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The Wrecker part 2
A Maverick story
By Deana
This is my part 2 of the episode, 'The Wrecker'. It irked me to have ended with Bart still adrift in the ocean,
even after Bret spotted him from the ship that he was on! They didn't even show us the rescue! Argh!
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Bret couldn't stop smiling as he watched the tiny boat–which contained his brother–as it got closer and closer. The relief that he felt when he spotted Bart through the spyglass was overwhelming; he'd been worried nonstop after Bart had left on the Norah Creina in search of the Flying Scud. But how on earth had he ended up in a lifeboat, and who was the other man with him? Bret didn't even care; all that mattered was that his brother was alive.
"Need a lift?!" he shouted over the side of the ship, when the lifeboat was close enough for them to hear him.
"Bret!" Bart exclaimed. "I knew it had to be you!"
Bret laughed, as one of the sailors kicked the rope ladder over the side.
The lifeboat finally reached them, and Carthew, who was closer to the ladder, started climbing it first.
Bret had no idea who he was, so he ignored him as he watched his brother start climbing up next.
More of the crew gathered around, and one of them reached out to help Carthew over the side.
"Hey," Bret called down to Bart. "We don't have all day, you know."
Bart looked up and chuckled.
Bret frowned as his brother got closer and he could see him better. He wasn't climbing very fast, and he wondered if something was wrong with him. Once he was within reach, Bret reached down to help him over the side, and he grabbed him in a tight hug.
Bart was slightly surprised but hugged him back just as tightly, fully aware that he could've been dead right now, instead of reuniting with his brother.
When they pulled apart, Bret looked him over. "Are you all right? You look terrible," he said.
Bart chuckled, taking it as a joke.
Bret was serious though. Bart's face was sunburned and it was obvious that he hadn't shaved in a few days. His clothes were rumpled and the skin in the corners of his eyes was pinched, as if he had a headache.
"Mr. Maverick," said a voice.
Bret turned to see who had called him, before saying, "Bart, this is Captain Smith. Captain, this is my brother, Bart."
"Nice to meet you," said the captain, shaking Bart's hand. "I was just told that we can turn around, since you're the one who we were coming in search of?"
Bart nodded with a sigh, before looking at Bret. "Yes. There's nothing for us on the Flying Scud."
Bret knew that he must have quite the story to tell. "How long were you adrift?"
Bart shook his head, glancing around himself as if searching for a place to sit down. "I don't remember. Five days?"
"That long? You must be thirsty!" Bret said, wrapping an arm around his brother's back and starting to lead him to the nearby water barrel.
Bart somehow nearly tripped on his first step, and Bret tightened his grip. "Have you been hurt?" he asked, looking his brother over again.
Bart shook his head. "Just stiff. Couldn't move around much in that lifeboat."
Bret led him more slowly, dipping a cup into the barrel and handing it to him, before dipping another cup in and leading Bart over to the main hatch to sit.
Bart quickly drank the water, and wasn't surprised when Bret handed him the second cup. He smiled his thanks before downing it, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and flinching when it hurt his sun-dried lips.
Bret went back to the water barrel and dipped both cups in again, looking at Carthew, who stood there drinking from his own cup. He wondered why he'd been in the lifeboat with his brother, and gave him a polite nod, which Carthew returned.
Bart was fanning his face with his hat when Bret came back, and he took the cup of water from his brother and quickly drank it. "Can we go below deck?" he asked. "I gotta get out of this sun; I've a headache after being boiled for almost a week."
Bret winced at that. "Of course. Maybe the ship's doctor has something you can put on that," he said, gesturing to his brother's face.
"Put on what?"
"Uh," said Bret, putting a hand under his brother's arm to pull him up. "You'll see."
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Twenty minutes later, Bart sat on a bed below decks, looking into a handheld mirror. "I can't believe it," he said.
"Surprised me too," said Bret, grabbing a chair and sitting it near the bed.
Bart poked his right cheek, watching the spot turn white in the mirror before instantly turning red again. "Feels like it's on fire." He lowered the mirror before picking up the small glass jar that the ship's doctor had given him and opening it, taking out some of the cream inside and carefully rubbing it onto his face. "Go ahead; ask."
"Hmm?" said Bret.
"I know you have a thousand questions," said Bart.
"More like two thousand," said Bret. "I just wanted to give you a chance to get settled first."
"Thanks. I don't know what to tell you first, so you decide," Bart answered, wincing when he rubbed the sunburn too hard.
"How'd you end up in a lifeboat?"
"The captain decided to throw me overboard," said Bart. "But Carthew stopped him."
"That's the man who was in the lifeboat with you?"
Bart nodded, lowering the mirror to look at Bret. "He saved my life."
"I guess I'll have to thank him."
Bart chuckled.
"What did you find on the Flying Scud?"
Bart finished with the cream and put down the mirror to look at his brother. "Opium."
Bret was shocked. "What?!"
"They were smuggling it," said Bart, shifting to lie down on the bed, but wincing and changing his mind. He sat up again, rubbing the back of his neck and rolling his shoulders with a groan. "Bret, don't ever, ever try to sleep in a lifeboat for nights on end. I think I'm crippled for life now."
Bret stood and crossed over to him, kneeling behind him on the bed and grabbing his shoulders. "Ouch," he sympathetically commented when he felt the cramped muscles.
"Understatement," said Bart, wincing.
"Brother Bret to the rescue!" Bret said as he tried to knead the knots away. "So what happened to the opium?"
"We threw it–ouch!–overboard."
"Sorry. We? As in you and Carthew?"
"Yes," Bart answered. "Captain Nares said it was worth twenty thousand dollars, and if he ever saw me again, he would cut me up into pieces for dumping it."
"Twenty thousand…almost what we paid for the Scud. You weren't tempted?"
Bart was shocked at the question and tried to turn to look at him, but Bret grabbed his head and turned it back as he continued his massage.
"Did you really just ask me that?" said Bart.
"I wasn't implying anything," said Bret. "It's just that you saw it, held it? I was just wondering how it felt."
Bart lifted his right hand and rubbed his fingers together, remembering it clearly. "It felt disgusting, in more ways than one."
They both fell silent as Bret continued to work the knots out of Bart's muscles.
"What made you come after me?" Bart suddenly asked.
"You mean besides the fact that I was so worried about you that I could hardly sleep?" said Bret. "When you stepped aboard the boat that day, I thought I might never see you again."
Bart started to turn to look at him, but Bret once again turned his head back.
"Yeah, I admit it," said Bret. "I thought there was a good chance that you could die somehow."
Bart gave a humorless laugh. "I was so seasick that I was sure I was gonna die."
Bret was so surprised, that his hands stilled. "You're kidding?"
"Don't stop yet, brother Bret," Bart said, gesturing towards the back of his neck. "You do that better than you play poker."
Bret obeyed. "How many times did you–?"
"Somehow I didn't, thank God," Bart said. "But my stomach felt worse than any concussion I ever had; worse than some concussions put together. I was dizzy too…felt like my head would roll off my neck. I think I sweated enough to fill a barrel. It went on for a few very miserable days. Then Carthew actually had the gall to bring me food. Oh, by the way, Carthew is Dickson."
"Really? That means that he's probably the one who knocked you out the day before you left," said Bret.
"Yup," said Bart. "But in his defense, I had broken into his room."
"Maybe that knock on the head contributed to your seasickness."
Bart nodded. "I wondered that too. You didn't get seasick on this ship?"
"No, not at all. Has your stomach ever bothered you on any of the riverboats that we've been on?"
"No," Bart answered. "But riverboats don't move up and down on ocean waves."
"True," said Bret. "I'm sorry; if I knew that was gonna happen to you, I wouldn't have let you go."
Bart sighed. "Nothing we can do about it." He suddenly yawned. "You can stop doing that now, even though I wish it would go on forever. I can't keep my eyes open anymore."
"All right." Bret clapped him on the shoulder and climbed off the bed as Bart lay down, and he pulled off his brother's boots for him. "Rest well."
"Thanks," Bart said, eyes already closed. "I'll tell you the rest of the story later."
"That's fine. I'll talk to Carthew while you sleep."
"Tell him that I didn't mean to abandon him after we came aboard."
"I will."
Bret went back topside, and found Carthew at the rail, watching the ocean. He stepped up beside him and leaned on the rail himself. "Mr. Carthew? I'm Bret Maverick, Bart's brother."
Carthew smiled. "Nice to meet you," he replied, shaking his hand. "Bart told me a lot about you while we were adrift."
"Uh oh," Bret said, with a chuckle, before sobering. "Bart told me how you saved his life."
Carthew shrugged with one shoulder. "I couldn't let them kill him, especially when he didn't kill me when he had the chance. Also, I agreed with him about the opium. It's terrible stuff."
Bret folded his arms and nodded. "Sure is."
"Did Bart tell you everything that happened?"
"Not everything; he fell asleep, but not before asking me to apologize to you for leaving you by yourself."
Carthew nodded. "I'm not surprised. I've been on so many ships that I can sleep through anything, but it wasn't easy for him in that lifeboat. As for me, some of the crew here are old friends of mine, so I'll have plenty of company."
"Oh good. You have some time right now to tell me your part in this whole thing?"
"Of course," Carthew said.
They headed over to the main hatch to sit, and Carthew filled him in.
TBC
