“Okay, Captain! Here we gooooo!”

They fell through the air and hit the water with a loud splash.

“Swim away from the ship!” The Captain screamed as they both struggled to keep their heads above the waves. “Fast as you can! Go!”

“Okay, Captain!” Tuvia gurgled in response, holding his breath every time a wave thrust him underneath the water.

They stopped swimming when they were a good distance away and kept afloat by treading water.

“I c-can’t continue like this much longer, Captain! My legs are starting to go numb!”

“Hold on, Tuvia! When the cannon blows, we’ll grab onto a piece of the wreckage.”

They waited a few more minutes, but nothing happened.

“I made a mistake!” the Captain shouted. “We have to swim back before we drown from exhaustion. You can do it, Tuvia. Just follow m—”

An earsplitting explosion shook the air, and the side of the ship was turned into a fiery inferno. The cannon itself was blasted into the air, along with planks of wood and many feathers, scattering the ocean with debris.

“I felt the heat from the blast on my cheeks! You saved us, Captain!”

“I was careless!” the captain growled. “Never mind that, now. Our best shot is still to return to the ship. Let’s go!”

********

Not too far away, two pirates were playing cards on the deck of Captain Cutthroat’s ship.

“Ivan, you played the skeleton card again.”

“That’s right, so I win.”

“But you lost the skeleton card two minutes ago when I eliminated it with the chest of treasures card!”

“You rapscallion! Are you accusing me of cheating?”

“Um, yes, actually.”

“How dare you!”

“You’re a pirate, remember? We all lie and cheat.”

“Oh, I suppose your right. Hahaha! No offense taken then.”

“Aha! So, you admit you reused the lost skeleton card?”

“What? Uh, no, not at all!”

“I’ve had it with your thievery! Take out your pistol and duel me right here and right now!”

“Gladly! Hey, wait a minute! Is that my pistol in your hand?!”

“Yes, but I was just, uh, borrowing it.”

“Oh, really? So, you’re a lying cheat, too!”

“Yes, I guess I am. We have a lot in common, don’t we? Let’s just get back to playing cards.”

“Fine!”

Suddenly a distant explosion shattered the silence of the sea. Shock waves rippled across the water, rattling the pirate ship.

“Blow me down! Did you see that?”

“Yar! Look at those flames!”

Captain Cutthroat appeared suddenly, telescope propped against his one good eye.

“A stroke of good luck, perhaps. We may have caught up with the two Jewish thieves. Pursue them, boys, and bring me my treasure!”

**********

The Captain and Tuvia returned to the ship to find that the upper deck was almost entirely in ruins. The birds were no longer in sight.

“Too bad about Jack.” Tuvia sighed. “I liked that bird.”

“Forget it. Jack was an annoying parrot, nothing more.”

“Blooooow me down!” a voice bellowed, and of course, swooping down from the sky, came Jack.

“How did you survive that blast?” Tuvia laughed, as Jack settled comfortably on his shoulder. “You’re a wise little guy, aren’t you?”

“Tuvia! Look!”

“Oh, no — pirates!”

“I’ll wager a bet that’s Captain Cutthroat’s ship heading straight toward us.”

“Do you think they’ve been pursuing us?”

“It’s possible. Maybe he wants revenge.”

“Hopefully he’ll see our ship is wrecked and that we don’t pose much of a threat to him.” Tuvia gulped. “Maybe he’ll let us go without firing a single cannon sho—”

BOOM!

“Duck!”

The captain and Tuvia threw themselves onto the deck as a cannonball whizzed overhead.

“So much for that!” The Captain groaned. “Now what?”

Captain Cutthroat’s ship neared ever closer, and her cannons continued blasting away.

“Look out!” Tuvia screamed as a cannonball smashed into the ship’s mast and wood came tumbling downward.

“They’re destroying whatever’s left of the ship!” the Captain yelled.

Another cannon blast slammed into the ship, spinning her around in the ocean.

And then, there was silence.

“They’ve stopped firing.” Tuvia stood up slowly and peered over the fires brewing on the deck. “It looks like they’re panicking for some reason!”

“I wonder what it could be…” the captain whispered. “Whatever reason for their panic, I hope it only continues!”

********

While the cannons were firing nonstop aboard the pirate ship, Jack suddenly spotted smoke pouring out from underneath the deck. Pirates began yelping in pain, hopping on one leg to avoid touching the scorching hot floor.

“Fire below deck!” Jack roared, ripping his gaze from the enemy ship to combat the bigger emergency. “Something’s burning from the galley!”

The pirates stopped what they were doing and ran downstairs to discover who had set fire to their ship, in the middle of a battle.

TO BE CONTINUED…

(Originally featured in Mishpacha Jr., Issue 829)