The story so far:David is surprised to hear about Vasco da Gama and his voyages. Then, a horrifying realisation dawns on Dhruv and Keya — they have gone back in time. Even before they can digest this information, they are caught in a storm.
After the storm had died down, they went down and tried to rest. They heard shouting above deck.
“...I think there is another ship close by,” said Keya, running up.
They saw a small merchant ship flying a French flag drawing alongside. Seeing a friendly flag, the crew were happy to call back. From what Dhruv and Keya understood, they wanted water. The crew signalled to come over and collect some of their water. In no time, the sailors from the other ship had boarded, and it was only then the Portuguese realised that the seamen they had so graciously invited were pirates.
“Pirates!” said Dhruv. They hid themselves behind the boats. Everyone was busy fighting, swinging swords and cutlasses, shouting, screaming...
“Now, what do we do? Where is David?”
Soon, the deck was strewn with bodies of the sailors. Everything became deathly quiet and the only sound was that of the waves lapping against the ships. A gull swooped down and screeched — a melancholy sound that carried over the seas. David was nowhere to be seen. Out of the corner of his eye, Dhruv saw movement. He saw David hiding under a coil of ropes. Gingerly, between the bodies, they made their way to David. They had just about hidden themselves when they heard footsteps approaching.
“Doesn’t seem anything here worth taking,” said a gruff voice.
“Can’t you see the rope? Take it...I said take everything!” came a command.
More trouble
They watched in horror as the pirate bent down and caught the rope. At that moment, Mishti jumped up and with a bark and caught his wrist.
“Aaaah!” screamed the man, as he jumped back, clutching his bleeding wrist.
“What’s the matter, Bart?” asked someone.
“There’s a dog in there...”
“Bring it out...we could do with some meat!”
“Whoa! There’s more than a dog here... Check this out.. kids as well!”
They were dragged out of their hiding place.
“March...you be coming with us...”
To be continued...
