Hello all! I'm doing this story as a part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year! I realize I have another story in the works, but that story has been put on hiatus for a while now. I've missed writing and I've hoped that publishing this story on FanFiction will help me get support to finish Nano, and this novel. I hope you all like what I have in store!

Chapter One: Too Much Alcohol

"Another round of rum!"

A bearded man, who already reeked of entirely too much alcohol, staggered to the bar and slammed his fist down, revealing three small silver coins. A dirty hand quickly scooped up the coins.

"How many rounds is that now?" The barmaid asked, dropping the coins into the pouch around her waste, grinning coyly.

"Enough to not care what the whore look like later tonight!" The drunken man's remark resulted in a raucous cheer from the others in the tavern. "Say, what's your name miss?" The drunkard leaned over the counter towards her, smiling and revealing a row of rotten teeth.

"Katherine, though it should matter not to you." She said flippantly.

"Aye, you're right. It'll be mine you'll want to know when you're screaming it later!" He made a sexual gesture and cackled, a few others nearby joining him in his laughter.

"I highly doubt that." Katherine easily maneuvered around him as she stepped out behind the bar, in a manner that suggested this wasn't her first time in this predicament. With two trays of rum in her hand, she squeezed between tables and limbs and distributed the drinks to the drunkard's rowdy group.

The intoxicated grizzly man was still standing there, leaning against the bar, when she returned. "Aw, no need to be so reluctant. All the ladies say I'm the best!" He gave her a wink.

Kate shook her head, dragging a dirty rag across the bar counter. "I'm not reluctant. I just withdraw from the activity altogether."

The man narrowed his eyes, lips turning into a frown. "A pretty women like you…" He paused, in thought, as if trying to remember something. "That's a lie! I saw you a few weeks back! Sneaking out the side door with a man in a uniform!" He accused, pointing his finger at her.

Kate's eyes dropped quickly and she moved down the counter, taking out more mugs and filling them with alcohol, though no one was calling out for any refills. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The man followed, persisting in his tale. "Ohhh, but you do!" He took one of the drinks that she had filled and took a large swig, without payment, though the young woman hardly noticed as she tried to ignore the man standing before her.

"Oh, lay off the wench, Marty!"

The man named Marty merely grinned as he watched some of his friend get up from the table and file out of the tavern, leaving a couple coins on the table as tip.

He leaned forward again, his repulsive breath suffocating Kate. He persisted with one last jab at her. "What? Only do the deed with men in uniforms?"

Kate slammed a mug down, her eyes flaring as hers looked up to meet his. "Times are tough! My money has been stretched thin and…and he offered an irrefutable price!" She suddenly realized that the man was drinking out of one her recently filled mugs. "I'll take that!" She snatched the mug out of the man's hands just as he was going for another swig.

His hand hung in the air empty for a second, trying to understand her recent outburst. "I'll have five more shillings for that rum and for wasting my time when I could've been serving other customers and making more! And for a tip!"

By then, most of the men in the tavern had gone home for the night, besides the few that were passed out on the floor. The drunkard glanced quickly around the tavern. "Everyone's left!"

Kate kept her hand stuck out, waiting for payment. Marty reluctantly reached into the pouch hanging from his belt and handed the brunette the proper amount of coins. Kate slipped the coins into her pouch, and snidely turned on her heel, walking out from behind the bar with the same dirty rag in hand.

After realizing all of his friends had already left him, or were passed out on the floor, the grizzly drunkard slowly left the tavern as well. Kate released a light sigh of relief that the man had finally left and stopped pestering her. She nudged a man in his stomach that was lying at the foot of a table, his head lolled to the side and drool slowly dripping from his mouth. After no reaction, Kate kicked him, hard, in the gut. He winced in pain and clutched his stomach, then promptly puked next to her feet.

"Ugh!" Kate stepped around the man and started to pick up the empty mugs, bringing them back to the basin behind the bar, wishing she wouldn't have to pick up the man's vomit. He stumbled out the door, without a sound, and Kate was left alone in the tavern.

She continued to tidy up the tavern, as much as she could, and disposed of the vomit with distaste. As she stood looking around the place contently, with her hands on her hips, she heard the door bang and turned around.

"Oh hoh! You finished on time tonight and managed to get those drunken scallywags out 'ta here!" A portly old man beamed at Kate as he examined the place.

Kate smiled softly. "Well, it's my job!" She dunked her dirty rag into a bucket of water, wrung it out, and repeated.

"Well, I'll leave it to you to finish up washing the mugs and the rags…and would you mind organizing the alcohol in alphabetical order? Some of the labels are peeling off, so you might need to find some way to relabel them. I don't have the materials at the moment, but you can figure it out… smart girl like you…"

Kate's face fell. "Yes, Mr. Stock…" After she cleared the tables, she was usually allowed to leave for the night and a stable boy that lived a couple houses down would come by and was paid to do the dishes. Apparently he wasn't coming tonight, or Mr. Stock didn't feel the need to pay valuable money to someone when he had her to do the job, and fired the boy.

"Great! See you tomorrow, bright and early Katie!" The plump man left the tavern with a bang of the door behind him, not realizing the amount of work he had just given Kate.

"Urgh, I hate it when he calls me that…" Kate threw the rag she was washing out on the bar and stared at the tower of dirty mugs and plates that awaited washing. She wished that Mr. Stock would hire some other help for the place as she rolled up the sleeves of her simple brown dress. While the tavern was not as large as many of the others nearby, it still received quite a lot of business and it was nearly impossible for Kate to do all the work by herself. Mr. Stock would stay for most of the night behind the bar, just overseeing that everything was going according to how he wanted and that the crowds didn't get too rowdy; he would occasionally help serve out some drinks to the singletons at the bar, but other than that, he relied solely on Kate.

She dunked a mug into the soapy water that she had prepared and cleaned the inside out quickly with a new rag. She set it up on one of the shelves and hoped that it would be dry by the time she was finished with the rest, so she wouldn't have to bother with taking the extra time to dry each individual one.

After about the sixth or seventh mug she had washed, she stepped back to take a rest. She had been standing on her feet all day and they were starting to ache. She leaned against the bar and closed her eyes, wishing that she could just go home and crawl under her covers. She opened her eyes slowly, thinking.

"I'll just finish these tomorrow, after I'm well rested. The mornings are always slow anyways…" She said merely to herself. She threw the rag and walked towards the side door. She scooted a few straggling chairs under their appropriate spots and extinguished the few lamps that lighted the tavern along the way. She stepped into the cool night air, savoring the chill that enveloped her, and reached to lock the door behind her.

"Shhh! Keep him quiet!"

Kate whirled around, eyes frantically searching for the beholder of the voice she had just heard. She cautiously started to make her way to the street, thinking that maybe she was just hearing things, but stopped when she heard some banging, coming from the direction of the back of the tavern.

"What the…" She muttered under her breath, tired of having to shoo off the dogs and homeless beggars that continued to dig through the tavern's trash, requiring Kate to pick up their mess. She turned back and strode confidently towards the back of the tavern and rounded the corner.

"Shoo! I'm tired of picki—"

Kate stopped short as she beheld the scene before her. A short balding man stood holding the arms of a man behind his back hostage. Standing next to him was a tall man dressed in pirate garb, with locks of black hair held back by a red bandana, holding his pistol to the head of the governor of Port Veridian.

An uncontrolled shriek escaped Kate's lips; she tried to move her feet backwards, but they felt like lead and she stumbled to the ground in a heap. All eyes turned to Kate, widening in surprise at the newcomer.

Then, several things happened at once: the governor began to shout a plea at Kate; the short man began to run towards her with his pistol in his hand; and the pirate narrowed his kohl-lined eyes and pulled the trigger.

The last thing Kate remembered before she fell into darkness was the governor's face in pain, his eyes boring into hers, and the ring of the gunshot resonating in her ears.

Thank you for reading the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Leaving a review would make my day, and would help encourage me to finish this novel. It doesn't have to be long, just a few words telling me how you felt or how I can improve. Always, Becca xoxo