Chapter 4:

"Let me go!" Charlotte screamed and flailed her arms as he dragged her into the middle of the street. Her tail was flapping uselessly against the cobblestones.

Townspeople swarmed her until she was surrounded. Some of them held lit torches.

Mr. Lawrence held her for show as if she was a big fish he caught for prize. Perhaps she was, but it certainly wasn't right.

Charlotte hoped her family couldn't see her right now.

"Leave me alone! Let me loose!" she cried when the people with torches came so close she felt the heat.

This was a nightmare. That's all it was. And when she woke up everything would be all right. She was sure of it. She wasn't really a mermaid at all. Yes, that was it.

She could feel her skin heating as if on fire. It was unbearable!

"Let the lady go, tyrant," an alarming calm voice broke through the yelling of the townspeople.

Charlotte's head snapped up in shock. Her eyes found a handsome sailor—no pirate. Her heart clenched in fear. Was she to be saved from a dangerous man by yet another dangerous if not more dangerous man?

This just couldn't be happening…

"This is my catch, you filthy pirate." Mr. Lawrence snarled his nose at Charlotte's 'might be' rescuer.

"You will let the lady go." The pirate didn't say please. He was ordering the dandy to put her down.

"Lady?! This is no lady. It's a fish—a monster. A monster that will catch me a nice payment of capture."

Charlotte felt fear worse than the heat that was consuming her entire body.

There was a flash of metal before a musket was pointed at Mr. Lawrence's face. "I said let her go, man."

Charlotte was dropped unceremoniously to the cobblestones. The stones made the heat unbearable. She tried to keep herself from blacking out.

If only she could escape these people and this blasted tail that had swallowed her legs…

Charlotte blinked rapidly in the shadowed room. She didn't recognize her surroundings.

At first, she thought she was in her bed chamber. That was until she felt herself being swung back and forth. Was she in a sailor's hammock? No… she couldn't be in a hammock. People only had those on ships.

An image of the pirate flashed across her mind and she bolted upright in alarm.

Had she been kidnapped?

Charlotte swung herself down and was relieved to feel her own two feet again on the wooden floor.

Her shoes and stockings were missing, and she felt rather vulnerable at this realization.

"You are awake."

Charlotte gave a shriek of surprise. It was the pirate's voice.

"Did I startle you, my dear? Pardon me." Charlotte wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not.

She turned toward him in displeasure. "Did you save me only to get the reward for yourself?"

She couldn't see his expression in the dark cabin but she was sure he smiled.

It made Charlotte furious.

"I save you from a fate worse than death and this is how you repay me?" The pirate chuckled as if she were amusing him.

It only added to Charlotte's fury. She stared at the man.

"You're much safer on my ship than you were on land, Miss-?"

"Charlotte," she tersely replied, getting more annoyed by the second.

"Yes, Miss Charlotte, better for you to be on my ship than on land with greedy townsmen who would stop at nothing to capture you," the pirate spoke in a soothing tone.

"Like you have captured me?"

He ignored her and stood. "Best get a good night's sleep." The cabin door shut with a small thud.

Charlotte had no choice but to comply. She wasn't about to leave the safety of the cabin. She didn't want to meet any more pirates or risk exposure by getting wet. All she needed was the other pirates on board to find out what she was.

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