Finches

Chapter 28 - The Marksman

"I knew you'd come around." Colt stepped out of his cell and patted Jagger on the back.

"Thank you," Shelly said as her door was opened.

Jagger just repeated himself. "This is stupid. This is the most stupid thing I've ever done, by far."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Colt said as he made for the door. "I've done many stupider things than that, if it makes you feel better."

Shelly nodded her agreement. "He sure has."

"No," Jagger said, "that doesn't really make me feel better at all."

The three of them exited the brig room and climbed the stairs to get back onto the front deck of the ship. They looked around and saw a few people wandering around on deck, but no one noticed them, thankfully. As long as they didn't draw too much attention, they were fine for now. Most of the crew were either focused on what was happening on the island, or already fighting on the island. No one was paying any attention to what was happening on deck.

"Alright," Colt said. "Now let's get that anchor raised."

Jagger looked over at him like he was crazy. "You want to raise the anchor?"

Colt shrugged. "You're strong," he said to his new ally. "We should be fine, right?"

"I can manage it all right," Jagger said. "But the suspicion that three people raising an anchor during an ongoing battle will cause? It'll lead to us all sitting in the brig together."

"So do you have a better idea?" asked Shelly.

Jagger thought for a moment. "I think I do. Leave it to me. People on this ship trust me, so by the time they see what happened, I'll be long gone. I'll raise the anchor, lower the sails, and turn the ship's wheel so that it turns port side. Then I'll jump overboard and join you on the island. Sound good?"

Colt glanced at Shelly, who didn't look too opposed to the idea. He nodded his approval of the plan to Jagger.

"It's not worth getting caught for, believe me," he told him. "If they come after you, forget about the anchor and get off the ship."

Jagger nodded his agreement. "See you shortly."

He turned and walked off calmly. Colt and Shelly watched him for a moment, seeing him make his way toward the capstan while nodding or saying a couple words to the people along the way. He was cool and collected, even when he was about to risk his life and sabotage the ship.

"We should probably go," Shelly said, "before someone sees us."

"Right."

Colt found the side ladder and climbed down the side of the ship a little, then jumped the rest of the way into the water. Shelly followed along behind him and they swam back toward the shore.

The fighting was still underway, except it looked notably less promising than when they'd left. There were now noticeably more pirates than authoritarian officers standing, although there were a great many men on both sides still in the fight. The Authority's defensive line had moved up a little, however the pirates were actively pushing them back. The officers were fighting more conservatively, with more of them trying to shoot the pirates from afar than attack them in a close-ranged sword fight. Or maybe the sword-fighting authoritarian officers had just been taken down already. Colt wasn't sure which.

"So," Shelly said when they arrived on land, "what's the plan now?"

"We need to take out as many pirates as possible," Colt replied. "And then we'll take on Captain Rave."