Lions of the Sea

63

Maxó paced up and down the dungeon like a caged beast, growling curses and making vengeance plans that grew more twisted and violent as the hours went by. Oliver and Gerrit had picked up the stone from Dolores' message and rubbed it against the end of one of the window bars, in the faint hope of weakening the sill and remove the bar. After they'd taken Marina, Morris had sit in the darkest corner, his head between his hands, and hadn't moved again. Sitting near him, De Neill picked up dirty straws from the floor and broke them between his fingers till they were but dust.

The day was a slow hell of silence for the pirates, who refused to give voice to their fear and their anguish about Marina's fate.

The sun was setting when another stone dropped inside the dungeon, pushed from the street by a military boot. Oliver hurried to open the strip of paper wrapped around it.

"A message!" he whispered.

De Neill snatched it away and handed it to Morris. "Read, boy!" he said.

But Morris ignored him. Oliver took the paper back and moved his eyes over the few words, his lips pursed and his brow furrowed in his effort.

"Since when you can read?" grunted Maxó, while De Neill shook Morris' shoulder. Morris pushed him away and sank his head in his hands again.

"The pearl taught me when she came to the top with me," the pirate replied.

"In Spanish," Maxó retorted, grateful for the chance to be nasty and vent out.

"No, old wolf. But you guys speak Spanish. I can read the letters and you will understand the message."

Despite it was only one line, it took them several minutes to figure it out. But they finally did it.

"You're getting a chance tonight?" Maxó repeated, frowning. "What the hell does that mean?"

De Neill's eyes widened like grapefruits and he started shaking Morris again.

"Castillano!" he whispered, excited. "Did you hear that, boy? Castillano said yes! He's helping us escape tonight! We're escaping and rescuing the pearl! You hear me? We're coming for her! Right tonight!"

Morris reacted. He looked up and snatched the paper from Oliver's hands. He read it several times to be sure the others had gotten it right and faced them with a crooked smile.

Soon the soldiers brought the pot and the bucket of water that was their dinner. The pirates tried to look abashed and down like they'd been the whole day. Alone again, they devoured the stinky stew, emptied the bucket of water and Morris sat against the wall right by the barred door, face to the short corridor. It ended in a small room for the guards, with a table, stools and a lamp. On the wall over the table, an iron ring with a bunch of keys hung from a hook. Their door to freedom opened only one step away from that table.

"Any of you remember the way to the harbor?" he whispered, his eyes on the table.

"The harbor? You think they took the pearl that way?" asked De Neill.

He raised his waists a little. "We won't go far in these chains. We need to get rid of these damned shackles before going for Marina."

"And you saw a blacksmith near the harbor?" asked Gerrit puzzled.

"The brothels, you idiot," Maxó replied. "The harbor women stood for the pearl and brought her presents. They'll help us."

Three soldiers walked in, closed the door and sat at the table, resting their muskets against the wall within the reach of their hands, their pistols and swords still hanging from their belts.

Time crawled again for the prisoners. An hour went by, or maybe ten for their impatience, until they heard firm footsteps approaching the closed door. Morris stayed where he was and signaled the others to retreat to the other side of the dungeon.

Morris was puzzled when the one that came in was not Castillano, but Alonso, with three more soldiers. He frowned, suspicious, but his signs hushed the others' questions.

Alonso stood at the end of the short corridor, his back to the dungeon, hands behind his back. The soldiers lined up before him, holding their muskets with the butts on the floor. Morris couldn't hear what he was saying, but he saw the soldiers nod, replying, "Aye, sir."

Alonso walked along the line while the soldiers kept nodding. Then Alonso circled them and walked behind their backs twice. He stopped behind them and said something that made them stiffen. At the same time, he grabbed the ring with keys with a swift move and slipped it in his pocket.

Morris' gawking surprise caused more whispered questions, but he didn't need to hush the pirates again, because Alonso's firm strides approaching to the dungeon were enough.

The young captain stopped before the barred door, hands behind his back again, and studied the dirty, expectant faces, not hiding his resentment. He took a step closer to the door and turned to the soldiers.

"Resume your duties," he ordered, calm and confident.

At the same time, his hand on the side of the barred door threw something into the dungeon.

"Aye, Cap'n!" the soldiers replied as Alonso headed back toward them.

Gerrit stuck to the wall opposite Morris and crawled to pick up what the Spaniard had thrown. Morris kept his eyes on the soldiers until Alonso left with the three he'd led there. The remaining three let out a sigh and sat back down at the table, commenting on those awful inspections.

Only then Morris turned to Gerrit, who smiled as he held the iron ring with the keys. Morris faced the others.

"Let's give him time to leave," he said.

"What?" cried Maxó, and De Neill covered his mouth with his hand. The others signaled him to shut up, because his raspy voice had made one of the soldiers turn to look.

"The man's just risked his life," De Neill whispered. "It's too obvious it was him if we go out right now."

"Dammit!"

The three soldiers turned to the dungeon.

Morris smiled. "Open your mouth again and I'm tearing your tongue off, old wolf."

Only a few minutes later, one of the soldiers lifted a floorboard and grabbed dice and wooden mugs. Another one left without his musket, saying something about fetching wine. Morris only needed to nod.

The two soldiers left jumped to their feet when they heard the barred door of the dungeon squealing open. But they didn't have much of a chance to explore their surprise any further.

The third soldier came back with a bottle of wine. To an open door, his colleagues unconscious and disarmed, the muskets gone and the dungeon empty. His first reaction was looking up at the hook on the wall. The ring of keys was there.