The Adventures of Little Finn: Boy Hero
Can You Keep a Secret? (Part 3/5)
"Ahoy there!" I call out.
"Shiver me timbers matey," Wavely shouts back. He hurries to hop aboard our pirate ship while Tyler paddles towards the shore.
As soon as his feet touch the boat I turn to Tyler. "Okay take us out Rutters," I order.
Tyler stops. "Not until you use my pirate name," he retorts.
"Fine, take us out to sea, Tyler 'The Typhoon' Rutters!"
"Aye Aye Captain Strutworth!" Tyler cheers.
Right away Wavely's face changes from excited, to disappointed. "No fair. You guys already have pirate names? I want one," Wavely commands.
"Okay, you can be Wavely 'Squid Face' Jacobs," I exclaim.
"What?"
Tyler stops paddling to laugh. "Yeah, get to work Squid Face," Tyler chuckles.
"Shut up Tyler!" Wavely snaps. "Finn, I don't want to be Squid Face."
"C'mon Wavely, you are our navigator. You even get to hold the treasure map and tell 'The Typhoon' where to go." I reassure Wavely by handing him the map that I had drawn up earlier in the day.
Eagerly Wavely accepts the map. "Fine," he sighs. A playful smirk stretches across his face. "Hurry up Rutters! Can't you paddle any faster?"
"Hey, if you don't like it, then you can walk the plank Squid Face."
"Fine." Wavely throws Tyler a look, and almost immediately jumps over the side into the water, map in hand.
"Wavely you ruined the map!" I yell. "It's all wet now! How are we ever supposed to find the buried treasure?"
"You will never find the buried treasure. Not unless you can defeat Squidface, the most dangerous kraken in all the seas." Wavely latches onto the ship and begins to rock it, in attempt to flip it over.
"Captain Strutworth, we've been hit! The beast is dragging us down to our watery graves." Tyler leaps on top of Wavely, in order to pry his arms loose from the ship.
I jump in to help fight off Wavely, but stop shortly. I'm overcome with rage and panic. There is a greater danger approaching from down the shore. Something more fearsome than a bloodthirsty kraken. Something that signaled for our impending doom. Sandy Rivera.
I know she's spotted us. Sandy turns away from shore and walks down the dock straight for us. And she's not alone. Yet another bad sign. Most of Sandy's friends are just as vicious as she is. As they grow nearer I can feel my stomach begin to churn. Wavely and Tyler haven't noticed. Completely oblivious, they both continue to fight for control of the boat, splashing water in every direction.
Sandy and her friend are getting close. I can make out, who the friend is now. I wave of relief hits me. It's just Annie.
She's a little quiet, but thankfully she's not a pain like the rest of Sandy's friends. I don't think I've ever heard her say a bad thing to anyone before, which is weird, since that's all Sandy ever does. I always kind of wondered how the pair of them even became friends in the first place.
"Hello Wavely," Sandy says sharply. The cold tone to her voice is enough to shock Wavely out of his kraken demonstration, and make his entire face go pale. "What exactly are you and your idiot friends doing?" I can never understand why she's always so harsh to Wavely. It's probably because out of the three of us, Wavely never fights back.
Wavely freezes. He floats in the water silent. I wouldn't be surprised if the temperature of the water surrounding him increased a few degrees.
I can tell that Sandy isn't finished, but before she can utter another word, I cut in. "Geez barnacle butt, haven't you ever seen a pirate before."
Tyler lets out a snort. Sandy shoots him a glare, before turning back to me. "Well Finhead, don't real pirates usually have a ship?"
"What the heck do you think me and Tyler are floating on out here?" I snicker.
Sandy just smiles. "Looks like some twigs that three idiots tied together."
That's it. You can insult a great deal about a man, but never his ship. At once I cry out, "Aargh, Keep back you Sirens! You cannot take me crew. You may sing sweet songs, but we have tamed a kraken into doing our bidding."
This perks up Wavely. A smirk crosses his face and immediately he swims out to the dock. With a roar he leaps out splashing water all over Sandy's dress.
At that moment, Sandy let's out the loudest shriek I have ever heard. Normally, Wavely would have backed down, but as a kraken he's become fearless. Instead of giving in, he chases Sandy all the way down the dock, and then keeps chasing her. I sit with Tyler amazed by Wavely's newfound courage, when Tyler decides to abandon ship to get a better view.
I jump ship to join Tyler, but as stop when I hear giggling off to the side. Over on the dock, Sandy's friend Annie is sitting, dangling her toes in the water, while watching her friend screeching like a banshee.
"You want to come in?" I ask. "The water's not too cold today."
Annie looks around a little, before responding. She doesn't seem too sure that I'm talking to her. "I can't get my clothes wet," she says.
I tread a little closer. "You know, I was mainly talking to Sandy when I called you both sirens. I don't really think you're a siren," I reassure her.
Annie still seems a little confused. "What's a siren?"
I jump out of the water onto the dock, excited that I finally get to share some of the legends from Granny's old books. "Well they are basically these creatures that lure sailors in by singing to them. And then they drag them to the bottom of the ocean and eat them."
"Oh," Annie mutters. "Well I'm glad you don't think that I am one," she says with a smile.
"Are you sure you don't want to go for a swim?" I ask as I hop back in the water.
For a moment Annie pauses. She seems a bit nervous by my asking this question again. Then she leans over to whisper to me. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course," I say. "I'm practically a master tradesman of secrets. Once I hear a secret, it never passes through my lips again."
Annie giggles and smiles again. "Okay." She leans in closer now. I never really noticed how green her eyes were before. They have the same green tint that the water does. I can hear her begin to whisper, but I can't tell what she says. I decide to pull myself up a little on the dock, so I can get closer to her. Then she tells me her secret. "The reason I can't go swimming with you is because I don't really know how to."
I throw her a look of disbelief. "What? Do you mean you don't know how to swim?"
All at once the color drains from her face. Her eyes grow big as they stare off behind me. I didn't notice the silence before. No roars from Wavely, or shrieks from Sandy. There is just the calming sound of the water. I turn to see why. Wavely, Tyler and Sandy were all standing behind us. And judging by the looks on their faces, they had heard everything I just said.
Tyler and Wavely start to chuckle. I look at Sandy and she's a mess. Her hair is everywhere, and her dress is full of grass stains. Annie and I must have missed quite the show. I turn to Annie again and her eyes look like they're about to burst with water. Some has already started to trickle down her cheeks.
Immediately, Annie gets up and runs away, tears streaming down her face. That's the last time she'll probably ever talk to me again. She trusted me, and I wasn't even able to keep her secret for two seconds.
"Smooth move Finhead," Sandy barks before catching up with Annie.
I should have known better. I'm no good at keeping secrets.