by D. J. Holmes
Inwardly, Diana can hear Daniel’s voice telling her to remember that, “Gray Wolf is not your enemy.” Well of course he’s not my enemy. I haven’t known him long enough to be an enemy.
Looking at Black Beard with a questioning look on her face she states, “Isn’t that kind of strange for someone to be flying through the sky?”
“I thought that it was at the time, but he seems like a fine young man. I haven’t questioned the fact that he fell out of the sky. I mean, after all, anything coming from the sky is heaven sent isn’t it?” and he laughed heartily at his own joke.
“So, let me get this straight…you just met him the evening of the huge storm?”
“Yes…look at him. He fits into our crew like he was born into it. He’ll make a wonderful pirate.”
Trying to change the subject, Diana’s mother announces, “Dinner is ready. If you will gather your crew, we will serve the meal.”
Walking outside the kitchen, Black Beard states “Gather around the table! The food is ready.”
A crewman states, “Blimey, they are going to serve us. And at a table too! Hey mate” he says to his fellow crew member with a nudge of his elbow and pointing with his finger, “have you noticed how beautiful these women are? I’ve been all over the world and I’ve never seen women this beautiful.”
“Yea, captain,” says another mate, “they’re all tall, slim, lips to kill for and long hair of every color that a man could wish for.”
Scowling, Black Beard yells, “I don’t want any of you touching them, do you hear me? The only ones old enough for you must be the wives of Ian and his crew. Diana and her sisters are around fourteen years of age and the younger sisters are only five and six years old. We’re going to have enough trouble on our hands as soon as Ian and his crew find out that we have taken their smallest village daughters. He will come after us with a vengeance if we touch his older village daughters, or any of their wives, and they will be out for blood!”
“Couldn’t we just have a little fun?”
“Anyone that touches even a strand of their hair, will HAVE TO ANSWER TO ME!! DO ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?” Black Beard warns with the meanest look he can muster.
With their mouths wide open and jaws dropped out of surprise and fear, his entire crew quickly answers, “Yes captain,” and then returns to eating the meal placed before them.
Diana watches the mannerisms of Black Beard and his crew and comes to this conclusion, “So he controls his crew through fear and intimidation. That means he is a tyrant and his crew is weak.”
Gray Wolf is quiet during all this time, but he watches trying to find out what is really going on.
After a cautious night’s sleep, a cool morning breeze comes in from the sea. Red hues highlight the sky as the sun rises. After breakfast has been served the captain suddenly declares, “Come on everyone, it’s time to go. Gather everything… the tide is calling for us. Diana, get your youngest village sisters… and remember I want no trouble.”
“I will get them.” Quickly leaving, she gathers her own group of sisters and her youngest village sisters in the woods at the edge of their village. The other older village sisters with Jaimie, have been waiting for them there.
“We have the necklaces ready.”
“They are so beautiful, Jaimie.”
“There are enough for each of us to have a necklace.”
Each of the village sisters is given a necklace. Diana instructs, “My Sisters today we will be separated, but these necklaces will be our connection. No matter how long it takes. No matter how much we change, we will know that we are sisters because of these necklaces that will be worn underneath our blouses. No one is to see them. The code word is ‘Red Rose’.
When any one hears that phrase, put your right hand over your heart, and if the other girl is one of your sisters, she will put her right hand on her heart and repeat the words ‘red rose’. The next code words will be ‘Treasure Cove’. If ‘red rose’ and ‘Treasure Cove’ are used then we know that we are sisters. But there is one question that then needs to be asked by the little village sisters and it is, “the day that we were taken we were given something, what was it?” The older village sister will show her own red rose necklace first. Only at this time, my little sisters, will you ever show your necklace. Only then, do you understand?”
“Yes, Diana we understand. We will do as you have instructed.”
“Be strong, little ones. We will find you…never fear.”
All of the sisters hug each other holding tightly… not wanting to let go.
With her heart breaking, Diana announces, “We must go before they come looking for us.”
“Diana, I have something to say.”
“Yes, Jody.”
“My older sisters, I want all of you to know that I will be their strength, we will get through this. When I fell into the sea, I was with Daniel. He said that I needed to go back because my little sisters would need my strength.”
“Daniel said that to you?” Diana asks in wonder.
“Yes, Diana. I saw him and he talked to me.”
“We know that we are being lead to where we are to go. Be strong everyone. It will all work out the way that it should.”
“Are you ready to go my little sisters?”
“Yes, Diana,” they all chorus.
Looking toward Black Beard’s ship, the mothers and little sisters say their good-byes with tears and good wishes, hoping that one day they will see each other again.
Black Beard and his crew keep their word that no one would be harmed if no aggression is shown on the part of the village mothers and older sisters, especially, Diana.
As the Queen Anne’s Revenge sails on the tide, the mothers and older sisters with Diana watch from the pier. The other older sisters with Jaimie, that Black Beard knows nothing about, watch from the ridge.
The smallest village sisters, who are now with Black Beard, stand on the deck waving back to everyone on the island shouting “We’ll be strong, don’t worry. We’ll be strong.”
As soon as the ship is completely out of sight, the mothers drop to their knees and begin crying… “How will we be able to live without our little daughters?” The mothers had chosen to hold their emotions in until the ship passed over the horizon. Now was their moment of great sorrow.
Diana adamantly states, “When father gets back in a couple of days, those pirates will pay! They will wish that they never set eyes on our island, and that they never came looking for father and his ship ‘Mysterious’.”
Looking at the anguish that all of the mothers are going through, Diana’s anger turns to grief. “Could I have done more? Should my sister’s and I have charged them, even though they had guns?” Sorrow begins to fill her heart. Knowing that tears would soon fill her eyes, Diana turns and begins running to her grandmother’s statue.
Kneeling down at the statue, with her head in her hands, bending over she begins to rock back and forth crying uncontrollably. “…Grandmother…” reaching out to the statue with her right hand… “Grandmother, please… I need you, they’ve taken our youngest island sisters…please help us.”
Diana continues to beg her grandmother for help. Sadness consumes her body as she continues to cry uncontrollably. Finally she lies down in front of the statue exhausted from the emotions that have taken control of her body. Sleep finally overtakes her.
In her dreams, she feels a movement of the ground beneath her. Her body feels strange. Time seems to be speeding by as there is numbness in her brain. Yet, she sees bright lights passing by, and hears the jumbled sounds of voices and roaring wind. In her dreams, she sees a woman who looks very much like the statue of her grandmother reaching down to comfort her. “Diana, very soon you will be old enough to search for your sisters. At that time you will be given everything that you need to find them. Know that I love you.”
***
Feeling wet sand beneath him, hearing the sound of Seagulls and the rhythmi
c ebb and flow of waves, Ian’s mind begins to wake from a deep fog as his eyes slowly open. The brightness of the sun is excruciating as he lifts his hand to block the rays from hitting his face. Little by little he is coming out of the unconscious state he has been in since a huge wave threw him, his crew and the schooner onto the beach.
Lucas has awakened a few minutes earlier. Walking around the beach he has checked all of the crew members that have washed up onto the beach.
Noticing that Ian’s eyes are opening, he asks, “Captain, how are you feeling?”
“Lucas, what happened? How did I get here?”
Kneeling down Lucas asks, “Don’t you remember the storm?”
“The storm?…Oh, the huge storm with the blackest of black clouds; rain coming down so hard that we could barely see anything, and lightning that reached from one end of the sky to the other? But that happened while we were still on Martinique.”
“Yes, but how often have the waves returned, like water in a bowl sloshing from side to side?”
“Ahhh…” Grabbing the side of his head, Ian thought of the experiences he had on the ship during the storm. Pictures begin to flash in his head, and feelings of fear fill his heart. “Yes, I remember the ship quickly rising to the sky… so high that we could almost touch the clouds; and just as quickly going to the lowest depths of the sea, with huge walls of water all around us. I thought the sea was going to swallow our ship.”
“We all thought that, Ian.”
“What about our crew, Lucas. Is everyone ok?” he asks with concern.
“We’re still looking for a couple of them sir.”
“Who are we missing?”
“Terrance and Jib…”
“No one has seen them?”
“No sir.”
“What about Mikkel, Ulrik, Currito and Eduardo?”
“All are accounted for.”
“Except for Terrance and Jib… what do you think happened to them?”
“We don’t know, captain. Mikkel and Eduardo watched the sea, while Ulrick and Currito and I searched the beach. So far there is no sign of them.”
“Please tell everyone to keep their eyes open, to look at the direction of the waves and estimate where they would have gone.”
“I have captain.”
“Lucas, what about the ship, where is the ‘Mysterious’?”
Pointing just off shore to a clump of boulders, Lucas says “Right there captain, what’s left of it.”
Sitting up so he could get a better look, Ian says with a great deal of sadness, “Oh, no, the ‘Mysterious’. How are we going to fix it?”
“I don’t think that we’ll be able to sir.”
“Do you have any idea where we are?”
“Not yet. The waves were so high, that I lost what direction the wind and sea were throwing us. All I remember is standing next to you while you were talking to the English on the British Virgin Islands and signing papers to be a privateer for them. They asked us to go south toward Haiti… and then I remember the waves that hit while we were in the middle of the Caribbean.”
“I remember all of that, so what happened next?”
“All I remember is that I could feel water moving up to my chest and rolling out again. By the time that this happened three times, I could hear birds, feel the wind and hear the waves that were continuing to get me wet…I lifted my upper body and looked around. I was shocked to see the wreckage of the ‘Mysterious’ and all of my mates lying on the sand in the sun. I walked the beach checking everyone. Then I heard you moaning.”
“Speaking about everyone, let’s get together, go in further on this island and make some type of shelter.”
Looking around at his mates, Lucas begins shouting, “Everyone, come here. We’re going to go inland and create some type of shelter.”
Gathering together, they help each other, paying special attention to those who are injured. Lucas helps Ian to stand, and slowly they all begin walking off of the beach behind the tree line and further in toward the island foliage.
Looking back at the wreckage of the ‘Mysterious’, Ian says, “It’s like leaving a friend in the water, and not being able to do anything to help them, Lucas.”
“If anyone would help another person we all know that it would be you Ian, after what we saw you do to save Jody.”
“Thank you Lucas. A life is always a very important thing to save under any circumstance.”
Walking inland Ian asks Lucas, “How long have I been out?”
“I don’t know, I have only been awake long enough to check on everyone. The only thing that I know is that its sunset and we need to find some type of shelter, or make it, so that we can get some sleep.”
“Thank you for your help good friend.”
“I know that you would do the same for me, Ian.”
“You’re right, I would.”
A short time later, after creating a crude shelter of bamboo and palm leaves tied together with vines, everyone lies down to hopefully get some rest.
***
“Daniel, that buzzing has stopped,” Treysen announces.
“Thank you Treysen, I’ll go check the portals.”
Walking to the Hall of Corridors, Daniel notices that the refracted waves of the portals are calm on the left side of the hall and look as normal as their counterparts across the hall. “I will look at the underwater city to see if this has affected them at all.”
Pulling the refracted waves softly apart Daniel looks in the direction of the city. “It is huge! They couldn’t have built this much in a day or two, there are too many ships coming and going now from this underwater city. Time must have moved ahead at least a year or two. In fact it could have been several years…time moving forward in the twinkling of an eye…that’s how the Earth has chosen to balance what the storm caused to become unbalanced.”
Looking to the affected side of the Hall of Corridors he says, “Everyone on this side of the hall will be much older. They have gone to sleep one day and will wake up the next day several years older…this should be very interesting!”
***
“Diana, Diana, wake up. We finally found you.”
Opening her eyes she looks up to find several girls staring down at her. “Who are you?” she asks more than a little startled.
“Diana, are you playing your games again? It’s me, Jaimie. Look at us. Surely if you don’t recognize us, look at our necklaces. Remember the Rose Necklaces that we made when Black Beard took our little island sisters?”
“Yes, but you all look so much older.”
“I don’t think that we look any different than you do.”
Still lying on the ground she raises her arms and notices the difference…she sits up and looks at her legs. “Now I know what she meant when she said that I would soon be old enough to search for our sisters.”
“Who told you that, Diana?”
“Grandmother… Grandmother Diana told me that I would soon be old enough to search for our sisters, and that I would have everything that I needed.”
CHAPTER 3
“My sisters, look at us, we have been given the answer to our prayers. Last night I pleaded with Grandmother while I was on my knees, to help me… to help all of us, and look,” Diana says with a sweep of her hand.
“I know Diana, can you believe it?” Jaimie answers in a raised tone, looking at everyone and wondering if it is all a dream.
“In my wildest dreams, I would never have guessed or even asked for this…but now I can see that it is the only way that we can successfully find our little sisters,” Marie states.
“I agree with you Marie, but guess what? There is something that makes this so much better…” Getting up from the ground, Diana motions for them to follow her, “Quickly… come… follow me I have something to show you.” She begins to run through a garden of palm trees with scattered Anthurium’s and their colorful flowers and vines covering the pathway to Treasure Cove.
“Where is she goi
ng, and what is she so excited about?”
“It looks like we are going in the same direction she took us the last time we followed her.”
Coming to the water where they had been the previous day in their own minds, but since the Earth had balanced itself, it had been years ago in their own dimension, Diana yells as she continues running, “Don’t stop at this pool. Forget about the treasure that we saw in the water, there is something around this curve that I want you to see.”
“Darn I wanted to get a hand full of gems,” each sister thought as they ran past the treasure, trying to follow Diana as quickly as they can pushing the low hanging branches out of their way and jumping over the palm tree trunks.
Jaci has decided to stay behind and begins to walk into the crystal clear water. Kristen waits on dry ground prodding her to go with the rest of the sisters.
“Come on Jaci, Diana told us to forget about the treasure,” Kristen insists.
“I just want to grab a couple. You never know when we might need them.”
“Well, you can’t dive into the water, besides Diana would hear the splash and wonder why you are wet!”
“Darn, you’re right…what shall I do?” Jaci asks, standing with her hands in her pockets and her head down.
“Look behind you, down by your feet,” Kristen says as she points to a nearby rock just barely out of the water. “The sun’s ray’s made two of the gems sparkle as the palm branches were pushed aside by our sisters.”
Looking where Kristen directed her to look Jaci comments with a smile, “Hmmm, they must have fallen out of one of the trunks.” She picks up a beautiful clear diamond and the purest red colored ruby. “Wow, these are beautiful! Where shall I put them?” she questions, overcome with excitement.
“Put them down your blouse in the crease of your breasts, you are big enough now that no one will ever see them there and they will be safe.”
“Great idea…” she chuckles “we had better get going.”
“I’ll race you Jaci. I bet I can catch up to the sisters before you can.”
“Ha, my legs are longer than yours Kristen, I’ll pass you up in a second.” Jaci smiles and climbs out of the pool.