Boys on Bicycles and Pirate Girls
At the age of 12 Jack Robinson sold the coin collection he'd inherited from his uncle and used the money to buy his first bicycle. On that bicycle he rode further than he had ever ridden before. Through the uncharted wilds of North Richmond; where even Captain Flint didn't dare to tread and the Pirate girls of Collingwood ruled the waves.
There are two chapters to this fic. I will hopefully post the second half tomorrow.
Please leave a review if you like it. There's nothing more disheartening than seeing lots people have viewed your story and no one has left a review.
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Notes:
Captain Flint - Was the captain who hid the pirate plunder on Treasure Island. Long John Silver was his Quatermaster and had a parrot named after him. Thanks to Roseandthistle for the reminder.
Moreton Bay Fig – Massive Australian native tree. With large sprawling branches and exposed roots. There is something almost magical about these trees, even adults find them fascinating. See the picture attached to this story.
Cubby – Cubby house or playhouse.
Golden Hind/Captain Drake/Queen Elizabeth – Sir Francis Drake was an English sea captain under Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th Century. To the English he was a hero (the second captain to circumnavigate the world) but to others he was a Pirate and slaver. His best known ship was the Golden Hind. Australian children would have (and often still are) been taught the English view of the Captain but they would have still known that he was a privateer (a pirate operating on behalf of his monarch) and the way pirates speak is much more fun.
Sawbones – surgeon.
Midshipman – lowest naval command rank.
Cut of his jib – a nautical term that is often used to describe the way a person appears or looks.
Richmond and Collingwood – suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria.
Jack Tar – An English name for an ordinary seaman of the Royal or Merchant Navy.
Lieutenant – In Australia we pronounce it Lef-ten-nant.
Swag – a bundle of cloth used to carry something.
Grammar – A private school generally for the children of wealthy people.
Bold, bad girl – My nod to Enid Blyton's Elizabeth Allen (though she hadn't been created yet).
Kit – clothes/uniform.
For England! – Australian children were usually raised to revere England. It was the mother country.
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1908
A hot summer's day somewhere in North Richmond.
The sandy haired school boy on a bicycle pulled up under the broad leafy canopy of a Moreton Bay Fig. He sighed in welcome of the relief from the sun's direct heat. The air was shimmering, with only the occasional cooling breeze to relieve those foolish enough to be moving around. He took his cap off and wiped his damp face on the back of his white shirt sleeve; a twig dropped on his head making him jump. Still straddling the bike, the boy reached down to un-strap a sweating canvas bag from where it hung off the handlebars. He had unstopped the spout and was taking a long drink of cool water when another twig landed on his head. Startled, he choked a little, spilling water down his front. As he reached up to brush the twig out of his hair he automatically looked up and found his gaze met by the greenest pair of eyes he'd ever seen. Their owner, a brown haired girl, about his own age was lying along a thick branch directly above his head.
"Hullo!" He grinned widely at his assailant (she'd clearly been entertaining herself by dropping things down on him).
"Hullo!" She smiled back and tossed a shrivelled fig. The boy swatted it away before it hit him.
"Nice perch you've found yourself. That's one of the best cubby's I've ever seen."
"Cubby be hanged man!" Her voice suddenly became almost mannish as she clambered to her feet. "Are you blind?" No, the young man was not blind. He hastily averted is eyes from the legs of the girl posing above him. "It's a ship, the Golden Hind to be exact." She suddenly realised the position she was in and sat down again; glaring defiantly at him, daring him to say anything about un-ladylike behaviour.
Safe, he looked back up at her proud face and felt his heart give a little skip. She was a bold, bad girl and he found her rather liked the cut of her jib. Still, best not to let on. "The Golden Hind eh? And you are?"
The girl swung into a well rehearsed spiel. "Avast ye scurvy landlubber! I be Captain Frannie Drake, scourge of the dastardly Spanish dogs and terror of the seven seas!" She gestured to a branch on the other side of the tree. The boy blinked up at another female figure, glowing as she was lit from behind by a shaft of sunlight. The pretty Captain continued. "This be me ship's sawbones." The girl dropped into a conspiratorial aside. "She's really Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth you know; she was tired of chopping people's heads off and decided to run away to sea instead."
The figure shifted position and the boy was surprised to find himself looking at a brilliant red head of hair. He bowed in best courtier's fashion. "Your Majesty, I'm honoured."
"We call her Doctor Maj, m'lad."
"Sorry Marm, I mean Doctor." The young charmer now gave a smart naval salute which was received with a toothy smile and a gracious nod.
"Ah-hem." A small voice drew his attention even higher. He could see this little bird clear enough against the dark leaves.
The Captain introduced the third player. "And this wee urchin is our scrappy cabin boy."
The little blonde girl piped up. "I'm Janie."
"Janie!" The Captain's exasperated voice had all the indicators of 'big sister'.
"Sorry Frye." Glare. "Oops I mean Cap'n." She tried again. "Ahoy there. I be The Fish... Arrr!"
The Captain nodded approvingly and continued. "Now you've met me crew, who be yew boy?"
The boy's mouth twitched with amusement as he thought for a moment. "I be known as Jack Tar Cap'n, experienced Midshipman and able first mate." He waited for her nod of acceptance of his credentials. "Permission to come aboard Marm?"
The green eyed girl started down at the open faced lad. He seemed jolly enough; a bit of a toff, but she could handle that. She and Maj together were an able match for any boy that got too big for his boots. Besides, she rather liked the cut of his jib.
"Permission granted matey. You can be my first Lieutenant. But fair warning, I'm the Captain and what I say goes. Any mutinous talk and I'll slit you open from neck to knee. Are we clear?"
"Aye aye Cap'n. No mutineers here marm."
Green eyes looked stern. "And we'll have none of that thank you. It's Captain or Sir!"
As the newly promoted Lieutenant dismounted his bicycle and went to lean it against the tree's massive exposed roots, Captain dropped out of the tree to stand beside him.
They stood, sizing each other up. She was a little taller than him, her hair a riot of tangles half pulled from their ribbons. She was just a little bit wild and his heart gave another mysterious skip as she looked him up and down. The girl saw a fair haired boy with warm brown eyes and wide shoulders and strong legs. He was obviously no namby-pamby mother's boy but he didn't mind her bossing him either.
Their mutual admiration was interrupted as she spoke. "Better stow your bicycle in the bushes."
"What?"
"Your bicycle, hide it in the bushes. You don't want anyone to steal it." He looked around puzzled by the apparent absence of potential thieves. This was the nice part of Richmond after all, not the wild streets of Collingwood.
"Trust me." She laid a hand on his forearm. "The pirates are coming. Now hurry. I need some more ammunition." Maj dropped down to join them and as Lt Jack hurried to conceal his transport, the girls laid their aprons on the ground and started piling them up with dried out figs and other debris.
Little Fish was still perched aloft keeping a weather eye out for trouble. "Ship Ahoy!" The Captain and Maj didn't look up at her cry, they just increase the pace of their efforts.
"Come on Lieutenant, shake a leg we need as much as we can carry." Jack Tar, knowing better than to ask questions at such a moment, stripped to his singlet and put his shirt to the same use as the girl's aprons.
Fish called again. "Hurry, they're at the end of the street!" Captain Drake and Maj bundled up their aprons into a swag to leave their hands free and then quickly helped the new Lieutenant top up his own pile. Fish was practically screeching now. "No time, no time! Come on!" There was a real sense of urgency as Jack secured his shirt to his belt. As the two girls started to climb the tree, he slung his waterbag around his neck and risked a glance behind him. Three well built school boys (Jack recognised their kit as belonging to the local Grammar) were pelting down the street towards them, each roaring a battle cry and brandishing long, thick sticks. Understanding now, he scrambled (hard on the girls heels) up into the relative safety of the large tree.
Captain Drake was at the thick central knot of the tree, shouting her orders as she pulled various items out of the natural hidey holes. She tossed a large rubbish pail lid to the sawbones "A shield for you Maj!" Jack, who was a little further up the tree got a tennis racquet. "Sorry Lieutenant, it was the best I could get at short notice." She called up to the plucky lookout. "You right up there Fish? The branches should protect you."
"Aye Captain."
Confident her crew were ready, their brave leader pulled out her own personal shield. Jack Tar blinked. Was that a real silver breakfast tray? She caught his look and winked. Yes sir, a bold, bad girl alright. The Captain climbed a little higher. "Right men, everyone in position?" The crew chorused their replies. "Whatever you do, keep the Spanish dogs from gaining a foothold!" She lifted her pinafore to remove a slingshot from her knicker leg. "Arm yourselves! Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!" The new recruit's admiration for his Captain increased, he looked over to see Maj handling a similar weapon, shrugged and pulled his own slingshot from his pocket.
The attacking Pirates rushed up with a fearful yell, flinging their sticks like spears at the defending crew. The stick thrown by the tall dark haired leader of the Pirates was on target, but hit the Captain's silver shield and rebounded with a clang. "Hold... Hold!" Captain Drake steadied her crew, waiting for the perfect moment.
First salvo fired, the enemy now spread out to collect ammunition of their own before the leader and one of the smaller blonde boys (the tubby one) pulled out their own slingshots. When the third boy failed to produce a weapon, they turned their glares on him. He shrugged, looking embarrassed. "Sorry Fletch, father confiscated it this morning."
Fletch looked disgusted. "Well done Roger." He turned his attention back to the tree. "Never mind, they're only a bunch of silly girls."
"And a boy Fletch, look." Roger gesture towards where he'd just spotted the new crew member.
Fletch's eyes narrowed as he examined Jack where he stood, sans shirt. "I see we've got another cuckoo in the nest lads." He sneered up at the brown haired girl. "Nice one Collingwood! That's the first bit of sense you've shown, ringing in a boy to help you. Not that your flea bitten chum is going to make any difference." The Captain, waved her indignant crew to silence. "This tree is ours. These streets are ours. Why don't you and your ragamuffin friends just admit defeat and go back to where you came from?"
The Captain's answer to this rude statement was clear and unambiguous. "Fire!" Two dried up figs simultaneously hit Fletch. One in the jaw and the other in the middle of his forehead and before he had time to react, a third (fired by the Captain) hit him square in the mouth. "Nice shooting men! Let's teach the blaggards a lesson about Collingwood, cuckoos and ragamuffins that they'll never forget!" She screamed down defiantly. "For England!" and the battle was on.
Missiles and insults flew thick and fast. The little Fish safe in her lofty nest proved to be very inventive with a series of piratical insults. "We'll keel-haul ye, ye lily-livered kraken! Scupper that ye pox-faced swine!" Maj and Lt Jack were excellent shots but the Captain was inspired, never failing to hit her target. Yells and cries of pain came occasionally from the branches of the tree but their attackers were definitely getting the worst of it. The boys were covered in red welts, Roger already had a blood nose and Fletch the beginning of a shiner from a well placed pinecone.
But, just as victory seemed to be in the grasp of Drake's crew, disaster struck. Maj, in a superhuman effort to dodge to two missiles and fire off her own pinecone, lost her footing and began to slip. "Help!" The girl had managed to stop herself from falling by wrapping her arms around a convenient branch, but her legs were now dangling within the reach of the boys. Their defensive line was down. The Captain was closest to her fallen comrade and sprang to her aid but the boys from below were there sooner.
"Quick, get her legs." The boys mounted the lowest branch, Fletch wrapped his arms around the struggling girl's waist and the others wrestled with her flailing legs. She caught one in the jaw with her knee and then squealed when Fletch gave her a hard pinch in retaliation.
The Captain was trying desperately to drag her friend back up onto the branch. "Jack help!"
He was with her in a second, responding to the fear in her eyes, though he didn't understand her panic. "It's alright Cap'n. They've got her, she won't fall."
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