AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then let’s swim toward it before it gets any farther away.” Noah began kicking against the water to propel the piece of driftwood on which they floated forward.
“Wait,” I said. “Milo’s still not here. We can’t leave without him.”
“Yeah, I'm not so sure about Sandy. I'm sorry, Katrina,” Noah groaned. “But we can’t stay out here and miss our chance to be rescued.”
I wouldn’t let myself believe he could have drowned. No, he was used to shipwrecks. He had to have survived, somehow. At the mere thought of it, I plunged myself back underneath the water, swimming all around the area and taking in whatever my burning red eyes could. He had to be here. I had to find him. But I had to catch my breath again.
Once my head broke through the water’s surface, I did my best to settle myself and cling to whatever hope I had left. I glanced around at the world of blue around me. Cerulean teal rolled calmly at the horizon’s base for as far as the eye could see, stretching out to meet the pastel blue open sky. I shuddered, knowing there was no end within reach to this kingdom of sky and sea. And my heart beat quickly, frantic as I thought of this bottomless blue void taking Milo in its ruthless hold as it had once before.
There were so many things I wish I hadn’t said to him, so many emotions I was working through at his expense. And now I’d lost him on the open ocean. I had to find him. I couldn’t leave him behind.
Never.
I blinked back the hot tears pushing their way to my eyes as I called out his name once more.
“Milo!”
The boom in the distance made itself known once more. This time it was closer, and it was followed quickly by more sounds of the same thundering intensity.
“The ship’s coming this way! There’s two of them!” McKenzie’s voice demanding my attention as I looked to see two dark masses on the water, approaching quickly through a dense patch of white smoke.
Boom.
Fire and smoke ignited along the side of the ship on the left, sending a swift shot into the side of the other. The smell of gunpowder mixed with sea salt and tickled my nostrils. Cannon fire. I squinted in disbelief at the sight of billowing sails and a black flag as the smog cleared just enough to make out the looming silhouettes.
More cannon fire erupted through the air, rattling my bones as the ships drew near. These were no modern-day yachts or sailboats. These were wooden warships. Galleons. One with a Spanish flag, and the other flying a black flag proudly.
In disbelief I stared as the ships neared slowly, both sides exploding from their own cannons and from the impact of the other. I glanced over to see Noah and McKenzie frozen in place and wide-eyed.
“What is happening?” Noah spat.
“I—I don’t know yet.” I stuttered. I was beginning to feel a tingle all down the entirety of both my legs, and I feared what might happen if I stayed in the water too long. I’d never swum this long. Except for once.
The battle between the two dueling ships continued until the Spanish ship appeared to retreat in haste. It seemed somewhat damaged, attempting to flee before it took a hit that could sink it. But as it turned, the opposing ship launched out a flaming barrel with an intense cry, then fired at the low point of the hull. The blast crippled the ship as it sent wooden splinters flying, and its stern began slowly tilting downward into the water.
“Is this some kind of reenactment? Way out here?” Noah swam closer to me, his eyes wide with disbelief.
“I…I’m not sure.” I choked on the words. Nothing felt familiar out here. Not that the middle of the ocean was a familiar place. But even the air seemed different.
The battered Spanish ship turned its sails and pulled away as quickly as her battered body allowed. The victorious shouts of men reached my ears in the distance as the pirate ship followed, closing in quickly like a lion on an injured gazelle.
Even from our distance, we could make out the ropes shooting out like webs from the side of the pirate ship, snagging on the enemy’s starboard side and pulling it in to meet their own ship’s hull. Through the sounds of clanging and pistols blasting, my terrified companions and I watched with the realization that what we were seeing was all too real. A battle on the waves was unfolding right before our eyes, a brutal welcoming into a time long past.
“I think this is real,” McKenzie whispered. “I think they’re really fighting.”
I glanced around once more for Milo. I was shaking now. The humid air wasn’t enough to fight back the eerie chill penetrating my flesh as I processed the reality that he’d never come up from the water. And my heart was sinking.
I was so fixated on Milo’s fate, lost in a watery trance of blue and grey melding together before my eyes, that I hardly noticed when the ships became silent as the pirate crew crossed back and forth across gangplanks, taking what they could from their defeated opponent with quick, confident steps.
“We have to flag them down.” Noah’s arm shot up, waving and shouting for help.
“What if they kill us?” McKenzie gasped.
“It’s still a better chance than staying out here in the middle of the ocean.”
Noah was right, but I couldn’t seem to dig any words from the pit of my chest. I was speechless. Stunned. Because the ache in my core was enough to paralyze me as I realized that we might leave this wreck without Milo.
The ship with the black flag eventually loosened the ropes tethering it to the Spanish, its sails catching the wind like kites that carried it forward. It drew near to us, casting a looming shadow that made me swallow a lump in my throat.
