by Thomas Hayes
Chapter Nine
Before I had the chance to comprehend that Peter was telling me to fight off pirates, three of them charged me, down the aisle. Knowing it was my only chance, I swung my sword as hard as I could. Surprisingly, they backed off—turns out, even if you don’t know how to use a sword, if you swing it crazily enough, people will keep their distance. Throwing all common sense to the wind, I ran at the pirates, slashing my sword and yelling. They looked to each other, shocked. Little did they know I was almost passing out from fear—but hey, I had them fooled for a moment.
“Emily!” Peter shouted. “Behind you!”
I turned and saw Smee running at me, brandishing his sword. I looked to my left, spotting an oil lamp on the wall. Taking a chance, I ripped it off and threw it to the ground, shattering it. Oil flew everywhere, drenching the carpet. When Smee reached me, I quickly snatched a candle from a table and threw it where the lamp had shattered. Immediately, a burst of fire erupted, thanks to the oil. Smee stumbled back, shielding himself from the flames.
“Get out, Emily!” Peter yelled. “Hurry! As fast as you can!”
I looked to the door. Thanks to the fire, the pirates had stepped away from it. They were confused, unprepared for this turn of events.
“Oh, Peter,” Hook said, shaking his head. “You were right, you know—you should have stayed in your little bubble.”
He swung his sword and landed a blow on Peter’s arm, sending him to the floor.
“This isn’t our little game anymore,” Hook said. “I’m not the Captain you once knew.” He held out his glowing hook. “I have to answer to the witch now. And I can’t stop until everyone is gone from here.” He thought a moment. “That even includes you, dear Peter. I’m sorry. She says you have to go from this place.”
Another burst of energy erupted from Hook, blasting Peter. He was thrown by the red flash and crashed through the back door of the passenger car and into the next car, which was pitch black. Suddenly, he was gone.
Hook climbed through the door and followed Peter, leaving me with the pirates. The fire from the oil had grown more intense, and even though I didn’t want to leave Peter, I knew I had to get out. I looked to the door I came through, and with the violent heat all around me, I ran towards it and jumped out, instantly feeling the air change from hot to cool as I tumbled to the ground. I had barely gotten to my feet when I heard someone shout.
“There she is! Get her!”
I turned and saw the pirates outside the train sprinting toward me. I tried to run but stumbled, dazed from my jump.
“No, leave her to me!” one of the pirates yelled. “She’s all mine!”
A pirate dressed in black broke to the front of the pack, his arms pumping. He wore a black bandana on his head, a patch over his left eye, and black gloves on his hands. When he was only a few feet away from me, I snapped out of it and ran towards the forest, hoping I could escape into the dark trees, but I was so weak and discombobulated from all the insanity that I couldn’t get my legs to function. Soon, I tripped, crashing to the ground, and when I rolled over, I saw the pirate had caught up with me. He grabbed both of my arms and yanked me up.
“I’ve got you now, you little brat!” he said. “The Captain doesn’t care much for children like you who interrupt our robberies!”
I tried to fight him off, but he held me tighter, pulling me close. He brought his face to mine.
“Listen,” he whispered. “Stop fighting me. Stop. I’m a friend of Peter’s.”
His voice was completely different than the one he had been using before. I stopped struggling and looked at his face. I was shocked to see his skin was green.
“We don’t have much time,” he said. “The other pirates aren’t going to buy this much longer.”
I looked to the other pirates. They watched us from afar, near the train. They hooted and hollered.
“Bring her back here, Bart! Show the Captain what you’ve found!”
“Aye, Bill!” the green-skinned pirate shouted. “I’ve got a live one here!” He whispered to me. “Listen, you don’t have time to do anything but trust me. Just know that I’m a friend of Peter’s—I’m here to help you. So, you need to punch me, as hard as you can, in the stomach. I’m gonna fall and let you get away. Then, you’re gonna run to the middle of the bridge, and jump.”
“Jump?” I still didn’t know if I should trust him, but he clearly was in disguise—he used two totally different voices, and his eye-patch was pretty fake, now that I could see it up close. He also looked much younger than the other pirates—18, 19 years old. The black hair under his bandana was cut short, not long and mangy.
“Yes, jump,” he said. “Into the water. Remember what I said about not having time to do anything but trust me? Well, this is what I was talking about. Because if you don’t, we’ll both be dead. Got it?”
I nodded, even though I didn’t.
“Now punch me, and make it look real. Don’t hold back and—”
I reared my knee back and swung it forward, as hard as I could. Unfortunately for the pirate, I missed his stomach and hit him a little lower. He shouted out and dropped to the ground, curling into a ball. Like he told me to, I ran, in a full sprint, to the bridge, hearing nothing but my panting breath and the wind rushing past my ears. When I was on the middle of the bridge, I looked back to the train.
The other pirates ran at me, across the bridge.
“Get her!” Smee yelled. “Don’t let her get away! Get her, by any means necessary!”
I watched as one of the train’s windows shattered. Peter flew out, followed by Hook. Peter spun around in the air and swung his sword at Hook, but it was clear he was losing, flying much slower than before, and only narrowly escaping Hook’s magical energy blasts.
I looked to the pirates. They stampeded toward me, full of rage. One of them lifted his pistol and took aim, followed by a red flash and a BOOM! in the night. A bullet whizzed past me, barely missing my ear and PINGING! off a steel girder behind me.
“Fire again!” Smee bellowed. “Hook will have our heads if she gets away! Stop her, now!”
Two of the pirates raised their pistols. But, in about five seconds, I knew they wouldn’t need them anymore—they’d reach me, and there would be nothing I could do. I didn’t even have my sword anymore.
Knowing it was my only chance, I closed my eyes, stepped forward, and leapt off the black, steel bridge.