Balto's Treasure Island Part Four: Unmasked

“Vhat are ve going to do?” asked Doctor Boris.

“Well we can’t give them the map,” said the captain. “If we do, they’ll just take the treasure and kill us or leave us stranded here. I hate to say it, but we're in a bit of a spot here.”

Jenna’s face was grim. “I know another solution,” she answered. All our eyes turned to her as she slowly unwound her bandanna and revealed her entire face. “Me.”

“What in blazes…?” asked Squire Trelawney.

The captain was stunned. “You’re a girl?” he asked.

“That’s what I said,” I chuckled before realizing how foolish that was.

Now everyone stared at me. “You knew this?” asked Boris.

“Never mind!” snapped Jenna. She quickly re-wound the bandanna and walked over to the wall.

“Now hold it!” I protested, grabbing her by the wrist a little more roughly than I meant to. “Jenna, if you’re doing what I think you’re doing, you’re out of your mind.”

“It’s the only way,” she insisted. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“Young miss,” the captain added, taking my side, “If you're thinking of offering yourself to those pirates, I'm afraid my honor as a gentleman would sooner have me order you bound to the flagpole for your own safety.”

“Don't worry,” she insisted. “I'd be dead before I let them touch me, but this is the only way to stall for time.”

I hesitated, then let go. “I hope you’re right,” I said softly.

She stood on top of the log pile and shouted, “Steele, I have an offer for you!”

There was a pause before the pirate answered. “Stay down, you little pup! I’m talking to your captain, not you.”

Jenna stood there defiantly. “Before you left, you were offered a girl’s hand in marriage. She hated you, but you managed to get her father’s favor by talking about great riches and bragging about your pedigree.”

I couldn’t see over the wall, but I could imagine the look on the pirate’s face. “How do you know that?” he demanded.

Jenna rubbed at her uncovered eye, then whipped off her bandanna and dropped it behind her. “Recognize me now?” she asked, abandoning her fake male voice.

“Jenna?” Under any other circumstances, I might have doubled up just thinking about the look on Steele’s face. “What are you doing here?!” he demanded.

“Standing by my captain and crew mates,” she answered. “Now, I have a deal for you and your beasts.”

“Why should I make deals with you?” he demanded. “You’re already as good as mine!”

Jenna’s voice hardly wavered as she reached to her belt and pulled out a knife, which she held up for him to see. “If you want me alive, you’d better listen up.”

Even at that distance I could hear his growl. “What’s your offer?” he asked.

“If you and your crew let us leave the fort with the map and move to another place safely, I’ll marry…” she hesitated. “I’ll marry the first dog to put a ring on my finger.”

There was a lot of commotion among the pirates before Steele snapped, “Quiet!” Then to Jenna he demanded, “Why should I make deals with you when I can have you and the map?”

Jenna responded tensely, “I’d rather kill myself than marry you. Take me by force and I’ll do it, and the map will be destroyed long before you get it. Let us go peacefully, and I’ll marry you as long as you’re the first to put a ring on my finger. But if we lose the map, you lose me. And I know how much you hate to lose.”

There was a long silence before he finally said, “It’s a deal.”

“I hope she knows vhat she is doing,” whispered Boris.

“So do I, Doctor,” I murmured. “So do I.”

“Tell your captain he has until noon tomorrow to leave the stockade,” Steele’s voice rang out. “But if you’re not out by then, I’ll set it on fire and blast anyone who comes out.”

A moment later Jenna came down. “He's leaving,” she reported.

“Young girl, that was the bravest and most foolhardy thing I've ever seen anyone do,” said Orde in a voice that sounded half a commendation, half a rebuke.

“But vere can ve go?” asked Doctor Boris nervously. “Is there anyvere safe on this island from those killers?”

Jenna hung her head. “I'm hoping Ben will show up. He's been here this long, he must know a place.”

“Vell ve're betting our lives on it now!” snapped Boris irritably. Jenna's ears went down, we all gave the doctor a look, and he closed his beak.

“It may not be an excellent plan,” said the captain, “But I'm afraid for the moment we have no choice.”

I looked around at the group. “So now what?” I asked.

The Squire put a hand to his chin. “We still haven't heard from this Ben fellow. If we don't hear from him by tonight, we'll set out an hour before daybreak.”

It was a tense day waiting for Ben to appear. Doctor Boris patched up our side and the pirates who remained alive inside the palisade. Star had taken a bullet through the leg, but once he recovered from the wound itself he'd be able to walk. A brown fox, in more serious condition, had taken a nasty hit over the head and seemed to have a cracked skull. Doctor Boris patched him up and, on Orde's instructions, Tied him by the wrists to a post inside the cabin where we could tend him without risk of any treachery. Star, as soon as he showed signs of recovery, was put outside. Before long he had staggered back to the woods. Sadly, a fox on our side had been cut down by a sword, and Hunter had been rammed in the forehead with the butt of his own rifle. Doctor Boris did the best he could, but the poor dog never woke up. Orde's shoulder, the doctor said, would heal, but he'd have to keep it still or the bones would be crooked and leave him crippled. Worse, a broken end could damage his lung.

It seemed like sunset would never come, but it finally did, and there was still no sign of Ben. “He'll probably come during the night,” I said to the captain.

“I hope so,” he agreed, reclining by the door. “But if he doesn't, we're going. Either way, let's get what we have ready for travel before we bed down. And as for Jenna,” he added, looking me in the eye, “Set up a curtain of some sort in the corner to give the young lady some privacy for the night.” Looking into the distance again, he murmured, “Just as well I had everyone sleep fully dressed last night in case of attack.”

I nodded and went to make arrangements for her. The captain wasn't the only one worried. Now that her identity was known to everyone, she had abandoned her disguise. Without her head covered and her eye blackened, she was... well, beautiful. And as I set up her curtain, made from some old canvas that was lying about, I knew the pirates would think so as well, which meant that from now on Jenna would have a lot more at stake than any of the rest of us.

She came up to me as I was setting up the barrier. “Thanks,” she said.

“It's no trouble,” I replied. “And the captain asked me to.”

“I don't mean about the curtain,” she said. “I mean everything else you've been doing. Just being there on the ship, and now...” she trailed off. “It's nice to have someone I know around,” she admitted, her eyes lowered. “Someone I can count on.”

“You can count on all of us,” I said. “But I won't let you down. We'll figure out how to stop Steele.”

She looked up at me and smiled. “Thank you.”

I noticed her bandanna hanging from her pocket. It struck me that the piece of cloth seemed somehow tied to her personality as much as Steele's missing leg, but as a complement to beauty, not to evil. It seemed wrong that it should be tucked in her pocket and ignored like that. “Can I see your bandanna for a minute?” I asked.

Her face puckered slightly in confusion, but she took it out and handed it to me. I took the opposite corners, raised it over her head, and brought it down, tying a knot in front of her throat so that it hung loosely around her neck. I smiled. “Much better,” I said. It looked like a badge almost, like a flag displaying her courage.

She touched the knot, then looked at me. “I'd rather you wear it,” she said. “I don't know why.” And she slid it off and held it out to me.

I took it with some uncertainty. “Are you sure?” I asked. “I mean...”

She sighed. “We're going to be in a lot of trouble soon, I can feel it. Everyone's going to be watching my back, but you'll be on your own. This bandanna kept me safe through the voyage, so maybe now it can keep you safe.”

I shook my head. “Jenna, please. I'll be fine; it's you I'm worried about. All the pirates are going to be after you now. If this thing could keep anyone safe, you'd need it