The captain and crew of the tramp freighter stumbled onto the perfect way to make some money. All they had to do was hold four little boys they kidnapped until their families paid the ransom.
The boys had something to say about it though. The kidnappers found themselves with a cargo bay full of chaos they couldn't let go of nor get into and more chaos on their trail.
A very nasty pirate searching for them, furious family and friends chasing after to skin them alive, and more people at each port they stopped at wanting a piece of their hide only added to the ever growing chaos.