Unless Scotty is with me.
He fidgets and grumbles and wobbles the boat and moans about how it is so boring and how the water doesn't do anything and how it is too quiet.
He only comes with me when I go to the docks. It is a bustling market of people all working hard on building ships, loading ships with goods, selling their goods, and generally being loud. In fact, being quiet at the docks is almost against the law. You have to push your way through crowds of people just to take a few steps in one direction.
I don't come here very often.
Scotty loves it here.
So it would make sense that he would come here. I've asked around at all his usual haunts: the old pier, the new pier, the middle pier (which is neither new nor old), the cake shop (that's my favorite), the bakery, the weapons shop. No one had seen him.
Where is Scotty?
Wednesday Afternoon – The Docks – Mood: Angry!
Scotty is stupid and dumb and reckless and foolish and...ugh, lots of other, much ruder words! I found some fishermen who had just come back from a day's fishing, sorting out their catch by one of the smaller docks. I recognized the main fisherman as Hank, a huge guy who was mostly beard, carrying a large collection of fish from the boat. I approached him.
“Hank! Have you seen Scotty?”
Hank didn't take long to think about it.
“Aye.”
“You have? Brilliant! Where?”
“He's gone,” he replied.
“What do you mean, 'gone'?” I asked.
“Acotty is lost to us? Oh mercy, this is truly a devastating blow for the forces of good! How we shall suffer in the oncoming wave of darkness!” Abraham cried and stroked on his beard.
“Shh,” I said to the old man and turned back to Hank. “Where is he?”
“He's on a ship,” Hank said, loading his fish into a nearby chest. He looked out towards the horizon. “That one. Called the Angry Mermaid, I think. The Captain was raving on about an adventure to a mysterious island on a distant coast.”
An adventure? Yes, that sounded right up Scotty's street. He would have definitely jumped on that chance. I looked to where Hank was pointing. In the distance, beyond the outer wall of the dock, was a small ship sailing towards the setting sun. It was definitely too far away to stop it now. I sighed. I had failed in my quest to get Scotty back.
“Yep, they're probably going to do something very exciting,” Hank continued in a voice that suggested he would find drying paint exciting.
“An exciting adventure?” I said. “But I have an exciting adventure waiting for him right here!” I pointed at Abraham who was inspecting something on his finger which he had just pulled out his hair. He popped it into his mouth and looked up at me.
“Hmmm?” he said. “What?”
“Oh, yeah,” said the fisherman, sarcastically. “Looks exciting.”
“Quiet,” I grumbled.
So that's it. Adventure over. Scotty has gone and left without even saying goodbye (rude!) and the world is going to end, apparently. It's a shame. I shouldn't have bothered fixing my house again. It will probably be destroyed by tomorrow.
Wednesday Evening – The Docks – Mood: Determined
You know what? No.
I am NOT going to be left behind while Scotty does something exciting and I have to babysit Abraham, Great Wizard of weird. He smells like cabbage.
I am going to find my own ship with my own crew, and we are going to get Scotty back. Then Abraham can take him and save the day and I can go back to looking after my cows and sheep and chickens. I don't care what happens after that.
Yeah, I can do this! Now all I need to do is find a ship. There are plenty to choose from on this dock. One of them has got to want to go on an adventure, right? Yeah. This won't take long, I am sure.
Wednesday Evening – The Docks – Mood: Why do I bother?
Why is it so hard to get a ship?
The captain just laughed in my face!
OK, ok, stay calm. Let's try the next one.
Wednesday Evening – Down at the docks – Mood: Not giving up!
Alright, so these are the ships and the captains I have talked to so far and their reactions. I am mainly writing it down so I can get revenge later:
Name: The Floaty Boat
Captain: Kyle Rogers
Reaction: Hahahaha! No.
Name: The Fisher King
Captain: Lenny Withers
Reaction: Ew. You're a girl? Get off my ship.
Name: The Plucky Penguin
Captain: Jason Falt
Reaction: What do you mean my ship's name is silly?
Name: The Creeper's Menace
Captain: Sarah Gets
Reaction: Sure, I'll take you, for 5 diamonds. (Where am I supposed to get 5 diamonds?!)
Name: ???? It was too rotted to tell.
Captain:??? Some man wearing underpants on his head.
Reaction: mumbles and grumbles and drools (I didn't want to get too close.)
So that's that. I'm down to two ships left and one of them...oh yep. It just left, I am watching it sail out of the harbour right now. I guess I should get a move on and try and persuade the captain of the remaining ship that they absolutely want to go on an adventure with me.
Wish me luck!
Wednesday Evening – Down at the docks – Mood: Happy! (I'm eating dinner)
OK, so the final ship I approached was interesting. I wasn't sure at first if it was even sailable. I mean, sure, it had everything a ship needs, a sail, a big wooden hull, and it just about floated, but apart from that it looked like a wreck! There was a big hole in one side and the whole thing went crreeeeaaaaak every time it rocked with the waves. On the side was a wooden sign that looked like it had been stuck on in a hurry and was beginning to fall off. It read:
The Happy-Go-Lucky
The flimsy rope that held it to the dock looked like it might once have been a lead to tie a horse, but at this point, I wasn't complaining. I mean, I would try anything just to get a ship to sail me in the direction of Scotty. This was my final chance.
I went to the wooden ramp that led up to the boat and said, “Hello? I'd like to speak to the Captain?”
There was no response from anyone on the ship. Creeeeak.
“Hello?”
“I think it's a ghost ship,” Abraham commented. “Ghosts can be very unhelpful.”
I rolled my eyes and advanced toward the ship.
“Hello?” I said again. “Is anyone-”
“Ya HA!”
I almost fell off the ramp leading up to the ship as someone leapt in front of me, sword drawn and pointing at my neck!
“Stay back, ye scurvy pirate!” I looked up at the person who was holding the sword. The first thing I noticed was the long plait of golden hair that wrapped around her body and across her waist as a belt. Atop her head was a big, triangular black hat with a picture of an orange cat sewn neatly onto the front. The rest of her clothes seemed to be colorful patches of cloth all stitched together. She looked at me with wild green eyes and wiggled the sword a bit more.
“Back, pirate!” she said. “Back, I say!”
I frowned. I wasn't about to be bullied by this strangely dressed person. “I'm not a pirate, and neither is he.” I pointed at Abraham who was picking something out of his beard. I'm sure whatever it was wiggled tiny legs in the air.
“Hello!” he said cheerfully. “I like your sword. It's very sharp.” He leaned over to me and whispered: “She's not a ghost. Ghosts don't like sharp swords.”
The woman narrowed her eyes at me and then, after a second, lowered her sword. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
I rolled my eyes. “Who did you think I was?”
The woman shrugged. “My mother.”
I frowned. “And who are you?” I asked.
“I am CAT DANGER!” she said, standing tall and proud. “For I have a fierce love of cats and I sometimes can cope with a bit of danger.
..” her voice trailed off. “Not too much, though.” She thought about it. “Actually the less danger, the better. Heard of me?” She glanced down at me.
I shook my head. “Nope.”
She sighed. “Most people haven't. Except for my mother, sadly. How can I help you?”
I grinned. It was time to put on the charm. “I need to hire your ship for....”
“To save the world!” Abraham chimed in.
“Yes,” I said. “I need to....”
“It’s very important!” Abraham waved his staff to add emphasis.
“Right,” I agreed. “What I'm trying to say is....”
“DO YOU HAVE ANY BREAD?” Abraham asked, just as dramatically. I turned and gave him an angry stare. “What?” he looked at me. “I'm hungry.”
“Shh.” I said. I turned back to Cat. “I need, we need to hire your ship for a very important quest to....”
“Nope,” Cat Danger said.
“Nope?” I replied. “But you haven't even heard what I am offering yet!”
“Still nope.” Cat shrugged. “As you can see, my ship is a bit...how to put it?”
“In an awful state of repair? Un-sailable? A complete wreck?” Abraham offered.
Cat wrinkled her nose. “One of them would probably have been enough.”
A thought popped into my head. “So what you're saying is, if it were fixed, you'd be glad to help me.”
Cat thought about it. “Yes, I suppose so, but-”
“Deal!” I said, grabbing her hand and shaking it before she realized what was going on. “I will fix your ship and then you can help me save the world.”
Cat looked down at our hands shaking and then back up at me. Her eyes narrowed. “I don't like it when people play me, girl.”
“My name's Alex,” I grinned. “Or as you'll later know me, partner!”
Cat rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She turned and walked back onto her ship. “You've got until tomorrow. If it isn't fixed by then, the Happy-Go-Lucky isn't going anywhere.”
I frowned again. “Only one night? That's impossible!”
“Ugh,” Cat rolled her eyes. “You sound just like my mother.”
But you know what? I think I can fix it in one night! If I can, then we can all sail off to Scotty tomorrow morning! What Cat doesn't know is that she has just asked the best builder around to fix her ship. I mean, I've had to rebuild my house so many times, I could probably fix things in my sleep! I'm going to leave Abraham at the docks (he is apparently talking to some fish now) and I am going to run back up to my house and get some supplies. This ship is going to be fixed before you know it!
Eeee! I am so excited!
Thursday Morning (reeeally early) – Aboard the Happy-Go-Lucky – Mood: So...tired...
The sun is rising and.... Yawwwwwn... I've been up all night fixing the Happy-Go-Lucky. Abraham helped a bit too, but I soon found him lying on the deck, curled around the central mast and fast asleep. He gets points for trying. It took quite a few wooden planks to fix the hole in the hull of the ship, some iron bars to help strengthen the what? And I've just spent a long time patching up the sail with other blocks of wool from my sheep. It might be a bit more colorful now, but that doesn't matter too much, right? I think it looks better.
I'm taking a break now. I've just got to finish the ship's wheel with a few wooden sticks, and then I should be done. Cat hasn't left her Captain's Quarters all night to check on me, so I assume she is asleep too. When she wakes up, she is definitely going to say 'yes Alex, you are so great and smart and amazing and pretty, I will obviously help you on your quest just like we agreed because you are so smart and - did I say pretty? Well, I shall say it again because it is so true. I have never met anyone else who is as perfect as you.'
Or something like that.
Abraham would agree with me if he was awake. Probably.
Did you know he sleeps with his eyes open? It's weird. He is snoring though, and no matter how much I wave a hand in front of his face, he doesn't react. Weird.
Thursday Morning – Aboard the Happy-Go-Lucky – Mood: Angry!
No matter how much I knock on her door, Cat isn't answering. To make things worse, when I went off the ship to get breakfast and came back, the rest of her crew must have returned from whatever they were up to last night. There are three of them, all men. The biggest of the three seems to be the size of a mountain, his head shaven and his face in a severe frown. The other two are twins, although one is dressed in black and the other is dressed in white. Apart from that, they are identical right down to the small wispy red beard that sticks out of their chins.
All three of them have gathered on the deck of the ship and have fallen asleep as well! I have tried nudging them, yelling at them and kicking them, but none of them seem to react to anything I do. Probably due to years of having to sleep on rainy and rough seas, they have gained the ability to sleep through anything.
They are all worse than Abraham! At least he woke up when I waved some freshly baked bread in front of his nose (he really likes bread, like, to an insane amount).
But nope, Cat and the rest of her crew are all fast asleep, ignoring the hard work I have done and delaying the quest! I need to get going as soon as possible! With every minute I am standing here, Scotty gets further and further away and I am closer and closer to being forever stuck with Abraham and his constant spraying of crumbs everywhere when he talks. I keep telling him to speak after he has swallowed his bread, but then he gets all grumpy and refuses to talk until he has picked every single crumb out of his beard.
Wow, I do sound like a mom, don't I?
What am I going to do?
Thursday Morning – Aboard the Happy-Go-Lucky – Mood: Sad :(
It's almost afternoon now, and it doesn't look like Cat and her crew are ever going to wake up. I've tried yelling at them, I've tried poking them with sticks, I've tried everything. They only grumbled a bit in their sleep, and now one of them has taken my stick and is hugging it like a teddy bear.
I've decided to give up. Quest over. I'll just wait here until Scotty gets back.
I guess now I know why I wasn't chosen to save the world.
Thursday Morning – Still on the ship – Mood: Plotting
I know I just said that I was giving up, but something happened. I was staring out into the sea, sure that there was nothing left to do but wait for Scotty to come back from his adventure, when Abraham sat down next to me, his old bones cracking and clicking. He took in a deep breath.
“Ahh, that fresh ocean air,” he said. “Good for the lungs. For the hair too.” He nodded knowledgeably.
We both sat and stared for a while. Then, after a pause, Abraham said, “So are we going after Scotty?”
I sighed. It was like he didn't pay attention to anything around him.
“We can't go anywhere,” I said. “The crew is still asleep.”
Abraham looked at the sleeping crew. “So?”
“So?” I frowned at him. “What do you mean by so?”
“Well,” Abraham raised a hairy eyebrow thoughtfully. “We have a ship, fully repaired and ready to go, why don't we just get going?”
“Because the crew is asleep,” I said again.
“And?” Abraham said. “Let them sleep. We can do the first bit.”
My eyes widened as I suddenly realised what he was suggesting. He wanted us to steal the ship while the crew were still asleep. I thought about it. I don't really know how to pilot a ship, but surely the idea was just to point it in the right direction and let the ship do the rest? I mean, it'll be just like riding a horse, right? A big, wooden, floaty horse that doesn't need feeding. It might even be easier than riding a horse.
Anyway, I've decided that Abraham's idea is the best. We just need to get the ship out into the open sea and then we can wake the crew up (somehow) and be like, 'Hey, you promised to help us if we fixed your ship, well here it is, let's go!'
They won't be too angry, right?
&n
bsp; Thursday Afternoon – Locked up in the Happy-Go-Lucky Brig – Mood: Embarrassed
Soooo...er...sailing a ship is a little harder than I thought. Also, turns out the ship's crew were angry. Oh boy were they angry. They do not like it when you sail their ship without them knowing.
I think they were over-reacting a bit.
Just a little.
Alright, maybe I didn't think this plan through completely.
Oh yeah, and I'm now locked up in the 'brig' under the deck of the ship with Abraham. It's basically a cell. It has thick iron bars that extend from the ceiling to the floor, so we aren't going anywhere any time soon. I should know, I tested the door to see if it would open. It wouldn’t.
It's a bit annoying.
It was all going so well at first. I managed to sneak past the sleeping crew, get off the ship and untie it from the dock. It took a few tries to figure out the complex knot they had used, but I got there eventually. Next, I just had to get the sails were unfurled and make sure everything about our plan was going smoothly. It was simple stuff, and the crew didn’t even twitch. The only problem was, once we were ready to go, the ship just kind of... sat there in the water. I turned the ship's wheel, I tried saying 'go, ship, go!', I even tried getting off the ship and pushing it, but no matter what, it wouldn't move. It was like the ship was being stubborn, refusing to go anywhere without its Captain's permission.
Abraham just kind of stared at me as I tried everything. He's always so helpful.
“What's the matter?” he asked as I tried running from one side of the ship to the other to make it move.
“It...isn't...moving...that's...the...matter!” I said, giving up on running. “I don't know how we are going to find Scotty at this rate.”
“Oh,” said Abraham. “Running from side to side of the ship isn't helpful.”