Pirates Pen Pals

Chapter 9—The Rainforest

A/N: Sorry this update took a while. Had to look up certain stuff on Dominican rainforests and animals and plants you'd find there, which, you readers are going to discover them along with our fave characters on with the story and thank you a million times for every review and every hit!

Jack

Had a lovely evening, steak and soup as dinner, but no one really talked about anything at the table. What a quiet bunch! Becky and Norry only whispered among themselves, secretly planning something. Will and Liz? Oh, no updates! No surprises there. The lad was just too shy to chat with a girl, even though that lass's already in love wi' him. Time to teach him some methods for wooing wenches…

Back up at the room, Will's off to the showers, said he's going to bed at 8 cause we had to 'rise and shine' early for the rainforest trip, said Ms. Bossy Tia. Good William! Me still writing, dreaming it! Couldn't sneak into any kitchens…Tia was watching like a hawk.)

Eyelids closing…maybe it's time…to---

Will

I woke up early, greeted by the nice Caribbean sunrise, which reminded me I was no longer in orphanage hell, but vacation heaven……for a few days. Like they say, parties do come to an end, though I didn't want to worry much, so that's that. Glancing at my roommate, still soundly asleep (who knows? He snored!), I smiled.

Knock, knock at the door, who's that? I ran to the door, peeked through the hole and opened it for Tia, (whom Jack had nicknamed, 'Bossy.' Well! If only he had to stay with Mrs. Ginger for a day, he'd know the real meaning of that word!)

"Mornin' Will," she said warmly. "I see you're up early today, very good,"

I nodded.

"Oh, don't forget what I told you yesterday! The bus leaves at 8.30, and it waits for no one, see you at breakfast!" With that, Tia gave a little wave and was off.

Closing the door, I sighed. There was a lot to do. Having showered and dressed, I checked Jack once again before going down to the restaurant floor.

Liz

"Will! Glad to see you!" I greeted him joyfully.

"Hi, Liz," he replied with a shy smile. What a cute guy. "Want some juice? I'll go get them for you."

"Sure, thanks Will!"

Beckett strolled pass us, saying, "And don't forget, my friends, it's just breakfast, not a reunion!"

The nerve of him!

When we were seated at the table, I nudged Will, "That's Jack!"

Will, looking where my finger was pointing, chuckled, "Yeah, Liz, he was still sleeping when I came down. Must've had a late night!"

Jack sauntered into view, saying, "'Ello Maties!" and, "Mornin' Star shine! The Earth says Hello!" at me.

I was staring at Will, "Um…Did you see him drink or eat something he's not supposed to last night…?" Will shrugged, "Maybe this is how he acts in the mornings!"

Norry

Vacation going fine so far, except that Will was sticking up to Elizabeth to much. Believe me, a boy like him was no good for her. You had forgotten your place, Turner!

Jack

Couldn't remember anything as of last night—or stuff up till now, when we got up the bus. 30 Minutes later, we'd arrived at the rainforest.

Tia introduced our bus driver, "…this is Mr. Gibbs, ok?" A large, bald man took off his hat in greeting, winking at me. Everyone was running down to the entrance when Tia stopped us, blocking the way.

"First thing, you guys must remember the rules…" I rolled my eyes. "No littering, Follow Directions, No wandering off anywhere else," No talking, no having fun…whatsoever.

"Blah, blah, blah, blah," I made meself stared at her so that all the boring stuff turned into, 'blur speak,' when I could only see lips moving and no words except 'blah', a technique I'd used with many of me teachers.

"Do you hear me? Kids?" she asked, snapping me off the 'blur speak,'

"Yes, Ms. Tia," Will, Liz, Becky, and Norry droned. You kids?? Why would anyone answer to that?

Another 30-year-old man with straggly beard and hair and the ugliest face I had ever seen stepped in beside Tia, who whispered a few words. (Caught, "---you---the kids---hike—treasure---ok?")

Tia clapped her hands, once again forgetting our present ages, "Kids," she yelled. "This is Mr. Hector Barbossa, our rainforest guide! Mr. Pintel and Ragetti," she ushered, revealing us to other two guys behind Barbossa. One was a fat, greedy-looking bald young boy, about 17 or so. The other, a thin, tall wire pole 16-year-old dude, had only one 'good eye', having worn a black eye patch on his left eye. I had to say they resembled pirates, not some rainforest explorers.

"Kids, hear that? We're going to do some treasure hunt today! Divide yourselves up into two teams. Come on, we don't have all day!" Tia looked at each of us.

Through a series of unfortunate and unforeseeable circumstances (hating Norry and Becky), I got teamed up with the two lovebirds and Ragetti.

"Your group assistant will now hand you the treasure hunt sheets. Remember, the first team who can locate these trees, animals, and flowers wins!" Barbossa announced. Hmm, I reckoned he preferred yelling and long speeches. Oh boy, were we in for a wild ride! The way I saw it, this was the perfect recipe for disaster: a crazy beardy yelling guy, two teenage fools as group assistants, and two treasure-hunting teams, one having two lovesick teenagers.

Ragetti handed me the sheet, smirking, "Good luck, eh?"

I took a peak at the list:

Davy Jones Quest: Caribbean Trip—Rainforest Treasure hunt

"I have never seen anything so beautiful. The country around the river is full of trees, beautiful and green and different from ours, each with flowers and its own kind of fruit. There are many birds of all sizes that sing very sweetly, and there are many palms..."

---Log of Christopher Columbus for Sunday 28 October 1492 (in Cuba)

Good ol' history stuff. Made me yawn, while Will was grinning at mad, obviously showing his appreciation in having read one of the world's greatest explorers' quote of the place he was at now.

Trees, plants, and flowers

--Chataignier

--Anthurium

---Cyathea arborea and Cnemidaria grandifolia

--Gommier

--Bwa Carib (Sabinea carinalis)

Wildlife

---Sisserou birds

--Amazona arausiaca parrot

--Buteo platypterus

---Purple-throated Carib (Eulampis jugularis)

--Siffleur Montagne

--the Rufous-throated Solitaire (Myadestes genibarbis)

--The Barn Owl (This one is ok if you hear it)

--The manicou

--A Crapaud

What the…? All they wanted us to find were a bunch of gibberish words? Were these even in the dictionary? What kinds of words were they? Nerdy Will? Any help?

Will

Wow, amazing. We were going to see all these strange plants and animals… Just then, Jack nudged me.

"Will, what the heck do these words mean? I'm sure Tia's made them up to freak us out," he said, gesturing at the large words on his sheet.

I shook my head, laughing, "No, Jack, haven't you learned Science?"

He raised his eyebrow. "Capt Jack Sparrow goes to school only because he has to, lad,"

I continued, "These are scientific terms for plants and animals and it's a clever trick, though, 'cause we'll get to learn about them from Barbossa as we explore the forest!"

Jack rolled his eyes.

Liz

Tia shouted, "Three, two, one—go! Happy hunting, see you at the other end of the forest! Barbossa, if you please, lead the way!"

I followed them into the forest, feeling lucky to have Will on ours! Smart as he was, we'd sure to win and beat that nasty Beckett. Jack was hilarious as always, and though he may not look it, I was sure he had observant, quick eyesight and adventurous sense of mind.

What's going to happen now? We'd never know………

A/N: The rainforest adventure concludes next chapter--These Noisy Crapauds!

Discover—

Plants, flowers, and animals of Dominica

What's in store for the winning team

What Crapuads are…

And More!

Thanx, it's always a pleasure to read your comments, every one of them,

Your ever humble fanfic writer