Chapter 3
The Warning
Nothing. Four days slumming about the Spaceport, avoiding spacers asking questions, bored Robocops looking for an arrest, asking around and threatening fellow pirates if needed, and Starla had nothing. The Spaceport was gorgeous, she had to admit. Brimming with ship upon ship and every kind of alien you could think of. When she first arrived, Starla was highly impressed. Being used to sailing for months on end, and sticking to shady planets and ports, she wasn't used to seeing so many and so much. It was all so much to take in, and her first day being there was filled with simply wandering around.
She got used to all the different areas, the twists and turns, and all the quirky little shops and homes scattered here and there. It was a new adventure, and it was all hers. The whole crescent-shaped port was stunning and Starla couldn't wait to explore every inch of it. So her first day in this brand-new dwelling was filled with walking around the different places, gazing up at the grand ships or helping someone with a stuck rigging. For the first time in many years, she didn't have a care in the universe.
But soon she started to wear thin. The entire first day she slacked off, running about having a good time, only asking a few people about Billy Bones -nobody knew who he was- and spent the night at a warm and comfortable pub. She slept well that first night, but rose early in the morning to get started. Starla charmed her way through many sailors, even chancing a few spacers when they knew nothing. But she hadn't gotten a single inkling to who Billy Bones was, and had no clue what Silver was up to. By the third day of the same, she was losing her patience. It seemed that Bones had never been to Montressor Spaceport, and that the rumor that he was headed there was just that - a rumor.
On her fourth night at the Spaceport, Starla sat alone at the bar on the first floor of the pub, drinking a light alcohol as she thought through her options. She could continue exactly what she was doing -boring herself at the pub every night, and simply wandering around and asking about Bones during the day- or she could head somewhere else. But she didn't want to disappoint Silver, or not be here when he came for her. If he came for me. Starla sighed and finished off her drink, resting her head on her hand and staring into -no pun intended- space.
Just then a thought occurred to her, and she realized it was probably her best option. The planet below, Montressor. She could head there, stay there for a few days, and find out any information she could on Bones. It was a reasonably small planet, much like the ones she was used to. Back on her second day on the Spaceport, Starla had spent a lot of time gazing down at Montressor, and wondering what might be down there. A whole other adventure, just waiting for me to board a Galactabus and get there. Rubbing her eyes and running a hand through her hair, she decided that was her best -and only- option. In the morning, she'd be heading down to Montressor.
Turn on the charm, that's the key to any good lie. Flash a smile, show some innocence; you're golden. Starla had landed that morning on Montressor, and had soon discovered it was a mining planet. Very quaint and homely, she liked it already. The Galactabus dropped Starla and the rest of the passengers off at one of the many docks on one side of Montressor; there were a couple dozen lined in a row. Walking off the dock, she looked the row up and down, trying to see where to start. Pursing her lips, she looked down her left and just ahead, where she could see smoke billowing from a chimney. She could tell it was a rather large building, and there were a handful of ships docked around it. A pub, maybe. Well, it was her best shot as any. She began the walk towards it.
After a few minutes and polite smiles to passing aliens and sailors alike, Starla neared the walkway of the building. There was a sign stationed there, and, upon reading it, Starla found herself at the Benbow Inn. She stopped there, and took a moment just to look at it. It seemed very warm and inviting, and she felt herself smile at the invitation it seemed to emanate. Starla lightly shook the hair back from her face and pulled her pack up higher on her shoulder, beginning to walk to the Benbow's front door.
Smile and innocence. Turn on that charm. Starla smiled and laughed with Sarah, the owner of the Benbow. She'd walked into the inn, and Sarah showed up, all smiles, introduced herself as simply 'Sarah Hawkins' and told her to find herself a seat, she'd be with her in a moment. She was quite lovely, but looked extraordinarily tired and strained. Her medium brown hair was held up messily with a simple ponytail and a cap, but a few strands had escaped, and fallen into her light blue eyes.
Not wanting to bother her too much, Starla sat by a window, gazing out at the desolate terrain, waiting until Sarah had time for her. She sat patiently, her hands cupping her neck as she watched Sarah flit around the place. She'd promised a Mrs. Dunwiddie her purp juice, served a family their meal, and gave her shockingly canine-like friend Delbert -they seemed to be friends, going by their conversation- his Alponian chowder. With extra solara seed, of course. Starla smiled when Sarah walked to her table, just one over from Delbert's. Starla motioned for Sarah to sit across from her, and she crossed her legs under the table, leaning forward slightly. Sarah looked a little puzzled, but sat down anyway.
"So, Sarah," Starla said, remembering the name the older woman had introduced herself with, "I was wondering if you had a spare room that I could stay in," she began, flashing her a smile.
"Oh yes, we have an opening right now. How long were you planning on staying?" Sarah asked.
Starla shrugged, still unsure. "Few days minimum, couple weeks maximum. Until I can track down my uncle," she looked down, making sure to look worried and nervous. That was the plan whenever she and Silver were separated for any time or reason; Starla was stranded on this planet and looking for her uncle.
Sarah reached her hand over to pat one of Starla's, giving her an understanding look. "You can stay as long as you want, uhm..." she left her sentence open-ended, waiting to hear the young woman's name.
Starla looked up brightly, smiling. "Thank you, Sarah. And my name is Starla."
She flashed her a grateful look, and perked up a little when an idea rooted itself in her brain.
"Actually... Forgive me, but I heard you talking to your friend there," she began, motioning to Delbert, "- and you said that you were rather busy. What about… Well, I could work for you, help you with the guests and whatnot, in exchange for lodging?" She asked, ending her sentence with a wide-eyed, innocent and hopeful look. At the look she received, Starla mentally smiled. Sarah was putty in her hands.
Sarah's eyes widened momentarily, but she was won over. She gave Starla a motherly smile and nodded. "That sounds great, Starla. Now, I have other customers, so you relax for now, and we can work something out after the rush of customers is over, okay?" She stood and Starla nodded, thanking her. Sarah walked over to Delbert, who had apparently just been abused by a toddler. Starla felt herself chuckle as the young girl skipped away to her family, and she lifted her pack up onto the table. She dug around, looking for her book, when her ears -figuratively- pricked up to eavesdrop on Sarah and Delbert's conversation - hey, she's a pirate. They were talking about someone named Jim - and by the look on Sarah's face and the context of the conversation, Starla guessed that Jim was her son.
She smiled, looking forward to meeting this elusive and seemingly trouble-making Jim. Starla'd just settled herself comfortably into her chair when the door to the Benbow suddenly crashed open, showing two Robocops holding a teenaged boy between them. Starla's first instinct was to jump and run, but they addressed Sarah, not even glancing at the young girl. Starla tried to keep calm and look utterly ignorant, but her heart was racing. She wasn't all that comfortable being this close to two Robocops when she's not exactly a law-abiding citizen. She set her book on top of the table, and reached her hand back to the waistband of her trousers, where her father's gun was hidden from sight.
Sarah had dropped the pile of dishes she was holding and exclaimed "Jim!" when she saw who was at her door, and, despite herself, Starla grinned. So this was her son. Tsk tsk. Looks like he got himself caught. Looks like my theory was right, Starla mentally congratulated herself, judging by his looks, Jim is most definitely Sarah's son. Same lovely blue eyes and medium brown hair. He looked to be right around Starla's age, most likely sixteen. He had his hair cropped at the top, shaved in the back and pulled into a braided rattail. Starla pursed her lips, silently studying him. It suited him. She bit her lip to keep back a grin when she noticed the golden earring hanging from his left ear. Starla raised an eyebrow when she noticed they had the same style of clothing on; boots -his were simple yet hefty, hers were lace-up combat- with loose-fitting pants –Starla's were deep black while his were lighter brown- and a simple shirt beneath a jacket -he wore a black shirt with a lighter jacket, while she wore a tight-fitting red shirt with a tight black jacket. Starla shook her head lightly and tuned back in to what was going on.
Jim tried to lighten everything a bit, pulling away from the Robocops. "Okay. Thanks for the lift, guys." But the first Robocop reached for his shoulder, pulling him back. "Not so fast."
"We apprehended your son operating a solar vehicle in a restricted area," the second Robocop explained, addressing Sarah.
The first one joined in. "Moving violation 9-0-4, section fifteen, paragraph… uhm…"
"Six," Jim supplied helpfully and more than a little sarcastically. Starla hid her smile once again. This one had a tongue on him, she liked him already. The Robocop thanked him, to which Jim replied "Don't mention it." Sarah, ignoring Jim's sarcasm, scolded him with a breathless "Jim!"
The second Robocop continued on. "As you are aware ma'am, this constitutes a violation of his probation."
Sarah, flustered, walked over to them, rubbing the back of her neck and thinking. "Yes, yes. No, I understand. Uhm, but, could we just -"
She was cut off by Delbert, who was getting up from his table and walking over to the Hawkins' and the Robocops. "Uh, ahem. Pardon me," Delbert began, "Officers, if I might, ah, interject here. I am the noted astrophysicist Doctor Delbert Doppler. Perhaps you've heard of me… No? Uhm, I have a clipping…" He began to dig through his pockets, looking for the aforementioned clipping.
The second Robocop stopped him after a moment. "Are you the boy's father?"
Delbert and Sarah began telling them no, talking over one another. Starla thought she heard Sarah say "eww" and saw Delbert looking offended, so she reached a hand up to cover her mouth and the grin that had found its way there. Sarah continued on; "He's just an old friend of the family."
The two Robocops rounded on Delbert then, leaning forward to intimidate and get him out of matters which he was not involved. "Back off, sir!" They said together.
"Thank you, Delbert. I will take it from here," Sarah said to him, laying a hand on his shoulder. Delbert straightened his shirt and tried to look normal. "Well, Sarah, if you insist." But a moment later he leaned into her and whispered, "Don't ever let me do that again," which Starla heard, as she was close enough to them. She couldn't stop her latest grin escaping.
Sarah turned to the Robocops and they continued on. "Due to repeated violations of statute 15-C we have impounded his vehicle. Any more slip-ups will result in a one-way ticket to Juvenile Hall," the one on the right said. The first Robocop added on, "Kiddie hoosegow." And finally, to add salt to the burn, the second one just had to add on yet another term. "The slammo."
They let Jim go then, and Sarah pulled him forward, placing a hand on his chest to stop him from walking right past her, as so obviously was his intention. "Thank you, officers. It won't happen again," she said pointedly to Jim.
The second Robocop picked up. "We see his type all the time, ma'am." And they began to add on to each other again. Do they do this often? It was a tad annoying. "Wrong choices." "Dead-enders," there was the second Robocop again. And finally the first one rounded it off. "Losers."
Jim looked up at that, offended. Starla studied him for a moment as the Robocops took their leave, closing the door behind them. For a split second it was completely silent in the Benbow, as everyone was looking at Sarah and Jim and what just happened. Starla felt as though she was intruding, so she looked away and picked up her tattered book, not paying attention to the written words, but the ones being spoken.
"Jim, I have had it," Starla heard Sarah begin. "Do you want to go to Juvenile hall, is that it?" From the corner of her eye, Starla could see Jim had turned away, distracting himself with dishes on a close-by table.
"Jim? Jim, look at me," Sarah said sternly, sounding like the mother she was. "It's been hard enough keeping this place afloat by myself, without you going -" Sarah had begun her lecture, but Jim cut her off, turning around and giving her a light smile.
"Mom, it's no big deal. There was nobody around. Those cops just won't get off my…" He trailed off when his mother put her hands on her hips, giving him a look. Jim looked away. "Forget it."
Mrs. Dunwiddie decided to use that moment to ask Sarah for her purp juice. Starla rolled her eyes. She could hear the exasperation in Sarah's voice when she addressed the woman, telling her she'd be right there. She turned back to her son. "Jim, I just don't want to see you throw away your entire future," and with that, she walked away. Starla did not envy Jim in that moment; having your parent disappointed in you was worse than having them mad at you. She heard Jim mumble "Yeah, what future?" as he headed back into the Benbow's kitchen.
Starla set her book down and ran a hand back through her hair; it had fallen in her eyes. Letting out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding, she shoved her book into her pack, and walked over behind the main counter. Giving Sarah a wave to let her know what she was doing, Starla left her pack behind the counter and walked to the door Jim had just disappeared through. Reaching a hand up to fiddle with her mother's necklace, she turned around to push the swinging door open with her bum. She dropped the star around her neck and ran her hands back through her light brown waves, pulling it into a loose ponytail.
She walked into the kitchen to find it fairly small, but clean. Sarah seemed like the type to want things organized. Starla looked across the room to see Jim setting down dishes at the sink. He didn't look up; Starla guessed he was expecting it to be his mother. When he began to speak, it only proved her assumption.
"Mom, listen. You don't have to lecture me. I won't be going around there any…more," he dragged the last word out a bit, because he had turned around and spotted not his mother, but Starla leaning against the wall. She grinned at him and began to walk over to his position at one of the sinks, pulling off her jacket and throwing it on a nearby table, readying herself for dishes. Jim still looked blankly at her and she had to hold in the eye roll that was threatening to escape. Starla moved to stand beside him, and bumped her hip into his to move him over. There. Now she had plenty of room to do dishes. She flicked her ponytail in a show of nonchalance and smiled at Jim from a few feet over. He still had that blank look on his face, and Starla allowed this particular eye roll to escape.
"Hey, don't tell me, tell your mom. But from what I heard, I don't think you will be going around that restricted area. Heard your solar surfer got taken," Starla grinned into the soapy water and dishes as she began to scrub them clean. She could almost hear Jim get into a defensive stance, and she looked up to see him with his arms crossed across his chest, eyebrow raised.
"What are you, some kind of good girl?" He asked her. She chuckled under her breath. Oh, if you only knew.
"Maybe I am. But keep in mind that all good girls are just bad girls who don't get caught," she said to him, grinning. She looked up to see Jim fighting a smile. Starla winked at him and continued on with the dishes.
Neither teenager said a word, and after a moment Jim sighed, swallowing his pride, and picked up a towel. She washed, he dried.
"So," Jim began, "are you just some random who walked into the door and decided to do our dishes? Not that I'm complaining," he added with a smile. Starla smiled back as she handed him a now-clean plate.
"No. I might be here a while, and I needed some work and a place to stay. I'm working for your mom in exchange for a room," she explained, shrugging. "Oh, I'm Starla, by the way," she added as an afterthought, holding out her soapy hand for a shake. Jim smiled and took her hand, his own enveloping her smaller one. Even though they were nearly the same height, she seemed small in comparison. Starla shook herself mentally.
"I'm Jim, as you've already gathered. Pleased to meet you," he said, still smiling.
"Oh, the pleasure is all mine," Starla replied, smiling down at the chore laid in front of her.
It had taken a while, but Starla and Jim had finally finished up all the dishes, as well as cleaning up the main dining room. Afterwards, the young woman sat at her original table, stretching her legs out and running her hands through her hair. It felt good to let it out after having it up so long. She got up and stretched, wondering where Jim was. As if the universe could read her thoughts, Starla saw Jim walk right past the window. Looks like he finished up his sweeping of the staircases. She could tell he was still a bit bitter towards his mom, so she decided to head out the door and see if she could cheer him up.
Waving goodbye at Sarah, Starla headed out into the cool Montressor evening air. Almost immediately she thought about going back inside for her jacket –she had forgotten she'd left it in the kitchen- but decided against it. She could handle the cold. She wrapped an arm around herself, the other reaching up to fidget with her necklace; and looked around for Jim. The problem was there wasn't anyone around. So where'd he run off to?
Just as Starla was walking past the side of the Benbow, she heard a thunder clap in the distance. Looking towards the horizon, she saw the lightning follow it and groaned internally. She hated storms. At least she was safe on a planet, and not caught in the eye of one while on a ship, like she'd had so many times before.
Over the distant rumble of thunder, Starla heard a very distinct drop of pebbles on metal, and she looked up to see a small rock fall off the eaves of the Benbow. Raising an eyebrow, she backed away from the building a few feet, giving herself some space. Once she was happy with it, she ran and jumped up, grabbing hold of the low roof and pulling herself up. She heard something -someone, hopefully- slide down and felt a cool hand grab her upper arm and help her up onto the roof. She looked up to see Jim, and smiled.
"Well then soldier," she began as he pulled her all the way, her feet helping to push her up the incline, "how goes the day?" Starla asked with a grin. They crawled up to the top of the roof together, sitting side-by-side. He shrugged, and threw another pebble at the roof, watching it slide and fall off the edge. The young woman internally sighed. "Did I interrupt a serious thinking session? I could leave…" Starla offered, and began to slide herself down the roof. She felt Jim grab her arm once again, and looked over her shoulder at him. "No, you don't have to go. I was… Yeah, just thinking."
Starla crawled up beside him again, and gave him a light smile. "Anything you want to talk about?" She asked quietly. He shook his head, but smiled lightly at her. The two sat there in silence for a while, just watching the sky. From the window that they sat next to, Starla could faintly hear Delbert's voice, talking to Sarah. "I really don't know how you manage it, Sarah. Trying to run a business while raising a felon like - felon…fellow…fellow like Jim."
Sarah replied with, "Managing it? I'm at the end of my rope. Ever since his father left, well… Jim's just… never recovered." Starla looked up at Jim. Despite the fact that she had spent most of her time listening in on conversations, this didn't feel right. She shouldn't be listening to an intimate conversation like this. But Jim was looking down at the roof they sat on, and just shook his head. Sarah continued - "And you know how smart he is. He built his first solar surfer when he was eight!" Starla took a moment to be impressed by that, but Sarah went on.
"And yet he's failing at school, he is constantly in trouble, and when I talk to him, he's like a stranger to me. I don't know, Delbert. I've tried everything -" But they didn't get a chance to hear what Sarah was about to say, because suddenly there was the sound of engines spluttering above them, and Starla looked up just in time to see a spacecraft of some kind crash right into an empty dock near the Benbow. Jim didn't hesitate - He slid right off the roof and ran towards it. Starla followed a moment later, running a few feet behind him.
Jim reached the ship first, and knocked on the window. "Hey mister! Mister, you're okay in there, right?" But Jim jumped back suddenly, when a four-fingered hand with claws reached out and slammed on the window from the inside. Jim jumped back, and Starla reached back to grab the handle of her gun, but waiting for the right moment to remove it.
A moment later, the window opened up and out flew a treasure chest, its owner right after. He was a salamander, spluttering and coughing, holding his hat and cloak tight to him. Starla's eyes widened as she let out an audible gasp. It was Billy Bones.
Bones reached out and grabbed the front of Jim's shirt, pulling him close and muttering to him. "He's a-comin'. Can you hear him? Those gears and gyros clickin' and whirrin' like the devil himself!" He coughed throatily, and Starla felt her heart pounding. That's Bones. And he's talking about Silver. She could hear her heart beat as she tried to think through what to do. She didn't have a good enough weapon, and even if she pulled it on Bones now, what would she say to Jim? No, she had to wait for the opportune moment.
Jim was looking flustered; he wasn't sure what to do. "Uh, hit your head there pretty hard, didn't ya?"
Bones just walked, hunched over, to his chest, looking over his shoulder at Jim and the very-silent Starla. "He's after me chest. That fiendish cyborg, and his band of cutthroats." Bones lifted the chest up onto his shoulder, and Starla's eyes wandered towards it, knowing with all her heart that the map must be inside.
Bones continued on - "But they'll have to pry it from old Billy Bones' cold dead fingers afore I - argh." But he couldn't finish his sentence. A great coughing fit had overtaken him. Jim had shock written all over his face, and voiced it. "Oh my…" He knelt down to Bones, offering to help him. "Come on, give me your arm … That's it," Jim said as he pulled Bones' right arm over his shoulders, helping him stand. Before Starla even knew it was there, a light drizzle of rain started down on them, soon turning into a heavy downpour. The storm had come.
Starla shook her head and walked to Bones' left side to help take him to the Benbow. Maybe while they were helping Bones, she could grab the chest and run.
"Good lad… Good lass," Bones mumbled as the two humans helped him walk to the inn. Thunder sounded in the distance, and Starla looked up to watch the lightning follow it. She shook her head to get the heavy, wet strands of hair sticking to the side of her face out of the way as she and Jim walked Bones up the long drive. She heard him mumble "Mom's gonna love this," and grinned lightly under the weight of Bones' left arm.
Looking up to see how far there still was to walk, Starla saw the front window shut, and wondered what that was. She only wondered a moment, as Bones had another coughing fit, just a few feet from the door. They'd gotten him upright again a few moments later, and reached the front of the inn. Jim motioned for Starla to open the door - his free hand held the chest. Her eyes wandered to it as she reached forward, still holding Bones up, reaching her fingers out towards the doorknob. Inches away from touching it, the door opened, and there stood Delbert. He gave the group a shocked look as Sarah gasped from behind him.
"James Pleiades Hawkins!" Starla heard Sarah shout as she and Jim pushed their way past Delbert, bringing Bones in from the cold. Starla made a mental note to remember Jim's full name. She stood beside Bones as he lay on the ground, Jim kneeling on his other side.
"Mom, he's hurt. Bad," she heard Jim say to his mother. Starla pushed her dripping hair from her face and looked to her left at Sarah, who stood near Bones' head. She faintly heard Delbert close the door and walk over to them.
Bones looked up and pointed a shaky finger at his chest. "Me chest, lad," he said to Jim. The latter slid it over so it was within Bones' reach, and he began to push in a passcode on the chest's three buttons. "He'll be comin' soon," he said quietly, "-can't let them find this!" He reached into the now-open chest, pulling out a tightly-wrapped sphere. Starla recognized the shape from the old drawings and descriptions, and hoped beyond all hope she was right as to what it was. The map, leading to Treasure Planet. She could feel her eyes widen, and she pressed her hands to her mouth to keep her gasp from getting out. Fortunately, no one noticed her actions. Please, please be the map.
Jim's voice pulled her from her racing mind. "Who's coming?"
Bones reached up to grab Jim's collar, pulling him down to whisper in his ear. Starla kneeled down, wanting to hear what Bones was saying to him. "The cyborg… Beware the cyborg…" And Billy Bones gave one last shaking breath, before letting go of Jim's collar and dropping to the floor, dead.
Starla's eyes softened a fraction, but then noticed that Bones had pushed the wrapped package into Jim's hands. Her eyes remained there a moment, as Sarah let out a soft "Oh!" and covered her mouth with a hand.
There was suddenly a bright light, coming from right outside the Benbow. Sarah, Delbert, Jim and Starla all looked up. The younger woman stood, recognizing the sound of engines. She pulled Sarah farther away from the front door and windows, ready to yell for her and the others to run. She could hear the engine land right outside, and pulled out her gun from its position in her waistband. It wasn't much, but maybe she could distract whoever was out there while Jim, Sarah, and Delbert got away.
Starla saw Jim move towards to window, opening its digital cover slightly to look outside. She couldn't see through the small space he opened, but she did see his eyes widen.
"Quick! We gotta go!" He said, grabbing Sarah's arm, and Starla's, as he dragged the two women up the stairs. Starla looked down to see Delbert at the door, about to look out through the peep hole, she assumed, but the door was shot at and he quickly began to run after them. "I believe I'm with Jim on this one!"
Starla pulled her arm suddenly from Jim's grasp. "You go on!" Starla yelled. Jim sent Sarah and Delbert running after him, but paused to look back at her. "Please, go! I'll distract them so you can get away!"
But Jim still wouldn't go. She groaned mentally, frustratingly shoving her hair over her shoulder. She stepped up to Jim, very nearly his height, and utilized her feminine methods of distraction. Locking her hands around his biceps, she kissed him quickly on the mouth, before spinning him around and pushing him towards the door Sarah and Delbert had gone through. Maybe that will keep him distracted. Starla shouted one final time; "Go!"
Jim froze for a moment, and, with one final look at her, followed Sarah and Delbert. Starla looked through the open door, and could see he pushed the three of them out the window. She let out a breath and turned around, seeing the bright orange light of fire.
She momentarily froze, eyes fixed upon the light, before shaking her head and running to the top of the stairs. Starla hoped and prayed to whatever God might be among those stars that the voices she'd heard while urging Jim to leave, were the ones she recognized best.
Sure enough, when she reached the stairs, Starla could see members of Silver's crew, and Silver himself directing them where to look. She ran down the stairs, a smile plastered on her face, and grabbed her pack from behind the counter, securing it to my back and running up to Silver. He saw her just as she ran for him, and he gave her that wicked smile.
"Told ya Montressor was a good place to look for it, lass!" He said, chuckling. Starla shook her head at him and pointed to the door.
"Get out of here, fast. The boy has the map, I saw it." She was now sure that the package Bones gave Jim was indeed the map. Silver looked at her with that mechanical eye of his, and she saw it change from a bright yellow to red, as it so often did. She had noticed early on in her travels with Silver that his eye changed colour with his mood.
"Ah, blast it. LADS!" He called to the crew. He pointed his arm towards the door. "OUT, ALL OF YA! Map aint here no more; back to the ship!"
The crew all ran towards the door, rushing to the small boat they'd taken to get down to Montressor. As Starla followed behind Silver, she could see, far down the way, a small cart being led by some sort of creature, which she had no doubt carried Delbert and the Hawkins'.