Chapter 2
Jeffrey pointed to Burgess, who had been quivering in his sleep from his own flogging. "I did what I could for his wounds. Man, his body is really scarred up, Bogg."
"That was good of you, Jeff. It's not surprising he's scarred, he was a pirate too. I recognize the name."
Jeffrey playfully swiped him. "Look at that! Bogg actually knows somebody in history. It's a miracle!"
Phineas prodded him. "I'll show you a miracle when we got off this tub. This is my history we're talking about now."
"Yeah, I was just starting to read up on pirates when you found me. Actually, Burgess was where I left off in my 'Pirates in history' book the night you came."
"Isn't that something? Hey Jeffrey, what's the damage? Why is the omni red? Hey wait, where is the omni?"
Jeffrey crawled a few feet away and lifted up a loose plank, he had shoved the omni in a tiny crevice so it wouldn't be stolen by the captors. He had to scare away a rat that was unsuccessfully nibbling on it.
"Here, sorry, I think it's got rat spit on it."
"It's better than being lost or stolen. That was very astute of you, my friend." Phineas checked it. They were somewhere in the vicinity of Holland. Phineas didn't know why, but the country seemed very familiar to him from his youth and a wave of pleasantness washed over him. It had to do with AnneMarie. He was sure of it.
He clipped it back to his belt. "We gotta wake him up. He needs to tell us the details if we ever want to fix this red light."
"Maybe we can throw a bucket of water on his face? I was about to do that to you." Jeffrey suggested. "You really needed to cool off, Bogg." He snickered.
"Jeff! Just wait until you grow up. Ehh, never mind. No, I'll get him up."
Leaning over Burgess, Phineas put two fingers in his mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle. Burgess' eyes popped open and he rolled over and covered his head.
"Blimey! Bloody buckets! What is going on now?"
"You're trapped with us, my friend, in the hull of this boat. It's a pirate vessel on its way to the Dutch country, but that's all I know." Phineas sat back.
Burgess sat up carefully and rubbed his head. "Oww, did I get a rough one in the noggin! My back has seen better days too, they be very rough on this vessel."
Jeffrey was impatient to get on with the mission. "Mr. Burgess, how did this happen to you? When did it happen? We need an exact date and place."
"Well, ain't ye in a hurry? Goin' somewhere, me hearty? Don't see why ya need all that! But it happened off the coast of Bombay, just a few months ago. January me thinks! I had been working on a ship we seized, 'The Margaret,' we were doin' so well getting these liquors and slaves. A renegade crew from the East India Company attacked me and I escaped off their ship. T'was foolish, because I was about to become shark food after a bit. The sun was scorching and I was tired. This crew plucked me from the sea, but now they have me captive! One of their own kind! Where did you come from? We've not made a stop since?"
Jeffrey answered when Phineas hesitated. "Umm, we were already on here, you just didn't see us. We were on the ship Voyager! Bogg is a…a…Privateer!"
Burgess chortled. "So, that's the term he'd rather use, aye? Everyone knows Privateers are nothing more than fancy clothed pirates. Legalized bandits. I use the title me self. I never heard of that ship."
Phineas wanted to defend the position. He tried to remember his father. Jeremiah Bogg would scarcely be considered a pirate by any of his contemporaries and had taken great pride in his position. Phineas decided to hold his tongue; they were already telling stories and he didn't want to have to explain more than what he knew. He nudged Jeffrey and they crawled out of earshot to talk the situation over.
"Listen, what's so special about this pirate, anyway? Pirates were captured all the time, he's no different. I remember him now. Burgess is nothing but a drunken slave trader! Did no good for history."
"Bogg! Come on, you know a red light is a red light, good or bad. You taught me that. All we have to do is find him and make sure he doesn't jump off that other ship, right? I remember his story now. The East India Company can't lose him at sea! They seize his goods and slaves, and then he eventually stands trial in London. Not much later he winds up in Madagascar and gets poisoned by a tribal Chieftain."
"Yeah, I heard of all that, but I just feel like we could be doing something better with our time."
Jeffrey looked at his friend pitiably. Phineas was tired, wounded, and hungry, which often made him very cranky and unreasonable. He held his arm.
"Listen, we at least got the month and year out of him, so let's get out of here." Jeffrey suddenly remembered the young man with Bogg's face. "Bogg! Hold on. You were right. I think we did land on your old ship, I could have sworn I saw… "
Jeffrey didn't finish. The hull door opened and a craggy pirate rushed down with a dull lantern, his face weathered with a fierce scowl.
"Alright boy, on yer feet! The Captain wants you, ya little runt!" He grabbed Jeffrey by his shackles. "Don't be testin' his good graces!"
"Hey! What are doing? Leave him alone!" Phineas commanded. A sharp memory assailed him, he was trapped and forced to do something similar once before.
"Get up ya little bastard! The Captain has a job for ya! He needs ya to climb the rigging and release the sails, there's a storm blowing in! Move it now! Sprightly!"
"Not this time, matey! Captain Jagger first wants all stowaways punished, a flogging may do the brat some good!" The pirate fumed.
"Captain…Jagger?" The name stumbled Phineas, where had he heard it before?
"No! Get off me! Let me go! Bogg, help!"
Jeffrey struggled but couldn't break free. This pirate was fairly inebriated and laughed at his distress. His near toothless mouth shot out spittle and Jeffrey quickly wiped it away.
"Bogg? You want Bogg? Hahaha, get a load of this little weasel? Jagger made an exception with Phin way back, but not you! Yer a lively one, ain't ya? But we can't go on taking every little cocky swab that comes aboard!" He tugged on Jeffrey's shirt and brought him closer to his gnarled face. "Young Phin can't help you! And if he dare tried, he'd get it worse!"
Phineas jostled his chains and ran to them, but was yanked backward from a sudden dive in the ship. His temper flared. "What do you mean I can't help him? Get yer grimy hands off me kid or else ye'll meet the rope's end and I'll scupper ya to the bottom of the brine!"
Phineas stammered over his threats, mystified. The vicious brigand also seemed puzzled, as if he were accustomed to his deep tone of voice.
"Blimey! Ya look just like Phin! Arrh, no matter! Let's go boy!"
Jeffrey took advantage of the confusion and snatched rusted keys jangling loosely from the pirate's pocket. As they reached the top of the stairs, he tossed them on Phineas' lap. Phineas quickly unlocked his chains, he couldn't let Jeffrey be flogged, or worse, keel hauled. His small body wasn't used to whippings and keel hauling would certainly cut him, drown him, and quite possibly decapitate him. He remembered seeing one or two in his time as a pirate and the gruesome images never faded. Phineas kicked the keys over to Burgess, who was in and out of consciousness. Whether he escaped or not, this red light zone was going to be altered.
"Here! I gotta save my kid, you can free yourself!"
~Oo~
Jeffrey was dragged across the ship to the Quarter deck alongside the ratlines. They tossed him down and he tried to scamper away, only to be caught again and carried back over the pirate's shoulder.
"Ye have two choices, climb the ratlines and cut out the topmast sail or we'll drag ya so fast across the bottom of the keel you'll lose a tiny limb! That's what we should 'ave done in the first place!"
Jeffrey trembled and looked up He had often climbed similar ropes in the park and loved the jungle gyms. This, however, was ridiculously high. Between the winds and the ship's jerky movements, he would never make it. At least it wasn't a stormy day. Jeffrey faced the crew defiantly.
"Leave me alone, you have no right to do this to anyone! You're nothing but scurvy pirates and I hope you all capsize!"
The Captain came forward and raised his cutlass. He was colorfully dressed in dingy fabric. The entire crew looked worse for wear. They all stopped their chores and came to view the spectacle.
"If I were you boy, I would make my choice!"
"I'm not afraid of you!"
The Captain laughed cruelly. "I like your courage! It reminds me of young Phin, eh?"
All the pirates let out a loud 'Huzzah!'
"Forget it! Pick him up, mateys! We could always use another bilge boy!"
The pirates lifted Jeffrey by the seat of his pants and literally tossed him atop the ratlines. Phineas ran from the hull but was seized by two pirates and dragged to the Captain. The crew barely regarded him as anyone special or a threat, which confused him. He stared at his partner with bated breath. Jeffrey attempted to climb and the ropes instantly burned his skin. He bit his lip and didn't give up. He even heard some pirates cheering him on below. He eventually made it about fifty feet off the ground near the *futtock shrouds, and froze when he looked down. All he saw was a tangled mess of ropes, rigging, and pulleys and imagined he would get himself caught and hung within them. The pirates seemed to have shrunk to miniature size. The black pirate came forward with a long whip. At the Captain's command, he was prepared to climb up and whack Jeffrey's back to move faster. He raised his arms to climb. Phineas broke free and rammed into him. They tumbled to the deck. Phineas forced his gaze.
"Jock! Don't you dare lay a hand or weapon against my kid!" He seethed.
Jock looked closely into his face and quickly shook him off. The others picked him up, but held him back from attacking.
"This be some kind of trickery! Phin! How can you be down here when…"
All heads turned upward and they saw their young buccaneer straddled to the lookout post of the main topmast. He shimmied down just above Jeffrey and curled his legs over the rope, twisting it around his long feet to secure himself. He lowered his upper body halfway and reached out his arm.
"Come on, boy! I'll help you! Don't be afraid of them. If you show your fear then they will forever take advantage of ya! Give me yer hand."
Jeffrey had his eyes closed from the harsh winds and ocean sprays. "Bogg! You came after me!"
Jeffrey looked up and found himself staring into Phineas' earnest, very youthful face. He then heard his partner's voice again from below.
"Jeffrey hold on tight! I'm coming up!"
"I…I…can't give you my hand! I'm afraid to move." His heart raced.
"You can do it, boy. I'm right here for ya!" Young Phin urged him on.
"No, Jeff! Don't move! Get away from him!" Phineas shouted from below.
"No! Let me help the boy! He has to prove himself worthy! You should know that!" The buccaneer replied, visibly stunned.
"He's just a child! He's never been on a ship in his life!"
"There's a first for everything! We made it, so will he!" Young Phin shouted.
Phineas gasped. He was literally arguing with his younger self. This was a time-travel quandary that never happened to him before, but he had learned about it in Voyager School. He lunged for the ratlines. They had to get out of this time zone fast. The pirates could only watch bewildered, muttering oaths of sorcery and witchcraft. Phineas scaled the ratlines shakily as the ship dipped and bobbed in the churning waves. It had been a few years since he had made a full climb like this. All he had to do was grab for Jeffrey's ankle and they would be gone. That was easier said than done, because he had to stop every few feet to catch his bearings.
"A little worse for wear? Aren't ye?" Young Phineas called down tauntingly. "Tain't been on a ship in a long while, have ye, ya lilly liver!"
"Hush up ya smug buffoon or I'll knock ya from here to Sunday! I can make it!" Phineas grimaced. Every climb was torture.
"Ya still be there on Monday! Get down and let a real pirate do his work!"
"No! It's no wonder Jock has a black spot on ya, you braggart!" Phineas said sternly. Young Phin looked surprised at that and fell silent.
The feuding Boggs eventually met alongside Jeffrey. Jeffrey was frightened and sweat poured down his face. His knees wobbled and knocked and his teeth chattered. Phineas put his arm around him.
"It's okay kid, I got ya! You don't have to do this. Once we're out of here, this time zone will not exist. Remember, we have to make sure Burgess doesn't escape the East India ship."
Phineas was about to press the omni when young Phin's rough hand grabbed his arm.
"Wait! What nonsense is this? Time zones? Who are you? What is that thing? How did you get here? You…you look just like me! Are we siblings? Cousins? I only have one sister and she died as a child." He exclaimed, gasping from the exertion and shock. "I'm sorry I called ya a lilly-liver, tell me who you are!"
Phineas pulled his arm away. "Yes, I know our sister, Joanna! She died when we were twelve, you made her a rag doll that she cherished and since she died you have always kept it in your personal belongings."
"How do you know these things!" Young Phin's eyes swelled with tears.
"I…I can't explain all that. Trust me, Phin, when we're gone this will all be a mere dream!"
"'Tis no dream! You are here in the flesh, in my flesh. Why? Have you come to tell me of good tidings? Bad?"
The ship dove again and Jeffrey suddenly lost his grip. "Auughh! Bogg!"
His hands were moist and he couldn't get a tight enough hold on the ropes. His entire body flailed halfway off the ratlines. He slipped down a bunch of rungs.
"Bogg! Don't let me fall!" He screamed.
"I got ya boy!"
Before his partner could grab for him, young Phin threw his body backward and shimmied to him upside down within seconds. Phineas looked on astonished, it was a fascinating display of acrobatics on his part and he recollected doing such feats on a daily basis. Many times it was only to show off to the others. Young Phin grabbed Jeffrey under the arms just as he was about to fall. He strained to lift the boy up. Phineas climbed down and wrapped his arm around Jeffrey's waist. Young Phin released Jeffrey and righted himself. The pirates below all cheered, bidding them to come down.
"This is a bewitched ship, aye!"
"Tis a miracle!"
"This is no miracle, no sorcery! They are brothers!"
"Thanks a lot…Bogg…" Jeffrey said, grateful and shaken.
Young Phin tousled his hair and winked. "You'll be alright, boy! Now tell me, please, who are you?"
"I can't do that, Bogg. It's not your time to know yet." Jeffrey said sadly.
His vivid, blue eyes bore into his older self. There was a tense silence and Phineas answered cautiously.
"Thank you for saving my kid, Phineas Bogg. I am you from the future, but it won't matter anymore."
"The future! Tell me all about it! How did you get here, with that contraption you're holding? What is my future? Who is the child? Is he my son? You must tell me!" He begged like a little boy.
"I can't! But you'll go on to do great things, Bogg, trust me. You and Jeffrey."
"Wait! I need to know…"
Phineas hit the omni activator. The cosmos exploded and the time zone faded into oblivion.
*futtock shrouds: pieces joining the rigging of lower and top masts.
