by Perrin Briar
“We’re not going anywhere,” Aaron said.
Jim gave Aaron a flat stare.
“Of course you are,” he said. “You’ll at least make the attempt. You might even succeed. It was to be expected. You’re not idiots.”
“Maybe my gift isn’t so good if it sends someone off to sleep like this,” Aaron said. “That’s usually the sign of a boring story.”
“They entertain the captain,” Jim said with a shrug. “That’s all that matters.”
He sighed. It took a toll on his constitution.
“I can’t stop you from going,” he said. “God knows I would if I had a family to run away with.”
“Then come with us,” Aaron said.
“Go with you?” Jim said.
“Why not?” Aaron said. “You’re young, smart. You could join me in my class at school. I’m sure you’ll get used to the surface faster than any of the adults could.”
“Then who would look after the captain?” Jim said.
“What is he to you?” Aaron said. “He’s not just a captain, is he?”
“He’s everything I’ve ever known,” Jim said. “My captain, my family. I cannot go with you. No matter how much I might want to. My place is here. This is where I belong.”
An awkward moment passed between them. Aaron threw embarrassment to the wind and wrapped his arms around the older boy. Jim didn’t know how to respond. He’d probably never encountered this kind of warmth before. He couldn’t respond in any case, his arms were trapped to his sides by Aaron’s embrace. Aaron finally straightened up and looked Jim in the eye.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?” Jim said.
“For saving us,” Aaron said. “For being a friend. For being kind. For everything.”
It seemed a natural end in the conversation. He pushed the cabin door open and left.
Jim, carved from wood, for so long unable to feel a thing, touched his arms where he could still feel the pressure of Aaron’s embrace, and smiled.
He caught himself in the antique oval mirror on the wall. He wiped the smile off his face and stood up, back straight. It would do him no good for someone to see weakness in him. He had to be hard and unflinching, like varnished wood. But in his quiet moments he would think of Aaron, his only real friend, and weep.
13
AARON FOUND his family right where they said they would be—in the room Jim had located for them.
“Is the rest of the ship asleep?” Bryan said.
“Yes,” Aaron said. “As far as I can tell.”
“Good,” Bryan said. “Let’s go.”
They had precious little to take with them—a few apples remained from the package Jim had given them, and a few small glass containers of clean water.
Cassie shut the cabin door behind them and then followed the family up the steps to the deck. Bryan was at the front, peering this way and that. It was silent. There wasn’t a mouse to make a noise. They turned the corner and placed their items in the ship’s boat.
Then Bryan and Zoe grabbed a rope each and began to pull on them, raising the boat off the deck. It swung side to side, striking the ship and making an empty hollow thud. They looked up at the crow’s nest, but there was no sign of anyone up there. Emanuel would be under rum’s hypnotic spell by now. Not even the dead could wake him.
Bryan was more right than he realized.
14
EMANUEL, the consummate drunk, was indeed unconscious. He lay in a pool of his own blood, it having spewed from the gash on the top of his head. He was below deck, beside an empty hollow in a wall on the starboard side.
The space was large enough to conceal half a dozen bottles, with straw jammed to hold them in place should the ship veer to one side. Otherwise the bottles would clink against the hull and alert anyone within hearing distance of their existence.
But the bottles were no longer there.
Smithy had taken it upon himself to follow Emanuel to his secret stash, a strategy that always ended in failure, and would have this time too if it wasn’t for Smithy’s enthusiastic sprinkling of Deadly Nightshade over Emanuel's evening meal, slowing him and his senses.
It was this disadvantage that had made following Emanuel a breeze. Usually he had the ability to lose his followers. He couldn’t walk in a straight line most days, and yet performed the most breathtaking gymnastics to evade his pursuers.
Even today, poisoned as he was, he took a couple of wrong turns and Smithy almost lost his trail. But Smithy caught the flap of Emanuel’s oversized jacket around a corner and continued, hot on his heels once more.
Eventually Emanuel came to his hidden stash. Smithy moved into position armed with a solid length of wood to smack Emanuel across the head, laying him out cold.
But Smithy wasn’t going to enjoy his quarry by himself if he didn’t hurry. Emanuel was meant to be on lookout duty. Smithy was quick to climb the rigging to the crow’s nest. He carted the bottles up with him.
Finally, out of breath and beyond exhausted, Smithy could take advantage of his isolated location. Nothing would happen this close to the coast, and Smithy needn’t worry about drinking himself blind.
He chuckled to himself as he took a swig from a bottle. He’d finished half a bottle before he realized what he’d done. He decided to pace himself. The last thing he wanted was to poison his success, to be caught unconscious alongside a contingent of stolen bottles.
It would then be obvious who the perpetrator of Emanuel’s death was, but that didn’t pose a big problem. He would simply share his cache with whomever discovered him. That person must then also suffer an accident. But it was not ideal. It would quickly become too complicated, and if there was one thing Smithy did not like, it was complications.
And so it came as somewhat of a surprise when he heard a soft thudding sound from the bow of the ship. At first he took it for the water knocking against the hull, but there was a certain quality to it, higher pitched like it was coming from a smaller boat.
He got unsteadily to his feet, needing to grip the edge of the crow’s nest with both hands and crouch slightly to prevent himself from pitching forward over the side.
His stomach protested, feeling like it was turning sideways. He was certain he would hurl at any moment. He got himself under control, and when he was able to open his eyes again he saw two images. He focused, and the two images became one. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at.
The family, the one he himself had helped rescue, and thereafter hadn’t been allowed to enjoy, was hastily lowering the ship’s boat over the side and into the sea. They seemed to be in a hurry to get away. It was clear to him even in his inebriated state what their intention was. It was written clearly over their faces, in their actions.
Smithy reached for the bell. He missed by three inches. But he couldn’t help grinning. Today was his lucky day.
15
THE SHIP’S BOAT touched down on the water’s surface with a single soft slap. They were going to get away. There was no one who could stop them now.
“Zoe, Cassie,” Bryan said. “You climb down first.”
No argument. They gripped the ropes and began to scale. They used the soles of their feet to stop and rest every few yards. It was hard work, but soon they were in the ship’s boat.
Bryan felt no need for him and Aaron to rush, though he couldn’t deny his excitement to get away from the Mary Celeste as fast as he was physically capable. Their simple plan had worked out, with no serious hitches.
And then the bell rang. High in the crow’s nest.
The blood fell from Bryan’s face. No. It wasn’t possible. Emanuel was meant to be unconscious, barely able even to breathe. But there was no denying the figure cast in shadow in the crow’s nest. And he was vertical.
“Escape!” the figure shouted, pointing in Bryan’s direction. “Escape!”
Bryan bristled at the speaker’s voice. No, he thought. Anyone but him. Soon he would hear the thud of heavy bo
ots and hard muscles on the stairs, tearing up the deck.
“Quick!” Bryan shouted at Aaron.
He picked Aaron up bodily and leaned him over the side, saving him a few precious seconds in his climb down the rope. Aaron’s arms were still weak and scrawny, despite all the work he had done recently. It would take him some time to descend to the ship’s boat.
“Get up you lazy bilge rats!” Smithy shouted as he descended from the crow’s nest. “They’re getting away! Get up you scum suckers!”
Bryan vaulted over the side and grabbed the rope, letting gravity pull him down as far as he dared before tightening his grip around the coarse fibers. He passed the rope through his hands in record time to the ship’s boat.
“Get us loose!” Bryan said to Zoe. “Quick!”
He grabbed the rope and began pulling it loose from the pulley system. Zoe was working at hers too, but she was having some difficulty.
“I can’t!” Zoe said. “It’s stuck!”
Click!
Clack!
Click!
Clack! Clack!
The family looked up into the beady eyes of a dozen small black holes pointed at them. Pistol and rifle barrels. Bryan held up his hands. The rest of the family followed suit.
“Well, well, well,” Stoneheart said. “Look what we have here. Someone go check if we’re sinking. The rats are fleeing us.”
The men chuckled.
“Who’s responsible for raising the alarm?” Stoneheart said. “Who was on lookout duty?”
“I was, sir,” Smithy said, pushing his way to the front. “I noticed the crow’s nest was empty and thought it best to have eyes in it. Lucky I did.”
“Well done, Smithy,” Stoneheart said, slapping him on the back. “Jim, double rum rations for the esteemed Smithy. Behold, sailor. You have prevented a tragedy. Haul the family back up here. Their place is with us.”
“Please, let us go,” Bryan said. “We’re of no use to you. There’s nothing we can say or do that will endanger you.”
“So everyone looks until they become dangerous,” Stoneheart said.
“We don’t know anyone here,” Bryan said. “There’s nothing we can tell them, nothing we know.”
“You know the location of my ship, how many men are on board, who each of my men are,” Stoneheart said. “That’s a great deal more than anyone else knows.”
He pointed a pistol at Bryan’s head.
“Now, if you please,” he said.
Bryan sighed and slid the rope through the pulley. The men on either side of the captain pulled on the ropes. The ship’s boat gradually began to rise with juddering movements.
“I’m sorry,” Bryan said softly. “I failed us.”
“You didn’t fail,” Zoe said. “We were just unlucky, that’s all.”
The ship’s boat rose until the family members were eye to eye with the crew.
“Haven’t I been kind to you, Bryan?” Stoneheart said. “To your family? I gave you protection. I gave you food. I gave you water. I gave you purpose. And this is how you repay me?”
“We don’t belong here,” Bryan said. “We didn’t mean to offend you.”
“If you wanted to go, why didn’t you just ask?” Stoneheart said. “Don’t you like me?”
The ridiculousness of the situation almost made Bryan smile, but he daren’t laugh in a pirate’s face. He would beg and grovel if it meant keeping his family safe.
“No,” Bryan said. “Of course not. You’re a friend to me, to all of us. You’re right. I should have come and spoken with you first.”
“No you shouldn’t,” Stoneheart said. “I would have denied your request. And then I would have installed additional measures to ensure you didn’t attempt further foolishness. Now I’m going to have to take one of my gifts away from you. Do I take food, water, or protection?
“Clearly I can’t take away the first two. Without them you would starve and die, and then who would carry out your duties? So I have no choice but to take away my protection. From now on, the men will treat your ladies however they see fit.”
More than one man licked his lips at this proposition, and Bryan knew there was no way he was going to be able to fight them all off, but God knew he would do his utmost.
“Now, come back onto the Celeste peacefully and we’ll put this whole ugly business behind us,” Stoneheart said.
Bryan turned to look over the ship’s boat’s side at the sea below. It writhed and wrestled with the ship’s hull. He doubted they would get away, but their fate couldn’t be much worse than what awaited them aboard the Mary Celeste. He held Zoe’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She squeezed back. They were going to jump, all of them. It was likely to be the last thing any of them would do.
“Captain,” Jim said. “Don’t you recall the special mission you gave specifically to the family?”
The crew turned to face Jim. So did Stoneheart.
“Last night, before turning in for the night, you told them you wanted them to go onto the land, into British territory, to find a copy of the British map and bring it to you,” Jim said. “All in the pursuit of locating the hidden treasure. You’ve sent pirates in the past, but they were always quickly identified by the British. By sending a family who could pass for British, you will overcome this problem.”
Stoneheart’s eyes narrowed. To admit he didn’t recall any such order was to admit he had a problem with his memory. To call Jim a liar was almost as bad. The boy held a special place within the crew, and it could tear the men in two, forming two factions.
But it went deeper than that. To lose Jim, his only confidant and carer, was a direct threat to his own existence. Stoneheart’s indecision was palpable. If Jim was killed, who was going to take care of him when he had his funny turns?
Aaron shook his head. He knew what Jim was doing. He was putting himself in the firing line, directly between the captain and family. What Jim would do if push came to shove, Aaron didn’t know, but perhaps the threat alone was enough to discourage him.
The captain turned his head to one side and pursed his lips.
“Yes,” he said. “Yes, of course. It’s the smart thing to do, naturally. It’s what needs to be done. They’re disposable. If they fail, there’s no great loss. Many of the British would recognize my crew on sight, having been surrounded by their wanted posters their whole lives. The family can go places we can’t. Yes. Very clever of me. Quite ingenious. Very well.”
Smithy gritted his teeth, face glowing bright red like he might blow. Stoneheart turned back to the family.
“You shall find the second half of the map and bring it to me,” he said.
Bryan let himself smile—on the inside. He couldn’t believe they were going to get away. They were never going to come back here, ever. Not without an armada at their back. Bryan nodded in response to the captain’s command.
“We will,” he said.
“Excellent,” Stoneheart said, scratching his chin with his pistol, in deep thought. “But how am I supposed to trust you? I hardly know you. I’m meant to just watch you row off into the sunset and hope you’ll bring back what you find? No, no, no. That doesn’t sound much like the captain of the Mary Celeste to me.”
Stoneheart already knew what his plan was, of course, but there was no fun in telling someone outright. He needed to make the most of it, to draw out the tension and make the family as fearful as possible. It was like watching him with the prisoners of the fishing trawler, knowing the terrible outcome—the only possible outcome—but unable to do a thing about it, except perhaps to make the situation worse. Bryan waited with his heart in his throat.
“I could threaten you with death if you failed to return with the object of my desire,” Stoneheart said, “but as Jim has already clearly pointed out, there is no guarantee you will return even if you did find the map. Why, you might even take it to my enemies.”
“No,” Zoe said. “We would never-”
Stoneheart waved his hand, cutti
ng her argument short. He didn’t want to hear anyone’s voice but his own. He pointed a finger at her and glared with squinting eyes.
“But of course,” Stoneheart said with a lazy toss of his arm. “It’s actually very simple. If I can’t threaten you, I’ll simply have to do it with one of your loved ones. I’m sure that’s the way I originally planned it.”
He turned to look at Jim.
“That sounds like me, in any case,” he said. “That is, unless I forgot my original plan?”
It was a challenge. To Jim. None of the other crewmembers appeared to pick up on it, or perhaps they just didn’t want to. But the family felt it, heard it in Stoneheart’s voice, in his tone. There was no wriggle room.
Jim shook his head.
“No, sir,” he said. “I believe that was your original plan.”
“Excellent,” Stoneheart said. “But I’m not cruel. I shall allow you to decide who will be the one to stay behind.”
Bryan opened his mouth, but Aaron spoke first.
“I’ll stay,” he said.
“Aaron…” Zoe said.
“I’ll be all right,” Aaron said. “It has to be me.”
And though Zoe knew he was right, that didn’t change how she felt at leaving him behind. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. She locked eyes on Stoneheart.
“Please, don’t take my boy,” she said.
“He’s your final choice?” Stoneheart said, eyes flashing.
“We’ll come back,” Zoe said to Aaron. “You keep yourself safe, do you hear me?”
Aaron nodded. The scene brought a tear to a couple of the pirates’ eyes, focused intently on the mother and her son. Perhaps they recalled their own kids, or a similar scene in their own pasts. But it made Bryan feel a little more confident about their precarious situation.
If they could empathize with Aaron, they would be less likely to want to treat him badly. In fact, they were more likely to protect him and take him under their wing.