Chapter 9.
The next morning the children were relived to find that Joshua was still in the boat, where the smell of fish was competing with the smell of a large unwashed body. Meredith wrinkled her nose. Joshua was subdued as he watched them climb in and saw Cory reach for the button.
“Wait,” shrieked Meredith.
“What is it?” Cory looked at Meredith in bewilderment.
“I’ve just thought of something. Instead of going to that horrible pirate ship, let’s go somewhere else.”
At Cory’s questioning look she said,
“I’ve been thinking about it. If we change the setting on the GPS it could take us to a different place.”
"Maybe, or it may not work at all,” said Cory thoughtfully. “It’s worth a try though.”
“But I want to go back to the pirate ship,” objected Joshua. “I’m a captain. I have to have a ship.”
Cory ignored him as he pulled the canopy into place while Meredith busily pushed a few buttons.
“Try this,” she said.
Cory pushed the silver button and held onto the driver’s seat as a jolt shook the boat. Lifting the canopy cautiously he gave a gasp of relief.
“It’s worked. Look, we’re on a raft.”
Meredith crawled out to find they were on a roughly made raft of wooden posts lashed together. A crumpled tarpaulin in the middle formed the canopy they had come out of.
“There’s an island, awesome,” shrieked Meredith in excitement. The raft was drifting quietly across a lagoon of clear blue water and rapidly approaching a beach of white sand. Tall palm trees fringed the beach and there was no sound but the gentle lap of waves and cry of parrots and other exotic birds in the trees.
“Cool,” said Cory.
“On the contrary, it is rather hot,” replied Joshua, undoing the top buttons of his shirt to reveal a gleaming gold medallion hanging from a chain around his neck. He turned and scanned the horizon.
“Let’s push the raft ashore and go and explore,” suggested Cory.
Joshua helped the children push the raft around the corner of the cove where they dragged it onto the sand under some overhanging bushes.
“Great. Let’s see what’s here,” said Meredith.
Taking off her sneakers, she ran across the sand towards the trees followed by Cory and Joshua, who refused to take off the gumboots.
They found a sparkling stream falling from a waterfall into a small clear pool fringed with soft sand, and beside it grew banana palms covered with clusters of sweet fruit. They ate greedily then lay contentedly in the shade while the children plied Joshua with questions about who he was and what he did.
“I ran away to sea when I was but a lad. I was taken on as a cabin boy and soon found out that life on board ship was a lot harder than the farm I had left behind.”
“Weren’t your parents worried about you,” interrupted Meredith.
“I suppose so, but it was years before I got back home again to see them. By that time my father had died of a fever and my mother had sold the farm and was living with my sister and her family. “
“Why did you run away?” Cory asked him.
Joshua gave him a wry look. “I thought they were making me work too hard on the farm,” he said. “Many’s the time I rued the day I left.”
Cory felt this was uncomfortably like his own experience. Running away certainly hadn’t improved his life, unless scrubbing decks could be counted an improvement.
“What do you do now?” asked Meredith.
“I take on commissions to sail ships all over the world. I was recently returning from the Far East with gold as payment from a cargo I had delivered. Black Harry has stolen it and I intend to get it back.”
He sat on the sand musing on the best way of seeking his revenge and as this involved copious bloodshed, Meredith was feeling less and less friendly towards him.
“I’m so hot I’m melting. Let’s go swimming,” she suggested.
“We don’t have any swimming togs.”
“Yes we do,” said Meredith triumphantly. “I keep a spare pair in the boat and I know there’s a pair there that will fit you because my cousin left them there in the summer when he stayed with us. Dad always keeps a couple of towels under one of the seats in the cabin.”
She ran to the raft and burrowed down into the boat cabin, emerging in her swimsuit and waving a baggy pair of shorts at Cory. He quickly changed and joined her in the pool. Joshua looked at them indulgently as they shrieked and splashed each other, and said he was going to explore the rest of the island.
A few hours later, when Cory and Meredith were dressed again and eating another banana each, Joshua came back.
“A ship approaches,” he said. “Look yonder.”
Meredith and Cory turned and saw what looked unfortunately very like the pirate ship sailing towards them. A large flag marked with the skull and crossbones flew from the mast in the breeze.
“It’s Black Harry,” said Joshua in satisfaction. “I would recognise his ship anywhere.”
“How long will it take to get here?” asked Cory in dismay.
“About two or three hours at least,” grunted Joshua.
“Why is it coming here?” wailed Meredith. “I thought we were rid of it.”
Joshua frowned. “Black Harry will be coming here to land his treasure. There is a village not far away on the other side of the island. I saw the smoke from the cooking fires. That is where he and his crew keep their women and a few pigs and goats.
Meredith glanced uneasily over her shoulder. “Perhaps we should go back now.”
“What are you going to do, Joshua?” Cory asked.
“I’ll wait until the ship arrives,” said Joshua grimly. “I intend to hide in the trees and watch them come ashore. Then, when night falls, I will take one of their boats and row out to the ship under cover of darkness. I will knock out the watchman, up anchor and sail the ship away myself. It isn’t far to the shipping lanes where I can get assistance from one of my friends and Black Harry won’t be able to touch me.”
“Do you want us to stay and help?” asked Cory and was secretly relieved when Joshua shook his head.
“Nay, nay. I’ve no wish to take the little maid into danger, and while you’re a nice enough young lad you have no real experience of seamanship have you?”
“I know how to scrub decks but that’s about it,” admitted Cory, while Joshua roared with laughter.
They parted with a handshake as Joshua went to find himself a good hiding place to wait until nightfall, taking with him a supply of bananas.
“Use a palm leaf to brush our footprints off the sand,” he advised. “That way no-one will know we have been here.”
They did as he bid them and arrived back at the raft. Meredith looked wistfully at the water.
“I’m hot again. I’d love to go for a quick swim in the lagoon,” she said.
“Be my guest,” said Cory “but you might not be so keen if you look over there.”
Meredith looked where he was pointing and suppressed a shriek as she saw a large shark cruising under the clear water. The children wriggled under the tarpaulin to find themselves in their familiar boat again and were soon back in the shed.
“That was much better than the pirate ship, and thank goodness we’ve left Joshua where he wanted to be,” said Meredith thankfully. “Let’s try somewhere else tomorrow.”
“I’ll have to do some more shopping today,” Maggie said at breakfast. “I want to get the crab apples picked so I can make jelly and I’m going to need sugar. We seem to be completely out of peanut butter as well.”
Cory and Meredith shared a guilty look
“I’ll help pick the crab apples if you like,” Cory offered.
Maggie beamed “That is so kind of you to offer Cory. Usually Meredith and I do it, so an extra pair of hands will be appreciated. I’d like to get some of the cooking apples picked too. That way I can freeze them for pies later in the ye
ar.”
“I love apple pie,” said Cory. “I remember my Mum used to make it. She always made custard to go with it.”
“My pie probably won’t be as good as your mothers’,” said Maggie tactfully, “but you and Meredith can help me make one if you like.”
“Cool, I love cooking,” said Meredith happily.
Maggie laughed. “You mean you like eating what’s left in the basin,” she teased. “Now I’m going to pop out to the shop so would you two like to make a start on the crab apples while I’m gone? Mr Sanders is fixing a fence just along from the shed, so if you have any problems just give him a yell.”
“Yeah, sure!” said Cory and a few minutes later he and Meredith ambled out to the crab apple tree with a stepladder and some buckets. They rapidly filled one bucket and gave Maggie a wave as she left in the car. Meredith turned to Cory excitedly.
“Let’s go somewhere in the boat while Mum’s gone.”
“We said we’d pick the crab apples,” protested Cory.
“But we can do that when we get back. You know that no time seems to pass here, no matter how long we are away. We can go for a trip then still be back here to pick the crab apples before Mum gets back.”
Cory could find no fault in her reasoning but still felt less than enthusiastic about the boat trip. “Things haven’t exactly gone wonderfully so far,” he warned as they pulled the canopy over their heads.
“Perhaps our luck will change,” said Meredith hopefully “I’ll change our direction so we don’t end up on the pirate ship again.”
“The island was okay.”
“Not if there were pirates arriving at any minute. And don’t forget the sharks.” Meredith shuddered then gave a shriek as Cory pushed the button and she was tossed to the floor of the boat.
“I keep forgetting to hang on,” she complained. Where are we?”
Cory peered out from under the canopy then turned to her in surprise.
“I think you’re right. Our luck has changed. I can’t see any pirates at all.”
Time For a Change Page 9
