Captain Bonnefoy pulled a new piece of paper out of his desk and placed it on his desk. He then picked up a quill pen and dipped it into ink. "What would you like to say in your letter?"
"Umm, Hey Mattie, its Alfred... I am sorry I didn't come home like I promised..." The boy started, not sure exactly what he wanted to say. "I made a deal with a man, and he promised to make sure you are taken care of. He said he would feed you and get you medicine... I will be gone for a long time, but I promise you I will get to see you again, and I look forward to that day. I am doing well and I pray that you are too. I hope to hear from you soon."
"Your brother Alfred"
Francis wrote it all down with speed but also good style. "There. Now we let the ink dry and when we reach our next port we send it on its way." Alfred tried to stay calm. "Thank you so much for writing this for me." The captain just smiled and said, "No problem like I said your brother is fine and has plenty of food. Now try to go get some sleep." Alfred nodded and made his leave.
Alfred lay down on his bed too happy to fall asleep. He couldn't wait to get to the next port.
It took a full month to get to the next port. The captain was about to step off ship but stopped. "Alfred come here!" He ordered. Alfred did as told, and went to the captain. "You have experience in thievery, am I correct?" Alfred nodded slowly, it wasn't something he liked doing; it was just something he did to survive. "Yes, but it has been a while" The captain frowned. "If you're not up to the task, it is alright."
Alfred did not want to disappoint the man before him. "Wait! I will do it." He said quickly. "What do you want me to steal?"
The captain gazed at Alfred. "We need more food supplies and gun powder." Alfred cocked his head to the side. "So I am supposed to steal all of that?" He wasn't sure how that was going to work, but he would try. "Oui, well not just you. There are four others out there getting these items, you just need to bring back whatever you can without getting caught." Francis eyed him in an attempt to be sure the boy could carry out this deed. "Alright, I will do it." Alfred said. A smile made its way onto the captain's lips. "Good you have two hours. And I have a letter to send." The captain turned to leave.
"Wait, how much do you need? And where is it? I have never been to this town." Francis winked.
"That is for you to figure out." Alfred stared at him. "Oh... I will do my best" He said now less sure of himself. "You had better" And with that he walked off.
Alfred sat there for a second, how was he going to pull it off. Those things can be pretty large. A small amount of food is one thing, but food enough for the whole crew? This was going to be a tough job; and then there is the gun powder. How will he pull this off? He wondered to himself... maybe if he had a weapon... Alfred watched as Francis disappeared off into the crowd. Alfred left the deck with many of the crewmembers.
Alfred walked through the market place trying to find the best position for him to perform his thievery. He had to be careful; he didn't want to get his captain in trouble with this. After careful consideration, Alfred found all of his targets and figured out how to get large amounts without getting caught. Time was also ticking away nearing the dead line. Alfred had found the militaries armory. He had found the goods, and some other useful things. He had watched how the guards moved keeping track of where their positions were at all times.
Unknown to the boy the captain had sent some men to follow him and keep a watchful eye on him, to make sure he didn't get into too much trouble.
Alfred had found a place to store the goods, so if he were to get caught, he could go back when it was safe. He easily slipped passed the guards. That was the easy part. The hard part was getting the big stuff out without being seen. Inside the room he saw crates full of gun powder. Somehow he got the first load out and into the hiding spot without being seen. 'These guards are useless.' Alfred thought to himself. He had taken a large supply hopefully enough; he anticipated the missing goods would go unnoticed for a fragment of time while he stole the food. He had taken up a lot of time getting the gunpowder, so he needed to be quick. He didn't want to steal from the market, that was their livelihoods and it was such a large amount of food. So again he would steal from the guards, they were corrupt anyways.
He was just about done with the heist, when someone saw him. He had taken enough, so as long as he could get away safely everything would be good. The guard shouted after him as Alfred sprinted away. He was fast. Easily he got away. That is until he ran straight into the clutches of the captain of the guards. The Man grabbed Alfred by the collar of his shirt. "You're the one I have been looking for." The guard spat. "Where is it? Where are the goods you have stolen?" Alfred spit in the man's face. The guard's fist made contact with Alfred's cheek, causing him to fall back. Alfred could taste the flavor of iron in his mouth.
