“Stand up!” A bandit marched down the steps into the cabin.
“You two are coming with me.” He dragged both of them up to the top.
“Just stay quiet. Let me handle
this,” Ferdinand whispered.
John William nodded. He was too
frightened to speak. The deck crawled with river pirates and bandits wearing
sour, drunken scowls on their faces.
“Toss them overboard! We have no use
for them, now!” The bandits cheered as they pushed John William and Ferdinand
onto a thick plank of wood sticking out over the side of the boat.
“Wait!” One of the river pirates
stepped forward with his chest out. “That boy is the princess’s friend. He
could be worth something, Victor,” he bellowed with an extra deep voice. He
certainly looked tough enough – with a chiseled face, broad frame, and big
muscles. Even his slicked back, pony-tailed hair looked strong to John William.
He began to feel a glimmer of hope.
“Nonsense! He is of no use to us.”
The stout, vicious looking badger pressed a blade into John William’s back.
“Move, boy!” He let out a malicious laugh and glared at Ferdinand. “I love to
cook hoppers. They make a tasty stew.” He moved the blade over to Ferdinand’s
plump belly and twisted his whiskers between his fingers. “Be careful. You
don’t want to fall into this blade; it would make a terrible mess.”
John William inched forward, watching the
rushing water beneath him.
“This is the princess’s betrothed!
They are to be married when they are old enough,” Ferdinand blurted. He squeezed
shut his eyes as if he expected to be boiled in a fat river pirate’s stew at
any moment. When nothing happened, he gave John William a nudge.
John William stared at the hopper
with his mouth gaped open. “Yes, yes, she is my, um…,” he stuttered.
Ferdinand rolled his eyes. “Look at
him! He’s just a pup! I’ll bet he’s never even tickled a dame’s fancy.” The
deck erupted with laughter.
“You see? He will fetch us a fine
price, almost as much as the princess herself!” insisted the river pirate. He
bumped Victor off to the side and pulled them off the plank.
“You better be right, or you’ll be
the one on this plank. You can be certain it will be my blade in your back,”
Victor sneered, exposing his jagged fangs. “Careful with that defiant tone of
yours – it has been a while since I have broken a man’s spirit! I’m about due
for a river rat body part – something
special… perhaps an insubordinate tongue for my collection.” Victor squeezed
the pirate’s jaw, leaving an imprint of his long, dirty claws. “I’m not
interested in feeding stowaways or ungrateful scrubs.”
“Well then, don’t feed them!” One of
the bandits shouted.
“Put them to work! They can have my
job!” A river pirate sat back with his feet up and played a festive melody on
his mandolin. The rest of the ship danced in celebration and sloshed their mugs
of rum together.
“What a group of goofs,” Ferdinand
mumbled under his breath.
Find out how things turn out with the mean and nasty Captain Vic... Bandits of Basswood is free at Barnes and Noble and iTunes for a short time... and .99 cents. Pick one up today!
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