Child of Two Worlds

Part 16: Freedom Lost

West Coast of Africa - 1720

On their next adventure, Brooklyn and Sil were both dropped into a jungle at first, Brooklyn falling into a swamp while Sil had grabbed onto a tree branch in time. Brooklyn got him out of the tree after getting out of the swamp water. Brooklyn was soaked at first and he had muck in his hair. Sil was glad it hadn't happened to him. Then they went about exploring the jungle.

They both discovered a boy after colliding with him and he told them that his people were in danger of being shipped somewhere by ship. They followed and found where they were taking off from.

The Africans of a number of two hundred or so men, women, and kids were going to be shipped to Mexico. They were branded and being treated more like animals than humans. They were to be slaves. That thought angered Brooklyn.

But when sunrise got in the way for the gargoyle and Skeksis to start helping free them, Sil was to just watch and listen. The Gate had taken care of any language barrier. He could understand what all these men were saying.

The boy, Jai, had called his new friends jungle spirits and he was sure they would save him and them. Some didn't believe him. Others hoped that there were saviors out there. They could only wait.

Sil wandered around the camp taking mental notes of where he was and how to get back to Brooklyn. It wouldn't do to be spotted. Brook was in a tree for his own safety during the day. Sil managed to grab some meat and bread to feed himself. He also grabbed some bread for Brooklyn when he woke up after putting it in his travel pack.

It wouldn't be till later in the day that the slaves were loaded up for taking on to the ship. Sil had his food eaten but he knew he couldn't sleep as much as he liked. He was following Brooklyn's orders to keep an eye on things. Sil also changed out of his nice Roman robes and into a basic travel gown. His belt was still on his waist with his dagger, strapped over his gown. Sil kept hidden from human eyes.

In the evening, the Africans were loaded in lines of shackles onto the ship. Sil saw the sun was setting and he had to get back to Brooklyn. He hurried. He got back to him just as the sun set.

Brooklyn roared awake and stretched. Then he jumped down to talk Sil. "How were things today?"

"Humans taken onto ship. Lots of them. Not see what happened on ship. Had to get back to you as sun going down." Sil explained breathlessly. "Ship is almost ready to leave."

"Then let's go! There's no time to lose!" Brook ordered. Sil would follow his orders to a tee now. He considered the gargoyle as his adoptive father, and he had wanted a dad, so he was going to follow his orders. They both ran as fast as they could to the coast.

When they got there, the ship had set sail. "Great! We're too late!" Sil exclaimed.

"No, we're not. We can still make it. Here, get on my back. Once we investigate on the ship how much we have to take down of the captors holding those people, then we'll free and help them free themselves." Brook explained to Sil what they needed to do.

They went looking for a tree and Sil got onto Brook's back and he climbed it. Then he jumped off. They soared over the water to the ship where they had to be quiet. Brooklyn sunk his talons into the side of the ship while Sil held on tight.

Salt water splashed at them as they were going, getting them all wet. At least it wasn't the swamp water. Sil was hating getting all wet like this. It wasn't much better for Brooklyn either. He eventually climbed up onto the deck and let Sil get off first. Sil shook the water out of his hair and he helped Brook up too.

Luckily, there was no one around right off. They kept low and explored the ship, trying to find Jai and his people. The ship was called the Freedom. They heard some people talking and such. The sailors thought of the Africans as nothing more like livestock cattle. Eventually, they both got into the bowels of the ship.