The former child soldiers were first fed and then
cleaned up. Next, the two crews prepared to
continue their journey. Of the liberated children,
not a single one declined Blackbeard’s invitation
to join the pirates’ mission to free their brothers,
sisters and friends slaving for Pewtrewsha and
Morlox. At present, the troops marching toward
the sorceress’ rock factory numbered nearly two
hundred.
As they walked and walked, Hazel said to
Brownbeard, “Do you see what’s happening
Brownie?”
“I sure do! Our war party is growing by leaps
and bounds!” he answered.
“True, but that’s not what I’m talking about,”
said Hazel. “I mean their eyes. Look at the
children’s eyes.”
Brownbeard looked over to one of the children
marching a few steps away from him. He smiled.
The boy smiled back.
“Hmmmm—it does seem their eyes are
brighter,” said Brownbeard to Hazel.
“Exactly!” was Hazel’s excited response.
“They’ve eaten some real food. Their senses are
awakening. Their minds are coming back! Their
souls are coming alive again!”
“Oh,” answered Brownbeard. Then he smiled.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
The would-be-liberators marched on. They
were nearing the edge of the ring of mountains.
Within that ring is a lake. And in the middle of
that lake is the fortress of the sorceress
Pewtrewsha and the warlock Morlox.
* * *
“Surely Pewtrewsha knows we’re here,” said
Brownbeard.
“If so, she’s given no such sign,” said Kumquat.
“Felix, ye and the other children say the
sorceress has eyes and ears spying for her all over
the Land of Longing,” said Izzy.
“She does,” said Felix.
“Aye! Let her see! Let her hear! And let her be
a-tremblin’ with fear!” shouted Blackbeard.
The two pirate captains, their navigators, and
Felix huffed and puffed up the long, steep
mountainside. All about them grew dull grey
shrubs and dry, brittle grey grasses. Sharp rocks
poked at their feet. Biting insects of all shape and
size were their constant company. The five had
formed a scout party to see what there was to see
as the final leg of their trek was now upon them.
“Dastardly gnats!” cursed Izzy as he slapped at
a horse fly ready to bite him upon the forehead.
“That’s no gnat,” said Kumquat. “That’s a
pterodactyl.”
Even Kumquat, with her thick mane of kitty fur,
was tormented by the insects. Sweat poured down
the faces of the rest and stung their eyes. Looking
back, Brownbeard could see down to the base of
the mountain. There, his crew and Blackbeard’s
men would camp tonight with the children before
ascending the mountain first thing tomorrow morn.
Once on the other side, the hard work of chopping
down trees and building fifty small rafts would
commence.
Upon the fleet’s assembly, an hour after the
break of dawn, when Pewtrewsha and Morlox
would hopefully be fast asleep somewhere deep
within their fortress, and when the weremonsters
Grobrom and Vulderburp would hopefully be
sleeping at the bottom of the lake, the liberators
would set sail. Then, they would break into the
fortress and free the other children inside
wherever they might be. As for the nasty
particulars, things were still pretty sketchy. Plan A
was not yet fully formed. Plans B and C did not
even exist.
Questions like ‘What might be done if
Pewtrewsha and Morlox awoke?’ were thought of
by many. Yet no one spoke aloud of their fears
since the strategizing session days before.
Actually, Hazel had confided to Brownbeard and
Blackbeard her opinion that if the sorceress
awoke, the mission would end. She dared not
guess at their fate. And in private, even boastful
Blackbeard seemed concerned about Hazel’s
assessment, simply saying, “Aye! Then we must
move faster then the Tides of Poseidon. And be
quieter than a ghost ship.”
The scout team climbed on until the shrubs
disappeared. Then the grasses vanished. They lost
sight of the camp. Now, their feet tramped upon
the raw, cold stone of the mountain. This high up,
they at least had relief from the bugs. And the
chill of the thin, high altitude air briefly relieved
their hot, exhausted muscles and burning lungs
before itself becoming unpleasant. There were
still patches of snow left over from winter.
“We be far up!” said Blackbeard. “T’aint
natural environs for a pirate! I’m an oceaneer, not
a mountaineer.”
Finally gaining the mountain top, the ground
leveled off a bit and then began to descend. As
the ground began to go down, the twisted vision
that was Pewtrewsha’s and Morlox’s fortress
came into view.
“Blast me! What that be?” exclaimed
Blackbeard.
“Salt and sea snot!” cursed Brownbeard.
“Captain! There’s a child present!” cried
Kumquat.
“Oh, I’ve heard that expression before,” said
Felix.
“But would ye look at that, Kumquat!” said
Izzy. “Have ye ever seen anything like it?”
“Well—no,” admitted Kumquat.
Far below them was a carpet of pale grey that
stretched almost to the horizon. The lake in the
center of the mountain ring was as colorless as
everything else in the Land of Longing.
Brownbeard was dizzy as it looked to him that he
was seeing nothing. Now how does one see
nothing? No thing. It was disorienting and a bit
scary to behold No Thing. But the illusion was
broken just before the horizon, for there in the
lake’s center was a tremendous ship. It was so tall
that the even atop the mountain, they were eye
level with the tip top of Pewtrewsha’s slave ship.
Though a few miles away, it was easy to lose
perspective and see the ship as if one could take a
step and climb right aboard.
“It can’t be!” said Blackbeard. “There’s no
such thing!”
“That’s it,” said Felix.
Blackbeard took out his spyglass.
“Here, try this one Captain,” said Kumquat,
handing him a digital spyglass with an image
enhancement chip and molecularly flawless
optics. Each in the party had a turn and then
another to look at and gasp in amazement and
dismay. All were shocked, except Felix, who was
not able to understand what was the big deal.
Smoke stacks belched puffs of black and white
smoke into the bleak grey sky. Pipes of all shape
and size twisted and knotted amongst one another.
Bursts of flame shooting out of tall pipes were the
first color any of them had seen in over a week.
Even this got Felix’s attention. The yellow spit of
fire, with its streaks of orange and red, were the
most intensely colorful things any of the party
could remember ever having witnessed.
Blackbeard, who does not awe easily, was awed.
“I t’aint never seen fire like that!” he said.
“No! Tis not natural!” agreed Izzy.
Brownbeard bit his lip. He was very uneasy.
“Fellas,” said Kumquat. “Cool it! We just
haven’t seen color in so long, the reds, oranges,
and yellows of the fire look supernatural. But it’s
just plain old fire. Our eyes just forgot what that
looks like.”
“What ye be talkin’ about cat?” said
Blackbeard.
“Really, Kumquat!” cried Izzy. “Ye be
deranged. I know a normal fire when I sees it.
That’s not normal fire! What say ye Brownbeard?
Felix?”
“I don’t know,” said Brownbeard. “We’ve had a
cooking fire just this morning. Now, I can’t
remember what it looked like. I don’t think there
was any color! But I didn’t realize it at the time.”
“Blast ye!” said Blackbeard, pointing at
Pewtrewsha’s slave ship. “There be fire from the
infernal regions.”
“The whole place is horrible. That’s all I know for
sure,” said Brownbeard. “Kumquat’s pretty sharp
though. She might be right. I don’t know.”
“I agree with Kumquat,” said Felix. “I know
what she’s talking about. When I finally made it to
the ocean at the western shore of the Land of
Longing, the water there was the greenest blue, or
bluest green, I had ever seen. But after I met the
For Sale and just before we began to hike back
inland, the water seemed to be just normal blue
green.”
No one said a word to this.
“You know,” Felix continued, “my father told
me he could remember when there was color in
the Land of Longing.”
“Really? That’s right. I remember you saying
something about that. So it was your dad who told
you there used to be color here?” asked
Brownbeard.
“Yes,” said Felix. “Dad agreed with Hazel. He
said that it was Pewtrewsha who took the color
away.”
“Huh. I thought Hazel said that Pewtrewsha’s
evil covers up the color and hides it from our
eyes,” said Brownbeard.
“Cover up—take away—it be the same thing,
Brownbeard,” said Blackbeard.
“Really?” asked an unsure Brownbeard.
“Where’s the rock quarry?” asked Kumquat.
“In the ship,” said Felix.
“Whoa! A rock quarry inside the ship! I don’t
believe that!” exclaimed Izzy.
“It is there. In the center of the ship,” Felix
assured Izzy. “A large rock fell from the sky
many, many years ago. At least, there is a story
about some such rock. Supposedly, that’s what
formed this lake and the surrounding mountains.”
“A meteor! And a meteor crater!” hissed
Kumquat.
“A what?” asked Blackbeard.
“Pewtrewsha used her magic to lift that rock
from underneath the ground where it lay. She
placed that rock in a large room inside her ship.
At least, that is the story I have heard. I myself
have worked on the rock. From that rock we cut
and polish the smaller rocks which are sent to The
Empire of Sa’Laam. Pewtrewsha says only the
best for her customers,” said Felix.
“Space rocks are the best?” asked Brownbeard.
“What space rocks?” asked Blackbeard.
“I guess so,” answered Felix. “She says she can
command top dollar for the ones with the iridium
cores which we make. The core supposedly gives
the professional rock hitter optimal distance
without sacrificing control. She says the rock
really ‘tings’ when you hit it.”
“Yeah!” said Brownbeard. “I remember now. It
really does ‘ting’!”
“Well, I don’t know what ye be talkin’ about,”
said Blackbeard, “but tell me this mate—can we
breach the sorceress’ boat?”
“Yes. There is a small opening in the ship just
above the water line. That is the hole I came
through when I made my escape,” said Felix.
“But Pewtrewsha may have sealed that route
since you’ve made your escape,” said Izzy. “Ye
know? To prevent further breakouts.”
“Or, she might not even have a clue that Felix
is gone,” said Kumquat. “One missing slave? So
what? It’s like when you balance your checkbook
and you’re off by a penny. What’s the difference?”
“Or, she may keep very precise track of her
slaves, like a good accountant,” said Brownbeard.
“Sure! I think Captain Brownbeard has the
better point,” agreed Izzy. “If ye be navigating and
the course is off a single degree—well, at one
mile into the journey, tis no big deal. But after a
hundred miles without catching your mistake—
oy!”
“No!” said Kumquat. “Pewtrewsha doesn’t care
about a single one of her slaves. She would have
no idea if she lost one here, another there.”
“Hold on,” said Blackbeard. “Ye scoundrel
navigators be guessin’ as usual! Let’s ask Felix,
as he be the one with experience on the slave ship.
What be the answer, Felix?”
Felix shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’m
sorry, but I can’t help here. No one has ever
escaped from the fortress to my knowledge. I’m
sure Pewtrewsha knows I’m gone, but she doesn’t
need to seal up the hole to keep the others in. All
she needs to do is threaten them with beatings, or
some other cruelty.”
“So, the hole’s open,” stated Brownbeard.
“On the other hand, she might play it cautious
and seal up the hole just in case a beating doesn’t
deter one of the more foolish, desperate workers,”
continued Felix.
“So, the hole’s closed,” stated Brownbeard.
“I don’t know,” said Felix.
“So, the hole might be open, or it might be
closed,” stated Brownbeard.
“Correct,” said Felix.
“Well, we ain’t be gettin’ our grapplin’ hooks
into that ship!” said Blackbeard. “And we don’t
have our cannons with us. So if that entrance don’t
be open, I don’t know how we be a-gettin’ in to
rescue a body.”
“How about when one of the raiding parties
comes through the hole,” suggested Kumquat.
“We surprise them as they’re leaving on a
mission, overpower them, and enter the fortress.”
“No,” Felix shook his head. “That won’t work.
I’m pretty sure the war parties leave on ships
lowered from the main deck into the water below.
I don’t know what the purpose of that hole I came
through could be.”
“Look!” shouted Brownbeard.
“What?” cried everyone else.
“A sea—or lake serpent!”
“Where? I don’t see nothing,” said Izzy.
“It must be Vulderburp or Grobrom,” said Felix.
“Aaaagh! I thought they be weremonsters, not
sea serpents! I can’t stand sea serpents!”
complained Blackbeard.
Brownbeard looked at his cousin curiously. He
thought B.B. commanded all creatures that called
the water their home. Wasn’t Leviathan the only
beast in rebellion against the great Blackbeard?
And besides, did B.B. want to fight, or not? When
was he going to make up his mind?
“I be thinkin’ the monsters slept through the day!
They won’t make our job any easier if they’re
awake,” moaned Izzy.
“Pewtrewsha must know were here,” said Felix.
“She’s probably commanded Vulderburp and
Grobrom to keep watch day and night.”
“We should probably start heading back if we’
re going to make it to camp before nightfall,” said
Brownbeard. “We’ve been standing here on this
bare mountain top long enough for Pewtrewsha to
get a real good look at us. If she’d have wanted to,
she could have counted how many false teeth or
eyebrows we each have. Besides, I’m freezing.”
As the group headed back to camp,
Brownbeard had two very negative thoughts. The
first thought was, “Surely Felix is right!
Pewtrewsha knows we’re here. We’ll never even
make it across the lake.” As a corollary to the
first thought arose the second thought, echoing in
his head all the way down the mountain. “This
won’t be good—this won’t be good—this won’t be
good —this won’t be good—”
* * *
That night, long past the hour the cooking fires
had been extinguished, on the other side of the
mountain, two dark figures cautiously edged a
small skiff to the lake’s shore. Tacking against a
gentle wind, the skiff and its two black clad
occupants looked this way and that, seemingly
worried that they would be discovered any instant.
Somehow avoiding an encounter with Vulderburp
and Grobrom, the skiff zigzagged across the lake,
eventually reaching Pewtrewsha’s ocean liner on
steroids. Pulling alongside the exact place Felix
had made his escape just a few weeks before, the
two skeletons indeed found the hole covered by a
heavy metal plate and welded shut. Just above the
now sealed hole, a tiny security camera hummed
as it scanned back and forth along the water’s
edge.
Quickly, cautiously, one of the skeletons
whipped out a can of spray paint. Giving the can a
quick shake, the skeleton reached upwards and
proceeded to coat the camera’s lens with a thick
covering of black paint. Following this act of
vandalism, the other skeleton whipped out a heavy
duty, high temperature blowtorch. After a few
minutes, the large metal plate made a splash as it
fell into the lake. The skeletons pulled themselves
up and through the hole. Leaving the skiff to drift
aimlessly upon the lake, the two skeletons
disappeared into the abysmal abode of
Pewtrewsha and Morlox, intent upon completing
their own peculiar mission.
cleaned up. Next, the two crews prepared to
continue their journey. Of the liberated children,
not a single one declined Blackbeard’s invitation
to join the pirates’ mission to free their brothers,
sisters and friends slaving for Pewtrewsha and
Morlox. At present, the troops marching toward
the sorceress’ rock factory numbered nearly two
hundred.
As they walked and walked, Hazel said to
Brownbeard, “Do you see what’s happening
Brownie?”
“I sure do! Our war party is growing by leaps
and bounds!” he answered.
“True, but that’s not what I’m talking about,”
said Hazel. “I mean their eyes. Look at the
children’s eyes.”
Brownbeard looked over to one of the children
marching a few steps away from him. He smiled.
The boy smiled back.
“Hmmmm—it does seem their eyes are
brighter,” said Brownbeard to Hazel.
“Exactly!” was Hazel’s excited response.
“They’ve eaten some real food. Their senses are
awakening. Their minds are coming back! Their
souls are coming alive again!”
“Oh,” answered Brownbeard. Then he smiled.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
The would-be-liberators marched on. They
were nearing the edge of the ring of mountains.
Within that ring is a lake. And in the middle of
that lake is the fortress of the sorceress
Pewtrewsha and the warlock Morlox.
* * *
“Surely Pewtrewsha knows we’re here,” said
Brownbeard.
“If so, she’s given no such sign,” said Kumquat.
“Felix, ye and the other children say the
sorceress has eyes and ears spying for her all over
the Land of Longing,” said Izzy.
“She does,” said Felix.
“Aye! Let her see! Let her hear! And let her be
a-tremblin’ with fear!” shouted Blackbeard.
The two pirate captains, their navigators, and
Felix huffed and puffed up the long, steep
mountainside. All about them grew dull grey
shrubs and dry, brittle grey grasses. Sharp rocks
poked at their feet. Biting insects of all shape and
size were their constant company. The five had
formed a scout party to see what there was to see
as the final leg of their trek was now upon them.
“Dastardly gnats!” cursed Izzy as he slapped at
a horse fly ready to bite him upon the forehead.
“That’s no gnat,” said Kumquat. “That’s a
pterodactyl.”
Even Kumquat, with her thick mane of kitty fur,
was tormented by the insects. Sweat poured down
the faces of the rest and stung their eyes. Looking
back, Brownbeard could see down to the base of
the mountain. There, his crew and Blackbeard’s
men would camp tonight with the children before
ascending the mountain first thing tomorrow morn.
Once on the other side, the hard work of chopping
down trees and building fifty small rafts would
commence.
Upon the fleet’s assembly, an hour after the
break of dawn, when Pewtrewsha and Morlox
would hopefully be fast asleep somewhere deep
within their fortress, and when the weremonsters
Grobrom and Vulderburp would hopefully be
sleeping at the bottom of the lake, the liberators
would set sail. Then, they would break into the
fortress and free the other children inside
wherever they might be. As for the nasty
particulars, things were still pretty sketchy. Plan A
was not yet fully formed. Plans B and C did not
even exist.
Questions like ‘What might be done if
Pewtrewsha and Morlox awoke?’ were thought of
by many. Yet no one spoke aloud of their fears
since the strategizing session days before.
Actually, Hazel had confided to Brownbeard and
Blackbeard her opinion that if the sorceress
awoke, the mission would end. She dared not
guess at their fate. And in private, even boastful
Blackbeard seemed concerned about Hazel’s
assessment, simply saying, “Aye! Then we must
move faster then the Tides of Poseidon. And be
quieter than a ghost ship.”
The scout team climbed on until the shrubs
disappeared. Then the grasses vanished. They lost
sight of the camp. Now, their feet tramped upon
the raw, cold stone of the mountain. This high up,
they at least had relief from the bugs. And the
chill of the thin, high altitude air briefly relieved
their hot, exhausted muscles and burning lungs
before itself becoming unpleasant. There were
still patches of snow left over from winter.
“We be far up!” said Blackbeard. “T’aint
natural environs for a pirate! I’m an oceaneer, not
a mountaineer.”
Finally gaining the mountain top, the ground
leveled off a bit and then began to descend. As
the ground began to go down, the twisted vision
that was Pewtrewsha’s and Morlox’s fortress
came into view.
“Blast me! What that be?” exclaimed
Blackbeard.
“Salt and sea snot!” cursed Brownbeard.
“Captain! There’s a child present!” cried
Kumquat.
“Oh, I’ve heard that expression before,” said
Felix.
“But would ye look at that, Kumquat!” said
Izzy. “Have ye ever seen anything like it?”
“Well—no,” admitted Kumquat.
Far below them was a carpet of pale grey that
stretched almost to the horizon. The lake in the
center of the mountain ring was as colorless as
everything else in the Land of Longing.
Brownbeard was dizzy as it looked to him that he
was seeing nothing. Now how does one see
nothing? No thing. It was disorienting and a bit
scary to behold No Thing. But the illusion was
broken just before the horizon, for there in the
lake’s center was a tremendous ship. It was so tall
that the even atop the mountain, they were eye
level with the tip top of Pewtrewsha’s slave ship.
Though a few miles away, it was easy to lose
perspective and see the ship as if one could take a
step and climb right aboard.
“It can’t be!” said Blackbeard. “There’s no
such thing!”
“That’s it,” said Felix.
Blackbeard took out his spyglass.
“Here, try this one Captain,” said Kumquat,
handing him a digital spyglass with an image
enhancement chip and molecularly flawless
optics. Each in the party had a turn and then
another to look at and gasp in amazement and
dismay. All were shocked, except Felix, who was
not able to understand what was the big deal.
Smoke stacks belched puffs of black and white
smoke into the bleak grey sky. Pipes of all shape
and size twisted and knotted amongst one another.
Bursts of flame shooting out of tall pipes were the
first color any of them had seen in over a week.
Even this got Felix’s attention. The yellow spit of
fire, with its streaks of orange and red, were the
most intensely colorful things any of the party
could remember ever having witnessed.
Blackbeard, who does not awe easily, was awed.
“I t’aint never seen fire like that!” he said.
“No! Tis not natural!” agreed Izzy.
Brownbeard bit his lip. He was very uneasy.
“Fellas,” said Kumquat. “Cool it! We just
haven’t seen color in so long, the reds, oranges,
and yellows of the fire look supernatural. But it’s
just plain old fire. Our eyes just forgot what that
looks like.”
“What ye be talkin’ about cat?” said
Blackbeard.
“Really, Kumquat!” cried Izzy. “Ye be
deranged. I know a normal fire when I sees it.
That’s not normal fire! What say ye Brownbeard?
Felix?”
“I don’t know,” said Brownbeard. “We’ve had a
cooking fire just this morning. Now, I can’t
remember what it looked like. I don’t think there
was any color! But I didn’t realize it at the time.”
“Blast ye!” said Blackbeard, pointing at
Pewtrewsha’s slave ship. “There be fire from the
infernal regions.”
“The whole place is horrible. That’s all I know for
sure,” said Brownbeard. “Kumquat’s pretty sharp
though. She might be right. I don’t know.”
“I agree with Kumquat,” said Felix. “I know
what she’s talking about. When I finally made it to
the ocean at the western shore of the Land of
Longing, the water there was the greenest blue, or
bluest green, I had ever seen. But after I met the
For Sale and just before we began to hike back
inland, the water seemed to be just normal blue
green.”
No one said a word to this.
“You know,” Felix continued, “my father told
me he could remember when there was color in
the Land of Longing.”
“Really? That’s right. I remember you saying
something about that. So it was your dad who told
you there used to be color here?” asked
Brownbeard.
“Yes,” said Felix. “Dad agreed with Hazel. He
said that it was Pewtrewsha who took the color
away.”
“Huh. I thought Hazel said that Pewtrewsha’s
evil covers up the color and hides it from our
eyes,” said Brownbeard.
“Cover up—take away—it be the same thing,
Brownbeard,” said Blackbeard.
“Really?” asked an unsure Brownbeard.
“Where’s the rock quarry?” asked Kumquat.
“In the ship,” said Felix.
“Whoa! A rock quarry inside the ship! I don’t
believe that!” exclaimed Izzy.
“It is there. In the center of the ship,” Felix
assured Izzy. “A large rock fell from the sky
many, many years ago. At least, there is a story
about some such rock. Supposedly, that’s what
formed this lake and the surrounding mountains.”
“A meteor! And a meteor crater!” hissed
Kumquat.
“A what?” asked Blackbeard.
“Pewtrewsha used her magic to lift that rock
from underneath the ground where it lay. She
placed that rock in a large room inside her ship.
At least, that is the story I have heard. I myself
have worked on the rock. From that rock we cut
and polish the smaller rocks which are sent to The
Empire of Sa’Laam. Pewtrewsha says only the
best for her customers,” said Felix.
“Space rocks are the best?” asked Brownbeard.
“What space rocks?” asked Blackbeard.
“I guess so,” answered Felix. “She says she can
command top dollar for the ones with the iridium
cores which we make. The core supposedly gives
the professional rock hitter optimal distance
without sacrificing control. She says the rock
really ‘tings’ when you hit it.”
“Yeah!” said Brownbeard. “I remember now. It
really does ‘ting’!”
“Well, I don’t know what ye be talkin’ about,”
said Blackbeard, “but tell me this mate—can we
breach the sorceress’ boat?”
“Yes. There is a small opening in the ship just
above the water line. That is the hole I came
through when I made my escape,” said Felix.
“But Pewtrewsha may have sealed that route
since you’ve made your escape,” said Izzy. “Ye
know? To prevent further breakouts.”
“Or, she might not even have a clue that Felix
is gone,” said Kumquat. “One missing slave? So
what? It’s like when you balance your checkbook
and you’re off by a penny. What’s the difference?”
“Or, she may keep very precise track of her
slaves, like a good accountant,” said Brownbeard.
“Sure! I think Captain Brownbeard has the
better point,” agreed Izzy. “If ye be navigating and
the course is off a single degree—well, at one
mile into the journey, tis no big deal. But after a
hundred miles without catching your mistake—
oy!”
“No!” said Kumquat. “Pewtrewsha doesn’t care
about a single one of her slaves. She would have
no idea if she lost one here, another there.”
“Hold on,” said Blackbeard. “Ye scoundrel
navigators be guessin’ as usual! Let’s ask Felix,
as he be the one with experience on the slave ship.
What be the answer, Felix?”
Felix shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’m
sorry, but I can’t help here. No one has ever
escaped from the fortress to my knowledge. I’m
sure Pewtrewsha knows I’m gone, but she doesn’t
need to seal up the hole to keep the others in. All
she needs to do is threaten them with beatings, or
some other cruelty.”
“So, the hole’s open,” stated Brownbeard.
“On the other hand, she might play it cautious
and seal up the hole just in case a beating doesn’t
deter one of the more foolish, desperate workers,”
continued Felix.
“So, the hole’s closed,” stated Brownbeard.
“I don’t know,” said Felix.
“So, the hole might be open, or it might be
closed,” stated Brownbeard.
“Correct,” said Felix.
“Well, we ain’t be gettin’ our grapplin’ hooks
into that ship!” said Blackbeard. “And we don’t
have our cannons with us. So if that entrance don’t
be open, I don’t know how we be a-gettin’ in to
rescue a body.”
“How about when one of the raiding parties
comes through the hole,” suggested Kumquat.
“We surprise them as they’re leaving on a
mission, overpower them, and enter the fortress.”
“No,” Felix shook his head. “That won’t work.
I’m pretty sure the war parties leave on ships
lowered from the main deck into the water below.
I don’t know what the purpose of that hole I came
through could be.”
“Look!” shouted Brownbeard.
“What?” cried everyone else.
“A sea—or lake serpent!”
“Where? I don’t see nothing,” said Izzy.
“It must be Vulderburp or Grobrom,” said Felix.
“Aaaagh! I thought they be weremonsters, not
sea serpents! I can’t stand sea serpents!”
complained Blackbeard.
Brownbeard looked at his cousin curiously. He
thought B.B. commanded all creatures that called
the water their home. Wasn’t Leviathan the only
beast in rebellion against the great Blackbeard?
And besides, did B.B. want to fight, or not? When
was he going to make up his mind?
“I be thinkin’ the monsters slept through the day!
They won’t make our job any easier if they’re
awake,” moaned Izzy.
“Pewtrewsha must know were here,” said Felix.
“She’s probably commanded Vulderburp and
Grobrom to keep watch day and night.”
“We should probably start heading back if we’
re going to make it to camp before nightfall,” said
Brownbeard. “We’ve been standing here on this
bare mountain top long enough for Pewtrewsha to
get a real good look at us. If she’d have wanted to,
she could have counted how many false teeth or
eyebrows we each have. Besides, I’m freezing.”
As the group headed back to camp,
Brownbeard had two very negative thoughts. The
first thought was, “Surely Felix is right!
Pewtrewsha knows we’re here. We’ll never even
make it across the lake.” As a corollary to the
first thought arose the second thought, echoing in
his head all the way down the mountain. “This
won’t be good—this won’t be good—this won’t be
good —this won’t be good—”
* * *
That night, long past the hour the cooking fires
had been extinguished, on the other side of the
mountain, two dark figures cautiously edged a
small skiff to the lake’s shore. Tacking against a
gentle wind, the skiff and its two black clad
occupants looked this way and that, seemingly
worried that they would be discovered any instant.
Somehow avoiding an encounter with Vulderburp
and Grobrom, the skiff zigzagged across the lake,
eventually reaching Pewtrewsha’s ocean liner on
steroids. Pulling alongside the exact place Felix
had made his escape just a few weeks before, the
two skeletons indeed found the hole covered by a
heavy metal plate and welded shut. Just above the
now sealed hole, a tiny security camera hummed
as it scanned back and forth along the water’s
edge.
Quickly, cautiously, one of the skeletons
whipped out a can of spray paint. Giving the can a
quick shake, the skeleton reached upwards and
proceeded to coat the camera’s lens with a thick
covering of black paint. Following this act of
vandalism, the other skeleton whipped out a heavy
duty, high temperature blowtorch. After a few
minutes, the large metal plate made a splash as it
fell into the lake. The skeletons pulled themselves
up and through the hole. Leaving the skiff to drift
aimlessly upon the lake, the two skeletons
disappeared into the abysmal abode of
Pewtrewsha and Morlox, intent upon completing
their own peculiar mission.
The Adventures of Short Stubbly Brownbeard
Alan J. Levine
* * *
Chapter Forty-Two
Buy yer hard copy
at . . .
at . . .
Want to support
children's literature?
That's great! But
instead, why don't you
go to the followin'
links to buy yer own
miserable copy of
Brownbeard and
support Pirates
Anonymous? We've
been assisting pirates
with mental health and
hygiene issues since
1633. Brownbeard is
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schools and libraries
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and Baker & Taylor.
children's literature?
That's great! But
instead, why don't you
go to the followin'
links to buy yer own
miserable copy of
Brownbeard and
support Pirates
Anonymous? We've
been assisting pirates
with mental health and
hygiene issues since
1633. Brownbeard is
also available to
schools and libraries
through wholesalers
like Follett, Ingram,
and Baker & Taylor.
