Frederick and Geraldine
Chapter 6- The Fire

Fortunately,there were five modern toilets having

Lavatoryflushing cisterns like those invented by

SirHarrington in one thousand five hundred ninety-six, being

Built nearthe kitchen because the air in this room was dry.

Thiscook-room was constructed in a place where it was deemed safe

To have acooking fire; it had a good layer of lime

With an airspace to insulate the brickwork from the unsafe

Adjacenttimber; the brick walls were expensive at that time.

The room hadtwo brick fireplaces and boiling was the method

Of cookingwhile three coppers with lids were set in the brickwork.

With somefunnels passing through the deck head, they were connected

To protectthe kitchen full of steam by providing a perk,

Firing onthe upper deck could mean a shot going into

The rigging;the sailors and the passengers took the pumps

Toextinguish this fire, doing all they had to do.

The pumpsmade of leather were assembled from the dumps

And coupledevery fifty feet with brass fittings; their length

Was abouttwenty-three meters; this sucking warm engine

Was made byJohn Lofting in 1690; its strength

Was pumpedby a team of men working to relieve the tension.

The fire wassmall, but it could extend to the cabin cruisers,

Which werenearby; while the men were working hard to escape

The danger,the strange man was one of the fast movers

Anddeliberately entered the gun room; Cruz saw his shape

Entering anddescended the stairs in a hurry

To stop him;he entered the gun room and took a gun.

The strangerturned to Cruz and shut him, but his eyes got blurry,

When theroom was suddenly filled with the rays of the sun.

(Cruz shutthis man in the face. Both of them fell down. The women were in a boat andFargo made efforts to bring them to the shore.)

A big wavehit the boat, causing Geraldine to go

Overboard;she fell off the boat into the water.

Fargo jumpedinto the sea to save her and started to swim below

The water;she screamed for help; the waves rose up to scatter.

She couldnot remember how she had fallen; her head and arms

Were barelyvisible above the waves; Fargo swam

Toward herscream and brought her aboard, '' you're safe from harms.''

She vomited,''I want to be far away from where I am.''

Meanwhile,Bella lost her balance, and within a split second,

She fell offthe boat and tried in vain to hold onto

Chiara'shands while asking for help, but her fate beckoned

When a giantjellyfish stung her arm on back to 'fronto'.

Chiara sawhow she trod the water and moved her head,

But she lostthe sight of this, after a few seconds ''She's gone, '

Said Chiara;after saving Geraldine, Fargo said ''she's not dead, ''He turned around theboat, ''Look, that jellyfish is coming on! ''

(Fargojumped into the sea to rescue Bella. He brought her aboard, but she had beenunderwater much more than she could resist. His resuscitation efforts wereunsuccessful. All along the ragged shore, there were a lot of stones under thewater. They got down out of the boat and walked in the water while bringing theboat to the shore. Meanwhile, ten pirates, after swimming in the water, climbedon the carrack to kill everyone on the board. Fortunately, they didn't see theboat.)

(Fargo putthe body of Bella in a mantle and took her on his shoulders. He left Chiara,Francesca, Rosa and Pedra ashore and went together with Geraldine, Maya, Carla,Erica and Naimah's son to replace a village. The name of Naimah’s son was Surak.)

It lookedlike a long beach with a rocky shore and a hidden

Cove; theyturned right walking along the sandy beach; at the far

End of thebeach, they saw a galley, but it was forbidden

To followthe path leading to the shore, ''I'll ask where we are, ''

Said Fargo,while looking through a telescope, ''What do you see? ''

''There'sone man standing on the deck; he's the companion

Of thatpirate following us and traveling for free.''

''How do youknow this thing? '' ''I worked for him in the devil's canyon.

The flag hasa boom skull, '' ''Let's go, '' said Geraldine, ''The pirates

Are comingfrom this ship, '' said Fargo, ''I must set it on fire.''

Whilesneaking to that deck, he killed one by one the pilots

And thethird sailor; he thought, ’’ Frederick is caught in a snare.’’

Fargo tookthe little treasure from that ship and those two maps

Showing theplace from where the treasure had been taken

And theisland where they intended to hide it; perhaps

It was aknown place, which has been visited and forsaken.

He did notset the ship on fire because he was afraid

That itsflames could be seen by the pirates; he did not sink it,

'Cause theycould dive to the sea's bottom to replace the treasure's shade.

To make themthink that one of them betrayed was in a fit.

Fargo took oneof their boats and returned to the shore.

Then, theycontinued to go while avoiding the main path.

They stoppedwalking to look at the seagulls starting to soar.

They enteredan old olive grove shining in the daylight bath.

Followingtheir narrow route to the right, they found a fragrant

Grove oftall eucalyptus trees; they saw the shepherds' trail,

Which wascobbled and flanked by some stonewalls, '' Our life became vagrant, ''

Said Carla;Erica replied, '' my strength begins to fail.''

'' Look atthese flowers of asphodel! They are beautiful, ''

Said Maya;Erica replied, '' these dark cypress trees are

An invitingresting place; '' you must be powerful, ''

Said Fargo,'' because to replace a village, we have to go far.''

At the topof this rocky land, they turned left and entered

A small,agricultural zone that was planted with

Cereals andhad some plots of chickpeas in its center.

Some goatswere drinking water from a reservoir, ''It's a myth, ''

Said Surak;they drank water together with the goats

And washedtheir faces; after crossing the road, they saw

The churchtower of the village near the plots of the oats.

They boughtan old stone manor house when the night started to draw.

(Fargo wentto replace a priest for the funeral of Bella. He came back with a promise for thenext day. They started to eat in silence.)

(Chiara, Francesca, Rosa, and Pedra remainedon the beach.)

Chiara andPedra decided to take a look along

The coast tosearch for some food; Francesca and Rosa carried

The boatacross the beach to hide it, 'How can you be so strong? ''

Asked Rosa;''I listened to Chiara when I got married.

We depleteda fortune and Lucca was very rich.''

''So, thisstrength of yours comes from your tristesse, '' replied Rosa.

''My inneremptiness became only affection, '' 'She's a witch, ''

'She's agood soul, but inside her, she keeps some thorns of mimosa.''

They had toundergo that difficult time and to

Organizetheir lunch; Rosa stopped to sip some drops of water

From thecanteen she carried, '' it's entirely up to you

To leave himnow, ' ''My father is ill; I'm his unique daughter.''

They weretired after the grim events of the previous

Hours;meanwhile, Chiara and Pedra were sifting through the salty

Air of thebeach; Chiara said, '' I don't trust Fargo, he's devious.''

''We have noother chance, '' replied Pedra. ''His logic is faulty, ''

ContinuedChiara, ''they should remain here with us.''

Pedra stayedfor a few minutes being caught by the sparkle

Of thebroken waves; she said, ''we have something to discuss.

Don't youthink that your ideas are too matriarchal? ''

They enjoyedthe salty stink of the seaweeds and the clicking

Of theliving shells that they had tossed together for the meal.

Whileeating, they cut off the mollusks from their sticking

Shells;dozens of gulls were wheeling over the waves. ''Pleasant peal! ''

SaidFrancesca, '' the chance of meeting another person while

Staying hereis very slim.'' '' I really grasp the scale of our

Surroundings,'' said Chiara while giving her seaweeds with a smile.

Rosa said,'' eat some kumquats, figs, and pears; you need power.''

(Rosabrought some fruits to complete the meal.)