Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 4

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voyages
Quarry Bay School, Maxwell, Yu Miller - 10
1407, April, Tuesday
I looked out to the horizon and saw the first rays of sunlight. Slowly the fireball rose out of the ocean and a
breeze flowed through the air. What I’ve learned as a sailor is that it’s an advantage to get up early. That way
you get some time to yourself without other sailors picking on you. And I did get picked on. A lot.
Especially because I was the only female on board. Women weren’t allowed to sail, but I had to make
money for my family, so I managed to sneak on-board as a man. And by the time they figured it out, we
were well away from the port. Soon we’d start our daily mission of searching for foreign lands to give gifts
to, to show how strong and wealthy China is, and earn allies. I felt a tap on my shoulder and someone
calling my name, Lin Ling. It was my best friend Wang Wei. We became friends when I saved him from
drowning. He’d been thrown overboard by the furious waves, and I grabbed a rope and hauled him out
while everyone else cowered in their bunks. He was the only boy who didn’t bully me for being a woman.
“Hey!” He said grinning at me. “Ready to swab the deck?”
“Oh yeah!” I said grinning with equal enthusiasm, despite the boring task at hand. There’s no such thing as
a boring task with a friend. We started swabbing. It was tedious work, since our ship was huge. Wang and I
chatted as the rest of the sailors got up. Soon, the air was filled with cries of, ‘Tighten the mizzen mast!’ or,
‘Get me a bowl of fish!’ Quite normal.
Suddenly, I heard shouts of, ‘INCOMING FLEET!!!’ Wang and I ran to the bow of the ship. All I could
see was our accompanying fleet of boats. Then I saw it. Among the haze, I spotted a group of wooden ships,
filled to the brim with soldiers. And, on the main mast of the biggest ship, a black flag. As I was the first to
see the flag, I quickly showed Wang, who ran off to inform the Captain. Within minutes we were all in
armour and bristling with weapons. Except me. I wasn’t allowed a weapon, because I was a woman. I
watched as the commanders shouted at each other.
“WHO ARE YOU?” bellowed our commander.
“WE ARE CHEN ZUYI’S FLEET!” a gruff voice boomed on the other side, presumably the commander
of the approaching ship. “GIVE US ALL THY GOODS IF YA VALUE YE NECKS!”
That’s when an arrow flew from our ship. It sailed through the air, and embedded itself in the wood next to
the Captain. There was a moment of silence. Then, chaos broke loose.
“NOBODY ATTACKS ME AND GETS AWAY WITH IT! SOLDIERS, ATTACK!” The opposing
captain threw a spear with some string attached to it, and it stuck deep into the wood of our boat. I watched
in terror as the pirates started scooting up the rope and boarded our ship! Cannons fired, and arrows tore
through the sky. Weapons clashed, and sparks flew. I started running.
As I leapt across the deck, I was quickly met by a pirate with a chipped broad blade in his hands. He charged
me and I narrowly dodged his sword. This continued until I was at an open hatch at the end of the ship.
Then, quick as lightning, I got an idea. As the pirate smiled a smile with far too few teeth, he charged me
sword first. I stood my ground for as long as I could, then ducked to the side. The plan worked. He tumbled
straight into the hatch, dropping his sword on the way. I locked the hatch, and snatched up the sword.
Turning around, I clambered onto the poop deck, the tallest point on the ship apart from the masts, figuring
it would make a good vantage point.