The Silent Thief

XVII

XVII

       “Prepare all of the cannons,” Captain James commanded.

“But Captain, what if they don’t surrender Jake and Ace?” A sailor asked.

“Then we will illuminate them just as I said I would,” Captain James answered sternly.

“And if you are shot on shore, Captain? What will be of the two?” This sailor was indeed curious.

“You are forgetting that Ace is the Silent Thief. Of course the lad would survive even if we had to come to such terms. Now go,” Captain James said while thinking deeply.

“Yes, Captain.”

*******

       “Make sure there’s enough distance between us before ya’ lower the anchor, Smith,” Captain Stones said to his first mate.

“Yes, Captain.”

Jake and I were tied, again, to a mast on a deck. We watched patiently as many men ran to and fro. Finally, Captain Stones walked over to us. Jake, who has the strangest questions when he’s bored, asked the Captain, “What’s your first name, Captain Stones?”

I elbowed him. “Is this really the time to chat with our enemy, Jake?”

“No, it’s alright. My name is Captain Sharp Stones,” Captain Stones answered.

I couldn’t help but start laughing. Jake joined in and soon two buckets of water were poured over us. I spat out the salty water and exclaimed, “What was that for?!”

“That is the name my parents gave me and I suggest you not laugh at it,” the Captain said sternly then he bent down and whispered in my ear, “When we meet that boyfriend of yours on land, you’ll be a lot more punished than this.” He got up and walked away leaving me confused, and also a little mad that he thought that Captain James was my boyfriend.

We were untied and pushed into a row boat. To my right I could see another row boat about fifty yards away. I could tell it was Captain James because of his hat. Just as the sun rose above the horizon, the row boats were pulled onto the beach. Jake was out first then lent me a hand to help me out. I took it and stood beside him. There were five people with Captain Stones, including Jake and I. Captain James was with Sir William and Alexander. We outnumbered them on the shore, but if a fight were to start out, both of the ships might be destroyed. They both had their canons pointed and ready.

The two groups walked toward each other and stopped once there were about five yards distance between them.

“Into the forest,” Alexander said.

Surprisingly, Captain Stones agreed and we walked a little ways inland.

“Be careful, Grace,” a voice whispered in my ear. I recognized the voice. It was the man who’s named John. Earlier, he refused to look at me. Or was it me that they were talking about? This man knew my name and he did sound familiar. I tried to turn around to see him but his hands held my head in place. “Look forward at all times. Or else the Captain will suspect,” he whispered again.

Now I was truly confused.

Captain Stones spoke up first, “This thief of yours stole my diamonds the first time I saw,” he paused as if looking for the right word, “him. I expect it back.”

I gave the diamonds to Tia Rosa before I left to Captain’s James ship, I remembered.

“As for this lad,” he placed his hand on Jake’s shoulder, “I want one hundred gold coins for him. If ya’ want them back, you’ll have to pay,” he concluded.

Captain James thought for a minute then spoke, “I understand why you want the diamonds back. The thief is our responsibility which makes his problems in the past, ours. So we will pay. But for Jake, he has done nothing to you. We need not pay the gold.”

“Captain James, you almost destroyed my ship before when you freed MY slaves then left without giving me even a copper coin. Then you took MY thief that I wanted. I think one hundred gold coins is a generous offer don’t you?” I could tell Captain Stones was starting to get angry now. His grip tightened on Jake’s shoulder as he spoke.

“You liar,” Alexander mumbled.

What did he mean they took his thief? Jake told me that Sir William told Captain Stones to hire me to see how good my skills were, did he not? I looked at Jake and saw that he was also confused.

“Captain Stones, didn’t Sir William hire you to hire me?” I asked. Sir William shot me an angry look. Was it that bad a question?

Captain Stones looked shocked at my question, “Him hire me? Nonsense! He found out about you some way I do not know.”

Sir William glanced at the man behind me. He seemed to look at him for a long time with sadness in his eyes.

“Now that the lad asked the question, I am curious. How did you find him?” Captain Stones asked.

Again, Sir William looked at me angrily like I did something horrible.

Captain James answered as if it were obvious, “The Silent Thief is quite famous. I’m surprised that you haven’t heard of him before. He is known for his skills. Now, may we get this over with-”

Captain Stones interrupted him by asking the man behind me, “Are you alright John? Since you are sweating in this cold morning, I would assume that you are nervous.”

“I am fine, Captain. Let us just attend to the matter at hand,” John answered.

“Yes, I agree,” Sir William said. “Let me remind you, Stones, that we were once close friends. I was the Captain of that ship which is now in your possession. Once my nephew grew of age to become a Captain, I sought someone to hand my ship over to. Though we were once friends, I did not trust you enough to hand over my ship to you. You were obsessed with power. I met a man who I trusted; a good and humble man. Yet I never had the chance to give it to him because you tried to kill me. You left me unconscious and barely alive then stole my ship. I and probably everyone else here will agree that it is only fair that you hand us both men willingly,” Sir William finished.

Jake now yelped in pain as Captain Stones’ grip started to hurt. He let go of Jake and said through gritted teeth, “Your mistake, Sir William.” He then pulled out his gun.

“Run now, Grace. Run,” John urged me.

I hesitated as I watched Captain Stones hold his gun. I thought he was going to shoot Sir William but he pointed the gun at me. My instincts kicked in and I reacted fast. I kicked his leg making just enough time for me to sprint. I ran as fast as I could in a forest full of obstacles. An explosion made my ears ring and I was floating. No not floating, crashing. The explosion threw me off of my feet and I came crashing down with my head first. My face hit a rock cracking my mask in two. The right half broke off but the left stayed intact because of the lock. The edge of the mask cut my cheek as the rest of my body collapsed. My face was sticky because of the blood, my ears still rang, my body hurt, and my breathing shortened.

I heard a muffled cry, then over again and again. Finally it cleared and I heard Jake yelling my name. He spotted me and ran to my side. He picked me up in his arms and let my head rest in his lap. My eyes were closed and I felt him brush his hand over the exposed part of my face.

He said with sorrow in his voice, “Oh Ace, why didn’t you ever tell me?”

*******

*O*!!! Why didn't Grace ever tell Jake that she was a woman? Feel free to answer in the comments. Until next Thursday,

Thanks for reading

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