Wind in My Sails

Chapter 4

Shue bowed his head as King Richard IV reamed him out. He felt bad but not as bad as he once would have. Before... before his Emma died. He'd been fiercely loyal to his king and very protective over his wife but once she died, it was as if everything ceased to matter.

He sighed internally and wished for King Richard to hurry and tell him his punishment.

"Is that understood, Captain?" The dramatic king raised a brow.

"Yes, sire." Shue had no idea what he'd just agreed to.

"You're dismissed. I don't want to see you until you've returned with the map!"

Shue caught on then. Richard wanted him to retrieve the map. Too bad he'd never read it and had no idea where the pirates were headed. "I understand, Your Majesty."

King Richard nodded once.

Shue bowed once more then left the throne room. Once he cleared the heavy oak doors, he took a breath. His favorite (though he'd never tell them that) thirteen men snapped to attention and hurried over to him. "What is our sentence?"

Shue took another shuddering breath. "We must retrieve the map at once."

"How?" Michael demanded. "We don't know where they are or where they're going."

That was a fantastic question. "We set sail as soon as possible and roam the seas until we find them."

"We're never seeing English soil again, are we?" Arthur quipped.

Shue feared he was right.

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"I hate bugs!" MC shrieked.

MA chuckled. "They're tiny. What can they do to you?"

"Take my blood!"

Bratt giggled. "I'm sure there aren't any bugs in the temple."

"We're going into an old, decrepit haunted temple for what?!" Satan groused. "Some stupid tablet?!"

"We can't read the map without the tablet." Q reminded her.

"This is a lot of work for a treasure that might not be real!"

"It's real. Sly wouldn't have us on a fool's errand."

"She'd better not." MA grumbled. "That crone is mad and I wouldn't put it past her to have us looking like fools."

"That's mutinous." Q frowned.

"No. If this map turns out to be fake, that'll be mutinous."

"I put in a bid for that." Satan crossed her arms.

"Well I believe in the map." T spoke up. "I want my riches."

"Me too." Bratt added.

"After all we've been through with Sly, we deserve it." MC went on.

"So what are we doing standing around for?" MA threw out a hand. "Let's find this damned temple and get the stone."

In renewed spirits, the six cheered and raced forward in the jungle.

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"What's wrong now?" Michael asked.

Malcolm scowled. "Nothing is wrong!"

"You've been moody for months. Are you worried about finding the girls? We'll find them one day."

"How do you know?" Malcolm straightened from the edge of the ship.