The Casquette Girls (31 page)

Cosette removed the scarf from around the girl’s neck and found two perfectly round puncture wounds, already nearly healed. Although the girl claimed to have no recollection of how the wounds came to be, she nervously yanked the scarf back and tied it in place.

Cosette and I ran back to her sisters.

“It’s as we suspected,” she told them. “He’s on board the ship and has been coming out to feed under the cover of darkness.”

13
th
April 1728

The orphan girl Sophie has died. She never woke from her unconscious state and finally stopped breathing last night. We have had our first casualty, and thus can no longer just wait in a defensive position to be preyed upon like helpless animals. But what can we do to stop a hidden monster who leaves no evidence behind other than his victims?

14
th
April 1728

This morning, a crewman was found dead at his night post with no visible wounds. A rag was tied around his neck, but I found no reason to remove the fabric and spread panic. I am finding it difficult to sleep, for whenever I close my eyes, I see our monster.

15
th
April 1728

I am afraid I only have more bad news. Monsieur DuFrense seems to have awoken with the seasickness symptoms. He only has a slight fever, so I hope that he will make a full recovery.

The monster is becoming more arrogant regarding when and where he feeds. He takes members of the crew from the deck, and girls even go missing for periods of time in the middle of the day. It is now more critical than ever for us to execute some sort of quiet retaliation. And, as if these two pieces of news weren’t bad enough, a ship of corsairs was spotted. The crewmen are keeping a careful watch on the pirate ship, while the four of us girls are keeping a careful watch on our silent enemy.

16
th
April 1728

Dare I say the night was amazing, Papa? He was amazing! The monster ran across the deck in a matter of seconds and then straight up the sail like a spider. We kept to the shadows, getting closer and closer as he leapt across the masts, but then I stopped short and held the girls back— I realized he was very much aware of our presence and that we were chasing him directly to his next victim!

He leapt to the crow’s nest with such delicate ease, the sailor on watch did not even notice: a sailor whose only duty was to be on the lookout for danger! The monster perched on the wooden bucket that held the poor seaman and simply looked down at us. Without saying anything, we understood his message: either we let him down without giving him away, or there would be another burial at sea.
He was giving us the choice.

We slowly backed away until the sailor, his predator, and the crow’s nest were all out of sight.

I can’t say I wasn’t tempted to shoot a flame at the monster, but the move would have been far too risky – it might have destroyed the vampire, but it would certainly have killed the watchman too. Was taking the life of one man to save the life of another something I could live with? To save the lives of many? I hope to never know the answer, but still the questions lurk in the back of my mind, and have caused me another sleepless night.

The tired seaman returned unharmed from his post this morning, and you can imagine his shock when I nearly knocked him over with affection.

17
th
April 1728

Claude DuFrense’s condition continues to worsen, but he tries to stay strong for his wife, who has become absolutely hysterical. Cosette gave me some herbs, which I brew and slip into Martine’s tea to calm her down long enough to sleep.

The corsair ship has now been flanking our vessel for two days, and we can only surmise they are foe rather than friend. The captain is taking the necessary precautions in case there is an attack.

As they prepare the cannons, the sailors swap tales of pirates traveling the open sea in search of booty and a wild romp. The nuns spend the hours calming the other girls, but Cosette, Minette, Lisette, and I have all been too preoccupied with our dark passengers to worry about pirates.

Yes,
passengers
. Two other girls have awoken with the “seasickness symptoms,” leading us to believe there is more than one vampire aboard the ship. Exactly how many we have no idea, but the number of victims climbs each night, meaning the monsters are growing stronger. Why they have the need to grow stronger with such haste keeps me up tonight, Papa. I can only hope that it is not because they sense our desire for retaliation.

Now, I must try to sleep, for the dawn will bring the confrontation with the pirates.

18
th
April 1728

Before the sun had a chance to rise, everyone on the ship made preparations for combat, by order of the captain. The crew armed themselves with steel, and the nuns armed themselves with rosary beads between their fingers. The captain did everything he could to create the illusion that we were a force to be reckoned with – all of the King’s daughters were forced to dress as men to make it appear that our crew was larger than it was. I wonder what would have happened if the pirates had known from the start that the cargo he carried was just a few dozen virgin girls rather than a thousand barrels of wine or a hundred chests filled with emeralds? Would they have turned away, or would they have come faster?

If the captain was nervous as the mysterious ship inched closer to the S.S
.
Girond
e
,
he revealed no signs to us. Neither did his first mate, nor the rest of the crew. Once the enemy closed most of the distance, I was ordered below deck with the DuFrenses. It was not long before I grew embittered, trapped inside with the hysterical Martine and the barely lucid Claude.

What happened next is a blur, Father. And now, it is difficult to keep my fingers from heating the quill as I try to record the story, but I will aim for accuracy:

We heard a loud bang, and then the boat shook. I jumped from the chair, realizing we had been hit by the enemy’s shot. That was enough suspense for me—

I tore through the hallway as more shots were exchanged. Smoke was already filling the narrow passage, making it hard to see and difficult to breathe. I made it out onto the deck and discovered that we had raised the white flag in surrender, but, despite this, the pirates continued to attack. It was just a matter of time before they would invade the ship.

With their hair still hidden beneath borrowed sailor hats, the girls held each other, weeping, while the nuns continued to pray. But it was not God who was going to save us.

As the sun fell toward the horizon, the corsair lowered a small dory full of pirates. They rowed forward to investigate our ship, causin
g
an undercurrent of terror to ripple through the S.S
.
Girond
e
. The uncertainty of our future made it difficult to contain my emotions, and every metal object quaked as I walked past.

The dory contained twelve men, if you could call them men. They clambered onto our ship, using hooks and ropes, and landed on the deck with hoots and snarls. Their long, wild hair was tangled with scraps of rag, and they wore mismatched ensembles of sailor’s slops and threads that must once have been fine but were now tattered and salt-stained. I had never seen anything like them, and I think the sight of our group gave them an equal shock.

Mumbling in an undecipherable English dialect, one stepped forward from the pack with a curled lip that revealed only a few rotting teeth and hopped to Lise in a way which suggested he was drunk or insane. He got so close to her face their noses very nearly touched.

We watched in horror as he tore off her cap. “What’ve we got ’ere?” he asked.

She whimpered as her bright blonde locks fell loose.

A sickening smile spread over his face, and then he buried his nose into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply, ready to lap her up like a starved dog. My shoulders burned like fire as growls of excitement came from his mates, making the other orphans recoil. Captain Vauberci drew his sword, but immediately found four blades touching his throat. I was so outraged that I shook violently, but Cosette managed to remain cool.

“
Pardonnez-moi, Monsieu
r
,
”
she beckoned in a voice as soothing as Aphrodite’s, coaxing the pirate away from her sister. Both relief and guilt washed over Lise’s face as the pirate walked towards the hexing triplet with his pelvis thrust forward – his imminent death being the furthest thing from his mind as he scratched his crotch with grea
t
éla
n
.

Getting people to oblige, this is Cosette’s specialty. She can speak or sing or sometimes simply stare at someone, and that is all it takes for them to fall under her spell. When he reached her, the despicable pirate grabbed her bosom. In broad daylight! This appalling display brought our crew’s hands to the hilts of their swords, but despite being assaulted by his fondling hands, Cosette calmed our men with one reassuring look, wanting to prevent a battle, not start one. Even as he ripped open her shirt, still no metal was drawn. The pirate stepped backwards as if to get a better view of his newfound treasure, but one more seductive smile from her gleaming lips and he suddenly became giddy. Her smile held, and his giddiness grew until his feet couldn’t keep up with his fervor. He staggered to one side, dangerously close to the edge of the ship.

“
Adieu, mon amou
r
,
”
she whispered as his seemingly own drunken stupor sent him overboard.

The pirate’s own mates roared with laughter and called him a drunken buffoon. Lise ran to her sister.

“How do you do it? How do you control their minds?” she asked.

“You don’t control their minds
, ma fifille
, you control their hearts,” Cosette replied quietly as Minette hurried to restore her modesty.

The reunion was cut short when the scuffed boots of the enemy captain hit our deck with a loud thud, settling everyone into silence. The hideous-looking man had a wandering eye and a face like burnt leather. A large red bird rested on his shoulder – the beautiful creature a stark contrast to the villainous group. It broke the tense silence by chirping a song that on any other day would have sounded lovely but today sounded eerie and mocking. As he rounded the ship, examining his new loot, the wind blew open his ragged overcoat, and the startled bird fluttered into the air before gliding to a new perch on Cosette’s shoulder.

His crew fidgeted with delight, eagerly awaiting instructions.

When the pirate captain finally stopped pacing, a smile spread under his untamed beard.

“Thanks be ta the King o’ France!” he yelled in English, causing a roar from his constituency.

The crowd hushed as his eyes came to rest on me – I was the only lady still in a dress. He turned on his heel and slowly approached me with a walk of grandeur, almost a dance. A dance that I wanted no part of. Nevertheless, he stopped right in front of me and asked, “
Mademoiselle
, why don’t ya cry like all the otha birds?”

I struggled to get the English words out and had to force myself to look at his face without wincing when I said, “Should you prefer me to cry?”

“I don’t care what ya do, li’l lady, as long as ya do it lookin’ like that.” He gave me a slow wink with his good eye, and that’s when I realized that his other eye wandered because it was not real. It was a stone: milky and iridescent like an opal.

His rank breath attacked me as he continued to yell ungentlemanly things. A burn raged through my shoulders, and I became extremely frightened, Papa. Not at the hideous captain, but at what I might do. My fist balled to hide the sparks trying to escape. I thought that I might explode if there was not some sort of release.

“Then you shan't care that I do this,” I muttered and spat in his false eye.

His monstrous hand collided with the side of my face, spinning me to the floor. He let out a giant roar, like a true madman, and fell on top of me. “Yer a feisty one, aren’t ya? All the better!”

My head throbbed, and a loud buzz rang in my ears. I dug my fingernails into the floorboards beneath me, struggling not to defend myself in ways that would cause alarm. I saw ten different things I could kill him with, but, remembering our audience, I let my head fall to the side in defeat.

When no more words came out of the captain’s blistered lips, I looked back at him – his attention had moved from my face to my medallion, which had slipped out from beneath the fabric of my dress. Your gift, Papa.

He ripped the chain from my neck and became excited by what other riches might be aboard.

“Lock ’em below deck!”