May 25, 2025
My Grandfather is a Giant Schnauzer
Chapter 10 – The Escape Black Turtle Island
At dawn, an old fishing boat washed ashore. The marines pulled it out of the water and inspected it— old, but held together just fine. At the bottom lay a folded sail and a torn net.
The oarlocks were wrapped in rags, likely to muffle any noise. The grandfather (now a dog) paced around the boat, sniffing and growling. Then he suddenly darted away, barking and urging the marines to follow.
One of the soldiers went after him. The dog led him to the spot where Toma had sat the evening before. In the sand, they found a bullet.
This put the soldiers even more on edge. The lieutenant frowned, ordered the camp to sound the alarm, and contacted the coast guard. He suspected that an unknown intruder had landed on the island during the night.
The search for the shooter began...
Meanwhile, Shadow, Pal’ma, and Kot were already far away—approaching Nassau. Their speedboat had raced toward its destination all night, skimming over the waves, and by morning, the port lights glimmered on the horizon.
The port was waking up as the boat lazily nudged against a weathered dock piling crusted with seashells. Fishermen unloaded ice-filled crates, truck doors slammed, and the air smelled of diesel, salt, and the start of another workday.
Shadow nodded at a familiar dockworker—a man sitting on a crate, a damp hand-rolled cigarette clamped between his teeth.
Recognizing Shadow, the dockworker leisurely flicked ash from his jacket, stood, and approached the boat. "No papers again?" he rasped, looping the thrown rope around a rusted mooring ring.
"You love trading papers for papers," Shadow tossed him a set of keys. "Register it like. last time."
The dockworker caught the keys, stuffed them into his grease-stained pants, and spat into the water.
"Pick it up at Dock Three. If anyone asks, you were fixing the ramp."
Shadow and his companions quickly stepped ashore and melted into the crowd of dockworkers, heading toward the market...
***
In a dimly lit restaurant booth overlooking the docks, Shadow met with Pinder.
The man was eating oysters, sipping white wine. He listened in silence, then wiped his mouth with a napkin and said:
“I don’t appreciate being blatantly blackmailed. Let’s put it down to temporary emotional instability. As you asked—they’ve all been moved to Fox Hill. I had to pay for it. Now it’s your move.”
Without expression, he gave Shadow the name of a guard who could be trusted.
Before leaving, Shadow slipped a thick stack of bills into the menu and muttered: "The rest—after the job...".
While Shadow had breakfast with Pinder, Kot and Pal’ma checked into a hotel. Kot called construction companies, posing as a contractor. He urgently needed to "clear out" an abandoned drainage tunnel.
Pal’ma called from another room—looking for work. He was blunt: "I’ve got hands, not afraid of dirt, can start digging today."
The goal? Make sure the two requests didn’t seem connected.
By lunch, they found their man—he agreed to send a crew to the site and offered Pal’ma a "trial day" digging up an old storm drain on the outskirts.
After breakfast, they went shopping. Kot needed to look the part: suit, shoes, tie, watch, hard hat, vest, gloves, and safety glasses—all picked up at a construction supply store.
Pal’ma settled for just a good pair of work gloves. They hailed a taxi but got out early—approaching the site from different directions to avoid suspicion.
***
Kot handled negotiations. Pal’ma played the laborer—silent, back straight, walking with a heavy stride.
Kot was confident, his face half-hidden under the hard hat. A reflective vest was strapped tightly to his chest, a clipboard in one hand, a plastic folder in the other. He traced a finger along the schematic, talking about the backup overflow line, the urgency, and how his main crew was currently tied up. So he needed subcontractors—no paperwork, cash payment.
José Barbosa, short and sweaty, lit up at the word "cash" brighter than the sun glinting off his glasses. He turned, nodded at Pal’ma, and said: "We start right now."
And work began. Pal’ma alone started clearing branches and dirt, opening the passage.
Within half an hour, three others joined him—silent men in vests and coveralls, swinging picks and shovels. Things moved fast: the workers were paid little and by the job, so "time is money" wasn’t just a saying here...
Meanwhile, Shadow had already visited the prison, spoken to the guard, and learned the rules for deliveries.
Now he sat in his old friend Gonzales’ shop, drinking tea. The air smelled of lemons, bananas, and something else fruity.
Behind the counter, Gonzales’ son, Paulo—a teenager—scrolled through inventory on a computer, calling out prices.
Shadow wasn’t shopping randomly—he had a plan. "Something that sounds like freedom. See if you’ve got anything like that," he commented on his order.
Paulo found a box of tea: " Detox Tea – Libera Toxinas." Shadow read the name aloud, lingered on "Libera," and nodded: "That’ll work. Next on the list: hot peppers, smoked sausage, sailor’s crackers, salted beans, fried cassava, popcorn, khachapuri. And two water bottles—Bahamian Pure and Island H2O."
While Paulo gathered the items, Shadow discussed local kids—football fans—with Gonzales.
"Fast, sharp. Sometimes loud, but give ’em clear instructions, and they’ll get the job done right." Shadow nodded and left money with Gonzales for them, asking him to buy a good football and three air horns.
And to arrange a meeting that evening at the field near Fox Hill... On his way to the prison, Shadow stopped by his hotel room. There, he took the water bottle and tea from the care package.
Flipped them over, carefully rewriting the expiration dates. On the tea—"21.03.2011 20:00", on the water—"21.03.2011 21:00". He replicated the factory stamp perfectly, using a permanent marker...
He arrived at the prison right on time—inmate deliveries were still being accepted. He handed over a passport under the name Laurent Roche. The prisoner was listed as Basile Roche, confirming their relation and granting permission for the package.
The guard took the bag, lazily peeked inside. Pulled out a couple of cigarette packs for himself and asked: "Who’s it from?" "From Laurent," Shadow replied curtly. "They’ll understand...".
Dok spread the package out on the table.
The pirates crowded around, examining the odd assortment.
“Popcorn. Sailor’s crackers,” said Crab.
“Is this a joke?” Harpoon snorted.
“Libera Toxinas...” Elk read from the tea box.
“Beans, chili sauce... Weird combo,” muttered Zhara.
Dok turned the Bahamian Pure bottle in his hands.
“Expires at 21:00. The tea—20:00. Font looks factory-made, but the times... no. This is fake. Made for us.”
He looked up.
“This isn’t dinner. It’s a countdown to freedom.
The times are a schedule: 20:00—we set the mattresses on fire. 21:00—the escape begins.”
Crab pointed. “Sailor’s crackers—that’s the mattresses.”
“Smoked sausage and chili sauce—means burn it,” said Harpoon.
“Beans—that’s the garden. Must be the yard,” guessed Goose.
“Popcorn... definitely hinting at an explosion,” Crab nodded.
“Cassava—root. Must mean the tunnel,” Dok added.
“Bahamian Pure—that’s the time marker. Island H2O—the route to the sea.”
“And khachapuri...” Elk grinned. “Well, that’s obvious. The boat.”
Dok looked at them calmly.
“Fire at eight. Explosion at nine.”
“Exit’s under the yard. He hasn’t forgotten, brother.
He remembers that map we found in Father’s chest.
Right now, he’s clearing the old tunnel—
the one beneath Fox Hill.”
The pirates exchanged glances—and smiled.
The escape was already underway...
***
At the same time, three boys—Manuel, Paulo, and Jaime—were playing football again. Gonzales’ son, desperate to join their crew, had brought a brand-new football and a bag of fan air horns.
They stashed the air horns for the stadium, but the ball—that ball was just right.
For a gift like that, they let little Gonzales stick around—let him play too.
He also passed on a message: someone would drop by that evening about a well-paid job. But only after dark.
The game went on so long that no one noticed the sun dipping toward the horizon. Then a boy appeared, followed by a grim-faced man with sharp eyes.
The game stopped. The gang huddled and approached. "Perfect, gather round," the man said, extending a hand to Manuel.
“Name’s Laurent,” he said. “And I’ve got a little job for you boys.”
Preparations for the escape took the pirates two more full days. Shadow combed through thrift stores, buying clothes for the whole crew, estimating sizes from memory.
Borrowed a couple of fast boats from dock contacts. Pal’ma and Kot finished clearing the tunnel. The subcontractor hauled away the dirt and debris in his truck.
Now the renovated exit was fitted with a black-painted iron grate secured with a padlock. The tunnel stretched all the way to Fox Hill. The TNT charge was placed for directional impact—to blow open the prison yard’s paving stones without collapsing the tunnel.
Detonation would be remote. Only then would Shadow and his team storm through to free the prisoners... Everything went as planned.
***
On March 21, after noon, a group of kids appeared on the field outside the prison. They put on a show for the guards in the watchtowers.
As evening approached, they split off in different directions.
The air horns were ready. When smoke first curled from a prison window, Manuel—the first to spot it—started a mental five-minute countdown. Per Shadow's plan, the boys were to position themselves on three sides of the building to monitor the windows.
The fire was set at 20:00. The mattresses caught and smoldered, coughing up choking, bitter smoke that spread fast.
Within minutes, the cell was unbreathable. The pirates wrapped wet shirts around their faces and pressed to the floor. Crab pounded on the door, summoning guards.
Normally, no one would’ve responded—the guards were playing cards, indifferent to the prisoners. But then, from outside, sharp horn blasts erupted from multiple directions—as if locomotives had converged outside the prison for a rally. A guard looked up—first at the noise, then at the smell of burning fabric, then at the banging from the hall.
The guards rushed to the cells. As the door swung open, smoke poured out—so choking that the guards staggered back, then rushed to start dragging the prisoners outside.
A horn cut through the evening. Then two more. Shadow straightened and nodded at Kot.
“Now.” Kot hit the button. The blast came a second later—followed by chaos.
From the gaping hole in the ground, through clouds of swirling dust, three figures sprang forth like devils from a snuffbox—masked and clad in body armor.
One hurled a flashbang toward the barred security gate. A blinding flash. A deafening roar. The guards flinched, confused and disoriented.
The assailants raised their automatics, slowly sweeping their aim from side to side—no shots fired.
Terrified, the guards raised their hands—no match for automatics, armed with nothing but radios, batons, and sidearms.
A second blast—sharper, shorter—blew apart the grate separating the cellblock from the yard. Dust settled, and the pirates emerged from the hallway, helping each other move, breathing hard but voices alight with triumph. It all happened fast.
One by one, the pirates dropped into the hole and vanished underground. A minute later, the yard was empty. Another explosion collapsed the crater further, sealing the tunnel behind them.
On the coast, speedboats waited. Engines roared to life instantly, and the boats tore across the black water, carrying the fugitives back to their element.
My Grandfather is a Giant Schnauzer
Chapter 10 – The Escape Black Turtle Island At dawn, an old fishing boat washed ashore.
The marines pulled it out of the water and inspected it— old, but held together just fine.
Engines roared to life instantly, and the boats tore across the black water, carrying the fugitives back to their element.
Feedback
All good.
|
My Grandfather is a Giant Schnauzer This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
Chapter 10 – The Escape Black Turtle Island At dawn, an old fishing boat washed ashore. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
The marines pulled it out of the water and inspected it— old, but held together just fine. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
At the bottom lay a folded sail and a torn net. |
|
One of the soldiers went after him. |
|
The dog led him to the spot where Toma had sat the evening before. |
|
In the sand, they found a bullet. |
|
This put the soldiers even more on edge. |
|
The lieutenant frowned, ordered the camp to sound the alarm, and contacted the coast guard. |
|
He suspected that an unknown intruder had landed on the island during the night. |
|
The search for the shooter began... |
|
last time." |
|
But only after dark. |
|
The guards flinched, confused and disoriented. |
|
The assailants raised their automatics, slowly sweeping their aim from side to side—no shots fired. |
|
Terrified, the guards raised their hands—no match for automatics, armed with nothing but radios, batons, and sidearms. |
|
A second blast—sharper, shorter—blew apart the grate separating the cellblock from the yard. |
|
Dust settled, and the pirates emerged from the hallway, helping each other move, breathing hard but voices alight with triumph. |
|
It all happened fast. |
|
One by one, the pirates dropped into the hole and vanished underground. |
|
A minute later, the yard was empty. |
|
Another explosion collapsed the crater further, sealing the tunnel behind them. |
|
On the coast, speedboats waited. |
|
Engines roared to life instantly, and the boats tore across the black water, carrying the fugitives back to their element. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
he rasped, looping the thrown rope around a rusted mooring ring. |
|
And two water bottles—Bahamian Pure and Island H2O." |
|
The oarlocks were wrapped in rags, likely to muffle any noise. |
|
The grandfather (now a dog) paced around the boat, sniffing and growling. |
|
Then he suddenly darted away, barking and urging the marines to follow. |
|
Meanwhile, Shadow, Pal’ma, and Kot were already far away—approaching Nassau. |
|
Their speedboat had raced toward its destination all night, skimming over the waves, and by morning, the port lights glimmered on the horizon. |
|
The port was waking up as the boat lazily nudged against a weathered dock piling crusted with seashells. |
|
The game stopped. |
|
"Fast, sharp. |
|
Fishermen unloaded ice-filled crates, truck doors slammed, and the air smelled of diesel, salt, and the start of another workday. |
|
Then two more. |
|
Shadow nodded at a familiar dockworker—a man sitting on a crate, a damp hand-rolled cigarette clamped between his teeth. |
|
Recognizing Shadow, the dockworker leisurely flicked ash from his jacket, stood, and approached the boat. |
|
"No papers again?" |
|
"You love trading papers for papers," Shadow tossed him a set of keys. |
|
"Register it like. |
|
The dockworker caught the keys, stuffed them into his grease-stained pants, and spat into the water. |
|
"Pick it up at Dock Three. |
|
If anyone asks, you were fixing the ramp." |
|
Shadow and his companions quickly stepped ashore and melted into the crowd of dockworkers, heading toward the market... *** In a dimly lit restaurant booth overlooking the docks, Shadow met with Pinder. |
|
The man was eating oysters, sipping white wine. |
|
He listened in silence, then wiped his mouth with a napkin and said: “I don’t appreciate being blatantly blackmailed. |
|
Let’s put it down to temporary emotional instability. |
|
As you asked—they’ve all been moved to Fox Hill. |
|
I had to pay for it. |
|
Now it’s your move.” Without expression, he gave Shadow the name of a guard who could be trusted. |
|
Before leaving, Shadow slipped a thick stack of bills into the menu and muttered: "The rest—after the job...". |
|
While Shadow had breakfast with Pinder, Kot and Pal’ma checked into a hotel. |
|
Kot called construction companies, posing as a contractor. |
|
He urgently needed to "clear out" an abandoned drainage tunnel. |
|
Pal’ma called from another room—looking for work. |
|
He was blunt: "I’ve got hands, not afraid of dirt, can start digging today." |
|
The goal? |
|
Make sure the two requests didn’t seem connected. |
|
By lunch, they found their man—he agreed to send a crew to the site and offered Pal’ma a "trial day" digging up an old storm drain on the outskirts. |
|
After breakfast, they went shopping. |
|
Kot needed to look the part: suit, shoes, tie, watch, hard hat, vest, gloves, and safety glasses—all picked up at a construction supply store. |
|
Pal’ma settled for just a good pair of work gloves. |
|
They hailed a taxi but got out early—approaching the site from different directions to avoid suspicion. |
|
*** Kot handled negotiations. |
|
Pal’ma played the laborer—silent, back straight, walking with a heavy stride. |
|
Kot was confident, his face half-hidden under the hard hat. |
|
A reflective vest was strapped tightly to his chest, a clipboard in one hand, a plastic folder in the other. |
|
He traced a finger along the schematic, talking about the backup overflow line, the urgency, and how his main crew was currently tied up. |
|
So he needed subcontractors—no paperwork, cash payment. |
|
José Barbosa, short and sweaty, lit up at the word "cash" brighter than the sun glinting off his glasses. |
|
He turned, nodded at Pal’ma, and said: "We start right now." |
|
And work began. |
|
Pal’ma alone started clearing branches and dirt, opening the passage. |
|
Within half an hour, three others joined him—silent men in vests and coveralls, swinging picks and shovels. |
|
Things moved fast: the workers were paid little and by the job, so "time is money" wasn’t just a saying here... |
|
Meanwhile, Shadow had already visited the prison, spoken to the guard, and learned the rules for deliveries. |
|
Now he sat in his old friend Gonzales’ shop, drinking tea. |
|
The air smelled of lemons, bananas, and something else fruity. |
|
Behind the counter, Gonzales’ son, Paulo—a teenager—scrolled through inventory on a computer, calling out prices. |
|
Shadow wasn’t shopping randomly—he had a plan. |
|
"Something that sounds like freedom. |
|
See if you’ve got anything like that," he commented on his order. |
|
Paulo found a box of tea: " Detox Tea – Libera Toxinas." |
|
Shadow read the name aloud, lingered on "Libera," and nodded: "That’ll work. |
|
Next on the list: hot peppers, smoked sausage, sailor’s crackers, salted beans, fried cassava, popcorn, khachapuri. |
|
While Paulo gathered the items, Shadow discussed local kids—football fans—with Gonzales. |
|
Sometimes loud, but give ’em clear instructions, and they’ll get the job done right." |
|
Shadow nodded and left money with Gonzales for them, asking him to buy a good football and three air horns. |
|
And to arrange a meeting that evening at the field near Fox Hill... On his way to the prison, Shadow stopped by his hotel room. |
|
There, he took the water bottle and tea from the care package. |
|
Flipped them over, carefully rewriting the expiration dates. |
|
On the tea—"21.03.2011 20:00", on the water—"21.03.2011 21:00". |
|
He replicated the factory stamp perfectly, using a permanent marker... |
|
He arrived at the prison right on time—inmate deliveries were still being accepted. |
|
He handed over a passport under the name Laurent Roche. |
|
The prisoner was listed as Basile Roche, confirming their relation and granting permission for the package. |
|
The guard took the bag, lazily peeked inside. |
|
Pulled out a couple of cigarette packs for himself and asked: "Who’s it from?" |
|
"From Laurent," Shadow replied curtly. |
|
"They’ll understand...". |
|
Dok spread the package out on the table. |
|
The pirates crowded around, examining the odd assortment. |
|
“Popcorn. |
|
Sailor’s crackers,” said Crab. |
|
“Is this a joke?” Harpoon snorted. |
|
“Libera Toxinas...” Elk read from the tea box. |
|
“Beans, chili sauce... Weird combo,” muttered Zhara. |
|
Dok turned the Bahamian Pure bottle in his hands. |
|
“Expires at 21:00. |
|
The tea—20:00. |
|
Font looks factory-made, but the times... no. |
|
This is fake. |
|
Made for us.” He looked up. |
|
“This isn’t dinner. |
|
It’s a countdown to freedom. |
|
The times are a schedule: 20:00—we set the mattresses on fire. |
|
21:00—the escape begins.” Crab pointed. |
|
“Sailor’s crackers—that’s the mattresses.” “Smoked sausage and chili sauce—means burn it,” said Harpoon. |
|
“Beans—that’s the garden. |
|
Must be the yard,” guessed Goose. |
|
“Popcorn... definitely hinting at an explosion,” Crab nodded. |
|
“Cassava—root. |
|
Must mean the tunnel,” Dok added. |
|
“Bahamian Pure—that’s the time marker. |
|
Island H2O—the route to the sea.” “And khachapuri...” Elk grinned. |
|
“Well, that’s obvious. |
|
The boat.” Dok looked at them calmly. |
|
“Fire at eight. |
|
Explosion at nine.” “Exit’s under the yard. |
|
He hasn’t forgotten, brother. |
|
He remembers that map we found in Father’s chest. |
|
Right now, he’s clearing the old tunnel— the one beneath Fox Hill.” The pirates exchanged glances—and smiled. |
|
The escape was already underway... *** At the same time, three boys—Manuel, Paulo, and Jaime—were playing football again. |
|
Gonzales’ son, desperate to join their crew, had brought a brand-new football and a bag of fan air horns. |
|
They stashed the air horns for the stadium, but the ball—that ball was just right. |
|
For a gift like that, they let little Gonzales stick around—let him play too. |
|
He also passed on a message: someone would drop by that evening about a well-paid job. |
|
The game went on so long that no one noticed the sun dipping toward the horizon. |
|
Then a boy appeared, followed by a grim-faced man with sharp eyes. |
|
The gang huddled and approached. |
|
"Perfect, gather round," the man said, extending a hand to Manuel. |
|
“Name’s Laurent,” he said. |
|
“And I’ve got a little job for you boys.” Preparations for the escape took the pirates two more full days. |
|
Shadow combed through thrift stores, buying clothes for the whole crew, estimating sizes from memory. |
|
Borrowed a couple of fast boats from dock contacts. |
|
Pal’ma and Kot finished clearing the tunnel. |
|
The subcontractor hauled away the dirt and debris in his truck. |
|
Now the renovated exit was fitted with a black-painted iron grate secured with a padlock. |
|
The tunnel stretched all the way to Fox Hill. |
|
The TNT charge was placed for directional impact—to blow open the prison yard’s paving stones without collapsing the tunnel. |
|
Detonation would be remote. |
|
Only then would Shadow and his team storm through to free the prisoners... Everything went as planned. |
|
*** On March 21, after noon, a group of kids appeared on the field outside the prison. |
|
They put on a show for the guards in the watchtowers. |
|
As evening approached, they split off in different directions. |
|
The air horns were ready. |
|
When smoke first curled from a prison window, Manuel—the first to spot it—started a mental five-minute countdown. |
|
Per Shadow's plan, the boys were to position themselves on three sides of the building to monitor the windows. |
|
The fire was set at 20:00. |
|
The mattresses caught and smoldered, coughing up choking, bitter smoke that spread fast. |
|
Within minutes, the cell was unbreathable. |
|
The pirates wrapped wet shirts around their faces and pressed to the floor. |
|
Crab pounded on the door, summoning guards. |
|
Normally, no one would’ve responded—the guards were playing cards, indifferent to the prisoners. |
|
But then, from outside, sharp horn blasts erupted from multiple directions—as if locomotives had converged outside the prison for a rally. |
|
A guard looked up—first at the noise, then at the smell of burning fabric, then at the banging from the hall. |
|
The guards rushed to the cells. |
|
As the door swung open, smoke poured out—so choking that the guards staggered back, then rushed to start dragging the prisoners outside. |
|
A horn cut through the evening. |
|
Shadow straightened and nodded at Kot. |
|
“Now.” Kot hit the button. |
|
The blast came a second later—followed by chaos. |
|
From the gaping hole in the ground, through clouds of swirling dust, three figures sprang forth like devils from a snuffbox—masked and clad in body armor. |
|
One hurled a flashbang toward the barred security gate. |
|
A blinding flash. |
|
A deafening roar. |
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