Pirate

“We have to move him,” I said, as I motioned to the other men to help.

“He looks near death,” Rory whispered to me.

“Dead is what he’ll be if we don’t get him out of here. We slowed them down, but they are coming.”

Syd and Swift moved in, and each lifted an arm and draped it over their shoulder. With a nod, they lifted him from the ground and helped him to the boat.

“Leave me, Nick. I’m done,” he called out.

I was about to answer when Lucy cut me off, saying, “White man will live. Medicine needs more time.”

Relieved, but unsure of her prognosis, I ignored his request and helped the men settle him into one of the empty canoes Red and Swift had taken from the village. I was about to step into the stern when Blue stopped me.

“You will need your guns. I will take him,” he said, and jumped in the boat. With the long pole, he pushed off the bank and started to move up the river.

We quickly sorted ourselves out and were soon in his wake. With four canoes, we were two to a boat. I placed the women in one boat, knowing that Rory could keep pace with most men. Swift and Red followed in another, and Syd and I took the rear. He poled as I faced the stern, gun ready as I covered our escape. The fire was dying out now; its flames were no longer visible over the trees.

I had been with Osceola as he drew out his plan in the dirt to ambush the larger tribe. He had drawn the village and showed each man, the leader of their groups, and where to find cover. These were his chosen men, who would each take a small group and surround the village in the early morning, before the sun rose, and attack as dawn broke on the signal of a single gunshot.

I checked the river behind us again, but we had moved steadily for several hours, and I had seen nothing. I turned and started to watch ahead as a narrow band of light broke the horizon.

Just as I saw the first ray of sun, I heard the first shot. We were closer than I thought or wanted, and I urged the group to push harder. We had to get past the village and reach the lake while the battle raged. It was our only escape. Even with Osceola as an ally, he would likely discover our treasure, if he did not already know of it. I looked ahead at Blue and wondered if he had been sent with us to spy for the chief.

Despite my paranoia, I knew we had no choice but to push on. The more distance we could place between us and both tribes, the better our chances. Osceola, for all his help, would certainly seize the treasure at the first opportunity. I noticed our speed pick up and realized the group must have reached the same conclusion.

Smoke rose ahead of us, and the cries of a battle could be heard clearly now. Gunshots fired, steel clashed, and men screamed in both anger and pain as the two tribes met. Surrounded by moss and mist, we slipped by as if in a different world. As the noise faded behind us, the river gradually became wider and deeper. We had reached the lake, but there was no celebration. With Blue in the lead, we turned south, careful to stay far enough offshore to be out of arrow or gun range. We lashed the now-useless poles to the boats and used the stocks of our guns to paddle. Two hours later, the battle well behind, I felt safe enough to call for a break and pointed to a beach ahead.

We landed and looked at each other, exhausted from the night’s work, but with adrenaline still running through our veins.

“Take some food and water,” I called to the group as I stepped over the side of the boat and went to the women, who were huddled over Rhames’s body, prone in the shell of a canoe.

22

I tried to sleep, but finally gave up and took the watch around midnight. We had traveled what I expected was twenty miles, moving south and following the coast of the lake. It appeared our escape went unnoticed, as we had slipped away during the battle. I hoped Osceola had won; he could be a valuable ally in the coming years. We had created a bond over the last few days, formed from our common age and flight from Andrew Jackson and the United States Navy. I didn’t feel like a fugitive or that America was my enemy, but here we were.

The canoes were on the beach, the chests unloaded beside them. There was enough treasure for us to live like kings for years if we could only get someplace to spend it. I removed the trader’s map from its oilskin case and placed it in front of me. As I studied it, I realized that if we kept our current pace, we would reach the southern end of the lake in two days, and then would enter the unknown.

I got up and walked to the water, where I stared at the reflection of the moon on the lake and started thinking about our future. A voice startled me from my thoughts.

“What’re you thinking?” Rory asked, as she walked up and stood next to me.