It was about two-thirty in the morning, everyone was still fast asleep. No one knew what would go on in the next few hours. Loyal sat up straight in her bed, sniffed, and growled at the door. She could sense a familiar presence that she did not like. She heard noises, the familiar voices down the hall. She scratched at the door whining a bit, hoping that would wake up Risa or Vincent.
Risa and Vincent sat up then they looked at each other. They had just gotten into that rim sleep but were alas now wide awake, yet again. They both glanced over at Rolando who started to snore loudly. Well, they both knew it was no use in getting him up yet, and besides, they could handle whatever going on.
Risa rubbed her eyes as she got out of bed, putting on her shoes and pulling on her coat. She slipped into her boots and laced them up quickly. "What is it, girl?" She asked trying to figure out what she was going on about. Then it hit her. "Oh are the men out there?" She asked, placing her hand on the doorknob.
Loyal nodded giving a soft bark, whining, and going around in circles. "It is indeed those men, I can smell them from a mile away - oh that is right you can't understand me." She sighed going back to scratching at the door and whining, trying to show Risa she was right.
Risa paused before she opened the door, she turned to Vincent. "Shouldn't we get Rolando? He said he wanted to help?" She asked in a whisper, knowing that he would be a little upset if they hadn't got him yet. "Thought how we would wake him up? He seems really out of it because Loyal hasn't even woken him up."
Vincent waved her off. There was no point in waking him up. "No, he doesn't need to be involved at this moment. He is grumpy when he gets woken up, believe me." He walked out the open door Essa was holding open, which was really for her but this was Vincent we're talking about.
Risa frowned following behind him, Loyal at her heels. Did he just not let her go first? Where was this man's chivalry? "What happened to ladies first? And to think you were starting to change." She mused closing the door but not locking it in case they needed to get back in since Rolando alone had the key.
Vincent rolled his eyes, was she serious to believe he was going to change? As if. "You opened the door. If you want ladies first then don't open the door." He whispered as they made their way down the steps to the engineering room to where the noise was coming from. He put his finger up to his lips to tell the pair to be quiet. He tiptoed over to the door, Risa following behind him.
Risa looked through the round glass window in the engineering room, she could see the men tied up the crew. They couldn't see her because their backs were to them and the ship crew also had their backs to them. Now there were four, not three men, which was odd. "Why are there four? We only saw three yesterday night?" She whispered, speaking once again.
Vincent shook his head. He had to clarify a little something for her and mentally facepalmed. "That is the head engineer, the poor guy has his hands tied in front of him. He isn't with him, he is being made to help them. He probably was threatened or blackmailed." He pointed out then saw they were coming towards him so he ducked below the door and pulled Risa around the corner and into a broom closet.
They watched as the men walked right past them unknowing that they were. It was a good thing they hadn't been noticed. Vincent and Risa rushed over to the door and tried to open it. Sadly it was locked from the inside, and they didn't have the key to be able to open it up.
Risa turned to Vincent. This was her first time doing something like this and it seemed Vincent was knowledgeable in this aspect. "How are we going to get the workers in there? The door is locked and I can't pick a lock, neither can you." She asked, still trying to pull on the door, shake the doorknob, just hoping she could get it open. It was useless, utterly useless.
Vincent glanced over at her turning around. Even if they could, the lock was the type you couldn't pick, and if you tried it would take forever and many tools and hands. "They must have the key and to set the workers free we must defeat them." He explained as he started to the top of the ship, grabbing Risa's hand, and beginning to pull her up the stairs.
Risa frowned, following behind him and pulling her hand away from him. She did not want him to touch her. "Don't pull me. I think I can manage to get up here without pulling on my hand telling me to go. I'm not a kid who has to be pulled away from the candy store window." She sarcastically replied with a frown. Did he have to treat her like a child?
Vincent narrowed his eyes at her, a bit annoyed at her comment. "Just come on we have to hurry up. Who knows what they are doing while we just doddle here." He quickly walked up the steps making sure to keep quiet, feather walking per se, making sure not to break anything.
Risa groaned softly, throwing her head back not too happy with his rushing. "After we get them, what are we going to do with them? I haven't thought that far ahead, have you?" She asked in a condescending way. Looking back at Loyal who was at her heels, or at least trying to catch up.
Vincent rolled his eyes and blew his hair from his face. "We will tie them up and hand them over to the Russian authorities. Then they can do whatever they want with them since it is their jurisdiction." He whispered the last bit, slowly slipping over to some boxed on the main deck. He hoped his knowledge would impress Risa but it was doubtful.
Loyal and Risa crept up the stairs and over to Vincent was sitting. Risa picked up Loyal and set her down on a box. She put her index finger to her mouth, motioning for Loyal to not make a sound. She did not need her dog barking or whining, that would make things worse.
Vincent looked up at the dark sky as thunder rumbled across the sky. "Oh great, a lovely night for a storm, just what we need." He deadpanned softly, peaking through the boxes to try and figure out where the men were at. He wasn't happy it would begin raining, that would make things horrible.
The men were having a hard time untying the rope to the mainsail with the cold wind and wet rain that began to pick up at this very moment. It was coming down at a good rate that drenched them and made things miserable. However, they kept on persevering, knowing nothing would stand in their way.
Jimmy tapped his foot aggressively on the floor as his men struggled. "Hurry up, you guys are taking forever on something that should be easy." His voice was drenched in agitation at his men and their incompetence doing simple things. How hard could this be? He could do it in his sleep.
Manny looked over at his Jimmy and frowned. They were trying. He wanted to tell him to do it himself, but he knew that wouldn't end well. "I can only go as fast as I can with gloves on my hands to keep them warm." He struggled with untying the knot. "How on earth do they expect someone to get the mainsail untied? A giant couldn't even get it undone." He mumbled the last part under his breath.
Jimmy's face planned, why, why did he have to get stuck with these morons. "Will you stop your whining Manny and just get it done. Take off your gloves if it is that hard to get it them on, it's not like your gloves are helping keep you warm. Stop acting like morons." He commented sitting down on a crate
Manny was a little angry by his words, but he certainly did show it. He took off his gloves and stuffed them in his pockets. "Now, you didn't grow up with seven sisters. You weren't the one in the middle and had girls on both sides of ya in the family pictures, so please forgive me." He sarcastically shot back untying the knot.
Hank looked up at Jimmy and something came to mind. "What are we going to do with the passengers? What will we tell them when they wake up in the morning or find out what we have done!" He exclaimed a little panicky but he took a deep breath and was fine.
Jimmy was beginning to think he was the only smart one here. "Well, we will say we had a problem with the ship, so we had to turn and go back to Canada. It is as simple as that." He had such a foolproof plan that he was very proud of. By the time anyone figured out what happened, they would be long gone.
He then turned to Hank with a wicked grin on his face. He had a great idea to keep everyone in line and prevent anyone from interfering. "Hank, would you take care of anyone who interferes with our job and make sure they don't tell a soul? Can I count on you for such a big task?" He said in a condescending way to the other male.
Hank chuckled, pulling out a shiny sharp knife, as the lightning flashed overhead, glinting off the blade. "I would be happy to, Jimmy. I'll take out anyone who interferes with us, if it gets to that extent, other than that, blackmail it will be." He was a little happy it was going well, but it still worried him.
Risa had chills down her spine as she listened to how these men spoke. How could they speak in such ways? It seemed to be as easy as a handshake. "So what do we do? They have serious manpower and weapons. All we have is a girl, - which is me - a dog, you and Rolando if we need him. How would we ever get a fair fight up against them." She asked nervously tugging on the sleeves of her coat.
Vincent thought about it for a moment and a smile on his face. He had a great plan he had been cooking up while they silently watched. "Loyal can get one of the men downstairs and I'll take care of him. Wait for me to come back and I will help you take out the others," He explained rubbing the dog's head, for once liking the mutt.
Loyal smiled proudly, puffing out her chest. That was something she could do. She wouldn't hesitate to help with whatever they needed. 'Of course, you need my help. For someone who didn't care for me, you need my help, which I am happy to give.' She thought within her head so her barks didn't get free. She didn't want to get the trio in trouble.
Risa picked up her dog and hugged her tightly before setting her own. "You will be alright Loyal, you are a good dog. Vincent will go first and you get the men's attention and lead one of them downstairs, okay?" She tapped Loyal on the tip of her nose with a smile.
Vincent smiled, he had to admit the mutt was growing on him. He wouldn't admit it because that would make him seem too soft. He did not want to seem soft. "If we can eliminate them one by one by a dog, then we've got ourselves a combat dog." He reached out and rubbed Loyal's head, scratching behind her ear which she seemed to like.
Risa raised her eyebrows at what he had said. "Combat dog? I have never heard of such a man for a dog before." She wasn't familiar with the term or even if it was a real term or not. It sounded like something he had made up to make her dog feel included and better. Which if he had, she was not too thrilled about it.
Vincent bit his lip, holding in a chuckle at her comment. "The government sometimes uses a dog for the aid of people in combat or to sniff out bad guys or take medical supplies to people. Though most are Saint Bernards since they had been bred for that type of work. Loyal seems small enough to take the task." He shaved the small dog a pat on the head.
Loyal did like the title, it suited her more than anything. That would be a story to tell everyone! She helped stop the back guys. She was thrilled. 'Hmm, combat dog. I like the sound of that. Loyal the combat dog to the rescue!' She thought to herself as she took her place to lead one of the men out.
Vincent creped down the stairs and hid in the corner so when he came down he wouldn't know what hit him. He had taken a wood pole in his hand to use to knock out the man. He knew the right place to hit to render him unconscious. He waited, hoping that mutt would do something and help out, or do her job.
Loyal ran out from behind the crates and started to bark and let out a whine very loudly so she could get the men's attention. She was a bit nervous since she knew things could go sideways pretty quickly. She was a few feet away so she had time to run down the stairs and not get caught at all. It would be a good thing if this worked.
Jimmy frowned as he laid eyes on the little mutt. "Aye, shut that dog up so it doesn't wake up anyone." He grumbled pointing at Hank and then at the dog. He was not going to let some mangy mutt ruin his plans. He had worked too hard for this. "If that mutt keeps it up our plan will go up in flames which isn't what we need." He commanded.
Hank followed the dog swiftly, pulling out a knife from his waist and holding it behind his back. He saw the dog at the bottom of the stairs and he grinned a wicked grin "Hello there little doggie. I don't want to hurt you. I just want to pet you and make sure you keep quiet. You're a beauty." He made sure to keep his voice calm.
Loyal growled at him, did he think she was that dumb? She was a dog, she could tell when a person was evil or not. "You think I'm going to fall for that? How dumb do I look?" She growled out backing up very slowly to where once he came down Vincent could surprise her. People underestimated dogs, especially cute little puppies who look so innocent.
Once Hank was at the bottom of the stairs, he was getting ready to pull out his knife to hurt Loyal when Vincent hit him in the back of the head with that wood pole. He fell on the ground unconscious, after having let out a groan. He was going to have a major headache when he woke up.
Vincent rubbed Loyal's head as he bent down to the dog. "Good girl. I think you're starting to grow on me, Mutt." He grabbed the rope and tied his hands up, putting him into the broom closet. A ting sound came from the keys that had been in his pocket onto the floor.
He picked them up and smiled. "Now, what do we have here?" He studded the keys, he wondered if it went to a lockbox in the bottom of the boat. There were a handful of keys on the ring. He didn't know how he was going to find the right one. He needed to unlock the door and set the crew free, or on second thought, perhaps just wait.
He walked down the stairs to where the lockbox would be "Wow, there must be a thousand here? Ah! This must be the key to the inventory that the men we're talking about?" He looked at all the boxes and he tried to use the key to unlock one of them. He needed to find what they were looking for, it would help him get a better idea of what they were up against.
~❅~
Meanwhile, Risa was watching Jimmy and Manny pull up the mainsail. She looked concerned at the stairs, hoping Vincent and Loyal were okay. They still weren't coming up and had been a good while since they left. What if the plan had gone wrong? Risa wanted to do something but what could she do? The knot forming in her stomach tightened even more.
She looked down at the floor. 'What do I do?' She thought to herself, her heart and stomach playing tug-of-war with her. 'Where are you, Vincent? How long does it take to hit someone in the head with a pole? What if Vincent's the one who's hurt? What if the man hurt Loyal? Oh, I can't bear to think about it. Come on Vincent! Come on Loyal!' She chewed softly on her lip.
Just then Loyal bounced up the stairs and darted over to Risa. The little mutt was wagging her tail, looking happy? If a dog could look happy. "Loyal? Where's Vincent?" She asked, looking concerned that Vincent wasn't with them yet, maybe she needed to go help.
Loyal looked up at her owner and rubbed on her legs, showing her there was nothing to worry about. "Don't worry Risa, he is alright - wait, you can't understand me, but don't worry!" She kept her whining softly so it would barely be heard. She rolled over on her belly, hopefully, that told her nothing was wrong.
Risa picked up Loyal and held her in her arms. She didn't understand, but she wasn't trying to get her to come down the stairs so he has to be fine. "Shh, Loyal, hide over by those boxes. I am worrying too much. I am sure he is fine. If at any time you smell Vincent coming please tell me or if I need you to get him." She watched her dog sneak over to the crates.
She turned back to the men, who were tying up the sail, with a smirk on their face. Then all of a sudden, she felt this feeling like she was going to sneeze. She put her finger up her nose to keep her from sneezing. As soon as she let it down, she sneezed loudly which caught the mens' attention.
She knew what she had to do, she laid down right up against the boxes curled up into a ball. She closed her eyes pretending to be asleep. She had to play like she was a stowaway and was on the boat illegally, which wouldn't be that hard. She was an orphan after all.
Manny turned to Jimmy as he had heard the sound. "Did you hear that? It sounds like someone is hiding behind those crates. Do you think someone has been spying on us? I sure hope not." He said as he jumped down from a box he was staying on.
Jimmy rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yes, I did. Let's go check it out but please be quiet." He whispered as they walked over to the boxes slowly. Jimmy got out his knife as he peeked around the crates. He saw Risa curled up in a ball seeming to be asleep, so he kicked her leg.
Risa sat straight up with wide eyes, almost looking like she was panicking. "Please don't hurt me," She tried to sound as startled as she could, plus she added the tears. "Please I can't go back." She asked, looking down at her lap, pulling her knees up to her chest.
Manny looked down at the girl and tilted her head. He was quite persuaded by her little act that he felt just a little touched. "Who are you?" He was very wary of this girl. How long has she been here? Had she heard everything they said? He didn't know if he could trust her and that said a lot coming from him since he was a trusting guy.
Risa slowly looked up at the two men and chewed her lip. "I'm Risa. Please don't tell anyone I'm here, please. I have to get out of Canada, don't take me back." She begged, which outwardly it looked real, inwardly she loathed that she was begging. She never begged. She wasn't the type of girl to beg for things. But this was life or death and she had to stop these bad guys.
Jimmy also didn't trust this girl, but it was worth a try to see how trustworthy she was. Plus she seemed to the girl they had been told to keep an eye out for her. "Hmm, how about instead of Russia we go The United States instead?" He proposed to her, hoping she liked that idea.
Risa pretended to think about it for a moment, she knew what she had to do. "Alright, though what's in it for me? I'm not doing anything without something in return." She knew how to play it. She was an orphan, after all, sometimes you had to give ultimatums and negotiate. Sometimes even harmless sugar-coated blackmail could work but she would save that for later if she needed it.
Jimmy thought about it for a moment, smart girl, smart, smart girl. He was starting to believe there was nothing to worry about. "Well, we will give you a thousand in US Dollars if you wish? First, you have to help us get the main rig down and you will be working for it. No ifs, ands or buts about it, got it?" He inquired, tilting his head and crossing his arms.
Risa nodded and slowly stood up. She needed to make them believe she would do whatever it took. "You got a deal, I'll do it." Oh boy, this was not how she wanted things to go but hey, it was at least better this way. Or at least she hoped it was then she could have been a chance at taking them down.
Jimmy smirked, did she believe him? Oh boy, this girl was so gullible unless she was tricking them. He fully didn't believe her, but he had this feeling, torn between her was just like them and perhaps she was tricking them. He would keep a close eye on the girl. "Manny, help the girl get the anchor down." He demanded walking over to the crates he had been sitting on and sat on them.
Risa and Manny walked over to the anchor and lugged it over to the side of the ship, or at least pulled it. She was getting worried about Vincent and if he was hurt, he hadn't come up yet which was stressing her out. They tossed it overboard and Manny started to complain about his back hurting.
She saw Jimmy go around the side of the boat to the back, which was perhaps a cue to take out Manny. However, she needed to do it fast, she didn't know how long he would be gone for her to be able to do such a thing. She had been also thinking about how things would go down and all the possible outcomes. It was stressful but much needed.
When Manny turned his back to her she grabbed the rope and looped it around his chest. She was very fast and even if her hands were shaking like heck, she needed to be fast so Jimmy didn't take notice. That only left one man to take care of. She wrapped the rope around him and tied it in what she thought was a complicated knot.
Manny let out a surprised gasp as he turned his head to Risa and struggled. He hadn't anticipated her doing that. He had his guard up and hadn't even let it down. She must've taken him by surprise. "What are ya doing? I thought you were on our side." He tried to pull away from the pole Risa was tying him to but was unable to do so. He knew she couldn't be trusted. Such a double-crosser.
Risa frowned, finishing her knot and putting a handkerchief around his mouth so he couldn't speak. "We're taking you to Russia to pay for what you did. Did you think I was on your side? Now I think it's in your best interest that you keep quiet." She patted his cheek. She felt proud of this little accomplishment. If Vincent ever came up she hoped he would be too, not that she cares or anything.
She turned around and began to run towards the stairs. She backed up when she almost ran into a chest that belonged to Jimmy. "Oh no," She muttered her eyes wide as she kept backing up. This was not how it was supposed to go. What was she supposed to do now? She had been caught red-handed and she didn't even think to keep an eye out for Jimmy
Jimmy smirked as he followed in front of her, looking down at her. "What do ya think you're doing little missy? Trying to take our money? Double cross us? Oh, I know, trying to stop us with your little heroic attempt." He laughed at what he had said, finding it funny. He knew this girl couldn't be trusted. If she had waited a bit longer maybe he would have been proven wrong.
Risa was panicking, she was going to get hurt. "Uh -" She had no idea what to do nor how was she going to get away from him when he was cornering her up against some crates. She turned around and attempted to dart off, but Jimmy whacked her in the back of the head with a wood beam.
She fell to the ground, groaning and holding the back of her head. "What was that?" She asked, gritting her teeth. Now that hurt like heck. She was a bit dazed and her heart was throbbing, she did manage to look up at him as she rubbed the back of her head.
Jimmy laughed as he looked down at Risa, shaking his head. "I never believed you when you said you got on this ship illegally. I let it play out to see where it would take us. Now I see ya want to stop us and take us to Russia, which isn't going to happen." He merely said.
Risa narrowed her eyes at him as she used the side of the ship to get to her feet. If she was a caricature, she would be seeing stars right now floating around her head. "You know, you're a cold, heartless cruel man, right?" She spat back at him frowning as she stood straight up and used the side of the ship to help her.
Jimmy smirked walking up to her and being a mere inch or so away from her. "I already know that. Now, I must fully obey my orders to push you off the side of the boat so you can never make it to Paris. Goodbye Risa." With that, he pushed her off the side of the boat.
Risa let out a scream and managed to grab onto a rope that was hanging on the side. She didn't have a very good grip of it since it was wet, though when she tried to climb up Jimmy cut the rope. Which made her yelp as she quickly grabbed onto the round window of the ship. At least it had a lip where she could hang onto it with the tips of her fingers. She was holding on for dear life because her life depended on it.
To her surprise, it was the room where Rolando was asleep. "Help! Rolando! Rolando help me! Rolando!" She yelled but it was no use, he was fast asleep and was not going to wake up. "Help me. Anyone! Someone! Help! Loyal help!" She was scared because at any moment she could plunge into the icy cold water and drown. She didn't know how to swim.
Jimmy walked over to Manny who was tied up. He shook his head with a disappointed look on his face. "What's wrong with you man, you let a girl tie you up? I still wonder why I have you on my team but then I realize it would make more work for me." He said cutting the ropes and taking the handkerchief off his mouth.
Just then, before either man could react, Vincent ran up behind him and tried to grab his dagger. He had heard the commotion and realized that Risa had to be in trouble. He had been below deck so long he forgot about what he was there for.
Jimmy swatted his hand away and he pulled a sword he had found and kept. "Oh look, it's another one who wants to stop me. You both are pathetic thinking you are going to stop us. Such fickle ideas." He chuckled, pointing the sword out at Vincent, Manny following in suit.
Vincent sighed as he backed up and looked around for another sword. "I don't know about that." He jumped out of the way of Jimmy's sword and swiped one from a crate that had fallen over and broke open. "For one thing I know if you are going down."
Risa heard a familiar voice up on deck, it could have only come from one person she knew. "Vincent! Vincent, help me!" She yelled trying her best to keep hanging on. She looked down and looked back up, she was too young to die. She had so much yet to still do, like find her family.
Vincent heard his name being called and whipped around walking towards the voice. "Risa is that you? Where are you?" He asked not seeing where her voice was coming from. He looked up and she was not there, to his sides nor was she there. This was just weird to him and he didn't know why he didn't see her.
Risa looked up, trying to keep her grip on the lip of the window, which thanks to her sweaty hands she was slipping. "I'm hanging on the window. I need help. I don't know how much longer I can hold. My head hurts from being hit in the back of the head." She yelled, closing her eyes tightly and gritting her teeth.
Jimmy walked up to Vincent who had just turned around. "You will never take us Russia." He growled slashing his sword out at Vincent. He was mad, really mad at them for trying to stop them in their task. They had been given orders to take out anyone who stood in their path.
Vincent barely dodged out of the way, picking back up his sword he somehow had thrown down. "You are delirious if you think we aren't going to take you back to Russia to pay for your crimes." He took his stance blocking Jimmy's next swing, which was aimed at his chest.
Jimmy lunged at Vincent, jabbing his sword at his chest, Vincent quickly blocked it and pushed his sword back to him. The sound of a metal up against metal was heard over the thunder and lighting. It was like the two men were dancing on deck, with clashing of swords, grunting, and quick moves.
Sadly Jimmy was better at swordsmanship than Vincent could ever be. He had gotten Vincent's sword out of his hand as it flew into the air and over the ship into the water. "Well, well, seems to me like you don't have any way to protect yourself." He chuckled evilly.
Meanwhile, Loyal ran down to the room where Rolando was sleeping soundly so she could wake him up. "Rolando! Rolando!" She barked as she jumped up on Rolando's stomach. She didn't know how much longer Risa could hang on. she was terrified for her, she couldn't lose her.
Rolando sat straight up, almost startled at what was going in. "What is it?" Rolando asked, yawning and looking down at the mutt. He had been fast asleep and had been having a fantastic dream. "Loyal, what could you possibly want this early in the morning? Do you need to use the restroom?” He inquired as Loyal had darted off.
Just then he looked over at the window and saw Risa hanging on the lip of the window. He could hear her calling for help. His eyes grew wide at the sight before him. "Hold on!" Rolando yelled, jumped out of bed, and quickly scrambled to pull on a robe before he ran out of the room slamming the door right behind him.
By then Loyal had already run out of the room, and over to where Jimmy and Vincent were at. "Don't you even think about hurting him!" She growled as she grabbed Jimmy's leg with her teeth. She tried to sink her teeth into his leg and tried to shake him but Jimmy was bigger than her.
Jimmy bent down and picked up Loyal by the scruff of her neck. "Look here, a little doggie. Aw, your bark is much worse than your bite. You're like a little flea." With that, he threw the Loyal against the wood crates, to which she fell on the ground limply.
Just at that moment, he looked over at Vincent who was trying to go over to the edge of the boat and he picked back up his word. "You'll end up like that little brat if you even think of helping -" He was cut off by someone grabbing him from behind.
Rolando picked Jimmy up by the back of his shirt and tossed him on the ground, the sword falling out of his hand. "You will never get away with this." With that, he dragged him over to where Manny was still partly tied up and tied them both up. He was strong and didn't look it, but he had an iron grip that brought anyone to their knees.
Vincent turned around and looked over the side and saw Risa hanging on the little round window. "Hold on Risa, grab my hand." He leaned over as far as he could, extending his hand to her, trying to reach it. He was so worried about her, he didn't want her to get hurt.
Risa looked up at him with fear in her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her vision began to blur, the world spinning. "Vincent . . . " She moved her hand to her head and that was when she lost her grip and fell into the icy cold water, blacking out before she even hit the water.
Vincent looked horrified, for once he truly didn't want someone to get hurt. "RISA!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "I have to get her." He jumped into the water after her, driving in of course. He was a pretty good swimmer, plus he knew Rolando would have the life preserver ready for him.
Rolando frowned, running a hand through his now wet hair. "Oh boy, could anything get worse?" He looked for a life preserver but didn't find one. Then he saw a small boat hanging on the side of the ship. "That would work just nicely." He mumbled lowering it down not too far from where Vincent had jumped in at.
Vincent grabbed Risa and came to the surface. "Rolando!" He called out as he tried to swim over the boat that Rolando was lowering. He was focused on helping Risa, the girl seemed to be unresponsive which scared him. When he reached the lifeboat, he got her in and got himself in. "Bring us up!"
Rolando began to bring them up as fast as he could, helping get them both off the lifeboat and onto the deck. "Oh, please be okay Risa." He didn't want her to die or get hurt like this. Why did this have to happen to her? She was going to try and find her family.
Vincent checked Risa's pulse and when he felt she didn't have one, he started to get worried. He started CPR on her, hoping to get the water out of her and get her to breathe again. "Come on Risa. Stay with me." He told her as he pushed on her chest. He did not want to lose her. Yes, she was annoying yes, but she didn't deserve to die.
After three times of checking and doing compressions, her eyes opened and she spits out a bunch of cold seawater. She rolled over coughing, curling up into a ball. Her chest felt heavy, and her lungs ached with painful spasms. She didn't quite know what happened but all she knew was she felt cold and her lungs hurt.
She looked up and saw Loyal who was lying limp on the ground. She gasped as she crawled over to her, she picked her up and helped her in her arms. Her eyes got all watery as she started to sing the words to the lullaby on the back of the pocket watch, stroking her dog's head.
She hummed a little bit before going into the song. "When you're sad, when life's got you troubled, don't ever be discouraged. Just think of me and the wonders of the things you know. Troubles begin to disappear. Things become happy and joyous. Once lost is now found, all you have to do is hope." She finished the song in a whispered voice, followed by a cough with her eyes closed.
Loyal whimpered gently, opening her eyes slowly. Ouch, her whole body and head hurt like crazy. "Risa! Oh Risa I am so glad you are okay!" She nuzzled her head into the girl's chest, so happy to see her owner. She was so glad to know she was okay. She didn't know what she would do without her.
Risa held her beloved dog close to her chest. "Oh, Loyal!" She was so happy to see that she was alright. She could never lose her puppy. She was her life, her pride, and joy, the only good thing that came out of the orphanage she could take with her. She loved that dog more than anything in this world.
As Vincent took Risa into the laundry room to get warmed up and dried off, Rolando took the men and stuffed them in the closet with Hank. He untied the crew, told the captain what happened so he could take care of it, and soon they were back on the course to Russia.
The older man walked down to the laundry room where Risa was wrapped in multiple blankets. There was a little puddle of water under Risa's chair because she was dripping wet. He walked over to them and sat down on the chair. He took Loyal who was wrapped in the blanket on Risa's lap and held her.
He looked up at Risa and smiled gently. "You were very brave to play along with them, and I am proud of you. Though you could've been killed or worse which I am not too happy about, life comes with risks." He gently said, helping to dry off Loyal.
Risa looked down at her lap as Vincent tried to dry her hair. "I know, it was stupid of me. I just saw an opportunity and went for it. That's what I've always done when I was in the orphanage growing up." She admitted, feeling down about how the whole ordeal played out.
Rolando gave her a gentle look. "All that matters now is your fine. You're alive, aren't you? That is all that matters. I do want to know what were you two thinking? How could you even think about doing it by yourselves." He watched as the girl broke down into tears. This was tugging at his heartstrings and hurting him to watch.
Risa sniffled softly, wiping her eyes on the towel. "I just wanted to help and do something to make a difference. I was so scared, I don't want to die, I'm too young. I want to find my family! I want to find them so I can have the life I've dreamed of." She said taking a deep breath and snuggling up under the towels more.
Rolando patted her shoulder, he truly felt bad for this girl. He was so glad he had decided to help her find her family. If she was all alone she would have surely died, yet again, she probably wouldn't even have done anything. "You can find them, Risa, you are still here." He reassured her.
Vincent didn't want to side-track them but he held up a key. "I found this key in one of the men's pockets. It opens the number forty-seven lockbox. Inside it had thousands of diamonds that were stolen from Russia. They fled to Canada thinking they were safe. However, word got to Canada and they had to escape. Unknown to them the ship they got on was heading to Russia instead of somewhere else." He explained turning up the heat.
Risa looked up at him and knitted her eyebrows. "How do you know this?" She didn't know how he could know such a thing. Was he speculating? Did someone tell him what had happened? It seemed that he had known a lot of things about what had gone down.
Vincent looked over at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Before I came back to help you, I had Hank tell me what box it was and what they were doing. He wrote it all down on paper, I'll hand it over to the Russian government along with the men." He sat down in the chair. He was pretty happy with himself for helping out with this.
Risa nodded, not all stories had gotten a happy ending like that one. "I'm glad justice will be served. I still can't stop thinking about the Rosenberg family. I just hope that the person who killed them will pay for what they did. I know this is pretty random, but it has been on my mind for a while."
Rolando smiled fondly at Risa as he listened to her. "You know that they all didn't die. Rumor has it that they escaped and are alive. We have an idea that Princess Clarissa survived because her grandparents are looking for her. They couldn't be looking for someone dead so there has to be proof of some sort that she survived." That did give him hope because he would love nothing more than his old friends to be alive.
Vincent smirked a little leaning against the wall. "This may be random, I do think Risa looks like the duchess, just older and matured." He was being a sly little devil. He knew Rolando was not happy with the idea of him finding some random girl to give to them to get the money.
Risa laughed at his words, waving him off. "Vincent, don't be ridiculous. I could never be royalty, and besides, I have no recollection of my past. How am I to say for sure whether I am or not? Which I am pretty sure I am not." She explained, standing up.
Vincent rolled his eyes after getting a look from Rolando. "Just because you don't recall anything, doesn't mean it isn't possible. Just think, it is possible with what you had said about what you can recall, and taken into consideration your age and features, it could be possible -" He was cut off which he wasn't happy about.
Rolando sighed standing up, cutting off Vincent. "Either way, let's not go down that path again. I think we'd better be getting back to bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." He explained as he watched Vincent just walk off back to their room before they could even get a chance.
Risa tilted her head to the side. "What is wrong with him? Was something said to hurt him? Did he not like what you said to what he had said about me?" She sighed, putting the towels in the hamper with the rest of them. Vincent would never stop to amaze her with his big ideas.
Rolando opened the door and walked down the hall, Risa following beside him. "When Vincent gets this way one thing is driving him: money. The reward for the duchess is high and he would love nothing more than to have it to show his father how great he is."
Risa looked up at Rolando, holding a sleeping Loyal in her arms. "His father? Where is his father at? He never talks about him or his parents, he only talks about you." She knew he wasn't an orphan and she had noticed that he never talked about them.
Rolando ran a hand through his hair, walking up the stairs. "Vincent's father left him and his mother when he was very little. He ended up stealing and forging things, becoming a con. Last I heard of him he went to jail in Paris. I get the gist he wants to visit his father." He began to explain.
He paused at the top of the stairs. "If you must also wonder, his mother ended up leaving him too, for a man. He doesn't have either parent in his life, which I have been trying to fill in for them. I know I could have done more, and I do know of his illegal ways which I never said anything about. I didn't want him to hate me or anything."
He sighed softly, resting his hand on the girl's shoulder. "One day Risa, you will understand how it feels to be in my shoes. I am sorry if he keeps pushing you to go along with his con idea." He told her.
Risa nodded walking over to the door and opening it up. "It is alright Rolando." She said as she went to change her clothes and put on some dry ones after setting Loyal on her bed. This time, she planned on sleeping until morning. As soon as her head hit her pillow she was out like a light.
❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅
A/N:
Finally, finally I am done! Whoo, sorry to keep y'all waiting. I have been sick, still, and just trying to recover and focus on my health. I will have way more coming soon, which is why I am mainly focusing on this book since I have a bunch already made up and it is easier that way for me.
Chapter talk:
Okay, this is long but in my defense, this was the original whole chapter and how long I want them to be. I didn't know how I could break this one down i to two chapters. It just didn't seem possible.
I didn't have to do much editing as in the taking things out and rewriting, I didn't have to do a lot of that. I mostly just had to add on and yes I did take a few things out but they really weren't that important and I could live without them.
And lastly, anything else I forgot ask away my pals. I am happy to answer anything!
In closing, all rude, impolite and mean comments will be replied to in a diplomatic way, reported or deleted if I feel like it is attacking me personally.
Thanks for reading!