"Th.. Th.. Theresa..., T'was she... tha.. that done us", Joe muttered, in obvious agony. "Calm down", I said, "Do not try to speak yet." I held his head in one hand, and with the other I tried to stop the bleeding from the wide gash just below his chest. I knew it was futile, he was already as good as dead. Perhaps it was best to release him from his misery as soon as possible. I drew out my waist knife and as I looked him straight in his eyes to seek understanding and consent, I thought back on his words... Theresa; I knew the name alright. I doubt there was any a sailor or voyager who ever crossed the waters of the Black that didn't know the name. She wasn't just a pirate, she was the mother of all pirates. She wrecked havoc wherever she went, and it is an understatement to say that every sailor dreaded her. What made her the more mysterious was that no one ever saw her face, or knew what she looked like. Not until today that is, when I did. And if I hadn't gone off the ship to scour the island, I certainly wouldn't have seen her, and I probably wouldn't have lived either. Her face was the kind that stayed in your memory; perfect, with just the right features. She looked more like an angel than a pirate, but for the eye patch from which I had known, Theresa... I brought down the knife quick and clean, and Joe breathed his last. Then I picked up my binoculars, and with Joe's body, I wiped up the blood that had dripped on it from Joe's wounds. There was work to do; I survived Theresa, but I still had to survive this island...
THE END?
Written for @vermillionfox's Foxtales Week 24
