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to try to hide how badly I was shaking from anger.
    “I told you that we rescue girls from piracy. And I was acting under orders.” He shrugged. “We do it all the time.”
    “You steal girls from their pirate fathers because females shouldn’t be pirates? You took me from the only family I have! What kind of person are you?” My voice broke on the end, but I kept my eyes on him. I couldn’t lose it yet.
    “Are you going to answer my question at all?”
    I couldn’t arrange my thoughts in an order that would make any sense.
    He was distracted by a noise from behind him. He turned his head to see what it was, and I made my move. I took this opportunity to climb quickly up on the railing and held onto a loose rope that hung above my head. I stared out at the sea and wondered if I should just swim for it and take my chances.
    I felt arms wrap around my waist and found myself being pulled off the railing. I held onto the rope and started to kick. James got a good pull in and we immediately tumbled backwards. We fell to the deck, me slightly on top of him. I tried to get free, but his arms were still around my waist. The more I struggled, the tighter his hold became. I started to panic and fought more, finally getting one of my arms free. I flung my fist back and made contact with his face, but I was still stuck. I was able to shift just enough so that I was able to jerk my head back, and aimed for his face yet again. He must have anticipated it because he quickly dodged and still didn’t let go. I was about to start screaming when I pulled my arm forward and slammed my elbow into him. That was when he finally let me go.
    I was i mmediately up and away from him. I leaned over the railing to throw up. I hadn’t eaten in at least a day, but there must have been something in my stomach because it came out quickly. When I finally stopped, I stayed bent over the railing, breathing heavily. It took a few more minutes, but I was able to straighten up again. I wiped my mouth as I turned around. I froze when I saw the skin around his eye turning darker, but that’s not what really caught my attention. It was the expression on his face. It was so helpless and confused and something that I couldn’t begin to describe or understand.
    My knees started to shake, and I slid down the railing until I hit the deck. I looked down at my hands and saw they were trembling.
    “Are you okay ?”
    I took my time to look back at him. Why was he so concerned about me? He didn’t even know who I was. I leaned my head back and rested it against the wood. I felt too lightheaded and tired. I knew I’d been sleeping a good portion of the day, but it had seemed to be a very long day.
    “Please answer me.”
    “I just punched you in the stomach and face, and you’re wondering if I’m okay?” I shook my head but finally felt my heart calm down. It was always so much worse when I was held from behind and couldn’t get free. I really couldn’t control what I did in that sort of situation. I just did what I had to do to get free.
    “It didn’t hurt.” He shrugged and started to get up. His eye was completely black now as he held his hand out to me.
    I did not deserve this. Why wasn’t he mad? There was something really wrong about this, but I was too confused to worry about it long. I got up alone and started back toward the room but tripped. James caught me at the last second. I immediately jumped away from him.
    “Don’t touch me.” I placed my hand against the door to support myself. I sounded weak, which wasn’t something that happened often.
    He stood quietly for a moment. “Would you at least tell me your name?”
    I turned my head toward him but kept my face expressionless in contrast to what was really going on inside of me. As I found the latch with my hand, I whispered, “Don’t ask me that again.”
     
    ~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~
     
    For the next few days, James stayed in the room but didn’t talk. When I woke, he would be sitting