The Quill

     Grace stood alone on the cliff top and watched her father’s ship sail out of the bay wishing she could go too.  No one had ever asked her what she wanted to do with her life. It was assumed that she would marry a strong wealthy husband, just as her mother before her.

     Grace didn’t necessarily object to the idea of marriage someday, but she also had a passionate longing to sail a ship on the high seas. Her days were filled with all the tasks and lessons her mother set to prepare for becoming a wife, but her nights were filled with dreams of grand adventures aboard her own ship.

     She had tried to convince her father to take her with him many times by telling him what a good lookout she would be, but he simply laughed and swept her into a huge bear hug.

“You’ve got a keen eye. I’ve no doubt, but the deck of a ship is no place for a girl, even a wild, fierce thing such as yourself. Why look at you! Your hair’s so long and unkempt, it would get caught in the rigging and I’d have to assign extra men just to keep you free of it. Then who would keep watch for Turkish raiders and Spanish pirates, hmm?”

     She would hug him back, hiding her face in his great wide chest as her brothers joined in the jest knowing she’d lost the fight before it was begun.

     The men had sailed with the tide that morning, and Grace turned away from the coast, headed back to the Keep, back to her chores and lessons. While her hands were busied with work, she determined to think of a way to bring her father around.

     On the morning of the day the sailors were set to return, her mother handed her a basket and sent her off to look for mushrooms. As she wandered, Grace thought about her father’s words.  She knew women didn’t go to sea, but that was only because one never had. There were many things people had never done until someone did it for the first time. Why should this be any different?

She kicked a stone viciously and watched it sail into a thicket that erupted in a loud commotion.  Approaching the gnarled mass of brush, she pushed her way in until she could see the source of the noise. Tangled in the remains of an old snare, a large hare kicked and wriggled, trying to free itself.  It was an odd-looking, faun-colored creature with a reddish tuft of fur on its head.

     She stared for a moment, pondering.  She had her knife and could easily put the creature out of its misery, but then she would have to take it back to her mother, who would certainly find more work for her to do.

     “Truth to say, I’d really rather not kill you,” she murmured.

     The rabbit stopped its struggling and turned its head to stare at her.Truth to say, I’d really rather not be killed!” it replied.

     Grace gasped as the rabbit shimmered and reshaped itself into a little man wearing tattered clothes and a bright red cap.

“Oh, I am terribly sorry to have disturbed you, sir! I’ll just be on my way and good day to you.”  Grace attempted to back away from the fairy man, but her hair caught in the bracken as he cried out.

“None of that now. Can you not see I’m trapped?  Just cut the straps, and we can both be on our way.”

     Grace knew it wasn’t right to leave him trapped, but she also knew she would have to handle things just right. The fairy folk were not the type of creatures you angered or helped without great personal risk. This would take bravery and wisdom.

“A moment ago I might have done so, thinking you only an odd-looking rabbit, but now that I know what you are, I’ll have your oath, sir. Promise on the red cap you wear you’ll take no vengeance upon me or mine for the snare and I will free you.”

     Heaving a large sigh the little man reached up and took off his red cap and holding it to his heart. “Fairy Man am I, of the red cap I be, and by my hat I swear no harm, to you or yours from me.”

     Grace drew her knife and sliced through the pieces of the snare that held him prisoner. With the little man free, Grace didn’t waste a second turning to run headlong toward the Keep.  That evening after dinner, she told her tale to her family.  Her brothers all praised her quick thinking and her father hugged her tight.

“My darling girl, you are wiser than your years as well as brave.  You will have your chance to prove yourself on the deck of a ship. But that hair of yours… What’s to be done with it?”

     Grace stepped away from her father and smiled as she drew her knife. “That’s easily solved Da. As I freed the little man, so now I’ll free myself.”  Grabbing her braid in one hand, Grace drew her blade across the thick rope of hair and it came away in her hand.

     Her mother wailed in dismay as Grace let the long, fiery plait fall to the floor and her brothers gasped in shock, but her father laughed with delight.

     “What am I to do with such a daughter then?  What say you, Grace O’Malley?  Shall we find out?”

     Her throat was suddenly tight and her heart was bursting with joy. Swallowing hard, she took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and smartly saluted her father.

     “Aye Captain!”

     At last, she was going to sea.