Secrets from the Deep

Chapter 16

"Okay, guys. We're alone once again; the crew should be in a deeper sleep than before, so let's get out of here!" Charles proclaimed quietly to his friends. He walked up to the window that was just above the dinghy they would use to escape. Charles then worked to unlock the window as quietly and quickly as he could. "There, that should do it. Everyone, get in a line and make your way to freedom!"

"I can't believe this is actually happening!" Robert said as he crawled out of the window and into the little boat.

"I'm going to see my homeland once again!" Alex added as it was his turn to leave.

"What's going on in there?" a voice from behind asked.

"We are simply rejoicing about how great pirate lessons were today and how we can't wait to learn more," Charles lied as Michael left the ship.

"If that's the case, why are you leaving?"

Meg and Annie turned around and saw that Terrance and Captain Modi were there, and Terrance had a gun!

"I thought you ate the pudding!" Annie exclaimed.

"We did," Terrance replied.

"It was quite tasty," Captain Modi added.

"Grog simply doesn't affect us anymore," Terrance concluded.

"But what's with the gun?" Caden asked, concerned about where this would be going.

"Here's the deal. If you agree to bring everyone in the dinghy back in and promise you will not try this again, no one gets hurt. Otherwise, the next person to try and escape gets shot."

"Alright," Caden moaned as he walked to the window to tell his friends that the pirates had caught them.

"Not under my watch! We tried to escape once, and we won't give up until we win!" Charles yelled as he grabbed a sword.

"He's either very brave or very stupid," Meg whispered to Annie as Charles charged toward Terrance.

"Why am I not surprised?" the old mentor asked aloud as he held out the gun, ready to fire. However, this time, Charles knocked the weapon out of Terrance's hand and Terrance to the deck with the same swift motion.

"Get out of here while you still can!" Charles exclaimed. As he tried to run to the window again, he fell over as Terrance reached over and grabbed Charles's ankle.

"Has being on this ship for nearly a week taught you nothing about us?" Terrance asked as he stood up with the gun once again.

"Yes, but have you not learned anything about ME?" Charles replied as he grabbed hold of Terrance's wrists.

"No friend of mine is going to die under my watch!" Jasper declared as he ran to the two fighting men. He grabbed Terrance and held him back long enough for Charles to stand up again and escape.

Terrance looked around the room before saying, "You know what, I surrender; you may go." He then shot the gun to his right and threw it to the ground.

"What's going on here?" Bill asked after he and Chris entered the room and heard the gunshot.

"The captives have been trying to escape the boat again. And to make it worse, one of them shot the Captain!" Terrance exclaimed as he motioned toward the gun and Captain Modi, who was lying on the floor, bleeding from the gunshot wound in his chest.

"The captain's been shot! What do you mean!" Chris yelled, the fear in his voice noticeable to everyone in the room.

"Bella, my love. I'm sorry I left you so many years ago. But now, I'll finally be able to see you again after all of this time," Captain Modi whispered before closing his eyes and breathing his last breath.