He had no time to think about it then though. "Good, let’s go then," Hamric said and he moved quickly off to the side of the village, and the path leading to the coast. Despite his size, he moved quickly, and Tye struggled to keep up, especially with Little Bear under his tunic. Although he had said that he needed Tye to show him the way, he seemed to know exactly where he was going. Another mystery, Tye thought.
After about twenty minutes of scrambling and jogging uphill, they reached a peak in the path. Tye knew it very well; it led steeply down to the village by the sea. There was a lot of ‘to-ing’ and ‘fro-ing’ between the two settlements, Tye’s village looked after the goats in the mountains whilst the villagers by the sea were mostly fishermen.
Hamric stopped just before the top and motioned to Tye that they should edge up slowly. "If they are close, then they could see our silhouettes against the sky," he whispered. They edged closer to the ridge, until they could put their heads over.
Below them, the road wound down, dropping the few hundred metres to the shore and village that had been attacked. It was light enough now to see that it was in ruins. Some of the houses were on fire, others were only shells and only one or two buildings were still standing. Out in the harbour, there were a lot of boats that Tye didn’t recognize, including a small galley. They must be the pirate ships he thought, but where were the pirates?
Tye scanned the village, but could see no sign of them. There seemed to be lots of people lying down, were the pirates taking a nap? Suddenly he realised they were the bodies of the villagers. Tye felt sick; these were people that he knew, cousins and friends of people in his village, only the week before he had come over here on an errand. The headman’s wife had given him a loaf of bread. Now he could see her huddled in a group with about a dozen other village women and children, tied up and being guarded by some pirates. He shuddered; their fate would probably be worse than the dead men on the ground in front of them.
Suddenly though, he noticed movement. Coming from round a bend in the road, not more than fifty metres away, were about twenty of the pirates, all armed with clubs and axes. They were headed straight towards where Tye and Hamric were huddling at the top of the pass!
Chapter 11 – The Fight with the Pirate
As quietly as possible, they shuffled back from the edge and then back a bit further behind a rock.
"This is the war party that is going to your village.” Hamric whispered to him. “They will kill all the men, enslave all the women and destroy everything else."
"We have to stop them!" Tye was horrified.
Hamric looked at him a second as if weighing things up. "Yes," he said after what seemed an age. "I owe it to your people." He thought for a second. "We need to give your villagers time to get to the mountains and hide. We need to cause some kind of distraction and delay the pirates...." He trailed off thinking and then reached a decision.
"OK, this is the plan. We must not let the pirates get to your village, so we will make them come back to this one. We will wait until they have passed, then I will go down there," he pointed to the village where the pirates were coming from, "and cause a distraction. The pirates will be over the hill by and out of sight by then, and will not see what I will do. So you must wait here and when I give you the signal, you must shout and get their attention and make them chase you back down. It will be dangerous, but it is the only way that will give your village the time they need to escape and hide. Do you understand? Do you think that you can do that?"
Tye nodded. "I understand, I will try," he whispered but felt petrified inside.
“Good man,” Hamric said and smiled.
They did not have any further time for conversation though, as the pirates were at the top of the pass. Tye and Hamric huddled silently as possible behind the rock. If they were seen now, it would mean certain death and capture. Even Hamric’s skills with the staff would not be able to protect them from so many. At that moment, Little Bear, still under Tye’s tunic, bleated. Hamric glared at him, and Tye felt his heart beat in his chest. Had they been heard?
But they were lucky, the war band passed without noticing them. They were making no attempt to be quiet, and were laughing and joking about what then would do in the next village. Tye shuddered when he heard what one of them boasted he would do. They had to be stopped.
When they were about twenty metres passed them, Hamric motioned to Tye to stay put, and then sidled off, over the pass and down the path towards the ravaged village. Tye gave him about thirty seconds and then crawled out after him. He peered over the ridge, and saw Hamric hurrying down the road.
A sudden noise behind him made him start, but before he could turn, a he felt a hand close around his hair. There was a grunt, and then he was yanked up to his feet. "What's this then?" a rough voice said. "A little village runaway!”
It was one of the pirates from the war band! He must have heard them and come back to investigate! Maybe he had heard Little Bear bleat after all. Tye twisted round and saw the huge warrior before him. He had lots of tattoos over his face, and amulets and charms round his neck and on his wrists. His hair was long and unkempt and he had obviously not washed in ages as he stunk. The Pirate had a very fearsome look in his eye and Tye was held tight in his grasp.
“I hate runaways!” he said and shook him. “They cause so much effort to round up.”
"But what do I do with you?" he mused to himself. "Kill you now or keep you for slavery?" he paused. Tye felt a growing terror, he was captured. What would become of him?
"No," he shook his head. "I don’t have time for prisoners now. The others will get the best loot in the next village. I’ll just have to slit your throat!" and he drew his knife.
"Don't kill me!" Tye stuttered. "I can show you where the villagers have hidden their gold!"
"What?" the pirate paused, his knife in his hand.
"I know where the villagers have buried their gold. If you let me live then I will be able to show you. You will be much richer than all the other pirates!"
Tye could see him thinking. He had no idea of course where the villages kept the gold but he was babbling now.
"There was a shipwreck near here two years ago and we rescued the treasure on board,” he made up. “The villagers didn’t know what to do with it, so they buried it. There were hundreds of gold coins!"
“No, I don’t believe you, the pirate decided, and shifted his grip on Tye’s shirt so he could pull out his knife.
At that moment though, the Pirate let out a roar and dropped Tye. Little Bear! All this time, he had been snuggled safely in Tye’s tunic, but when the pirate shifted his grip, he must have poked the goat and been bitten by him.
The pirate made a grab for him, but Tye only needed a moment. He twisted out of the his grasp, spun round, and was off running down the path to the next village before the pirate could react. He was free!
Chapter 12 – The Battle at the Boats
Despite being only a couple of minutes behind Hamric, Tye could not see him. He must have sprinted down the slope very quickly. Tye did not have long to think about Hamric though, he could hear the Pirate roaring just behind him.
But years of chasing nimble footed goats up in the hills above the village had made Tye quicker than anyone for miles around. He shouted as loud as he could as he ran down the slope to try and catch the attention of the pirate band that had gone on ahead to his village. Within a few hundred metres he had left the pirate that had caught him far behind and knew that he was in no danger of being immediately captured.
At the bottom of the hill, there was another pirate knocked clean out. Hamric must be ahead Tye thought. He spared a quick glance behind him and although the chasing pirate was still a way off, it would not take him long to catch. He even made out a few more pirates at the top of the hill returning from the raiding party at the top of the slope. They must have heard their friend roaring and come to inve
stigate. The plan was working!
At the centre of the village there was another pirate sprawled in the dirt. Hamric was at the door of a hut, hurrying a group of women out. “Quick!" he was shouting. "Run to the hills, hide in the caves. Hurry!" The women needed no encouragement; they knew what awaited them if they did not escape. They quickly swept up all the children who were too small to run and ran out to the far side of the village.
Hamric turned to face Tye “You were supposed to give me longer," he grunted.
"I was captured and..." Hamric held up his hand. "No matter, tell me later," he said. "Now, we have to distract the Pirates and give everyone a chance to get away. Let's get to their boats." And he ran through the huts to the small wharf where the fishermen had their boats tied up and the pirates had landed.
The pirate ship, a long galley with about thirty oars per side was anchored about twenty feet from the shore. There didn't seem to be anyone on board, but they could hear clanking from below the decks. Tye looked behind him. The main pirate party hadn't got to the village yet, but they couldn’t be far behind. Hamric had a knife out and was busy cutting loose all the small fishing boats and pushing them out to sea. All but the last one, which he climbed up on and motioned Tye to join him.
As they pushed out to sea, they could hear the pirates enter the village, cursing and shouting. Hamric rowed the boat silently out to the pirate galley, trying to be as quiet as possible. Just as they were pulling alongside though, they were spotted and the pirates on the shore started shouting as they sensed the danger to their galley.
A second later the small boat bumped against the ship. Hamric jumped up, threw his staff onto the galley deck, and swung himself after it. Just as he landed, Tye saw a pirate emerge from the hold, but Hamric was ready. He picked up his staff and with one big stride, he was over to him and felled him with one sweep. He ducked down into the hold, just as Tye was clambering over the sides of the boat, trying not to squash Little Bear.
On the shore the pirates had seen them and were hopping up and down in their fury and shouting loudly. Some of them jumped into the water, trying to grab onto the rowing boats that Hamric had cut free and pushed out to sea and some of them even started to swim towards them. It would not be long until they were at the galley!
Tye ran over to the hatch. He could see Hamric below and hear him shouting to the slaves chained to the oars. "Row!" he was roaring, "Row for your freedom!" The slaves were half beaten and scared but they did not need encouragement. One of them shouted up to Hamric, "Will you set us fee?"
Hamric nodded. "If we escape the pirates yes, I will free you this sundown. Now for the love of life, start to row. One...... two...... one .... two....." he shouted out.
The slaves needed no more encouragement. With a ragged cheer they picked up their oars and started to row.
Hamric looked up and saw Tye watching him. "Quick, down here!" Tye jumped down to join him and Hamric handed him a small stick. "Now, you see the drum there? Beat it to the same rhythm” Tye nodded, and Hamric jumped back onto the deck.
The shouts of the pirates were close; some of them must be almost at the galley. If they were caught now they would be killed for sure. “Row!” he shouted desperately, beating out the simple rhythm. “Row!” Upstairs he could hear the clash of weapons and the shout of men in pain. What was happening up there!
Slowly, ponderously, he felt the boat start to move through the waves. "Faster!” he shouted out the slaves. "Row for your freedom, row for your lives!" and he beat the drum with as much fervour as he could. Even Little Bear, still safe under his tunic, was bleating along in time, as if he too could feel the pirates getting close.
Seconds passed into minutes, into what felt like hours. He could feel the boat pick up speed but had no idea if they had made it. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only five minutes, Hamric stuck his head down. "OK, you can rest. I think we have escaped!"
Tye came up onto the deck. The shore was a long way behind them now and Tye could only just make out the figures of the pirates on the shore. “We can’t go back,” Hamric came over to Tye and put his hand on his shoulder. It is too dangerous. We are going to have leave.”
“Where are we going to go?” Tye asked in a small voice.
“Out there!” Hamric pointed out to the deep blue sea. “We are going out there!”
~~~
Tye’s and Hamric’s adventures continue in ‘Tye and the Pirates’, available soon on Amazon. Read the exclusive extract below.
Tye and the Pirates – Exclusive Extract
Chapter 1 - Eshmunamash
Tye stood at the stern of the galley looking out over the sea towards his home. The coast was far away now and he could only just make out where the village was. With every stroke from the rowers below, it became a little more indistinct, until he could not tell where it was at all.
Although he didn’t like his village very much it was the only home he had ever had had, and the people there were only people he knew. Now they were probably dead and the village was almost certainly destroyed by the pirates that had attacked a few hours ago. He wiped a tear away as he thought of his Aunt Teá and Uncle Jaya. They had often beaten him and left him outside and hungry with the goats, but they were the only family he had ever had. Even his new found friends, Yac, Davor and Doran had probably perished.
A bleating noise sounded at his feet, and he looked down to see his small goat come over and start to nuzzle his hand. “You’re my family now, Little Bear,” he said and swept the kid up into his arms and cradled him. “You and me now, we will have to be family to each other.”
“Tye, come over here,” Hamric’s deep voice boomed over the deck. “I want you to meet someone.”
Tye turned to see Ham standing at the front of the galley. He was not a young man, his brown face was lined and wrinkled, but he was tall and strong and his muscles bulged from underneath his tunic. He looked more like the figure carved in the prow of the galley, hard and weathered by the sea winds.
He was so big in fact, that Tye did not at first see the man standing next to him. It was only when he stumbled closer, still not used to the rocking motion of the boat, that he noticed the slender man by his side. He must have been one of the galley slaves that Hamric had freed, Tye thought.
“This is…” Hamric began but the stranger stepped forward and with his arms spread wide said “Eshmunamash, sailor, trader, explorer, smuggler, adventurer, and,” he said bowing low to Tye, “forever in your debt for rescuing me and my ship.” He had a strange accent and Tye struggled to understand what he said.
“Eshmunimish?” Tye tried to repeat his name but stumbled trying to get his mouth round the unfamiliar syllables.
“Eshmunamash,” the man laughed, “but you can call me Eshi.” He looked thin and undernourished, but he had fine, almost noble looking features and a sparkle in his eye. The pirates had obviously not broken his spirit.
“And this is the Yamsis or SeaHorse in your language,” he said patting the figure head of the horse at the front of the ship fondly. “The finest vessel afloat on the Middle Sea!”
“Eshi was the Captain of the Ship until the Pirates stole it from him,” Hamric explained.
“Captain and owner!” Eshi added smoothly. “Yamsis has been with me for a dozen years now, and we have traded from Sidon in the far East to Gadir in the mighty Western Ocean, and from savage Olbia in the North to ancient Memphis in the bountiful Nile!” Tye nodded as if he knew these places but he had no idea where Eshi was talking about!
“Until those pigdog Roman savages boarded us at night,” he continued, “when we were anchored off Syracuse about two months ago.”
“They were no Romans,” Hamric said, shaking his head. “They were far too undisciplined. They were probably a band of deserters or renegades.”
“Whatever they were, they killed half my crew and put the rest in chains below. I pre
tended to be just a normal crew member, if they knew I was the Captain, they would have killed me immediately. I’m just sorry we didn’t have a chance to kill more of them back at the village.”
“They have probably killed everyone in my village too,” Tye added sadly, thinking of his Aunt and Uncle back home.
“They might have escaped,” Hamric said gently. “The headman will have a secret place to hide with supplies of food and water, know the mountains well and they had a good head start on the pirates. They should be alright.”
Tye just sniffed and tried not to think the worse.