Chapter 11: End of the Journey
She knew it was a very bad idea when Freddy gave Jack that glass of vodka and coke. But now it was way too late. About three hours had passed and more than half a bottle of vodka had been drunk and she was pestered into ordering a bottle of rum to the room to Jack's delight.
Freddy and Jack were more or less drunk and were raucously singing what she believed was to be an old pirate song.
Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The mate was fixed by the boatswain's pike
The boatswain brained with a marlinspike
And cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped by fingers ten;
And there they lay, all good dead men
Like break o'day in a boozing ken
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Fifteen men of the whole ship's list
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Dripped all day long in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Glancing out to the balcony, she noticed that Jack was now swaying back and forth with the bottle of rum in his hand singing that damn pirate song for what seemed like the hundredth time. Climbing from the bed she made her way towards the entrance to the balcony, "Please can you keep the noise down a bit? I'm getting a headache"
Jack turned around, nearly stumbling over a chair, "Sorry lassie"
She was about to turn back into the room when her attention was caught as it seemed that the boat was moving, "What the hell?"
Following her gaze Freddy let out a sigh, "Thank Satan! We're on the move again"
"What about Jack?" Maggie snapped, "He isn't from here, he has to go back to his own time or whatever it is!"
"There are no sails" Jack commented as hung over the balcony, studying the exterior of the ship more closely. "How can it sail with no sails?"
"It's a long story" Freddy muttered.
"I'm going to see where we are heading to next" Maggie rushed towards the cabin door, quickly followed by Freddy and the others. They arrived at the entrance to the promenade to find a large crowd of revellers near a small café. There was a slight commotion as Randy tried in vain to calm them. "Please, I'm sure they will resolve the situation as soon as they can" he pleaded strongly.
"What's wrong?" Maggie asked and rushed to his side.
He turned to her and smiled warmly, "Miss Burroughs. Please relax. It seems as though despite us setting sail for our next island there seems to be a small computer malfunction due to the hurricane. But it is being worked on for a solution as we speak"
It was as though a tonne of bricks had slammed at full force into her body. This seriously wasn't happening. What else could go wrong?
A piercing siren erupted through the air startling the crowd who shrieked and roared in terror. One of the members of the engine crew rushed out of a nearby doorway straight towards Randy and whispered in his ear. Randy gulped his face tight with fear as he turned back towards the crowd, "Attention everyone, please. I have some disturbing news. It appears that we have lost all control of navigation and a several fires have broken out in several areas of the ship. So um…abandon ship!!!"
Maggie watched as he rushed out of the promenade liked a scared cat running from a ravenous dog. The crowd followed quickly after him more than likely heading straight towards the life boats. "I think we should get the fuck off this ship" she finally stated.
Chucky jumped out of Freddy's arms onto the floor, "You know that's the wisest thing you have said all week"
She took a quick swipe at him with her right foot but missed as he charged towards the deck. Freddy quickly pursued him followed by Maggie and Jack. It was absolute chaos, with men running everywhere wanting to reach a lifeboat as soon as possible. The first few lifeboats were filling swiftly and so they ventured further down the deck.
Jack glanced at the ocean, noticing a small island about half a mile away, "Perhaps we should swim"
"What? Do you think that is a good idea?" Freddy asked.
The captain nodded and started to climb over the railing, "Aye, we can make it to that island out there. Savy?"
"But what do we do…?" Maggie began but he took heed to her and expertly dove into crystal blue sea.
Freddy came up behind her and tapped her on her shoulder, "Can you swim Kat?"
"Of course I can!" she barked.
He turned away and jumped over the railings into the sea below, leaving Maggie and Chucky behind.
"Well, babes. I'm away here" Chucky muttered and squeezed through the bars of the railings, tumbling awkwardly into the waters. Heaving a grunt in annoyance Maggie slowly clambered over the railings and jumped feet first into the sea.
Swimming with all their might they headed away from the cruise liner and stopped approximately one hundred yards from the boat. Maggie spun her head around towards the ship seeing that there was smoke billowing out of several cabin windows.
"Hurry, there may be sharks in these waters" Jack warned from up ahead.
Maggie jolted forward at this piece of news and swam with all her vigour past Freddy and Chucky towards the island. After a few minutes of hard strenuous swimming they had arrived at the small island. They staggered onto the island, collapsing onto the sand with exhaustion . "H-how the hell are we meant to get off this island, huh?" Maggie spluttered between gasps.
"Well, I know how I am. I'm heading back to my own paradise…the boiler room" Freddy remarked.
"What? And you're leaving me with these two?"
He smiled, "Isn't life a bitch?" and in a puff of green and red smoke disappeared.
"BASTARD!" Maggie roared out loud.
She slowly buried her head in her hands and closed her eyes, trying to comprehend and find a way out of the situation she was in. From behind her someone called out her name over and over again. It seemed to become louder with each passing second. But she never flinched a muscle, just stayed in her position.
But soon she allowed her eyes to open and was stunned to realise that she was now lying at the bottom of the steps in the bar lobby. Freddy was knelt at her side, "So, you've finally woken up? Some fall huh?"
"Uh…is the ship okay? Where's Jack Sparrow?" she grumbled groggily.
Freddy scratched his chin, seemingly puzzled at her question, " The ship is fine and uh…who is Jack?"
She pushed herself to a sitting position, "Um, I think I had the most strangest dream ever. There was this pirate called Captain Jack Sparrow and the ship had this malfunction and we had to abandon ship! Where are we now?"
"We're going to be docking at Jamaica soon. It seems as though the ship won't be sailing on any further"
"Damn, some vacation that was" she muttered but a thought crossed her mind, "Well, you know what it's not over for me. I'll book myself into a nice hotel for a few days"
"Need any company?" Freddy smirked.
"No thanks" she retorted and looked about for Chucky, "Where's the red head?"
Freddy pulled her up and chortled, "Well, it's rather amusing. Randy saw you falling and came over to check on you. But…he snatched Chucky and ran off"
"Did you not stop him?"
"No"
She slowly began to follow Freddy towards the exit back to her cabin, "Well, I hope nothing nasty happens to Randy"
Just under an hour later Maggie had finished packing her suitcase and the ship had now docked at the island of Jamaica. Instead of making her way towards the exit of the boat to make way onto land, she was asked by Freddy to meet him near the engine room to say their farewells. It was risky getting down to that section of the ship seeing as it was off limits for passengers. But he was adamant and so there she was waiting rather impatiently for him to show up.
He soon appeared from the engine room, smiling. "So, what is that you have dragged me down here for?" Maggie questioned.
"Well, nothing really. Thought I would just say goodbye"
"Um, well bye. How are you going to get back to your world?"
He chuckled to himself, "In the next half an hour there is going to be a big bang down here"
Maggie raised an eyebrow in wonder, "You're going to blow yourself up?"
"Yeah" he nodded once, "That's the plan. So, you better get out of here"
She clutched the handle of her suitcase, "Well, thanks for a memorable vacation"
He waved goodbye and watched as she made her way down the corridor. Soon, she had arrived on shore and stood at the side of the road wondering what hotel to book into. Glancing back at the ship she knew that the explosion would have occurred by now and she wished that it would be the last time she ever would lay eyes on her father. But sometimes you don't always get what you wished for…
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed and please review, thanks.
