The Great Frontier

Chapter 3: The Great Escape

Pineapple closed his eyes and thought about what he had just done and what he had just started. He cursed under his breath. He put the hatchet in his belt and searched Ulysses' body as he lay knocked out in the wooden floor. He found a small leather pouch filled with gun powder, a strange liquid in a bottle, and a few gold pieces. Pineapple took them all and held the bottle up and observed it. The liquid was thick and red. It resembled blood. He didn't know what it was but decided to put it in his belt. He grabbed the dog and comforted it. He then opened the creaky wooden door and saw a long hall. There was a man talking to someone else through a door. Pineapple slowly shut the door and saw that the man was going to come to the room that he was in next. He was carrying a tray of food. Pineapple hid behind the door with the ax in hand. The man opened the door and looked around the room. Pineapple shut the door behind him and whacked the tray out of his hands and onto the floor. Then he threatened the poor old man with the ax.

"How do I get out of here?" Asked Pineapple. "Who are you? Please, I don't want any trouble." The man turned his head to look at Ulysses on the floor. "What did you do to Ulysses?" Asked the troubled man. "I'm it telling you anything, just lead me out of here please. I'll make it worth your while. Just help." Said Pineapple. "Sure. Please don't hurt me." Answered the man. Pineapple tied a rope, he found in the corner, to the dog. He lead the dog along with him and the man picked up a knife off of the floor and slipped it in his pocket. Pineapple notice and nodded his head no. "I don't trust you yet. Apparently you don't trust me either." Said Pineapple. "Fine" The man dropped the knife and lead Pineapple out the door.

    The man lead him down the hall he had come in from. They slowly made their way down the dim hallway. Then they went into a room on the left side of the ship. Pineapple went to the small window and looked out at his ship. He was missing most of his supplies from the looks of it. Pineapple asked "Where would they be keeping my provisions? I only have enough for a week." "They are probably putting your supplies in the cargo hold." Said the man. "Okay, lead me there. I need my things. I'm very far from home." "No, we're not going down there. We'll be caught for sure." Said the man with worry on his face. "Then we kill them." Pineapple responded without hesitation. Pineapple didn't want to kill but he didn't want to show weakness. He still kept in mind the man's relations in the ship. The man nodded his head and heuncovered a hatch in the room. "Down here." He pointed to the opened hatch.

They entered the hatch and climbed down into the lower deck. It was dimly lit and a tad bit foggy. The ladder lead into a room filled with barrels of gunpowder and fireworks. The man
drew a key from his pocket and briskly walked across the room to the door. He inserted the key into the hole and turned it. The creaky door opened and Pineapple readied his ax for a fight. They saw a man with Pineapple's backpack. He pulled out an apple and chomped it. Pineapple looked at him and yelled "Put that down!" The man grabbed a dagger off the ground but Pineapple was quicker. He charged the man and pushed him into a stack of boxes, knocking him out cold. Pineapple grabbed the apple out of his hand and dusted it off. He then took a bite out of it and then tossed it to the man who was with him. "Hey, what's your name?"asked Pineapple. "Eugene." Said the man hesitantly. "Interesting." Said Pineapple. "How so?" Pineapple looked at Eugene but didn't answer. "Hey, do I smell wine?" Asked Pineapple. "Yeah, Ulysses enjoys it very much." Returned Eugene. "Hmm, where is it?" "It's behind those bookcases" Pineapple walked to the bookcases and shifted them to the left. He then snagged the box of wine. "I'll be taking this to the people I'm visiting." Eugene shrugged. "Fine by me." He said. Then Pineapple put his pack on and found his sword. He tied it to the back of his bag. "So Eugene, are you coming with me or staying with the jerks on this ship?" Asked Pineapple. "I hadn't given it much thought." He returned. "Suit yourself." Pineapple heard something and told Eugene to be quiet. He heard the crew running around. It seems that they had found Ulysses knocked out. Lincoln started barking. Pineapple slipped him into the bag and quieted him down. Then he gave Eugene a dagger. "Be ready to fight." Pineapple heard someone coming down the ladder. The man was holding a torch and a short sword. Eugene looked at Pineapple hesitantly. He then threw the dagger and it stuck in the man's leg. The man let out a cry and dropped the torch.

The torch caught the room on fire. It touched the the gunpowder and blew up. Pineapple and Eugene were knocked back. The ship was split into two parts. The parts were quite close though. The fire howled and the man burned. "Eugene, we need to jump across." "NO! Are you crazy?!" Asked Eugene. "It's time to go." Pineapple grabbed Eugene's arm and was about to jump when he heard Eugene cry out. He turned to see that someone had shot Eugene in the throat with an arrow. He was bleeding out fast. Pineapple looked at him sorrowful and then jumped off of the burning ship and onto the main part. The archer who had shot Eugene jumped down and hit Pineapple with the bow. Then Pineapple thought fast and kicked him in the chest. He was knocked back to the edge. Then he kicked him off along with the bow. Pineapple went up the ladder and was in the room near the dining hall where Ulysses was. Pineapple used the axe to destroy the window and saw that his ship was behind the burning vessel. He saw someone on it trying to get the others on his ship. Pineapple climbed outside the window and into the wind. The wind was blowing hard and Pineapple had to hold on tight to the wood planks. He then grabbed the rope and climbed down into his ship. Two men were on it. He hit them with the back on his axe and then struck the rope so that it would be detached from the ship. Then he pulled up the anchor. Pineapple began to sail away. He saw the burning ship behind him in the distance and the two who he knocked out were tied up below deck.