Looking at her husband, Snow Flower begins to laugh, “You coward, you are afraid to answer my question aren’t you? Well keep grabbing the food and taking huge bites. Soon you will be too full to eat anything more…I’ll just wait Blue Cloud.”
“Knowing that he can’t outsmart his wife, he puts down his food and begins to laugh. “You know me too well, Snow Flower, but do I need to answer your question?”
“Well, of course, why do you think that I asked it?”
“What was the question again?” Blue Cloud tries to stall for time.
“…Blue Cloud!” Snow Flower states a little louder and with a smile on her face.
Moving over to his wife, he puts his arm around her. “Snow Flower, you are the most beautiful woman that I have ever known, and I love your food…it’s just that this food is something that I have never tasted before… I like it too.”
“It is quite tasty. I’ll have to agree with that. But to get out of trouble, you’ll have to get all of our meal tomorrow.”
“Oh, no problem, I can do that…so I’m out of trouble?”
“We’ll see how you do tomorrow Blue Cloud. That will be the deciding factor.”
“I’m feeling tired. Where should we go to sleep, woman?”
“I think that we are far enough away from their village, that they won’t hear us, but we’re still close enough to get some of their breakfast in the morning. This is nice,” she says with a smile. “I’m expecting breakfast in bed, Blue Cloud.”
They both begin to quietly laugh, knowing that they are both having fun.
“I hope you know that at some time we are going to have to tell them and repay them for their food….”
“I know. But until we know what is going on, it’s safer for us to hide.”
“There is one thing strange that I noticed Blue Cloud…”
“What’s that?”
“I haven’t seen any men.”
“That is quite strange isn’t it? Maybe we’ll find out why that is, tomorrow.”
***
The morning sun seems especially bright for this special day as the crowing of the rooster is met with excitement. After their morning meal, everyone gathers in the middle of their village, to begin their walk to the cove.
“Don’t you think that we should clean up this food before we leave?” Diana asks.
“Let the birds have it, I’m too excited for our adventure,” Grace says as she throws her right hand into the air in a nonchalant manner.
In her mind Diana thinks to herself. “Mother has never left food out like this. She always cleans up after every meal.” Looking at her mother strangely Diana says, “I’m not going to argue about cleaning up.”
“I’ll race you to the cove Diana,” her mother challenges as she starts running.
Surprised Diana yells, “Now was that fair?” as she scrambles to catch up.
Watching Diana and her mother race, the rest of the mothers and daughters take on the same challenge.
***
All of the commotion wakes Snow Flower and Blue Cloud. The mother and daughters run by where they are sleeping, with only a large bush between them, but with their cloth making them invisible.
“Where are they going Snow Flower?”
“I don’t know… I was asleep.”
Blue Cloud’s stomach is growling, “Well, I’ll go to the village and see if there is any breakfast left.”
Putting his cloth around him in case someone is still there, Blue Cloud slowly walks toward the tables. “Look at all of this food, I wonder why they left it out on their tables?” He says to himself. Gathering as much as he can hold, he walks back to Snow Flower.
“Spread out your blanket my sweet, breakfast is served.”
“Ah, this is wonderful.”
“So, am I out of trouble?”
“I’ll let you know Blue Cloud, you’re coming quite close to being my favorite man,” Snow Flower says with a smile.
Guessing that he is finally out of trouble, Blue Cloud sits back and enjoys his meal.
***
Quickly arriving at the cove, the island daughters show their mothers the ship. “There it is, isn’t it beautiful?”
In awe the mothers look at each other. Knowing something that the daughters don’t, tears come to their eyes. Making a circle, the mothers begin talking amongst themselves. “The time that Daniel told us about so many years ago has finally come.”
“I didn’t know that it would happen for this reason though,” Shelly stated sadly.
“I don’t think that any of us could have guessed it would happen this way, but it has and look at everything that we have been given to find our younger daughters. We will have to gather everything that we have prepared when we get back.”
“Mothers, what are you doing? Come on, let’s get on our ship,” Diana yells as she walks toward the water’s edge.
Following Diana’s example they walk to the edge of the water and dive in swimming to the rope ladder. One by one they climb up, and onto the ship.
“Jaimie, Danielle, Jessica and Stacey, would you please get up on the bow and cut the branches of the trees that have been hiding this ship, so we can pass through it?” Diana asks.
As she goes to the Captain’s cabin, Diana takes off the oil lamp. The table opens and the lever pops up. “I guess we are going to see if this really works.” Flipping the switch up, the green light turns on. Pressing the lever slowly forward, the ship rises up, just high enough to fly over the calm water. It begins to move slowly forward as the girls cut, move and push the branches and vines out of the way. Finally the ship is clear and flying above the waves of the sea.
Pushing the lever further forward the ship begins to move faster. Pressing the knob on her right, the sails have rolled into their individual mast. And no matter how high the waves get, the ship seems to automatically know how high it needs to fly, to clear the water.
“Diana, this is wonderful,” Grace states as she stands by her daughter in the Captain’s cabin.
“Mother I wanted you to see how safe we are in this ship, because tomorrow, my island sisters and I will leave to find our younger sisters.”
“…Tomorrow?”
“Yes, we need to leave as soon as we can. The ship is ready. All we need are clothes to wear so that other pirates will think that we are men.”
“My daughter, we have already thought of that.”
“What do you mean Mother?”
“You and your sisters will see tomorrow. All of the mothers have been very busy sewing outfits for you and your crew.”
“You knew about the ship?”
“Yes, Daniel told me.”
“You know Daniel?”
“Yes, Daniel has talked to me since I was a small girl. I met him at the Beach House, and since then we have always had a connection. But somehow this storm made it possible for him to also talk to you. But the dimension he was talking to you from, was when he lived twenty light years away on Gliese with his family.”
“Daniel has a family?”
“Yes, a beautiful wife and two little children.”
“How come he never told me about them?”
“It’s probably because he knew that his time was short and he wanted to make sure that you had all the information that you needed.”
“He told me that he was in a laboratory, that there were guards that would come by to see what he was doing.”
“Yes. Daniel was a very important person on Gliese. His position was protector of the books, but what his government really had him working on was time travel.”
“What is time travel?”
“It is where a person has the ability to move from one dimension to another and back again… if they choose to go back again.”
“How do you know about all of this?”
“Daniel taught me when I was at the Beach House.”
“Why were you at the Beach House?”
“I’ll have to tell you about th
at some day.”
“Is Daniel’s family with him at the Beach House?”
“Sadly no…”
“Where are they?”
“I’ll have to tell you about that some other day also…what I will tell you today is that when you were young he told me that one day you would be a woman pirate.”
“…Woman pirate?” Diana says as she thinks of future adventures. “I never thought of being a pirate, mother.”
“I know. But, the other mothers and I have been preparing for this day. We didn’t know it would come under these circumstances, but we knew that it would come.”
“And Daniel told you?”
“Yes, and he gave us leather to make your outfits.”
“What do they look like mother?”
“You’ll see in the morning. With this ship, your outfits and the new weapons that you found, you are now prepared to find your sisters.”
“It’s amazing what destiny helps us to do isn’t it?”
“It is! Whenever destiny puts something in our path we are given whatever we need to see it through to its end, and this is just one example my child.”
The rest of the day was a wonderful experience, as the ship gracefully glided over the waves in whatever direction it was directed to go.
Returning to the cove, Diana turns to her mother. “As you can see, we can handle this ship.”
“Thank you Diana. After today, I will not worry while you are gone. You are a wonderful Captain. And with your expertise with the sword, you will be a wonderful pirate.”
Walking back into their village, they notice that all of the food is gone. “My goodness, the birds must have really been hungry. They didn’t leave anything,” Grace comments.
“Well, think of it this way. If you want to go for a swim in the cove rather than cleaning up the meal, just leave the leftover food and the birds will eat it.”
Everyone laughs.
Grace gathers all of the mothers together. “Time has gone so quickly and now it is here, the time that Daniel prepared us for. Our daughter’s uniforms are finished, and as each one of us has tried their uniforms on, I can tell you that I would be afraid of coming against anyone dressed like they will be dressed. Do any of you have any questions?”
“Don’t you think that it would be a good idea to make holders for their guns and swords?”
“That would be an excellent idea, especially with what they found in the cave.”
“Are there any other questions or suggestions?”
“Yes. As we were all in the beautiful ship today I noticed that they didn’t raise any colors. Don’t they have a flag?”
“A pirate ship without a flag is no pirate ship at all.”
“I think that it should look like their father’s Jolly Roger, but with a gold crown on it. You all know what that means don’t you?”
“Yes Grace. With that posted on their ship and wearing those uniforms word will get out to leave them alone.”
Everyone begins working on their projects. All of the mothers work through the night to make sure that their daughters will have what they need to play their part so that they can find their younger sisters.
Soon everything is finished.
“I am so proud of all of the work that each of you has done to prepare clothing that will protect our girls…and the flag…what a great idea, it’s message will be loud and clear!”
“Grace, morning is almost here.”
“Yes, we should all go to bed so that we will be able to send our daughters on their journey.”
Once again as morning breaks, the roosters begin to crow and wonderful aromas can be smelled coming from the village kitchen. As the island sisters appear, their mother’s sit them down to a wonderful breakfast. While they are eating, each mother walks toward her daughter with the outfit that they have been working on for this occasion.
Variations of the outfit are made out of dark brown/black leather. The same color leather pants, with leather boots that come up to their knees. Black, long sleeve full blouses, so that it is easy to move their arms. A leather vest to protect them, a full-length leather coat with long sleeves, turned up cuffs and a collar, that if pulled up and buttoned to the last button, was high enough to cover their faces to just below their eyes.
“Here are some black scarves to cover your long beautiful hair to keep it up so that it won’t fall out from under your hat. The hats are leather three cornered hats, like what your fathers wear. But on some of them we put pheasant feathers, and others have fancy trim.”
“We have made these types of clothes so that if you come in contact with other pirates, they will not know that you are women. That is if you don’t speak.”
Grace continues, “Diana we have all talked and we would suggest that every time that anyone is on the deck that they wear their outfit. That way if someone is using a looking glass they will see that you are a crew of dangerous pirates, and hopefully they will not approach you.”
Looking toward the mothers, Diana says, “We take your suggestions seriously, my mothers. We will do as you ask.” Looking at her crew she says, “Do you agree my sisters?”
The sisters all agree with Diana’s words, and with their mother’s suggestions. “Thank you for all your work mothers.”
“Wait a minute daughters…last night we made these for you to carry your guns and your swords. Work with it, it makes a cross in front. I would carry the pistol holder under your coat, and your sword holder that connects to the metal scabbard, over your coat. And why not carry an extra pistol in one of your pockets where you could keep your hand on it at all times?”
“My goodness, mothers, maybe you should be the ones going on this search. You seem to know a lot about pirates and what to expect.”
Now what are you going to fly for your colors?
“…Colors?” The girls look startled as if they had forgotten one of the most important requirements of a ship, particularly a pirate ship. “We have been so busy we haven’t thought of our colors.”
“Last night we made a Jolly Roger just like your fathers have, but we added a gold crown signifying ‘Death to Tyrants’. This should send a clear message to Black Beard and his crew; he has been nothing but trouble for all our families. What do you think?”
“It’s perfect mother. Black Beard will shiver in his boots when he sees it.”
“Daughters, we have heard many stories from your fathers. Be careful and know that our love goes with you.”
Walking to the cove, the sisters board their new ship, as the newest island pirates. As Diana goes to the Captain’s Cabin to navigate the ship, the other sisters stand on the deck in their outfits waving good-bye to their mothers.
As the ‘Destiny’ lifts in the air and begins to fly toward the horizon, the daughter pirates look back to the shore trying to find their own mother. The mothers stand on the beach watching the ship disappear.
Memories of the day that Black Beard left with the youngest island daughters fill their hearts with feelings of loneliness and pain from being parted from their loved ones, but this time there is also a sense of adventure and the possibility of finding the kidnapped island sisters.
CHAPTER 4
To take up their time as they sailed across the Caribbean Sea, Black Beard and Gray Wolf have continued to fight each other with their swords. As they man their positions each pirate is always aware of where they are so that they won’t get cut or stabbed.
“Where are they now?”
Looking toward the bow, a pirate answers cautiously, “Starboard Bow.”
“Good, I’ll go back to the stern.
“I’ll go with you, I’m tired of getting stabbed…Black Beard thinks that it is funny.”
Taking a break, Gray Wolf asks, “Black Beard, the girls have been below deck for days now, don’t you think that it is time to let them come up on deck?”
“I let them walk the deck on the first day, but after that I thought that it would be better for the
m to stay below so that they wouldn’t know how to get back home on their own.”
“It’s been four full days now. Don’t you think that we are far enough away?”
“We’ve been averaging about eighty miles a day. Our trip will take us five hundred and sixty miles, which will take about seven days. I’ll let them come up on deck tomorrow. That way I know that they will have no idea where we are.”
“Would you like to continue practicing with the Cutlass then?”
“No, son, in just a short time you have mastered all of the techniques that I know. Maybe we should go to a pistol.”
“What is a pistol?”
“You’ve seen the cannons on our ship haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s a type of small cannon that you hold in your hand.”
“Do you have to light a fuse like I have seen your crew light the cannons?”
“No.” Black Beard opens his coat. “Look at all of these pistols that I carry across my chest.”
“I’ve never really noticed them before because your coat normally covers them… You carry quite a few of them don’t you?”
“When in battle son, you want to be the one that has the most weapons so that you can win the fight and live another day.”
“That’s understandable, Black Beard. Would you show me how they work?”
“When you learn how to handle them and how they shoot you can do this,” and Black Beard quickly takes a pistol in both hands and starts shooting at a nearby barrel.
As the water starts spraying out of the holes onto the deck, all of their mates quickly look around to see what is happening.
“Oh, no the captain is showing Gray Wolf how to shoot a pistol.”
“Look, he just shot holes in our water barrel. What are we going to have to drink?”
One pirate runs behind the largest mate, who questions, “What are you doing standing behind me holding onto my coat?”
“In case he shoots in this direction, you’re bigger than I am.”
“How am I supposed to move out of the way if you are holding onto me?”