"We want no less than that ourselves. We never wish to return or remain in the mistakes of this place. We welcome equality, as it was always meant to be and should have been."
I nodded, as she finished talking and then I said expansively, "Find a spot then and come along if you want. There is always room for more out on the open ocean."
I turned then and walked out into the surf holding Keturah above the waves. Some of the former slaves and Whale People held Keturah's boat steady, as I lifted her up and onto the netting. I pulled myself up with some helpful pushes from those gathered around and I went about seeing that Keturah was first stable and as comfortable as I could make her before I went about the business of getting under sail.
If felt good to be free of the land again, especially the land of the fabled Atlantis.
I had wanted treasure initially when I'd come to the island of Atlantis, but I'd received a Divine calling on my life instead. Now I was leaving the island for the mysteries of the sea instead and I had the greatest treasure a man could ever ask for in the form of a woman lying asleep on the forward netting. I was a blessed man and glad of it!
The Polly was offshore by itself and instinctively I knew what that meant in regards to the USS Nathaniel. I'd known something was up even before we left the lagoon when I'd seen Matt's crew stealing extra gunpowder from Flynn's ship.
When traveling through the forest with Mandy I'd heard the explosion that was larger than all the others and intrinsically I'd known that I'd just lost a good friend in a very noble way. That was Matt for you. Few have the choice of how they exit life, but I think Matt got his wish in that he got to go out in the flames of glory, so to speak, just as the fabled characters of history's past had that he had studied and lectured about to classrooms of students either too bored to listen or too unimaginative to comprehend that the answers for the present can often be found in the deeds and mistakes of the past.
I pulled in beside the Polly and Jim peered down over the side at me. I wanted to be free of people and the responsibilities of leadership for a while. A honeymoon if you will, as well as the first vacation I'd had in a very long time.
"Throw me some tools down Jim."