Pirates

Lacey knelt on the edge of the small stream trickling down from the lagoon. Holding her dress down into the water as it ran over it, she was trying to wash the grime from the bird off.

The smell was pretty bad too. She scrubbed the fabric together then pushed it back into the water, the cold water rushed around her wrists.

She kept scrubbing it for a while longer. When the smell was gone, and the grime washed out she pulled it out of the water and hung it on the vine she had strung for a clothesline.

When she was done, she sank down to a rock and sighed. She was wearing the outfit Silvia had made for her out of the hides. It was well made for a ten-year-old, the dress came down to her knees and it had straps came over her shoulders.

To complete the set she had made her a pare of soft boots to cover her bare feet.

Silvia was off scouting out a better way to climb the mountain. Lacey laughed "Silvia was a lively girl and sometimes she couldn't keep caught up with half the stuff she did." She thought to herself.

Lacey got up from the rock, stretching the muscles in her arms, which were stiff from scrubbing for so long. She walked back to the lagoon. The small pond was now one of her favorite places on the island.

Silvia liked to go out to the beach when she had finished with something or someone or when she was mad. Though she did try to hide it, which was sweet. She sat back down on the big rock and watched the water falling into the pond.

The inland lagoon was small but was still big enough to swim around in and it was fresh water.

She had to wait for her dress to dry so she left the lagoon and walked down to the beach. The sun was behind the fluffy clouds high in the sky overhead which made the day a nice medium, not too hot but not stormy either.

She started walking along the beach with the soft breeze blowing through her long hair that hung down her back. Usually she wore it in a braid but today it felt good to have the wind blowing through it.

She walked slowly, taking her time to enjoy the day. Suddenly a flash of light caught her eye. It was far out on the water, she stopped and squinted to see if she could see where it was coming from.

Again, it flashed across her eye. It was coming off something out in the ocean. She stared out at the water, slowly a small outline of a ship came into view. When she noticed the ship getting bigger as it came closer her first instinct was to hide.

She quickly dove behind a bush, then peered through the leaves to see the ship getting even bigger. Soon she could hear shouts coming from it. She had to find Silvia, scrambling to her feet she ran as fast as she could to the tree.

She jumped, grabbed the branch and hauled herself up. Running into the cabin she gave a quick scan of the place, seeing that Silvia was not in that room she quickly climbed the ladder to Silvia's room.

She was not there either, she climbed on up to Silvia's hidden place in the tree. She grabbed the knot and pulled. Quickly she rushed into the room and stopped, breathless.

Silvia was sitting up to the table with her hand in a bowl of water. She stopped pulled her hand out of the bowl with a start as Lacey burst into the room. "Silvia!" She cried, in a rush trying to catch her breath.

Silvia stood up quickly sensing something was wrong. "There is a shipping coming to the island!" Lacey continued Breathlessly.

Silvia rushed out of the hidden room pulling Lacey out along with her. She quickly shut the door behind them. Dragging an out of breath Lacey behind her she quickly climbed down the tree.

They ran down the path to the beach. Just before they reached it Silvia stopped and pulled Lacey behind one of the bushes at the edge of the dense forest.

The ship was now remarkably close to the beach and they watched as small boats were being filled with figures.

Lacey's eyes drifted up to the flag waving in the breeze high atop the mast of the ship. It was black with a silver skull and bones in a cross over it.

Lacey's hand came up to cover her mouth in surprise. She had never seen one of those flags before but her father had told her and her brother and sister many stories of pirates and the way they have been known to kill everything in their path.

Silvia kept her hand on Lacey's arm as the men rowed their boats closer to the beach. Lacey looked over at Silvia who looked tense. Her lips were pressed tightly together in a thin line as she watched the men come closer.

They stayed hidden as the men pulled their boats onto the beach. The girls counted six boats with 5 men in each. Lacey and Silvia watched as the men came up onto the beach not far from where they were hiding. Silvia's hand tightened on Lacey's arm.

To be continued-