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Ian and Mac went for a walk along
the beach. It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was shining, seagulls
were flying to and fro, and the beach grasses were green and blowing in
the gentle breeze. "What’s that out there?" Ian pointed towards a speck on
the water.
Mac put his hand over his eyes to
look. The sun was so bright that it was sparkling on the waves and made it
difficult to see. "It looks like a boat. It’s the funniest looking boat
I’ve ever seen though. It has sails. Och no! Look at the flag! It’s a
pirate ship."
"A pirate ship? There are no pirates
anymore, are there?" Ian questioned.
"There’s at least one and they just
lowered a rowboat. Let’s hide behind this sand dune and watch," Mac urged.
The two raccoons hid as a small boat headed for shore. Five men jumped
out. "They are pirates, Ian. Look at their clothes," Mac whispered.
"They look funny. Who wears striped
socks anymore and hats like that?" Ian giggled.
"Pirates! They must have been on a
deserted island or something and don’t realize what year it is," Mac said
softly.
The pirates started shouting at each
other and then two of them lifted a huge chest out of the small boat.
"It’s a treasure chest," Ian said. "Do you think it’s full of food?"
"It might be. Let’s watch and see
what they do with it," Mac said.
The raccoons watched as the pirates
began to dig a deep hole in the sand. "What are they doing?" Ian wondered.
"They’re digging a big hole but what for? Surely they’re not going to put
the treasure chest filled with food in there, are they?"
"Quiet, Ian. They’ve stopped
digging. Och, aye, they’re taking a break. We’d better move. They’re
coming our way," Mac said.
Ian and Mac scurried further down
the beach and hid behind a cluster of trees. "They’re drinking something
now and singing songs. I think they’re tired. When they fall asleep, why
don’t we go and open the treasure chest and take the food. They’ll never
suspect us," Ian said.
"Good idea. There we go. They’re all
falling off now. Come on, quietly though. I’d hate to have them catch us.
They might make us wear their socks. Hee hee," Mac chuckled.
Ever so quietly, the two raccoons
crept towards the treasure chest. "The pirates are snoring, Mac," Ian
giggled.
When they reached the chest, the two
of them lifted the lid. "GOLD!" Ian shouted. "JEWELS! This isn’t treasure.
It’s not food."
"Quiet! You’ll wake them up," Mac
cautioned, but it was too late.
"Well, lads, ye’ve found our
treasure chest. Trying to sneak a little for yourselves were ye," one of
the pirates said.
"YIKES!" Ian gulped.
The pirate pulled a sword out of his
pants. "I’ll show ye what we do to raccoons who try to steal our
treasure," he shouted and raised the sharp blade into the air.
"YIKES!" Mac shouted.
The two raccoons didn’t wait another
second. They ran as fast as they could into the woods. "I’ll get ye," the
pirate shouted and ran after them.
Ian and Mac ran, and ran, and ran,
and ran, and didn’t stop until they were back at their tree. "Do you see
the pirate, Mac?" Ian whispered.
They looked down. "No, I don’t think
he came this far into the woods."
"I’m staying up here for a week,
until I’m sure those pirates are gone," Ian shivered in terror. And they
did just that. For a solid week Ian and Mac sat up at the top of their
tree.
"I think they’re gone now," Mac said
one morning. "We should go down to the beach and see though, and make
sure."
"What if they’re there?" Ian shook.
"I don’t think they will be. Let’s
go," Mac said. "I’m hungry and need a walk."
Hesitantly the two of them headed
for the beach. Whenever Ian heard a noise, he ran and hid. "Stop it right
now," Mac said. "You’re acting like a baby. Come on, we’re nearly there."
They reached the beach. Mac peeked
over the sand dune. The ship was gone. "We’re safe. No sign of the
pirates."
Relieved, Ian stood up. There was no
ship, no pirates, no swords and no treasure chest. "I wonder if they
buried the treasure chest," Ian said.
"Let’s go and have a look," Mac
urged. They walked towards the spot where the pirates had dug their hole.
There was a mound there. "Yep. It looks like they did bury it, but what do
we care. It’s only gold and jewels. There’s no food."
"You’re right, Mac. Let’s forget
about it then and go find some berries for breakfast," Ian said. As he
searched through the woods around the beach he heard a noise. He turned
around and there was a Jolly Roger flag with its skull and cross bones.
"YIKES!" he shouted and ran as fast as he could, passing Mac. "It’s the
pirates."
Mac ran behind him and they went all
the way back to the tree. "You saw the pirates?" Mac asked, out of breath.
"Well, not exactly. It was a flag
with a skeleton face on it, but it scared me," Ian said, quite
embarrassed.
"Ian! I’ll be right back," Mac said.
He ran down to the beach, found the Jolly Roger and brought it back to the
tree.
"What have you brought that thing
back here for?" Ian said. "I don’t like it."
"There’s no use in leaving it there
to rot in the waves and wind. We can use it to keep the rain out," Mac
smiled.
That night, as Ian lay on the branch
trying to go to sleep, the face on the flag kept looking at him. "I can’t
sleep, Mac. Not with that skull looking at me. Turn it over the other
way."
Mac, seeing he had no choice, if he
wanted any sleep that night, switched the skull so it faced the sky.
Finally, Ian fell asleep. Mac thought about the pirates and the treasure
chest and how sad it was that there hadn’t been food in it, and then
joined Ian for a good night’s sleep. |
