Prologue:
Henry, a simple fisherman, ran as fast as he could through the forest. He knew he only had a few moments before Black Beard found him.
He spied a tree ahead of him with a squirrel’s hole in it. Hurriedly he dumped his whine bottle out in the bushes and stuffed the map into it. He stuck the bottle into the tree and ran on.
Henry was old and weary and he collapsed. When Black Beard found him he was angry to find no map, and in his anger Black Beard killed the simple fisherman.
I
A Good Tree
Lightning lit up the sky as the Sea Stone sailed through the storm. Her crew was small but strong and would not give up with out a fight.
The wind was blowing and the sails were ripped. Vispilio was knocked overboard by the tallest wave they had seen so far.
“Man overboard!” someone shouted.
Destiny dove after Vispilio with a rope. Vispilio was a skilled swimmer, but with the seas wrath upon her she had no chance.
Paige hauled them back on board. Her full name is Jennifer Paige Taylor but they all prefer to call her Paige.
Vispilio’s short brown hair was soaking and so was Destiny’s shoulder length brown hair, actually they were soaked everywhere, but they were all right, and that is what matters.
“Charlotte!” Morgan, the captain shouted to the Sailing master, or navigator, “how long do ya think the storm will last?”
“It shows no sign of stoppin’ soon captain!” she shouted back.
She was right; the storm did not stop anytime soon. In fact it lasted for the next four days.
When it ended Morgan ordered every one to line up for a count off. She walked down the line looking into the eyes of each crewmember.
First was Charlotte, the sailing master, or navigator, of the ship and a very skilled fighter with shoulder length light brown hair and though she is slightly short she earns much respect from the crew.
Next was the black haired, buff figure of Corr. He could be disrespectful at times, but you could always count on him to do his part on the ship. Corr kept watch in the crow’s nest to warn of any potential danger. He was known as the Lookout
Paige was next; she is tall with long blond hair. She is the Quartermaster, or the first mate, and Morgan knew she could always count on her.
Next was Vispilio, as one of the Riggers – the people that unfurl the sails and folds them in a storm - her short boyish brown hair was perfect because it never got in her way.
Destiny was the Boatswain. She took care of any restocking and repairing that needed to happen onboard. Her shoulder length light brown hair framed her face perfectly, and her golden brown eyes were gorgeous. She was just beautiful in every way.
Next was Annemarie, she was also one of the Riggers. Her long pail blond hair often gave off a hint of blue making her fiery orange eyes look even brighter.
Shasta was by far the youngest one of the crew; she was found on the ship as a stowaway not to long ago and now works as the Cabin boy.
Tanner was next, he was a skilled fighter and you could not find a better gun handler in the entire world. He is tall with short brown hair. He is the Weapons master, or Master gunner, he takes care of all the weapons and knows how to use all of them.
The canon crew – as the crew called them – came next. There are about thirty of them to man all the cannons – two per cannon-, all of them are respectful men mostly.
Then there was Intero, he was the most respectful person you would ever meet, he is the Helmsman on the ship and – though you would never think it – he is seventy-two years old and he has done a great job of keeping his youth by working out everyday. His shoulder length hair and five-inch long beard are white as snow but not stringy like most old men. He is a true gentleman.
Everyone was present; no one was lost in the storm.
The sails torn, the railing half gone, the black powder wet and the crew tired. The Sea Stone had defiantly seen better days.
“Land ho!” Corr called from the crow’s nest. Morgan took the spyglass and looked. A few miles away there was a small island covered in trees, perfect for repairing the ship.
“Intero,” Morgan ordered, “set a course at three points to starboard, head for that island.”
“Aye Capt’ns.”
≈≈≈
Anchored near the shore of the mysterious island and the crew set out to find any food that might be there and strong trees for repairing the ship. Paige and her chocolate brown border collie named Domino and some of the cannon crew went with Charlotte to get some wood.
“This here looks like a good one,” Charlotte pointed to a tree, and she began to cut it down. Paige and the cannon crew carried it back, because of Charlottes height issue. When they got to the shore Paige and the cannon crew dropped the tree, and the top third broke off.
“I thought ye said this was a good tree!” Paige scolded Charlotte. But Charlotte didn’t answer; she was looking at the tree. Paige looked also and she saw stuck in the bottom part that broke off was a bottle, an old whisky bottle.
“It looks like it would be forty years old, sixty at the most,” She said in wonder. Charlotte picked up the bottle and dusted it off as best she could (which wasn’t very good); she popped the cork and took a look.
Inside was a faded yellow piece of paper. Carefully she pulled it out of the bottle.
Paige gasped, “It’s a map!” she whispered.
“Aye, that it is,” Charlotte smiled and she went looking for the captain.
