The Beginning of an Adventure

Ella concentrated on the swirling, violent hues of blue and green – reminding her of a painting of a sky she had seen in her dreams not long ago – and prepared herself to jump. On her right stood a boy named Ceil, his ashen hair falling perfectly above his eyes, not a drop of sweat on his boyish face. His visage showed no fear, and nothing about him would have given away that they were being chased had it not been for the large rip across his dirt-stained T-shirt.

“You think we can make it, Ceil?” she yelled, her voice lost in the sounds of crying seagulls and waves crashing against rocks. “I never thought we’d be leaving like this.”

“Ella, now would be the perfect time to tell us that you have a plan that doesn’t involve us willingly jumping to our deaths,” Tane said sardonically. Unlike Ceil, Tane was visibly shaking. The overly large coat that had belonged to their dad engulfed him. It was a ratty thing, as if a tiger had used the coat as its play thing before becoming bored and tossing it to the side.

Tane’s eyes had been shut tight, but a moment of uncharacteristic courage made him steal a glance at the ocean below. Big mistake. “Oh no, I really don’t know if I can do this,” the color drained from his sunburnt face and he looked about ready to faint. “If I have to be honest, I think I much rather get caught. At least then I wouldn’t be fish food.”

Ella gave Tane a wry look. As if on cue, they heard the distant shouts of men and baying of dogs, the sounds getting closer and closer with each passing minute. The men gave hoots that sounded something quite similar to the cries of a hungry wolf pack when cornering its prey.

“Do you think Nana and everyone will be okay without us?” Tane’s wide eyes looked at her earnestly. Ella had to be strong for Tane, who was only 13, and couldn’t muster the strength to tell him how she really felt. She was sick to her stomach, and had a nagging feeling that Nana would not be okay – she was reaching 80 and was not the same sprite lady she used to be.

“Nana is tougher than any one of us,” she said with confident grin. She stuck out her hand. “Pinky promise that when we come back, there’s going to be a feast waiting for us. The whole island will be celebrating!” Her laugh was gentle like the ocean waves that lulled them to sleep during calms nights on the beach, when they would take turns tracing constellations with their fingers and watching sea otters drift around in the moonlight. Tane listed out all the constellations he could remember, and it calmed him down. Orion, Scorpius, Sirius, Vega, Cepheus…

They heard the excited whoops and shouts of the men behind her. They had been spotted.

“Well, well, nowhere to run and hide now, you stupid brats” snarled the ring leader, Machiavel. He was riding a giant leathery creature that looked like the cross between an alligator and a spider, eight legs sprouting out of its leathery body. Its pointy teeth flashing menacingly at them. It looked almost as mean as its owner, whose face was so disfigured that it was difficult to tell where each facial feature started and ended.

“Something that ugly should not be allowed to exist,” Ceil muttered under his breath. Whether he was talking about the man or the creature, she quietly agreed.  

“After all the trouble you brats gave me, I’m thinking you could fetch me a pretty little penny if I sold you to the markets,” he growled, his beady black eyes gleaming. “So why don’t we just quietly come along and nobody gets hurt.”

Nobody moved an inch. Ceil looked at him coldly, defiance in his eyes, “What did you expect, we’d just happily walk away with you?”

Machiavel gave a cruel laugh. “Oh no, that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? No, I want this to hurt,” he raised his hooked hand. His followers jeered and hollered. Somebody yelled “I want a taste of that girlie!” Ella shuddered, and Ceil let out a protective growl.

As the crowd continued to raucously throw taunts, Ella whispered so softly that only the boys could hear. “On five, we jump.”

“Yeah,” Tane whispered next to her, feeling braver now that the moment was finally here. He puffed up his chest. “We can do this.”

“One.”

Machiavel's rusty hook still had the blood of its previous victim crusted on it.

“Two.”

Ella looked up at the sky, praying that the ocean would catch them. It had never failed them before.

“Three.”

She felt Tane give her a sharp jab on her side and Ceil whispered “Look!” before she too saw the shadow moving slyly up in the trees. She kept her face stoic, not letting her surprise show.

Before she could count to four, there was a loud explosion and Machiavel could only muster a surprised shout before a dark sheen of dust clouded the entire area and chaos ensued. She ran for her life. She stepped on what must have been a nose based on the sickening crunch and loud groan that came from its owner. That’s for all the problems you’ve been causing us, asshole, she thought. She watched Machiavel’s alligator scuttling away into the forest.

She had barely made it to the edge of the forest when somebody suddenly grabbed her by the back of her shirt. She turned around, ready to slug whoever it was, but caught herself in mid-punch when she saw the face. “Bradley!” she gave a delighted yell. Bradley put his index finger to his mouth, signaling for her to be quiet. He broke out into his signature goofy grin and gave her a big thumbs up. Ella jumped and gave him a hug. For a moment they could only smile at each other. Suddenly realizing that they had to get a move on, they broke apart to find the others.

A little while later….

They had just narrowly escaped, and could still hear the furious screams of Machiavel. From what Ella could tell, this little excursion had cost Machiavel more than what he had bargained for. He would definitely be back to find them.

“Nice work Brad,” Ceil flashed Bradley a toothy grin before swinging his arm around Bradley’s shoulder.

“Honestly, you really saved our butts back there,” said Tane with a look of utter adoration. Everyone knew that Bradley was Tane’s hero.

“This one was new,” said Ella, “what was it?”

“I call it an Exploso-Ball. Creates a loud bang, lots of smoke, and erases any scent. I’m figuring that’s why that alligator went berserk and ran off, it couldn’t smell a thing. Great for escapes,” Bradley laughed, before a serious look overcame his face. “Glad it actually worked, though. Hadn’t really had time to test it.”

They sat for a moment in silence, breathless and still on a high from what they had just experienced.

“I’m thinking this is a sign,” said Ceil suddenly, and they all knew what he meant. They had been talking about it for months.

Bradley gave a salute, “Couldn’t agree with you more, mate.”

Tane looked both excited and scared, and could only muster a squeal of agreement.

They all looked at Ella.

“Whaddya say, Ella?” a mischievous glint in Bradley’s eyes. “You think it’s time to follow your old pops and see what this world is made of?”

They were constantly getting in trouble, the four of them. Or at least, trouble seemed to find them. Three siblings and Bradley, who they could all agree was basically their brother. They had lived on this island their entire lives, but nobody could expect them to stay forever, now could they?

“As long as it doesn't require me jumping into the ocean, i'm in. Let’s take dad's old fishing boat. Race you all to the waters!” Ella yelled before sprinting off.

Ceil and Bradley ran after her with whoops and shouts, not even caring that they might attract Machiavel or wake up the entire island. Tane tried his best to keep up, letting out his own little squeal of joy.

Little did Ella or the boys know that they were about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.