A Red Sky Has Fallen

by Ryan Gilbert

  “Welcome back to the Red Sky, Ms. Hamond. How does our lil’ visit find ye?”

  *slap*

  “That was for my father, you son of a…”

  Garrett’s fist interrupted her, knocking her to the ground. Trembling, she felt her cheek and could sense it starting to swell.

  “You’ll respect the captain o’ this ship, Ms. Hamond, or I will beat it into ye.”

  Crawling to her feet, Julia asked, “W-where’s Riggs?”

  Snickering, Garrett said, “Well now, that’s a good question… probably in the middle of the ocean, swimmin’ desperately to come save you.”

  Julia was nearly shaking out of fright.

  “What happened? What did you do?”

  A smug look stretching across his face, Garrett said, “We mutinied, of course.”

  “And the others?”

  “Loyal to the end,” he said, scoffing at the mention of Riggs’ crew.

  Her hands clenched into fists as she said, “Whatever it is that you need me for, I will not help you… not after what you’ve just done.”

  Garrett looked at her and laughed.

  “There ain’t no way ye can do that, missy. Thing is… ye can’t control it. Yer bein’ here is all I need.”

  “What do you want?” she asked, trying to bide time to attack.

  “I want Poseidon’s trident… but to find it, I need Riggs’ full cooperation. I think keeping you captive will be enough to… persuade ‘im.”

  She did not know how to respond. Riggs did love her, and she knew that he would do anything to get her back. What would happen when he did return… if he returned?

  Nobody was safe while a maniac was in control of the Red Sky.

  Julia swiped a sword from the nearest pirate and swung the weapon around, cutting several pirates who were unfortunate enough to be close to her. Instantly, the crew backed away from her. They seemed surprised, but refrained from attacking.

  Turning around, she saw Garrett simply standing there, subtly telling his crew to remain calm. He did not seem threatened by the girl’s display of bravado.

  “You think this wise, Ms. Hamond?” he said, not even bothering to pull out his sword. His arms were still behind his back.

  Not bothering to respond, she sliced the sword through the air with all of her might. She wanted to avenge her father and all of the people that had died. She was so close.

  In one swift motion, Garrett raised an arm over his head, caught the sword by the blade, and ripped it out of Julia’s hand, sending it flying across the deck. The girl was terrified.

  The place where his hand had been was covered by a leather and metal cylinder. At the end of his arm was a sharp hook that gleamed in the sunlight. Its edges were as sharp as a knife, ready to tear into flesh at a moment’s notice. It sent shivers down her spine as she could not take her eyes off of the weapon.

  Grabbing the girl with his good hand, he pulled her closer so that she could smell the horrid stench coming from between his teeth.

  “Your Captain owes me a hand… but I think his heart’ll do just fine.”

  Laughing, he pushed the girl into the arms of the crew, who latched on to her and did not let her move a muscle.

  “Lock ‘er in the brig. We’ve got places to plunder and captains to murder.”

  The crew joined in with their captain’s laughter and forced Julia down to the lower decks. Without hesitation, they shoved her into the cell and locked the door. They were not afraid to be rough with her. With Riggs gone, the crew had turned into the monstrous villains that people imagined pirates to be.

  Once her captors left the room, Julia tried to contain herself, but she could not. Everything was going wrong. All those that she cared about had just been attacked, and she did not even know who was alive. The tears started to flow again.

  The fear was real.

  A day later, Riggs and the loyal remnants of his crew finally spotted the mainland. The Red Sky was nowhere to be found. As they got closer, Riggs saw the smoke rising into the air. He immediately feared the worst.

  Entering the bay, the pirates could see some of the Navy ships sunken in the harbor. Bodies still lay on the beach, the foam of the sea turning red from the blood permeating its waters. Garrett’s handiwork was laid out before Riggs, and he did not like any of it. It was downright evil.

  Nobody was there to greet them at the docks. Nobody was there to arrest them. Nobody was there to help them.

  There was just no one.

  Riggs could not take it any longer. Without even waiting for the ship to stop, he leapt onto the dock and ran. The rest of the crew was not far behind.

  They ran between the burning buildings and the collapsed structures. Corpses were scattered through the streets, intermingling with the wounded and dying. Some of the injured tried to hold their weapons, but their hands fell to the ground without an ounce of strength. Riggs and his friends pitied these people as they looked down at them. They had tried to stop Garrett and his madness, but they received nothing but pain and sorrow.

  “S-stay away f-from me, p-p-pirate,” croaked one man as Riggs crouched in front of him.

  “I’m here to help you,” said Riggs, extending his hand to the man.

  At first, the man seemed to not trust the pirate. Riggs could not blame him. He had nearly been killed by what had been Riggs’ crew. However, after a jolt of pain ran through the man’s body, he grabbed onto the Captain’s hand. He needed help, even if it came from an outlaw. As carefully as he could, he helped the man to his feet.

  “Where are the wounded bein’ cared for?” the Captain asked, motioning to his friends to get some of the wounded.

  “Th-the Hamond mansion,” said the man, passing out in the pirate’s arms.

  The death and destruction around Riggs nearly made him sick. Walking up the street with a half-dead man hanging onto him, he dreaded what waited for him at the mansion. He did not even care that he could be hanged for piracy. All he wanted to know was if Julia was alright.

  As the group approached the stricken mansion, Riggs was actually relieved to see less damage than he had expected. Most of the windows had been smashed and it looked like the front doors had been kicked in, but other than that, the building itself looked fine.

  Coral Jack tapped Riggs on the shoulder and asked, “Are ye sure you want to do this, Riggs?”

  Without looking back, he said, “I have to know if she’s okay, Jack. Are ye with me?”

  “We’ve followed ye this far, haven’t we?”

  “Go, Captain,” said Clint, beckoning Riggs to continue.

  The Captain took a deep breath and walked into the entryway.

  Dozens of people were lying on makeshift beds. Some were walking around, trying to ease into the pain. Some were simply staring blankly at the ceiling. Someone came and took the injured man from Riggs, leaving the pirate free to look around.

  At first glance, he could see no one that even looked like Julia. At least in the entryway, there was no sign of her. Each room yielded no results. He continued his search, desperate to try and find her.

  “You! How dare you enter my home after what you did!”

  Riggs turned to hear the familiar voice of Commodore Hamond. He had been lying on a table, his belly tightly wrapped with cloth and bandages as a doctor attended to his other wounds. When he saw the pirate, all of his pain channeled into anger. Pushing the doctor aside, the Commodore marched straight towards Riggs, a visible limp in his step.

  Holding his hands in front of him as a sign of peace, Riggs said, “Commodore, I can explain everythin’.”

  Even though he had just had his abdomen cut, the Commodore was not in the mood to back down from fighting a pirate. He tried to attack Riggs, but the Captain managed to evade every one of the wounded man’s punches.

  “Let me explain,” Riggs begged, ducking behind a table.

  “Explain what? How you murdered countless innocent people?” the Commodore shouted.

  �
��There’s more goin’ on here than ye know, sir.”

  Julia’s father pushed him back against the wall and growled, “Tell me why you took my daughter… again. Tell me why you killed these people. Why? Why? Why?”

  The man pounded his fists against Riggs’ chest with every word.

  “That wasn’t…”

  *crack*

  The Commodore knocked Riggs across the jaw. The Captain rubbed his lip and felt blood drip from his mouth. He could see the poor man’s hurt in the way the Commodore glared at him.

  “Get this filthy piece of scum out of my sight. He hangs when I’m well enough to travel.”

  Hearing the soldiers approaching from behind, Riggs lurched forward and grabbed the Commodore’s arm.

  “I ain’t the one who took Julia. It was someone else.”

  It was obvious that the Commodore was not going to listen to him. He merely took the pirate’s hand and removed it from his arm.

  Two soldiers grabbed Riggs and dragged him out of the mansion. There seemed to be nothing that he could say to make the Commodore understand. Behind him, he saw the remainder of his crew being escorted as well. Their eyes stared straight ahead, proud to be following their captain, even to the bitter end.

  The pirates were brought to a large fort which served as the headquarters for the Navy officers and doubled as a prison. Once they were stripped of their weapons, the crew of the Red Sky was brought into where the prisoners were kept. It was a lot like the brig, except bigger… much bigger.

  The long corridors of metal bars and dim light gave any prisoner a feeling of dread. On the walls, torches burned, casting nightmarish shadows on the walls of the cells. For the pirates, it felt like they were getting a glimpse of Hell.

  At long last, the soldiers shoved the pirates into a cell and locked the door. The only sound that the prisoners heard was the echoing of the guard’s boots as he made his way around to check all of the cells.

  “Bloody hell. This is the second time we’ve been locked in a Navy cell,” said Eli, stomping his foot on the stone ground.

  “What do ye make o’ this, Captain?” asked Clint.

  There was no response. Riggs simply paced back and forth, muttering to himself.

  “Captain?”

  Clint stepped closer to his captain and heard him say, “She’s not dead.”

  “The girl’s gone, Captain. There’s nothing ye can do,” Clint said, trying to comfort what he thought was a delusional Riggs.

  “No, Clint. She’s still out there. Commodore Hamond accused me of takin’ her… not killin’ her. If she was dead, then she would have been layin’ in the streets with those other corpses.”

  Coral Jack, hearing the conversation, said, “Even if she is still out there, we can’t do nothin’. We’re stuck ‘ere to rot in this cell.”

  Stroking his chin, Riggs said, “Give me a little time. I’ll think o’ somethin’.”

  Pacing the cell, he said to himself, “The only place where she could be would be the Red Sky… but why would Garrett want her onboard the ship?”

  Riggs paced the cell for a long time, trying to make some sense out of what was happening. The rest of the crew tried to make a plan to escape and save their skin. All of them wanted to get their ship back, but deep down, they also wanted to help their captain save Julia.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  It was night by the time Riggs stopped pacing. The crew could tell by the frown on his face that he had failed to come up with a successful plan. An all-out attack on the guards would be suicide. Trying to subdue a guard would only bring more to stop their escape. The safest option was to try to file away at the bars, but that would take days, if not weeks, to get through enough to escape. Even with that plan, there was a high probability of being caught and simply being put in a different cell. There was no escaping this time.

  Riggs laid his head back against the bars and stared out the window at the setting sun. The sky looked like it was burning. The reds, oranges, and yellows flowed together and lit up the sea. It was as if the water had turned to flame.

  Peering out through the barred window, Riggs saw that the fires of Yorktown had finally burned out. The town could finally get some rest to mend itself from Garrett’s attack.

  The sun sank below the horizon, darkening all of the prison which was not lit by torches. Once the light left, the pirates tried to get some rest. If they were going to try to escape at all, then they would need all of their strength and cunning.

  All of them were soon fast asleep… except Riggs. He sat in the corner, unable to focus on anything at all and just letting his mind wander. The silence of the prison disturbed him. He needed something to take his mind off of his impending death. Quietly, he whispered a song to himself to calm his nerves.

  “Give me the sea;

  Give me the wind.

  Give me a ship

  To plunder the land.

  Steal and lie;

  Steal and lie;

  There are no rules,

  But you will not die.

  Raise the skull and crossbones;

  Bring fear into a man’s soul.

  Shoot and loot, steal his gold;

  Send him down to the depths below.

  Revenge shall I have,

  Your heart in my hand.

  Your life is fragile,

  Destroying a land.

  The hangman will not have you.

  By my hand, I’ll run you through.”

  *tap* *tap*

  Riggs did not look at the guard. Acknowledging the man would just give him more power over the pirate. Casually, Riggs slid his hat down over his eyes.

  “I can tell you’re awake, pirate.”

  “Think I care? Give a man some rest before he’s executed,” said Riggs, not moving from where he sat.

  “I would, but you have a visitor.”

  The Captain lifted his hat and looked out from underneath it. He saw a hooded figure standing behind the guard. From the looks of it, the visitor was a woman. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the guard, leaving her alone with the pirate captain.

  “Evenin’, love. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “You are Captain Riggs, yes?” the woman said, not fazed by the pirate’s sarcastic charm.

  “Aye.”

  Mrs. Hamond took off the hood and asked, “Then you are the pirate that Julia always spoke about.”

  Riggs did not want to deal with any more verbal abuse. He knew the Hamonds were not going to be the most understanding people, especially given their daughter’s kidnapping. If they were just going to berate him, he did not want to hear it.

  “So she did speak of me. How delightful…”

  “Do you love her? Do you truly love my daughter?”

  Mrs. Hamond’s statement surprised Riggs. She did not seem like she was there because she hated him, though he knew she did not approve of him. She just wanted to know about her daughter.

  Walking closer to the bars, Riggs replied, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

  “Did you really escape from my husband?”

  “In the interest o’ reputation, let’s say twice.”

  Mrs. Hamond paused for a moment. It was obvious that she was struggling with her emotions. Riggs could sense that she did not want to trust him, but her love for Julia was strong enough to make her turn to him for help.

  “Will you get my baby back for me?” she asked, nearly weeping.

  “I’d sail to the Locker and back for that girl.”

  Mrs. Hamond’s face lit up with happiness once Riggs said that.

  “There’s just a slight problem, miss. I can’t do anythin’ while I’m locked in here,” said Riggs, knocking on the bars.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” she said, about to leave.

  Reaching through the bars, Riggs gently grabbed onto her cloak. She stopped, looking genuinely terrified that he was going to attack her.

  “Give me your hand,” he said.

  She d
id, looking behind her to see if the guard was anywhere nearby. He was not.

  “I will save your daughter from that madman. You have me word. She will not die under my watch.”

  She let go of the pirate’s hand, but he kept a strong hold on her’s.

  “Now… Mrs. Hamond… are ye afraid of me?”

  The woman nodded.

  “You shouldn’t be.”

  He let go of her hand, but she remained where she was, intrigued by what he had said.

  “Your daughter was the only girl I’ve ever truly loved, Mrs. Hamond. I’ve lost almost everythin’, but I will not lose her. I’ve lost my ship, but what I felt about that is a mere pittance of what I’d feel if I were to lose Julia. I may be a pirate, miss, but I’m not the kind o’ monster ye think I am.”

  Stepping closer to the bars, Mrs. Hamond looked at the pirate’s face in the torchlight. She saw the truth in what he said. Riggs’ face carried with it a boyish innocence that she could not see past. He was not a scoundrel. He was only a pirate.

  “Thank you, Captain Riggs,” said Mrs. Hamond.

  Pulling the hood over her head, Mrs. Hamond beckoned for the guard to escort her out of the prison. Two men soon appeared at her side, leading her down the long hallway and out of Riggs’ sight.

  Now, the only thing that the Captain could do was wait. Crawling over his sleeping companions, he stared out through the barred windows at the sea.

  There was not a ship moving on the water. The water appeared still from the prison, like a mirror. It was calling his name, wanting him to come back to it, to sail on it.

  “I will get ye back, Julia. I will save you.”

  The brig was just as disgusting as Julia had remembered it. It smelled of vomit and rum, but she was used to the rum. She could hear the pirates snoring on the deck above her, keeping her awake until late in the night. Gingerly touching where Garrett had hit her, she could feel the bruise on her face. It hurt a lot.

  Sitting on the wooden floor of the cell, Julia knelt down and prayed that everything would be alright.

  “Please, God… help me get out of this alive. I just want to see my family…”