It Was A Beast Of A Storm!

The trip back to England was a long and difficult one. The weather was terrible. Lady Kathleen worried that the sails would tear and rip apart. The storms were strong and dangerous. Sometimes the thunderstorms form a big group. That is called a hurricane. When that happens it rains and rains and the wind blows something fierce. When the wind blows that hard the ship starts to get tossed around in the water like a little toy boat. It takes everything that the sailors can do to keep the ship right side up.
Lady Kathleen and her ships had gone through many storms. Although they were very dangerous she knew that they were lucky to a point. The heavier those old wooden ships were the better. Their ship was very heavy because of all the supplies they had loaded on board for the long trip to England.

She had used her spyglass and had seen the clouds and knew that the storm was fast approaching. She ordered the crew to take down the sails in the front of the boat. She gave orders loud and clear to all of the sailors on board. She had them take anything that wasn't nailed down on the deck to be taken down below.  You could hear her yell, "Batten down the hatches, mates! "Tis a beast of a storm!" That meant that the men would take wooden squares and cover the holes in the deck. The holes went to the bottom of the ship and would collect water, if they weren't covered.

She told Lexie that she needed to tie herself to the ship so the strong waves wouldn't make her lose her footing and fall into the water. That would be terrible. That was a risky plan because if Lexie and the others were tied to the boat and it tipped over they would get hurt.
 She and Lexie were dressed like men because on board ship all women dressed in pants to not only protect their skin from the weather, but women weren't allowed on board ship, remember? That's why the little stowaway's mother had dressed her like a boy.
Lady Kathleen was a good captain, she ordered the men to head straight into the storm. They would be less likely to to flip over. The rain and the thunder was terrible. The lightning scared Lexie half to death and she hid her head as best she could. The waves were so high they looked like they were standing straight up; higher than the ship. Then the waves dashed against the ship with so much water it was soaking their clothes. When your clothes are wet you get cold. So now they were scared, wet and cold. Could they make it safely to shore? That was the question everyone on board was asking themselves. The waves crashing against the ship and the wind was so loud it was impossible to talk to anyone and be heard. It was a monster of a storm!
It seemed like the storm had lasted for days. It most likely did, because many of the storms out at sea did last for several days.
 Unbeknownst even to Lady Kathleen they were heading for the shore. The rain was so heavy that she could hardly see her hand in front of her face. Then she saw it; a shore line of huge sharp rocks. If they hit that it would crash and tear the bottom of her ship apart. She yelled, "Ahoy land! Hang on for dear life lest you be killed, maties. Ye be me friends for life! Save yourselves! Hold fast."

Then suddenly the wind died down a bit. She could see lanterns from a lighthouse in the distance. She could see where she was. She was in The Pirate Cove on the English shore. There were many pirate ships all docked. She was safe. They knew her ship and would help save her crew and her ship. "Aye, friends are wonderful to have. They always seem to show up when ye need them."

Well the children all started talking at once. They wanted more pictures. Grandma Lu said, "Oh I'm sorry mates, but I have no pictures for ye." Oh the children laughed when she talked funny like a pirate. "But I do have somethin' for ye to look at, now just a minute, be very quiet. I will turn the lights off and see what ye think of this." She had found a video of a bad storm at sea. The children and adults loved it. They felt like they were right in the storm.

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We shall soon see what happens not only to Lady Kathleen's ship, but to her crew and Lexie and herself. I just can't see a lady pirate walking the streets of London with a young girl whom is also dressed as a pirate. I should think there would be a way....