The Time Pirate

by Ted Bell

  They’d been condemned to death in the most cruel way imaginable. The oubliette. Nick had read about them in his history books, too. Oubliette came from the French word meaning “forget.” They threw you into a deep hole . . . and forgot about you. Eventually, insane with hunger and thirst, you died of starvation. Men cast into the pit were known to kill one another and eat human flesh, starvation driving them to cannibalism.

  And forgotten for all eternity. It was not the way Nick McIver had intended to die.

  Blood and Snake Eye walked to the center of the room and stood on either side of the yawning black hole, evil grins on their faces.

  “Who wants to go first?” Old Bill asked, drawing his sword. Nick saw instantly what Blood was thinking. It was like walking the plank. On shipboard, if the victim showed the least hesitation to leap to his death in open seas, he was prodded along to his death by the tip of a sword.

  Gunner looked solemnly at Nick. “I’ll go first, lad. I can catch Katie. Break her fall. Then I’ll catch you.”

  Nick nodded, knowing that Gunner, who was immensely strong, just might be able to do as he promised. And then Gunner walked forward, glaring at the smirking Captain Blood. It was all he could do not to disarm the old monster and shove him into his own hole. But that would just get them all shot.

  “I’ll see you in hell someday,” Gunner said to Old Bill, pausing at the edge.

  “You’ll certainly precede me.” Blood smiled. “Do you wish to jump or be persuaded? Either is fine by me.”

  Gunner said nothing, just stepped off the edge and disappeared. Nick heard no cry of pain from the depths below. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or a very bad thing.

  “Next?” Blood asked, with a little bow.

  “My sister,” Nick said, walking with a trembling Katie in his arms, constantly whispering encouragements to be brave in her ear. “Almost over now, don’t worry. You won’t get hurt. Gunner and I always take care of you, don’t we? And we will now and forever.”

  When they stood at the edge, he said, “It’s all right, Katie, I promise. Gunner’s down there. He’ll catch you. Then I’ll be right behind you. We’ll all be together again. Are you ready?”

  “Yes. I’m not scared, Nicky. I’ve got you.”

  Nick hugged her to him, then put his hands around her waist and held her out over the opening. He looked down into the well and thought he could make out Gunner standing at the bottom with his arms outstretched.

  “Gunner?” Nick shouted down into the hole, “Ready?”

  “Aye” came the hollow reply from below.

  Nick McIver dropped his little sister into the oubliette.

  There was no cry of pain, which surely meant Gunner had caught Katie safely.

  Nick turned to face his mortal enemy. “You will regret this someday, Captain Blood. You have my word on it. However long it may be, whatever it may take. I am going to make you sorry you ever saw my face.”

  “I’m already sorry, you mewling little pup,” Blood spat and viciously cracked Nick across the shoulders with the flat of his blade. Nick pitched headfirst into the hole. He could hear the echoes of Blood’s laughter all the way down.

  He landed in Gunner’s powerful arms, hard, for it was a long drop.

  “You all right, lad?” he heard Gunner say in the semi-darkness, as he lowered him gently to the ground.

  “Yes. Where is Katie?”

  “Right here beside me where she belongs.”

  “Oh, Nicky,” she sobbed. “Look at all the bones. Are we all going to die in this horrible place?”

  It was indeed horrible. The skeletons of countless victims lay scattered across the dirt floor, and Nick could see many sitting where they’d died, backs to the wall. Fresher victims, their flesh torn from their bones as if they’d been attacked by wild dogs, lay nearby, and the smell of rot and worse was well-nigh insufferable.

  “Katie,” Nick said, “didn’t I promise you I’d take care of you? Have I ever lied to you?

  “No. B—but this place is so terrible. How are we ever to get out?”

  “Would you like to go home, dear Kate?” Nick asked, kneeling and pulling her toward him in the gloom.

  “Home? Oh, yes, Nicky! More than anything in this whole wide world!”

  “How about you, Gunner?”

  “Home sounds such a lovely word.”

  “No time like the present then, as I always say, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Aye, let’s abandon this monster and his foul prison, Nicholas.”

  “Indeed. Mr. Gunner, sir, would you please hand me that small round object you have carefully concealed on your person?”

  Gunner reached into his secret pouch and brought Nick’s authentic time machine out of its hiding place.

  “Would you like to set our course for home, Master Nick?”

  “Indeed I would, sir!”

  Nick carefully took the Tempus Machina in both hands and turned each half counterclockwise. The moment he separated the two, the faces of each half began to glow brightly, illuminating the jeweled dials. He entered the exact time he wanted to return to, time to be home for supper on July 15, 1940. And then, from memory, he entered the exact latitude and longitude coordinates for the Greybeard Inn on Greybeard Island.

  He could already feel the steady pull of the two halves toward each other, but he had one more thing to do before he closed the machine.

  “Blood?” he called upward, “can you hear me?”

  He saw Blood’s face appear far above, peering over the edge of the oubliette, a torch lighting his face.

  “What’s that bloody light down there?” Blood cried.

  “What might you think it is, Captain?” Nick called up.

  “What is it, I say, tell me now!”

  “Why, it’s my Tempus Machina, Captain. The one I gave you is lovely, but a poor substitute for the real thing. We’ll bid you farewell now.”

  Nick rejoined the two halves, as Kate and Gunner placed their hands over his on the gleaming orb.

  A second later, a red-faced Captain Blood was howling in an absolute rage of anger and frustration. He’d just seen his three prisoners disappear. Right before his disbelieving eyes.

  That boy, that damnable boy, had tricked him again.

  32

  NICK MCIVER, TRAITOR?

  · Greybeard Island—July 1940 ·

  Nick nearly wept for joy at the look on Katie’s face. She stood stock-still for a second, looked around, and suddenly realized where she was. Home. And then all three of them burst into peals of laughter. The three time travelers had arrived back on the lovely green island in the summer of 1940. They found themselves standing just outside the front door of the Greybeard Inn. It was a beautiful midsummer afternoon, few clouds, and the golden light striking the lighthouse in the far distance.

  His sister, Kate, still remembering her captivity, was actually pinching herself to see if this miracle was possibly true.

  It was. She’d escaped the horrible nightmare. Blood had meant them to starve to death in that terrible hole filled with skeletons and horrible rats. But now she was home! She leaped up and flung her arms around her brother’s neck, kissing him on both cheeks.

  “Oh, Nicky,” Kate said, “do you know the very last thing Mother said to me? ‘Make sure you and your brother are home in time for supper.’ And, look, the sun’s still up! We will be home in time.”

  Nick put her down and looked at Gunner. “When did you realize Blood had made such a very stupid mistake?”

  “I thought for sure we’d lose our heads. But then, in the bowels of the dungeon, I saw you make that tiny smile, looking longingly at that black hole. That oubliette. Then I knew we’d got the best of him.”

  “He’s going to be very angry.”

  “We’ve not seen the last of him, I’ll grant you that.”

  “He’s not half so clever as he thinks he is. Which works decidedly in our favor. But now he’s got a powerful armada, the Brethren
of Blood, to back him up.”

  Gunner said, “Why don’t you and Kate come inside for a wee moment? I’ll serve up some hot tea and cakes. Of course, if you want to go straightaway to check up on your parents, I’m understanding of that. And have you told your sister about yer recent misfortune?”

  “What misfortune?” Kate said.

  “The Camel,” Nick said. “I had to ditch her.”

  “Ditch her? What kind of ditch?”

  “He means she went into the drink,” Gunner said. “All the way to the bottom.”

  “Oh, Nicky. That beautiful old aeroplane is gone?”

  “ ‘Fraid so.”

  “Have you told Father?”

  “No. I haven’t seen him since it happened.”

  “When did it happen?”

  “Right before Gunner and I came to Port Royal to bring you home.”

  “Do you think Father will be terribly angry?”

  “I don’t think so. Sad perhaps but not angry. I’m sad, too, Kate. I loved that flying machine. And I had a lot of big plans for it, too. But accidents happen.”

  “I been thinking on it, Nick,” Gunner said. “My theory is, it ain’t the worst thing in the world that could have happened, the old girl going down. Seeing as how you escaped, of course.”

  “What do you mean, Gunner?”

  “I mean those Nazis have a bone in their teeth. They’d have found that aeroplane in the barn sooner or later. And then they’d have come looking for who owned it. People around here are scared. Somebody would have spilled the beans. And then where would we be? You and me and your dad?”

  “Prison.”

  “Or worse, most likely. In one night you took out almost an entire squadron of Messerschmitts. And most of their ammunition. Enough to earn the lot of us the unfriendly attentions of a firing squad, I’d wager.”

  Nick nodded. Gunner was right. One good air raid was all he was ever meant to get out of the Camel. And by all that’s holy, it had been a jolly good one!

  He smiled and pulled the stolen roll of Blood’s charts from inside his trousers and handed them to Gunner.

  “I think Kate and I should hurry right home now, Gunner. But first thing in the morning, we should all gather up in the Armoury and have a look at all the charts. And hear what Katie has to say about Blood’s armada and his intentions. Knowing his plans, it might be nice to make them go seriously awry.”

  Gunner looked at Kate. “Kate, God love you, please tell us you remember at least some of what Blood said.”

  “All of it.”

  “All of it?”

  “Of course, silly. I made sure I wouldn’t forget.”

  Kate reached into the deep pocket of her ragged sweater and pulled out what appeared to be sheets of writing paper, folded into the smallest square possible. For the first time, Nick noticed what a bedraggled little ragamuffin he now had for a sister. Well, hardly her fault. She’d been dragged halfway round the world into another century and spent her time in the company of filthy pirates.

  “I wrote down everything I could. I couldn’t spell a lot of the words, and I missed some, but it’s mostly all there. What I heard with my glass to the wall.”

  Nick hurriedly unfolded the pages and scanned the words, his eyes racing down each page. “She’s got it all, Gunner, Blood’s immediate naval plans of battle for his armada. An attack on some French admiral named de Grasse.”

  Nick refolded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket. He’d go over the charts carefully with Gunner in the morning. At this moment, he had no urge at all to take on the greatest pirate armada in all history. But something told him Blood’s plans held some future importance for him. It was only a hunch, but he’d learned to trust those feelings.

  Kate and Nick walked hand in hand along the Coast Road in the fading light. The road finally ended at a rocky path that led up to the lighthouse. The sun had set, leaving a bright orange band on the blue horizon. Nick had been quiet for most of the walk. He was carefully considering the words he might use to tell Kate what had befallen their parents. In the end, with the lighthouse clearly in sight on the cliff top, he chose to be completely straightforward.

  “Kate, I’m afraid I’ve some more troublesome news. I’ve not had the chance to tell you, but I think you should know before we get home.”

  She gripped his hand more tightly. “Know what, Nicky? We’re home, aren’t we? What could be better news than that?”

  “It’s about Mum and Dad.”

  “What about them?”

  “I’m afraid the Nazis have taken them away.”

  “Taken them?” She looked up at him. “Taken them where?”

  “Not far away. Just over to Guernsey.”

  “Why on earth would they do a thing like that?”

  “An investigation. They took many of our neighbors, too. They’re looking for that German soldier we found in the tree. They think someone on the island has murdered him and is covering it up.”

  “But it’s not true!”

  “Of course it’s not. It’s just that I wanted you to know they might not be home when we get there, that’s all. If they’re not, I don’t want you to worry. I’ve got a new friend over on Guernsey who can help us. We’ll get Gunner to run us over in his motorboat and visit her in the morning. She’ll have them home in jig time.”

  “Oh, Nicky!” Kate cried. She turned and ran up the steep path to their front door, calling out for her parents. She flung the door open and burst inside, Nick right on her heels, a minute behind. Strangely, Nick thought, all the lights were off in the house. A single candle was flickering on the kitchen table. Nick saw his mother seated at the table, holding Kate to her in a tight embrace. They both seemed to be crying.

  “Mother, you’re home!” Nick said, going to her.

  “Yes, Nicky, I’m home.” Something was wrong with her voice. And her face. Her right cheek was badly bruised, he could see in the candle’s light, and her left eye was black and blue and swollen shut.

  “Mother, tell me what happened,” Nick said, sitting down at the table across from her and reaching for her hand.

  “A Nazi soldier,” she said, looking up at her son and trying for a brave smile. “When we were all being processed at Gestapo headquarters. He—he made some very vulgar remarks to me, said he had to search me and—and he—he touched me in a terribly improper fashion. When I raked his cheek with my fingernails, he threw me against the wall and hit me in the face. I must look horrible, mustn’t I? I haven’t had the courage to look in a mirror.”

  “Those filthy Nazis!” Nick said, his face flushed with anger. “I’ll get them, don’t worry, Mother. I’ll make them sorry for what they did, every last one.”

  “It’s all right, darling. I’m not badly hurt. But they are vicious brutes, and we shall all have to be very, very careful around them until this dreadful occupation is over. Luckily, we have someone on our side. A wonderful woman named Fleur de Villiers. She came to the hospital, to visit your father and—”

  “Father’s in hospital?”

  “He’ll be all right, Nick, it’s nothing serious,” Emily McIver said. “When he saw that horrible soldier attacking me, he broke out of line and pulled the man off me. He did a lot more damage to the German’s face than the German did to mine, you’ll be glad to know.”

  “But why is he in—?”

  “He’s in hospital because the guards hurt him badly, ripping him off the beast who’d been abusing me, beating him mercilessly. No broken bones, but he’s horribly bruised. But he’ll be out soon, possibly tomorrow. This friend of your father’s is named Baroness de Villiers, pulled some strings with the German High Command. Your father had been arrested. After release from the hospital, he was headed straight to prison. But Baroness de Villiers took care of that easily enough. A few quiet words with the Kommandant and your father was a free man.”

  “How did you get home, Mummy?” Kate asked. “The Baroness was kind enough to bring me home in her little
steam yacht this afternoon, after I saw your father.”

  Nick stood up. “I want to go to the hospital and see Father. Right now.”

  “Nick, no. He’s quite all right. They’ve given him some pain medication and muscle relaxants, and he needs his sleep. Anyway, I want you to stay as far away from these Germans as you can. Promise me that, both of you.”

  “I hate Nazis,” Kate said.

  “All right, Mother, I won’t go near them,” Nick said, thinking of just how close he’d come to the Nazis lately. The patrols on the beach and in the woods the night he’d ditched the Camel. Nick hated lying and keeping secrets. And so he always felt a twinge of guilt when it came to his parents’ lack of knowledge about his adventurous exploits. Especially about the existence of the Tempus Machina. But it couldn’t be helped.

  Only five people on the island knew of the machine. Kate, Gunner, Lord Hawke, Hobbes, and himself. Hawke had sworn them all to secrecy about the miraculous machine and its powers. And Nick, knowing first hand the dangers associated with knowledge of the golden orb, would never break that vow.

  But he was determined, if nothing else, to help his country through this dark period of war in any way he could. That’s what he had learned from Admiral Lord Nelson. Duty. Duty to country first. Everything else was secondary.

  And he knew for certain that his mother would recoil at the danger he sometimes placed himself in. Why, she’d never again let him out of her sight if she knew even half the things he’d been up to lately. Until the age of about nine, when he’d learned to sail the little sloop, Stormy Petrel, that his father had built for him, he’d been tied to his mother’s apron strings. But there were no strings now, not a one.

  Not since he’d discovered what a grand adventure life could be if you jumped in headfirst without fear and were prepared to take your knocks. Nick had two great heroes in his life: Winston Churchill and Admiral Lord Nelson. Thanks to the machine, he’d been able to help Lord Nelson in the year 1805. Nelson had personally pinned a medal for heroism on Nick’s chest.