Thieves of the Sea

Before you start reading this, keep in mind I just write for pleasure. I have no real intention to bring it out, but I still would like your feedback on this. Any reaction is welcome. If you review me, I would be glad to review your work. I hope you enjoy the story so far.

Thomas was swabbing the floor while he overheard the mother talking to her friend. Her son, the boy he had helped before, was practising his balance on the railing much to his mother’s discomfort.
“…came back and you know what he did? Well, he went up to her, asked her to leave everything behind and just go away with him. Can you imagine?”
“He really did that?”
“Yes, if I were her, I would have never been so willingly in accepting that kind of proposal. There is nothing in …”
Thomas didn’t really listen to their talking, but picked up some lines from time to time while he was observing the boy testing his luck. He had to admit that, however it was a calm see and almost no wind blowing, the boy was good in keeping his balance despite his age.
“Andrew, get down there! Don’t let me say that again!”
Reluctantly, the boy sat down on the railing, swinging his legs from annoyance. He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Thomas smiled a little watching him.
“Something funny?”
Thomas turned around and looked up at Vaughn towering over him.
“Euh…no, nothing.”
“Get on with it then,” Vaughn said sharp.
Thomas turned his eyes away from him and focused back on the floor. He grabbed the mop and went on.
He thought Vaughn was only pretending to be angry with him, like the captain did, but sometimes he couldn’t really tell. ‘By now, Vaughn must know we’re not trying anything,’ Thomas thought, while seeing him leave. “I thought I had convinced at least him. Maybe I was wrong.”
He pushed the mop back and forth, each time with more force. He was getting frustrated and he knew it. He and Mario were given the most stupid tasks, only to keep them busy. Also because some men were still not able to work. Not that he wasn’t used to it, Valdez was not so different in that. Thomas had only hoped that the captain would start to believe him. On his word. For once.
He sighed and looked up to see the boy on the railing again. The mop dropped from his hands when he couldn’t find him.
The wooden stick of the mop clattered on the deck and Vaughn turned around.
He shouted at Thomas when he saw him going for the railing. “What are you doing! Stop him!”
Thomas ignored him and leaned over the railing, anxiously looking into the water.
His eyes scanned the sea for the little boy. Then a glimpse of what looked like arms waving just above the waves. Then they were gone.
“Man over board,” he heard one of the men next to him cry out.
Thomas didn’t hesitate. He grabbed one of the lines and pulled himself up the railing. “Make that two,” he shouted and, without a moment’s thought, jumped off.
The water was cool and refreshing, but Thomas could not enjoy it. As soon as he came up again he started looking around in the direction he had seen the boy go under. He swam towards it and he could just see the boy go up and then down again. He clearly couldn’t swim and was in trouble. He rushed to him and dove after the boy. The child was kicking and turning in the water but didn’t go back to the surface. Thomas dove deeper and grabbed him by his shirt and arms. The little arms kept moving franticly but Thomas held them firm and with his legs he pushed the boy along with himself back to the surface. The child was so in panic it was difficult for Thomas to swim with him. He was glad when they finally had air to breathe again. Once they were both above the water, the boy clang onto his body. Thomas had to stop him or he would drown him before he’d know it. He told the boy to hold onto his back and to put his arms around his neck. Finally able to swim freely, with the boy on his back, he swam back to the ship. Somewhere midway the boy screamed. Thomas stopped. “Don’t be afraid, we’re almost there.”
The boy’s voice trembled. “There…there is something…”
“You saw something?”
“Yes…there in the water.”
Thomas turned around but didn’t see anything. “It was probably nothing,” he said trying to sound convincing. He could imagine what the boy saw but didn’t want to think of it. “Come on, hold on tight, it’s not that far.”
He continued swimming back, more speed in his strokes this time. However he was quite a good swimmer, he was getting tired nonetheless.
A movement caught his eye, that what he had feared. Immediately, the boy screamed again. “There it is!”
Thomas turned his head to where he had seen the movement and saw the fin of the shark above the water. Coming straight at them.
Luckily the ship was close, ordered by Vaughn to be brought about as soon as Thomas had jumped into the water. Due to its low speed, they could make the turn quite fast to pick them up again.
He could see the ladder to the side and raced toward it to help the boy to reach the steps above them.
The boy started climbing the ladder while the shark dove again. Thomas grabbed the steps and lifted himself out off the water. He was four steps higher when the shark rose up from the water and tried to catch him, but he was too high already. Thomas watched it try two times more and then leave disappointed back to the depths of the sea.
“Here!” Mario threw a cloth to Thomas, as soon as he stood back on deck. He wiped his arms dry and then his face.
“It takes a lot of courage to do that.”
The voice surprised him that the cloth almost dropped from his hands. He pulled the cloth down and looked straight into the intriguing eyes of the girl he knew by the name of Charlotte.
“Not really, you just got to be fast enough.”
The mother of the boy took a step forward. “Thank you so much for bringing him back. Go say thank you, Andrew.”
The boy had a blanket around his shoulders and was still shaking from the cold and the fear.
“Thank you for saving me…”
Thomas smiled and crouched down next to him. “You’re welcome. But do us all a favour and don’t play on the railing anymore. One bath a day is enough.”
The boy nodded and went back to his mother. She hugged him close to her and adjusted the blanket around him to warm him.
As Thomas stood up, he could feel again the rib he had broken the day before. He winced.
“What’s all this? What happened?”
Everyone made room for Captain Bradford.
“You again,” he said when he saw Thomas. “What did you do this time?”
Almost ashamed that it was about him again, Thomas turned his eyes away from the captain. Charlotte saw how uncomfortable Thomas was and spoke instead.
“Father, you should give him more credit. He just saved Andrew.”
“He what?!”
Richard’s eyes moved to his sister and her son. He was all wet, just like Thomas.
“So he did,” the captain mumbled. “How did that happen?”
“He was playing on the railing and fell into the water,” Richard’s sister explained. Richard looked down at Andrew. “Is that true?”
The boy nodded as he still shook too much from the cold to say a word. Richard let out a grunt.
“Fine, Anne, take him below and get him some dry clothes.
He turned around.
“You two, come with me.”

Thomas and Mario followed the captain downstairs into the long corridor. Vaughn walked close behind them.
At the end, Captain Bradford opened a door and stepped into the room.
It was a sober cabin with a big desk in the middle, a carved wooden chair behind it and two simple chairs in front of it. On the left side were cupboards and on the right the berth for sleeping.
“Sit down,” he said, not looking at the both of them behind him.
Thomas didn’t know whether to obey or not. He shared a glance with Mario but his friend had also no idea what to do.
The captain kept standing with his back to them, looking out the window at the back of the cabin, his hands clasped behind his back.
Thomas looked over his right shoulder to Vaughn. He only gave a single nod to the chair Thomas was standing next to.
Thomas moved to the front of the chair and while sitting down he turned to Mario to tell him to do the same.
Awaiting what the captain was about to say, he let his eyes go over the big desk. A compass and a sextant lay on a large map showing the Caribbean sea and all trade routes and currents.
“Why are you doing this?”
Thomas lifted his head up in an instant. He didn’t know what to answer so he waited.
“Why are you helping us, saving us from…perilous situations?”
Thomas heard the frustration in the man’s voice.
When he still didn’t reply, the captain turned around to face them.
“Well, answer me!”
Thomas dropped his head. “You probably won’t believe me.”
Bradford put his hands on his desk and leaned over to him. “Try me.”
Thomas looked up to him and said without blinking his eyes, “This is who I am.”
The captain frowned. “Who you are?”
“I’m no thief…or murderer. I never choose this life.”
“But you’re a pirate nonetheless. So I repeat my question. Why do you do this?”
Thomas took a moment to find the right words. “To prevent myself from becoming the monster I fear so much. Robbing and killing for the pleasure of it, like Valdez.” Thomas looked him in the eye. “I’m afraid to death to become that.”
The captain stared at him and took a deep breath. With a tired sigh he dropped his head and leaned back to sit down himself.
“What am I to do with you two?”
It was a rhetorical question.
He sighed again and put the fingers of his hands against each other while thinking.
“It would be easier if you were like any other pirate out there. That wouldn’t give me so much trouble with my conscience.”
Thomas didn’t know if he could take that as a complement or a blame.
The captain looked over at Vaughn leaning against the wall at the other side of the cabin, next to the door. He just grinned and lifted his shoulders.
“If it makes you feel more comfortable, you can still take us to Port Royal and turn as in for the pirates we are.”
Mario was immediately alarmed by his words. “Thomas!”
“I wouldn’t blame you for it. It’s the truth. We did all those terrible things and we deserve our punishment.”
“There,” Bradford cried out, pointing with a finger at him. “You do it again! You could say all of this to save your skin, but I still get the feeling you are being honest to me.”
Thomas dared to smile a little. “I know it must be strange, but I am honest to you. I am.”
Captain Bradford grinned and rolled with his eyes. “How can I possibly turn you in after all you have done for us?” He counted on his fingers. “First, you deceive your own captain to save us all.”
“With risk of our own lives,” Mario added.
The captain nodded slightly and went on. “Second, you pull off a very dangerous manoeuvre where I thought you were going to kill us. Yet, I must admit, you knew what you were doing.”
Thomas felt somewhat flattered but didn’t show it.
“And third, you’re the only one who dared to go after my nephew, without hesitation, and saved him too. I have never seen anyone take such action. Not to mention you’re still so young.”
“Everyone could do it.”
“But you did it, that counts. So, what reason could I still have to take you to the authorities in Port Royal? I can’t think of any.”
Mario’s face brightened as he heard the captain speak. Thomas however kept calm. “Does this mean we’re free to go?”
“If that is what you want, I won’t stop you.”
Thomas shared another look with Mario. “We need to get to land as fast as possible. Where are we exactly?”
Captain Bradford leaned forward in his chair and looked at the map on the desk. He traced his finger across some lines and stopped just beneath the left side of Puerto Rico.
Thomas leaned in to see better. He frowned as he tried to come up with a plan. He studied the map and the possible routes.
“I suppose you are still going to Port Royal?”
The captain looked somewhat surprised by his question.
“That was already my intention before I met you, yes. Why do you ask?”
Thomas didn’t reply and then suddenly looked up, like he woke up from a daydream.
“Nothing. I was just thinking,” he started, “you believe your sails will hold till you arrive at Port Royal.”
“Yes.”
“But I fear if we get another storm over us, we will not make it. My advice is to go into port first,” he put a finger on the map, “here.”
Captain Bradford moved forward to see what he was pointing at. “Santo Domingo?”
Thomas nodded.
“That’s a Spanish town.”
“Is that a problem,” Thomas asked surprised.
The captain heaved a sigh. “Not if we were not at war.”
“That was years ago. The war is over.”
“The war is never over.”
Thomas sighed. “I know what you mean, but this is different. I can’t believe they hold a grudge against all the British.”
“Doesn’t matter, I don’t want to find out if they do.”
Thomas leaned back in his seat. “So you prefer a French port then? We were at war with them too, you know.”
“The only port we can trust, is Port Royal and that’s where were going.”
Thomas stood up. “It’s too far. Trust me, it can’t take it any further.” He leaned with his hands on the desk. “You should get into port, now you still can.”
“No, I will not go into port. No Spanish, nor French.
Thomas dropped his head in disagreement.
“Why is it so important to you anyway? All you need is to get on land, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but I want to make sure you’re all safe. Otherwise my actions would have been for nothing.”
“I think that’s my job, making sure everybody is safe.”
Thomas couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, of course it is.”
“Or are you going to take over my ship again?”
Thomas lifted an eyebrow. “Only if it’s necessary.”
“Ha, once a pirate, always a pirate.”
“Aw, that hurts,” Thomas said playfully.
Both of them laughed while Mario just sat there and watched them.
“No, seriously, I know you mean well, but I want to carry on as I do now. However we will stay close to shore so that, should we need to, we can run her aground in a controlled way and still have the possibility to get on land. Does that sound better to you then?”
Thomas sat down again. “Much better.”
“Meanwhile we can find you a spot to drop you two off.”
“I already had one in mind.”
“You do, where?”
“Sale Trou.” He located it on the map with his finger “It’s a small, quiet place next to a village called Fesle. It’s peaceful.” He turned to Mario. “No one will recognise us there.”
Mario nodded.
“And it will be easy to go up north.”
“Ah yes, to Tortuga I heard.” He waited a moment and then continued. “Why would you go back there? You’re obviously not as bad as your captain. If you would leave now, he wouldn’t even know.”
Thomas closed his eyes and shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why,” the captain asked with a frown.
“We can never step out of it. He won’t let us. He’ll hunt us down like animals. Mario and I have seen it before.”
“Seems like you’re his prisoners.”
Thomas looked away. “Maybe we are,” he mumbled.
“And there is absolutely no way to escape? Even now?”
Thomas shrugged. “There is one way.” He looked up at captain Bradford. “I would have to kill him to get my freedom back.”
“After all I’ve heard and seen from him, no one would blame you for that.”
“No, I guess not.” Thomas said quietly.
“Than what’s stopping you? Are you afraid?”
“Fear is not the problem. My rage against him makes me forget any fear.” He sighed. “No, it just can’t be done. He’s too cunning. Too smart to trick him.”
“Not as smart as you when you helped us.”
“Yes, but I barely made it. He feels it when someone is trying to lure him into a trap.”
“And when one is deserting him,” Mario added.
“You have to be as cunning as him to deceive him.” Thomas heaved a tired sigh. “So, no, we’re going back. We don’t have a choice.”
“I see.” Bradford leaned forward to the map. “So, Sale Trou it is then. It’s very small indeed. Not too much people living there I heard.”
Thomas nodded. “The less people see us, the better.”
“Your only fear is to be recognised, isn’t it?”
“If you are hunted for the same reasons as Valdez or any pirate for that matter, you don’t want to be caught.”
“I can understand that. However, should you somehow in some way stand trial, I would be glad to convince everyone that you’re a different kind of man.”
“Let us hope it never comes to that.”
“Of course not. I don’t want to see our saviour hanged.”
Thomas grinned.
“Well, that was all then I guess.” The captain stood up and gave a signal to Vaughn. “Francis, get them a cabin for the rest of the journey.”
“Yes, s-“
“No,” Thomas cut him off, “lock us back up.”
Mario grabbed his arm. “What are you-”
“No, wait, hear me out,” Thomas said to him. “No one has to know we are actually free again.” He looked back at captain Bradford. “People talk, more than you’d like them to. What happened here will surely get back to Valdez. One way or another.”
“Then what do you propose?”
“Like I said, lock us up again in the hold like before. When the time has come, you get us out. Best during the night.”
“That nobody sees you leave,” the captain added.
“Exactly. It will look like we both have escaped and gone off. You only have to make up a good story to convince your crew and your passengers.”
“No problem, we’ll think of something.”
Thomas nodded satisfied.
Captain Bradford stood up and invited Thomas and Mario back to the door.
“As soon as night has fallen and we have reached Sale Trou, we’ll let you know.”


Next chapter: "Thieves of the sea"