The North's Galleon

Chapter 5: Found

Between the first and second mates, the cook, and the lookout, you would think they could keep one girl hidden.

You would think.

Denise was in awe of how quietly Lawrence could walk. He still creaked a few boards here and there, but most of his steps were near-silent. She was trying to be quiet too, but she'd managed to hit every squeaky board while following him.

He stopped at a corner, and Denise was certain he'd stopped breathing. Finally, he took another breath, and waved her forward as he turned the corner.

She ran to catch up. "Where are we going now?" She whispered.

"Shh." He pressed a finger to his lips, and continued calmly down the hall.

He stopped at a certain spot in the floor, and motioned for her to walk forward and past. Then he knelt and knocked on the floor.

There was a moment of silence, and he knocked again. Still nothing.

Then, he grabbed a seam in the boards, and opened a trapdoor Denise hadn't seen.

"Down." He whispered.

Denise carefully jumped down into a hidden room. Lawrence followed just behind her, shutting the door and plunging them into darkness.

Then a lamp lit up.

"Remember to be especially quiet down here. No one ever comes down here, but they'll be walking just above your head quite a bit."

"What is this?"

"It's a hiding spot, usually for money, but it'll work for you too. Sebastian will bring you your meals from now on, and he'll knock before coming down."

"Will anyone else come by?" Denise didn't really fancy the idea of being alone in a hidden room.

"Oh, Possum likes to hang out down here. Plus he seems to be quite fascinated with you."

"Possum is the boy who can't speak, right?"

"That's him."

"And Gunther and you?"

"Don't expect to see us very often if Sebastian and Possum are keeping an eye on you. We're the Captain's left and right hand men, so we can't be disappearing all the time. But I'm sure we'll be down here occasionally." He patted her head. "Now shh. I'm heading back up." He reached up to pop open the trapdoor.

"Ack!" A voice yelped.

Lawrence dropped the trapdoor and shoved Denise aside as someone opened the door above.

"Oi! Lawrence! What're you doing?" A blond haired boy, about the same age as Lawrence, stuck his head down. Immediately, he spotted Denise. "...What is that?"

"Your death if you say one word of this." Lawrence suddenly had the other boy in a headlock, with a knife to his throat.

"Jeepers, Lawrence! Let go!" He hissed.

"Not until you swear not to say a word."

"I swear I won't say a damn thing to anyone! Just explain what's happening here!"

Lawrence dropped him. "We're sneaking a girl to the next port."

"Who's we?"

"Sebastian, Possum, me, and Gunther."

"Let me guess, Gunther's idea?"

"It was a joint effort between me and him."

"...You two agreed on something?" He wheezed.

"Yes, so consider it important, and keep your mouth shut!"

He cackled. "Oh, I ain't saying a word. But you can leave my name off when the Cap'n finds out."

"Deal." Lawrence turned to Denise. "Denise, Jackal, our resident pyromaniac."

"Oi oi, you can't deny the fireworks are the best attack ever."

"I prefer subtle and not lighting myself on fire."

"Yeah, I'm sure you've had enough of being on fire in your life." He flinched as Lawrence turned to glare at him. "You set yourself up, don't kill me."

"I wouldn't sleep tonight if I were you." Lawrence once again reached to pop the trapdoor and climbed out.

Jackal nodded to Denise. "Pleasure to meet you, dear." And then he followed Lawrence out.