Chapter 5
Oswald watched Morty and Ferdie carrying the oars as 102 and 26 held onto the life jackets and sail. The four walked in front of him through the now boggy ground as the two kidnappers ordered them to the far end of the island. Oswald gripped tighter to the handle of the cooler as he struggled against the want to fight the two anyway but the gun held in the horse's hand stopped him. If these two hurt his sons or nephews in anyway, he'd never forgive himself. Instead he asked over his shoulder, "So what's your plan?"
"The least you know, the better," Sheldon growled.
"We didn't know anything until you pulled out the gun," 26 mumbled.
"Shush," 102 hissed.
"You're family to that mouse," Sheldon started. "With my slip up, that would've been enough if you said something once you got home."
"I knew something was shady with you two," Oswald said. "So did you sink a ship or found one already sunk?"
"We're not murderers," Benny defended.
"That gun says otherwise," Oswald pointed out.
"There's a lot you can live through," Benny added. "Don't do anything rash, okay?"
"So you found the wreck," Oswald said, trying to piece together what they had gotten themselves into.
"Speculate all you want, Oswald," Benny said. "The Plan's for you to stay in sight while we finish up. Once we're done, we'll loosely tie you up in the cave so we can leave in peace. Once we're long gone, you'll be able to break free and go home."
"Like things ever go according to plan," 26 mumbled.
"26, this is serious," Morty hissed.
Oswald threw a glance at the back of 26's blue head, wishing his son would keep his mouth shut. He glanced down as he stepped through a puddle left by the downpour, noticing his shadow between the two's own. Remembering the last words he tried to tell his wife, he glanced over his shoulder only to quickly receive the barrel of the gun pointed at his face. Turning back to watch the kids he said, "My wife's gonna be worried about us. I called her when we landed to let her know what was going on. If I don't call her soon, she'll start to worry."
"Hand me your phone," Benny ordered with a sigh. "Any of you kids have a cell?"
"No," 102 groaned with the twins echoing his word.
Oswald reached into his pocket as he said, "I'm surprised you're so trusting that I will give you my phone."
"If you had anything to protect yourself with, I think you would've used it already," Benny said. "Come on, hand it over. I'll leave it in the cave when we leave."
Oswald forced his breath out fast through his nose as he pulled out his phone. Before he could do anything Sheldon reached up from behind and swiped it from his hand.
"You think we should stop here, so they don't see where the wreck is?" Sheldon asked his cousin.
"There won't be anything more than the boat left," Benny pointed out. "I figured get their help carrying out everything to our boat."
"You think that's a good idea?" Sheldon asked.
"Do you wanna do the last of the heavy lifting on your own while I watch them?"
Sheldon took a moment before he mumbled, "Fine."
Up ahead the trees broke apart to reveal a rocky beach, a boat designed for fishing anchored a ways off shore. On the rocks was a small inflatable dingy and two oars beside pieces of driftwood. As they stepped closer Oswald quickly realized those pieces of wood were actually parts of a ship's hull. He noticed a brown tarp covering what could be old crates and barrels of whatever the ship had been carrying before it met its demise.
"Boys, let me introduce the Veronica, a river cruiser from the twenties that ran aground while carrying a list of distinguished guest," Benny informed as the kids came to a stop just before the ground turned to rocks. "Go ahead and sit your stuff down here. Sheldon, go and uncover the loot."
Oswald sat the cooler down and stepped over to help his nephews put the oars to the ground. He looked up and saw what he had suspected as Sheldon pulled off the brown tarp. An old travel chest had been under wraps with water logged barrels and crates, looking to have belonged to a wealthy lady of the time.
"It'll probably take two trips to the boat with that trunk so we'll go ahead and take that first," Benny said. "Oswald, you and Morty and Ferdie go and put that in the dingy. Sheldon will ride with you while I keep an eye on your sons." The horse's features hardened as he caught Oswald's eyes. "Don't try anything funny."
Realizing this was a threat on his kid's lives, Oswald swallowed down the lump of solid fear that had formed in his throat. He threw a look at 102 and 26, hoping the older one understood the gravity of the situation.
"Don't worry, Dad," 102 said, forcing a smile on his face.
"You've raised some brave kids, Oswald," Benny said. With his gun he motioned for the three to go with Sheldon, forcing Oswald to turn away from his sons.
Walking with the twin mice Oswald said, "Maybe it's best if your mother doesn't find out about this." He looked at Ferdie as he added, "She already knows you broke your arm with us."
"We kinda guessed," Morty said with an airy laugh.
Oswald went to the far side of the old trunk, noticing the wood was rotting in places after being submerged for so long, and leaned down to find a place for his hands. "Be careful, there's a lot of splinters," Oswald said, flinching as his hand found one. He looked up, seeing the two had a corner each, the two looking up at him. "Up," Oswald said, lifting as he straightened his legs. Making sure the two held onto the heavy trunk, Oswald glanced over his shoulder and started leading them to the orange inflatable.
"You sure this thing can float with this heavy thing?" Morty asked with a strained voice.
"It should," Sheldon said, walking with them. "Supposed to carry five adults and your uncle doesn't even come close to that average weight."
"And yet Ortensia calls me fat," Oswald mumbled to himself. He stole another glance over his shoulder to find the dingy a few steps away. Careful of the sharp rocks beneath his feet, he made his way over the inflated siding as water lapped at the edge of the raft. Stepping back so that his ankles were against the inside wall, they lowered the chest into the dingy and stood free.
"Kids, you share one oar, Oswald, you get the other," Sheldon ordered, stepping into the back of the dingy.
Oswald glanced over at Benny, 26 and 102 standing in front of the gun wielding horse. Quelling the thought of fighting back, Oswald took the seat he was told to and picked up the plastic oar from the floor. He looked over at his nephews, seeing Morty take the outside seat while Ferdie sat between them.
Sheldon let out a grunt as the dingy lurched forward into the water. The front dipped into the water as the back jumped with Sheldon's added weight before leveling out just above the waterline. "Forward," he ordered.
"So is this your first kidnapping?" Oswald asked as he and Morty fell in sync. He looked up at the fishing boat as he added, "Or is this a hostage thing?"
"Look man, we are sorry about the turn of events, but if you had been in our shoes, you would've done the same thing," Sheldon defended. "Benny's an archaeologist, mostly with ship wrecks. Most of this will be given to the local museum."
"And the rest will line your pockets?" Oswald snarked.
"I don't know why I'm trying to defend ourselves to you," Sheldon growled back. "You're family to the all-important Mickey Mouse, what would you know what it's like to struggle in today's world?"
Oswald almost missed a beat, jerking to stay in rhythm with Morty. Without his consent, his mind flashed through ideas of finding gems worth thousands at least. Ortensia wouldn't have to keep applying to jobs, he wouldn't have to worry about if every meal could feed all of them. "No, I think I can," Oswald admitted. He glanced over his shoulder, quickly finding his sons still on the rocky shore. He looked back at the boat they were working towards as he added, "But I'd like to say my moral compass would win over my desire to improve my family's way of life."
"You never know until you're in my shoes," Sheldon said.
They made it to the side of the boat, bumping their port side to the fishing boat's starboard, as Sheldon rose to his feet. He pulled himself over the boat's wall before leaning over and taking hold of the rope attached to the dingy's bow. He pulled it into the fishing boat and tied it off before saying, "Boys, get up here with me, your uncle's gonna have'a do all the heavy lifting."
Morty and Ferdie looked at Oswald, getting the rabbit to nod his head at the silent question. "Do as he says."
"Uncle Mickey would've done something by now," Morty mumbled as he passed in front of his brother and Oswald.
"Not if he was risking someone's safety," Oswald said. He rose to his feet and, without asking, picked Morty up from under the arms and put him over the edge of the fishing boat. Quickly he added his brother onto the boat with the bear before stepping over to the trunk. He lifted up the side the boat was closest to, struggling to get that end up to the boat. A gun shot ran out, freezing Oswald's blood cold. His breath already coming out panicked, he dared to look back at shore only to stare in surprise at what he saw. 102 was on the ground, hands over his head, while 26 held the gun pointing up at Benny as he held his hands out to the blue bunny. Taking a gamble, Oswald dropped the chest back in the dingy and order, "Morty, Ferdie, back in the boat!"
"Yes sir!" Morty said as the twins quickly dropped over the side of the fishing boat.
Oswald lashed out a hand and grabbed hold of the rope tied onto the bow of their dingy, quickly undoing the knot. He threw the rope back at the bear and turned to see the two boys already holding onto an oar each.
"Now!" Ferdie ordered, starting the two going.
"No! Get back here!" Sheldon ordered, leaning over the boat to grab at the inflatable side of theirs. His hand fell on the side but grabbed nothing as they rowed out of reach.
Oswald let out a laugh full of relief, quickly holding up his hand to thumb at the bear as he had done countless times to Putrid Pete.
Sheldon pushed himself up against the boat's edge, shock and surprised mixed on his face. "Benny!" he called out, shaking his head. "How the $%!& did you let a child get your gun!?"
Oswald looked back at the twins, his face red at the language he hadn't heard in years, and said, "You, uh, you know not to repeat that, right?"
"Somebody had that phase a while ago," Ferdie said, throwing a glance at Morty.
"That was ages ago," Morty defended, rolling his eyes.
"This kid tried to eat me!" Benny called back. "It's a monster!"
"26, did you really try to eat him!?" Morty called out with a laugh.
"Well, we did eat splatters back in Wasteland!" 26 reminded.
"He tried to stretch out his paint," 102 said, his voice barely audible at this distance. "You've given me nightmares again!"
26 said something that didn't carry, the tone of his voice condescending.
"26, apologize to your bother," Oswald called out, knowing his son well.
"But you know he can't already be having nightmares," 26 called out, keeping his eyes on Benny.
"I'm giving you the look," Oswald said, lowering his voice as they got closer.
"I'm not gonna look away," 26 defended.
"That's why I said it," Oswald said, giving his son a moment to do as he asked. Without seeing any reaction he added, "26?"
"Uhg, okay!" 26 groaned, his ears going back. "Sorry 102, I should've given you more warning so I didn't scare you."
"Thank you," 102 said, his voice low as he sat up to look out at the returning dingy. "I never liked it when anyone did that to splatters."
"Hey, at least there's none here," Ferdie said, glancing over his shoulder to see how close to land they were.
Oswald looked over at the water, glad he could make out the ground under the surface. He jumped out of the boat, the water soaking his blue jeans up to his thighs, and made his way back to shore, making his way across the rocks to 26's side. He held out his hand, eyeing Benny's scared look at the rabbit family. 26 put the handle of the gun in Oswald's hand like he had been trained as Oswald said, "Thank you." Pointing the gun back at Benny, Oswald ordered, "Give me my phone back."
Benny opened his mouth but cut himself off with a glance down at 26. Closing his mouth, he reached into his pocket and pulled out Oswald's cellphone.
"Sit it down," Oswald ordered, motioning with a quick nod to the rock between them.
Benny slowly did as ordered as an engine started up out in the water.
"Sheldon's getting away!" Ferdie called out as the two ran up behind Oswald.
"Then we'll just have to make do with one of the cousins," Oswald said, keeping the gun and his eyes on Benny as he reached down and picked up the phone. He handed it towards where the mice stood and said, "Call Chief O'Hara, let him know what's happened."
