Chapter 20 - Stormy Seas and Pirates

In the Adventure section, Becca and her friends had just finished launching a boat out to sea. "Oh, I don't feel confident about this boat, mistress," Horror said with worry, "What if we spring a leak, or meet hungry sharks? I can't stand the thought of either of them!" With those words, he hid his face into the front of Becca's skirt.
"It's okay, Horror," said Becca as she knelt down and comforted the woodchuck, "I've been on boats lots of times. I don't think anything like leaks or sharks will happen! I hope."
"If anything does," added Sci Fi with a sly grin, "I can help us – in my time period, I travel a lot by airplane and flying saucer!"
"Not to mention stars!" Fantasy added.
"All right, ye mermaids!" said Adventure with impatience in his voice, "That's enough chit-chat! Let's get this boat a-movin' if the curse is ever going to be broken!"
"Right," said Becca as she helped her animal friends into the boat. She looked out at the open water for a moment and wondered. I think I may have actually been here before, she thought, It's just that I can't really remember.
Mystery saw Becca trapped in a train of thoughts, and asked her, "Um, Becca, darling, is something wrong?"
Becca shook her head and said, "Um, no! It's just that I vaguely remember this part of the library. I think I dreamed one time about travelling through all the different sections of this place with someone - an old man to be exact… But that's just crazy! Why would I be travelling here with a total stranger?"
Meanwhile, Sci Fi, who had been eavesdropping, gasped and turned her head away from the rest of her friends. She knew that there was something about Becca all along – she may have actually been Bethylasia this whole time and never even knew it!

After a few minutes, Becca took up an oar that was in the boat, and began pushing the water along with it. "Here we go!" she said with enthusiasm, "Off on another merry adventure!" She looked at Adventure with a big smile, and the beaver smiled back.
Unknown to anyone, the sunny skies were turning dark, and several purple ghosts were travelling up in the air, looking for trouble. It wasn't long before they came to a scary-looking ship that had a black flag with a skull and crossbones. A ruthless pirate captain named Long John Silver looked up and saw the ghosts. "Well, if it ain't a message from that sea dragon in the Restricted section!" he beamed. The ghosts came down to see Silver and whispered something in his ear. "She is?" said the pirate captain, "Well, she'll be in for a big surprise!" He then laughed a wicked laugh as the ghosts floated away.

Back in their little rowboat, Becca and the animals kept happily sailing along when Sheila meowed a very frightened meow. "Sheila, what is it?" Becca asked the kitten. The girl looked up and was shocked by what she saw – dark clouds were forming high above in the sky! Just then, raindrops began to fall all around. "Oh no!" cried Becca, "We've got a storm coming!"
"This can't be!" added Fantasy, "This whole rowboat's gonna fill up with water, and we're gonna sink!"
"Or we could get caught in a massive wave and go down that way!" added Adventure.
"Either way," said Mystery, "I don't like the sounds of those kinds of deaths!"
"Me neither!" cried Becca.
Suddenly, a large wave appeared and crashed down on top of the party's boat! Becca felt herself fall into the water, and held however much air in her mouth as she could hold. Since she couldn't see any of her friends anywhere, the poor girl had no choice but to swim to the surface and save herself! Upon reaching the surface, Becca swam over to a large piece of wood leftover from the broken boat and climbed onto it. "WHERE IS EVERYONE?!" she yelled. For a while, there was no answer; but then, a faint meow came into Becca's ears. She looked down and saw Sheila struggling for life in the water. Carefully, the girl pulled the kitten aboard and held her in her lap.

Then, two more figures gasped for air. One of them turned out to be Adventure, and the other one Sci Fi. "Adventure! Sci Fi!" Becca cried happily as she helped them onto the board, "You guys are okay!"
"Of course we are!" coughed Sci Fi, "It's that damn wave and rainstorm that caused the trouble!"
"Well, I've seen worse!" added Adventure. He then looked at a worried Becca and asked her, "What's wrong, lass?"
"Where's Mystery? And Horror and Fantasy?" the girl asked.
"Oh, I don't know," answered Sci Fi, "They may have…" she stopped speaking, because she could feel a lump in her throat.
"They may have what?" Becca asked as her eyes became moist.
Adventure removed the bandana from his head and said, "They may be sleeping with the fishes by now."
Poor Becca knew what her friends meant, so she put her head above her knees and wrapped her arms around herself. Sheila meowed in sympathy as her human friend started crying. Sci Fi began to cry, too, because Fantasy was her best friend, and the marten secretly loved Mystery. Adventure put his paw on Sci Fi's shoulder for comfort while Becca looked up and said, "They can't be dead! They have to be out there somewhere!" She then called out, "MYSTERY! FANTASY! HORROR!"
"Becca, honey, it's no use," comforted Sci Fi, "I'm sure they're all in a better place now. I'm sure… they're… happy now!" At the last sentence, Sci Fi tried to comfort her friend, but she couldn't – she had to continue crying.
"Maybe someone will help us," said Becca as she calmed down a bit. Then she noticed a large ship in the distance; her face lit up as she cried, "Maybe these guys can help us!"
Adventure also saw the ship and became nervous. "I don't know, lassie," he said as he put his bandana back on, "Just remember that not all sharks or killer whales are in the water!"
"He's right," added Sci Fi, "There's something about this ship that I don't trust." And she was right. As the ship came closer, a familiar black flag with a skull and crossbones came into view on top of the mast.

On the pirate ship, two dark-skinned pirates climbed into a lifeboat, and then made their way down to see the lost friends. "Looks like we've got ourselves a mermaid and her animal friends!" said one pirate.
"Those animals would do fine to become either snacks or fur hats," added the other one, "And the girl would make a fine present for our captain!" So the pirates rowed their boat to Becca and the animals, and then they snatched them!
"Ugh, what are you guys doing?" Becca asked them with disgust.
"You wanted help, didn't ye?" The first pirate asked, "Well, ye've come to the right place!"
"Today's the captain's birthday, and we're going to Treasure Island to celebrate!" added the second pirate, "But first, we must present him his gifts!"
"Gifts?!" scoffed Sci Fi, "What do you mean by 'gifts?'"
"I think he means us," whispered Becca. The pirates then took their prisoners back to their ship, where the lifeboat was hauled up, and the poor girl and animals were given a not-so-warm welcome!

A ruthless pirate named Tom Morgan came up to the girl and said, "Well, look here! Looks like we have a beautiful sea flower. I think she'll make a great gift!"
"Shhh!" shushed a fat pirate named George Merry, "Here comes the captain! We have to hide these sea-dogs!"
The pirates all surrounded their prisoners as Captain Long John Silver, the infamous captain from Treasure Island, approached his crew. "All right, ye sea dogs!" he boomed, "What are ye doin' now?"
The pirates all jumped out of their circle and cried, "Surprise! Happy Birthday, Captain!"
"We found these salties floatin' beside our boat," said one of the dark-skinned pirates, "And we thought that the animals would all make great snacks, and the girl would make an excellent gift for a man like you!"
"I will NOT!" screamed Becca, "Let me and my friends go!"
"Be silent!" ordered Tom Morgan, "Or else YE'LL be the one who will make a good snack!"
"You heard the lost princess!" yelled Sci Fi, "You either let us go or die!" Suddenly, she put her paws over her mouth, not believing what she just blurted out! Becca looked at her in disbelief. "I'll explain later," whispered Sci Fi.
Silver looked at the marten and said, "Oh, we have a feisty sea otter, eh?"
"Awk! Sea otter!" repeated Silver's parrot that was perched on his shoulder. Sci Fi growled and tried to bite the captain on his finger. However, George Merry picked her up and squeezed her in the stomach, making her struggle to get free.

Adventure didn't say or do anything. He just stood beside Becca and Sheila as if to defend them. "And what have we here?" Silver asked the beaver.
"What ye have," answered Adventure, "Is a quartet of toughies like you – only we're the ones who are gonna leave ye weepin' home to yer mothers!"
The captain was about to kill the beaver when a voice came from the crow's nest. "LAND HO!" cried a pirate who was serving as lookout. All the pirates scrambled to the side of the deck and saw an island off in the distance; this wasn't just any island – it was the titular island from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel.
"TREASURE ISLAND!" the pirates all cheered, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR CAPTAIN!"
Long John Silver just smiled, because he knew that his birthday was going great so far!