Like so many thousands of others just like her

 Page 2.

Like so many thousands of others just like her Jade was sold into slavery and prostitution by a aunt who took charge of her after her mother was murdered by unsatisfied French Commander stationed on the island . Jade went to the highest bidder and this time it was Finley and for just three coins of silver Jade sat in a floating dungeon of death with hands and feet shackled and chained to a young girl who died three days earlier. It was almost completely black where she and the others were held and the smell of death was horrific. Rats fed on the dead and dying and some girls caught and ate the rats just to survive. Captain Finley’s crew placed bets on who would survive the voyage and often they caught live sharks that followed the Topaz and threw them into the cargo hole and laughed at the screams. “Not to hard on the cargo lads but they must learn life will bite if your not careful“, Finley shouted as he threw a gutted shark into the hold. Jade was strong and she ate what she could reach and as she swallowed another piece of raw shark liver her spirit took over and brought her to another place far, far away from this hell.

With literally hundreds of wharf rats and other vermin infesting the Topaz it was a tough endeavor for a three legged dog named “Scratch”. The last of the dogs on board the ship the others were eaten by Finley and his crew. Infested with fleas and thin to his rib bones Scratch was the closes thing to humanity that walked the decks on the Topaz even if he was shy of one leg. Living on rats and rainwater was all that was available for this black and white terrier with three legs and one blue eye. When Captain Finley stepped in some droppings left by the small dog he shot Scratch blowing his left front leg completely off. Miraculously Scratch survived and often remained in the cargo hole venturing out only at night when Finley and his crew lay drunk in their cabins. Scratch befriended Jade and brought her fresh killed rats and any other scraps he could find by dropping them down into he hole until one night he found a forgotten key to the shackles. As the Topaz hugged the rugged coastline forced by the constant fog and dangerous currents the ship was often just two hundred yards from the beaches. That morning as some slivers of rare sunlight began to filtered through the grayest fog in spots slicing through the sky the crew was beginning to stir from another night of whiskey and smoke.

A small beam of sunlight cut into the darkness of the hole where Jade and the others where held until a tiny shadow from above deck suddenly blocked it out. It was Scratch and like he’d seen so many times by the crew throwing things down into the hole he to had something of his own to share. The key hit the floor with a ping and bounced into the now lit area of sunlight right near Jade’s feet. She pulled the key toward her and unchained herself and passed the key to the others. At almost the same moment there was a terrible scrapping sound as if the Topaz was being torn in half from underneath. Jade instantly knew what it meant and looked for anything to be used as a weapon. Pulling the jaws of a rotting shark apart she fashioned them across both of her hands and tied them tight with strips of the shark’s skin. Several of the other captive girls did the same and they sat quietly and waited with their fists ready. Jolted from his bed Captain Finley rushed to the ships deck cursing and spitting out a gut full of whiskey and corn.