7:00am
No crew returned. Sol said, ‘We’re it? A princess, a beggar and a slave?’
I said, ‘Princess? Who’s a –you?!’
‘NO!’ she said. ‘I– shut up.’
Midday
One man turned up. ‘Hello Mal,’ said Sol. ‘Where’s everyone?’
He shrugged.
‘Fine,’ she said, ‘let’s burn this place and find a better one.’
7:00pm
Sol saw kids in a corner and had me take them outside. Once they were safe, we burned their home too.
The night sky turned grey with smoke.
——————————————————–
Yep, our mad teenage captain grew up as a princess. No wonder she ran away from home.
If you go here http://drolleriepress.com/needles-bones/ you can download the FREE prequel, “Tar”, which tells you a lot more about Sol and Ulandin, before they decided to become pirates. BUT there is MATURE UNPLEASANT CONTENT so please don’t read it if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing. (Oh, and Sol called herself “Salty” back then.)
Also, the anthology “Needles and Bones” has the story “At Sea”, which is set about sixteen years after “Worse Things Happen at Sea” (and also calls Sol “Salty”). It’s certainly not the LAST story with Sol in, but if you’re hungry for more it’s a good place to start. It also has MATURE UNPLEASANT CONTENT (which is why both stories are released under my “Felicity Bloomfield” persona – Louise Curtis is strictly G or PG-rated). It’s 15% off at the moment, so now’s a good time to buy it.
