The Mysterious Case of the Mayflower Dame

Chapter 3: Hearts and Lemons

It wasn’t too long before my rest was immediately usurped by a loud thud from the right side of the boat. It was so strong that my body was almost displaced from my seat. I opened my eyes and saw a slightly larger ship coming close to us. I saw the captain, hiding Cecil under the boat’s fish storage in the cabin. Deducing the situation, we are under the mercy of a small pirate ship. 

It also appears that one of the men the captain brought was a spy. While the rest of them were kneeling in front of the pirates, there was only one guy conversing with a middle-eastern man, carrying a machine gun on his waist. The rest of the pirates haven’t gone up the cabin yet, which means that the assistant might be providing information. That’s bad news, since Cecil is actually a noble, and she might be kidnapped.

            I immediately pulled a pen out of my duffle bag, placed it in my right pocket, and opened my knife, hiding it under the left side sleeve of my clothing. As soon as I stood up, two men approached me and asked me to put my hands above my head. The knife that I’ve placed burrowed quite nicely, concealing its presence until I fling my hand down to catch it.

The traitor slapped the captain and pinned him to the boat’s steering wheel and began to shout, “where’s the woman?!”

Trying to get a hold of his position, the captain remained composed “Ye Slimy prick… Bi’ing ‘he ‘and ov te one da’ feeds ya!” the captain replied, while the assistant is slowly trying to constrict his breathing.

He smacked Higgins a couple of times on the stomach and slammed him on the cabin walls once again, “We don’t have lot to discuss do we bruvv?”

The leader of the group ascended up the stairs and looked at me with piercing eyes. “If you know what’s best for you, it’s best if you tell me where the old man hid her.”

Suddenly two loud gunshots rang on the main deck. I took a peak and saw one of the assistants shot to death, while the others are panicking due to the turn of events.

He held my head close, and whispered, “Unless you wanna end up like them, you better start singin now. My patience isn’t as long as the other chaps, so try to cooperate…”

The man pulled a handgun and placed it straight to my head. Two of his goons also went up the cabin, watching the flow of events as their leader is trying to coerce me.

 “At the count of three I’ll blow your noggin,” he added.

“One”

“Two”

Before he could count to three, I immediately grabbed his gun by jamming my right index finger behind the trigger, and punched his throat using my left hand. I flung the knife hidden on my left sleeve, straight to the throat of the first goon. The second one pulled his gun and began to shoot. Apparently the bastard is an amateur because I was able tackle his boss straight to the direction of his gun, using the leader as a shield before I fully dislodge the gun on his hand, and shoot the boss and the goon straight to their heads.

Higgins on the other hand, kicked his assistant in the balls, then grabbed a nearby bottle and smacked the man on the back of his head, rendering him unconscious. The rest of the kidnappers began to shoot back as the cabin was immediately showered with bullets.

I pushed Higgins’ head down the floor to make sure he doesn’t get caught. As soon as I heard the drop of the magazines, I raised my head to take a look behind the cabin’s walls before shooting them down. Considering that they weren’t wearing any body armor, it was easy to shoot their limbs and vitals without sacrificing too much of my mobility and vision.

Within at least a minute’s worth of confrontation, I was able to handle the situation and one tap the assailants. The assistants also helped as soon as they saw that the enemy was in panic. They wanted to at least get revenge on their fallen mate for protecting them. Armed with wooden poles and chains wrapped around their arms, they began to beat the hell out of their adversary.

After regaining the upper hand, Higgins immediately called the coast guard to address the situation and call for medical assistance. Before everything else, I took a few magazines of the handgun that I have (colt45), and went up the kidnapper’s ship to get some information. Compared to the size of our boat, this is indeed big enough to house at least forty-five people and their luggage. The smell of alcohol and meth lingered in the air as I carefully began to walk upon the rusted and creaking floors of the boat, being cautious for any remaining enemies.

I suddenly heard noises coming from a hatch inside the captain’s room. There appears to be a burgundy carpet placed front and center in between the captain’s chair, and the steering wheel. I pulled it out and saw a thick wooden hatch, with numerous locks. The noise is definitely from whatever is inside this thing. Searching for a key is going to be a waste of time, so I grabbed a nearby fire axe and started hitting the locks until it came off one by one.

Opening the hatch, a strong smell of urine and something decaying caught my nose. As I took a peek, I saw numerous children with their hands tied behind their backs, and their mouths tightly covered with a handkerchief to the point that I could see blood embedded on the sides of their lips.

“Good god… What have they done…” I said as my body became weak from the turn of events.

I kicked the ladder and went down the hatch. Using the fire axe, I started cutting their binds bit by bit. The ones I’ve freed began to help the other children and slowly but surely, everyone was already on the main deck. After helping the children get up, there was one child that remained beside the body of a dead boy. I tried to remove the binds on her hands but she became protective and began to growl at me. This girl appears to be less than four years old due to her childish features and small build.

I lowered myself and spoke, “I’m here to help you… so please stay still. I’m just going to remove those things on your hands.”

For a few seconds, she looked at me, then went close and turned around. I gently sliced the ropes until her bruised hands were already free. From there she took the cloth off of her mouth and lunged at the boy’s dead body.

She began to cry, and shouted, “Bwother!!! We’re safe!!! Pwease wake up!!!”

Her hands caressed his cold bruised face. This boy seems to have been brutally beaten, to the point that it was already impossible to identify most of his features. But here she is, still hugging him as if he truly is sleeping and having a bad nightmare.

Then she buried her head in his chest, “you said you’ll wake up once we’re safe…”

At that moment I realized just what kind of burden this boy carried just to make her little sister safe in his own little way. I, in response, gave the boy a salute for his bravery and sacrifice. I remained in that position for a few seconds, before reaching out to the little girl.

“Your brother is a strong boy isn’t he?” I asked

My heart was instantly crushed as soon as I uttered those words. Why would they be caught up in something dreadful as this? I knew that they weren’t ordinary kidnappers based on how they knew Cecil was aboard. However, to do something as insipid as this? I should’ve punished them more before feeding them to sharks.

The girl replied while stuttering, “y-yes he is… he protected me from those baddies… but they didn’t like it, so they hit him bad…”

The boy suffered from severe blunt trauma and blood loss. I could imagine how painful it was for him to undergo such until his last breath. Then I gathered all of the courage that I have to convince her to go up.

“I’m sure your brother hates the dark. He shouldn’t be here you know.”   

She tried to smile amidst the bloodied lips and tear-ridden eyes. She replied with a rather shaking voice, “we are both scared of the dark… but when I’m with bwother, I’m fine… I don’t wanna weave him…”

Then, we heard footsteps from the upper floors. Listening closely, we have at least three different sets of footsteps, all bound for this direction.

“Jonathan, where are you?!” without a doubt that’s Cecil’s voice.

The sound of a cane stomping the deck emanated. Before I knew it, I saw Higgins going down the hatch without any self-reservation. His eyes squinted as he began to scan the entire surface, disregarding the foul stench that dwells within the lower platform.

He went close to me and looked at the situation that I’m in. Upon seeing such a sight, the old man grabbed the hat on his head and placed it in his chest. Even he understood how heavy the atmosphere is.

Then Higgins spoke in a soft tone, “We ‘ave ‘o go up nah. Dem ’ides already hi’in ‘he boa’, te might’ ge’ stronger la’er if we don’ leave early.”

I held the little girl’s shoulder, “We’ll carry him upstairs for you,” I said to her with a smile.

“Captain Higgins, do you have any sleeping bags on deck?”

“I did. ‘er seems to be one noicely stashed near.”

Higgins went up to the hatch and asked one of his assistants to look for it. After a few minutes, the captain went down and helped me place the body inside the sleeping bag. Since the girl believes that her brother is still sleeping, this is one of the best lies that we could think of. I’m fairly sure that we will soon reap the consequences… 

However, we have to get moving since this wasn’t part of the plan in the first place. The girls were already on the main deck, apparently, there were some spare clothes stashed on a trunk inside the bigger ship’s cabin. Upon receiving a quick bath from the ocean, they immediately changed clothes and waited for help to arrive.   

(To Be Continued)