Secrets from the Deep

Chapter 6

After Caden and all of his friends had made it up the ladder, hoisted the sail, and climbed back down, it was nighttime, so after a light dinner of bread and grog, the pirates placed them below deck once again.

"Now's our chance," Charles whispered, not wanting any of the pirates to hear him. He, Albert, and Michael began cutting open one of the windows, creating an opening big enough for everyone to slip through, which took about an hour to complete.

"Okay, guys, it's about midnight. Modi's crew should be fast asleep so let's get out of here!" Michael proclaimed before discovering that except for Charles, Albert, and him, the others were all in a deep sleep.

"Darn it! They all took the grog, which made them fall asleep!" Charles realized.

"Well, then. I guess we'll have to toss our friends into the dinghy ourselves," Albert said before picking up Robert and dropping him out the window into their escape vehicle. Charles and Michael followed suit, and sure enough, the rest of the sleeping crew was safely out of the ship.

"Freedom, here we come!" Charles declared as he took Albert and Michael's hands to prepare for jumping out the window.

"One, two, three!" Michael counted before the three leaped out of the hole together.

"I don't know if it's me, but do you guys feel wet?" Albert asked after they stopped falling.

"Wait, we're not in the dinghy! We're in the ocean!" Charles exclaimed after taking notice of his surroundings.

"And the boat we were going to use to escape isn't up there!" Michael added.

"Oh, no. Please don't tell me we were throwing our unconscious friends in the water!"

"I guess we'll have to look around to make sure." The three men split up to find the rest of the boys. However, not even a minute after splitting up, the three men found themselves caught in a giant net!

"What's going on now!" Albert exclaimed as he, Michael, and Charles were drawn from the water.

"Shiver me timbers! Look what we have here! Three young men who stayed up past their bedtime and thought they could escape when everyone was supposedly asleep," Bill said as he dragged the captives out of the ocean.

"Are you kidding me! How did you know we were trying to escape?" Michael demanded.

"You see, young man. When you're on a ship with captive prisoners, you need to sleep lightly, so if someone tries to escape, you'll be alerted immediately," Captain Modi replied.

"How long did it take you to discover we were escaping?" Charles asked as Bill placed the net on the Air Mando so they could get out of it.

"As soon as I heard you were working on getting the window cut open so you could all escape, I knew I couldn't sleep for much longer. Once all your friends were in the dinghy, we brought it inside the Air Mando through the secret hiding compartment, so when you three jumped out, you would fall into the water," Captain Modi explained. "And no worries, all your companions are safe inside the ship. All of you go back to bed at once! A storm is predicted for tomorrow, and we'll be sailing to Twilight Cove for safety."