Chapter four
Jack and the Captain rushed under to check out the situation, there was already about four feet of water filling the bottom of the ship. "We need to make port fast." Jack said.
"Aye" said Teague. "RUN A LAND FAST."
The crew rushed to get the ship moving, the weight of the water had the ship moving slow, but they were finally moving. Jack ran to the helm "Are we gonna make it?" Teague only focused on the task of getting his ship to a port before it sunk. "Captain the nearest land is at least four hours away." Said Robbie, but the Captain didn't say a word, he just stared ahead, confident he'd bring his ship and crew back to land.
Dozens of the crew where bailing water from the bottom of the ship, they where doing everything possible to keep the ship from sinking. Jack stood next to the captain looking at a map and compass, looking long and hard, "There's a short cut." The Captin looked at Jack, pointing to the map. "There's a faster way, look it goes to Shipwreck Cove, we could make it through there", but Teague wouldn't even look at it, instead he looked ahead, this enraged Jack. "I'm not some little kid anymore, I can read this map better then any of thess so called pirates on this vassal, so look at the damn map DAD! "Aye Jackie, I know of the shortcut. You know how Shipwreck Cove came about Jackie? It was that shortcut right there, dozens of ships traveled though it not one made it, and all the wreckage landed in the Cove something's in those waters Jackie, something that wrecks every vassal, never spares one …
"Capt'n you need to see this, " it was Dunbar, he looked very worried, the Captain handed the helm over to his first mate and went with Dunbar, Jack followed them below the ship. There was a crack in the ship from one of the cannon holes to the next, Jack looked on "Capt'n if that gives way the ship the will go under in minutes." "Aye" said the Captain. "That shortcut maybe our only hope." "Shortcut captain? To the cove? "Said Dunbar, with a frightened look on his face. "Aye it be our only hope." Said the Captain.
The Captain ordered everyone but his four best sailors to bail water from the holes to try
and keep the pressure away from the crack in the ship. He ordered his four best sailors to help guide the ship through the grim waters that had taken so many vassals in the past.
The crew readied the ship for the journey into unknown waters, none of the crew had ever been down this cannel, so no one knew how deep the waters were, or if there where rocks shooting up out of the water, that had wrecked the vassals of the past, or maybe even this was the home waters of the dreaded Kraken. No one had ever survived this cannel to tell storyies of why ships hadn't made it through these waters. It was almost like sailing into the depths of hell itself.
The ship entered the cannel just as mid day was apon them, the sun was hot and blistering, not a trace of wind in the air, the water was smooth, not a wave to be found and land on either side of the cannel was full of high grass and untamed trees that hung far into the water, it was clear there was no signs of life on these lands. Captain Teague kept the ship slow and steady, two men stood watch on either side of the ship, while the other two stood watch at the front and the back of the ship for any signs of trouble, the rest of the crew worked hard to keep the water away from the crack in the side of the ship. Jack stood high above on the mast with a telescope, keeping a weathered eye for any signs of trouble, it was a journey no one wanted to make, but they knew if they didn't the ship would not make it to port.
One hour later, the journey was smooth and they where half way through the cannel, the crack was holding. Jack yelled down "all smooth ahead Capt'n!" Just as he said that, the wind picked up and black sky's rolled in, fast and furious. Teague look at Jack, "Jackie get down now." Jack grabed a rope to climb down, suddenly a large gust of wind hit the Misty Lady, sending young Jack falling through the air, Jack clung to the rope with all his strength, his head smacked into one of the masts and he fall down to the deck, luckily the rope he was holding onto wrapped around his leg and stopped him just feet from the deck itself, as the crew rushed to young Jack and cut him down. He had a large cut on his head from where he hit the mast, the Captain rushed down to check on his son.
Jack was unconscious, Teague order the crew take him into his quarters and tend to his wounds. By now a fierce storm had rolled in, it was raining very heavily, the sky full of lightening, and thunder filled the air and the wind was so strong it seemed to be pushing the mighty vessel backwards, the Captain could barely see in front of the ship, waves where crashing up on to the ship and the crew was no longer able to keep up with the water below the ship. It was coming in to fast and it would only be a matter of time before the crack give way under the pressure of the water.
A bolt of lighting hit the mast and broke it in half, sending the top half crushing into the water. A large beam crashed over the hatch to below the ship, the crew underneath had water filling up almost to there necks and they were trapped, the four remaining crew tried to move the beam but it was to heavy and the ship was rocking from the waves. All the while Captain Teague remained at the helm doing his best to keep the ship steady.
The first mate noticed something ahead but couldn't make out what it was through the rain, he went to front of the ship for a closer look and it appeared to be a mountain shooting up out of the water, blocking out most of the cannel, only leaving a narrow passage on either side. Robbie quickly ran to the helm "CAPTAIN THERES A LARGE ROCK RIGHT A HEAD IT WILL RIP THE SHIP IN TWO!" Teague give the helm to Robbie and rushed to the front of the ship and saw the narrow paths on either side. This rock had to be what has taken all the ships over the years. Teague sized up the paths the right seemed to be the larger of the two, "THE STARBOARD SIDE OF THE ROCK ROBBIE! " barked the captain and with that Robbie turned the wheel, the shifting of ship however, also shifted the water built up beneath the deck and it ripped through the ship, the cannon holes one by one, busted and filled the entire ship with water. The ship slowly began to sink, the crew below long since gone.
Teague was back at the helm, and he slowly brought the ship past the rock, the sides of it, grinding along the shore and the rock. The storm had let up and the water had smoothed out some. The four remaining crew members watched the edges of the ship. Jack still laid unconscious in the Captains quarters. On land, there were skeletons of sailors who no doubt had run into the massive rock the ship was making its way past.
As soon as the ship was past the rock, the remaining crew cheered but then it seemed as though the entire earth shook, the crew looked around for the cause of the shaking The Captain sighed, "Now what?" And suddenly out of nowhere, a tidal wave came up from behind the ship and pushed the it through the cannel turning in up on end, the crew grabbing onto whatever they could find as the boat came crushing down hard, plunging into the water. Everything went black, all hope was gone.
The Misty Lady slowly rose back to the surface, all the crew laid on the deck lifeless, the sun beating down once again on the ship. Suddenly Captain Teague gasped and spit out water, he was alive, barely. He got up enough strength to look around, the ship was mostly under water. He got up on his knees and looked ahead. "Shipwreck Cove" mumbled the Captain before collapsing back onto the deck.
The ship had surfaced just outside of the Cove, two long boats where headed to the ship from Shipwreck to check for survivors, someone must have spotted the ship and alarmed others to the approaching, sinking ship. The remaining crew and the captain where bought into the long boats, they were just about to head for shore when a man said I'll check the cabins first. He opened the cabin and looked around, he couldn't see any one and started to leave, then he heard a voice,"Over here, help!" It was young Jack, he was under a pile of debris, the man walked over, "Oh, my boy, what have you gotten into here?" Quickly he pull the debris off of Jack and checked him for any visible injuries, he didn't notice any, so he picked him up and carried Jack to the long boat. They had made history and survived.
(A/N Once again I want to give credit to my wife for proof reading this story, if it wasn't for her these story's would not make it onto the fanfic site. Also thank you to all my readers. Please Review and let me know how you like this story so far)