Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 77

The Betrayal
Harrow International School Hong Kong, Rao, Dimitri - 13
The glorious Golden Crane was just about to set sail for Jeddah. The storage compartment was filled to the
brim with gleaming treasures and exotic riches. The Emperor of China had commanded that the greatest
ship they possessed must be given as a gift to the Ruler of Jeddah. The gifts were luxurious silks and jewels
so bright that they reflected the heavens. Each priceless object was handled with extreme care. They were
finally ready.
“Will you come back?” asked a small girl with tears running down her cheeks. "I promise I will come
back”. Captain Chu Zhong wiped his daughter’s tears away and said his goodbyes. Then he hugged his dear
wife and walked up the gangplank. “We are ready sir”, said the Quartermaster. “Lower the sails”, bellowed
the captain before following Zhang Lin to the quarterdeck. The loyal crew responded immediately- the
sails were lowered and the merchant flag was raised.
The Golden Crane was the fastest and the most protected ship at the time. No daring pirate would intervene
in its course. None but one. It was the pirate lord of the east, the Captain of The Damned Cutlass, Li Wen.
He had robbed every palace, looted every village and sunk every ship. All but The Crane. This was no
ordinary pirate. This man was a fearsome seadog. He had memorized every part of every map and had his
plan of attack ready.
It was halfway through the voyage and most of the crew was dreaming about their families back home. The
Quartermaster was peering through the thick fog. Suddenly, there was a thundering crack and the ship
shook like an earthquake. They had hit a rock. Zhang Lin rushed over to assess the damage. The Golden
Crane had gone off course and had come to shipwreck alley. This part of the South China Sea was a
devastating ship graveyard. It was filled with colossal rocks that would destroy any ship’s hull.
The whole crew was woken up by the ringing beat of a gong. They all scrambled onto the main deck and
attempted to gain control of the sails. Seeing that this was one of the largest ships in the world, the challenge
was ten times harder than on a regular ship. There was another deafening crack. They had another hole in
the hull. The crew rushed to the bottom of the hull where the water was pouring in. It was all going to
plan.
The Golden Crane limped slowly, like a wounded animal, towards to the coastline of Malaysia. It was
almost impossible to navigate with the blanket of fog surrounding them. All of a sudden, a large rock broke
through the white and charged towards the ship. Captain Chu Zhong turned the wheel as hard as he could,
causing the gigantic ship to tilt over. The crew took it upon themselves and raised the sails but
unfortunately, the momentum was still forcing the ship into the rock. Captain Chu Zhong roared a
command to lower the anchor.
There was a massive tug and the ship stopped almost instantly. The force was so great that all of the crew
lost their balance. There was a loud scraping sound. There were a few holes; they were lucky to be floating
still. While some of the men sprinted down, some went down to clear up the water, and others lowered the
sails.
On they went, plowing through the menacing sea. The Captain allowed the Quartermaster to have some
rest. When he went down, he shouted at the top of his voice “CAPTAIN!”. Chu Zhong rushed down as
fast as he could. The quartermaster had his eyes staring at the immense hole the first rock made. Something
was unusual about the hole. No rock could have made it that big. “We must not tell the crew,” ordered
Chu Zhong “they will not sail properly if they worry”.
Time passed quickly for the captain. He was determined to arrive at their destination on time. He had
decided to ignore the hole and focus on keeping the crew motivated. This would be very hard; they had no
time to stop for food because most of it was ruined in Shipwreck Alley. Everyone was very tired and
hungry. Zhang Lin and the First Mate had begged Chu Zhong to stop but he refused each time. His reason
was everybody would shame him for failing to complete an extremely important task. He couldn’t risk that.
Not with his current situation at home-he already had to battle his family’s tainted reputation.