The Revenge: Witness to a Murder

Chloe Bradshaw is 13. She counts Darren Shan as one of her main writing influences. Her favourite subjects at school are Drama, History, and English. This is the first installment of “The Revenge,” one of her many stories.

Mine is a hellish tale, one of treachery, bloodshed and piracy; life, death, and life after death. My story will haunt me forever.

It starts in my house at Sennen, two miles from Lands End, in 1720. I was only about fifteen when it began, but I still remember it as clear as day. I was with my twin brother Jay and my father. Father was explaining something about ships. He used to be a pirate and he carried a few grisly tales in his memory. We grew up knowing that he was banished from the ship when he stole a bottle of the captain’s favourite rum.

A loud rap at the door had interrupted our conversation.

“You two wait at the back, and do not let yourselves be seen,” our father told us. My brother Jay and I looked at each other uncertainly. “I just want you to be out of the way.”

I was frustrated, but also very curious. Never before had he asked us to leave the room when someone was at the door.

I stormed out of the room, Jay following behind me. I remember scanning the door, trying to find the hole which was caused by one of my Father’s guns (all I will say is that I managed to get hold of one when I was little). I found the bullet hole near the bottom of the door and crouched down. I had a perfect view of the room. After the incident was over, I wished that I had not found it.

“I don’t think you should be watching him.” Jay said.

“Eh,” I grunted, finishing the conversation off. I did like my brother, don’t get me wrong, but he could be such a brown nose!

I watched as my Father opened the door. A man stood in the doorway, he was tall, and wore a thick brown coat and a lot of jewellery. He had a presence about him which made you want to run for the hills. Although I had some doubts, I was fairly sure that we were being paid a visit by a pirate.

“It has been fifteen years, Lucian, it is time,” the man said in a deep voice, one which I will never forget.

“So it is,” my father sounded cagey.

“How are your boys?”

“I doubt it is any of your business.”

“Of course it is my business. I let you live so that you could look after them. I am surprised you have forgotten that.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Are they here?”

“No, they’re out.”

Why is he lying? I thought.

“That is a big shame, I was hoping on-”

“Don’t.”

“What?”

“You know what.” My Father snapped. “Now are you going to cut the small talk and get it over and done with?”

“Suit yourself.”

Father straightened himself up. The man put his hand to his side and brandished a long sword. I saw how skilfully he swung the sword, as though it was as light as a feather. My father was standing strong, a grin plastered across his face, and no sign of fear in his eyes. He knew what was coming.

The blade plunged through my father’s stomach. The smile never left his face and his eyes stayed the same.

He dropped to the floor in a heap. Blood flooded the room; covering the wooden floor.

“Jace, what’s wrong?” Jay whispered. I waved his question away; I didn’t want our hiding place to be discovered, especially when there was someone in the house who would happily take our lives.

I looked away from the carnage and heard a slam of the front door.

“What’s wrong?” Jay repeated when he clocked my grimacing face. I looked up at my brother then back through the hole, and I cried.

Together we walked into the front room. My father was gasping for air. His eyelids were fluttering. He was utterly incapable of speech, as were I and Jay. I remember standing over him like a brain-dead idiot, just staring at him. I felt my tears dry on my face, making my cheeks tickle.

We stood like that in silence, watching our Father writhe in pain. I have relived this moment many times, it’s never too far away from my thoughts. I want to shout at myself to move, but it just won’t happen. He makes a choking noise, then stops still, dead.

Jay was the first one to come to his senses. He walked over to Father and knelt down at his side. He put a hand to our father’s wrist to check for a pulse, for he, like I, hoped that there would be a sign of life, yet we both knew there wasn’t a hope in hell. Jay’s hand had came away red with blood. He cradled his head in his hands and sobbed. I walked over to him and put a shaking hand on his shoulder.

We stayed there like that for ages; completely numb, eyes stinging. What I didn’t realise was that deep down an uncontrollable hate was flaring in me.

“Jay,” I uttered whilst I straightened myself up. “I’m going to go next door and explain what has happened.”

The air was cold, even though the sun shined brightly. The cobbled pavement was bitter and hurt my feet. I looked down in wonder, and noticed that I had forgotten to put on my shoes.

I reached the neighbour’s door and knocked loudly.

“What’s the matter, Jace?” Mrs Williams asked.

“It’s my father… he’s… dead.” I began to cry again.

Mrs Williams followed me back to the house, she ran over to Father and crouched beside Jay. She had turned around and looked at me, her face ashen; she whispered “I’m so sorry.”

Her face looked blank, I could tell that she had never seen anything like this before. Nevertheless she soon pulled herself together and got on with what had to be done.

Not much happened between then and the funeral. Not many people showed up either: Mrs Williams had come and so did her husband, Father’s friends had showed up as well, there were only ten of them, all of them had come to know Father after he was banished from his ship.

After the funeral, I had to keep myself busy. Jay and I both worked as apprentice butchers, but not even work could keep me from being restless. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, as though expecting someone to be there.

Jay and I both suffered in different ways. Late at night his crying reverberated through the house. He would never admit it though.

Meanwhile, my anger would not let me be. The anger grew in me and I knew there was only one way to stop myself from going mad, and that was by going out to sea, pursuing and killing that pirate who murdered my father.

I told Jay when we were sitting down in the front room, after work. We were sitting cross-legged in front of each other; a wooden board of chess was the only thing that separated us.

“I have something I must get of my chest.” I said. Jay swallowed hard.

“I have decided to go out to sea and kill the man who is responsible for our father’s death and our misery.” I thought that if I made it sound like that it would be easier, though it did not help.

“I knew it,” Jay said unhappily. “Jace, you can’t, it won’t prove anything.”

“It will help me. I have been on the edge ever since and it will not stop unless I know he is dead.”

“Then let me come with you, at least.”

“No, you need to stay here and look after the house, otherwise we will have nowhere to live.”

“What if you don’t come back, what happens then?”

“You can carry on like you did before without me, or you can avenge both mine and Father’s death.” I said, half laughing.

“And how are you planning to carry out this ludicrous plan?”

“II am going to commandeer a ship from the Lands End’s port with a crew which I will put together.”

“Jace, If I didn’t actually know you were being serious I would have thought you were a foolish child who didn’t know any better.”

“Well at least you know I am being serious, and I would take you if I thought it was a good idea.”

“Who is your crew going to include?” Jay asked.

“Jim, father’s best friend, and some of his old shipmates.” I answered.

“So possibly around eleven people if you include Mr Williams?”

“I’m not sure if Mr Williams will want to come.”

“You never know, he was pretty distressed when it happened.”

“True,”

I went next door to Mr and Mrs Williams’, Jay following close behind and shivering in the cold, and knocked on the door making my knuckles red from the force. Mr Williams opened the door.

“Jace, Jay, what brings you here?” He said. I heard Jay exhale into cupped hands then rub them together again.

“I was wondering if you would like to join a ship crew, together with me and my Father’s mates.”

Mr Williams looked momentarily perplexed

“Would you like to come in?”

We walked into the parlour and sat down.

“What would this crew of yours be doing and why do you want me to be part of it?” Mr Williams asked.

“We will be going out to sea, avenging my father’s death. And I would like you to come along because you were one of his friends and I thought it would have been the right thing for me to ask you. Vengeance is the fair thing to do, and I know you want to be fair to my father’s memory.”

“Very thoughtful of you,” Mr Williams said smiling, “and where are you exactly going to get a ship from?”

“I am going to commandeer a ship from the Lands End’s port.”

“Isn’t that slightly dangerous? What happens if you get caught?”

“I won’t get caught, the watch there is not that great, and if we take it on a moonless night, no one will notice until the sun rose. I’m not really bothered about the risks; I’d rather try than not do anything at all, and let this crime remain unpunished… So, are you coming?”

“When are we leaving?” He smiled.

“In a couple of days.”

I asked my Father’s friends and they jumped at the chance. I suspect they did this for two reasons; they were angry at the killer, but they also wanted an adventure, a chance to get out to sea.

On the fateful day, we nervously awaited for nightfall to commandeer the ship. When darkness finally began to fall, we headed down to Land’s End, toward the port. Jay followed us to say goodbye and Mrs Williams came to say farewell to her husband. The night was cold upon my face.

When we got closer to the port the wind whipped around. It was colder here than in Sennen. I had been to Land’s End before, though never at night. It seemed to be more magical. Lamps hung around the port, the light from them rippled along the surface of the water. The light house shone. In the distance I could see a large rock on the sea, where in the day you could observe the sea birds on their hunt for fish.

We reached the ships, and hey looked marvellous close up. Looking at them, I appreciated why my Father took to the sea.

“Is this ship alright?” The whisper came form Mr Williams. I noticed for the first time that his hand was resting on my shoulder. His eyes seemed to sparkle with eagerness.

“Come on lad, I know it’s hard but you were the one that thought up this plan and all these men are here,” he pointed at the circle of sailors which had soundlessly followed our lead. “I have come along to help you out with your plan of vengeance.”

I sighed, knowing that he was right. I walked towards Jay and embraced him; he was shaking like a leaf, as was I. My eyes started to sting but I blinked the tears away. I let go of him and said my farewell. I turned back around and climbed aboard the ship as quietly as I could.

As I was saying farewell, Mr Williams was saying goodbye to his wife. Even though he used to words ‘see you soon’ we all knew meant goodbye, possibly forever.

Jim, my Father’s closet friend pulled up the anchor. The chains rattled but luckily no one had ventured out of their houses to see what the noise was. Otherwise we would have been walking towards gallows. It would have been such a humiliating way to die.

We all helped hoist the rigging. The sails made a whooshing noise when they went up, for the wind was battering against them. The ship propelled forward with a lurch, then slid gracefully toward the open seas.

The wind was deafening and the sea churning. I thought that if the sea never settled I might end up throwing up.

I peeled my eyes away from land and into the horizon, where the merciless sea embraced us. I saw the Long Ships – the group of rocks were illuminated by the ray from the lighthouse. I went to the ship’s wheel and looked in the direction we were going. I figured out that if the wind did not lead us astray we would head straight out of the cove, and if the wind were to steer us wrong, we might begin to to turn toward the Scilly Isles.

I knew that if we made good pace, we would soon be out of sight.

I wanted to go to sleep, but I had to explore the rest of the ship. I found the trap door which lead down to the sleeping cabins of the crew. I took the first step of the wooden stairs; the step creaked underfoot, and I descended down to the last step quickly. A soft glow spread out of the first room and out into the hallway.

I padded along the flooring and had to catch myself as I was thrown by the sea splashing against the ship. My breathing became ragged; “there shouldn’t be a light on in here,” I suddenly realized.

I crept to the edge of the door and peered in. I saw a figure laying on a hammock. I couldn’t see the person for his back was turned, but I heard the sound of paper rustling and I realised he was reading a book.

I guessed that he was owner of the ship and would not be too pleased. I must have made a noise for he looked over his shoulder for a second before he turned back around again.

I was frozen, I couldn’t move my heart was in my throat and my eyes were fixed to the back of his head. He started to turn around again, but slower this time. I stayed in the same position wondering what to do next. I hadn’t thought this through, had I?

It seemed to take an age for him to turn his head right round to look at me. His eyes were oddly calm.

“What’s happening?” He asked.

“I was planning on commandeering the ship, but it hasn’t gone to plan.” I couldn’t believe I made it through that sentence without stuttering.

“So you didn’t check to see if anyone was in the ship at the time.” It wasn’t a question, merely a fact. I looked down at my feet and said nothing.

“Ah, don’t worry about it lad.” I looked up, completely bewildered. “I own this ship and you must have come here for a purpose, now what is it.”

I was surprised with how well he is taking it. Surely, there was something abnormal about this man.

“I was hoping on finding the pirate who killed my father.”

“You saw your father die?”

“Yes.”

“That must have been hard. I will help you with your plan for I feel sorry for you and I myself despise pirates.” There was a shocker. The strange calm radiating from the man’s eyes surely pointed to madness. “Did you get a good look at the man?”

“Yes,”

“Could you describe him to me of you can remember?”

“Sure,” I described the pirate as best as I could and the man listened quietly.

“He sounds familiar, I am sure I have seen him before, and if I am right, I know where to find him.”

“Thank you sir.”

“What’s your name?”

“Jace.”

“Nice to meet you Jace, I’m Luke.” Luke extended his hand out and I shook it.

I looked at him closely. He had quite rough features, his eyes were deep set into his head, and he had a scar on his cheek. His friendly voice was at odds with such a face.

“Jace!” I heard Mr Williams shout. “Are you talking to yourself or is someone down there?” He found the room and entered. He froze when he saw Luke.

“Jace,” he said in a shaking voice, “who is this?”

Before I could answer, Luke spoke.

“My name is Luke and I own this ship.” I could tell in Mr Williams eyes that he thought we were in a shipload of trouble (excuse the pun). “I have spoken to Jace and have agreed to help him out with this quest.”

“What do you want in return?” Mr Williams asked.

“Nothing, I want nothing in return,” the strange man answered.

“You are not angry?”

“Should I be?”

“Well yes, considering we tried to take this ship from you.”

“You haven’t done very well.”

“Aye,” Mr Williams looked down at his feet as I did before.

“As long as I get to command this ship as I have done before, I will help you with your mission.”

“And what if we get you killed?” I sputtered out, still in shock at the man’s odd behaviour.

He smiled.

“I will not die.”

“But if our luck turned against us, and you were to die in battle?”

“That will not happen, I will never die.” Clearly, he was mad.

“What do you mean? Everyone dies.”

“Aye, but not me,”

“How do you mean?” Mr. Williams spoke up, equally bewildered.

“You will not believe me even if I was to tell you.”

“You are lying,” I called his bluff; I didn’t believe him whatsoever, would you? If someone denied death and said they would never die, would you accept it as the truth?

“Do have you any weapons?”

“Yes,” I said and showed him my father’s dagger. Of course, I did not believe he was at all serious.

“Pass it to me.” He held up the dagger and nodded as though he was impressed.

The next thing he did was amazing. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Luke took the dagger and held it over where his heart would be, just to the left of his chest. He placed his left hand over his right and plunged the sharp blade into himself. It went all the way through until the hilt of the blade was the only thing you could see. He did not gasp as the blade went through, and blood did not stain his shirt.

He removed my dagger and handed it back to me. In shock, I took it without thinking and glanced at the blade. No blood. The enormity of what had happened sank through to me then, and I gasped and dropped the dagger. Luke did not seem to be in pain, though there was a hole in his shirt and skin. I stared at the hole, no redness flowed out. As I stared the hole in his skin seemed to fade as if by magic, though there was still a hole in his shirt.

Wiling myself not to panic, I rubbed my eyes and looked over to where Mr Williams was standing. He looked as though he had seen a ghost. I gazed back at Luke who was standing there as though nothing much had happened, awaiting our response.

To be continued.