Secrets from the Deep

Chapter 6

It was night by the time all of the captives of the Air Mando had completed their first lesson and task.

"Young men, you have all done wonderfully today. As a reward, you may have as much grog as you would like at dinner," Captain Moncilia told Caden and his friends at the dinner table.

"Really? Why thank you, Sir!" Benedict said excitedly as the old bread, water, and grog were brought to the table.

Due to the bread being hard to chew and bland in flavor, some captives filled their stomachs with grog more than anything else on the table.

"Is this your third glass of grog?" Charles asked after noticing Benedict fill his glass with more grog.

"It has been a long day for me, and I deserve this," Benedict replied, annoyed, before taking another huge gulp of grog.

...

After dinner, all of the captives were placed below deck in the prisoner cabin, and the door was locked.

"Now is our chance," Charles whispered, not wanting any of the pirates to hear him. He and Robert began unlocking one of the windows, which took about an hour to complete.

"Alright, guys, it is about midnight. Captain Moncilia and his crew should be fast asleep, so now we can get out of here!" Charles proclaimed before discovering that Benedict and Caden were in a deep sleep on the lumpy mattresses in the prisoner cabin.

"Darn, it! They drank too much grog, which made them fall asleep!" Robert realized.

"Well, I guess we will have to toss our friends into the dinghy ourselves," Charles said before he and Charles picked up Benedict and Caden, respectively, and dropped them out the window into their escape vehicle.

"Freedom, here we come!" Charles declared as he took Robert's hand. The two then jumped out of the window together.

"What in the world?" Robert questioned, water coming out of his mouth after they stopped falling.

"Wait, we are not in the dinghy! This is the ocean!" Charles realized as he began to rapidly trod water.

"And the boat we were going to use isn't up there!"

"Oh, no! I hope we were not throwing our unconscious friends in the water!"

"We need to look around to make sure." The two split up to find Caden and Benedict. However, not even a minute after splitting up, Charles and Robert found themselves caught in a giant net!

"What is happening!" Robert exclaimed as someone drew him and Charles out of the water.

"Shiver me timbers! Look what we drew from the sea! Two young men who stayed up past their bedtime and thought they could get off the ship when everyone was asleep," Aslan said to Captain Moncilia as he pulled the net containing their captives out of the ocean.

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

"You see, young man, when you are on a ship with your prisoners, you must sleep lightly. That way, if someone tries to escape, you will be alerted immediately," Captain Moncilia replied.

"How long did it take you to discover we were escaping?" Charles asked, feeling embarrassed, as Aslan placed the net on the Air Mando, allowing the captives to get out.

"As soon as I heard you were working on cutting the window open to leave our ship, I knew I could not sleep much longer. Once all your friends were in the dinghy, Aslan and I brought it inside the Air Mando through the secret hiding compartment. So, when you two jumped out, you would fall into the water," Captain Moncilia explained. "And no worries, all your companions are safe inside the ship. Now, go back to bed at once! We believe a storm will happen tomorrow and are sailing to Annaton Island for safety."

...

The next day, the three members of the Night Wind had a breakfast of apples and freshly-caught cod before sailing smoothly in the morning. However, during the mid-afternoon hours, Jasper noticed a couple of drops of water landing on the deck.

"It looks like some rain is coming," Jasper explained, his auburn hair beginning to darken and feel heavier to him.

"Oh, well. I guess we will have to be fine with getting a little wet," Meg replied, the weather not concerning her at all.

"Um, Meg. I do not think this is a little sprinkle," Annie realized nervously as the rain slowly came down harder.

"In fact, it seems as though this is actually a heavy thunderstorm!" Jasper exclaimed.

"Oh, no! Jasper, take the wheel! Annie, make sure all the tools are below the deck so they will stay safe! I will stow the sails," Meg commanded assertively. She immediately left the wheel when Jasper was ready to steer and leaped onto the rope ladder. Even though the rain poured down harder than before, Meg persisted up the slippery ladder to the sails to protect them from the rapidly increasing winds and rain.

Meanwhile, on deck, Annie grabbed all the tools and threw them in the hold to keep them dry. Suddenly, she heard Meg let out a shriek from above!

"Meg? What is going on up there?" Annie asked.

"I have news that is both good and bad! The good news is that I successfully stowed the sails. The bad news is that I lost my balance!" Meg panicked as she held on tight to the yard so she wouldn't fall.

Annie looked around the ship, trying to find something that could help Meg down from the yard safely. She spotted Meg's fishing net on the upper deck and decided that would help Meg get back to the deck safely.

"Jasper, get over here! Meg needs help!" Annie yelled while grabbing the net. Jasper immediately abandoned the helm and took the other side of the fishing net.

"Meg, let go! We are holding the net to catch you," Annie told her cousin.

Meg did what Annie said and allowed herself to fall, landing safely in the net.

"Thank you. I am pretty sure that this storm is not going to clear up for a while. All in favor of taking cover on that island and waiting out the storm, please say I," Meg suggested, pointing to a small island not too far away.

"I," Annie and Jasper said simultaneously, relieved that they did not have to sail through the dangerous storm anymore. Meg took hold of the wheel and sailed them to the island.