درگیری

CHAPTER FOUR

The Fight

I walked back into the room where Alan was eating and I made a decision.

‘Do you want to be killed?’ I asked him. He jumped up quickly. ‘They’ve murdered a boy already and now they want to kill you,’ I said.

‘Will you help me?’ he asked. ‘I will,’ I said.

Now we looked around to see how to defend ourselves. There were two doors into the room and one small window. We closed one of the doors and left the other one open. He took out his sword and gave me all the guns.

‘Now listen to me,’ he said. ‘How many men are there?’

‘Fifteen,’ I said.

‘Well, there’s nothing we can do about that. I’ll watch this door, where the main fight will be. You must use the guns and watch the other door.’ I told him I was not a very good shot.

‘If they try to open the door you must shoot,’ he said. ‘Now, what else do you have to watch?’

‘The window, sir,’ I said. ‘But how can I watch both at the same time? When I’m looking at one of them, my back is towards the other.’

‘That’s true,’ said Alan. ‘But don’t you have any ears?’

‘Of course!’ I said. ‘I must listen for the sound of breaking glass!’

‘Exactly,’ said Alan.

Meanwhile, the captain was still waiting for me to return with the guns. Finally he came to the door.

Alan stopped him with his sword.

‘What’s this?’ said Hoseason. ‘I save your life and you show me a sword?’

‘I know what you’re planning,’ said Alan. ‘Now get your men together; I want to start this fight as soon as possible.’ The captain looked at me.

‘I’ll remember this, David,’ he said.

We waited and listened. We heard voices and the metal sound of swords. Then silence. I wanted the fight to begin. The waiting was making me nervous.

Then suddenly it started. There was the sound of feet and people shouting. I heard Alan shout and someone cry out because he was hurt. I looked over and saw Alan killing Mr Shuan with his sword.

‘Watch your window!’ he shouted. I looked and saw five men running towards the other door. They were trying to break it down. I shot at them with my gun and hit one of them. The others looked confused. I shot at them again over their heads and then a third time. The men ran away.

Somebody pulled Mr Shuan’s body out of the room. Then Alan and I were left alone.

‘It’s not over yet,’ he said. ‘They’ll be back.’

I reloaded my three guns. Then we listened and waited again.

We heard a sound, and a group of men ran at the door. At the same time, the glass of the window broke and a man came through it. I pushed the gun in his back but I was too scared to shoot. He turned around and put his hands around my neck. My courage came back. I shot him.

A second man was coming in through the window. I shot him in the leg and he fell on top of the other man.

I stood looking at them but then I heard Alan shout for help. I turned and saw him fighting with a man. Many more men were coming in through the door with their swords in the air. ‘We’re dead,’ I thought.

But Alan ran at them all with his sword. With every step, a man fell. Suddenly they were all gone and Alan was running after them. He came back but the men continued running away.

In the room there were three dead men on the floor and another man lay dying near the door. Alan and I stood together.

‘We’ve won,’ he said calmly.

I sat down. It was hard to breathe. I thought about the two men I killed. Suddenly, I started to cry like a child.

‘You’re tired, David. I’ll watch and you can sleep,’ he said. ‘You’ve done well.’

I slept for three hours, then it was Alan’s turn to sleep. I knew that there was nobody sailing the ship - it was moving gently with the wind. I heard the sound of the birds and I knew we must be near land.

I looked out of the window and saw the hills of the Isle of Skye on the right, and behind us, the Isle of Rhum.