Silver's Return: Sequel to Trapped

Man Overboard: In the Eyes of Captain Smollett

We managed to sail through the storm with little damage. Joyce stood at the helm, peering through his spyglass, while Hunter continued to steer the Hispaniola towards the island. Joyce suddenly flinched, moved the spyglass away, then peered into it again. He then threw the spyglass at us, Livesey catching it in surprise, before running towards the deck.

"Man overboard!" he yelled as he grabbed some rope. "Man overboard!"

This got everyone's attention as we all ran to where Joyce was typing the rope to his waist.

"Be careful, Joyce," I ordered, and received a nod in return.

As the crew held onto the rope, Joyce dove into the water and swam out to whoever was drifting out at sea. From the outline of the person who held onto the piece of wood, it seemed to be a boy no older than seventeen. Joyce grabbed the boy around the waist, pulled on the rope, and soon both of them were being pulled back towards the ship. As soon as they were aboard, I immediately recognized the boy.

"Thomas!" I exclaimed, kneeling by the unconscious boy. "Dear God! Livesey! Is the lad still alive?"

Livesey kneeled next to me, and placed an ear to Tom's chest. We waited in silence until we heard Livesey sigh with relief.

"He's alive," he proclaimed. "Just unconscious. Here, bring him to the cabin. Jones, come with me."

Livesey nodded to me to bring Tom to the cabin before rushing off, Jones at his heels. Carefully taking Tom in my arms, I followed them, Trelawney worriedly following behind me.

***

"Everyone, quiet," I ordered, holding up my hand. "He's waking up."

Tom stirred in his sleep before cautiously opening an eye. He suddenly gasped and sat up straight, breathing heavily.

"W-Where am I?" he asked, before coughing. Then, noticing Jones and I, his eyes widened in shock. "Mr. Smollett? Headmaster Jones? W-What are you doing on Silver's ship?"

"Tom, my dear boy," I smiled. "You are on the Hispaniola. You are safe from Silver and his men. You must have been washed overboard by the storm. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I-I remember the ship entering the storm," he replied, looking down at his hands. "I was holding onto a rope that was hanging from the mast and Silver was trying to get everyone below deck. Jim tried to help me, but when I reached out to him, a wave knocked me over the side of the ship. Luckily, I was able to find and hold onto a piece of the mast that was broken off, but the last thing I saw was one of the pirates dragging Jim back onto the ship. I think he tried to dive into the sea to try and help me."

"So, Silver still has Jim then," I muttered to myself. "Tom, do you know why Silver wanted you two?"

"He only wanted Jim," came the reply. "I just happened to be dragged along. Silver wants the map that Jim has, and they're on their way to Treasure Island as we speak."

"So, my suspicions were correct then," Trelawney muttered. "I take it Jim told you everything that had happened there two years ago?"

"Yes, sir," Tom nodded. "Are we heading to that island as well?"

"We're right on course," I replied. "We'll get Jim back and finally put Silver in his place."

***

As I stared out at the vast ocean before me, my attention was drawn to the sound of someone approaching me.

"I see that you're feeling better, Tom," I smiled warmly at him.

Tom silently nodded as he joined me, placing his arms on the ship's side, and resting his head on them. We stood in silence until he finally spoke up.

"I thought that when my mother and I moved to England, we would have a calmer life," Tom muttered, his voice barely audible. "I was prepared to go to school, possibly make some friends and then settle down. When I became friends with Jim, I was not prepared for all of this to happen." He sighed before looking up at me. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," I replied with a smile as I patted his shoulder. "He's a strong lad."

"Yeah, I guess he is brave," Tom chuckled. "I'm glad that I was able to become friends with him."

"Let's just hope we'll make it in time for you to still have a friend."

Both of us turned to see Jones making his way towards us. I raised an eyebrow at his comment, but Tom spoke up before I could even speak.

"Headmaster!" Tom exclaimed with a smile. "I'm really glad that you decided to help Mr. Smollett save Jim and I from Silver."

"It was partially my fault for hiring that man in the first place," Jones said. "I was just too late to stop him from burning down my school."

A look of confusion passed across Tom's face, but before he was able to say anything, a yell cut him off.

"Land ho!"

A cry from Joyce startled me, and I ran to the other side of the ship, Tom and Jones following me. A small shiver crawled up my spine when my eyes fell upon the island. A look that I could not describe flashed across Jones' face, and I kept that look in the back of my mind.

"I'll tell Livesey and Trelawney," Jones declared before walking off.

"He's lying."

I turned towards Tom, who was staring intensely at the island.

"Silver told us that he didn't burn the school down," he continued. "At first, Jim and I didn't believe him, but when I tried to push him to get him to tell us, he kept saying that he didn't do it, even getting so irritated that he threatened to throw me over the side of the ship."

"I think that Jones is suspicious," I muttered, gaining Tom's attention. "That's why I'm keeping an eye on him."

Tom gave a surprised nod before turning back to the island. He suddenly flinched before leaning halfway over the side of the ship.

"There it is!" he cried out, pointing. "There's Silver's ship!" 

"Careful you don't fall in," I warned as I looked to see where he was pointing to.

Sure enough, Silver's ship lay just a few feet ahead.

"Drop the anchor!" I yelled. "Get the longboats prepared! We're going to shore!" I then turned to Tom and gave his shoulder a pat. "You should stay on board."

"What?!?" Tom yelled. "Jim's my friend! I'm not leaving him alone with that pirate!"

We glared at each other, neither one of us breaking our gaze. I finally sighed in defeat before nodding my head. A smile formed on Tom's face before he made his way over to Livesey, Trelawney, and Jones. Jones flinched a bit at the arrival of Tom, but he slowly relaxed. I narrowed my eyes at this before making my way over to them. Whatever Jones was hiding, I was going to find out what it was.