Free Pirates for Hire: Book I - Setting Sail

By Eric C. Geary

On Dawnya’s sixteenth birthday she officially became a citizen of South Dalron and received word of her great uncle’s death. In his will he left Dawnya a riddle with the hope of leaving IronSprings behind and traveling the world as the Captain of the legendary ship, The Sea Dryad.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781105414015

Book preview

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1

Wills and Birthdays

From her hiding place in the orchard Dawnya spied the stranger coming up the lane to her house. The morning sun glinted off his spectacles, but it was his outfit that made him stand out. She had never seen anyone dressed exactly like him before. He wore a scarlet shirt and black pants, with the sash of the king across his chest. The sash proclaimed him to work somewhere in government. She knew that different government jobs had special uniforms; all the sheriffs wore gray pants and green shirts along with the sash. She had never seen this particular combination before and was curious as to what his job might be.

Dawnya carefully climbed down from her hiding spot in the gnarled cherry tree. She knew it was safe to go back inside the house because her mother would not continue their argument in front of a stranger. It had been the same old argument that had driven her to hide in the orchard. She wished her mother would accept the fact that she just didn’t like dresses, unlike her younger sisters, and would stop being upset about it all of the time. She sighed. In less than a week she would be sixteen and receive her Of Age Medallion, making her a legal citizen. Then, by the king’s law, she could move out on her own, if only she had a place to go. Her mother kept telling her to wear a dress and catch a man down in town like she had done, but Dawnya wanted nothing to do with the boys down in IronSprings.

As she strolled back to the house she had to admit that the orchard was at its most beautiful at this time of year. The spring rains made the trees bloom in soft pinks, reds, and whites. The beauty of the flowers and bright green of new leaves almost made up for all the work in the fall when fruits had to be picked, but not quite. She would love to leave the orchard behind and only visit it in the spring like her great uncle who owned it did. He would be visiting soon. He came every spring to look over the trees and check the ledgers. According to the ledgers the orchard barely made money, but she knew her father was taking money off the top in fear of the day his uncle would replace him. It was Dawnya’s firm opinion that her great uncle noticed but ignored the obvious cheating she knew her father did.

Dawnya was smart enough to realize that her great uncle didn’t actually care about the money that was sent to him. He would look at the books for a few hours in the morning on his first day there. Then he would spend the rest of the week walking in the orchard and surrounding countryside, sometimes venturing up to the snowline on the many mountain peaks beyond the barn.

Dawnya remembered the time when she was about eight years old and had seen her great uncle leaving a certain long abandoned mineshaft just outside of the orchard. There were many such mines in the area, forgotten once the precious iron ore ran out. She had wondered why he had been inside that particular one, her curiosity burned for the rest of the day and in the middle of the night she resolved to go explore the mine herself at dawn. They literally walked into each other as she snuck back out of the mineshaft, her great uncle had been mad at her but for some reason did not tell her mom.

After that he made a point to take her with him on his many hikes, much to the disapproval of her mom. Dawnya was never sure if this was meant to be a punishment or a reward. She would have been happier if she had found out something worth knowing. For her trouble, all she found was a locked door just around a bend from the mine’s entrance. The only thing interesting about the door, besides it being there, was that the lock was made from a strange bluish-green metal she had never seen before or since.

The front door creaked loudly as she tried to sneak in to main room of the house. Everyone looked up at her and then turned quickly back to staring at the stranger. The stranger who had paused midsentence to look at her gave her a longer look than her family members had. He adjusted his spectacles as he raised his right eyebrow at her in a calculating way.

As I was saying, the stranger said turning back to Dawnya’s father. It is my unhappy task to inform you of the death of your uncle Hedry. It happened three months ago right after the first snowfall in Fallen Bridge. I am sorry I could not inform you sooner but I do not travel well in the wintertime. I have a chest condition. As if to prove this he spent the next minute coughing into a small handkerchief. He had a dry cough that made you want to offer him a glass of water. He continued after taking a sip from the glass on the table, and gave Dawnya another disconcerting glance.

Also the bad weather did me a favor because I have other business in this town. It saved me making the journey twice, since I could not have done the other business until now. He paused long enough to take something out of the satchel that he had brought with him and then looked at Dawnya’s father.

Your uncle wrote his last will and testament last fall in my office. His health was failing him and he wanted to make sure everything was in proper order. Please notice that the wax seal he put on the will is unbroken, proving it has not been read or tampered with in any way. As he said this he handed the sealed will to Dawnya’s father. He then turned his attention to Dawnya and ignored the bickering words of the grieving inheritors as they tore open, and read through the will. He removed two more small items from his satchel, one was the Of Age Medallion that every adult citizen of this country wore and the other was a very ordinary small brass key.

While I have not read the will since it was sealed, I was the one who wrote it down. Your great uncle had been too ill to write it himself, so he dictated it to me, the stranger said to Dawnya in a lowered voice, his caution was needless. The cries of resounding joy from Dawnya’s father at inheriting the orchard almost drowned out the man’s comments to her. This is the key to your great uncle’s old sea chest, the only thing in the orchard that your father does not get. He gave it to me when he had the will made. This is your long awaited Of Age Medallion. It is a few days early but no one that matters will complain. He said the last sentence with a half smile and a knowing look that spoke volumes. He then handed her the small key and the medallion on its thin silver chain. She quickly slipped the chain over her head to the jealous looks of her younger brothers and sisters. The small key she gripped tightly for that small piece of metal seemed to be radiating a hope of freedom.

Now if you will give your daughter Hedry’s old sea chest and let her open it in front of me I may be out of your way and about my business, the stranger said addressing Dawnya’s father once again. It is the only stipulation in the will that requires my attention other than accompanying you to the town hall and bank.

Sir, I know where the sea chest you are talking about is. Dawnya said to the man in a slightly embarrassed way for her parents were no longer paying him any heed being fully engrossed in their gleeful scheming. It is in his old attic bedroom. If you will follow me, I can show it to you.

That would be fine, he said softly to her, then raising his voice and addressing her father once more. I will leave the two of you to your grief, and finish my business with young Dawnya upstairs.

She showed the man with the spectacles up three flights of stairs to the attic bedroom. The attic was where uncle Hedry had always slept on his spring visits. The majority of it was filled with old boxes and chests of things half forgotten or used only once a year. One end was walled off into a small bedroom. It was barely six feet from the door to where the roof met the outside wall but was as wide as the house. Hedry had once told her that the odd shape reminded him of a ship’s cabin and that was why he enjoyed sleeping there.

The sea chest sat at the end of the bed that took up a corner of the room and was wedged between the lowering ceiling and the floor. It was old and battered and had been the cause of many dares and many more punishments. Now the long coveted sea chest belonged to her, not to any of her brothers and sisters. Many of whom followed them upstairs, not caring to listen to the scheming of their parents. They were all eager to know what the sea chest held after all the years it had sat there forbidden and tantalizing. Most of them believed it held charts and maps that great uncle Hedry had made during his years as a navigator and merchant sailor. One or two held out hopes of treasure maps if not actual treasure.

The strange man smiled at Dawnya as, with great reverence, she turned the key in the lock. The children fell silent as they slowly crowded in. The lid was gently lifted open making not a sound despite the apparent age of the chest. Her brothers and sisters were holding their breaths until her oldest brother Rason chuckled.

It’s empty, Rason said then laughed.

No it’s not, Bareeya said after a giggle. She had been leaning closer and had a better view of the contents. Just almost. A key without a lock is so worthless it might as well have been empty.

Dawnya lifted out the strange bluish-green metal key, the expression on her face hidden from her brothers and sisters by her shoulder-length, reddish-brown hair. The smiling stranger, however, caught the gleam in her eye reflected in a small porthole-shaped shaving mirror hanging on the wall across from her. Disappointed that the key was the only thing the old sea chest contained, the other children wandered off talking about what should have been in the sea chest. None of them knew that Dawnya was sure the key was actually a kind of treasure map only she could follow. The stranger and Dawnya started to slowly walk down the stairs, stopping at the second floor where the bedrooms were located.

Well, sir, Dawnya said to the stranger once she was sure they were alone, I think I know what my great uncle Hedry left me, and I am curious if you know too. You did say that everything in the orchard was to go to my father.

The answer to both of your questions is yes, but I must be on my way. Hedry told me quite a bit about his life that you have yet to find out. I look forward to hearing the stories about you, for I am sure they will be worth it. Dawnya was very relieved to hear his answer and then smiled at the man, who she was sure knew a lot more than what he had even hinted at. Before you ask, my name is Lukro. I work for the king in many capacities: keeper of records and historian to name but a few. You might want to look at my recently finished book if you get the chance. It will undoubtedly hold surprises for you, I am sure it will be at the bookshop here in the next year or two.

Thank you again, Dawnya said. I will make sure to find a copy, but I do not think I will wait for it to come to a store here in IronSprings. Now I must go before my mother notices I am missing again. Good day to you, sir. I hope fortune allows us to meet again.

After bowing her goodbyes, an act that would have caused her to get yelled at for at least an hour by her mother, she all but ran to her room. She quickly packed up the few items she felt she could truly call her own and a spare outfit. She placed them into a small backpack her great uncle had once given her, in yet another attempt by him to annoy her mother. She checked to make sure that she had everything, thought a quick goodbye to the faded pink wallpapered room, and left. As quietly as she could she snuck down the stairs that led into the kitchen. On her way to the back door she paused for a second to grab the half loaf of bread from the countertop. It was all that remained of the breakfast she’d missed due to the early morning argument.

2

Things Not in the Orchard

As Dawnya walked out of the kitchen door and down the steps, the Of Age Medallion bounced on its chain and bumped against her chest reminding her of its presence. She held it for a second in her left hand and looked at it carefully for the first time. In the center was the royal crest of Southern Dalron. The crest was a shield