The Pirates of Rocky Crag Bay - Part 1

Good Morning FFFs!:)
I almost had to resort to something I had written years ago for something to post. I have been so busy that my evenings (the best time for me to write) have been rather full. I have been out doing lit drops for Bill White who is running for our State Representative. I sure wish I could get a few of you to come help me. I've been the only girl doing lit drops. :} If you think about it, please, please pray for this race. Mr. White has an opponent who says she is a Republican, but the more we find out about her the worse it gets. She has not been a republican all her life as she claims, nor has she always been as conservative as she says. We are doing well, but it is still a great concern. Only a little more than two weeks left till the Primaries!

I did manage to finally get to finish the story Mom gave me to write. It ended up being over 5,000 words long, so it will take a few post to post it. That is probably a good thing since I am so busy. Now I won't have to frantically try to come up with something to post each week.:)

But I don't have time to ramble on and on. Here is the first part. Hope you enjoy it.:)

The Pirates of Rocky Crag Bay
by
Rebekah Morris

Many a tale has been told of the pirates of long ago. Many a child, yes, and many a grown person too, has dug for buried treasure on some lonely stretch of land along the water’s edge. Throughout the years young lads have dreamed of pirates and most have wished that they too could become part of those famous yet feared crews, albeit none, perhaps, have had that wish granted as young Ned Jones did when he was eight years of age. This is his story.

It all began innocently enough with a book. A book titled, “Piracies on the High Seas and Tales of Yore.” This had caught young Ned’s fancy at the library, and once home he found it hard to put down. Curled up in his own special cave under the grand piano, he was soon lost to all sounds around him. His family always knew where to look for him, for ever since he was small, he had crawled under the piano to play.

“Ned, I’m going fishing, do you want to come?” Rob called through the window where he could see his younger brother deep in his book. Ned never moved. With a shrug the eighteen-year-old turned away. “Once that boy gets his nose in a book, he’s dead to the world,” he remarked to his sister Kim, who was standing nearby. Kim was fifteen.
“I know. I once played a march on the piano, and he never stirred.” Her blue eyes twinkled. “What book is he reading now?”
Rob turned back to the window and peered in. “Oh, something about pirates it looks like.”
“No use to wait for him. Mind if I go instead?”
“Not at all. Are you going to fish or sketch?”
Kim pursed her lips in thought. “Fish, I guess,” she finally decided.
After grabbing a pole from the garage, Rob and Kim started off. Only a few steps from their gate they met their mother and little sister returning from the store.
“I thought Ned was going to go with you?” Mom sounded surprised.
“He is lost right now with a bunch of pirates,” Rob informed her. “Dad’s in his study.”
“Can I go with you?” six-year-old Mindy pleaded.
Consent was given, and the trio set off with instructions to catch enough fish for supper.

Some three hours later, Ned suddenly felt himself being dragged out from under the piano by his feet. “Hey, what are you doing?” he demanded of his brother.
“Fetching you for supper.”
“But I was in the middle of an adventure,” he protested.
Rob shrugged. “It will wait and fish won’t. Come on.”

Supper was quite tasty and much talk and laughter went on around the table. Only Ned was quiet, his mind still on his book. No sooner was he excused from the table than he raced back to his cave where he stayed until once again he was dragged out by Rob; only this time it was for bed.

For several days, yes and nights too, Ned thought and dreamed of nothing but pirates. He read the book three times before taking it back to the library where he got another book about them. And so the days passed, Ned read every book the library had about pirates by day and dreamed of them by night. So enthralled was he with the lives of these past terrors of the sea that he began to copy them. First he practiced sword fighting in the yard, but soon he began to look for treasure. Kim’s bracelet disappeared along with two of her necklaces. Mindy’s golden tiara she wore in her aunt’s wedding also vanished as did Rob’s best watch. And if that wasn’t enough, skulls and crossbones began to appear in unexpected places. Things were, in the eyes of Ned’s siblings, growing from bad to worse. But when Mindy’s favorite doll was kidnapped from her bed one night leaving only a note with a skull and cross bones on it, Rob and Kim knew it was time to take action.

Together they walked out to a rocky ledge overlooking the bay.
“Rob, something has to be done.”
“I know. Even Mom and Dad are wondering what to do.” There was a pause and only the waves could be heard crashing down below them.
“If Ned just knew what pirates were really like,” Kim began, “I don’t think he would want to be one.”
“Hmm, that just might work. Kim, you’re brilliant.”
Kim looked surprised. “I am?”
Rob laughed. “I have a plan now. Of course we’ll have to check it out with Mom and Dad, but I don’t think they’ll object.”

“So, Rob, are you all packed up?” It was supper time at the Jones house and Dad had just pushed back his empty plate.
“Sure am.”
“When do you leave?” Kim looked across the table.
“Before dawn tomorrow. It should be fun.”
“Before dawn?” Ned echoed. “Where are you going?”
“Oh a few of the guys and I are going camping and exploring. We’ll be gone a few days or weeks maybe.”
Ned didn’t reply then but that night in their room, he said in an ominous voice, “Be careful that the pirates don’t get you and make you walk the plank.”
Rob laughed. He really couldn’t help it. Ned’s voice was pathetically high even when he tried to make it low and scary. “We’ll be careful. You be careful too.”
“Huh, pirates wouldn’t hurt me,” Ned boasted, turning over in bed and feeling under his pillow for his cap-gun pistol.

For the next two days, Ned practiced his acts of piracy without having to hide things in his room for fear his brother would notice. To his total satisfaction, no one seemed to know where the missing things had gone. Little did he dream that his father watched him through the window of his study as he buried each treasure.

On the third day after Rob’s departure, Ned discovered a note tucked in the windowsill right by his cave. Eagerly he pulled it out and saw his own name written in bold handwriting across the front. Turning it over wonderingly, he was startled to see a skull and crossbones on the back. For several minutes he stared at the note, then with a pounding heart he crawled into his cave, opened it and read:

Ned Jones,
I, the captain of the pirates of Rocky Crag Bay, have heard of your great and daring deeds. We are in search of a lad to join us, and you are the only one with enough courage to even be considered. I have no doubt that you are ready for even greater acts. I shall be waiting for you tonight at 11:00 on my ship, “The Black Lady.” Two of my men will wait for you outside your gate and escort you there. Don’t fail.

Captain Frightenaft

So, what do you think of the beginning of it?