I had barely reached the bowsprit when the flying jib suddenly snapped and filled on the opposite side with a sound like a cannon blast.
The whole schooner shook from keel to mast as the wind caught her the wrong way.
For a moment, I nearly lost my balance and fell into the sea.
I wasted no time. I crawled back along the bowsprit and dropped headfirst onto the deck.
I landed on the sheltered side of the forecastle.
The still-filled mainsail blocked part of my view of the rear deck.
There was no one in sight.
The deck had not been cleaned since the mutiny began.
Dirty footprints covered the planks, and an empty bottle with its neck broken rolled back and forth in the drain like it was alive.
Suddenly, the Hispaniola turned directly into the wind.
The sails behind me cracked loudly.
The rudder slammed over.
The entire ship leaned and shook violently.
At the same moment, the main boom swung across the deck, and the ropes groaned through the blocks.
The movement finally revealed the rear deck.
There they were.
The two men who had been left on watch.
The man with the red cap was lying flat on his back, stiff as a wooden pole.
His arms were stretched wide, like a man nailed to a cross.
His mouth hung open, showing his teeth.
Israel Hands was sitting against the railing.
His chin rested on his chest.
His hands lay open on the deck.
His face, darkened by the sun, had become as pale as candle wax.
For a while, the ship fought against the waves like a wild horse.
The sails filled first on one side, then the other.
The boom swung back and forth until the mast groaned under the pressure.
Sometimes waves threw spray over the railing.
Sometimes the bow crashed heavily into the sea.
This great ship struggled far more than my little homemade coracle had ever done.
Every time the ship jumped, the man with the red cap slid across the deck.
But the sight was terrible.
No matter how much the ship moved him, his stiff body and frozen grin never changed.
Israel Hands moved differently.
With every roll of the ship, he seemed to sink lower and lower.
His feet slid farther away.
His whole body slowly leaned toward the stern.
Little by little, his face disappeared from my view.
At last, I could see only his ear and a loose curl of his beard.
Then I noticed something else.
Dark splashes of blood covered the deck around both men.
I began to believe they had fought each other in their drunken anger and killed one another.
While I was watching them, the ship suddenly became still for a moment.
Israel Hands slowly turned around.
With a weak groan, he forced himself back into the position where I had first seen him.
The sound of pain and terrible weakness touched my heart.
His jaw hung open, and he looked close to death.
But then I remembered the conversation I had overheard from inside the apple barrel.
My pity disappeared.
I walked toward him until I reached the mainmast.
“Come aboard, Mr. Hands,” I said mockingly.
He slowly rolled his eyes toward me.
He was too weak to show surprise.
The only word he could say was:
“Brandy.”
I knew there was no time to waste.
I dodged the swinging boom and hurried down the companionway into the cabin.
The cabin was a complete mess.
Every locked place had been broken open while the pirates searched for the map.
Mud covered the floor where the men had sat drinking and planning after walking through the marshes.
The clean white walls, decorated with gold trim, were covered with dirty handprints.
Empty bottles rolled around in the corners as the ship moved.
One of the doctor’s medical books lay open on the table.
Half the pages had been torn out, probably to make pipe lights.
In the middle of this chaos, the lamp still burned, spreading a smoky brown light.
I went into the storage room.
All the barrels were gone.
Many bottles had been emptied and thrown aside.
Clearly, since the mutiny began, none of these men had stayed sober for long.
Searching around, I found a bottle with some brandy left for Hands.
For myself, I gathered some biscuits, pickled fruit, raisins, and a piece of cheese.
I carried everything back on deck.
I hid my own food behind the rudder where the coxswain could not reach it.
Then I went forward to the water barrel and drank deeply.
Only after that did I hand the brandy to Hands.
He drank almost the entire amount before lowering the bottle.
“By thunder,” he said, “I really needed that!”
I sat down in my corner and started eating.
“Are you badly hurt?” I asked.
He made a rough sound.
“If that doctor were here, I’d be fine after a little treatment,” he said.
“But I never have any luck. That’s my problem.”
He pointed weakly toward the man with the red cap.
“As for that fellow, he’s completely dead. He was never much of a sailor anyway.”
Then he looked at me.
“Where did you come from?”
“Well,” I replied, “I came aboard to take control of this ship, Mr. Hands.”
“You should consider me your captain until further notice.”
He looked at me angrily but said nothing.
Some color had returned to his face.
He was still very weak, though, and the movement of the ship kept making him slide around the deck.
“By the way,” I said, “I cannot keep this flag.”
“With your permission, I’m taking it down.”
“Better no flag than this one.”
I avoided the swinging boom again and hurried to the flag ropes.
I lowered their cursed black flag and threw it into the sea.
“God save the King!” I shouted, waving my cap.
“And that ends Captain Silver’s rule!”
Hands watched me carefully.
His chin remained on his chest.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“I suppose, Captain Hawkins, you’ll want to get ashore now.”
“Perhaps we should talk.”
“Of course,” I answered.
“Go ahead, Mr. Hands.”
I returned to my meal and continued eating.
“This man here,” he said, nodding toward the dead pirate, “was O’Brien. A rough Irish fellow.”
“He and I managed to set the sails because we planned to sail the ship back.”
“But he’s dead now.”
“And I don’t see who is going to sail this ship.”
“Unless I give you some help, you’re not that man.”
“Now listen.”
“You give me food, drink, and an old cloth to wrap my wound.”
“In return, I’ll teach you how to sail her.”
“That seems fair enough, doesn’t it?”
“I’ll tell you one thing,” I said.
“I am not going back to Captain Kidd’s anchorage.”
“I intend to take the ship into North Inlet and quietly beach her there.”
He laughed weakly.
“Of course you do!”
“I’m not such a useless old fool that I can’t see what’s happening.”
“I tried my chance, and I lost.”
“You have the advantage now.”
“North Inlet?”
“I have no choice.”
“I’d help you sail her all the way to the dock of death itself!”
So we made our agreement.
Within a few minutes, the Hispaniola was moving smoothly along the coast of Treasure Island.
I hoped to round the northern point before noon and then sail down toward North Inlet.
When the tide was high, we could beach the ship safely and wait until the water went down before leaving her.
I tied the tiller temporarily and went below to my chest.
Inside, I found a soft silk handkerchief that belonged to my mother.
Using that cloth, I helped Hands wrap his badly bleeding thigh wound.
After eating some food and drinking a little more brandy, he quickly began to recover.
He sat straighter.
His voice grew stronger.
He looked almost like a different man.
The wind helped us perfectly.
The Hispaniola flew over the water like a bird.
The coastline rushed past us, changing every moment.
Soon we passed the high hills and reached a lower sandy area covered with small pine trees.
Then we rounded the rocky hill that marked the northern end of the island.
I felt proud of my new command.
The bright sunshine and beautiful coastline filled me with excitement.
Now I had enough water and food.
My guilt over abandoning my friends became quieter because of the great success I had achieved.
I thought there was nothing left for me to wish for.
But then I noticed the coxswain’s eyes.
They followed me around the deck with a strange, mocking look.
A strange smile kept appearing on his face.
It was the tired smile of an old wounded man.
But behind it, I could see something else.
A hint of cruelty.
A shadow of betrayal.
He watched me.
He kept watching me.
And I began to wonder what he was really planning.