⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵. . . "Tour of the Gulf of Aden". . . (cont.)
[Last time...]
Galligan then rushed the door and his crew followed him in to the great reception chamber. Torches were lit but no guards were present. Apparently the Jinn had ordered them all outside in a ring about the palace.
“Bar 'att duir mucker!" Galligan ordered in a low tone as he quickly eyed the room from right to left, “Come oan, let's move!"
Without losing a single man, the war party quickly raced across the reception chamber and huddled near the large archway leading to the interior of the palace.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
[Inside the inner Palace of Aden…]
The Jinn nervously paced back and forth in his private quarters. The booming of cannon and the shaking of the ground told him that the battle was in full swing…
“Will our guns sink this warship?!” His mistress said with worry.
“The City is well protected! We have very large guns on the cliffs. I am certain of victory against this Scottish bastard!”
“And if they cannot?!”
“Silence! You dare to question my prowess in war?!” He barked as he turned and called out for his messenger, “Fahd?! What is taking you so long?! Fahd?!”
No voice was heard from the outer chamber. But suddenly the palace echoed with a loud pounding on the north doors!
<<Bam! Bam! Bam!>>
Commander Galligan, crouching beside the inner chamber door, turned and glanced back at the outer door…
“Th' soldiers ur tryin' tae enter th' palace…they must hav discovered th' bodies ay th' guards." He said in a quick but quiet voice.
“They will alert th' Jinn!" Officer Ickied replied as he glanced back at the big door.
“Aye, we need tae make uir move noo!" Galligan said as he stood up and tried the latch on the inner chamber door.
It was locked. He glanced around the chamber and his eyes caught site of two large marble columns, each supporting statues of the Jinn on top of them.
“Git a hauld ay one ay those columns noo an' brings it haur!" He ordered.
Seamen Ixiesilverminer, Wingsworld and Yprecious muscled the heavy statue off the column and tried to set it on the floor. But its awkward shape slipped from their grasp and it went crashing to the floor! The sound of the stone breaking echoed through the chamber and the pounding on the outer door grew only louder by the minute!
[In the harbor of Grand Anse, Praslin island…]
Commander Nabil watched the hillsides carefully as the big war dhow slowly skimmed through the shallow waters of the harbor. Suddenly, from the southern hillside, a hail of arrows filled the air!
“Tally up! Shields!” He yelled as he watched the cloud of arrows streak across the waters.
The two hundred warriors prepared their shields quickly and then on command raised them over their heads. The volley of arrows clanked and shattered against the iron straps of the shields while others stuck like toothpicks into the wood and about the deck. One warrior cried out in pain as an arrow had pierced his bicep and protruded out the other side.
“The focking ants!” Nabil cursed in irritation, “Man the guns! Fire on the hillside!”
The warriors on the starboard side wicked-up the four nine pounders and quickly took aim on the southern hillside of the harbor…
“Fire! Fire!”
Three seconds later the hillside exploded into dust and rubble! The distant sounds of men screaming filled the morning air.
⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵
🗝 Sassenach Vocabulary fur 'lain lovers':
afair (before), Ahh (I), aiblins (perhaps), anyain (anyone), 'att (that), aw (all), ay (of),
bark (news), barnie (fight), baur (bare), bevvy (drink), boss (empty), brine (ocean),
caller (fresh), cannie (careful), ceilidh (party), cheil (man), clootie (cloth), crease (ass)
dae (do), dunnae (do not), dug (dog),
enaw (enough),
gang (go), gart (made), gezz (gives), gin (gun), glaikit (stupid), gob (mouth), guttin (hungry)
haur (here), heem (him), hen (girl)
jeekit (jacket)
kent (knew), kinn (know)
law (low)
mah (my), mair (more), min' (mind), mingin (filthy), mirk (dark), moggie (cat),
nae (no),
onie (any), oot (out), ootwith (outside)
poke (bag), pure (really),
quine (lady),
radge (mad, dangerous),
Sassenach (Highland English), scran (food), shair (shore), spick (speak), strang (strong), stoaner (hard, tough), swatch (look)
thes (this), toon (town),
ur (are, or),
wa' (why), wabbit (tired), waesucks (horror, pity, or sorrow), wee jimmy (young boy), whieest (quiet), wooldnae (wouldn't),
yak (eye)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Confused? Ascared? Seasick? Need a private chat with the Captain?" - joshua.slane@aol.com
References
Pictures from: www.freeimages.com, www.pexels.com, pixabay.com, steemit.com an’ www.google.com/maps. Data loosely interpretted froms: www.wikipedia.org an' sometimes finely crafted reit from th' author's extensiff personal experience an' such.