The next blast was sudden and the scream terrible as it filled the night with the sound of agonizing pain that came from someone being burned, alive. It stole Jade’s breath from her lungs in one sudden gasp of horrible shock, leaving her wide-eyed, gaping and trembling violently as the scream echoed in her ears after it died…

Jade couldn’t breathe, move or even think beyond one terrible thought…

Her mama was dead, killed in a fire…and it was all her fault!

She hadn’t meant that she wanted her mama to die when she said she never wanted to see her again, she just…didn’t want to see her again! Jade would never wish for anyone to die, especially not her own mother, no matter how mean she was! She was the only family she had! Now she was gone…gone…dead. Jade kept repeating these words in her mind as her eyes darted about, not really focusing on anything, for her world felt like it was spinning out of control around her.

Her mama was dead and she was standing here numb and not crying! Why? Even if her mama was mean and hated her, Jade felt like she should be crying, screaming, begging for her mama go come back, anything!

Mama’s dead, Mama’s dead, Mama’s dead...

No matter how many times she repeated this, the words were not affecting her at all, for that’s all they were to her numb, disconnected mind. They had no meaning, just sounds, like the sound of people rushing to the scene as the fire popped and crackled loudly. Jade felt like she was in a dream, the way things were happening around her.

The clothes of the men and women suddenly surrounding her were simply blurs, smears of colors that didn’t even focus into shapes and the combination of the men’s deep, loud voices and the women’s higher voices buzzed in Jade’s ears like a swarm of loud, angry bees whose hive has been disturbed. Only snippets of conversation reached her ears.

“Not surprised…jus’ pile o’ kindlin’…”

“…Preachin’ chit…good riddance…hypocrite, anyway…”

“…Start? Not given…good sense…a mule…”

Jade’s eyes watered, but not from sadness. Rather, it was the smoke and the heat from the fire that was burning them and making her surroundings even more blurry. Still numb and in shock, Jade didn’t even notice that a crowd of ten to fifteen people had started to circle around her until a hard, strong and heavy hand landed on her shoulder and gripped it painfully tight. Wincing, she tried to pull away but the fingers dug into her shoulder tighter. It was a big barrel of a man with a thick, greasy brown beard and a mustache that curled up at the ends. His arms were covered with thick, wiry hair and he smelled like he’d just frightened a skunk. Jade knew who he was: the bartender and the owner of one of the taverns in town, though she didn’t know the name.

“I’ll take ‘er! I needs a scullery maid t’ help in th’ kitchen!!”

A tall and bony woman with cold gray eyes and a pinched face, with dull brown hair pulled back into a very tight bun reached out and grabbed Jade’s wrist, roughly yanking her closer.

“Ye ‘ave one, ye greedy bastard! Let someone else ‘ave a chance! I needs ‘er t’ look after m’ young’uns an’ keep ‘ouse!” Jade’s eyes widened. How was she supposed to look after this woman’s children? She was just a child herself!

Another woman’s voice called out as a hand wrapped itself around her hair and nearly pulled it out, yanking her closer and free from the other woman’s grasp. “I’ll have her!” Jade couldn’t see her very well but she smelled very strongly of flowers and powder. It was such a heady scent that Jade had to force herself not to gag.

“Isn’t she a bit young for your establishment, Madame Blanche?” Asked the woman who wanted her for a nanny. The one who smelled like wilted flowers turned Jade to face her, and with a cold smile, traced an equally cold finger down Jade’s cheek as she looked at her with the look of someone who’d just been told where to find buried treasure.

“Oh, she is now, but she’ll be fine in a few years, when her womanly curves will make her softer. Until then I’ll just have to see to it that the rest o’ ye don’t get ‘er an’ run ‘er ragged! No one will want ‘er if she’s tired an’ haggard!” Jade panicked, sure that this woman wasn’t going to be kind in looking after her, and would probably marry her in one of those horrible bride auctions she’d heard of. The owners of the candle store once threatened her Mama that they’d put her up for the bride auction if she didn’t shut up about religion when people came in to buy candles.

“No one will want her!”

“I’ll have her, I need her more!” A screaming match ensued and Jade realized that in the confusion and fury, the woman let go of her! Sneaking off, Jade was a little relieved to see that they didn’t notice she was gone. Unfortunately her relief was short-lived; as someone grabbed her from behind and lifted her off her feet with a brawny, thick arm around her waist and a beefy hand that smelled of fish covered her mouth when she screamed in alarm and fear.

“Ye didn’t really think ye’d git away, did ye?” She didn’t recognize his gruff, cruel voice among those who had been fighting over her and when he grasped her tighter, Jade kicked, hoping she’d hit something that would hurt him enough to make him let go of her. The feel of cold, hard metal pressing against her temple caused Jade to freeze when she realized it was a pistol pressed painfully against her skin and she started to shake. Even if he hadn’t been covering her mouth with his hand, she wouldn’t have been able to speak, for absolute terror was rendering her speechless.

She’d seen pistols before, stuck into men’s belts, and she knew that when you heard one go off, someone had just been seriously injured or killed. But no one had ever aimed one at her before, nor pressed it against her skin to threaten her into being quiet and still! He called out to a man with a cart to stop and climbed into the back of it with her, holding her still as he tied her wrists together behind her and bound her ankles as well before tying a sash around her mouth. Being so restrained added another level of fear to the situation, for though she was helpless when she was free to move about, now she was truly rendered unable to even try to defend herself!

Though she couldn’t have escaped if she’d dared to try, he returned the pistol to her temple and grinned at her as he let her look upon him. Even though it was nighttime, the lamps in the street were lit and there was a lantern hanging from a hook where the driver sat, so Jade could see the man’s features. Just like the dock master who told her to get lost, this man had a ruddy nose that was round and bumpy. His pale blue eyes were red-rimmed and his teeth were yellowed, some rotten, and his lips thick and chapped.

“Don’t bother tryin’ t’ recognize me, ye never seen me in yer wretched existence, an after t’night, you’ll not be seein’ me ‘gain.” He laughed evilly. “Ye an’ that bitch mother o’ yers wanted so badly t’ get off this rock…now you’ll at least get yer chance! Yer ma could 'ave gotten the chance if she shut 'er mouth an' given 'erself t' me! Stop by the docks, mate! I have business there!”

Throwing a coin at the driver, Jade’s captor jumped from the cart and turned, his pistol still in his hand as he reached for her. Shaking her head in fear, Jade tried to inch away from him as best as she could with her arms tied behind her back and her ankles bound. “Git o’er ‘ere ye stupid waste o’ skin! Very well, ye give me no choice!” Jade whimpered when he brought the pistol up, thinking he was going to shoot her for resisting. Instead, what came next was a sharp pain suddenly spreading through her head before everything went black...

۞

When Jade awoke, she was no longer bound and gagged, and she was alone in a very dark, cold and damp place. The surface she’d been placed upon was hard, as it was made of wood, and it creaked under her as a strange sound reached her ears. Trying to place the sound, Jade recognized it as the sound of water slapping against wood, such as when she had to fill their bucket with water from the pump and it would slosh about as she struggled to carry it inside.

After a few minutes, her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could start to make out some of her surroundings. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Jade blinked and realized that she was in a small room of sorts. One wall was made of wood, and the other three made of thick, dark metal bars running from floor to ceiling and two metal bars ran parallel with the floor. There was a seam, and a keyhole…Jade’s eyes widened when she realized where she was…a cage! They put her in a cage like some animal, like a chicken at the market! Jumping up, Jade tried to get to the bars, but lost her balance, landing on her rump when the floor tilted slightly beneath them and her legs proved to be as wobbly as a newborn calf’s as they flew out from under her.

“Oww…” As if her body was trying to punish her more, her head started to throb, adding to her bruised bottom as goose bumps rose on her skin and made her shiver. The floor didn’t stop moving even when she was sitting down, either. Jade wasn’t sure if it was her aching head that was making the floor seem unstable or if the room really was tilting side to side. Lifting her head, she tried to look past the bars of her cage and saw a doorway, a peg stuck into the wall to one side of it, and what might have been stairs just outside.

Something cold and damp trickled down her cheeks and she realized she was crying. The man on the dock had told her to get lost when she’d been sulking about her mama’s mean words, and now she was! She was lost and terribly alone, more than she ever was with her mama. What’s more, Jade was realizing what her mother’s strict insistence on isolating her was protecting her from. The embers of the fire that destroyed her house and killed her mother weren’t even cooled before they’d started fighting over the right to take her home and make her work or sell her off to someone else!

Wrapping her arms around her knees as she drew them to her chest, Jade hugged them tightly as she swallowed around the lump that had formed in her throat as her eyes stung with tears. Letting them flow freely down her cheeks, Jade let out a few quiet sobs. More than the pain of her head and bottom, there was the all too familiar ache that came from wanting to be rocked in strong, loving arms as gentle hands dried her tears while a kind voice told her everything would be alright.

The sound of heavy footsteps on the floor in front of her, along with the flash of a soft yellow light that came from a swinging, squeaking lantern, made Jade look up to the man carrying it. He was huge. Not fat, like the dock master and the man who tied her up, but very tall and muscular with a neck that looked like it was as big around as her head! His head was covered by one of those three cornered hats that was in style, and at his waist hung a very mean looking sword and two pistols.

“Stop staring at me like that!” Jade jumped and obediently cast her eyes down. “I heard ye cryin’. Why were ye cryin, hmm?” She couldn’t answer, her voice felt like it was stuck in her throat, but it only made the man angrier. “I asked ye a question, scum, now answer me! What were ye cryin’ for?”

“I-I’m sc-scared!” A sinister grin spread across the man’s face at her reply, and Jade’s stomach sank. He was glad that she was scared out of her wits! He beckoned her closer with one of his huge, muscular hands.

“Come here.” Wincing some, Jade unfolded herself and stood up slowly, walking carefully over to the man. She didn’t want to go over to him, but she didn’t want to infuriate him anymore. “HURRY UP! I haven’t got all bloody night!” His arm shot through the bars and one of his big hands clamped around her wrist and yanked her forward so sharply that Jade couldn’t stop her body from crashing into the bars, causing her to cry out softly in pain.

His other hand came up to grasp her jaw painfully and force her to look at him, his gray eyes boring into hers menacingly. “You listen good, now. I am a busy man with a short temper and no tolerance for any child at all, let alone a colored one. What are you, anyway? Gypsy?” Jade had never even heard of gypsies before, but from his tone, she had a feeling it wasn’t something good.

“I-I don’t know.” He snorted.

“Stupid girl. How can ye not know what ye are? Ye sound Irish…are ye Irish?” Jade lied and shook her head even though she knew her accent gave her away. Furious, he moved his hand to grab her ear painfully and twist it.

“Please…stop!” Jade cried softly as she tried to pull away, but the more she pulled the more it hurt. “I am Irish…I am…please stop!”

“I know ye are, stupid chit!” He let go of her ear and slapped her across the face. “That’s a warning, girly. The next time you sass or lie to me, you’ll get much worse!” Jade’s eyes widened as she held her hand to her cheek, and tears trickled down her cheeks. Worse? What was worse than your ear feeling like it was going to be ripped off and being hit by someone much bigger than yourself? She certainly didn’t want to find out!

“How old are ye?” Jade wanted to back away from him but his left hand was still painfully gripping her wrist where the ropes had rubbed against them.

“Ten.” His face twisted in rage and hissed, “I warned ye!” as he let go of her briefly to unlock and open the door to the cage, entering and locking it closed behind him. Jade backed away despite the knowledge that there was no way to escape. He gripped her dress by the frayed collar and yanked her closer, growing even more agitated when it came off in his hand. Grabbing Jade by her arms, he roughly threw her to the floor, then picked her up and thrust her against the wall, pinning her to it with strong hands. “Tell me how old ye are, NOW!”

“I was telling the truth! I’m ten! I’m just small!” Desperate to get away, Jade tried to wrench her wrists from his strong hands and tried to wriggle away from him. Unfortunately this only infuriated him more and he slapped her hard a few more times. “Please, stop!” The man finally got off her and Jade collapsed to the floor, curling into a ball.

“You’ll be kept down here in the brig until we reach your destination. I don’t want to hear a single goddamned peep out of you, is that understood?” Jade nodded as she shrunk away from him, drawing herself into a tighter ball. “Keep in mind, I will not hesitate to end your life, ye sorry excuse for a human being, and trust me, I will be thanked for ridding the world of another of your kind! So don’t give me a reason to kill you…though I might anyway if I just get tired of having ye aboard. I don’t really care if ye reach London or not, as I’ve already been paid in full for your passage and there’s no one expectin’ ye in London.”

With one last glance at Jade, he scoffed and with his foot, kicked her onto her side as he sneered, “You are one ugly girl...there should be a new phrase coined…a face not even yer mother could love!” With that, he left the cell, locked her in and left the brig, taking the lantern with him and leaving her alone in the darkness. "The world would be better off without ye!"

Jade held her breath, listening to his footsteps to make sure he was good and out of earshot before she let herself cry. In the silent darkness of the brig, Jade heard a mouse squeak and scamper about, causing something to rattle against the floor. When her eyes adjusted to the dark again, Jade had to clamp her hand over her mouth to muffle her scream…

The rattling was from a pile of bones…bones that were too small to belong to an adult...

Sitting down with her knees drawn to her chest again, Jade silently cried into her arms. She had no doubt that the captain would kill her on a whim, and those bones proved that he had no reservations about killing a defenseless child just because he was in a bad mood. Maybe the bones belonged to another colored child who he'd beaten to death.

Don’t give up, Jade...that child probably didn’t have anyone…you have someone. Your daddy will find you, you just have to keep believing he will! Looking up, Jade smiled at “Jack” and his round, dark brown eyes,as well as his big, encouraging smile made her feel better, and gave her new resolve.

She would not end up as forgotten bones in a brig with no one who cared enough to mourn her! Jade was determined to live. She didn’t know how to defend herself very well, and knew her strength was no match for the captain, but she had her hope, and a will to live and find her daddy. Her daddy would come and save her, she just knew it. It didn’t matter to her that he didn’t even know she existed, for Jade had faith that he’d just know…somehow, and would come and save her from the horrible captain, and punish him for hurting his baby.

“I’ll hold on as long as it takes, Daddy…but please hurry…I need you…” Sniffling, Jade wiped her tears from her cheeks as she did the best she could to get comfortable on the hard wooden floor of the brig and tried not to think of that old familiar ache of wanting to be held lovingly, but instead imagined her daddy was there with her.

Jade actually fell asleep smiling that night, despite the captain’s abuse, her aching body and growling belly because she was imagining her daddy rubbing her back in gentle circles as he held her close with strong, warm arms and kissed her head before telling her not to cry because he’ll keep her safe because he loved her so much…his little girl…his baby…

To be continued...