No More Mistakes

Chapter 2

Alfred's POV
This day was not shaping up how I expected it to.
What I expected was to sail into England in the afternoon, get my mother the medical attention she needed, then explore the country my father grew up in. Instead I got kidnapping, death, and pirates.

About 3 months ago my mother came down with an illness doctors back in the New World didn't recognize. In desperation my father sent me and mom back to England, forcing me away from my home and twin brother Matt. We've been at sea for almost 12 weeks now, and I thought mom's health was improving. My spirits were bright, and I went on the deck to bother the crew.
"Hey, Dave, what's up?" I called.
Dave rolled his eyes and said "the crowd neat, idiot!" I laughed. "Hey speaking of crows nests, can I go up there?".........
"No."
I sighed. Time to bother someone else!
I headed towards the pointy end of the ship. I'm pretty sure it's called a baw or something like that.

All of a sudden Dave screamed from behind, "Pirates! Sailing at full speed from the northwest!" I unsheathed my pocket knife and started sprinting for the trapdoor that led belowdecks. I was almost there when I was thrown off my feet. "They're boarding!" Another crew member shouted. I looked towards the trapdoor. there was no way I would reach it in time! I scrambled to my feet when Dave noticed me. "This ship's going down, we gotta protect the kid!" He shouted to his crew mates. I was quickly surrounded by angry crewmen, lined up in a circle around me to defend from the pirates. It wasn't a fair fight, though, and soon I was forced to my knees by scary looking dudes with earrings and swords. 'Well I'm dead,' I thought dejectedly.

Then I saw him.

I thought he must have been the captain, because he had a tall feather-covered hat and the other pirates kept calling him captain. He asked me, "Oh, and who's this?" What the hell? Was he trying to mock me? I held my head high and stated, "Alfred F. Jones, son of Magnus Jones, Ambassador of Georgia." Maybe he wouldn't kill me if he thought I could be held ransom.
The captain stifled a sneer, then asked where the rest of my family was. I told him.about mom. He asked me to show him where she was. Thank God!

The burly dudes holding me down let go, and I stood up and walked belowdecks. The captain trailed behind, and I thought "Jeez! He's short!". Finally we got to mom's room.
I opened the door, ran in, then stopped short.

I was too late. She was dead.I tries to walk forward but I couldn't move my legs. I couldn't focus! Was I on the floor?

Why was this guy forcing me to see this? He should just shoot me and be done with it!

I stood up, my arms raised.
"Just shoot me. Don't make me see this!"
The captain pulled out his gun and aimed.

I flinched.

The gun went back in its holster.

He gave me a funny look, then said "Sorry, kid, but you're not dying today. I'd much rather you joined my crew."