Pirate Queen

by Marci Peschke

  T.J. can’t help it. He starts to laugh, too. I have to say, I don’t think pirate talk is all that funny.

  Lucy and I ignore them. We have been thinking hard about our parrot problem.

  Then an idea hits me like gold in a treasure chest. I have a brother who loves pirates! Not T.J., Ugly Brother. He will be a parrot for our crew! I tell Lucy, and we decide to sing a sea shanty to celebrate our good fortune in getting a full crew. Our song goes like this:

  Oh, I’m a pirate and have one leg!

  I have one eye!

  A hook for an arm and a yo ho hi!

  I sail the seas on my pirate ship.

  If I see you and you see me,

  You better sail fast!

  Then we start all over again. Daddy turns onto Lickskillet Road. We are almost to Nanny and Pa’s farm, so we stop singing. I think T.J. is glad.

  Momma asks, “Where did you hear that pirate song?”

  “I just made it up,” I say.

  T.J. shakes his head.

  * * *

  When I get home, I make Ugly Brother a special dog collar with bright paper feathers tied all around it.

  Then I carefully tie it around his neck and I take a real good long look at him.

  He has the body of a fat ol’ bulldog, but at least he has the colors of a parrot.

  I explain, “You are one lucky sailor! From now on, you get to be the parrot instead of the cook.”

  He barks, “Ruff.”

  One bark means no, so he is not convinced.

  “Come on, no one wants to be the cook,” I say. “Please? You can eat crackers and help us find a secret pirate hideout. . . .”

  He barks, “Ruff, ruff.”

  Ugly Brother sure loves crackers.

  The crew and I decide that we need a secret pirate cove, so we all agree to meet after school the next day at my house. As soon as we’re all there, I suggest, “Maybe the woods behind Granny and Pappy’s house would work. It’s very secret.”

  “How about your garage?” Lucy asks.

  Cara groans. “Those are too boring,” she says. “Someplace a little mysterious might make a better hideout.”

  “I know!” Paula says. “How about the spooky old house at the end of Kylie Jean’s street?”

  I know the house she means. People call it the Black house, because the last person to live there was an old man named Bart Black.

  “I love that idea,” Cara says. “The boys will never find us if we make our hideout there!”

  When I look at Lucy, I can tell she is scared. She thinks the house is haunted.

  It is creepy. No one lives there, but sometimes it looks like the old curtains are moving, as if someone is looking out. Some of the windows have boards over them. The white paint on the house is all peeling off, showing the gray wood underneath. Plus, it’s Halloween time. Everything is creepier around Halloween!

  Lucy shivers. “I’m not going!” she says. “That house is creepy. Everyone says it’s haunted!”

  “There are no haunted houses in Jacksonville,” I say, putting my hands on my hips. “Don’t worry, Lucy.” I sure hope I’m right!

  Cara smiles and adds, “Remember, the Black house is just a house.”

  “I know it’s a house,” Lucy says. “An old, dark, spooky house!”

  Paula stands up. “Come on,” she says. “Let’s go before it gets dark and we have to go home.”

  After packing a few things in our treasure chest, which is really just a cardboard box, I call our parrot and we set out down the street. We look like a little parade.

  I am in the front with my parrot, Ugly Brother, ahead of me. Then comes the crew in their pirate hats, and at the end my first mate, Lucy, pulling the treasure chest in a wagon. I think Lucy wants to be last in line. She’s as scared as a pirate on a plank.

  Before long, we march right up to our new hideout. I look up at the old house and think I see something in the window upstairs. Lucy has got my imagination running wild.

  Cara starts to wade through the long, dry grass toward the back of the house.

  “Hey, where are you going?” I shout.

  She hollers back, “Exploring. It might be hard to get inside the house.”

  I don’t say anything, but I decide it’s a pretty good idea, so I follow her. Paula follows me.

  “Don’t leave me here all alone with Ugly Brother!” Lucy calls nervously.

  Ugly Brother whines. But we just keep going anyway.

  As Paula, Cara, and I turn the corner, we see an old shed. The windows are so dirty I can’t see inside, so I rub my sleeve on the glass until I can see a small, dirty room.

  Perfect! The boys will never look for us here. Paula pulls open the rusty door and it creaks and groans.

  Behind us, we hear Lucy shriek, “What’s that noise?”

  “Just the door!” Paula shouts. “Come on, it’s safe!”

  Now that we’ve found our secret spot, the crew needs to vote for or against it. If you think Lucy votes nay, you’re right. “No way,” she says, looking at the shed. “The garage will be much better.”

  Everyone else votes aye. Ugly Brother votes “ruff, ruff.” I count his vote as an aye, too. The vote is four in favor and one against! Lucy’s vote is outnumbered, and so our hideout will be behind the old Black house.

  Lucy blows out a great big sigh and starts to unpack the treasure chest. Paula and Cara begin to move old, dusty pots and watering cans out of the shed.

  I hide everything so that no one even knows we’ve been there. We leave the dirty windows dark so the boys can’t find us!

  While we work, I have a funny feeling someone is watching us. It might be a good idea not to tell Lucy or the crew.

  We set all of our water bottles on an old shelf next to our tin of crackers. We put our treasure chest box in the middle of the room. Inside, gold bead necklaces and fake gold coins glimmer in the dim light.

  In one corner, there is an old rusty metal bucket. Upside down, it makes a great stool, so I sit right on it. Lucy and Paula pull the wagon inside the shed to use as their seat.

  Cara finds a little wooden bench that is kind of wobbly. She says, “Every time this bench wobbles, it makes me feel like I’m sailing on an ocean full of waves.”

  I nod. “Being here makes me feel like we sailed right over to our very own treasure island!” I tell them.

  Paula passes around the crackers. Pirates would call them hardtack. Next, we all have a swallow of water.

  I teach the other girls the pirate song, and we sing it together until our parrot dog begins to howl. Then we pass our water bottle around again.

  Outside, the sun is starting to float like a big orange ball as it goes down to make room for the moon, and inside, we can barely see. As the captain, I have to look out for my crew.

  “We have to go back now before it gets dark,” I say. Then I give the orders. “Prepare to set sail!” I shout.

  Paula asks, “What does that mean in pirate talk?”

  “Get your stuff,” I tell her.

  We pack up quickly. As we are walking around the old house, Lucy stops. She is right behind me and everyone else is behind her. The other girls both have to stop.

  Cara asks, “Why are we stopping?”

  “A . . . a . . . a . . . light,” Lucy stammers, pointing at the house.

  I spin around and see a light in one of the windows. Then quick as a flash, it is gone. Now I wonder if I really saw it at all. “It’s probably just the sun reflecting on the window,” I say, though I’m not really sure. “Come on. Let’s go!”

  I start walking a little faster. The crew walks faster, too. Even our dog parrot speeds up! Seeing the light was kind of spooky, but a pirate captain can’t be a ’fraidy cat. It was just my imagination playing tricks on me. Right?

>   I’ve been reading up on pirates so that I can prove to Cole that girls can be pirates, and also so I can get ready for Halloween. Lots of pirates wore a gold hoop earring. Some pirates even wore two. That makes me want to get my ears pierced.

  I learned something else, too! There was a famous pirate named Black Bart.

  I wonder if he could be related to Bart Black, who used to own the Black house, where we made our pirate hideout.

  I decide to ask Momma if I can go to the mall on Saturday and get my ears pierced. I’m as nervous as a captain without a crew, because I’m pretty sure Momma is going to say no. That means I have to be ready to beg.

  The next day at school, I tell Lucy all about my plan. I say, “I’m goin’ to get my ears pierced so I can look like a real pirate.”

  Lucy gasps. “Your momma is gonna let you get pierced ears?” she asks. “No way!”

  I fidget with the books on my desk. “She might say yes,” I say hopefully.

  Lucy shakes her head. My momma is her aunt, so she knows she is strict. Momma always says she doesn’t want me to grow up too fast, but my pirate costume won’t look very good without earrings!

  I just have to talk Momma into letting me get them.

  “Can you help me think of some good reasons to get pierced ears?” I ask Lucy.

  Lucy frowns and wrinkles her nose. She’s thinking hard. “Hmmm,” she says. “Maybe there aren’t any good reasons.”

  I can only think of one. “If I do it now, then I won’t have to do it later,” I say. “Right?”

  Lucy smiles. “If you have them pierced, then you’ll have to keep them clean,” she says, eyes twinkling. “Parents like to give us jobs to do. It makes us more responsible.”

  “That’s a good reason!” I say. “Can you think of any more?”

  Lucy shrugs. “Not really,” she says. “Ask Cara.”

  Cara is busy finishing her math homework, so she can’t worry about earrings. I have all afternoon to think about it, but I still can’t think of anything. I ask Ugly Brother, but he isn’t much help. He doesn’t do much talking, usually just yes and no.

  * * *

  I don’t get up the nerve to ask Momma about the pierced ears until Friday.

  Friday means pizza for dinner. I’m in my room reading when I hear the doorbell, and then I smell some spicy pepperoni. Before Momma calls us, I already know it’s time to eat.

  When everyone sits down to eat, I can’t wait any longer to ask Momma, so I blurt out, “I need pierced ears so I can be a real true pirate for Halloween. Please say yes!”

  Momma makes the same face she does when Ugly Brother has an accident in the house. Taking a deep breath, she puts both of her hands on the table. “Kylie Jean Carter, ” she begins.

  She used all of my names! This is not a good sign. Under the table, Ugly Brother whines. Even he can tell that Momma is not happy.

  “You are too young for pierced ears,” Momma begins. “Besides, it really hurts when they punch your ears with that piercin’ gun, and they’re a lot of work to take care of. Sometimes the holes even grow shut.”

  I start to talk, but Momma holds her hand up. “I think sixteen is the perfect age for gettin’ your ears pierced,” she says. “I’m sorry, Kylie Jean, but you will have to be a pirate without pierced ears.”

  “Please, please, please, Momma,” I beg. “It will help me learn to be responsible. I know I will have to clean my earrings every day. If I do it now, then I won’t have to do it later when I’m sixteen. Lots of girls at school have their ears pierced. Cara does. And you know all the beauty queens do, too!”

  Momma sighs. “You are my daughter,” she tells me. “Those other girls are not my children. Not everyone has them. Lucy doesn’t have pierced ears, and neither does Paula.”

  I look across the table at Daddy and say, “Pretty please, Daddy?”

  He shakes his head no. He will not cross Momma. If Momma says no, then his answer is no, too!

  I am so sad I can hardly eat my pizza.

  T.J. grins at me. “Don’t worry, Lil’ Bit,” he says. “You’ll be sixteen before you know it.”

  He’s trying to make me feel better, but I am soooo disappointed. The rest of the weekend, I’m sadder than a pirate stuck on land.

  * * *

  On Monday, things get even worse. When I get to school, I find out that Paula’s aunt took her to the mall to get her ears pierced on Saturday. Now Paula has a small gold post in each ear. Her baby sister got her ears pierced, too! Can you believe it?

  “In six weeks, I can change the posts,” Paula says. “I already got a pair to switch to.” She shows us the little gold box.

  You guessed it. Inside the box are two perfect small gold hoops. Pirate hoops!

  I’ve never felt so sad in my life!

  Thank goodness our teacher has a surprise for the class. Pirate hoops will have to wait. Our class has a new pet goldfish! This is such exciting news that I don’t have time to think about getting my own ears pierced.

  “We’re going to have a special contest,” says Ms. Corazón. She writes on the board in her fancy writing: Name Our Fish. “Whoever comes up with the best name will win a prize.”

  “Who decides the best name?” I ask.

  Our teacher smiles. “You all will,” she says.

  For the rest of the morning, we try to think of names for our new fish.

  We watch him swish through the water in his big glass fishbowl. It has teeny tiny gold stones in the bottom and a little fake treasure chest.

  “Look in the fishbowl!” I say. “There’s a little treasure chest. That fish is the perfect pet for a pirate like me!”

  “Girls can’t be pirates,” Cole says.

  We all ignore him. Lucy says, “I think we should name him Swimmy. He likes to swim.”

  “Yeah, but all fish like to swim,” Cara says.

  Billy likes Sushi and Bait for names. Lucy shakes her head. “Those are mean names,” she says.

  Then Billy suggests Fin, and Cole shouts, “Yeah!”

  Another kid likes Charlie, but nobody thinks that name would be good for a fish.

  Then an idea hits me like barnacles on a boat! I yell, “Peg Leg is his name!” I look around, but everyone seems confused. “Because fish don’t have any legs,” I explain.

  My friends smile and nod, but the boys all shake their heads. “Fin is way better,” Cole says.

  Ms. Corazón says, “Students, you are very creative, so we have several names to consider. I think we should vote to decide which name is the most popular choice. It’s time to go to lunch now, so we’ll vote when we get back.”

  The hot lunch is fish sticks. I’m glad Peg Leg is safe in our classroom!

  All during lunch, Cole tries hard to get our class to vote for Fin. He goes to every table. He says different things at each table. “Hey, vote for Fin. You know it’s the coolest name. Right?” Or, “Fin is a shark name and sharks are awesome.” Or “Peg Leg is a dumb name for a fish, so vote for Fin!”

  He doesn’t come to the table where Lucy, Paula, Cara, and I are sitting.

  “Cole isn’t goin’ to have time to eat his lunch,” Paula says. “He is takin’ up his lunchtime talkin’ too much.”

  I open up my pink lunch box. Momma has packed me a PBJ sandwich, with my favorite grape jelly. Plus there’s a little bag of goldfish crackers!

  I gasp when I see them. “Look!” I say. “I think this is a sign that my name will win!”

  “We all have to vote for Peg Leg,” Lucy says.

  I know the name Peg Leg will get four votes, but I sure hope more kids will vote for it, too. We have twenty-one kids in our class, so if eleven kids vote for the name Peg Leg, we won’t have to name our fish Fin.

  Since I already know we have four votes, I subtract that from eleven. 11 – 4 = 7. We n
eed seven more votes!

  When we get back to our classroom after recess, Ms. Corazón has put a little piece of paper on each desk. She says, “Remember, we are voting for our favorite fish name. The choices are Swimmy, Sushi, Bait, Fin, Charlie, and Peg Leg.”

  She writes them all down on the board. Then we vote. I carefully write the name PEG LEG down on my paper. Then I pass it to the front.

  Ms. Corazón starts to count the votes. I notice her making several little piles. Oh, no! This means some kids voted for the other fish names, too. It seems like the counting takes forever. Finally, our teacher writes the results on the board.

  Swimmy – 2 votes

  Charlie – 1 vote

  Bait – 2 votes

  Sushi – 0 votes

  Fin – 7 votes

  Peg Leg – 9 votes

  “Yay!” I shout. “Peg Leg wins!”

  Ms. Corazón says, “I think your book report has our class interested in pirates, Kylie Jean. Our fish will be named Peg Leg.”

  Cole is not happy. I can tell. He looks like a storm cloud. I feel sorry for Cole, but naming our fish Peg Leg makes me the happiest pirate in the whole wide world!

  I’m pretty excited that our fish’s name is Peg Leg, but I’m even more excited about my big plan for the weekend. I’m going to have a treasure hunt! Pirates love treasure maps because they lead to buried treasure. The whole crew is coming over tomorrow and I want to be ready to hunt treasure.

  Friday afternoon after school, I make our map. My first mate Lucy and my dog parrot help out.

  I start by drawing a pirate ship right where my house should be.

  Lucy asks, “How do you know where to put it?”

  “I guess I don’t!” I say. Then I remember something important. “We need a compass rose, like we learned about at school.” Once we had a week where we learned a lot about maps. That’s a really important part of the map—it’s how you know which way is north or south or west or east!