This chapter’s kind of short, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. The next ones will sort of lead up to the ending, but don’t worry it’s not that close to being finished.
Chapter 17: Following Through
“So you’re saying we can trust this guy?”
“Not really, I mean yes… I mean… it’s complicated.”
“How do you know he’ll be helpful?”
Stealthy halted under a palm tree. “Trust me, I trust him to trust us to trust him.” He said, folding his arms. “That’s how we can trust him. I used to see him at least twice a week; we know each other pretty well.
“Yeah but, why are we visiting him anyways?” Ivan asked, adjusting his hat amidst the widely spread and lightly falling rain.
“Because, he knows a lot about Reynard’s… plans. You see, Reynard was onto something big, really big. And the simplest way for him to achieve his goal was for… more people to be on his side. Unfortunately, Reynard’s very unwilling to change his ways,” Stealthy said, tightening his fist as well as his face. “so the only way to do that is if he has someone like you.” He nudged Ivan a bit, but not with a threatening nudge, but an assuring one.
“So what exactly was Reynard up to?”
“Well…” Stealthy held his chin as he began to ponder the question. “Not even I was allowed to really know about it…” He said, now looking towards the ground. “It had something to do with… well I don’t know. All we were told to do was to keep ‘the crates’ hidden from everyone’s view. I don’t know what was in the crates to be honest; the entire operation was very secretive.”
“So how do you know whatever it is he’s keeping secret is important?” Ivan asked, intrigued but skeptical.
“I believe the numerous speeches about how the future will be changed by him is a good indicator.” Stealthy grinned as he changed the path they were walking on. He moved down a ridge in front of a few shacks and small houses. Almost all of these houses looked as if they’d been abandoned for years, all except for one which now looked like it had been used for extensive explosives training.. “Come on.” Stealthy moved his hand in order to direct Ivan to follow.
“Are you sure this is where he lives?” Ivan asked, unimpressed by the poorly managed structures. “It looks like-”
“Shh…”
“What?” Ivan watched Stealthy creep up beside a dimly lit window. “What are you doing?”
“Quiet!” Stealthy whispered, making sure his presence had not become widely known. As he moved further and further away from Ivan, he practically disappeared into the dark of the night.
“Stealthy… Stealthy!” Ivan called for him, but no answer came. He was now alone, as Stealthy disappeared right in front of his eyes.
He heard something go on inside the shack. It sounded like a scuffle of some sort, as he began to hear voices coming from inside the small house. “No no no! WE’RE CLOSED!” Ivan watched as a man stormed out the door, pointing his finger away from the house. He had black hair, as well as a black beard running down both sides of his face. He wasn’t too tall to say the least, and he had a decently average build. Ivan noticed the many scars that dwelled on his face; each of them looked like they had distinct names. “Leave now, I’ve got nothing to…” His eyes stopped once they saw Ivan. “Oh please don’t tell me you were sent here by… by him!”
“Relax Mikhail, he has nothing to do with Reynard. In fact,” Ivan stepped out of the door, speaking as he went along. “I’m no longer associated with Reynard, as well as my friend Ivan here.”
Mikhail breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness, I thought you were here to collect my debts.” He said, patting Stealthy on the back. “So what is it that brings you two to my humble residence?”
Stealthy spoke up before Ivan had the chance to. “We’re here to get some information on Reynard. His… mission may become a success if we don’t act quickly.”
Mikhail hesitated a bit, but nodded once he seemed to fully understand what Stealthy was trying to get across. “Of course. I may know a thing or two.” Mikhail walked to the edge of the door. “Come inside, its dreadful weather this time of year, and inside its much more comfortable.” He walked inside, but Stealthy stood still until Ivan neared him.
“You know each other… pretty well?”
“I told you, it’s complicated.”
The two entered the softly lit room, closing the door behind them. Bookshelves lined the walls, as well as measuring instruments and theoretical papers. It looked like what one would imagine to be a condensed version of Leonardo’s workshop; a haven of knowledge and ideas.
“Take a seat, make yourselves comfortable. Sorry Stealthy, I don’t have any rum.”
Stealthy frowned.
“I know I have it somewhere…” Mikhail scanned a pile of similarly looking papers. “Ah, here it is!” He held up one of the papers to an area with a stronger source of light. “Every shipment record of Reynard’s favorite routes, all right here.” He handed Stealthy and Ivan the paper. It looked much like the paper Commodore Bishop showed Ivan upon his arrival.
Stealthy looked over to a small box next to where he was sitting. “What’s in here?” he asked.
“Uh no. That’s not important documents. Those are… no!!!”
Stealthy opened the box; at least twenty rum bottles were kept inside. “Hey! You lied!”
“That’s an… that’s an emergency stash… for emergencies!”
“You lied! You said you didn’t have any rum so you could just keep it from me!” Stealthy whipped a bottle out from the container. “And for compensation,” He popped the cork off the bottle. “You owe me one.”
Ivan looked over at the arguing men. “Can you two keep it down.” He said. I’m trying to see what it is exactly Reynard was looking for.”
“Look for the shipments from last week.” Stealthy said, taking a seat next to Ivan once more. “That’s when the ‘special shipment’ arrived.”
Ivan carefully examined the records from the recent dates. Most of the naval records pointed to common items such as supplies and munitions. A few had something the average pirate would seek, such as gold and silver; but the amount kept on those ships were insignificant and certainly not worth the risk.
Ivan was just about to lose hope until his eyes reached the bottom of the page. There he saw something that especially caught his eye. “Stealthy.” He motioned for the Stealthy partner to come closer. “I think you should see this.”
“What is it?” Stealthy asked as he moved closer. His face was perfectly normal up until the point where he too saw what Ivan did. Now a sense of shock came across Stealthy as his face grew immensely surprised.
“No way…”
~~~~~~~~~~
Jack stayed immobile on the wooden table; there he lay motionless and alone in the dark, unlit room. There was definitely something strange going on, but what? He opened his eyes only to be met with a perfect darkness, not a speck of light caught his eye. It even got to the point where he couldn’t tell if his eyes were indeed open. He certainly felt different when he moved his eyes, but there was no change in the light from when he closed them.
“Ahh, what happened?” He got up from his lying down position and felt the sides of the table. There was a great pain coming from somewhere within his leg. He directed his hands to comfort the sting he felt, and felt the smooth texture of a bandage. “Great,” he said, holding his leg tightly. “I bet I got drunk last night and passed out in someone’s basement.” He tried to get up from the chair, but he couldn’t see a thing. He didn’t know at all what the room looked like or if he could manage to walk in it with his disabled leg.
Not only did he feel a great pain in his leg, but in his chest as well. He led his hands up to feel his bare chest. It certainly wasn’t any normal cut or bruise, but something much different. It was a burn mark.
“Man, what did I do last night?” He looked all over the dark room for any sign of light. “I remember something about… Ivan!”
His head darted around in a desperate search for his colleague. “We were… ugh…” He now returned to his bandaged leg, which had now screamed for his attention by means of pain. “Hello? Is anyone in here?”
A few moments of silence came, and then a strange thumping noise erupted outside the room.
Footsteps, they had to be; the unmistakable thud of a pirate’s boots travelling down a flight of stairs.
He watched as a beam of light entered the room as a door opened on the far side of the room. An older looking man walked in and lit a nearby lamp. “Well look who’s awake.” The man said, smiling at the sight of a conscious Jack. “I was beginning to… worry, but it seems my… fear has been relieved.” The man spoke with short breaks after uttering off a few words.
Jack was now struck with an instant sense of relief. But there was still a lingering sense of confusion that forced him to look for more answers. What had just happened? Why did his leg and his chest receive their respective injuries? What did he do last night? “Where am I?”
The man nodded as he lit another lamp near a table of medical equipment. “You’re in… safe hands.” He said, fumbling to control a couple bottles of a mysterious liquid. “Unfortunately, I… wasn’t able to save some of your navy friends, they were… much closer.”
Jack tried to understand what the old man was really saying. “What do you mean? What happened? Who are you?”
The man examined Jack closely. “All in good… time my friend, all in… good time.” He said as he approached Jack with a bottle of what appeared to be water. “But for now, you may… call me Peter.” He said, lowering his lamp and raising the bottle in his hand. “Peter Yohansen.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Short, I know. But hey, at least I decided to scrape the dust off of this story. This is really more of a turning point in the story; I’ve decided the ending would come much sooner than previously planned. I’m afraid if I drag this out too long I’ll never getting around to finishing it.
So yeah, I know I’m not Del when it comes to writing, but I know that my style has definitely improved since the earlier chapters. So please comment and tell me how you think the story’s going.