The Final Days of Springborough
Chapter 27: A Pirate on Rocky Ground

It wasn’t all of his men, Jage could tell that immediately. What came down from the boat was only a handful of them. Juba, Murray, Bud, an old, wisened sailor named Beverly, and the second youngest crewman (but still ten years older than J.J.), a man named Kyle. Juba, Murray, Bud, Beverly, Kyle and Captain Jonathon James were all that remained from the crew of The Hampton Chase. J.J. had to take that upon him. It was his ship. It was his crew, both lost to the seas.

“We should go back,” Beverly said from the rear of the group who were trying to replace their footing in the rocks.

The Captain had the same thought once every fifteen seconds. That they weren’t too far away. That the crew couldn’t have drifted too far from the boat. That maybe there was a possibility that they could rescue the others still. The ones that didn’t come down from the deck. That there was a shred of possibility and chance that this new crew of six should turn around and venture back, right? They should try to replace the two that were missing, right? A skinny, sun burnt man named Larry, and a stocky, fist throwing sailor named Donny. Right?

But, the sea was still vengeful; the storm still relentless. The winds still howled like hundreds of wolves rejoicing a successful hunt. The lightening struck the horizon with the brilliance of an all-mighty higher power. The thunder rumbled as if they were locked into the belly of a hungry giant. If they headed back to be heroes, they could be signing their own death certificates. What was the use of a dead hero who saved no one?

Besides, it wasn’t as if they escaped the perilous journey unharmed. The crew of six was currently climbing about the slippery wet rocks at the cliff side. Any moment, one of them could slip, and then wash out to sea on the current. A wrong footfall might lead to being heels-over-head with your neck cracking on the side of a jagged rock. It was too early to think about heading back to save someone when they themselves weren’t safe. And how did the rocks get down here anyway? They had fallen from the cliff. Probably in a heavy rainstorm like this one. Any moment a man could be crushed by a boulder. Any moment, ones of their lives could turn into a memory.

So, every time J.J. thought about heading back to be brave, he had to think it was only because he was trying to ignore all the current reasons why he should be afraid.

“Say your prayers for the lads, men,” Jage answered above the winds. “Send them good thoughts. Hopefully they replace a way to make it. Just as we have to now.”

“But, Captain-“ Kyle started.

“The Captain gave you permission to think for yourselves!” Murray bellowed. “I suggest you take it. It’s going to take a miracle for us to survive.”

“I’d rather not die cowardly,” Beverly huffed, almost ending his life by stepping on a deathly-slanted rock that would have removed him from his perch on the next wave.

“It’s up to you to feel like a coward. As for me, I’d rather not die at all.”

Lightening struck.

Thunder rumbled.

The waves crashed about their knees and ankles, covering the rocks again in water. The wind whipped water into their faces, stinging their eyes and cuts with salt. Still, the men carried on, lending each other helping hands when needed. Jage led them, replaceing the best route, telling his men where to put their feet, where to grab hold with their hands to go from rock to rock. He still thought about the men back at the boat, in the sea. He thought about the creature that released him from his wheel’s tether. Whether an evil spirit or a guardian angel, he didn’t know, but he hoped it helped his men out as well.

“What happened, Captain Jonathon?” Bud asked in his usual gruff manner. “We were all below when we hit. Did you fall asleep at the wheel?”

“There’s a storm going on if you haven’t noticed, Bud,” Juba replied for him. “Maybe you should have been steering the ship if you could control the weather, so.”

“I can’t control the weather, but I can sure control a ship!”

“You can’t control a ship in a storm. The storm controls you!”

“Aye, but you can manage the ship. You can manage the ship in the storm. And you can manage to not run the ship into land.”

“Who knew we were so close to Quakenfalls?” Murray butted in, always one to not shy away from an argument. “I know I didn’t. I thought we were, at least, a day away. Perhaps two.”

“The storm carried us quickly,” Kyle said. “As storms do.”

“Too quick,” Juba answered. “Too quick. I doubt the Captain saw the land coming. Did you, Captain?”

J.J. didn’t reply. He simply focused on his footing; on his handwork. He went from rock to rock, seeing the lightening in the sky through the puddles on the jagged terrain. The rain water completely drenched him, the cold damp feeling soaked into his skin. He thought he could feel the wind inside his shirt, inside his skin, chilling his bones. He tried not to shiver, as his men would replace shivering a sign of weakness, but all he wanted was a warm, dry blanket, some hot food, and the sun. By Heavens, he missed the sun.

“Captain’s ignoring us,” Kyle said, helping Beverly across a wide gap.

“He’s focusing,” Juba replied.

“Too little, too late!” Bud replied. “A Captain goes down with his ship! We should throw him in the waters with the other men. Let him feel what they are suffering because of him!”

This quieted every one down. Mutiny was the word that came to mind. Mutiny- when the crew of a ship banded together to overthrow the captain, usually imprisoning or killing the leader, in order to take control. Jage wondered if it would still be called a mutiny if they were just six men, scrambling along on the rocks of a cliff and not necessarily floating on the water. Either way, he had just about enough of the insubordination behind him.

“Enough!” Jage said, turning on a large rock, looking down at the other five men. “The ship didn’t sink, mind you. There was nothing to go down with, if you remember. You want to go back to the ship? Fine by me. She’s waiting for you. I did not force any one to come with me to the docks in this storm. It is what I decided to do. If you’re following because you have some sense of loyalty due to my being a Captain on the ship, I release you from that loyalty. We are now all just men-“

“You’re hardly a man!” Beverly said.

“Aye, I’m a boy. A boy who captained a ship filled with cowardly men. Not all, but some. If you don’t know how we came upon the rocks it is because you were nestled into bed below as I took on the storm. I, nine stones soaking wet, stood on the deck of the boat, and battled the storm single-handedly. You want to call me a yellow bellied, chicken hearted, faint-of-heart, gutless kid? Go ahead. But, what does that make you?”

Beverly and Kyle looked up at him, wonder on their faces as they could think of no reply.

“You’re our Captain, dock-to-dock,” Beverly finally said. “Usually the ship leaves a dock and arrives at one, but if we have to return to the dock by foot, so be it. We return to the dock by foot, lead by you. Once we get to the dock, Captain Jonathon James, we’ll go our separate ways. But, we will talk of this. The boy Captain who rammed the ship into Quakenfalls in the storm, abandoning half his men to their fate-“

“-while saving the other half on the rocks,” Juba interjected.

“Do you feel safe?” Kyle asked.

“Enough!” Jage bellowed. “I care not about what my legacy says about me. I said I wanted to get back to my family and I meant every word. With every step, I feel I’m closer. You wish to live in order to tell the tale of my failure as a leader, so be it, but don’t forget to mention your failure as a man.”

With that, they travelled in silence.

It was always on the tip of J.J.’s tongue to tell them about the creature in the storm. It was always in the back of his mind that he might see another one in the wind, that anytime he glanced up at the sky, there might be the creature, looking down at them, getting poised for an attack. But, he swallowed the information. He blocked the recurring image from his mind.

The memory wasn’t important.

The past was only thoughts.

He had to focus on the present.

He had to take action.