The harbor was crowded with men and barrels, boxes and crates, chests and bundles. Luke and Anna pushed through the throng of sweaty, swearing men and brushed away a few parrots, trying to get to the ship. Those who looked up from their work or quarrels would quite often recognize them and step aside, but for the most part they were left to fend for themselves in the sea of bodies and cargo.

It had been this way, every first morning in June, for as long as they could remember. The Pirate King & his fleet left as soon as the winter storms subsided in late February, and were gone until the summer returned again. Even then they only stayed a month or so at the most, to unload plunder and rest their crews before sailing away again from July ‘til September. Matanza always sailed in first, from its plunder lanes in the north. The second ship, Medrana, would come in from the east after a few days. Last came Reina, smallest of all, from the southern lands. And then the island would be bustling with life, often an odd thing after so many quiet months.

And now it was the first of June once again. Scrambling over a coil of rope, Anna looked out at Matanza bobbing gently in the tide just a short distance away. The first of June: her birthday.

Anna had always felt more than a little annoyed with sharing her birthday with the return of the ships. It was always consequently overshadowed by the excitement generated at the first sight of sails and flags in the cove, and then pushed even further aside by the volume of plunder and exotic creatures the ships brought from across the seas. Of course, this meant Anna was never lacking in birthday presents, once everyone remembered it had been her birthday; in fact, her little jewelry box had long been replaced by an ornate carved chest to hold all the necklaces and brooches and bracelets and trinkets she received. Luke often remembered in just a few days, usually by the time Medrana had come in, and would pretend he had never forgotten in the first place. And Jesse…Jesse always remembered first…

Letting Luke drag her forward, Anna looked around for Jesse. When she couldn’t find any sign of him, she tugged on Luke’s sleeve. “Luke, have you seen Jesse?”

“No. Don’t worry, he might still be on the ship, with father.”

They had come to the water now, and Luke looked around for a boat they could row over to the ship. Anna stared down at the sand, jumping back as waves lapped the shore. Her birthday, no matter how belated, had always been happy. She had father home at last, and both brothers too. But this birthday was different, she thought to herself. It had to be different. Climbing into the boat Luke had managed to find, Anna curled a fist over the pendant that hung, as always, from her neck on its golden chain. She could always draw comfort from it. Luke, rowing at a leisurely pace, examined his sister’s expression, realization dawning over his face.

“Anna. No.”

Tossing her head defiantly, Anna narrowed her eyes and set her mouth in a firm line.

“I will, Luke, and you can’t stop me.”

“I’ll throw you overboard!”

“I can swim just as well as you and Jesse.”

Luke paused, remembering the summer days with his sister and brother, suddenly finding himself wishing they had stayed young. He shook his head, sadly but firmly.

“Father will never let you, Anna. You remember last year.” Luke splashed the oars a little louder than he intended, his one eye glaring right back at her. “And I understand why, too. The others won’t rest easy, you know how they are. Who will sail the ships? There will be mutiny, and murder…Father won’t let it happen, it’s completely unreasonable. Don’t upset him, he’s barely been home for three hours!”

Anna turned her face away, looking up to blink back tears. It wasn’t fair. Luke, who had been steeling himself for further argument, was taken aback by this reaction.

“Aw, Anna…don’t make that face…you wouldn’t like it anyway…come on now, we’re almost there, and Jesse’s home…”

Brushing a tear away as it began its slow descent down her face, Anna shut her eyes and nodded silently. She had been foolish to even consider it, Luke was probably right. Her father would never let a woman sail in his fleet. He hadn’t let her last year, when she turned sixteen herself, and most likely would have the same answer this time too. For years she had watched ships set sail, and awaited their return. At least when she was younger, her brothers had been home too. But at sixteen the boys began their lives as pirates, and she remembered the loneliness when Luke left for the first time, only two years ago. Last winter it had been Jesse, who had brandished his curved cutlass blade proudly for a sister on the verge of tears.

It was getting harder and harder to be left behind. She knew, although it had remained unspoken, that when the fleet left on the next month’s first tide, she would be the only one left. Luke would become a Captain, surely, and Jesse taken for Medrana’s crew once more. Anna would be alone.