فصل 57

CHAPTER 57

PRISONERS

SHINING PEARL CLUNG TO THE white starfish wrapped in wet seaweed as she and the others struggled through the mud, which was ankle-deep and getting deeper every minute in the torrential rain. She followed Nibs, who led the way; behind them came Slightly, Little Scallop, then Curly, Tootles, and, well back, the twins.

It was very dark, and the windblown rain was coming down so hard that the fat drops actually hurt. The children held banana leaves over their heads, but these gave them little relief from their misery as they slogged along the water trail toward the place where it met the mountain trail.

Nibs stopped so suddenly that Shining Pearl nearly bumped into him.

“What is it?” she said.

“I heard shouting ahead,” he said. “Maybe the shipwrecked sailors. Everybody keep quiet.”

“What are we going to do?” said Slightly.

“You’re all going to stay here while I go have a look,” said Nibs.

“I’m going with you,” said Shining Pearl.

“Oh, all right,” said Nibs. He tried to sound reluctant, but Shining Pearl could tell he was glad to have company.

The others huddled under a tree as Nibs and Shining Pearl crept ahead. Now they could both hear shouting over the sound of the rain and crashing waves. They rounded a curve; the trail now overlooked a beach, but they couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

A bolt of lightning struck the jungle nearby, and suddenly the beach was filled with brilliant light. It lasted only two seconds, but that was long enough for Nibs and Shining Pearl to see the boat rocking in the surf, with men struggling to hold it steady. Other men were unloading a large, obviously heavy crate. Three other crates sat farther up the beach.

The lightning flickered out. The two children stood for a moment in stunned silence, broken by Shining Pearl.

“We need to tell Father,” she said. “He’ll want to know about this. I wonder what’s in those boxes.”

“Maybe we can find out,” said Nibs. “Let’s get a little closer.”

Shining Pearl thought about that. Maybe if she found out what the men were up to, her father wouldn’t be so angry at her for leaving the village at night.

“All right,” she said. “But be careful.”

They crept closer, reaching a clump of trees just above where the boxes sat. They waited in the rainy darkness for another flash of lightning.

When it came, they both gasped. They could see some of the men clearly now, and three of them were castaways—the same men who had boarded Hook’s ship and sailed off.

Another lightning flash. Shining Pearl grabbed Nibs’s arm and pointed. Farther down the beach, two men were talking. One of them was the huge African, Cheeky O’Neal. The children looked at each other.

All four castaways had returned to the island.

Why?“We need to tell Father now,” whispered Shining Pearl.

They were about to leave the protection of the trees when there was another flash of lighting.

“Oh no!” whispered Shining Pearl, pointing. Little Scallop and the other children were coming toward them, the lightning making them clearly visible on the path.

“What are they doing?” whispered Nibs.

“They must have gotten worried about us,” said Shining Pearl. “Let’s just hope we can get to them before …”

Too late. A series of brilliant lightning flashes turned the nighttime into daylight. From the beach, a man shouted, then another. The children had been spotted. Suddenly a half-dozen men were sprinting toward them. The children turned to flee, but it was too late. Shining Pearl started toward them, but Nibs gripped her arm, keeping her hidden behind the trees. She watched helplessly as the men pulled her sister and the others off the path onto the beach, prisoners now.

The children were dragged up to Cheeky O’Neal and Nerezza. They recognized O’Neal from his stay on the island, but recoiled when a lightning flash revealed Nerezza’s face, and the wooden beak strapped to it. Peter had told them stories about a vicious sea captain with no nose.

O’Neal scowled at the children. “You should have minded your own business,” he said.

“You know them?” said Nerezza.

“I do,” said O’Neal. He pointed at Little Scallop. “That’s one of the chief’s daughters.”

Nerezza thought about that. He stepped toward the soaked, terrified children. “I should kill the lot of you right here,” he snarled. “But you might come in handy. Especially you.” He pointed at Little Scallop. “Tie ’em together!” he barked. “Then hide the boat. We’d best get off the beach before more trouble shows up.”

The crew made quick work of it. They tied the children together, then hauled the launch up the beach and concealed it in a ravine. They checked to make sure the rain had erased all traces of their activities from the sand. Then they lashed the crates to poles and headed off, two men per crate, and two more herding the string of children. Nerezza and O’Neal walked in the lead.

From their hiding place, Shining Pearl and Nibs watched the caravan head into the jungle, in the direction of the mountain trail. When they were sure the men had gone, they stepped out.

“We should have done something!” said Shining Pearl.

“Such as?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“Well, I do,” he said. “We get to the village and tell your father. They’re heading for the mountain. We can take the shortcut to the other side of the mountain trail. From there, there’s nothing between us and the village. They’ll be well behind us.”

Shining Pearl knew this was a good plan, though she didn’t want to say so.

“All right,” she said, starting for the jungle. At the very least, she intended to go first.