⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵...(Tour of "High Island")...
[Last time...]
The hull was broken into three pieces, and as they watched, two sank quickly below the waves as their heavy shot and powder cargo took them to the depths! The third piece was tipping upward and a scattering of desperate men clung to it’s hulk! The mast was some forty feet distant, rigging and sail cloth spread out over a wide area of the sea. The Jinn slid his scope shut, and turned towards his men…
“There will be no warning for Seychelles today my friends!” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~[Alphonse Island…two hundred and thirty miles south-west of Seychelles…]
Less than six prisoners were taken aboard the Jinn’s war Dhow after the devastating attack two days before. Many of those that were not killed by the barrage of cannon-fire from the Jinn’s broadsides, drowned in the waves before they could tack back northward and look for survivors. In all, only five were brought aboard alive, and one of those was missing a hand in a shark attack that nearly took his life. If it were not for the courage of the fearless crew…(No… did I say that?) -If it were not for the musket-fire from the war Dhow, the sharks would have certainly finished them all off.
Though the Jinn recognized none of the prisoners, he knew that all of them were Captain Husam’s men.
(See: https://steemit.com/steemsilvergold/@joshuaslane/silver-adventures-captain-joshua-slane-22ap19-give-me-three-full-turns-of-the-wheel-bring-our-starboard-guns-to-bare )
The next two days were pleasant ones for the crew as steady winds took them east at a good clip. The Jinn ordered their course to be set south of Seychelles for reasons he did not share. Finally, at 10:12am on the second day, the look-out called out from above...
“Land Sir! Two small islands!”
The Jinn quickly took out his scope and eyed the eastern horizon. There, the two atolls rose out of the sea like green emeralds…
“Bring our course ten degrees north! Make for the point on the northern island!” He yelled to Saleem who held the ship’s wheel.
“Yes Lord! But where are we?!” Saleem yelled back.
“Alphonse Island…a prisoner's paradise!” The Jinn replied with a smile.
As the big Dhow cut fresh waters to the north-east, the islands quickly grew in height. At last it’s swaying palms and higher plateau where a tiny village sat, could be seen with the naked eye. At less than a half mile off shore, the Jinn ordered the sails dropped and the dinghy unlashed from it’s blocks.
“Bring the prisoners up!” He ordered as he gazed across at the sandy beach which by now was accumulating more than two dozen curious villagers.
As a well muscled sailor brought up the five tethered prisoners, it was apparent that the wounded man would need medical attention soon as the makeshift tourniquet shown bright red with blood.
One of the other prisoners gazed out across the sea and locked his eyes on the island…
“Where are you taking us?!” He demanded, “This place is no more than a turtle hop!”
“Silence! You do not speak directly to the Lord Jinn!” The heavily muscled sailor warned sternly.
The Jinn walked over to the wretched group and folded his arms…
“Saleem, you and this man will take these men ashore. Ask the villagers to attend to the wounded man as best they can.”
“Yes Lord.”
“This is a death sentence! This is against all that is right!” The one belligerent prisoner yelled out again.
<< SLAP! >>
His speech was quickly silenced by the hard, back-hand of his guard!
In a moment more, the dinghy was lowered and the prisoners were hurried below into it’s cramped quarters. The oars were broken out and the tiny craft bobbed it’s way across the short expanse of waters.
The Jinn said nothing as he watched the tiny boat. His mind was hundreds of miles away, at a much bigger island, an island well-armed and defended by perhaps larger war Dhows than the one he stood on now...
Finally he exhaled deeply and swung around the main mast line as he went below to study his charts.
⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵
"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: Wikipedia, an' sometimes finely crafted reit from th' author's extensiff personal experience an' such