A Pirate's Life for Me: Part Three

      "Oh, are ye okay? You should have never gone with him. I knew it twasn't a good idea all along. Oh, I should have done somethin' about it. Tallin, ye should be ashamed of yerself! Just look how scared ye made the poor thing!" Rosetta waggled a paw in Tallin's face, then looked Dani over like a hawk, making sure there wasn't a scratch on her.

      "Rose, it's okay. She's fine. I suppose we all just overwhelmed the poor lass," Tallin said, restraining Rosetta. Dani walked back to the room she was sharing, and sat down on her bed. Loretta soon entered the room too.

      "Oh, hello!" exclaimed Loretta. "So, did old Tallin get too defensive fer his own good? He does that sometimes. Oh, I knew you three shouldn't have spoken to each other alone the first second I laid eyes on ye."

      "Nah. I just kinda got freaked out I guess. I'll be okay," replied Dani.

      "Well, I still think ye should keep your distance from him. You know, just as a secret between you and me, that ship o' his, well, it was his father's. See, his dad was killed by one of the most evil pirates in the land. Ever since then, Tallin's been trying ter find some way to fix up that old vessel, so's he can get his hand around that pirate's neck," Loretta said. She folded a few towels, put them in a cabinet, and exited the room before Dani had a chance to reply. "But you didn't hear it from me," Loretta said over her shoulder with a wink.

     * * * * *

      That night Dani couldn't sleep. The rain pelted the window mercilessly, and she simply laid there listening. When she found that it was no use trying to go to sleep, she slowly pulled down the bed sheets, and climbed out of the cot.

      The Golden Dubloon looked so forbidding at night. Dani took the large ring of keys off the hook on the wall, and unlocked the door. She ran out into the pouring rain.

      Sitting down on the wet sand on the shore of the ocean, she watched the waves swallow themselves up, and quickly reappear in some odd place. The smell of seawater stung Dani's nostrils. She walked closer to the water and stood there with her face toward the sky. Her wet hair stuck to her neck and face, but she did not brush it away.

      She could see the silhouette of Mystery Island against the horizon. She turned away. She couldn't bear thinking about what Ysabel was going to do to her, if anything. Sometimes Dani wondered if her owner would even miss her.

      She rarely missed Mystery Island, although she did like the warm sun greeting her every morning, and the warm sand... but she could get all that here, too. Couldn't she?

      The sound of quickly approaching footsteps startled Dani, and she whirled around. Tallin was standing not far away from her.

      "What are ye doin' out here at this time, in this weather? You should be inside sleeping," he told her.

      Dani did not reply. Instead she turned back around and sat back down.

      "Listen," Tallin began, "let's get ye inside now. Yer gonna give yerself Neomonia!" He put a paw on her shoulder.

      Dani turned around and walked back to the saloon without waiting for Tallin. He soon followed. He rummaged around in one of the cabinets, got a clean blue towel, and placed it around Dani's shoulders.

      "What were ye doin' out thar anyways?" he questioned.

      Dani began to dry her hair with the towel. "I don't know. I couldn't sleep," she said without making eye contact with the Lupe.

      "That's no excuse to be out there," he argued.

      Why is he so worried about this? Just because I was outside doesn't mean I was in any danger, Dani thought.

      "Well, just go back to bed," said Tallin as he turned around and began walking back to his room.

      "How can I possibly sleep in these clothes?" she mumbled. "They're soaking wet."

      She managed to find an extra nightgown of Loretta's, and she changed into that. Laying back down in bed, Dani found she was more tired than she thought. She quickly fell asleep.

     * * * * *

      "Dani! Dani!! GET UP DANI!!"

      Dani heard the voice and felt the paws on her shoulder. She lazily opened her eyes and saw the blurry figure of Rosetta before her, yelling frantically in her face. Her hair was hanging down over her shoulders, instead of being in it's usual done-up state.

      "Uh, hi Rose," she said, still barely awake. "What's the matter?"

      "Well, Tallin's got a surprise for ya!" she replied. "So, ye best get up! He's not too patient, as ye well know."

      Dani crawled out of bed and slipped into her clothes, which were still wet from the night before. She walked out the door of her room and saw Tallin talking to Loretta. He turned to her.

      "There ye are. Now, ye best come with me. Us three," he acknowledged Loretta and Rosetta standing on either side of him, "have come up with a little welcome present for ye. First of all, yer now officially one of us. Ye said ye didn't want to go back to that Mystery Island, so we figure we're gonna fix ye up if yer gonna stay with us. Follow me now," he said.

      Dani hastened to catch up with the fast moving Tallin as he, Loretta, and Rosetta walked out of The Golden Dubloon. She found herself once again in the small rowboat, which she was beginning to hate. The four entered The Academy, where Cap'n Threelegs stood waiting for them. This time he was muttering about how "he didn't have time for all this lollygagging".

      "Ah, there ye are. It took ye long enough. So, what can we do for ye, young miss?" he said, looking at Dani with his one eye.

      "Well, I don't know. I really don't know what's going on at all," she replied.

      "Ah, yes," Tallin spoke. "Well, first of all, I want ye to..." The rest of his sentence trailed off as he whispered into Cap'n Threelegs' ear.

      When he was finished, Cap'n Threelegs looked at Dani and said, "Of course! We can do that! Follow me miss. And you three too."

      He began walking towards a door that apparently led into a small hallway, which in turn led to another room where there were countless piles of pirate apparel stacked in haphazard spots.

      "Well, first I think we need to know what size ye are," he said to Dani, who was now getting an idea of what was happening, "step up here," he pointed to a small stool in front of a tall golden mirror. Dani climbed onto the stool, and Loretta began to measure her using a long string.

      "About 26 inches around the waist," Loretta called. Soon they had all of her measurements, and Cap'n Threelegs was rummaging around in one of the many boxes in one of the corners. He pulled out a medium-sized pirate outfit and held it up for Dani to see.

      "Will this do?" He asked.

      "Well, Dani, do you want to try it on?" Loretta asked Dani.

      "Are you kidding? Of course!!" Dani said, running up and grabbing the outfit from Cap'n Threelegs and ran into a small room adjoining the one they were in. She tried on the outfit, and looked herself over. Oh this is so awesome! I never thought this would actually happen! She thought. When Dani came out, she looked like a fierce pirate that had had way too much caffeine. She jumped wildly around the room, and went up and hugged every one in the room. She felt so happy it was unbelievable. Every one else was equally as happy for her.

      "Oh Dani, you look so good in that!" Loretta congratulated.

      "Well, now yer finally one of us, and yer owner ain't gonna do a thing about it!" Tallin stated as he looked at Dani's new apparel.

      "Yeah, and I couldn't have done any of this without you." Dani replied, gazing up at Tallin. She hugged him again

      After all these years of dreaming, everything Dani wanted had happened. She was finally a pirate.

     * * * * *

      The next day Tallin stood on the shoreline of Krawk Island watching the waves. He closed his eyes for a few moments, and when he opened them, there was a small shape accumulating out in the ocean. As it moved closer, Tallin was able to make out the shape of a small boat heading straight toward the island. What could they possibly want? he asked himself.

To be continued...