Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Chapter Four
There
in the doorway stood a massive man. He was tall and burly, and had a gold
earring in one ear. He had only one hand, the other was a hook. His hair was
thick and unruly, falling over his face. With an unpleasant smile, showing his
rotting teeth, he shoved his cutlass back in its sheath.
“Oi,
cap’n!” he bellowed. “I’ve found us some kids. They was 'idin' in the cap’n’s cabin!”
A rough exclamation of surprise came from up above them, and the pirate captain
stormed down to where the three children stood, Emily fearful, but the two boys
boiling mad.
“Have
them searched Hopkins and then tie ‘em up and put in with the other prisoners!”
The captain growled after giving the siblings a withering look of contempt.
Hopkins shrugged his burly shoulders and did as he was commanded. He roughly
shook John, who frowned fiercely in return, put his hands into their pockets,
but found nothing more exciting than a few rocks John thought were pretty,
Emily’s locket necklace and bracelet, and Luke’s spyglass.
When
the big pirate came near to where Luke was waiting, fuming inwardly at the
humiliation of being searched by a pirate, Luke gave him such a hearty kick in
his leg that he was not to forget for a long time. Luke had applied all his
eight-year-old muscles to it, and it had been aimed well. The pirate first
yelped in pain and surprise, and then burst out laughing, much to Luke’s
disgust.
“Aye,
ye’ve got guts, lad, ye’d make a good pirate!” Luke frowned darkly and almost
replied, but Emily warned the two boys with a stern look to remain silent, and
they obeyed. The pirate shook his head and continued his job by tying each
sibling securely, still laughing to himself at Luke’s behavior that somehow
amused him so much, not bothering to look in their boots, he pulled the
children after him up onto the deck, convinced that the prisoners were now
taken care of.
The new
crew, undoubtedly pirates, hardly gave the children a passing glance as the
pirate, Hopkins, dragged them across the deck and down into the ship’s hull. He
dropped them unceremoniously down the steps with an extra kick and closed the
trap door behind him, still grinning about Luke’s kick.
It
closed with a bang, and the children were alone with the dark and rats. But not
for long…
“Are
you three children alright?” A voice appeared out from nowhere, but Luke
recognized it.
“We’re
fine Cap’n. You?” He asked softly, so as to not attract any unwanted attention
from the pirate guard.
The
captain gave a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you’re fine. I was worried. I
shouldn’t have allowed you to stay on the ship; it’s my entire fault you’re in
danger.” A groan of anguish sounded quite near them, and Emily put her hands
out to search for the captain, and soon found his hand, cold and clammy.
“It’s
not your fault sir…” she replied soothingly. “It’s completely ours. We should
have known we would only bring trouble.”
The
captain sighed, and stood up, his chains clinking. “Come over to where the rest
of the crew is, and we’ll try to light something. They put us in handcuffs the
stinking sea filth…I beg your pardon, miss.” The captain realized Emily was a
young lady.
Emily
laughed. “That’s quite alright,” She replied to his apology. “I agree with you
on their behavior, and they deserve to be called that. All though as gentleman
you should restrain your words Captain.”
The
captain apologized again. “Please follow me,” He said. The siblings obeyed,
following the captain deeper into the hull of the ship. “Sit here,” The captain
commanded, again the siblings obeyed mutely.
There
was a low conversation between a crew member and the captain before a lantern
was lighted. The siblings could now make out the faces of the crew and captain
in their shackles.
Emily
smiled suddenly with relief, remembering the precautions they had taken. “They
only tied us up with a rope, captain, and John has a knife to cut us free in
his left boot. Would you mind getting it for us?” The captain nodded, and
retrieved the wanted object. Emily continued. “Now you can cut us loose!” she
exclaimed in a hushed whisper. The captain nodded again, and the siblings were
soon free.
Luke
rubbed his wrists, for they had started getting sore from the constant
scratching of the rope. John stretched his cramped muscles, and Emily sighed
happily.
She
turned to John. “Where’s the pistol?”
she asked. John handed it to her. “And the gold?” Luke gave her his stash. Then
Emily pulled from her shawl all the important papers and documents, and before
the widening eyes of the crew, handed the whole of their loot to the captain.
He
gasped. “You managed to bring all this to me under the very noses of the pirate
captain and crew?” he asked.
Emily
nodded. “They thought we were merely children who would do no mischief.” She
flashed a smile. “They were wrong about that though.” She paused. “We need to
hide all of this somewhere…someplace they won’t think to look. You know, just
in case they come down here to search us again. And we’d better get tied back
up again, for the pirate captain is sure to not be satisfied.”
The
captain agreed, and the siblings were securely tied as well as the valuables
safely hid away in the hull. And not a moment too soon, for almost immediately
after the things were hid there was a stomping up above them before the pirate
Hopkins opened the trapdoor with a clang.
“Where’s
the kids?” he demanded. Emily calmly stepped forward, closely followed by her
brothers who stood around her protectively. Hopkins grabbed them again. “The
cap’n wants ye.” He said by way of explanation. “Ye’ll heff to come w’ me.” If
the pirate noticed the different knots applied to the children’s bonds, he made
no comment.
Once
again the siblings were on the deck of the ship, and this time dragged the
other direction. A door banged open and then they were shoved in, and the door
closed behind them.
An
unpleasant aroma of stale whiskey and burning kerosene greeted their senses,
and the siblings found themselves face-to-face with the pirate captain. From
him they could expect no mercy.
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