell onto the deck together and started rolling across the floor.
Sarah was on top; she grabbed Rosalyn by the hair with both hands, banging her head against the hard deck. Rosalyn's fist shot out, and Sarah's nose erupted in blood. The next fist blackened her eyes. Yanking at Sarah's hair, Rosalyn pulled her off to the side. She jumped on top of Sarah, her knee pounding into Sarah's belly, pinning her down. Then, grasping Sarah's neck in both hands, she started strangling her, occasionally banging her head into the floor. Sarah's arms flailed; she clawed at Rosalyn's cheek, her other hand pulling at her lips. She could see her knife, lying beyond her reach. But she could not budge her manic-faced strangler.
Out of options, she grabbed at Rosalyn's bare breasts, squeezing with all her might as black dots seemed to cloud her vision. She dug her nails into the nipples. Rosalyn whined. Then she pinched each nipple between thumb and forefinger using her nails, until blood started to appear. Rosalyn screamed, and the choke loosened. Sarah's right hook sent her off, sprawling on the floor.
Ignoring her knife, Sarah raced over to her stricken foe. Grabbing the rising Rosalyn by the arm, she swung her smack into the gunwale. Rosalyn hung there, suspended, arms on top of the gunwale as Sarah charged into her. Sending blow after sickening blow into Rosalyn’s body, her body jerking with each impact. Until Rosalyn launched an uppercut, snapping Sarah’s head back as she ejected spittle over the deck.
She was stunned, and Rosalyn grabbed her by the arm, throwing her backwards into the gunwale. Sarah almost tripped, her head banging against the wood. Hissing, Rosalyn got her forearm under Sarah’s chin, forcing it back as her other hand pounded Sarah’s stomach. Sarah gasped; she was starting to feel sick. Her head lolled back, leaning over the side of the gunwale, looking down at the sea. Rosalyn yanked her hair back, pulling her over further.
She felt Rosalyn grip her legs, pulling them up. Sarah was leaning over the side, now. It hit her what her dark haired opponent was planning.
OhmyGod!
Looking down at her watery destination, she shrieked, kicking her feet trying to get them out of Rosalyn's clutches.
"I'm sorry", said Rosalyn as she fought with Sarah's thrashing legs as she tried to throw her into the ocean.
In a state of panic, Sarah slammed both fists together with Rosalyn’s head between them. Rosalyn shrieked as she felt her ears rupture. She staggered back, holding her head, trying to get her hearing back. While Sarah sank to her knees in exhaustion, she looked around for her knife.
She located it
Sarah rolled and started crawling on her hands and knees towards the knife. Rosalyn saw where she was going.
The knife was almost within Sarah’s grasp when she felt her left leg being grabbed as Rosalyn pulled her back. The knife was now out of her grasp. Rosalyn started to twist the leg, hoping to break something. Sarah kicked Rosalyn’s head, and her head snapped back. Scrambling her feet, Sarah then thrust forwards with both feet, propelling Rosalyn back, flying until she landed on her arse. She looked around, dazed. Then she smiled, realising she had landed near her own weapon.
Big mistake, my little Moon-eyed hen.
On the other side of the deck, Sarah crawled on her belly for her knife. They reached their knives at the same time. Then, slowly rising, they stood to face each other. Rosalyn leaned back against the mast. Sarah leaned against the gunwale for support. Standing on spread apart legs, they both breathed heavily, ignoring the pirates’ calls exhorting them to kill the other; they needed time to regroup and prepare for the battle to come. And then one of them would be dead.
Rosalyn's heaving, sweaty bosom reflected the morning sun's light. Her body battered but still magnificent. The red blood from her nose down her face made her look savage, as it ran down her sweat covered body and mixing with the blood from her punctured left breast. Gone was all trace of civilisation, what was left was a primitive primeval being fighting for survival.
Sarah’s body was red, her breath laboured, and scratches marked her body. Her sweat covered body had turned her peasant blouse translucent. Her hair a sweaty mess. She bore no resemblance to the woman who had walked up on deck what seemed an eternity ago.
"You fight well, but I will still kill you, little girl", Rosalyn spoke, between laboured breaths.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to die today. You are!" Sarah spat back defiantly.
"Let it be written!" Rosalyn moved forwards
"Then let it be done!" Sarah moved to join her.
Slowly, they shambled towards each other. This was not something they wanted to do, but it was a price that had to be paid if they wanted to live. And they both wanted to live. Sarah to see her beloved again, Rosalyn to ride those wild horses of Virginia.
There was no shouting or insults; hell, they hardly knew each other. But they both knew that for them to live, the other woman would have to die by her hands, and they both wanted to live.
Rosalyn slashed at Sarah's stomach. She jumped back, but the blade still scored her flesh. Blindly, she lashed out, catching Rosalyn's arm. Angry, Rosalyn brought her knife arm down. Sarah caught the knife hand mid-flight. Rosalyn tried to pull her knife back, but Sarah wouldn't release it. She smiled. Swinging her knife hand to stab Rosalyn in her side. Rosalyn caught the knife hand. They struggled, both trying to get their knife hands free. Moving backwards and forwards on the deck. Suddenly, Sarah bit down on Rosalyn's shoulder. Rosalyn screamed, but she would not release her grip on the blade, despite the blood dripping from her shoulder.
Desperate to get this poxy bitch off her shoulder. Rosalyn's knee smashed into Sarah's crotch. Sarah staggered back, her free hand going for her poor pussy. Her back hit the Gunwale. As Rosalyn lunged with a knife in hand. Sarah rolled. The knife bit into the gunwale, where her beating heart had been.
Angry at her narrow escape, she slashed in an arc at her foe. Rosalyn rolled along the gunwale away from Sarah's slashing blade. Then kicked the blonde in the stomach. Sarah kicked back, hitting Rosalyn in the leg. Rosalyn's blade slashed up, scoring Sarah's side as she turned away.
Sarah slashed at Rosalyn’s wrist. As the blade seared her flesh, she screamed, dropping the knife. Sarah smiled. She had the bitch defenceless; she would see her beloved soon. Knife raised, she moved towards Rosalyn, who backed away.
Sarah slashed down, and Rosalyn moved to the side.
Sarah slashed across, Rosalyn jumped back, then Rosalyn kicked out, her foot smashing into Sarah’s face. Stunned, she staggered back, dropping her knife; it clattered to the floor. Screaming Rosalyn leaped on to her back, wrapping her arms around Sarah’s throat, squeezing. Sarah gasped.
“This will all be over soon”, Rosalyn purred.
She was winning, she had turned it around, and she was winning! She would see the shores of Virginia soon, so soon. Little Moon-eyed hen would pass out, and then she would finish her at her leisure.
Sarah dropped to her knees, gasping, desperate for air. She could feel Rosalyn’s excited nipples digging into her back, exulting in her victory. She tried to reach for her knife, but she failed. It was out of her reach.
Twisting her body, desperately. Sarah’s hand dug into Rosalyn’s eyes; she was screaming and on the verge of panic. Sarah dug in with her thumb, and she could feel blood. In blind panic, Rosalyn released her choke. Sarah lunged forward for the knife.
Screaming vengeance, Rosalyn lunged to attack. Her knife hand was ready to cut Sarah’s vulnerable throat. Time froze, and they both stared into each other’s eyes. Rosalyn’s knife hovered over Sarah’s throat. Sarah’s eyes wide in fear.
Then Rosalyn burbled, blood. She had lunged straight into Sarah’s raised knife. Her eyes went wide, then puzzled. The blood gushed from her mouth, splashing on Sarah.
Grimly, Sarah slashed her knife up, carving through Rosalyn’s guts. It was more merciful this way. Rosalyn’s knife still hovered over her throat. She could…if she wanted, but she chose not to, thought Sarah. As life slipped away from her, Rosalyn sadly realised she would never ride those horses in Virginia. Then, with a last gasp, her eyes closed forever. Her knife fell to the floor as her body sank into Sarah’s.
Her enemy dead, Sarah slowly, respectfully, moved the dead body off her and got to her feet. Holding her bloody knife above her head to show her victory. It was over. Emotions washed over her: relief, sadness at what she had done, but she was alive. She breathed in and felt the sun on her skin.
The pirates were as good as their word and deposited, well, they threw her in the ocean a mile off the shore and told her to swim for it. Of course, she made it and found a settlement where she told her tale of being the sole survivor of the HMS Dawn Trader to the astonished settlers.
Unfortunately for the pirates, their attack on the Dawn Treader had been witnessed by a merchant vessel, that sister ship with all the gold, remember? It was too far away to help, but close enough to see what had happened. The British, incensed by the wholesale slaughter of innocent travellers, blockaded Nassau until the persons responsible were turned over to the authorities. A week later, a bag was released to the British; inside were the heads of the pirates that had attacked the Dawn Treader.
Sarah never really talked about what had happened on that pirated ship, not to her husband, not to anyone….except.
From the Virginia Gazette, August 17th, 1790.
Mourners attended the service for Lady Rosalyn Spencer. Although her body was never recovered, a service in her memory was held. Amongst the mourners was Lady Sarah Cheshire, who, accompanied by her husband, gave a touching tribute to her memory. She related, with tears in her eyes, how the two of them were the only survivors of the HMS Dawn Treader and how Rosalyn had picked up a knife and bravely fought off the pirates, choosing to sacrifice herself so that Sarah could escape and live. Sarah tearfully laid a wreath at the tombstone reserved for Rosalyn.
In her later years, Sarah took up horse riding, and every morning for the rest of her life. As the sun was starting to rise, she would ride her horse, Rosie, to the edge of the land they owned and watch the sun come up over the mountains. Feeling the sun on her face and thanking the lord for the gift of life.
Recent Posts
