The ship docked alongside the pirate ship in a secluded little inlet on the south side of the island. The island wasn’t large by any standards and it certainly was a departure from anything that had been charted previously by mapmakers. Outlined with seemingly rows of palm trees of all sizes…well…palm trees and palmetto trees, it easily resembled a small island of jungle behind the tropical trees.
There were hints of civilization the closer the ships docked in that isolated harbor. There were no modern day concrete and steel docks, though there existed a home made good old fashioned wood dock that wasn’t very impressive. It looked old, worn and torn…splintery and rough. Quite honestly, it looked like a perfect traditional pirate dock. Bright green moss seemed to glow as it grew all over the lower half of those docks.
The water in the harbor was see through…like a water color sun dress with the sun shining brightly behind it at the right angle. It was enough to be jaw dropping. One could easily say that hundreds if not thousands of fish were schooled all over that harbor. And, anyone could attest that there were dozens of species of fish as well.
Because of the narrowness and shallowness of the harbor, the boats needed to set anchor about a half mile from shore. The mood on the boat was that this setting of anchor just might be the last that this yacht was ever going to experience. By the time the ships had set anchor and the people occupying those ships made their way into the smaller row boats the pirates used, it seemed as though a quiet depressive spell was cast.
The little inlet bay was just barely that long to begin to keep the ships somewhat secluded. There were no islands that were visible to the naked eye in any direction, giving everyone that much more of an isolated feel. It was eerie, but then again, after losing three of the original group of twenty two during the first few hours of this misadventure, eerie had already become passé.
Only eighteen of the remaining nineteen de-shipped. It was a somber stream of humanity that made it into the smaller row boats for the forty five minute trip to the shore. Of course, they had to row those boats as well.
Several of the captives were having serious issues with their strength. They were permitted to sit while the others rowed. The rowing turned into a blisterfest pretty quickly, but no one else was available to take over the rowing duties, so the first set of rowers had to stick it out for the whole journey to shore. The boat was so quiet in human volume that one could hear the fish smack up against the sides of the boat.
Upon reaching the shore amongst the three foot waves that helped guide them, several pirates came out to help carry Bones to shore. The waves from the tides made him weaker, causing him to vomit three times during the ride in. Conversely, Stowe had a bumpier ride with less attention, but held up much better than his leadership counterpart. While decidedly severely seasick, he kept what cookies he had inside of him. One of his personal pride statements that he was trying to adhere to was to not show weakness in the face of adversity. Stowe was very much a motivator and an inspiration to the people he came in contact with. There was an air about him that screamed ‘the ultimate leader’. And he believed that living by that credo in particular was priority important.
Stowe was also carried to shore by several friends, knowing that it was vital to keep the sea water out of his stitched wounds as much as possible. Jim was so focused on his pain and wounds that he completely lost track of Dyane. Of course, having Summer by his side helped immensely to deflect his focus from the absence of Dyane and closer to dealing with the pain that enveloped him. And it was only Summer who truly knew what Jim’s physical and mental condition was. She felt that no one else needed to know at present, that there was enough concern about their own welfares to occupy their time.
By the time everyone had made it to shore, there was no confusion or identity crisis concerning who was in control of things. The posture of everyone involved gave any doubters their answers. The pirates were walking tall and broad. The vacationers were hunched over and walking gingerly and slow. They appeared to be beaten down in status and hope.
Rusty clung to Bones’ side as he was transported to an elegantly looking home, tropical in nature, that was not quite a quarter mile from the beach and on the outskirts of what seemed to be thick jungle shrubbery. Bones also had another female that was walking along side his carried body. She was somewhat younger and looked like a close version of Rusty, sans the wrinkles and the leathery skin. She had the eyes of Rusty, the same type that could make one fall in love in an instant with her…yet in that same instant could shoot daggers right through one in a cruel mean slaying.
She was eighteen or so and on a frame of five feet ten inches, she looked considerably overweight in an athletic way. She was the daughter of Bones and Rusty, and no daughter of theirs would ever be plain fat. Yes, she was thick, but she carried it well. Her name was tattooed across her shoulder blades, just below her somewhat long thick hair. It read Jewel.
This was her first appearance to Stowe’s weary group. Her unique beauty caught the eyes of the travelers, and the sharp tongues of two college girls who had attended the trip out of Paradise Key. Eryan Bangs and Gianna Anthony, both college friends of Summer Sheridan from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area suddenly had a mouthful to say after remaining absolutely quiet up to this point.
“Who the heck is that?” wondered Gianna.
“She ain’t all that” critiqued Eryan.
“She ain’t all what?” asked Gianna.
“She ain’t all that” repeated Eryan.
“I don’t know. She looks like she’s pretty hot to me!” stated Gianna with a smirk.
“She ain’t hot. She’s a pirate.”
“Sounds like you’re a little jealous…”
“Jealous my ass. She’s a flipping pirate. What don’t you understand?”
“I understand she’s a pirate. Big deal. I’m just saying she’s cute for a pirate. Anyway, you think she wants to be a pirate?”
“When did you come out of the closet?” Eryan smarted off.
“What are you talking about? Like eeeewww. Get serious” Gianna spouted dramatically. “We talk about girls all the time.”
“Not pirate girls…”
“Nope, not pirate girls. But I’m just saying…”
“Just saying?”
“Just saying she’s cute.”
“She’s not cute, she’s fat like me…” said Eryan, a college volleyball player and ex-softball player.
“You’re not fat and neither is she…” Gianna argued.
“You can say that because you’re the skinniest thing on the face of this earth. You turn sideways and you disappear. God Gianna, you make Taylor Swift look like a pumpkin.”
“You making fun of me?” accused Gianna, who really was a college swimmer.
“Always” blasted Eryan with a smile.
“Anyways, you are a jock. You’re supposed to be heavier. I just swim. So I’m naturally skinny” philosophized Gianna. “That Jewel chick is bigger than you, but she’s got a cute face. She just does. Her eyes and smile remind me of Kate Hudson.”
“Kate Hudson is as skinny as you. How can she remind you of Kate Hudson?” asked Eryan.
“Her eyes and smile, dumbass…not her body” she stated rather bluntly while giggling.
Eryan laughed.
The two girls had finally come out of their shell of shock from the morning takeover. Strange conversation as it was, it continued. While the topic was still Jewel, they discussed about meeting her and picking her brain to find out what it’s like to be a pirate girl…and of course if that’s really what she wants to be.
The girls were best friends with Summer, who was still by the side of Jim Stowe.
While Rusty and Bones sheltered themselves from everyone in the confines of their residence, Summer and Jim were set up outside on a summer-resortlike lounge chair about eight inches up above the sand. Summer’s main concern for Jim now was to keep the sand away from his fresh wounds. Considering the soft breezes blowing and that sand pretty much is everywhere, it was a formidable challenge.
There were no real quarters for pirate prisoners. There was no housing, and no yard with a barbed wire fence. It was pretty much a casual situation with armed pirate guards in a designated area on a corner of the beach. Since there were really only two places to run if there was an escape (jungle or beach to water and swim until eaten by a barracuda or shark), there wasn’t a great worry about such an escape.
Alan Mayes, self proclaimed leader while Jim was recovering, was still very much subduing the tension and stress that overcame him while dealing with Briggs over water. Mayes was a ticking time bomb and the group could sense that he was going to blow very soon. That was very unusual for him, but seeing the stress erupt with having a front row seat to his brother’s murder, as well as to all the violence, murder and mayhem since, one could understand why he was behaving as such. He nervously kept an eye on everyone around him, especially Briggs. He sensed that he could very well be next and there was no way that he wanted to end up like his brother, Scotty.
Upon arriving on shore, Alan helped guide everyone together to the area that Briggs had designated. With Ramon, Razor and two other burly looking ugly pirates guarding the captives, Alan made sure that each captive was alright for the moment. He chatted with each one about keeping their behavior and he went on to say that only he should get upset with Briggs or any of the other pirates. He talked about the need for no more loss of life. Each prisoner understood. Each had had time now to get their emotions back into control.
So Alan took it upon himself to revisit his conversation with Briggs. He was cautious.
“Hey Briggs…when can we get some water?”
Briggs just looked at him, acknowledging him physically, but appeared to ignore him verbally.
“Come on Briggs. Why this hard ass act? You already have captured us. You’ve won. We all need some water. Come on, Briggs” he pleaded.
Briggs stoic posture began to weaken. His rigidness began to soften. Without saying a word, he turned and walked away from Mayes toward the series of houses that were clustered together off the beach. His pace was a normal one, no sense of urgency and no sense of wasting time. He disappeared in the direction of Captain Bones place, but Alan couldn’t be sure.
•••
A few brief moments wandered by and Summer disturbed the trance that Mayes was in.
“Alan, Jim wants to see you.”
Alan snapped out of the funk he was in as he watched Briggs walk away. He looked over at Summer and smiled.
“Yes, right away. How’s he doing, Summer?”
“Actually, he seems to be doing better than I expected.”
“Okay, that sounds good. But exactly what do you mean by ‘better than expected’?” he asked.
“Well after seeing what we saw on the boat, I thought for sure he was going to slowly and painfully slip away.”
“I can understand you thinking that. This certainly has been a tough morning to swallow. Who would have ever thought that this would happen?”
“And Alan, considering the type of medical treatment Jim received…I mean, come on, do you really think that he has a chance of survival?”
“I can only say yes, hope for the best and pray a lot. I’m not ready to lose my best friend. I wasn’t ready to lose my brother. But I did.”
Alan stopped suddenly, his eyes tearing up.
“I mean, what the God damn hell is going on here? How does something like this happen? WHY does something like this happen?” he let loose.
Summer reached for Alan, brought him close and hugged him.
“I’m so sorry Alan…I’m sure we are all very sorry for what happened.”
It was a small gentle and tender moment amidst an ocean of chaotic life turned upside down.
They both walked through a small maze in this area that was mainly open but also possessed a storage shed and small building that presumably housed prisoners.
The storage shed had a variety of tools and functional equipment that was used on boats. It reeked of the sea and dead sea life and seemed to nest billions of sand gnats and horse flies as well as a variety of sand spiders and other creepy crawlies.
“Eeewww” Summer commented as they walked by the insect nests.
“Yeah, make a note for all of us to stay away from here…” Alan dryly stated.
The small building resembled a large bunking area, with wooden shells for bunk beds. There were five of those units that could sleep ten on hardwood slabs. There was no sign of bedding and no other rooms such as a bathroom or shower area. It was void of all other furniture, just an empty room with those five wooden bunks.
They also strolled through several areas of palm trees as they approached the long wooden lounge chair that Jim was lying on. He looked mighty uncomfortable, but the good news was that he was awake, conscious, and alert. Alan shook as his body showed the reaction to how Jim was lying there helpless. Amidst a background of paradise, the scene was anything but just that.
“Al…how are you and the others?” Jim whispered as he reached out with the arm from his good side. “Come sit for a second.”
“Jim, my God, look at you. We’re all fine…the ones who are still with us…”
Alan’s eyes teared up again as he looked at Jim.
“Al…the ones who are still with us? What do you mean?”
“We lost a few of our group, Jim. How much do you remember?”
“What? Who did we lose? You mean…separated from us right?” Jim asked as his whispers became frightfully louder.
“No Jim. I mean, they’re lost…gone. What do you remember?” Alan emphasized.
“Remember? I remember getting slashed by some pirate. I remember charging another and smashing him into a wall. That’s it. Where are we?”
“Jim…grab my hand. So much has happened.”
Tears ran down the faces of Alan and Summer as they tried to remain calm and in control of their emotions.
Jim reached for Alan’s hand. The fright seemed to leap from Alan and onto Jim.
“Tell me, Alan. Tell me what’s happened.”
“Jim, it’s not pretty. We’ve lost three already, and one is still missing.”
“Lost three? Al, what do you mean?”
“Jim, they’re dead. They’re gone.”
“What???!”
“They’re dead Jim…they were killed.”
“What? Oh no! I can’t believe this. Oh my God. Why? How?” Jim asked.
All the weakened calmness that Jim possessed was now squandered. He shifted to frantic quickly.
“Jim, calm down. You can’t bring them back. We’ve got to get you strong again. We need you with us” Alan said.
Summer leaned over Jim, then knelt and leaned over and tried to comfort him. She helped to slow his breathing and Jim pulled himself together somewhat. He adjusted himself at an attempt to get more comfortable, but the stitches and the oozing from the wounds made that almost impossible.
“Al, who did we lose?” Jim questioned.
“Jim, are you up for this? We can cover this later. You really need to rest and get stronger” responded Alan.
“Al, I need to know. Please. I am a shattered person right now. I need all of the bad news now so I can work through it as I rest. I assume I will need all of my energy in the future.”
That you will, my friend, that you will” said Alan.
“Well, Jim, we are on some island south of Paradise Key. No idea exactly where, but we must be at least ten miles away. There is no sign of any other islands around us. The eighteen of us are in a pirate camp, I guess one could say. Yes, we are captives. Now what that all means, I don’t know. Hell, I can’t even get us water.”
“Water? They won’t give us water?” Jim queried.
“I’ve been trying to get water for hours.”
“Everybody else okay?”
“Jim, so far of the eighteen who are here, you are the worst off. Hunter has a bad concussion it seems and Joe has a bunch of sword marks all over his upper body, but he appears to be better off than you. He has no stitches, while you my friend, have way too many to count. I think we are all in agreement when I say, it’s a wonder that you are still with us.”
“So we were boarded by pirates for real?” Jim backtracked.
“Yeah…it’s real.”
“That in itself is hard to believe.”
“Trust me. The dead are dead and your wounds are fresh and painful. This is no dream” Alan replied bluntly.
Alan’s tears had ceased at present, though Summer’s were still releasing with regular rhythm.
“So Alan, please tell me…who is no longer with us?”
“Your two friends from Ohio, Brandon and Mark are dead. They were in a fight with a pirate in support of my confrontation with Briggs over getting some water. Brandon stood up for me and took on one of them.”
“He did? Wow…”
“Yeah. For a while it was pretty even. But the pirate got the upper hand and messed him up good. When Mark witnessed that, he jumped in and finished the job on the pirate. To save his life from three pirates, though, he ran and jumped off the ship while getting shot. We never saw him again.”
“So he may be alive?”
“We don’t think so. We know he was hit, we saw the blood splatter while he jumped. And that jump was about twenty feet high into the water…filled with sharks and barracudas. Open wound, blood, sharks, you can finish the thought there.”
“But he was a college swimmer…”
“Jim…his head never came up. The pirates looked for him. They must have shot over twenty times at him on the boat and then in the water.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Who was the third one?
Alan took a deep breath and tears escaped.
“Scotty” he sputtered.
“Scotty? Oh Alan…I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, Scotty. They shot him.”
“Shot him?”
“Yeah, right after you went down.”
“Did you see who shot him?”
“Yeah.”
“Which one?”
“I think her name is Rusty.”
“Her?”
“Yeah. It’s the Captain’s wife.”
“Oh my God. Alan.”
“Yeah.”
Jim brought Alan down to him. The three of them just hugged and prayed that this was all a dream. But Alan and Summer knew better…