The Adventures of Scallywag the Sea Dog, Part 4

IX

We sailed through the night on the chippy sea south of the Coral Islands. It was a tense time, both because there were probably pirates following us, and the Coral Islands were known for many shallow, rocky areas. We could easily run aground.

We were exhausted when the sun began to rise. With light, First Mate Annabelle was able to see a number of things. The other ship was indeed chasing us. The other ship was much larger. And based on how much closer it was, it was much faster than The Dolphin. And one more thing: it was a pirate ship.

“Holy crudnuggets,” I thought. What if they caught up to us? Would I be called upon to fight their Sea Dog if we got into a big battle? I pictured a muscular, toothy beast twice my size, growling and drooling and foaming at the mouth, with horns and flames shooting out of her eyes. All right, I’ll admit those last two were anxiety-driven imagination, but the rest could be true.

“What are we a-gonna do, Captain?” Annabelle asked.

“I have a plan,” he said calmly. “I know these waters well.”

We altered our course more northerly, but the pirate ship kept gaining. Through it all, the captain remained calm.

The pirate ship had drawn near enough that we could see the crew scurrying about the deck. I could see the did have a Sea Dog. But a fifteen-pound piece of curly white fluff with a bow in her hair on a fearsome pirate ship? I didn’t see that one coming.

While the pirates kept gaining, we approached a small island smothered in palm trees. I stared at the water, and the blueness and clearness amazed me. If today was going to be my last, at least I had that beautiful image to take with me.

“Prepare for a hard-starboard tack.” The captain hollered.

The island was an atoll, which is like a donut with water in the center. In this case, it was like a donut with a bite taken out of it and a narrow channel leading into the lagoon.

The pirates had nearly caught us when Captain Carver yelled, “Hold on!” He turned the ship’s wheel hard to starboard - right, for you landlubbers. The Dolphin leaned hard and we did a slide turn into the channel.

We scraped and scratched our way through the narrow channel in the cross-fingered hope that we could make it through. There was no way the larger pirate ship could make it through the narrow passage.

As we entered the lagoon – a beautiful tropical paradise – we saw the pirate ship go past, and hen circle back.

Captain Carver had saved us, but just for the moment.

We were trapped in a lagoon with dozens of pirates knocking at the door, waiting to do the nasty things that pirates do.

Now in the lagoon, we were safe for the moment.

“Drop the anchor! Lower the sails! Prepare the launch boats!” the captain ordered. “And Carlos, get the harpoons!”

The launch boats were lowered, and I was chucked into Stick’s awaiting arms like a sack of potatoes. After a short row, we landed on a sandy beach with a thud.

Captain Carver remained calm but was even more serious than usual.

“The pirate ship cannot enter this lagoon,” he said, “but make no mistake, they are coming for us. Whether by land or by launch boat, a fight is coming, one we did not choose. I want all manner of seriousness or this night may be our last.”

The captain gave all of us orders. Carlos and Stick prepared the harpoons, Peg was given a task I didn’t understand, while I went with Beulah to collect dry coconuts. Running up and down the inner shore of the atoll was great fun, except when I remembered it might be my last sandy scamper. Meanwhile, the captain and first mate built an enormous fire with palm fronds near the entry to the lagoon.

The pirate ship was anchored offshore, and we knew a battle was coming soon. We were trapped, outnumbered, and outmatched. But defend ourselves, we would.

Annabelle asked the captain, “What do they want? Perhaps we can negotiate our way out.”

Captain shook his head. “No. There’d be no point, and we’d probably all perish if we tried. I want to give us a chance.” He paused and sighed. “Maybe they want gold, of which we have little. Maybe our ship. Maybe both. And maybe they are just jealous of our freedom, our peace, and they want to steal it to fill an empty hole in their hearts. But we will fight, and I will defend us by whatever means I must. We did not pick this fight, but if I am able, we will all sail away, and you can feel that sea breeze blow through your fiery locks once more.”

After their brief dialogue ended, I let the words sink in, and then bolted back down the sandy shore to gather more coconuts.

By nightfall, Beulah and I had collected a mountain of coconuts. The fire was roaring, and Carlos had the harpoons ready. The skillful carpenter, Peg, had built a couple of somethings out of seemingly nothing, although I hadn’t a clue what they were.

We waited. And waited. And waited. It was driving us all crazy.

As Beulah paced in the sand, she put both hands beside her mouth and hollered to the pirate ship: “C’mon you bully cowards! If you want to fight, then bring it!”

It was not long before her request was granted.

Four pirate launch boats approached, torches ablaze.

“Those idiots made themselves easy targets,” Stick snickered.

The pirate boats struggled in the heavy surf, playing into Captain Carver’s plan.

“Wait for my word,” Carver hollered.

We paused and watched the pirates get closer.

“Okay!” Captain yelled, “Coconuts in the fire!”

Beulah and Stick chucked as many coconuts onto the roaring fire as quickly as they could. I was in charge of rolling them as close as I could get them with my nose. I learned that the smell of burnt dog hair is truly putrid.

We sat patiently as the pirates approached, other than Carlos, who lined up a half dozen harpoons on the shore.

With a pair of tongs, Peg retrieved a flaming coconut from the fire, and placed it in a device the peopleses called a “catapult.” I wasn’t sure what cats had to do with it, but since cats are good fighters, I figured it must be an effective weapon. Stick launched the first coconut with a thwack. The fiery orb sent a streak of flaming sparks through the sky that landed just ten feet from the closest pirate launch boat. It was “game on.”

With Peg loading the catapults, all three of them as quickly as she could, Beulah, Stick, and Annabelle launched a relentless barrage of flaming coconuts. Peg orchestrated an incendiary display both beautiful and lethal.

The pirates seemed chocked by the vigor and creativity of our defense. They slowed their approach after one pirate was hit in the head, simultaneously knocked unconscious and lit on fire.

Two pirates dove into the water to avoid being flamingly bludgeoned. But they continued their approach. As I drew closer to Carlos in the moonlight, I could see him coiling a harpoon in his fingertips; not nervously, but with a calm certainty of anticipation. Waiting. Just waiting for the perfect moment.

As flaming coconuts continued to rain down on the pirates, Carlos reached back and let the harpoon fly. It was a wickedly accurate toss that thudded and lodged into the side of the closest pirate launch boat.

“First Mate,” Carlos hollered, “ready the third wave!”

“Aye Carlos,” she said. And she grabbed an odd-looking, long-handled stick with a basket on the end. She reached the stick into the fire and withdrew a flaming coconut. The scene was strange – a beautiful young engaging in combat. But perhaps, just perhaps, it wasn’t so odd.

With the wind behind her, Annabelle’s dress fluttered as Carlos pulled the pirate boat closer to shore. With a heavy grunt, the first mate lobbed a “coco-bomb” as we called them, at the pirate boat. She worked as quickly as she could, tossing one after the other, like some sort of mutant alien warrior princess, possessed by the evil spirit of something from a faraway galaxy.

The other continued their long-range assault.

Soon, the lead pirate boat was empty - all the sailors having abandoned ship. All that was left was to tuck their talks and run. And we had a new launch boat – compliment of Carlos – from those who wanted to steal from us.

We had won! Everyone was hooting and hollering in victory.

“Don’t get too please with yourselves,” Captain admonished, as he kicked beach sand with his black boots. “They will return, and probably sooner rather than later.”

We all trusted the captain’s judgment, so we readied ourselves for another long night.