A Wave Of Pirates 7) To The Rescue

I took a deep breath and stepped closer to Henry as his head remained bowed.

I grabbed his shoulder and gave him a shake.

"Henry," I whispered. "Hey, Henry, are you okay?"

He let out a groan and I sighed in relief. He moved his head but his eyes remained shut.

"You're okay!" I exclaimed. I looked around the room for something sharp to cut the ropes. But then I decided I could just untie them in less time.

I set my gun down on the floor near his feet and began untying the rope around his legs. The knot was tighter than I thought and seemed almost impossible to undo.

Suddenly I stopped as I realized there was no more banging behind the door. Had they given up? Did they go to get a table or something to break through the door?

I shrugged and continued fiddling with the knot. I finally managed to get it loose and then slapped my forehead. I could've untied his arms, and allowed him to untie his own legs.

But I removed the rope and then went behind him to untie his hands. That's when I noticed a door to my left. A dark brown door in much better shape than the others around the ship.

I grabbed the knob and twisted but the door was locked.

I should try breaking it open, I thought. But what would be the use of that?

I wanted to ignore it but I couldn't help it. I had to see what was behind that door. Who knows, maybe it will lead up to an exit?

As I stepped back, preparing to kick open the door a phrase went through my mind.

Curiosity killed the foolish kid.

I shook my head and kicked the door as hard as I could. But the door stood its ground. I kicked again and it cracked in the center.

I prepared to kick one more time but suddenly it swung open and I gasped. Someone had opened it. A boy, no older than fourteen.

He gaped at me with wide eyes and I gaped back at him. He had red hair with black eyes and he was dressed in very baggy light blue pajamas. Even in the baggy clothing, I could see that he was very scrawny. There were bags under his eyes as if he hadn't been sleeping.

"Who are you?" We both asked in unison, except his came out in more of a gasp.

I looked pass him and into the room. It was very dark and I could barely see anything.

"Uh.... Sorry to wake you up..." I said. Then I waved a hand at him. "Now back to bed."

He swallowed and took a step toward me. I took a step back in caution.

"You-you're here for your friend right?" He stammered in a low voice.

I nodded. "Yeah. I am."

Then I gasped as I heard shouts coming from behind the door that I had entered. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I feared that I might get caught.

The boy stepped slowly out of the room and to the wall at the end to my right. Then he pointed up at the ceiling.
"There's an emergency escape up there." He said.

"What?" I asked in surprise. Was he helping me?

"Please get your friend and go." He said as tears welled in his eyes. "Pa wants me to kill him tomorrow. I don't wanna. Take him and go, I'll tell pa that you got him and I wasn't able to stop you. It would be the truth anyway."

I shook my head. "Are you serious?"

There was a loud bang and the door up ahead flew open, knocking the chair aside. Someone had rammed another person right through the door. One of the pirates and...

Kevin!

The pirate pinned Kevin against the wall, and I could see blood trickling from the old wound in his leg.

I stared in shock, but then ran over to help him.

I punched the pirate hard in the jaw and his grip loosened on Kevin.

Kevin upper-cupped the pirate and landed another blow to his exposed throat.

The man fell to his back and groaned. He looked over near Henry and started scrambling over to him.

I realized he was heading for my gun and I beat him over to it. I stepped on his hand and then brung my knee down onto his head.

"Ugh!" He cried and I stooped down to pick up my gun.

I pointed it down at him. "Don't move!"

His eyes widened as he looked pass me.

"Edward?" He gasped. I glanced back and raised my eyebrows at the kid.

The fourteen year old had untied Henry and was now staring down at the man with terror in his eyes.

Henry shook his head and groaned. His eyes looked clouded as he looked up at me and squinted.

Then grin spread slowly across his face as he realized it was me. "Matt... wow, didn't think I'd see you here."

"Edward you're helping them?" The man cried. Then his face turned red with anger. "You shame your father. You shame your whole family!"

"No. No..." Edward choked as he frantically shook his head.

I kicked the man hard in the head before he could speak again. Then I moved away from his body.

Edward continued staring down at the man as tears rolled slowly down his cheeks. I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't listen to him, you did the right thing." I said and then I went back over to Kevin.

"You came here alone?" I asked.

He frowned and leaned against the wall for support.

"No way," He said. "I'm not as stupid as you."

We both laughed and I watched as Henry finally stood up.

"Thanks kid," He said as he used a hand to brush back his hair. "No offense but you're family is horrible."

I noticed that he had a purple bruise around his left eye and also a cut on the side of his mouth.

"You alright?" I asked him and he nodded. "Good, let's get out of here."

"T-take me with you." Edward said so low that at first I thought I misunderstood him.

"No way." Henry said. "They'll think we kidnapped you."

Someone rushed into the room and I sighed in relief as I realized it was Jack, holding a shotgun.

"Oh man I messed up." Jack said, his eyes wide as he saw me. "I messed up bad."

"What are you doing here?" I asked angrily. "Where's the boat?"

"I left it behind the house and went to see if you were inside with everyone else." He said in a rush. "But you weren't back yet and it was well pass ten minutes so I had to come back for you."

"Well thanks," I said with a sigh. "So how did you mess up?"

I grabbed onto the wall as I felt the floor swaying. I looked up at Jack with a frown and he shrugged.

He held up the shotgun. "I needed a good distraction so I shot a hole into the bottom of the ship, just below the water."

"So now we're sinking?" I snapped.

"We needed the ship to be lower so we could climb on anyway." He said. "But that's not even the bad part.... If the pirates leave the ship, most likely they're headed for the house."