It is one thing to find out someone is not from Saskatchewan. It’s quite another to find out they’re a moon pirate.
Jo wasn’t sure what she was expecting Castor, a well-dressed talking mouse, to reveal out there in the middle of the lake. It wasn’t “I’m a moon pirate.”
“You sail through space?” Jo clarified, in case by “moon” Castor meant some parallel dimension or something.
Castor nodded. “On the great ship Luna, the ship of my mother, Captain Elara. We sail the skies my ancestors have sailed for millennia.”
The next obvious question, if you were Jo, was HOW do you sail through space?
There is a book on this subject, actually, in the Lumberjanes library. It is very old and almost completely stuck together with moon dust. It is bound in silver-tinted leather and tucked under the dictionary of celestial nautical terminology and a map that hasn’t been examined for many centuries.
In this book is a complex diagram describing ships like Castor’s ship, Luna, and how they fly, although several key components are missing, details that reveal how a ball of light can house several hundred mice and move through space at the speed of sound, involving the connection between celestial light and kinetic energy.
Castor did her best to explain to Jo exactly how moon-ship flight was accomplished, which Jo stored in the back of her brain in a file labeled, “TO DO.”
“So, of all the camps in all the galaxies, how is it you ended up here?” Jo asked.
“I’m sorry to say,” Castor admitted, looking at her paws, “I was sent to pillage your larders.”
“Pillage,” Jo said. “I mean, I guess that’s kind of a pirate-y thing.”
“’Tis THE pirate-y thing,” Castor admitted.
Jo considered. “But you didn’t . . . pillage. Did you?”
“No,” Castor said. “Well, not after that little bit of delicious Alaskan Hybrid.”
“But you’re not going to take any more?” Jo asked.
“No.”
“So then,” Jo dipped her oar in the lake, “what happens now?”
“The first bit has already happened,” Castor noted.
“Moon moles?” Jo wondered.
“Moon moles.” Castor nodded. “Sent to retrieve me after my failed excursion.”
“Which I suppose means you can’t just stay and enjoy some time at camp,” Jo added.
Castor shook her head. “I am the daughter of the captain, which means that I will be captain one day. I have a ship. I have responsibilities. A pirate’s life is not really designed for indulgences and . . . fun.”
In the corner of the lake, a flock of early-rising scouts was practicing what looked like a synchronized swimming routine that the lake’s trout were finding, in two words, “very amusing.”
Jo looked down at her hands. “I get that.”
“Still,” Castor said, leaning over the boat and staring at the reflection of her sad mouse face in the calm, glassy finish of the lake. “I’m glad I got a little fun. It was . . . fun.”
“I’m glad you did too,” Jo said, pressing the letter in her coat pocket.
“Thank you for the boat ride,” Castor said.
“No problem,” Jo said. “And I’m sorry. I mean, I’m sorry you have to go.”
“I am too.” Castor returned to her perch at the front of the boat, tucking her nose into the front of her life jacket.
A dark cloud curled itself over the sun, turning the lake from blue to gray.
On shore, Rosie was waiting.
CHAPTER 25
Jen paced Rosie’s cabin, bleary eyed, her hair full of glitter and her eyes drained of sleep. The rest of Roanoke watched as Jen paced, noting that they had never seen anyone who had not slept in as many days as Jen had not slept.
Jen had not slept since . . .
How long had she been working nonstop on Galaxy Wars?
“Jen’s moving, like, really fast,” said April, with a bit of admiration, because April aspired to be one of the busiest, most efficient people on the planet.
“Jen needs tea,” Molly said.
“Jen needs SLEEP,” Jo said.
Bubbles chirped in the affirmative. Bubbles loved many things, and curling up for a snooze was on the top of the list.
Mal couldn’t think of what Jen needed yet, but her accordion test was only a day away, and she was still pretty confident that once she passed, everything would go back to normal.
Whatever that was.
“Jerry,” Rosie said, “I’m going to need you to take a deep breath.”
“Well, it’s JEN,” Jen muttered, plastering her hands to the sides of her face. “Okay so it’s JEN. And. What’s happening? Something is happening? There’s a mouse? I knew that! Is something else falling apart? Is GALAXY WARS falling apart? Is something wrong?”
“Everything is fine,” Rosie said, gently pushing Jen down into a comfy chair, where Jen rocked dangerously close to the cliff of sleep. “We just have the small issue of our newest visitor and the impending arrival of . . .”
“My mother,” Castor said.
“Indeed,” Rosie said. “Anything else we should know?”
“She was expecting quite a bit of cheese,” Castor said. “So she could arrive a bit . . . cranky.”
“Well, that we will have to deal with when the time comes,” Rosie said, “as we’re all pretty fond of our cheese over here.”
“Castor’s mom’s a pirate,” Ripley whispered to Mal and Molly.
“That’s freaking cool,” Mal whispered back.
“Castor is also a pirate,” Jo added, in case that wasn’t clear.
“Wait. How long have you known Castor was a pirate?” April growled.
“Not very long,” Jo said. “Maybe a few thousand seconds.”
Jen startled straight, almost knocking her mug to the floor. “FFtah! What? I’m ready! I’m—” She promptly collapsed back asleep.
“So basically, we’re thinking your mother will arrive, and you will head back off into the great celestial yonder,” Rosie said. “Which I don’t think should interrupt Galaxy Wars.”
Jen, if she had been awake, would have been relieved. But Jen was in a sleep so deep a herd of elephants could not rouse her.
Ripley stepped forward. “I think Castor should get to participate in Galaxy Wars,” she said. “If she has to leave, she should get a chance to play.”
“Do you want to play?” Rosie asked.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream,” Castor blushed, “of interrupting—”
Rosie leaned on her desk. “I think it’s a fine idea. BUT, your cabin will have to decide whose place you’ll be taking. You need to compete with the same number you had at the competition’s start. Those are the rules, arcane though they may be.”
Rosie picked up a blanket and walked over to drop it on Jen, who was curled up like a cat now. “I’ll let you choose, and you can let me know tonight.”
CHAPTER 26
“You don’t have to do this,” Castor protested, as the members of Roanoke gathered at a picnic bench outside Rosie’s cabin. “I came here to steal cheese. I don’t deserve your generosity.”
“You came here as a pirate to pillage,” Jo reminded her. “It’s not like you were picking on us or anything.”
“Context is everything,” Molly agreed.
“Totally,” Mal added. “Plus I’m totally messing up lately, so I shouldn’t even compete. You should take my spot!”
“Hold on,” Molly said, putting her hands on her hips. “Mal, you are awesome. You’re our strategist. You should totally play!”
Mal shook her head. “I’m the musician, or I was. JO is the brains, APRIL is the guts, RIPLEY is the muscle,” she pointed at Molly, “YOU’RE the heart. You don’t need me!”
“First of all, why are we all body parts,” April asked. “Second of all, if anything Ripley is the guts. THIRD OF ALL (finally), of course we need you, Mal!”
“I’m the one who messed up last time,” Jo s
aid, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I mean, I really want us to win because . . .” she looked over at April, sputtered, “but maybe I shouldn’t . . .”
“What is going on with you?” April threw her hands in the air. “You’re all Billy Jean King about this, which is weird. Like, why do you suddenly care about winning EVEN MORE THAN ME! And now you’re like, ‘I don’t want to play’?!”
“If we want to win I shouldn’t play,” Mal repeated.
“There has to be a solution to this,” Jo said. “Maybe if we gave each other basic scores from one to five on different skill sets . . .”
It was a swirl, a hurricane, of Roanoke STRESS. Castor clutched her tail to her chest.
Ripley jumped up on the table. “HEY!!!”
“LISTEN!” she cried, her finger pointed in the air.
“Yes, Rip?” Jo said.
“I have something to say.” Ripley put her hands on her hips, her feet braced apart, and whipped her blue hair from her eyes. “And now I’m going to say it.”
“Okay!” Roanoke responded in unison.
“The thing I have to say is,” Ripley said, looking at her fellow scouts with a twinkly stare, “IT DOESN’T MATTER.”
“What doesn’t matter?” Mal asked.
“Who wins,” Ripley said. “Or winning. Or winning things. Or getting stuff. It doesn’t matter. Because we all just want to HAVE FUN. That’s the whole point of being a LUMBERJANE. We’re supposed to have FUN.”
Everyone was quiet. Possibly some of the scouts were scanning their vague recollections of the Lumberjanes pledge to see if the word “fun” was actually mentioned.
“So the person not playing doesn’t matter because it doesn’t matter if we win so maybe we can draw straws so that everyone but one person gets to have fun and the person . . . not playing can have FUN watching.” Ripley finished. And, with a flourish, she took a bow.
The word FUN is not explicitly in the Lumberjanes pledge (please refer to this page), but it’s still pretty important.
“Holy Buffy Sainte-Marie,” April gasped.
“Ripley is the brains,” Mal said.
“Ripley is the whole package,” Molly said.
April turned and stood up on her toes so she could be eye to eye with her best friend. “Jo. I think you think I only want to win, and I do want to win but that’s not the most important thing to me. You are.”
Jo bit her lip.
April turned and looked at Ripley. “Fun is important. And us being a team and having fun TOGETHER is important. And I can’t wait to watch you guys.”
Jo frowned. “Watch?”
April nodded. “I’m going to cheer you on, and you’re going to have an AMAZING TIME. And I’ll have an amazing time because you guys are awesome.”
Taking Jo’s hand, April leaned in and whispered, “And when you’re ready to tell me what’s been bugging you for the past four days, I’m here.”
For once, the letter was silent.
CHAPTER 27
The Final Event. The result of endless amounts of blood, sweat, and tears rose up from the field, a true achievement of obstacle wonder.
The event all had been waiting for with bated breath.
It was THE INTERGALACTIC WARRIOR SPECTACLE OBSTACLE EXTRAVAGANZA, consisting of walls, ropes, tunnels, drops, balls, bouncing, and other necessary camp games sections.
Jen, after sleeping for six hours in what looked to Rosie like a stone-cold coma, was a new woman, glowing like a pulsar on its first birthday. She radiated glee, bounding around in front of the starting line with her megaphone and her little moon hat.
“THE STANDINGS ARE ZODIAC IN FIRST, ROANOKE IN SECOND, WOOLPIT IN THIRD! BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOUR PLACE, I WANT YOU TO GO OUT THERE AND HAVE FUN!”
The scouts cheered ravenously.
“AAAARRRRRREEE YOOOOOOOUUUUU REAAAADYYY!!!?????”
The cabins lined up on the line, game faces ON.
Dartmoor had color-coordinated black jumpsuits with little stars sewn on the backs. Woolpit had managed matching moon-embellished tank tops. Zodiac were all wearing what looked like astronaut uniforms, stitched together by Barney.
“We’re going to win,” Wren from Zodiac growled.
“Heck ya,” Hes hollered, with a solid high five to Barney.
Barney, who was still wearing their star, turned and waved at Roanoke. “GOOD LUCK!”
“YOU TOO!” Roanoke waved back in unison.
Roanoke had opted to liberally plaster their faces with glitter, in honor of team captain RIPLEY!
“I’ve already breathed in like a cup of it,” Molly admitted.
“We’ll have the sparkliest lungs in the universe,” Mal coughed.
April, true to form, was ready to cheer for TEAM ROANOKE with every drop of her might.
“YEAH! YOU CAN DO IT! YEAH! GOOOOOO, TEAM!”
Next to April, Bubbles cartwheeled and back-flipped with excitement.
“SQUEEAK! SQUEEEAK!”
“Okay, team,” Ripley said, jogging in place. “Remember the most important thing today is the most important thing always and that is?”
“HAVE FUN!” everyone screamed back in chorus.
Even the creatures of the forest gathered to watch what seemed like something of a crazy spectacle for such an hour.
“So,” a frizzy-haired fox wondered aloud. “This is like a competition? For food?”
“I heard there was pizza,” a hedgehog replied. “I would do this for pizza.”
“Yes, yes,” a grumpy bear replied. “Now hush up so we can watch.”
“ALL RIGHT, SCOUTS.” Jen stood at the front of the starting line. “ON YOUR MARTA!”
“GET SAVITRI!”
“GLORIA!”
The scouts sprinted forward in a massive herd of shouting, yipping, thundering scouts, dropping to their knees to wiggle through the first obstacle, a set of tunnels: CRAWL THROUGH THE BLACK HOLE!
Castor skipped through easily, as did Ripley.
“Come on, team!” Ripley called down the tube.
“This is so fabulous,” Castor squeaked excitedly.
“Why. Small. Tube,” Jo huffed, twisting her body left and right while Molly did her best to caterpillar through, and Mal crawled using a combination of fingers and toes.
Next. FOLLOW THE MILKY WAY! A giant constellation of white ropes was laid out on top of a set of ladders, which scouts had to climb up onto then tightrope across or end up in a moon pool of freezing water.
Castor raced across the ropes, her little claws dancing over them like she’d done it a million times before.
Safely on the other side, Ripley turned to her team.
“Why. Always. Water?” Mal shivered, doing her best not to look down.
“Okay,” Ripley said, once they’d all made it across, “to make this next leg more fun, I have an idea. Okay?”
Jo grinned. “I’m down.”
Mal and Molly and Castor nodded.
Zodiac team turned back to see Castor and Ripley and Mal and Molly and Jo pretend to be floating in zero gravity to their next obstacle, laughing hysterically.
“What are they doing?” Skulls giggled.
“They’re moon walking,” Hes sighed.
“They’re slowing down,” Wren frowned.
“Whatever,” Hes said. “If they don’t wanna win, we’ll win.”
After that, Team Roanoke completed the SOLAR SWING and headed to the GAH-STRONOMY section, where Roanoke dutifully shoved a handful of crackers in their mouths and whistled, a task that made Molly laugh so hard she shot cracker out of her nose, which made Mal laugh so hard SHE shot cracker out of her nose.
They made a five-scout human ladder to get over the ON TOP OF THE WORLD obstacle, a seven-foot-high wall, with Castor scampering up and over first, so she could help Ripley pull up Mal and Molly.
“GO TEAM ROANOKE!” April screamed, running along the side of the course.
“SQUEEEAK!” Bubbles cheered from April’s shoulders.
&
nbsp; “YOUR LAST CHALLENGE,” Jen called out through the megaphone, “IS ‘OVER THE MOON!’ YOU MUST KEEP YOUR MOON IN ORBIT AS YOU RACE ACROSS THE FIELD TO THE FINISH LINE!”
“Ready?” Ripley grabbed a large white ball from the stack.
“Ready!” Jo called back, stepping onto the field.
“IF THE BALL DROPS, YOU MUST RETURN TO THE EDGE OF THE FIELD AND START AGAIN.”
Ripley volleyed the volleyball up and into the air.
“GOT IT!” Castor gave it a solid bop with her tail.
“GOT IT!” Jo backhanded it over to Molly, who popped it back into the air for Mal.
“You know,” Mal said, punching the ball in Jo’s direction, “this seems oddly do-able.”
“I know,” Molly said. “I feel like at any moment a herd of angry sheep could ride out onto the field and attack us with Wiffle bats or something.”
“Or,” Mal said, spotting the volleyball again, “could it be that the end of this race is in sight?”
Molly wanted to say, “Nah, too easy,” but saying “too easy” is like looking around for something hard to do.
Ripley gave the ball an extra-hard punt and it shot, with a whistle, straight up into the air.
Everyone looked up to see where it would fall.
“What,” Molly asked.
“Is,” Mal continued.
“That?” Jo marveled.
Castor looked up and sighed. “Barnacles.”
Up in the sky, a shadow blackened the center of the moon, accompanied, as shadows like this are, with a whooshing and a thhp thhp thhp, the sound of something cutting through the air—the sound of flight.
It was a familiar sound if you were a moon mouse. Castor’s little pink ears quivered.
The volleyball came to a soft landing on the ground, on the otherwise empty field. Jo, Mal, Molly, and Ripley ignored it as they watched the shadow get bigger and bigger and bigger.
Closer, closer, and closer.
April crept to the edge of the field. “What the Octavia E. Butler?”
Just then, the earth shook. A wall of moon moles burrowed up from the ground, their pink noses pushing back the earth as they pulled themselves up to form a wall around the field, trapping Roanoke inside.
Lumberjanes: The Moon Is Up Page 8