A Child's Courage.

The plot thickens

Outside, Morgana, still searching for the other escaped children, heard Mr. Jerk's voice over a hand held radio in her swamp boat. "Bronx and Gruesome have caught two of the kids. I repeat they have two of them.”

Morgana looked down at Tim, still unconscious in the front, then sped back to the old riverboat where Michael and Kelly were just stepping out onto the small island it was stranded on. "Keep a sharp eye out." Serious, Michael said. “Surprise is our only advantage at this point.”

Kelly scanned the waters with her binoculars and let out a short scream of surprise as Race suddenly pushed her and Michael down into the boat, hiding them in the shadows. Michael opened his mouth to protest but fell silent upon hearing a motor quickly approaching them. It was Morgana's air boat. She slowed it to a halt at the shore near the gang plank and dragged Tim's limp body inside. After she was out of sight, Michael turned to Race and whispered, "Try to give us a warning next time."

"Let it go.” Firmly, Kelly said. We have work to do."

The three quietly left their speed boat and carefully crept up on the riverboat, using the shadows to their advantage as they searched for a quiet way to sneak onboard. Inside, Morgana dropped Tim in the middle of the floor and collapsed onto a couch. "Take him to his room." Flatly, she ordered. "I want them all out of my sight until tomorrow morning."

Jerk nodded and carried the boy up the stairwell to a large bedroom in the rear of the third level of the old riverboat where Emily and Rick were sitting on the floor, talking. "Where did you come from, Rick." Curious, Emily asked. "I mean you appeared out of nowhere."

"I, and a few friends of mine, heard your calls for help." Whispering, Rick replied. "Only I was kidnapped before I could tell my friends.” He sighed. “I can only hope they found the clues I left and called the police.”

"By any chance were your friends Kelly, Race and Michael?”

“Yes... How did you know?”

“They somehow found the right signal to answer my calls.” Emily frowned. “That is before Bronx caught on to us and smashed the radio, Michael told us that they were going to...”

Rick hushed her silent as the door to their room opened and Mr. Jerk stepped in, carrying Tim in his arms. "Plotting another escape?" Frowning, he asked. "Well forget it!" He dropped Tim onto the floor who groaned painfully. "Focus more on finding that last crystal!"

With that, he left, slamming the door behind him. Emily ran over to Tim as he was trying to force himself up. "Oh, Tim…” Crying, she whispered. “What did they do to you?"

"That witch hit me with her swamp boat." Painfully, Tim replied. He looked up at Rick. “It looks like the gang's all here."
Tim then winced in pain, holding his side, and began to cry.
Emily, sobbing herself, embraced him, trying to comfort him. Rick found he had to fight tears of his own as he clenched his fists to the point of shaking. Then, within his mind, he heard the children inside his martial arts class declare their dojo’s motto, ‘never give up!’ which echoed and faded in his head as his fear subsided and his determination rose. "You look like you could use some good news." Softly, he said. "Joey has escaped and, if I know my friends, help is not too far away."

Tim sniffled and look up, surprised. "You you're not Joey? Who are you, then?"

“The name is Rick. I’ll fill you in on everything while I fix you up.” he turned to Emily. “Do you have a first aid kit handy?”

Emily nodded. “I’ll go get it.”

Rick knelt next to Tim as Emily hurried over with a small box of medical supplies they had managed to scavenge or steal and knelt down beside him, administering aid.

Meanwhile, outside on the first floor walkway, Michael, Kelly, and Race all peered cautiously through a set of small windows into the entrance hall of the boat where Morgana was looking over an old, warn map of the swamp. “We need to get a closer look at that map.” Whispering, Michael said. “It might give us a better idea of what Morgana is after and why.”

“Right.” said Kelly. “But how?”

Michael reached into one of the pockets of his survival belt and produced his pair of miniature binoculars. “Duh!”

Kelly smiled and pulled out her pair, as did Race, and the three watched as Morgana and Dr. Jerk talked. "We are running out of time, Jerk.” Angrily, Morgana said. “Those crystal keys are useless unless we have them all and it will not be much longer before Grim catches on to what we are up to.”

"Crystals?" Confused, Kelly whispered.

"Keys?" Raising an eyebrow, Michael whispered.

“They must be talking about those crystals Joey mentioned over the radio.” Serious, Race said. “Only if they are keys, what do they unlock?”

The three quickly ducked down as Bronx and Gruesome entered the room and peered in again more cautiously. As they did, Michael focused his binoculars onto the map lying on the table while Morgana and Jerk continued to talk. "We must have that final crystal key!" Angry, Morgana raged. "Without it, we will never find the pirate’s vault!" She focused her eyes on Jerk. "Those brats aren’t looking hard enough! You must keep them in that maze longer!"

"They’re in there too long as it is!" argued Jerk. "Those narrow tunnels flood with the tide, remember?"

"Then make them swim!"

Michael lowered his binoculars for a moment, surprised and angered by Morgana's cold words. So much so that he did not take notice of Bronx and Gruesome quietly leaving the room. He turned to the others and froze upon seeing Bronx creeping up on them. “We got company on our right!” Urgently, he whispered.

Kelly turned and opened her mouth as if to scream. “We’ve got more on the left!”

Michael rose to challenge them but froze as he found himself face to face with the barrel of a gun, held by the towering Gruesome. “It’s not polite to pay a social call and not announce yourselves.” Smiling, he said.

“This was supposed to be a surprise visit.” Sarcastically, Race countered. “Surprise…”

“Well, we have a few surprises for you too.” Coldly, Gruesome said. “You get to join the others.” They then escorted the three by gun point inside the riverboat where Morgana and Jerk had begun to argue.

"They're already to the point of holding their breath!" Angry, Jerk yelled. "If they stay down there any longer, they'll certainly drown!"

Morgana shrugged as if unfazed. "If those kids drown in that maze, we can always use a few of the local…” She paused, letting out a gasp, and yelled, "Swamp kids!"

“Look who we found sneaking paying us a social call, Morgana.” Frowning, Bronx as he and his partner herded the three inside.

“Good job, boys.” said Morgana. She coldly turned to the three. “Who are you?”

“I am Michael Brave.” Defiantly, Michael said. “I’ve come to get my brother, Joey back and kick your ass.”

“Well, aren’t we resourceful.” Ice in her voice, she said. “I take it you found us by triangulating the girl’s clever little radio signal.” She frowned. “How many more of you are out there?”

“You’ll learn soon enough.” Giving Michael a glance, Race said. “For now, we have another surprise for your two friends.”

Dr. Jerk laughed but it died in this throat as Kelly coldly said, “You should never underestimate a kid.”

With that, Michael and Race, faster than Bronx or Gruesome could follow, quickly turned, kicked the guns out of their hands and threw them over their shoulders before running out the door with Kelly following.

"Get them!" Furious, Morgana yelled. “They’ll ruin everything!"

Jerk rushed towards them with Bronx and Gruesome close behind as the three leaped over the railing into the water. Jerk stopped in the walkway while Bronx and Gruesome fired their guns into the water. "Don’t let them get away!” warned Morgana.

"Hold your fire.” Frowning, Jerk said. “If they haven’t surfaced by now, they’re long gone.”

Morgana swung her cane against a post in anger. “Keep an eye out for them then, kill them on sight. They’ve already heard too much, we need to act fast."

The four of them then walked back inside while, on the other side of the riverboat, Race, Michael, and Kelly quietly broke the surface of the water and looked about for the two hired thugs, catching their breath. "I I didn't think I could swim so so fast!" whispering Kelly panted. “Where did you two learn those moves you pulled?”

"It's amazing what what you can do when when you are forced to." Between gasps, Michael replied. “As to your question, when you’re friends with Rick as long as we have, you can’t help but pick up a trick or two.”

Several feet away, in the shadows of the bayou’s overgrowth, Hank and Jon watched and listened to Dr. Jerk and Morgana with surveillance equipment on their air boat as the continued to argue inside the old riverboat. “So that’s what their up to.” Softly, Hank said. “They’re after this pirate’s vault.”

“But what is this pirate’s vault?” Curious, Jon asked. “It must be quite a prize to risk Mr. Grim’s wrath.”

Hank knotted his jaws in decision. “We’d better inform Mr. Grim of the situation.”

“What of those other kids?” Flatly, Jon asked.

“We aren’t getting paid to deal with trespassers.” Frankly, Hank replied. “We’ll inform Mr. Grim that they are here but other than that, they’re Morgana’s headache.”

The two men packed up their surveillance equipment then quietly piloted their airboat away from the riverboat. On the other side, Michael and Race reached into another pocket of their belts and fit their fingers into something that looked like brass knuckles with claws. As Michael then began to use them to scale the side of the wooden ship, Race turned to Kelly and said, “Hang on tight, we’re climbing up to the third level.”

“Why there?” whispered Kelly.

Race pointed up to a small room on the third level, the lights were on. “I’m guessing that is where Rick and the two kids are being held prisoner.”

Kelly clung tightly to Race’s shoulders as he used the odd claw like devices to climb the side of the old river boat to the third level walkway where Michael was patiently waiting for them. It was not until they were all standing on the walkway when Kelly again spoke. “I didn’t see Max place those things into our survivor belts.” Curious, she said.

Michael smiled. “No, this is called a Shukou. It is an ancient Japanese tool for climbing and defense. A little something we picked up at Rick’s house before we left.”

Kelly shook her head. “I think you learned more than just a few tricks from him.” Softly, she said.

Muffled voices moved them to silence. Kelly recognized two of them as Emily and Rick. “You mean you’re a child genius and a martial arts expert!?!” Surprised, Emily asked. “That is just incredible but I’m afraid, even with your talents, you are just as helpless as we are.”

“I don’t do helpless and neither should you.” Serious, Rick replied. “I could have escaped easily but it’s my intention to free you and your friends.”

“It's the guys.” whispered Kelly.

She started towards the open door but Michael quickly pulled her back. “Patience.” Whispering, he scolded. “Let’s first make sure they are alone.”

Inside the small room on the third level, Rick carefully secured the bandages around Tim's chest. “That should do the trick.” Calmly, Rick said. “How do you feel?”

“Better, I think.” Wincing, Tim said. “But what now?”

“We fight back.” Serious, Rick replied.

“But how?” Sadly, Emily asked. “Since we were brought here, only Joey has managed to get away! I I don't know if he can make it on his own.”

“Joey will make it.” Confident, Rick said. “He is stronger than you might think, inside and out.”

At that moment, the three of them heard soft footsteps at the door and turned to see Michael’s solid form emerging from the shadows with Race and Kelly close behind him. Emily gasped, but could not find the air to scream. “Easy, Emily.” Calmly, Rick said. “Meet my friends, Michael, Race, and Kelly.”

“You came to rescue us?” Weakly, Tim asked.

“Yes, we are.” Serious, Michael said. “Only we must first shut down your captors' operation… permanently.”

“What do you mean?” Tearfully, Emily asked. “I want to go home!”

“What kind of ham radio system did you pirate off of to call for help?” softly, Race demanded.

“Nothing special, really.” Shrugging, Tim replied. “Just the bare bones model. But what does that have to do with...”

Before Tim could finish, Michael pulled a small radio from his belt and hit the transmit button. “This is Michael to Luke, I have made contact with Emily and Tim.”

“Is Morgana able to trace our signal?” Worried, Luke asked.

“No, Morgana only has a bare bones unit.” Seriously, Michael replied. “That leads me to believe Rick was an intended target. There was no way Morgana could have traced his signal. Does Megan have that report ready?”

“You have a real rogues gallery on your hands.” Darkly, Luke said. “Mona Morgana is an industrial pirate wanted in several states for espionage and sabotage. Doctor Nathan Jerk is a neurologist specializing in brainwashing. He is also a professional interrogator and assassin for hire. Steve Bronx and Jack Gruesome are both freelance bounty hunters, convicted of murder and child molestation in four separate states.”

“A troublesome quartet.” Sarcastically, Michael said. “Lovely. Any word on bob finding us some reinforcements?”

“He’s working on it.” Serious, Luke said. “Do you want us to hold our search for Joey to give you guys a hand?”

“Not yet, Luke.” Calmly, Michael said. “We will give you guys a signal if we need you. Just be ready when you see it.”

“Count on it.” Serious, Luke said.

Satisfied, Michael placed the radio back on his belt then turned to Tim and Emily who had the same fearful look on their face. “They have to be stopped.” Softly, Michael said. “That woman, Morgana is obsessed. Even if all of you were to escape on your own, she would just kidnap another child, then another, and another, until she gets whatever she is after. And even if she got what she was after, this place would still be used to torture and brainwash kidnapped children to be sold as orphans to unsuspecting couples all over the country.”

“We cannot allow it to continue.” Serious, Kelly added.

“I I guess you're right.” Sadly, Emily said. “I- I wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Tim knotted his jaws in decision. “What do you want us to do?”

“Right now we need to put together a plan of action.” Serious, Michael said. “I know you all have been planning an plotting for over a year but it was to escape.” His face turned dark. “It’s time you start thinking of a plan to fight back.”

“We don’t do helpless.” Serious, Race said.

“What of those muscle bound brutes?” wincing, Tim asked.

“Just leave those two goons to me.” said Rick, cracking his knuckles. “I have a score to settle with them.”

“Have those two… hurt?” Wincing, Kelly asked.

“No, they haven’t.” Softly, Kelly said. “Not yet anyway, though they threatened to.”

“They’ll never get the chance.” Cracking his own knuckles, Michael said. “Not while we are on the job.”

“The first order of business is to balance the odds a little.” Serious, Kelly said. She turned to Tim. “I heard your captors talking about a maze, where is it?”

“It's not too far from here.” Softly, Tim replied. “It's not really a maze, just a long series of hand dug underground tunnels and caves, just big enough for us kids to run or swim through.” He swallowed. “Depending on the tide.”

“What do you mean hand dug?” Surprised, Race asked.

“You have to see it to believe it.” Serious, Tim explained. “We’ve mapped most of it to keep track of where we had searched for their precious crystal keys.”

“That's a good start.” Nodding, Race said. “Let's see it.”

Emily went to a small dresser and produced a plastic bag, containing a small, neatly folded piece of paper, from under a pile of clothes in the top drawer. “Joey drew most of it.” Giving it to Michael, she said. “I just hope he's okay out there on his own.”

“Joey is my little brother.” Serious, Michael said. “If he’s the same kid I remember, he will make it.”

“Besides, we have a few swamp folk kids on our side.” Calmly, Kelly added. “They'll make sure no one hurts him.”

Emily nodded, but she still felt uncertain. Joey was like a brother to her, she did not want anything bad to happen to him. Michael pulled the small piece of paper from the bag and unfolded it on the floor to study it. “Morgana had an old map, carefully rolled out, on a table in the entrance hall when we arrived.” Thoughtful, he said. “I was able to briefly study it before she and her guards spotted us.”

“A map?” Curious, Tim asked. “Morgana didn’t say anything to us about a map.”

“It didn't show the maze you three have mapped out here.” Simply, Race said. “But between the two, we might be able to figure out where this last crystal is hidden.”

The map showed, as Tim had said, a random series of twisting underground tunnels and tiny caves, all seemingly moving in a circular pattern. There were X's and O's scratched in several places on the map. He guessed the X’s were where they had found a crystal and O’s were where they found nothing.

“I got a good close look at the map when those goons brought us to Morgana. It had a picture of large, circular stone in the corner with a number of crystals on it.” He paused. “They were positioned very closely to where you had found all of these crystal keys.”

Rick also looked at the map over Michael's shoulder and suddenly rubbed his chin in thought. “Hmm!”

“What is it?” Curious, Michael asked.

“I'm not sure.” replied Rick. “But the pattern of these crystals looks familiar somehow.” He turned to Emily. “Do you have a pencil somewhere?”

Emily walked to the dresser and took a small but well sharpened pencil from a box inside the first drawer. “What are you going to do with it?”

“Test a hunch.” Softly, Rick said. “I just hope I'm wrong.”

He took the pencil and lightly drew a straight line between each X, with Kelly curiously looking over his shoulder. When he was done, the two studied the drawing for a moment before Rick and Kelly turned to each other startled and said in unison, “It's a crystalline laser!”

“A laser?” Shocked, Emily asked. “What do they want with that?”

“Morgana mentioned a pirate’s vault.” Thoughtfully, Rick said. “This laser must be a pointer that shows where it is hidden.” He then frowned. “Still, just in case, we had better come up with some way to put it completely out of commission later.”

“The bottom line is that we can't let her keep it.” Firmly, Kelly said. “However, we need to buy Joey time to find help. Not to mention our swamp friends to round up some reinforcements in case help doesn’t come in time.”

“Secondly, I have a very bad feeling that there is much more to this than meets the eye.” Darkly, Race said. “Otherwise why go through all the trouble?”

“Any ideas?” Wincing, Tim asked.

“The location of the eight crystals you've found so far almost perfectly matches the pattern on Morgana's map.” Softly, Michael said. "Therefore, it would make sense that we would find the last crystal key somewhere near the center of the maze.”

Kelly turned to Tim. “When will Morgana take you to the maze?”

“Tomorrow morning, during the next low tide.” With a shudder, Tim replied. “That is the only time the tunnels are safe enough to explore until the tide rolls in again.”

“We almost didn't make it out the last time.” Choking on a sob, Emily said. “I really don’t want to go down there again.”

“Don't worry, Emily.” Serious, Rick said. “This will be the last time, count on it.”

“What about Joey?” Worried, Emily asked. “He's still out there.”

Michael smiled. “He’s my brother, if anyone can make it, he can.”

Tim sighed. “I hope so…”