John Was The First Mate

Every captain of pirate ships has a first mate of their choice. John happened to be Lady Kathleen's first mate. He was not a bit happy about the direction this ship was taking. A pirate's first love is finding treasure. Lady Kathleen was the captain, however, so he had to do what she said. He had so many questions, but it was not his place to ask or to question her decisions. He put a smile on his face and had told the Helmsman to turn the ship in the direction of Lady Kathleen's island.
The trip to Lady Kathleen's island was a long one. It took many days on the ocean of bad weather. It was hot and it was cold. It was raining and windy sometimes. The very worst part was when there was no wind. They just sat on the ocean and didn't move. The sun was hot and there were so many flies. The air smelled like fish, spoiled fish.
The food was getting yukky and the pirates were getting grumpy. Marlee was getting grumpy too. She had pretty much given up hope of going back to England. She was grumpy because she was hungry and would like to walk on land again. The ship was tossing back and forth. Sometimes it would make her tummy upset. Oh she just wanted a nice soft bed and flowers and some new clothes. These were things that she only dreamed of. Marlee had never had nice clothes or a soft bed to sleep on. She and her mother had slept in the streets and alleys. They had been homeless. The only flowers Marlee had ever seen were on peddler's wagons. The peddlers would sell the flowers to rich people for a penny a piece. She saw a peddler give a rich man a tiny little vase with two flowers in it for his lady love. It had cost that man a nickel. In those days that was a lot of money.
The pirates would fish for fresh fish to eat. Those were the good days. Marlee loved to eat fish. The fish  that the pirates caught were really big.
About this time Grandma Lu pointed to a picture on the wall. It was a picture of a really big fish. She said, "This fish is called a Marlin. It is really big. Sometimes people call them Sailfish. It has a long snout and a big fin on it's back, doesn't it?"
Grandma Lu continued with her story. "Lady Kathleen was getting worried about her little stowaway. She was getting so quiet and thin. She wouldn't eat the spoiled food and always wanted water. Their water was almost gone. They needed to get to land soon. Someone in the group said, "Why didn't they have water? They were sailing on the ocean. That's a whole lot of water." Others in the group laughed and Grandma Lu smiled. "You are absolutely right, but that water in the ocean is salty. Salty water makes you thirsty. It's just like eating something salty. That makes you thirsty doesn't it? " They understood because they had been munching on salty popcorn and had been drinking a lot of drinks.
"Suddenly they all heard a loud yell! "Land Ho, Captain. Aye, Land Ho!"
Sure enough there in the distance was the outline of Lady Kathleen's island. It still would take more than a day or two to get there because there was no wind, but they could see it. Lady Kathleen was so happy.
Grandma Lu looked at her group of children and adults and smiled. Little Addie and Emma looked happy about Marlee getting to land soon. But the most excited little girl was the real Marlee. She was giggling and jumping up and down she was so happy.
"Well, Grandma Lu explained to the group, now remember they had two or three days left of sailing before they ever hit land. So hopefully everything will turn out okay."
"However, the pirates didn't know that they were being watched from Lady Kathleen's island. Far off in the distance they could see that ship. A pirate's spyglass was being used to watch those pirates. A spyglass that sailors and pirates used to see faraway places. Then she asked the group, "I wonder who else might use a spyglass?"  Then she went to another picture and pointed to the old old spyglass. and explained how it was used.