Tales of Witches and Treasure Maps
early summer, Aurelia learned to be a pirate.
She learned to mend sails and cook, swab the deck and run lines. In the afternoons, she sat with Ralph and learned to tie knots, cackling over wrong loops and old jokes as the sun burned away the blue, porcelain tint of her skin and left behind a smattering of freckles.
And after a decade of loving William from afar, his presence was nothing short of thrilling. Her breath always caught at the sight of him, but she didn’t seek him out, even though he’d told her she could. She didn’t know what she’d talk about if she did, because she still wondered what one could say to entertain a legendary pirate.
He ran his ship like clockwork. Everyone had their purpose, and they did their jobs without a single complaint that Aurelia heard. When the work was done, they hung around to play cards or read books—some played music, and they reveled and danced. The days passed quickly, and Aurelia always went to bed excited for sunrise.
One day, William called to her from across the ship. She met him at the bottom of the steps to the quarterdeck, where he handed her a gold spyglass and pointed to the sea.
Far from the ship, something moved through the glimmering waves. She raised the spyglass to her eye and gasped. “Are those whales?”
His unbuttoned coat snapped in the wind. “About five of them.”
Massive creatures breached the surface, sucked in a breath, and arched back down, their fluked tails waving a brief goodbye before they disappeared. She looked up at him, breathless with delight. “They’re incredible.”
He nodded to the instrument in her hands. “Keep the spyglass for as long as you like. I’ve got another.” Then he left her to marvel while he returned to the helm.
Days later, she saw a pod of dolphins, which excited her as much as anything she’d seen and came with extensive giggling. They weren’t as impressive as the whales, but as she watched them jump, she decided they were, as William had once told her, very charming.
And try as she might to manage her feelings, her sensibilities were in shambles. If she’d ever been a truly sensible girl, she would never have written to a pirate captain, and she would’ve married a beastly prince because there was no chance of someone saving her, not ever, because things like that didn’t happen outside of storybooks.
But she had been stolen and saved by a liar and a thief. Her world had come to life, thanks to William. He’d always kept it alive, and now he’d pulled her into the adventure she’d always craved.
With impeccable weather and a faithful wind, they made it to the Caribbean in only a few weeks. She was in the crow’s nest when she first caught sight of land. A short pirate named Fenner handed her the spyglass to spot the green islands, and told her to call out, “Land ho!” She did—which caught the captain’s eye—and then began the terrifying descent back down.
“Nicely done,” Ralph said, appearing behind her as her feet hit the deck.
It was a fine thing to be reunited with Ralph—so much so she nearly forgot the pain of his absence. He was easy to be around, and she’d slipped back into their familiar friendship like one might put on a favorite pair of warm socks.
“Thank you,” she said, exhilarated from being so high. She perched next to him on a crate near the mast. “So this legendary treasure we’re headed for, Captain Robin’s treasure—”
At that moment, Lavinia walked by. She halted and turned. “It’s Copson’s.”
“Aurelia hasn’t heard the story,” Ralph said, nudging Lavinia’s boot with his.
“Oh.” Lavinia sat on another crate. “It’s Copson’s treasure,” she said to Aurelia, her hazel eyes intent. “With the way the captain’s gone on about it, I’m surprised Ralph calls it anything else.”
“What use have I to flatter him?” Ralph asked with a rueful grin. “You think he’d care if I did?”
Lavinia shrugged. “He’s not immune to flattery.”
“You’d know,” Ralph said pointedly.
Aurelia’s heart jolted and she looked to the lady pirate, wondering not for the first time how deep her relationship had gone with William. They were friends—that much was obvious with their comfortable affection and frequent teasing around deck and at meals. But Lavinia’s real attention was saved for Ralph.
Lavinia playfully grabbed Ralph’s chin to turn his head away. “He was the only one worth flattering until you came along,” she said sarcastically, but her eyes gleamed.
They’d make a fine couple, Aurelia thought, and wondered why they hadn’t already become one.
Ralph turned back to Aurelia. “The treasure was supposed to be Copson’s, but Robin’s the one who hid it. Most everyone calls it Robin’s, which has only served to taunt Copson for the last century.”
Fenner reached the bottom of the mast then, and he looked over at their conversation.
Aurelia had come to know Fenner as the superstitious pirate, and she would never have thought of disparaging his faith in any way, as she was a believer herself—in the Lord and a great many unexplainable things.
However.
Fenner wore seven crucifixes at all times, which he claimed warded off the copious amounts of bad luck they might draw at sea because seven was God’s lucky number. He wore one on each ankle and wrist, and another at his throat. The final two swung from his ears, but even surrounded by crosses, he was the most anxious man she’d ever met.
Consequently, he was one of her favorite sailors in Copson’s company, and she made a point to sit next to him to hear all the latest things that would bring her terrible fortune.
She waved him over. Ralph and Lavinia exchanged amused glances as the man regarded them with big, dark eyes, smoothed his short gray beard, and seemed to finally decide it was alright to sit with them.
“He’s been after the treasure for a century?” Aurelia asked. There was a lie in there somewhere, either about the treasure, the time frame, or merely the common fib about Copson’s immortality.
“Almost,” Ralph said. “Nearly a hundred years ago, Robin and Copson were partners, and they robbed a royal fleet and took off with the treasure. But when it came time to split the gold between their crews, Captain Robin stole it all and sailed away in the middle of the night on his ship, The Dawn Chorus. Copson had two ships at the time, and Robin even took one of those too. He hid the treasure, and people have been looking for it ever since. Including…” He glanced over his shoulder. Copson stood at the helm, unaware that he was the topic of conversation.
“Any pirate would sell his soul for a loot as legendary as this,” Lavinia said.
“Bad luck to sell a soul,” Fenner said gravely, and Aurelia agreed.
A couple other sailors had joined their group, listening intently to Ralph’s tale. “Some say that’s why the cap’s immortal,” one of them said. “The Witch of Tortuga had him hunt down Robin over thirty years ago. Copson done killed ‘im in cold blood in exchange for immortal life so he could find the treasure, and she’s still waiting for her cut of the gold.”
Ralph met Aurelia’s gaze and lifted one brow before wiping his expression and nodding along. Aurelia giggled.
“No,” said another pirate. “He’s immortal ‘cause he kissed a mermaid and it was his reward for surviving the siren sickness.”
Aurelia turned to the pirate who’d spoken—a Persian man with an uncanny knack for catching fish. “A mermaid?”
“Sure,” said the pirate. “Everyone knows it.”
“First time I’ve heard it,” someone else said, and several others began arguing over a witch that died and one that didn’t, or whether the captain drank from immortal waters or killed an important man to live forever.
“Copson got a map,” Ralph said over them. “A treasure hunter found it in an antique vase in England and didn’t realize what he had. He wouldn’t sell it, so Copson took it.”
“He shot him, is what I heard,” someone said. “Right in the back of the head.”
“That’s not what I heard,” said another.
“You’re all so full of shit,” Lavinia said with an eye roll. “And no one more so than Fenner.”
Fenner frowned at the undue insult, then huffed. “He shouldn’t have shot a man in the back or stole a cursed map. Robin’s spirit haunts the treasure and anyone who takes it.”
“Sounds like a lot of bad luck,” Aurelia mused. Fenner nodded, deadly serious. “But maybe the map and the murder cancel each other out?”
“Even if there was a spirit haunting the treasure,” Ralph said to Fenner, “it wouldn’t bother Copson. No ghosts ever bother him.”
“A fable!” someone declared. “He just hasn’t pissed any off.”
“It’s only ‘cause ghosts aren’t real,” said another, and he was shushed by half a dozen others.
The group continued bickering as they sailed through clear blue waters between reefs and mountainous islands teeming with towering palm trees. Aurelia stared, open-mouthed, at the beauty of it.
When the sun was high and blinding, the ships anchored off a deserted beach. Sailors made their way to the shore in small boats—not the entire company, but a small portion of it.
Aurelia was about to get into one such boat floating at the bottom of a ladder flung over the edge of the Destiny’s Revenge, but she lingered at the top. She curled her fingers into the straps of the pack slung over her shoulders, which were no longer so bony. Her arms were stronger too, thanks to the duties she’d happily taken on.
Her next adventure—treasure—waited for her at the bottom of that ladder. She’d be in those beautiful waters, walk across that beach, and traverse the jungle, and would be forever changed as much as she had by merely stepping onto a pirate ship.
It was a good thing. A big thing, but wonderful in such a way she had to take a moment to savor it.
Copson approached, shoving a piece of aged parchment into his coat. “You have learned to swim, haven’t you?” He spoke low to keep the question between them, and there was a note of teasing in his words.
“I’ve always known how to swim,” she replied matter-of-factly. “The issue was not that—you try swimming in a dress and see how it goes.”
“Only if you can assure me I’d still be dashing.” He nodded to the boat. “Go on then, Miss Rowe. Save me time in having to tell you about it later.”
With how little he’d said to her these past weeks, she liked the idea of talking to him—enough that she wondered if she might like it better than the treasure. Nevertheless, she found herself in a boat next to Ralph and bobbing over crystal waves an ocean away from princes and suitors.
She dipped her fingers into the cool water and grinned.
Near the shore, the pirates dropped into the surf and started for the beach, pulling the boats behind them through the knee-deep water. Aurelia flung herself out of the boat too, driving her feet through the waves to keep up. The surf pushed and swirled around her legs like a cat eager for attention, soaking her pants and her boots, and it was messy and undignified and wonderful.
Copson sloshed through the shallows a few feet away, announcing to his gathered crew, “My treasure has been lost for long enough—today we bring it home!”
A cheer went up. Copson drew the parchment from his coat and unfolded it to reveal the faint lines of a map, then started for the jungle with Greyson at his side.
There were maybe sixty pirates altogether, and they tromped through thick undergrowth, hacking leaves with swinging machetes while Aurelia drank in her surroundings. Birds called to each other between the towering trees, singing and squawking warnings as the pirates neared. Creatures howled or skittered through the underbrush. Somewhere nearby was a waterfall or a river, or maybe both, crashing and rushing through the jungle.
Her shirt stuck to her back as they hiked, but she didn’t mind the humidity as the pirates’ stories and banter made the hours feel short. They moved slowly as Copson and Greyson stopped often to consult the old map and a compass, discussing and pointing to towering landmarks.
By the time the sun set and the last vestiges of evening faded above the trees, the pirates set up camp in a small clearing. Aurelia was happily tired, her legs sore and twitching as she helped Lavinia pitch a tent. They’d only just finished when Ralph sauntered over and settled on a log near a campfire someone had built near them.
“What will you do with your cut of the treasure?” Lavinia asked Ralph as she took a seat to his right while Aurelia sat on his left.
Ralph leaned closer Aurelia. “She always asks me this.” He straightened and answered, “Something practical.”
Across the clearing, Copson and Greyson stood with their heads bent over the map. Aurelia’s eyes locked on the golden parchment, itching to know the secrets it held.
“Saving it still?” Lavinia asked.
“Of course,” Ralph said.
“Your nest egg must be impressive.”
Ralph swayed as Lavinia bumped him with her shoulder. “Enough for a house, a business, and a wife,” he said. His voice was low, his chin pointed toward Aurelia. But she hardly noticed, her gaze locked on the map and the fine hands that held it.
And then it tilted slightly in her direction—just enough to see the vague outline of an island. Startled, she looked up.
Copson watched her from beneath his brows, his blue gaze amused while Greyson continued gesturing to the inked lines and symbols.
“Piracy pays,” Lavinia said lightly. “It’ll keep paying if you stay.”
Ralph laughed. “It should pay for something beyond itself.”
Lavinia grunted. “Someday, Ralph. Someday you’ll see you love this.”
Aurelia didn’t think Lavinia was talking about piracy, and she might’ve grinned if she wasn’t so focused on the treasure map. She craned her head for a better look.
Copson shifted, folding his arms and letting the parchment hang from his fingers with the drawings facing outward. He didn’t look away from his first mate, nodding along with whatever he said, brows pulled together in thought. Aurelia squinted, trying to make out the fine lines—
A cry went up from somewhere to her left. At the edge of the clearing, Offley’s tent had collapsed on top of him, and the canvas undulated as the squealing carpenter struggled to find his way out.
Ralph and Lavinia rushed to help him as some of the other pirates laughed and mocked the poor man. Aurelia frowned, then looked back at the captain.
He was gone.
She scanned the clearing. Maybe he’d turned in for the night or wandered off, but the flaps of his empty tent were pulled back, and he was nowhere to be seen with any of the other pirates—
“Here.” Golden parchment appeared next to her face, folded into a long rectangle. “Before you strain your neck trying to spy.”
Aurelia whipped around. Copson stood behind her, his cool gaze amused, the map extended between them.
Her heart fluttered. “Is this…?”
“The treasure map.” His hand bounced, urging her to take it.
A one-hundred-year-old map to a lost treasure. She clenched her jaw against any happy sounds that might burst from her as she took the parchment and slowly unfolded it. A giggle escaped her anyway.
The map was beautifully drawn. There was an ornate compass rose in the upper left corner and a mermaid lounging in the lower right with a wavy music staff emerging from her mouth. Notes dotted the five lines, nearly overlapping in some places to make the bars look more like a scribble than a melody. An octopus’s writhing tentacles emerged from tiny waves nearby, reaching for a ship with The Dawn Chorus written across its hull as it sailed for the island in the middle of the map. A thin, dotted line wound through mountains and thick jungle, jutting rocks and a river, leading to a large X at the heart of the island and a drawing of a cave. On top of the cave sat a robin, its eyes locked on the singing mermaid.
Aurelia studied it closely. “How’d you get it?” she asked, running her finger over the compass as she thought of the tale the pirates had told on the ship—that Copson had shot a man for the map. Would he tell her a different story?
To her surprise, he said, “The Witch of Tortuga told me where to find it. Did I tell you about her?”
She twisted to look up at him. “Was she the one who told you where to find the Fountain of Youth?”
He clasped his hands behind his back and smirked, watching his crew mill about the clearing. “No, but she inspired that tale. She lives in a haunted forest you can only find your way through if she’s interested in letting you in—and back out. Legend says the forest once swallowed an entire regiment of Spanish soldiers in one night, and their screams were heard for miles. Either she ate them or the trees did—no one really knows for certain.” He looked down at her. “The locals aren’t too keen on her forest, and not many venture in.”
Aurelia raised a skeptical brow. “And she let you?”
“Of course,” he said with an arrogant grin, and she knew there was a story there too. She thought about asking, but if she started plying him for all his stories, she doubted she’d ever stop. So she decided to show restraint and asked instead, “What’d you give her in return?”
“Naturally, I gave her what any witch would want.” As he spoke, he nudged aside the part in his shirt, exposing the end of a cruel scar that ran through his chest and disappeared under the linen. “I carved out my infernal heart and gave it to her.”
Aurelia stared wide-eyed at the awful mark. Before she could express her horror, he leaned down to whisper, “I asked her nicely.”
Her cheeks burning, she folded the map along one of the creases, hiding the mermaid but leaving the ship and half the island. That’s when she noticed thin words scrawled along the left side, so tiny they nearly blended in with the intricately drawn border.
“Do manners go far with witches?” she asked.
“Most of them.” His gaze moved to his brother who was now re-pitching Offley’s tent with Lavinia’s help while the carpenter stood by, his head bowed. “How are things with Ralph?”
“As lovely as ever,” she said absently. Ralph’s casual words from minutes ago pricked at her. All of this—piracy, treasure, witches—how was this not better than a business? She held an actual treasure map, and Ralph only saw it as a necessary means to a boring end.
She finished folding the map and held it aloft, meeting the captain’s gaze. His eyes held questions, but he asked only one, and she didn’t think it voiced any of the thoughts in his head.
“Already done?” Copson took it but didn’t put it away.
“I could never be done,” she said with a laugh. “But thank you for showing it to me.”
He studied her for a long moment, the look heavy with curiosity. It wasn’t the first time he’d looked at her like that, and she hoped whatever he was looking for wouldn’t end up shaming her if she was found either too overbearing or lacking in some way. It made her nervous, but she didn’t dare wilt.
The map disappeared into his coat. “You need only ask.”
Across the way, Ralph and Lavinia had finished with Offley’s tent and were now on their way back. Before they were close enough to hear, Aurelia began to say, “Does Ralph really not want to be a pirate?”
But when she turned, William was gone.