thomas sabo günstig Edward's Cave

The sun was setting behind them in a pink hue as Katie and Emma walked towards the shore. Katie stared down at the cool green grass below her feet, and Emma looked forward, straining until she could see the line where the green grass stopped and white beach sand started. The two teenagers; one excited and one dismayed; where heading towards Edward's Cove, a mysterious spot in their small town of North Carolina. The cave had become popular among people living there, because it remained un-chartered, and those who had attempted to swim into the mostly underwater cave had disappeared. Well, that was the story anyways. There were many stories about Edward's Cove; the most intriguing being that there was buried treasure of gold and rubies simply waiting to be discovered. But that rumor was more for the children, however, it had come up in one of Katie and Emma's recent conversations, and they began to wonder why they hadn't ever tried to get there. Then, they would surely be town heroes.
It had been Emma that came up with the idea, and Katie didn't much like it. Emma had a gift, though, for sugarcoating and enticing, so naturally Katie agreed with the idea. And that's where she was today- walking to the beach where they were going to risk their lives and quite possible get into trouble. She squirmed in her thoughts and decided it would be best to try to change Emma's mind.
"You know that it's a 20 foot swim underwater until you actually get into the cave, right?" Katie struggled to keep up with the quickening pace of Emma's step.
"Of course. That's why I practiced." Katie scrunched her nose up in confusion to her friend's response.
"I held my breath for like a minute straight before I went to sleep every night this past week. It's supposed to make your lungs stronger or something," Emma said. She had known that Katie would try to back out at the last minute, so this was nothing she hadn't prepared for.
"Well, then, you're also aware that the cave is a restricted area and that we could get into a whole lot of trouble for even swimming to it?" Katie asked.
"There's nobody around, therefore no one will ever know."
"Okay, but what about the tide? If it's moving in by the time we are ready to leave the cave then we could drown." Emma stopped and grabbed her friend by the arm.
"Look Katie, if you didn't want to come with me then you shouldn't have agreed to come in the first place. If you don't want to come then you don't have to; I'm not making you. It would just be a little upsetting for you if I friend tons of gold and can't share it with you. Finder's keeper's Katie." She smiled, then said,
"Besides. The tide won't be going out for another 2 hours. Getting there is going to be the hard part." She pulled Katie by the arm to keep walking, and as they stepped onto the warm sand Katie's stomach did an upside-down flop.
"There isn't going to be any gold, Emma. You know that it's just a child's legend. It's one of those 'My uncle's friend's cousin's father died trying to get to the gold' type stories. We may be very disappointed once we get there." Now, they stood with the seawater lapping at their toes, looking out onto the placid sea, towards the jagged Edward's Cove sticking out of the blue water like a mountain.
"Disappointed or not, it's still an adventure my friend. And any adventure in my boring summer is highly welcome," Emma said. She pulled her light brown hair back into a ponytail, and Katie did the same with hers.
"Now," she said. "I figure the swim there will be nice and slow so that we can save our energy. Cause once we get to the mouth of the cave, there's going to be a strong under pull, and we will have to swim as hard as we can in order to beat it. Right?" Katie nodded slowly. She was a good swimmer but she still knew that this was going to be hard. Emma took out a piece of rope, about 5 feet in length. She said,
"I have this, and we can tie it to one of our wrists so that there's no possible way for us to get separated." She began tying it to Katie's left hand.
"But what if one of us drowns and drags the other down with her?" Katie asked. Emma stopped and looked at her.
"That's a good point. But, it's not going to happen. I know I'm not going to drown, and, if you do, then I'm sure I'll be able you up by the rope! See, it'll be fine."
"You're crazy, you know that? You're going to get me killed. Why do I hang around with you?" Katie asked, loosening the rope around her wrist. Emma replied,
"I know I'm crazy, I'm not going to get you killed, hang out with me because I'm just too much damn fun. I mean, think about what you would be doing right now if you weren't here with me. Sitting and watching television? Chatting in cyber-space to some 30-year-old guy who tells you he's a 19-year old surfer? See you're here with me, and we are about to go into a way cool cave filled to the brim with gold. What could beat that?" Katie smiled.
"I'd actually probably be on a date Reynolds," Katie sighed.
"Yeah, well, if Bobby knew you were here right now he would think you were cool beyond words. You guys would probably end up getting married because of this," Emma said.
"But he's NOT here right now."
"There is a thing called bragging, Katie. And believe me, you're the queen of that."
"Alright, alright, enough! Let's just get this over with," Katie said. Emma shook her head yes, and with a quick tug of the rope she and Katie dove and began swimming to their destination.
The water was cold, but it took them merely seconds to get over the icy feeling. Emma's mind was surging with delight, while Katie's was still trying to decide the best time to turn back, and she began question whether or not she would be able to pull Emma all the way to shore by her end of the rope.
When they reached the rock, Emma got there first grabbing hold of the side, and Katie soon followed. They sat in the water for a moment, bobbing up and down with each great heave from the empty air pockets of the cave below. Emma wiped her face with her free hand and said,
"You ready? The opening is right below us." Katie just looked at her, and Emma, for the first time since they had left her house, saw the fear in Katie's eyes.
"There's no turning back now, Katie. You can do this. Just don't freak out on me down there, alright?" Katie took a deep breath, which didn't calm her down at all, and said,
"Might as well keep going now that I've come this far."
"That's the spirit!" Emma said.
"Emma Haskell, you're going to put me into an early grave," Katie laughed. Emma smiled and replied,
"That's my life goal. Now, deep breath and go under on the count of 3." Katie plugged her nose and prayed silently at the same time. Emma counted,
"One, !" Both girls went under with precise timing. Katie, once under, pushed her way into the opening below with her hands. Once she knew she was in, she started kicking her feet as hard as she possibly could. She had no idea where Emma was, but knew that her only priority at the time was finding air.
Emma, having her eye's closed, knew that she was slightly ahead of Katie, as she felt a slight pull on her right hand every time she accelerated. The pull inward and outward of the water helped push them along greatly, and this made the twenty-foot swim a little easier.
Before she knew it, Emma's head felt the cool air inside the cave. She took a deep breathe in to soothe her oxygen-deprived lungs, and not a moment later Katie popped up next to her.
"We did it!" Emma screamed, and Katie had to smile with delight. Even though it was so insane that they were there at that moment, Katie felt good about herself.
The two girls kicked their legs, treading water, and looked around. They were now inside Edward's Cove, and were amazed at what they saw. Emma swam over to the ledge of black rock in front of her, and climbed out of the water. The rock was slippery, and pulling Katie up from the water involved good balance. In front of them, a wall of black jagged rock wrapped around so that the cave was almost like a cone. From the top came a ray of sunlight, which lit up the rock walls, causing them to sparkle like a million diamonds. Emma looked up, wondering how the sunlight was coming into the cave, as she could not see the sky.
Katie slipped the rope off of her wrist, and began to move towards the wall.
"It's so beautiful. What makes it sparkle like that?" she asked.
"I don't know," Emma replied. Her eye instantly caught something on the rock to her right. It was a shimmering silver symbol on the wall, that looked like it had been painted on. It was a skull and cross bone. It seemed to twinkle even more as she walked closer to it.
Katie said, "So where's all the gold?" She turned around to see Emma touching her fingers to the symbol.
"Right here," Emma replied, digging something from the wall with her fingers.
"What's that?" Katie walked over and watched intensely. "Did you really find something?"
"I think so." Emma held up a gold ring, that was a simple band.
"Gee. I wonder if that's real gold," Katie said.
"There's something written on the inside, but I can't read it. It's too dark in here. It looks or something." Emma began moving to her left again, trying to get better lighting to read what was on the ring. Katie said,
"Maybe we can sell it." Just before Katie could tell her to stop, Emma tripped on a jagged piece of rock, falling backwards into the far wall of the cave. The last thing that Emma's eyes saw, was Katie running towards her in slow motion. Then, there was nothing but blackness.
Emma was having a dream while she was blacked out. She was walking down a long hall, opening and then closing doors, trying to decide which way to go. Each time she opened one, a voice told her to go to another door. She did just that, but was getting frustrated. She heard someone softly talking, asking if she was okay, and then she felt a hand on her forehead.
Her eyelids felt heavy, but slowly began to open, revealing blurred images above her. An outline of a person was in her view, and a voice echoed the words,
"Are you okay? Do you know where you are?" Emma knew where she was- the musty smell of the cave and its damp cold chill gave it away. She said,
"Katie?" and heard a laugh in reply.
"I haven't looked in the mirror lately, but I surely hope it's not THAT bad," a young man's voice said. Emma sat up, holding her head in her hand, and looked down at her cloths; they felt heavier than before. To her surprise, now she was wearing a white dress with pink-trim lining.
"Where's my bathing suit? And, who are you?" The young man helped her up, and she looked down at her clothes, and then backed away from him. But she stopped; noticing that he was a rather attractive guy. He had dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail, and was wearing a white ruffled shirt, brown pants, black boots, and a sword at his left side. His deep dark brown eyes seemed endearing as he moved closer to her.
"Oh man, I went into the wrong door," she said, looking around.
"What?" He asked, laughing. "You must have hit your head pretty hard. Do you know who you are?"
"Katie! If you are in on this, I don't know how you did it but it's not very funny!" She yelled. He backed away a few feet, then said, "Listen, there's no one else here but you and me. I don't know how you got here, but if I were you I'd leave quickly. My crew .do something you don't want if they find you." Emma looked around confused, and then replied,
"You're crew? What do you mean?" He walked cautiously over to her and took her by the hand. He led her up a few rocks that protruded from the side of the cave, and then into an overpass above. The sunlight hurt her eyes and she realized then how the walls had shimmered like diamonds in the cave below her. But what sat in front of her as she and the young man looked out onto the ocean was amazing. An extremely large ship, elaborated with masts and ropes and cannons shifted up and down in the rough waters.
The man pointed to the rowdy men scattered across the deck of the ship and said,
"That's my crew, led by Jeremy Kidd, or Captain Kidd, as we call him. I'm sure that you've heard of him."
"No, can't say that I have," she laughed, scratching her head.
"That's surprising, seeing as he's one of the richest pirates sailing the seas right now."
"Whoa. Wait. Did you just say pirate?" Emma questioned.
"Yeah. I said pirate. I'm a a buccaneer. I'm still sort of learning the ropes. I don't much enjoy this life, but there's nothing else for me in the world I guess. How about coming back to you?"
"This is a joke, right?"
"No," he replied confused. Emma turned and climbed the few feet of rock behind her so that she was looking up over the top of the cove towards her home. But there was nothing. At least, nothing like she remembered. Something was going on, and as crazy as it sounded, she was starting to believe it.
She hopped down from the rock and faced him.
"Okay. Either one of these three things has happened. One, I fell and hit my head and now I'm just dreaming or in a coma or something. Two, I'm literally insane. Or three, this is all really happening, and I've traveled back in time year is this?"
"1717," he said. Emma drew in a deep breath in amazement. "What year did you think it was?" he asked.
" who's counting?" She turned to face him, and give the best smile she had.
"My name's Emma." She stuck her hand out, and he grabbed it, giving her a formal handshake while saying,
"Will. Nice to meet you, Emma. As I was saying,CrianÇa Botas Timberland, it might be a good idea for you to leave now." Emma looked around.
"I have no where to even if I did have somewhere to go, I have no way to get there." Will shook his head in agreement, and said,
"Well then come with me." He led her back down into the cave, where they ran into an overweight man, desperately in need of a shave, and with black and gold teeth.
"What's this? Have you found us some treasure, Will?" the man laughed, drawing his sword. Will drew his sword in defense and said,
"Back down, Jones. I found her here and now we must return her home, but it is in no way possible for her to be your 'treasure'. Do you understand?" The man stared, back and forth, between the two of them, and then growled softly before holstering his sword. Will then grabbed Emma by the hand and led her past the angry pirate, out through a small door-shaped tunnel towards the back of the cave.
The two walked cautiously along a narrow edge on the outside of the cave, until they came the where a wooden plank abled them to walk up onto the deck of boat.
Here, the crew was already crowded in a small bunch of short, tall, fat, and skinny pirates, who were each dirty and smelled of rum. Some cackled with delight when they saw Emma, others whispered in conference of what the Captain would do with her.
Emma then noticed on her finger the ring that she had dug from the wall of the cave what had seemed to be just minutes before. But how it had gotten onto her finger, she did not know. She tried pulling it off, but it seemed to be stuck. "Will," she said quietly. "Have you ever seen this ring before?" Wide-eyed, he grabbed her hand, looking closer. "I know this ring! Where did you get it?" She explained to him how she had pried it from the wall before she slipped and hit her head. The entrance of the captain onto the main deck interrupted their studying of the shining gold ring, and will pushed her hand down and behind her back as if to hide the ring from the captain. Captain Kidd's voice quietly yet mysteriously panned out the noise from the waves gently rocking the large ship, saying,
"'Onward men!', I was going to say. Until I noticed the young guest that our buccaneer Will has brought back from his journey." He spun from facing his crew to facing Emma. Emma looked up at Will nervously, who looked back down at her with the same nervous shadow in his eye. The captain, hands behind his back, walked over to Emma and stood face to face with her.
"You seem old to enough to know about pirates, my lady. But do you know why pirates like a woman who freely walks aboard their vessel?" Emma twitched a little. What was she to say?
"Um. I just need a ride home I guess. So no.I don't know why. I could take a guess though," she laughed. Members of the crew chuckled with delight to her response.
"Boys, this is a brave girl. Does she not know how murderous and unkind pirates are?" The captain asked his crew. They did not answer. Will then stepped forward and said,
"She slipped and hit her head, sir. We should at least take her to land. Just a short sail, that's all." Captain Kidd then drew his sword and placed the very tip at Emma's throat. Not daring to move an inch, she froze; only the rocking of the ship causing her to sway.
"Wait!" Will said. "Just wait."
"This had better been good, privateer. Or your friend shall need no sail to land," the captain grinned. Will then reached behind Emma and pulled out her hand.
"She bears the ring of Captain Thatch, sir." The captain looked at the ring, then back at Emma, lowered his sword, and stepped away. He stared at Emma for a moment, as if trying to decode the ring's origins, then said,
"Should that not be more of a reason to kill her?" he stepped forward again.
"Of course not, sir." Will said. "If you kill her, then we couldn't use her as bate." Emma looked up at him, and angrily asked,
"What?" Will continued to explain.
"See, you know that Captain Thatch is going to come after his ring when he figures out that someone stole it. If she has the ring when he does catch up to us, then he won't bother with you. He'll go straight for her."
The captain walked slowly over to Emma, grabbing her hand, and then shoving her hand into Will's chest. He turned back around saying,
"She stays. But only because you have a good point my boy. It is your duty to watch the ring, then. We now have a new mission, men. Accept, this account is unlike our others; we are to use captain Thatch's ring to find his hidden treasure, worth more than a million doubloons. And for your duty, you shall each receive five Eight's of the treasure. Hoist the Jolly Roger, onward to Ocracoke Island,thomas sabo günstig!" With that demand, he raised his sword into the air, and the crew scattered about, hoisting the black skull-and- cross bone flag called the Jolly Roger, and raising the anchors.
Emma turned to Will and asked,
"What did you do?" Will said,
"I saved your life. For now, at least. We are now headed to Ocracoke, and when we get there they will expect you to lead them to the treasure."
"But, I don't know where the treasure is!"
"I know. I plan on getting you off of this ship before we get there. Don't worry." Will then turned and ran to help release the sail. With a lurch, the ship moved forward, and Emma sat down on the deck of the vessel, her knees tucked close to her chest, and ran through everything that had just happened in her head. She tried to come to a logical conclusion about it all, but it frightened her to think that she was in a foreign place and may never be able to return home. For the first time that summer she wish that she was back inside her boring home with Katie, doing absolutely nothing.
As she watched Captain Kidd give his crew orders, and watched old grimy pirates scurry about the ship with their duties, she began to feel slightly seasick. She stood up, holding her stomach with one hand and the side of the ship with the other, and stumbled over to the center where the giant mast projected from the deck. Grabbing hold of it, she attempted to steady her shaking body by wrapping her arms around the wooden pole.
"'Ello dolly. Feelin' a bit sea-sick are we?" she heard a voice ask. She turned her head around and saw a tall man dressed in black trousers and a white shirt, with a tattoo of a sword on his right bicep. He had a mouth full of yellow teeth that gave off somewhat of a gentle smile.
"Slightly," she trembled.
"Well then, follow me," he said as he walked away, waving his hand for her to follow. She looked around for Will, but after a few seconds she let go of the mast, and slowly followed him into a small cabin towards the bow of the ship. He was already inside as she pushed open the creaky door and stepped inside. There was a bed, a desk, and a small closet.
"This be the Cap'n's room. It'll take you a day or two to get your sea legs. For now you best lie down, an' stay out of the way of the crew on deck," he said patting the bed. As he walked to the door she asked,
"What's your name?"
"Its best not to make friends with pirates, girl. Just didn't want you throwing up on the deck, as I'm the one who'd have to clean it up." Embarrassed, she sat on the bed and looked away. Opening the door the pirate whispered,
"The name's you didn't hear it from me." Emma smiled as the door creaked shut, and she immediately stood up and began looking around the small room. The walls were lined with maps of the shoreline as well as Islands with black X's through them. There was a small round window through which she could see the sun setting on the distant sea. She walked over to the desk, and opened a small book labeled 'Bloody Conquers'. There were pages after pages filled with scribbled writing of Captain Kidd's accounts on deserted islands and fighting other ships. She read a line out loud to herself,
"That one day I dreamed about has finally come-I saw The Concord coming from two miles away, and I took her down. Her name is now The Maroon, and she sails by my sword."
"I was part of that battle. A bloody one it was," Will said. Emma jumped, and closed the book.
"You scared the scared me, Will," she proclaimed.
"Sorry. You shouldn't be in here," he said, sitting down on the bed. Emma walked over and sat down next to him.
"Well, Jack brought me in here.I was feeling a little seasick." Will smiled.
"If the captain happens to walk in here, and finds you sitting on his bed, he may get the wrong idea."
"Pirates aren't really like that, they? I the the 's all-stereotypical, right? I always thought it was just, 'Arrr! Let's find me some buried treasure!'" Emma stated. It came out funny, but she was serious. History books could really be wrong in that situation.
"There are few who enjoy killing while they look for treasure. If I don't get you home soon, I'm afraid you might get to meet one," Will replied. It was getting dark inside the cabin, so he got up, lit a candle on the desk, and then sat back down on the bed.
"While we're on that topic, I have a few questions on this matter. Okay, first of all, the stupid ring is stuck on my finger, and second of exactly did you say to your captain that he could use me as bait? Maybe I missed it, but I don't see the good side in that," Emma said, shaking her head. Will grabbed her hand and tried pulling the ring off, but with no luck, he simply held onto her hand as he spoke.
"Emma, do you know who Edward Thatch is?"
"That's Captain Thatch, right? The guy that your captain is afraid of?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's him. The cave, where I found you, and where you got the ring 's his cave. Edward's Cave, some call it."
"That cave is the only thing that's right in world," she said, brushing her hair behind her ear.
"Listen to me," he said, grabbing her chin with his hand. "That ring is the only thing in the world that Thatch would give his life for. That means he'll do anything in the world to get it back from you. He'd cross the Seven Seas chasing us until he tracks us down, and takes back what's rightfully his. He's relentless. And on this ship, there are very few chances to make an escape. That is why, you must do as I say, and trust me with your life. I'm the only one who can keep you alive." Emma nervously shook her head yes in agreement. "This just got very interesting," she said under her breath. She looked down at her lap where her hands sat folded, the ring encircling her ring finger on her right hand. Before she had found it's golden shine intriguing, but now she despised it. She stood up and walked over to the candle, abruptly placing her hand directly over the flame. Will jumped up from the bed and exclaimed,
"What are you doing?" He grabbed her hand away. Emma looked up at him and said,
"This is too insane to be reality. It must be a dream. In dreams I can't feel true pain." Will took her hand and placed it over his heart.
"You can feel my heart beating. I'm real. This is real. You're not dreaming, and you're not crazy." The cabin was quiet, and Emma felt the continuous beat of his heart against her hand. As he leaned in to kiss her, she whispered,
"'re too cute to be a pirate." Will smiled just before their lips touched, and for the first time that day, Emma didn't want to return home.
A man named Casey, who called himself 'Revenge', interrupted the kiss. He ran into the cabin and yelled,
"Will! Queen Anne's Revenge, starboard at 3 miles!"
"Queen Anne's Revenge? What's going on?" Emma asked.
"Captain Thatch's Vessel. He's quicker than I thought. Stay here, no matter what!" Will said as he was running out the door. If this ship did indeed carry Edward Thatch, then Emma knew there was trouble. Of course she didn't want to stay put! Her curiosity and confusion got the best of her, as she made her way to the deck.
Here, there was confusion, as the captain stood on top of a few crates looking towards the Queen Anne's Revenge and ordering his men to load the cannons. One by one each of the 4 cannons were loaded with Blunderbuss, a muzzle-loader that would fire scattered shot on the upcoming ship, if they were to fire first.
The dark blues sky now covering the setting sun, made the deck of the Maroon seem eerie and secluded. Lanterns were quickly lit and set about the deck to provide light, but the Captain quickly scolded this action, as he knew it would provide sight to the Queen Anne's Revenge, causing an easy target.
Suddenly Emma was grabbed from behind.
"The curtain is up for you, girl!" The voice bellowed as the man drug her towards the side of the ship, and next to Captain Kidd.
"Here's our ticket to safety, cap'n," the voice recoiled, the man's strong hands still grasping Emma by the shoulders.
"Put her back where ye' found 'er, idiot! If they see our Jolly Roger, maybe they'll know we're not gonna open fire. If they see 'er and the ring first though, they may bloody kill us all!" The captain sneered.
Emma was drug back to where she was taken from, and waving his finger in her face the man said,
"Stay here until we be needin' ya', understand?" She shook her head yes, and when he left she dropped to the floor. She immediately began trying to pull the ring off of her finger again, thinking that the last thing she remembered was holding the ring in her hand and then falling. She thought that maybe once she got the ring off, she would return home safely.
But it wouldn't come off. She looked up to see the Captain waving his arm as a sign of peace to the steadily approaching Queen Anne's Revenge. The ship was much larger than The Maroon, and had an elaborate Skull on the front, sticking out over the sea. She could barely make out a man standing above the skull on the deck of the ship, with a Cutlass (long, curved sword) in hand.
Will, who walked in front of her, reaching his hand out, suddenly blocked her view. He said,
"Get up." She grabbed his hand and he helped her up, only to stand in front of her with his sword drawn.
"My captain is going to try and save his own neck by giving you and the ring up right away. There's going to be a battle. Just stay close to me, and do what I tell you, okay?" He said, not turning around, but keeping his gaze directly on the other vessel.
"Yes," Emma replied. At this point, she knew she was at his mercy. The Queen Anne's Revenge was near enough now to make out Captain Thatch, who was holding a lantern in his free hand. The lantern cast shadows across his dark face, making him twice as evil looking as he was in regular daylight. He was wearing a crimson colored overcoat, with two swords at his sides. Across his chest, he had bandoleers stuffed with numerous pistols, and also knives holstered in their leather cases. A long black beard covered most of his face, giving him a grimy and mysterious appeal. His look alone frightened Emma.
"Ahoy there, Cap'n! Friend or foe?" Thatch yelled to Captain Kidd. Kidd replied by saying,
"Ahoy! Friend! Most certainly a Friend! However, I do have something that belongs to you, and for a share in the profit, I'll gladly hand it over!" Now, the two ships were side by side, and the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge pulled the Maroon closer with Grappling Hooks.
Captain Thatch stepped aboard the Maroon with a light jump and said,
"That's strange. I lost something of mine today. I do wonder if it is what you've found."
"I'm quite certain it 'tis. care to make a barter?" Kidd said. He motioned to one of his crewmembers to grab Emma and bring her over. Will followed them over to the two captains, stepping between Emma and Thatch.
"Is this what you be looking for?" Kidd questioned, showing Captain Thatch the ring on Emma's finger.
"Why, yes. Does it come free with this little girl?" Thatch laughed.
"If you'd like. It'd be my pleasure, as long as ye' share the wealth in gold that this here ring uncovers," said Captain Kidd.
"I see, I see. Or, I could just kill ye' all, take my ring, take whatever else ye' got on this vessel, and move on. How does that sound?" With those words, the crew on the Queen Anne's Revenge, an even dirtier- looking group than that on The Maroon, stepped onto the ship, and drew their swords in preparation to fight. Thatch rose his Cutlass to Captain Kidd's face, and raised his eyebrows at his suggestion, just as Kidd drew his own sword in defense.
The two captains stood sword-to-throat, as Will's eyes bounced nervously from one man to the other. He suddenly pulled Emma back as the captain's began to swordfight.
As though it was a cue to battle, the two crews went at each other in a bloody combat of clashing swords and firing pistols. Gurgling cries from stabbed men, and the smell of burning paper filled Emma's head. Chaos around her caused her to lose all sense of awareness, as Captain Thatch, still in battle with Kidd, yelled,
"Get that girl!" A man suddenly ran at Will, sword drawn, ready to fight. He jumped away from Emma, telling her to go into the cabin and lock the door. She did as she was told, running frantically, ducking with each gunshot in fear that it could be aimed at her.
Emma stood listening in fear to the gunshots and wild screams. The constant clang of swords and thud of heavy boots on the wooden deck made her jump, and she wondered constantly if she were to die in this world what would happen.
As she thought this, the small round window on the map-lined wall broke, and a bloody fist poked through as a man charged through the door, breaking it down. Emma hurriedly attempted to run by the burly man, but with a heaving growl he wrapped his arms around her, and began carrying her onto the deck of the Maroon.
"Will! Will!" she cried her eyes searching for him, but all she saw were fighting men. Some of Captain Kidd's crewmembers were being carried kicking and screaming onto the Queen Anne's Revenge, and others were dying on the deck. Emma cringed as her kicking feet slipped on a substance, and she looked down to see a pool of blood.
"Emma!" she turned just as Will was running up to her, sword in hand, fighting off pirates as he went. She tried and tried to get away, but the man was too strong and by now he was passing her off to another man on the Queen Anne's Revenge.
Captain Thatch was now on the deck of his ship, laughing, cutlass in the air, and ordered his men onward. The grappling hook was lifted from the side of the Maroon, and the Queen Anne's Revenge's sail was hoisted. With the distance between the two ships growing larger, Will could only stand and watch as large angry pirates tied Emma to the mast.
The last she could see of him was his heavily heaving figure leaning over the side of the boat, staring in her direction. From what she could see, he was the last man standing on the Maroon, as nearly half of the crew was taken onto the Queen Anne's Revenge, and were now being shackled to various spots about the deck of the vessel.
Captain Thatch walked slowly up to her, wiping his cutlass, stained with Captain Kidd's blood, clean with a handkerchief.
"Do ye' know what Keel Haulin' is little girl?" He sneered. Emma didn't reply, only looked him square in the eyes, rubbing the ring with her thumb.
"I really hope ye' didn't make friends with any of them scurvy buccaneers over there. Keel Haulin' is in their future." He pointed to 3 men shackled to the side of the boat, one of them was Jack.
"The rest of 'em will get their little ears and their little toes cut off!" he said, leaning in close to Emma. She closed her eyes at the feeling of his warm breath on her face. She drew up whatever courage she had left inside and said,
"So. You find happiness in the pain of others? If you ask me, It's rather cowardly of you to hurt other people just so you can feel joy." He gritted his yellow and black teeth at her remark, saying,
"Little girl. Hurting others is what I do. Especially when they have something of mine, and don't want to give it back. Much like that ring on your pretty little finger!" He reached around behind her and grabbed her hand, trying to pull the ring off.
"It's stuck! It's stuck!" Emma protested, in hopes that he would back away. He did, saying,
"We'll just have to cut it off, then!" Just as he drew a small dagger from his velvet coat, she blurted,
"There's no need to do that! I know my way through the cave!" After saying this, she lowered her head in astonishment at what had come out of her own mouth.
"How could ye'? I made that ring 20 years ago with 4 small symbols on the inside that guides the way through the cave. I worked day and night chiseling them into that ring, and I still don't know the pattern!" He lifted an eyebrow in question.
"I have a very good memory," she said shakily. His eyes narrowed, sizing up her response.
"Besides!" she exclaimed. "If you cut my finger .'ll all over the deck of your beautifully built ship! Wouldn't want that, now would ya?" She huffed. Thatch began laughing hysterically, calling to his crew,
"She doesn't think that BLOOD of all things on my deck!" There was a rumble from the men, a mixture of sneering laughs and a mixture of loud hoots for their captain.
"Emma, once again ye're sadly mistaken about my ethics. You must not know who I am." He paused and then took a step closer to her. The lighting from various lanterns strewn across the deck gave his face an even eerier shadow look than the first time she had seen him. She looked around, then answered,
".Edward Thatch, right?" He smiled.
"'Tis only my shore name, sweetheart. On the rough seas, folks call me. Blackbeard." His crew cheered ragingly at the sound of his name. The wind blew her hair around wildly as she said,
"That explains a lot. Well, I hope you don't expect me to be scared now."
"Why wouldn't ye' be scared? Most quiver at the sound of the name Blackbeard."
"You just don't look that scary. And, I'm sorry, but Keel Hauling? I think you made that name up. If you ask me, you're all talk and no show," she said bravely. Of course she was lying, she was scared to death. It merely came across as a good plan to act like she wasn't scared. Bad idea.
"Ye' want to see some keel haulin', do ye'? We can take care of that request, can't we boys?" he replied, walking over to Jack. He lifted him up, and two pirates began tying a rope to his feet and another rope to his hands.
"No, that's not what I meant!" Emma cried, knowing she had opened her big mouth a little too far. He didn't listen, and as they sailed onward, Jack was thrown overboard and drug under the bottom of the ship. Emma cried at what she had done, and Blackbeard walked over to her saying,
"Never cry over a pirate. No such tears should be wasted." Emma did not reply, fearing now what she had already done might happen again. That was the last Emma saw of Jack and the other prisoners to follow, and she assumed they drowned one by one in the careless black sea.
It was deceiving to her; such a beautiful thing, placid black with the reflection of thousands of stars and a bright moon in its choppy waves. But all that it had brought her was fear and death. She'd grown up around the sea, loving everything about it, but now she wished she were as far away from it as Will.
The Queen Anne's Revenge continued to sail towards Ocracoke Island, on what seemed to Emma an endless night. The moon illuminated its sharp figure on the horizon, but it never seemed to get any closer. Maybe this was hell. Maybe she had died after she hit her head, and now Hell was sailing onward forever with a boat-full of angry pirates, to a destination that would only get farther and farther away.
Her eyes were fixed on the island, the moon now behind its peak, when one of the pirates walked up to her and said,
"Beautiful, ain't it? That's why he picked it." He scratched the red bandana wrapped around his forehead.
"Picked it for what?" she asked.
"For his treasure. He say's as soon as he gets to it, he's gonna cut us in on the share. You know, that ring you wear is the only way for him to get back his treasure that he hid so long ago."
"Don't you think it's kind of silly that he hid the treasure but didn't take the time to even maybe draw himself a map?" Emma questioned. The man looked at the island, then back at her, scrunched his nose, and replied,
"I don't think it really matters anymore. The problem at hand is getting his treasure back."
"And you honestly think that he's going to give you all equal shares?" she laughed.
"He may be black-hearted, but he's a man of his word."
"Yeah, but he keeps telling me not to trust how can you be so sure that you can trust him?"
"Enough with your questions!"
"Know what I think? I think he's just using you. He hasn't laid a finger on me yet, and I doubt he will. He's using us all to get his gold. I don't think he would hurt the innocent."
"He killed yer' captain Kidd, didn't he?" the man said aggressively.
"Yeah, but only after he was challenged. Had Kidd stepped down and allowed the pillaging of the Maroon, Blackbeard wouldn't have laid a finger on him. Like I said before, all talk and no show," Emma smiled.
"You just wait and see, girl. Blackbeard always has a plan. You'll be surprised." The pirate turned to walk away, leaving this thought to boil on her mind. She yelled,
"Can you at least untie my hands? This is really uncomfortable!"
"No. We're almost there. Tuff it out," he called back. Emma looked up to see the island maybe a few miles away, and had a bitter-sweet feeling about it. On one hand, she could get off the boat and onto dry land, but on the other hand, she could very well meet her death in a short time to come.
The large ship pulled a few hundred yards from the island and anchored, and Emma was put onto a small dingy with Blackbeard and 5 other pirates. The moonlight reflected down onto the water in front of them, lighting a pathway for the small boat. Her hands were tied together, and she sat between two men, being pushed back and forth by their rowing arms. Blackbeard's sword shone in the light, as he stood at the bow of the ship, one knee up, staring foreword at his island.
The dingy came to a screeching halt, as the bottom of the boat scrapped on the sand of the shallow shore. Emma was lifted up and set next to the captain, as he pointed up to a large mountain in front of them saying,
"That's what we will be climbin' tonight, then ye' lead us through the cave to my treasure!" She was shoved foreword by one of the pirates, and they began a long and tedious moonlit trek up the mountainside on Ocrocoke Island.
The ground below her feet would change from wet mushy mud, to slippery sharp rock. She began to feel her thin shoes break under her, and the muscles in her thighs started to burn with fury from the intense climb. The over-weight pirates behind and in front of her, as one could imagine, were in far worse condition. They huffed and puffed from the strenuous workout, and constantly asked for breaks.
They were giving very few breaks on the 3-hour hike, but when they were allowed to sit, their ritual of rum swigging and passing took place. Several times, Emma was asked if she would like a drink, and each time she refused after watching their dirt-rimmed mouths chug it down, except for the on last break when she replied,
"Why the hell not?" She said this thinking that it may help her take in and endure what was going on. Blackbeard intercepted the passing of the rum to her hand saying,
"Oh no ye' don't. I need ye' to be good and level-headed once inside the dark cave." He then threw the bottle off to his side, and the sad men listened as it clinked and clanged down the steep mountain ridge.
It was better off for Emma that she simply kept her head on straight and provided her own encouragement. After all, she needed to have quick thinking once they reached the depths of the cave and she had to make decisions about where to turn and when. How she was going to get herself out of this one, she did not know.
By now, the sky was turning to a light blue, and the cave snuck into sight as morning approached. Every once in a while, a man behind or ahead of Emma would slip and tumble down the mountainside a few feet, but Blackbeard kept walking, and so did Emma. That was another reassurance to Emma as to why she didn't have that drink; it was just as dangerous for her to have alcohol in her blood and be walking up a slipper steep mountain, as it would be for her to be at the end of Blackbeard's sword.
Through the climb, Emma wished over and over in her mind that Will would leap out from the shadows and save her. 'But that only happens in the movies,' she'd think to herself. Still, Emma was constantly twisting her wrists about inside the tightly tied rope, just in case she needed them to be free in a single second upon Will's command.
"Wishful thinking won't get ye' anywhere's, and never did no one no good, girl," Blackbeard suddenly spoke. "That boy's not commin' to save ye'."
"I never said he was," she replied. He still walked at a steady pace in front of her.
"Ye' don't have to say it. Anyone in ye're position in ther' right mind would be thinkin' it. Why, ye're the damsel in distress," He laughed. Suddenly stopping and turning around he said,
"Except, unlike most fairy tales ye're mommy read to you at damsel doesn't live happily ever after!" His sneer as he turned back around gave her the chills, but she immediately was pushed forward by a hand at her back.
"So that makes you the monster, right? .fated to die monster?"
"Ye' got the first one right. There ain't nothin' more evil on the seven seas than me, and there ain't a man so feared. Ye' should feel graced to be in such presence!" he boasted.
"Fear isn't a thing of dignity. Sorry to break it to you, but where I come from, big scary men who like to kill people go to a big scary place called jail, and lose all dignity."
"And where is it exactly, that you come from missy?" She didn't answer, hesitating on what to say.
"Some place much better than this," she whispered under her breath, looking around. The sky was now pink and orange, and it reminded her of the sunset before she and Katie had swam out to Edward's Cave. If only she had stayed home that day and watched television with Katie.
The last hundred feet or so caused Emma's stomach to turn and tie into a knot, as she thought about what might lie ahead of her. This final climb involved and upper-body pull up onto a cliff, as the mouth of the cave sat facing the vast sea. Surprisingly, as he was the first man up, Blackbeard reached out his weathered hand to Emma, and pulled her up the last few feet. Here, she stood looking out over the morning water, sun slowly rising and reflecting bright white light from the choppy waves below. The Queen Anne's Revenge, being the largest three-masted ship she had ever seen, looked tiny from the cliff she was standing on.
"Here's the lock, and ye're the key," Blackbeard said, pulling her by the arm towards the dark cave opening. She looked from her hands then back to him and, as politely as she knew how, asked,
"Could you my hands? They really hurt." She held them out to him and behind her the three pirates giggled with pleasure from her question.
"What's the matter, precious? Is pirate rope too much for ye're baby- soft skin?" one of the pirates laughed. Emma whipped her head around and, replied,
"My wounds from you're pirate rope may impair my judgment, and we could get lost in the deep, dark, dangerous cave." She then turned her head back around and lifted her hands to him in a second approach. He took out his knife and began cutting her hands free saying,
"Nothin' funny. I have no problem with trying to take the ring and ye're finger off with this knife." When she was free, she rubbed her purple and red bleeding wrists with her hands in pain. The pirate who had made the smart remark before now shoved her harshly from behind, and she stumbled into the cave after Blackbeard. The pirates behind her, as well as Blackbeard, lit a lantern, and the cave in front of them became illuminated. The five of them walked for what must have been a couple of minutes, deeper and deeper into the musty dark cave the light of day slowly fading behind the. Suddenly they were halted, as they stumbled upon the first test of Emma's memory.
Before them, were three large horseshoe-shaped entrances to tunnels, each with a symbol carved above them. It was impossible for the light to show inside each tunnel, as the one on the far left banked sharply to the left, the one in the middle made a straight drop down, and the one on the far right curved to the right. Surprisingly, Emma could recall what the first symbol on the inside of the ring looked like; a circle with a line through it. The correct cave to enter would be the one on the left!
As she stood facing each cave, Blackbeard became impatient and said,
"Either ye' know the ye' don't. Which is it? Stop wasting my time."
"Buddy, you're wasting your own time! Why in the world can't you remember which cave comes first, and why the hell didn't you write it down somewhere?" Emma blurted, throwing her hands in the air. It didn't make any sense to her.
She could see silent anger growing in his eyes, and to save herself she quickly responded,
"It's the one on the left," pointing to the left cave.
"He wrote it down on the ring so that he wouldn't have to remember. ye' dummy," one of the pirates said.
"Shut up! All of ye'! You three, go into the !" He drew his sword, forcing the three pirates to take slow and unknowing steps into the left cave. They cautiously peered down into the cave,Coogi, looking around the first sharp bend. Blackbeard seemed to be waiting for his cue to step foreword. Emma was in the process of examining how much of a coward he really was for that, when a warm hand was suddenly clasped over her mouth, and she was pulled backwards against the wall of the cave and into a shadow by a strong force. The pirate hadn't seemed to notice.
Her head turned quickly, and she was relieved to be looking at Will's face. He put his finger up to his mouth to signal her to be quiet, and, grabbing her hand led her back up the way they had entered the cave. It wasn't long before they heard the screaming yell,
"She's gone!" They knew they were being chased, and suddenly they're pace quickened. The two were out of the cave in a matter of fleeting seconds, and the bright sun hurt Emma's eyes as Will immediately pulled her off to the right of the cave opening. They were running through trees, jumping over rocks, and climbing over small hills, when Emma asked,
"How did you know where I was on the mountain?"
"Didn't have to know. I've been following you since you were taken from the ship last night. I got my captain's Sloop, The Maroon II, and rowed behind The Queen Anne's Revenge under the cover of night, until you reached shore. Then I simply followed you on foot." He turned his head and smiled at her, and she smiled back, but his eyes drifted behind her and his smiling face turned to a worried and scrunched-up face. Emma turned her head and saw the four pirates close behind.
Will made quick maneuvers, turning quickly left and right to try and lose their followers. Meanwhile, Emma held on tightly to his hand, ducking under tree limbs and carefully stepping behind him on ledges. Will ran as if he knew the island like the back of his hand, and knew exactly where he was taking Emma, so she let him guide her in every dangerous turn and leap. They came to a small cliff, only a few feet wide that looked a long ways down onto a deep pool of water surrounded heavily by trees. The sun shone down onto the water, making it sparkle. Out of breath, Will looked around as if he knew no other place to go, and then looked in the direction of the noisy pirates only a small distance away. He grabbed Emma by the shoulders and said,
"In all my life, I-" Emma cut him off, but not with words. She jumped up and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Didn't get to do that before, and I didn't want to miss my opportunity again," she said. He smiled.
"I'm gonna kill ye'! Nobody gets away from Blacbeard!" they heard, and now could see his crimson coat through the trees coming towards them, and the other three pirates struggling to catch up behind.
"Do you trust me?" Will asked Emma. She didn't respond because she thought that he would know by now that she did.
"Do you trust me!" He asked firmly.
"Of course I do," she said. He lowered his head and looked deep into her eyes.
"I'm right behind, okay? I'm always right behind you." She shook her head yes, but with a confused look on her face. He leaned down and kissed her again, which was all too short, as his hands pushed her away. Though, the short kiss was not all she was worried about. His push was too strong, and she fell backwards from the cliff, towards the water below. She knew it hadn't been a mistake on his part, as the last thing her eyes saw before she hit the water was him drawing his sword, and Blackbeard and his men rushing upon him.
There was still a part of her that thought he may have jumped in behind her and her eyes were just playing tricks on her, but she looked around underwater and didn't see him. Emma then looked up to try and spot his figure on the cliff above, but her she saw nothing. Just blue hazy water. Her lungs were getting tired, and her head was feeling light. She knew she needed oxygen, but her body wouldn't float up to the surface. She felt tingly as she let herself stay in the bubbling water. But as she looked down at her ring finger, the gold shining ring slipped off as if it was two sizes too large and floated twinkling into darkness below her. Her hand reached for it, but she was soon overcome by the feeling of being light-headed, and consequently, her vision went black and she slipped away.
There was no hallway this time. No doors to choose from. And no voice guiding her. She simply felt her heavy and tired eyes slowly begin to open. The light from a window to her right caused her eyes to immediately close again, and a sharp pain ran through what felt like her brain. Emma pushed herself up with her arms, realizing she was in a hospital bed, and asked,
"What happened?"
"Oh, honey! Thank God you're okay! We were worried sick!" She knew that voice. Emma's mom walked over to her side and kissed her on the top of her head.
"Do you remember anything at all?" her mom asked.
"Yeah. Pirates." Emma rubbed her head with her hand.
"I think you need some more rest." her mom said, backing away. She had never really been good at the 'making-things-better' mom type stuff, so Emma wasn't surprised that her mom slipped out of the room as Katie slipped in.
"I'll go get the doctor!" her mom screeched. Katie walked over and pulled up a chair next to Emma's bed.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
"Okay I guess. happened?" she looked at her friend in utter confusion. One minute she was running with the boy of her dreams from Blackbeard the pirate, and now she was in a hospital room with what felt like a concussion.
"It was pretty scary. We were swimming, I think I was ahead of you, and I suddenly got yanked backwards. I turned around and you were just floating I grabbed you and swam back out of the cave and up to the surface. When I realized you had been drowning, I swam you back to shore. You were kind of in and out of consciousness, but," she leaned forward, "the doctors said you died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, and they had to bring you back to life. I'm just glad that you're okay." Emma stared at her friend, wondering for a moment if she was making it up just for the glory of saying she had saved Emma. She really did feel like she hit her head on something.
"I didn't tell anyone that we were out that far though. I told them we were just swimming," Katie added. Emma felt a sudden debt of gratitude for what her friend had done.
"Wow. I'm sorry I made you go did a cool thing for me," Emma smiled at her friend.
"Don't worry about it. Like you said, I'm a town hero." They smiled at each other, but Emma's smile was only a mask for millions of confusing thoughts all trying to be worked out in her head at the same time.
"Hey, did I hear your mom say that she's going to get your doctor? Man, Emma. He's really cute. You should try the drowning thing more often, we can pick up guys that way," Katie said, laughing. Emma half-smiled, but looked down as a doctor in a white lab coat entered the room. Katie immediately got up and left the room, a sly smirk on her face as usual when it came to boys.
"Finally awake?" the doctor asked. Emma, still looking down, widened her eyes at the sound of his voice. She looked up, and was amazed to see Will, minus the long hair. She continued to stare at his face, and he said,
".is there something wrong?"
"Yeah. Do I know you?" she asked, tilting her head. He laughed.
"I mean, have we met before?" he sat down where Katie had been sitting, and took out his stethoscope to listen to her heart.
"Only in your dreams. Well, you maybe remember my voice is what I mean. See, even though you were out for a couple days, you still heard everything that went on in this room." He paused. "Does that help any?"
"Only if there were pirate fights and foot-chases on a mountain side in this room the past couple days," Emma replied. Her answer was out of all seriousness, too, but the doctor found it quite amusing.
"Sounds like you had a pretty vivid dream while you were out," he laughed.
"Pretty real was more like it." She leaned her head onto her hand, almost in tears trying to figure out what was going on.
"It'll get easier for you. You girls just need to be more careful. The sea is no place for you to be swimming out over your head in. And going to the cave? What were you thinking?"
"How did you know that we were going to the cave?" Emma asked.
"Its obvious, you two were out in that area, and even though you're friend didn't tell me the truth I knew. What kid doesn't want to explore that cave?" Emma dropped her eyes again, and noticing her toiled mind, he lifted his right hand and said,
"You see this ring?" Emma looked at it was the same ring she had been wearing that she couldn't get off.
"Okay, woah. That ring was in my dream, too. You guys must have been talking about it or something," she said, sitting up even more in her bed. He squinted his eyes, leaned foreword, and said,
"No, I don't think so. But I can see how it would enter a dream about pirates. It's been passed down through my family, and word on the street was that it was found in Edward's Cave. Edward was really-"
"Blackbeard. I know. to be the one to tell you this doc, but if you don't return it to it's rightful place, Blackbeard and his men are gonna come looking for you," Emma said jokingly.
"Really? That's a little scary."
"I know," she said. " it come off of your finger?" He reached with his left hand and slid the ring from his right, holding it in the air. Emma smiled and he smiled back.
"Then you're good to go."Topics related articles：


jeans

london

thomas sabo günstig Prologue