Well, here we are at chapter 11! I had no idea that this story would work itself out to be so long! And we've got about two-three chapters left. Enjoy everyone!
Many thanks to Jennifer Lynn Weston, Up-in-the-clouds, LostWitch5, grecianxpiratex07, Starling Rising, Caomhe of Tyrone, and Telcontar Rulz for your awesome review! I really love to read your responses to this story! They've all been so sweet!
And grecianxpiratex07, this chapter is especially for you! (the next even more so!) I hope it lives up to your expectations!
Chapter 11: New Friends
After that, the pirate ship wasn't so scary. My friend Marty was always busy but that was fine because I just followed Jack or Mr. Cotton around.
Mr. Cotton's parrot was still being a meanie pants and once when it made me cry Jack gave me his compass to play with. I liked that. Maybe it wasn't so bad to have a meanie around after all. Mum just gave me hugs 'n stuff. Those were good, too. Long as she didn't do it in front of the other village boys. But she had never gived me a compass.
After a while, I got tired of watching the little tiny red pointy thing go all spin-y. I tried going in circles to see if that would make it more inter'sting.
My tummy didn't like that very much.
I tried pushing it around like the toy carriages Mum has for me. It didn't push very good.
I shaked it to see if it made noise. It didn't.
Mum made noises if you tickled her tummy just right. Sometimes I'd sneak up real quiet behind her and get her. She was a good listener though and so it didn't happen very much.
I wondered if Jack was tickley like she was…I was going to find out when I saw something more inter'sting.
Marty was on deck again!
I ran down fast to catch up to him. He was pulling on all these ropes that went up to the big white cloths. Jack said those made the ship go but I didn't believe him. Didn't he know that the water was pushing us?
But those big white things had to be good for something. I think they're just for fancy-ness. Like Mum's pretty jewelry. She doesn't wear it very often though. She says that she wants to wait for Father to come home first.
Maybe that's why they were doing things to the white cloths. They were taking them down until somebody special could come.
Did ships have fathers? I decided to ask Mum when I saw her again.
First, I'd help my new friend. I tried to pull on the rope with him. He pulled away. I think he was trying too hard. Mum doesn't think you can do that. But when she makes me do my letters I think you can.
Since Marty wouldn't pull the rope with him I walked over to another rope and pulled on that. But nothing happened. I pushed up my sleeves like the big men in the village do. That seemed to help them do strong things.
I don't think it worked good for me.
I tried my hardest, until my forehead was all hot, to pull that stupid rope. It didn't move. I kicked it.
Mum wouldn't have liked that but she didn't pull as hard as I did. I think under the circ'stan'es that it was justifying. I heard Bettie say that once when she got mad at Mrs. Hewitt. That was somethin'! Mrs. Hewitt said something about my Mum being a "red lady". Bettie didn't like that very much. She got all red in the face and stamped her feet. She waved her spoon, too.
I didn't understand that. What was so bad about being called red? I understanded Bettie being angry though.
I wanted hit that rope!
So, I did. Only the rope grabbed me. My ankle, anyway.
I flied up with it. Before Mum could have said pickled eggs I was looking down at the deck I was supposed to be standing on.
I saw Marty going fast around below me and I tried yelling to him. He didn't hear me, I think, 'cause he didn't even look up.
He wasn't being a very nice friend. I crossed my arms and gave him my scary look. He still didn't turn. My head was feeling all funny from being 'side down, like Bettie had filled my head with her fluffy biscuits. That didn't feel very comfortable, I decided. I liked them much better in my tummy.
I couldn't reach anything to get back down. I tried. It was all too far away. I didn't want to cry but I was getting tired of this. Maybe Marty was playing a hide-and-seek game. If he was I didn't like it very much.
I told him so.
But do you know?
Somebody heard me. It wasn't Marty though. It was somebody different. It was that scary Monster called Gibbs.
He ran quick to where the rope had grabbed me. He did something and then I was flying down. I closed my eyes real tight. Mum was going to have to give me lots of kisses when I hitted that deck.
I hitted something soft instead. There was a big 'oof!' and then I wasn't moving no more. And that was a relief.
I opened one eye and saw a hand bigger than both my feet holding me. I turned and saw the bushy face of the Gibbs. I started to yell but that monster didn't look so scary anymore. He kind of looked like Bettie when I dropped a pan on her foot.
That got me to think. I looked at him hard. "Are you a monster? I heared of monsters on the ocean."
He blinked. "What on God's green earth…"
His voice sounded sort of squeaky. But I didn't mind. "What does that mean? 'Cause there is ocean, too."
I sighed when he didn't answer. I don't think these people had been around my Mum very much or she'd be very dis'ppointed in them. "So you're not a monster?"
He shook his head.
"Then I can be your friend!" I told him, smiling big. "Would you like to be my friend, Gibbs? We can shake on it like the men in the taverns do!" I put my hand in his face.
He took it and gave it a little shake. "Agreed, Master Turner."
"Good. 'Cause my friend Marty isn't a good friend. I think he needs a talk with Mum." I whispered secret-like. Friends have secrets. And Gibbs was my new bestest friend.
"Gibbs!"
That was Jack's voice. I looked all over for him but I couldn't find him anywhere. I hopped off Gibbs and ran around the round pole in the center of the ship. I saw Mr. Jack standing in front of his cabin. He had a funny, pinchy look on his face.
Gibbs came up behind me and talked quiet with Jack for a while. I tried to sneak up on them once but Jack saw me. He 'shooed' me back to the middle of the ship.
I got 'mpatient waiting for my new friend to finish talking and started to look around. And I saw something that was probably the most important thing all day!
It was that scary man's ship!
TBC...