Four Shippwrecked Children

A novel, written by Gudrun Sabrina Hirt, aged 9

Typed up 20 years later.

Original in hand-printing, A4 totals 83 pages.

Some original spelling has been kept.

Chapter 1

The Three Killer Whales

“Alright, now hurry up!  We don’t want to miss our boat!” cried mother in a terrible rush.

  Eleven year-old Emily Alexander hurried off, clutching her hand around her little sister, Isabel who was nine years old.

  Isabell climbed onto a buggy seat in the back, and Emily sat beside her Mother quickly climbed in front beside Father.  And off they were, to the harbour, to be shipped to Australia, where they went to visit Mother’s aunt, who was terribly sick, and mother was worried they might not get there before Aunt Hillary died.

  Emily stared out the buggy window.  She knew she was one of the wealthiest people in town, and was always complimented for all her dresses.  She was well-liked in school, and had a lot of friends, just because she was rich.

  She looked at Isabell, who looked almost the same as Emily.  Both girls had shiny long straight black hair, with twinkling blue eyes – “She was born with the reddest cheeks that I’ve ever seen,” complimented a lot of people.  It was true Isabell’s cheeks looked almost as if she were wearing make-up!  Emily was jealous of her little sister sometimes.  Why didn’t any one compliment on her long eyelashes? Emily frowned at her sister and looked the other direction.  Some girls nicknamed her “Snow White”, for she almost did look like her.  But why didn’t anyone call Emily Snow White?  It’s no fair, Emily always thought.  But then, there’s always Emily’s compliments about how good she plays the piano and how good she can dance ballet.

  But still Emily wasn’t yet satisfied with herself.  Why was Isabell getting all the attention?

 

Finally, they arrived at the Harbor.  There were 3 ships anchored at shore, and there was a long line up of people in front of a big one.  The biggest one in all.

  The two girls followed their parents and their 2 servants, who were carrying the bags, in the line up.  It slowly moved up, but it took forever until the gate man received the tickets from Father.

  The family went to the top floor with the others, where their reserved room was.

  There were 2 beds.  One for Mother and Father, and the other for Isabell and Emily.

  It was a small room, but it had to do.  Mother and Father set the four bags on the floor beside their bed.

  “Take your hats and coats off girls,” ordered Mother.

  “Take my coat off please, Emily,” demanded Isabell.

  Emily sighed, and roughly unbuttoned Isabell’s red cape, and swung it off, and then dropped it to the floor.

  “Emily!  How dare you!  That cape is made of red velvet, and cost a great deal of money!  Now you pick that up – gently, and smooth out its wrinkles, and lay it on her bed!” scolded Father.

  Emily rolled her eyes, but obeyed him.  Emily frowned down at her spoiled sister.  Isabell’s thin, pink lips smiled smugly at her, and Emily disgustedly imitated her.

  “Emily!” warned Mother.

 

The next morning, Emily’s back was aching.  All night, Isabell had been pushing Emily off the bed, and Emily always fell on her back.

  Emily stiffly sat up in bed, and looked behind her to see if they were still sleeping.  Both Mother, Father, and Isabell were still asleep.

  Emily dug her feet into her slippers and tried to tip-toe towards the door.  She gently turned the nob.  In the hall there were a lot of doors lined up, and the only person she could see was an old man, walking towards the stairs that led him down to the main floor, where the dining room was.

  Still in her night gown and slippers, Emily followed the old man, quickly.  The smell of coffee and toast and pancakes drifted in the air.  Emily took deep breaths of it, and hated to breathe it all out after she breathed it in.

  She could hear the voices of people, chatting away, the voice of a baby crying, and the sounds of plates, when they get put together.

  At last she was at the very bottom of the stairs.  The people were all dressed nicely, not just in a night=gown.  Without noticing all the stares, Emily crept to a table with no one in it.  She sat on the bench, closest to the window, and stared at the dark blue water.  It was nice and smooth, and it reached to the end of her sight.

  At the very end of it, Emily could see the spring sun rising up!  But there, there far away, she saw three black rocks.  Then they disappeared.  But then they came back in another place, and as they disappeared a great splash came.  And they were coming towards the ship!  Emily ran out to the fresh air.  A wind greeting her.  The rocks were almost at the edge of the boat, where Emily could see them clearly.  But they weren’t rocks at all!  They were Killer Whales!

  The whales were making noises at the edge, where Emily was standing, leaning over the metal railing.  Then Emily caught sight of a big barrel of fish.  Without thinking about how mad the crew was going to be, Emily grabbed three big gray fish, and dropped one each into the mouths of the huge, big, Killer Whales.

  Then the Killer Whales seemed to beg for more.  But this time, Emily grabbed six fish, and gave each Whale tow.  Suddenly Emily dropped the last one into one of the mouths, the door swung.  It was one of the ship crew members!  He was wearing a dark blue cap, and a blue uniform, matching his cap.

  “What are you doing, child, dropping it into the water, like that!  What a waste!” he scolded.  He was terribly mad.

  “But – but I fed the whales!” stumble Emily, terrified.

  A smile appeared on the man’s face and he walked over to Emily, and rested his elbows on the railing, and smiled down at the waiting killer whales.

  Then his smile widened.  “Ah, hi, ye Flipper.  I haven’t seen you for a long time,” he murmured.

  “What are you saying there, sir?” asked Emily

  “Oh, see that whale at the right?  That’s Flipper.  She always comes this way in the spring.  And that’s her friend Dipper.  I wonder what happened to Flipper.  I’ve never seen that other one before,” said the man.

  “What’s your name there?” he asked.  It wasn’t until Emily realized that he was asking it to her, that he guessed, “Snow White?” and laughed.

  A smile appeared on Emily’s face.  At least one person said she looked as pretty as Snow White.

  “Emily, Sir.  Emily Alexander,” she answered.

  “I’m Morris Turner.”  And his red beard seemed to wiggle.

  “Well, I’ve got to go now sir.  My mother will be worried.  Good-day, Mr. Turner.”

Chapter “

Kate

  “You should never go there without our permission,” added Mother.

  “Especially when we’re sleeping,” said Father.

  “Nor in your nightgown,” Mother said firmly.

  “Yes Mother and Father.  I’m terribly sorry.  I’ll never do that again I promise.” Confessed Emily quietly.

  “I sure hope so,” added Isabell.

  Mother and Father, Isabell and Emily who was now dressed into her pink lace dress, sat around a table, and ate breakfast.  Right now Emily’s parents were giving her a lecture.

  But after breakfast, Emily was allowed to explore the ship!

  “But please come back before dinner,” warned Mother.

  Emily excitedly jumped out of her seat, and went up stairs, where the rooms were.  As Emily walked up the cement, pale stairs, she counted every step she made.

  One.  Two  Three.  Four… up to eleven.  Just the number Emily was at.  Eleven years old.

  The hall was empty, except for a boy counting all the doors.  Maybe it would be interesting to count all the doors, all the rooms – how many rich people there were for all the poor people, who couldn’t pay for reserved rooms, slept all on metal railed beds on another floor.

  The boy stopped moving, he was frozen as he saw her, and a sign of being trapped spread across his face.

  Emily frowned, frozen too.  “What’s wrong?” she asked, confused.

  “Oh, nothing,” he answered.  The he ran towards the stairs, but Emily stopped him

  “What’s wrong with you?  Why are you acting so weird?” she asked, then felt ashamed.  The boy was taller than her, and why should a little eleven-year-old girl say that an older person was weird?

  “Nothing!  Didn’t you hear my father calling me from downstairs?” he said impatiently.  “You’re the one who’s weird. “  And with that, he ran down the stairs, the sound of his shoes clicking down it.

  Emily shrugged, confused.   She never heard a man’s voice calling out a name or had she been that frozen that her ears froze as well?  Probably, she answered herself.

  But it was still mysterious about how he had frozen, when he saw just her.

About nine days passed when Emily finally met a friend.

  It was after dinner, and there Emily was, watching the sea, which was quite rough, and which made it more interesting to look at.

  Then suddenly, Emily heard someone crying.  She looked to her right, and not too far away, was a blonde girl, crying over the railing.

  “What’s the matter?” Emily asked.

  “Oh!  It’s just terrible!” cried the girl.  “I lost my favourite doll.  And she was from my great aunt, who’s now dead.”

  “How sad,” agreed Emily.  “What did she look like?”

  “She was a ceramic clown.  Her name was Alice.  She had beautiful red painted lips, and wore a dark blue loose suit, with a big ruffle around her neck, and her hair was black.  And she wore a joker’s hat,” the girl sobbed.

  “What’s your name?” Emily changed the subject.

  “Kate.  Kate Baker,” said Kate, smiling a little.

  “I’m Emily Alexander.  Are you eleven years old, too?”

  “Yes I am.  Boy, you look like you’re rich”£ cried Kate, and looked at Emily’s cream peach dress and at her shiny white brooch.

  “I am.  Sort of,” laughed Emily, trying to sound modest.  Then Emily looked at Kate’s dress, plain red with added hems attached to its hem.  Actually the dress was up to her knees, but with the added hems it was down to her shin.  Kate wore plain brown leather shoes, except that there was a patch sewn over a hole on her right shoe.

  Kate was definitely poor, and that doll probably meant a lot to her.

  “I’m sorry about that doll.  It must have meant a lot to you,” explained Emily.

  “It did.  I only have three dolls, but one’s just an old rag doll, and the other’s just a knitted one that my Grandma made.  It’s not that pretty,” answered Kate, and tears watered her eyes again

  Emily had nine dolls.  And only two of them were rag dolls.  Emily’s Aunt Hillary always sent a doll for Emily’s birthday through mail.  But Emily lost her first two dolls.  One fell in a well, and the other got stolen.

  “Are we almost in Australia?” asked Kate, breaking the silence.

  “I don’t think so.  But we’re going to the left side of the globe instead of going right, so it shouldn’t be too far away,” said Emily.

  “Hey look!  There’s an island!  It’s got white sand and palm trees!  We shouldn’t be too far away from Australia anymore,” cried Kate.

  There, a long way from the ship, not too far away, was a beautiful island with palm trees, white sand, and looked like a little jungle.  It looked beautiful.  Emily stared admiringly at that wonderful island, which she later on called ‘Battle Island’.

Chapter 3

Stranded

  Suddenly a gray cloud covered the sky.

  “Looks like rain.  We better go inside now,” warned Kate.

  “No, let’s stay here,” argued Emily.

  Kate sighed.  “But we’re going to get wet.  See?  I just felt a drop on my head.”

  “Well, I guess we should go inside then.  But somehow, I want to watch it.  We could look out from a window, “suggested Emily, feeling like a fool.

  “Alright then,” said Kate, and followed her new friend inside.

  Emily sat on her knees on the seat, making breath marks on the window.

  In a few minutes, rain came pouring down, and there was a terrible wind that rocked the big ship back and forth.  Suddenly the lights turned off, and there was screaming in the ship.

  “Oh, Emily!  What if we die!” sobbed Kate.  Emily was scared too, and it was getting darker and darker outside.

  Suddenly Emily saw a flash of lightening out the window.

  “What if this boat catches on fire” someone cried.  Emily turned to the familiar voice.  Wasn’t it that strange boy?  Yes it was.  He was staring out the window too.

  It was as dark as night, now.  It was supposed to be sunset.

  Suddenly lightening hit the roof exactly where Kate and Emily were standing.  With a few shrieks and cried, everyone but Emily and Kate who knew better to stay where they were, went upstairs.

 The roof was on fire, and the two girls ran outside.

  “Oh no!  We’re going to die after all!” cried Kate.

  “Never give up, Kate!  We must jump and swim to the island!  It’s safer there!” screamed Emily, as a part of the roof fell on the floor, right in front of Kate’s toe.  Kate jumped up in surprise, and ran to the railing.  She could see most of the ship on fire.

  “But what if there are sharks in there!” she cried.

  “Well we should give it a try!” suggested Emily.  “Come on!” and Emily quickly slid under the railing, and jumped into the water.

  “Emily!  No!  Don’t go! You’re going to be eaten by a shark!  Come back!” cried Kate.

  Suddenly she screamed.  Fire was heading toward her greedily and she was trapped around fire!  The only way she could be saved was to do what Emily did.  Jump into the water, and swim towards that island and be eaten by a shark.

  “Oh, mother!  Are you dead?” Kate whispered to herself.  Were her parents her sisters Mary, Laura, Carol, Julie, and her brother John, Tom and David, dead?

  Well there was no choice.  Kate quickly prayed, “Oh Lord, please help me to get safely to the island, and please watch my family,” and slipped under the railing, and jumped into the wavy, restless water.

  The water was cold, and the restless waves seemed to be pushing Emily away from air.  But she kept on swimming.  She wasn’t too far away from the island anymore.  Emily thought about her mother, her father, and her spoiled sister Isabell, and Kate.  They were all going to die.  And she would be shipwrecked.  Shipwrecked on the island with no one to talk to.  She would probably live there all her life.

  Suddenly, she felt touched by sand.  Finally she was on the island.  Emily breathlessly crawled out of the water, damp, tired, and heartbroken.

  She awoke with a monkey playing with her hair.  Emily quickly sat up, angry.

  “Stop that!” she cried.  The monkey made noises, and scampered up a coconut tree, and threw coconuts at Emily.  But it always missed her.

  “Ha!  Thanks for the coconuts.  Now I don’t have to climb up and get some,” said Emily smugly.  Suddenly she felt silly.  Talking to a monkey?  How foolish.  The monkey probably didn’t understand her anyway.

  Emily ran to a rock, and hit the coconut lots of times.  And finally it was soft enough to dig a hole in it with a stick.  She could only make a little hole, but it was big enough to suck the milk out.  Then Emily remembered her jack knife in her pocket.  She reached out for it, then cut it in two after she drank all the milk.  Then she scraped the white coconut flesh out with her finger nails, and greedily ate it.  She was terribly hungry from all that swimming last night.  After eating more coconut, Emily decided to explore the island.  It had everything.  Emily needed a waterfall with fresh water fish swimming in some tide pools and in the water fall, coconuts, bananas, and it had a few small strong trees to make a house.

  The island was about a km long, and a km wide.

  Emily decided to build a house close to the fresh-water water fall, so she could just take a few steps to get a drink.  Yes.  She would build it about 3 metres away from it, between these four trees.

  Quickly, Emily found four long strong sticks that were almost taller than her, and stuck them straight in the sand.  It took Emily three days to finish that house.  It was 2 metres wide, and three metres long, and was made of high sticks stacked close beside each other, and a wall of palm tree leaves inside to cover the hole.  So was the roof, but it had more leaves and palm leaves stacked on top.  The door was so small, that Emily had to crawl out it.  But it was safer that way, so Emily could always tack rocks against it, if some animal tried to attack, while Emily was inside.  But the monkey always followed her, and Emily decided to call it Monk, since she didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl.

  Emily kept track of how many days she lived on the island by carving a 1 on one of the rocks with her jack knife.  So far it had four 1’s carved on it.

  And that fifth night, while Emily slept comfortably, coiled up in a ball in a corner, Emily heard footsteps outside her house.  Fear crept up Emily’s spine.  Who was that?  Then after a few seconds finally it went away.

Chapter 4

Three More on the Island

  Emily stayed in her house almost all day, except in the afternoon, she picked up nine bananas, for she was frightened that she might see that thing that made the footsteps the night before.

  Finally she decided that it was just Monk, wandering around, and the next day she continued to run through the jungle carelessly.

  Suddenly on the seventh day while Emily was waiting for Monk to throw a coconut for her from a coconut tree, Emily heard a familiar voice behind her.

  “Emily!  It’s you!  I’m not the only one here, after all!”  It was Kate, and Emily was overwhelmed to see her again.

  The girls happily embraced each other, and sat on a rock.

  “Oh, Kate!  I thought you were dead!” Emily said breathlessly.

  “Oh, no I did just what you did.  But I thought I’d die in those waves,” explained Kate.

  “I don’t have a house.  I lived in that cave.”  And Kate pointed at the waterfall.  “It’s behind the water.”

  “Behind the water?” cried Emily.  Why didn’t she find that before?

  “Here.  I’ll show you,” said Kate, and lead Emily to the waterfall.  Oh, yes, there was a cave behind the waterfall, and the front wall was the water falling, flying down… it was like a hide out behind a water fall.

  “Come on,” said Kate, and led her inside.  It was about six metres long and 4m wide.  It had a small fire crackling in the middle, and there were a few banana tree leaves for a bed in a corner and a few coconuts in a pile in another corner.  And there, for a bowl, was a coconut shell.  How creative Kate was.

  “I don’t really have to go outside to get water, because all I have to do is hold the coconut bowl up to the waterfall.  And sometimes I can catch fish by just catching the fish with the bowl while it’s falling down with the waterfall,” replied Kate.

  A tingle of jealousy crept up Emily’s spine.  She herself had to fetch water.  She had to fish for fish, or swim in the water, and try to catch fish.  And when she wanted a drink, she had to dip water into her hands.  She wasn’t as creative to think about using a coconut shell.  Then an idea flashed into her mind like a flash of lightening.

  “I see your house is nicer than mine… and since we’re friends, could I live with you?” suggested Emily.

  “With me?  I’d be delighted to!  Oh, by the way, did I frighten you last night?  I thought it was a cannibal’s house!  I knew someone lived in there because I heard noises.  Did you make that house?”

  “Yes,” answered Emily, and knew that Kate would say that it was good, and looked like an expert at it, had made it.

  “It’s awfully good, Emmy . . . do you mind if I call you . . . Emmy?” asked Kate thoughtfully.

  Emily wanted to be called Emily and thought that Emmy was a weird name, but since she didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings, she said she could.

  “I guess so, Kate,” decided Emily.

  “Good. Well anyways – “

  “Charge!” cried a voice.  Both girls spun around.

  There, in front of Emily’s old house, were two filthy boys, with a homemade bow and arrow, ready to shoots.

  “No!  Don’t shoot!” cried Kate.

  “We can do what ever we want!” said a familiar voice from one of them.  It was that strange boy!  Not again.

  “Take them as prisoners!” cried the other.

  “Run for your lives!” cried Emily, running away with all her might.  Kate ran behind her.

  “Charge after them!" said the strange boy, with the sturdy, filthy, blonde hair.

  Both boys charged after them.

  “Come on!  Where should we go?” cried Emily, catching her breath.

  “Oh!  I’m so tired!  Let’s just let them get us.  They won’t kill us, or anything.”  And Kate sat down under a tree, catching her breath.

  “No, Kate!  Come!  Hurry!” screamed Emily.

 But Kate just sat there, hopeless.

Before the boys saw her, Emily quickly ducked behind a bush, peering through a little space.  Just after Emily did, the boys appeared and ran to Kate.  Kate quickly stood up and started running again, but tripped over a stick and fell like a shot deer, to the ground, sobbing.

  The blonde boy picked her up by the waist, and dragged her away from Emily’s sight, kicking and screaming.

  “No!  Let me go!  What do you want from us!” cried Kate, and the brown haired boy tied her to a tree with a rope.

  “You’re a bully!  Did you know that?  Who are you, anyway?” Kate hollered.

  “Who me?  I ‘m a person.  Not a monkey like you.  That’s why we want you out of here,” laughed the blonde boy.

  “I’m Abraham Lincoln,” said the other.  “And he’s Abraham in the bible, and he’s about to kill his daughter. Abraham is back,” joked the other boy.

  “How did you know, you little creep!” cried Kate.  “Then I suppose that you know my friend’s name.”

  “No kidding.  It’s Emily.  We’ve been spying on her ever since after the storm.”

  “We saw her building that ugly house,” added the brown headed boy.

  “You… you spy.  I hate you,” Kate burst out.

  “I hate you more than you do,” said Martin.

  “No, I do.”

  “No I do.”

  “No, I hate you more than anything.”

  “So do I,” said Martin.

  Silence.  Just the sound of the crackling fire.

  “Well, let’s eat our grilled fish, now,” sighed the other boy.

  “Hey, Paul.  Let’s not give her anything.  Just a banana,” suggested Martin.

  The sun was setting now, and Emily was hiding in the bush, spying on Martin, Paul, and Kate, listening to every word.  Emily had a plan in mind to save her friend.  She could hardly wait.  “Battle Island,” whispered Emily to herself.  She would call this island Battle Island, because she knew there was a big battle before her.  Girls against boys!

Chapter 5

The Big Nasty Trap

  It was a full moon, and Martin and Paul were fast asleep around the crackling fire, but Kate was wide awake, trying to get loose.

  Suddenly Kate felt a rock hit her hand. 

  “Shh . . . it’s me, Kate,” whispered Emily.

  “Thank goodness,” gasped Kate, who thought it was an animal.

  Emily quietly crawled as if she was an Indian, towards the tree, where Kate was waiting for Emily to rescue her.

  Emily drew out her jack knife, and carefully cut the ropes.

  “Alright now!  Come on!” whispered Emily frantically.

  Kate pushed the cut ropes off her arms.

  “Finally,” she said.

  “Hurry, do you want to be caught again?” whispered Emily, behind the bush.  Kate quietly escaped and followed Emily inside their house, behind the waterfall.

  “Do you know what, Emmy?” asked Kate and put her lips to the waterfall for a drink.

  “What?” asked Emily and scraped some of the white coconut flesh with her nails, and put it in her hungry mouth.

  “They spied on you, ever since you landed on this island.  They saw you make your house, and everything,” replied Kate.

  “I know, and I spied on them when you were hostage, and I heard every word they said, ‘cause I was behind a bush.  The blonde on is Martin, and the other Paul.  I saw Martin on the ship.  I suppose that maybe he was a stowaway.  That little naughty boy.  Let’s try to kidnap them this time,” said Emily excitedly.

  “But how?” asked Kate, and lay down on her bed, made of banana tree leaves.

  “I’ll think of a way, somehow!" said Emily confidently.  “Just let me have a good night sleep, and tomorrow morning I’ll have a good plan in mind.  Some kind of trap perhaps.  Once they fall in the trap, we’ll keep them hostage just like what they did to you.  Tied to a tree, and just bananas to eat, and you can feed them, while I prepare our grilled fish.  Serves them right.  Good night Kate, don’t fall asleep late,” said Emily, and yawned, and then made herself comfortable on her banana tree leaves.

  “Good-night, Emily.  I hope you come up with a terrific idea,” murmured Kate.

  It was dark inside the cave, just the little fire in the middle making its crackling sound, and water fall rushing down, making a raining sound.  Yes, Emily would certainly miss this cave, behind a waterfall, and of course Battle Island too.  She loved the little monkeys there, especially Monk, even though Monk always followed her around.  She liked the white sand on the beach and the beautiful light blue color of the sea, the tasty bananas and coconuts, which Emily had never tasted before, back in her homeland Oregon . . . but would she ever see Oregon again?  What about her mother, her father, and Isabell?  Were they all dead?  Gone forever?

  Emily awoke the next morning with a terrific plan in mind.  She excitedly jumped up, and shook Kate, so she would wake up.

  “Wake up Kate!  I’ve got the best idea I’ve ever had!” she cried, with a smile.

  Kate finally woke up, and quickly washed her face in the waterfall, so she would be up and fresh.

  “We better whisper our plans, because Paul and Martin might know we’re here and might be spying on us this minute,” warned Kate, looking around her.

  “Alright, come here then, Kate,” whispered Emily.  Kate cuddled next to Emily as Emily whispered her plan in her friend’s ear.  As Emily did, Kate giggled or gasped sometimes.  But Kate thought it was a wonderful trick.  She and Emily could hardly wait.

  “Come on, let’s pick the right spot,” said Kate, and the two girls ran out the cave and into the jungle forest.

 

“Come here, this will be a perfect spot,” declared Emily, and pointed her toe to a spot with a lot of leaves.

  “Oh, yeah!  That is a perfect spot.  Let’s start working on it right now,” said Kate excitedly.

  “You know what, Kate,” said Emily slowly.  “Are you sure we should make this trap?  ‘Cause…”

  “Of course, Emily.  What’s the matter with you?  You made it up, so why don’t we do it?” asked Kate, puzzled.

  “Well… I kind of feel sorry for them, and besides… well I guess it’s that I kind of like Martin,” she said quickly.  “But just because I feel sorry for him,” she added.

  Suddenly there was a rustling in the bush, and then laughing.

  Oh, no!  Martin and Paul had heard their conversation!  They’ve been spying on them, all the time.

  “Oh, no!  We have to run!  Quick!” cried Kate.  Emily ran on the spot with the leaves, but her leg slipped through the leaves and fell in a deep hole.  It was a trap.  Kate was already out of sight, and the two boys came marching up the hole, laughing.

  “You get me out of this!" Emily cried, her hands in fists.  “And stop spying on us!  It’s rude!”

  “We will get you out of our trap” said Paul, and drew a rope out of his hand, and the end hung before Emily.

  Emily sighed.  “You expect me to climb up the rope?” she cried.

  “Of course!  Even we can do that,” laughed Martin.  “Just hold onto the rope, and climb up it, and put your feet on earth steps.”

 “What are earth steps?” asked Emily impatiently, and climbed the rope.

  “See, I can do that, too,” she hollered, and pushed herself onto the earth ground, and stood face to face with the two boys.

  “I guess you should think before you speak,” said Emily, hands on her hips.

  But before she could run away, Paul grabbed her arm.

  “You’ll never escape from me, we are going to tie you against a tree, just like we did to your friend,” he said, and dragged her to their camp, with a fire between a circle of trees.

Chapter 6

Kidnapped by Two Outrageous boys

  “Stop acting as if you’re Captain Hook and I’m Wendy,” Emily said firmly, as Martin tied her to a tree.

  “We are not pretending that.  We just don’t want any girls on this island,” replied Paul

  “That is why we want to capture both of you,” added Martin, and tied a knot, so Emily couldn’t escape.

  “I saw you on the ship, Martin,” said Emily angrily.

  “No,” said Martin, pretending to be shocked. 

  “Why were you so childish, and counted all the doors? Asked Emily, suspiciously, hoping that Martin would get embarrassed.  But he didn’t.

  “I was a stow-away, for your information,” answered Martin.  “I’m an orphan, and I ran away because I had to be adopted, and I didn’t want to be in a family.  So I went on a ship, pretending to be a child of a couple, and the person who received the tickets didn’t even notice that that couple only gave him two tickets.  It was fun.  I slept with the poor people who didn’t reserve a room on another floor.  It was fun,” repeated. Martin.

  “I wish you had been caught, you little thief,” gasped Emily.

  “What is wrong with a stow-away?  What makes me a thief?” interrupted Paul, who was now rubbing a stick together to make a fire.

  “It’s just unfair that you didn’t have to pay,” was all Emily said.

  “Well now, Martin.  I’ll get some fish.  You stay here and make sure her little friend doesn’t rescue her, like last time,” warned Paul, and headed towards the beach.

  “I want some fish, too,” said Emily.  “Let me out of these ropes.  It is uncomfortable.  Just my arms, at least, let them out so I can eat and drink.”

  “Well, just in the day time you may, but at night, your arms will be tied,” decided Martin, and untied her down to the waist.

  “That’s better. I want a banana, now,” Emily demanded.

  Martin grumpily picked a banana from one of the trees, and tossed it to Emily.  She hungrily peeled the banana and ate it.  Kate would hear her, and Emily knew it.

Emily awoke the next day, disappointed.  Why hadn’t Kate rescued her last night?

  The two boys were still asleep.  Martin stretched out under a tree, and Paul curled up in a ball beside the fire which just died out.

  Emily saw two fish bones beside the fire, which she saw Martin and Paul eat last night before her, making Emily’s hungry stomach grumble.  Emily’s arms were tied to the tree again, and she had lost her jack-knife in the happening of the trap.  But she couldn’t take it out of her pocket anyway if she had it.  Her hands were tied to the tree, too.

  Emily sighed, and waited impatiently for the boys to wake up.  Emily was just about to open her mouth to say ‘wake up!’ but remembered just in time that Kate might rescue her now, so Emily stayed quiet.  But Kate didn’t come.  A few minutes later, Martin and Paul awoke, ate a coconut, and only gave Emily some pieces of it.

  “I’m thirsty,” wailed Emily.  “Give me at least some fresh water, please.”

  “Why should we?” boomed Paul.

  “Because,” answered Emily.  “I’ll die, and then you won’t have a hostage anymore, and Kate is hiding, and it will be a long time before you catch her.  Besides, you won’t go to heaven if you don’t give me water and let me die,” added Emily seriously.

  The boys looked at each other, and then at Emily.

  “Well I guess so.  We’ll take you to the waterfall, but – but we must – must hold both of your hands so you can’t escape,” sighed Martin, and started untying the rope.

  “But while you drink, we will stay close to you.  We don’t want our hostage to escape.  No one would,” added Paul.

  Finally Emily felt free again, with no ropes keeping her captured.

  Both boys instantly grabbed her arms the second she was loose.

  Emily frowned at them, her red cheeks burning with anger.

  Martin and Paul led her to the waterfall, not even loosening their hands on her arms.

  “You big bullies.  I don’t like you,” said Emily, smugly.  “I’m never going to talk to you ever again.”

  Martin looked shocked.  Then grinned mischievously.  “Fine.  Then no water for you,” he said, and stopped walking.  So did Paul.

  “We decided to let you go tomorrow, but since it is that way, I think we better delay it,” said Martin.

  “Sorry.  Even though I’m not,” sighed Emily.

  “Nope that’s not the right apology,” argued Paul. 

“It’s  ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t of said that.  It was dumb.  I’m awfully sorry’.  That’s the right apology,” said Martin importantly.

  Emily sighed again.  “I am sorry.  I shouldn’t have said that.  It was dumb.  I’m awfully sorry . . . NOT!!!” and then she burst out laughing.

  Martin and Paul disgustedly stared at her.

  “Leave the NOT out and the laughing, and we forgive you,” said Paul, and raised his eyebrows.

 

Chapter 7

Spilling Out the Truth

“So when are you going to let me go?” asked Emily impatiently, the next morning.

  “When we’re read,” answered Martin, worriedly making an arrow for his bow.

  “We have to find Kate.  She might be in trouble,” said Paul, almost whispering.

  “What are you talking about?  When will you be ready?  Ready for what?  And there’s only us and Kate on this island, and I haven’t seen any carnivorous animals here, so why are you making all these arrows?  And why would you care if Kate’s in trouble, when you want to catch her?  And what is the real reason why you are trying to keep us hostage?” asked the puzzled Emily.

  “We all have a reason.  If . . . if we didn’t care about you, we would let you free.  But we do, kind of.  And we’ll only let you go when it’s over,” explained Martin.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” said Emily.  “Tell me.  Are we the only humans on this island?”

  Martin and Paul looked sadly at each other.  “No,” said Paul, almost sobbing.

  Emily gasped in fright.  A lump swelled in her throat, and her stomach felt sick.

  “Who – who else is here?” she managed to say.

  “P - irates!  And Kate might be in mighty trouble”£ Paul cried.

  “We kept you captive so you wouldn’t get caught by them. . . we had to be mean to you and not tell you about it so you won’t get scared,” explained Martin. 

  “But how come I  didn’t see them?” asked Emily.

  “Because they live in a big tunnel.  They’ve probably been here for years,” answered Paul.

  “And they know   very well that we’re here,” added Martin.  Then he sighed.  “Well, since you know about it, there’s no use of tying you to that tree anymore, but promise to stay with us?”

  “Why do you want me to stay with you?” demanded Emily.

  “Because we don’t want you to get caught,” was all Paul said.

  “We have to find Kate,” added Emily, frantically.  “We have to find Kate,” she repeated as Paul untied Emily’s rope.

  “Come on!” ordered Martin once Emily was loose.

  “Where should we look first?” questioned Martin.

  “The cave,” whispered Emily.  “The cave behind the waterfall.”

“No one’s here, not even Kate,” sighed Emily, looking around her in the cave. 

  “She might be getting some bananas or something,” Paul said uncertainly, and kicked a coconut shell.

  “She might not.  We must find that tunnel!” cried Martin.

  “Have you ever seen those pirates yet?” asked Emily.

  “Yes.  The first day we landed here.  We were up in a coconut tree, when we heard voices, and then we saw them.  There were six of them.  They didn’t have guns, but they had swords, and knives.  One even didn’t have a leg.  He was probably not the captain, because another wore fancier clothes, and gave orders,” remembered Paul.

  “They luckily didn’t see us, but they know we’re here, because one of them saw us.  The day after that, the one with no leg saw us.  He was by himself, swimming at the beach.  But he wasn’t quick enough to catch us.”  And Martin burst out laughing and so did Paul, and Emily knew why, and laughed too.

  “Well, and he probably told the rest,” guessed Emily sadly.

  “Of course, and I’ll prove it.  They left a note on my shirt this morning,” replied Paul, and dug a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket.

  “Here,” he said, showing it to Emily.  Emily grabbed the piece of paper out of his hand, and held it close to her face, so she could read it out loud.

  “You better leave this island, because we deserve the treasure, or we’ll kill your girls.

  Love, Captain Bones.”

  Emily gasped.  “They’re after Kate and me!" she cried.

  “That’s right,” Martin told her.

  “And they think we know something about a treasure that’s hidden somewhere.  We didn’t know before, but now we do!” laughed Martin.

  “I don’t care about the treasure, nor if the pirates find it, as long as Kate’s safe,” Emily sobbed.

  “I wonder where she is,” sighed Paul thoughtfully.

  “I sure hope she’s not in trouble," said Emily sadly.

  “We better find her.  What if the pirates found her already?” questioned Paul.

  “What if they found the treasure?” said Martin worriedly.

  “How stupid, Martin.  Al you care about is the treasure!” Emily scolded, and stamped her foot.

  “Alright, alright.  I’ll help you find that friend of yours,” sighed Martin angrily.

 “But Martin is right.  Think about how rich we could be if we had the treasure,” argued Paul.

  “Fine then, boys!  I’ll look for her myself!” Emily cried, and with that, she ran as fast as she could out of the cave, and ran breathlessly through the forest, not knowing what danger could lead her in.  But halfway she looked back.  Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to run away after all.

Chapter 7

Six Mean Pirates

“No, don’t!” screamed Kate, as Captain Bones held a snake in front of her face, and everyone laughed.

  “You stop that!  You – why you fools!” cried Kate.

  “We don’t care if we are,” laughed Chub, a chubby little unintelligent pirate.

  “You let me go!” continued Kate.

  She was tied to a tree, right at the front of the secret cave that was long like a tunnel.  Gold was stacked in the back of it in a big pile.  And again, Kate was held captive, but she would much rather be held captive by Martin and Paul.  The five pirates and Captain Bones always teased her, and had only given her a banana to eat last day when she got caught.  But she hadn’t had anything to eat nor to drink since then.  But the worst thing to think about, was that they say they would kill her in three days if Martin and Paul wouldn’t show them the hidden treasure that the just found out about a little while ago.

  “We’ll let you go when you’re dead!” choked Goldy, the one with a wooden leg.

  Kate frowned angrily at him.  “Oh yeah!  Well you won’t even be alive when I die.  I’ll be about 97 years old when I do!  And when I do die, I’ll go to heaven, but you won’t!” Kate cried.

  “Bah!  What’s heaven?” asked Chub, confused.

  Kate rolled her eyes.  “Dumb bell! You don’t even know what that is?”

  All six pirates shook their heads sadly.

  “Well, heaven is a place where good people like me go when they die,” explained Kate importantly.  “People who especially don’t kill anyone, hurt anyone on purpose, or lie nor tease or frighten,” continued Kate.

  “What about the people like us? . . . who do those things?” asked Chub.  “Just – what do you call that?  Dumbby?” said another, Patch, with a patch over his eye.

  “It’s dumbbell,” answered Kate.

  “Just dumbbells like you, Chub, don’t know what happens to us.”

  “That means we don’t go to that place?  Heaven?” guessed Rummy, the one who always held a bottle of rum in his hand.  Kate always asked how they still had alcohol on a deserted island, and he answered that he made it himself.

  “That’s right.  But if you become nicer now, maybe you will go there,” said Kate.

  “How does Heaven look like?” asked Turtle, a quiet, slow pirate, almost the same size as Chub.

  “Oh, it’s just beautiful.  You’re never worried or hungry.  But there’s no wine or gold.  Its paradise,” said Kate dreamily.

  “Paradise?  What’s that?” questioned chub.  The pirates stared at him angrily.  All except Captain Bones.  He was as quiet as a mouse.

  “So you want us to set you free?” he finally spoke up.

  Kate nodded.  All the pirates looked at each other, and then at her.

  “Well,” thought Captain Bones, and stood up.  “We will let you go . . . only if you promise not to tell your folks about the gold in our tunnel.  Understood?”

  “Yes.  I understand.”

  Turtle slowly untied the ropes around Kate.  Finally Kate was as free as a bird.  But before she could even stand up, an arrow shot through Captain Bones’ big pirate hat, and it fell to the ground, the arrow still there. 

  “Who is that?  Who’s there!” he cried, and grabbed the arrow out of his hat angrily.

  Kate tried to keep her smile hidden, for she knew it was Paul and Martin.

  Suddenly, as if they had been called, Paul and martin appeared from behind the bushes.  As quick as a flash, Bones flung Kate over his shoulder and slid his knife out of his pocket, and held it at Kate’s throat.

  “No!” Kate gasped.

  Emily, still hidden, was horrified.

  “Now you show us where the treasure is or else this little girl’s going to be history!” cackled Bones the pirate.

  Paul and Martin looked at each other.  “W0 - “But before Paul could say his sentence, a coconut hit Captain Bones’ head, really hard.  He lost his balance, and fell to the ground, leaving Kate free.  Paul, Martin, Emily and Kate smiled up at a tree where Monk was making noises.  Thanks to Monk.  He had hit a coconut off Bone’s head just in time before Paul could tell the greedy Pirate about the treasure.  The pirates didn’t know yet where the treasure was, but the treasure wasn’t safely away from the Pirates yet.

  Kate, Emily and the boys ran as fast as they could to safety which they didn’t even know where safety was.  Patch and Rummy chased after them, knives in their hands.  Goldy hobbling behind on his wooden leg.  And Turtle toddled behind him.  But Chub stayed with Captain Bones.  Bones was still lying on the ground, his hands on his head.

  Chub knelt beside him curiously.

  “What’s the matter Boss?  Something wrong?  Did you faint?” he asked.

  Finally the Captain opened his eyes.  “What do you think?  Don’t just stand there! After them!” scolded the Captain.

  Chub scratched his head.  “After who?”  Who’s them?” he asked.

  Captain Bones was furious.  He jumped up and punched poor Chub’s face.  “Ouch!  That hurt, Captain Bones!  Why did you do that?” he said, and touched his face.

  “Because you’re the most stupidest creature on earth!” Bones said, and ran the opposite direction which the others had run.  “Follow me!” he commanded behind his shoulder.

  But Chub hesitated a moment.   “But that’s not where they ran!”

  I don’t care!  You can stay here while I  look for the treasure!” answered the Captain.

  Chub shrugged his shoulders, and watched his Captain run away.  Suddenly Monk, still up in the same tree, threw a coconut at Chub’s head.  Chub was knocked out, and fell to the ground.

  Monk scampered down the tree to Chub.  He sat beside him, and examined the growing lump on Chub’s head.

 

Chapter 8

Kate and Monk’s Secret

Emily ran with all her might.  Her dress was too long, so she held it up.  But still, Paul, Martin and Kate were ahead of her.

  Rummy was only about three metres away from his reach of her, and Emily knew that he was going to catch her.  But she couldn’t give up.  What if Rummy killed her!  But she ran straight ahead, following her friends.

  But suddenly she reached sand.  She was close to water!  And now she was trapped.  Emily couldn’t see Kate and Paul and Martin anymore. Where were they? Emily had to take her chance and turn right.  Emily could feel a hand sweep across her sleeve.  The pirate wasn’t too far away.  Emily’s stomach hurt.  She had to stop.  But she didn’t dare to.  Suddenly, Emily picked up speed.  She saw a coconut tree ahead of her.  She couldn’t climb up that.  So she climbed up a normal tree that was about the same size.  She dashed up to the highest branch, and looked down at the angry Rummy, waving his knife.

  “You little beast!”

  Emily stuck her tongue out.  “Na, nanana, na!”  She laughed.  The coconuts on the other tree weren’t too far away.  Rummy was already climbing it up carefully.  Emily cautiously leaned forward, her hand stretching towards the closest coconut.  Yes!  She got it.  Rummy was almost at her foot. Emily threw the greenish coconut at his head.  And down, down, down fell rummy, like a rock, and landed with a big thump on the sand.  He was dead.  Emily climbed down the tree, and without even looking at that awful pirate, she ran the direction she was going before.  Suddenly she felt a grip on her ankle.  She spun around.  It was just Martin, with Kate and Paul.  Emily sat beside them, and told them about Rummy.

  “We know,” said Kate.  “We saw it all from behind a bush.”

  “Well, one down, five more to go!” said Paul sympathetically.

  They quickly got up, and quietly went towards the tunnel.

  “There’s an awful lots of gold in there,” gasped Emily.

  “Yes, we’ll split it up evenly, so that all of us get some,” said Martin.

  “That’s impossible.  How can we? There’s just too much . . . and besides, what does it really matter about who gets any treasure because we’ll never get out of here, and become rich, just let the others get the treasure,” said Kate sadly.  “Then maybe if they have it, they’ll be nice to us.”

  Paul gasped.  “Kate, are you out of your mind?  What if somebody does find us, and then they take us back home?”

  “Well, I doubt it,” said Kate quietly.

  “There are a lot of boats that pass here.  We just haven’t seen one yet.  So don’t give up now,” said Martin.

  “Come on, let’s not argue.  We have to find that treasure before Captain Bones does!  Hurry!” urged Emily.

Captain Bones picked up his hat.  Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder.  Bones screamed almost like a girl, and turned around to see Patch snickering.  The captain frowned angrily.  “Stop it!”

  Patch stopped in an instant. 

  “Where’s Rummy?  Where’s Turtle? And Goldy?” Captain Bones demanded.  Patch nodded behind him.  There was Turtle, toddling breathlessly towards them.  And a longer distance away was Goldy, stumbling along. 

  “Hurry!  Don’t just take your time!” hollered Bones, his voice ringing through the cave.

  Soon all four pirates were inside the cave.

  “It must be here somewhere – here!” Captain Bones said, and turned a corner.  But there was no treasure in that cave.

 

Back outside the Pirates’ tunnel, Monk was still examining the sleeping Chub.  But now he was bored of it.  His little hands and feet carried him to the water fall with a cave behind it. Monk knew the secret passage into it.  He pushed the two rocks blocking the entrance.  He curiously went inside.  The cave was just the same after Emily, martin and Paul had left it.  Emily was glad that she returned back to the two boys after she ran away.  Or else she wouldn’t ever have killed Rummy with the coconut.

  Monk scampered to Kate’s banana tree leaves bed.  He jumped on it, and then hid himself under one of the leaves, playfully.  Then he went to the pile of six bananas.  Monk helped himself to the biggest one, and then lay on his bed.  Monk had lived with Kate ever since Emily was kidnapped, and he knew a big secret of Kate’s.  He went to Kate’s bed, pushed all the leaves to the side, and saw the freshly dug earth.  Monk dug there, until he reached the trunk which he saw so many times.  He opened the lid, and admired all the jewelry in it.  Diamonds, rubies, opals, turquoise, emeralds, and more.  Bracelets, rings, necklaces, baretts, brooches . . . it all belonged to Kate – Kate Baker, because she found it the day she arrived on this island. 

  First, she had seen the beautiful waterfall.  She had tried to pick up a rock, which happened to be one of the rocks that hid the entrance.  But it was too heavy.  So she only managed to roll it out of place.  There she saw not rocks behind it, but a small entrance to a cave.  She pushed the other one, and crawled into the big cave.  Then there was something that caught her eye.  A big trunk that looked like those trunks in Pirate books.  She ran to it, and unlocked it with a key beside it, and opened the lid.  She couldn’t believe it.  Inside were jewels that would make her rich.  And she never told anything about it to anyone.  Not even Emily.  Just Monk and a few other animals knew.  And God, of course.  She dared not to tell a soul either.  She didn’t want anyone to steal some, not even the most worthless ring.  She wanted it all.  Of course, it was quite selfish of her not even to tell Emily about it, or not even give Emily a little bracelet.

  Monk picked up his favourite thing.  A diamond necklace.  He placed it around his neck and made noises of joy.  Then he left with it, not even covering up the trunk again, or closing the entrance.

Chapter 9

No More Secrets

  “We better give up.  We’re never going to find that treasure,” sighed Kate, and joined her friends at a big rock.

  “Come on.  We only checked out the cave and that pirate tunnel and that small other little cave  What about that cave of your behind the waterfall, Kate?  Maybe there’s something hidden there that you might not know about?” suggested Paul.

  Kate looked alarmed.  Then nervously she smiled.  “Sure.  I –‘ve seen nothing there.  But I think it’s a waste of time looking in there.  I mean, I would have spotted the trunk of treasure right away, since I lived there for a long time already.”

  “But how do you know that the treasure is in a trunk and that it might not be dug up somewhere?  There might have been pirates, a long time ago, who knew about the waterfall, and hid it there because they thought that it was hard to find?” asked Emily, and a trickle of suspicion crept down her spine.  Why was Kate so upset and nervous about them searching that place?

  “Well, you know I have a very good imagination, and I think that the treasure is in a trunk, that’s all.  And I’m sure that the treasure isn’t in that cave,” answered Kate.

  Martin could not hide his temptation anymore.  “Do you have the treasure?” he burst out saying.

  Kate looked frightened.  “No!” she cried.  “Al – alright!  We’ll go to that cave!”

  “That’s pretty strange.  Why is the entrance open?” said Kate when they got there.

  Everyone shrugged their shoulders. 

  “Wait.  I’ll check if everything’s alright,” said Kate, and disappeared into the cave.

  Kate was stunned when she saw the trunk not dug under the earth, but on the place where she saw it when she arrived there the first day.  Kate was terrified, and started to cry.

  “Kate?” called Emily from outside, and stuck her head out the entrance.  She was shocked too.  “Kate!  You found the treasure . . . but why are you crying?” asked Emily and put her arm around Kate’s shoulder.

  “I’m so sorry!” Kate burst out.

  “Kate!  What are you sorry for?” Emily asked patiently.

  “I found the trunk the first day I came here,” Kate apologized, and told her story to Emily, Paul and Martin

  “But why didn’t you want us to know about it?” questioned Paul.

  “Because I was selfish and greedy,” Kate sobbed.  “I didn’t want anyone to have one of the treasures.”

  “But why?” asked Martin.

  “Because I was selfish and greedy,” Kate repeated impatiently.

  “So you’re going to get all of those and become rich, while we go on the street as beggars?” said Paul, and lifted the lid and admired all the jewellery.

  There was silence in the cave.  Just the waterfall and Paul digging his hands into the treasure.

  “Well . . . I guess we can split it up.  But I get the trunk and the diamond necklace,” said Kate confidently, but was shocked when she didn’t see that diamond necklace.  “It’s always at the top of the pile,” wailed Kate, searching for it.  Then she realized something.

  “It’s gone!” she cried.

  “What?” gasped Emily.  “How did it look like?”

  “Who could have stolen it?” added Paul.

  Tears returned to Kate’s eyes.  The whole time she had been crying and wailing.  “The pirates probably did.  Maybe this one’s fake.  The whole treasure here is fake.”

  “How could it all be fake?  They don’t have any plastic factories here, do they?" said Martin.

  “No,” sobbed Kate in agreement.  “But who else could have?  And besides, if the pirates found it, they would certainly take it away.”

  “Does any smart animal know about it?” asked Emily.

  “Yes, Monk sure does.  He’s been living here with me ever since you left, Emily.  That monkey sure knows where it is,” answered Kate hopefully.

  “Maybe he took it,” suggested Martin.

  “Yeah,” agreed Paul.  “I sure hope so.”

  “Well, I don’t.  What if he lost it anyway?  Maybe even on purpose or not on purpose,” said Kate miserably, sitting down.

  “If he stole it or not, we better look for it now!” said Martin, leading them out, and closed the boulder behind him.

  Emily, Kate, Paul and Martin looked frantically for the missing necklace.

  “Maybe we should look for Monk first.  Maybe he still has it,” suggested Kate after she got tired of searching the island.

  “Umm . . . where does this – ohhh . . . Monk Monkey live?” asked Martin, grinning.  “With the rest of his group?”

  “No, he usually hangs around the waterfall.  But he does belong to one of the monkey groups.  But the problem is, the groups are usually moving, so we don’t know where they are.  The last time I saw his group was when they were at the beach,” shrugged Kate.

  “Hey.  I’ve got an idea.  What if we split up?  We’ll surely find him that way, or the group,” said Emily.

  “Oh, good idea,” agreed Paul.  “And if one of us finds him, take him to the waterfall and wait until the sun bottom tip touches the sea.  Then we’ll meet at the waterfall, Monk found, or not.”

  “Okay,” sighed Martin.  “Sounds good.”

  “But what if one of us gets caught by the pirates?” worried Emily.

  “Well, get away,” joked Martin.

  “But how?” said Kate impatiently.

  “You know, you could scream really loud so we could hear, and we’ll have an attack against them until they let you go,” said Paul.

  “Alright,” sighed Emily.  And the four children split up, looking for Monk or his monkey group.  But they didn’t know something important.  Monk wasn’t even on the island.  He lived in a monkey group on another island, not too far away.

Chapter 10

Chub and Turtle’s Decision

  Emily looked at the sun.  Its bottom was just at the tip of the water, which formed a straight line.

  “I’m a loser,” she thought.  “I didn’t even find Monk, Kate or Martin or Paul.  They will be the winners.  All or one of them.”

  But the others thought that too, and thought that they were losers.  But when they met at the waterfall, everyone found that no one had seen a monkey with a necklace made of diamond.

  “Maybe the necklace isn’t even with him,” said Paul, disappointed, and the three children nodded.

  “And that was honestly your favorite?” asked Emily.

  “Yes, and it was probably the only one worth two million dollars,” said Kate, exaggerating.

  “Oh, c’mon.  It was probably just worth six or seven thousand dollars,” said Paul.

  “But it was still my favourite,” said Kate sadly.

  “Oh, well.  You can still live without it, can you?” said Emily.

  “Yea.  I guess so,” answered Kate.  “Well let’s go to the secret cave and have some grilled fish,” and she led them inside.

  “Hey look!  I caught a big fish!” said Emily, and held the big fish tightly.

  “Oh, yes indeed,” said Kate.  “That will be the perfect one.”

  Emily set the fish on a banana tree leaf.  It was almost dead.

  “Give me your jack knife, Emily,” ordered Paul.  Emily handed it to him.  “Now who’s going to cut the head off?” he said.

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “I won’t either,” said Paul, disgusted.  “But someone has to  Martin?  Kate? Emily?  No?” But once more the three shook their heads.  “Welll . . . Then I guess I will.”  He shut his eyes, and cut the dead fish’s head off.  But he dared not to look at it. 

  “Now who’s going to chop the fish into four?” giggled Kate.

  “You, Kate,” laughed Emily. 

  “No way!” cried Kate.

  “I know, to make it even, we will all cut a piece off for ourselves,” suggested Martin.

  “Alright, sounds good to me, then for once the girls get to chop a piece off,” said Martin.  “Who’s going first?”

  Emily pointed at Kate.  Kate pointed at her, Paul pointed to Martin, and Martin pointed to Paul.  Then they burst out with laughter.

  “Well, then I guess I will,” said Martin, and shut his eyes tight as he cut a large peice for himself.

  “I’ll be the last one, so I’ll start the fire,” decided Emioly, and rubbed two rocks together.  “Here’s a stick Martin, so you can fry the fish over the fire,” and she handed him a stick.

  They happily grilled their piece of fish, talking about the pirates, and what their plan was to get rid of them.

  “You know, we’ll tart making a big boat, so all of us can fit in it,” said Martin.  “And then we’ll escape.”

  “But escape to where?” questioned Kate.  “What if there’s a storm again?”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Paul assured her.

  “I think we should wait until someone finds us,” said Emily.  “That way it’s safer.”

  “Yeah, but when will that be?” said Martin.  “We’ll probably have to wait a year.”

  “But at least that’s better than risking your life,” said Kate.

  “Wellll . . . you know what?  I think you’re right,” agreed Paul.

  “Me too,” said Martin.

“Of course there’s no such thing as a secret cave behind a waterfall, sill,y” ordered Captain Bones.

  “But sir, didn’t you ever hear of secret caves behind waterfalls?” asked goldy.

  “There’s no such thing,” answered Bones stubbornly. 

  “Didn’t you ever read books, captain?” advised Patch.  “Books about a treasure hidden in a secret cave behin a waterfall?”

  “No!” said Captain Bones angrily.

  “I still have a head ache from yesterday,” mumbled Chub, rubbing his big lump on his head.  “I bet that rotten monkey did that.”

  “Jus like he did to me!  Well anyway, let’s continue to search for that treasure!” hollered Captain Bones, and lead them on   Chub, Patch, Goldy, and Turtle were very sad that Rummy was dead.  But Captain Bones didn’t really care.  Actually he was glad.  Now he would get more of the treasure.  But he still wished that the others would die too.  Then he would get all of the treasure to himself.

  “But maybe we should check the waterfall, you know,” hesitated Goldy.  “There might be – the treasure.”

  “Oh, fiddle with sticks!  NO! I will not waste my time!” protested Captain Bones.

  “Oh, well.  Suit yourself,” said Patch angrily.

  “but Patch, Captain Bones already has a suit,” argued Chub.

  “Oh, Chub, that’s not what I mean,” said Patch.  “Did you know something?”

  “What?” asked Chub. 

  “I think that that coconut caused more damage to your brain,” answered Patch proudly.

  “Ya.  That’s why I’m going to sue that monkey!” said Chub angrily, his hands in fists.  He started beating up a plant, but Turtle hald him back.  “you, you don’t need to fight.  Besides.  That monkey didn’t mean to do it . . . and why can’t we give the treasure to the kids?  Why can’t we live in peace?” said Turtle quietly. 

  Chub looked thoughtful.  “Hey, you know what?  I’m going on the kid’s side.  What about you Turtle?  Are you going to join me too?  There more peace on that side,” decided Chub happily.

  Turtle looked thoughtful too.

  “Yeah.  That’s a terrific idea.  Maybe they need some help from us,” agreed Turtle, and bumped his elbow playfully at Chub’s stomach.

  But this made Captain Bones furious.  He didn’t care if one of his team mates died, but he did care if there were more on the other team, because then the other team would have a big chance at finding the treasure.  Even though the kids had already had.

  “And you know what?  I’m going to take some of my gold too,” said Chub.  “Back in our tunnel.”

  “Me too,” said Turtle.

  “You boys are making a big mistake,” said Captain Bones angrily.

  “Why?  This is our life and we get to do what ever we want,” protested Chub.

  “Bah!  Just go. If I care.  You boys are never any help.  But if we find the treasure, you don’t even get an inch of it!  Bah!” said Captain Bones.

  “Oh, thank you Captain!” cried Chub, and gave him a big kiss.

  “Eww!  Out of here!” yelled Bones, wiping his wet cheek.

Chapter 11

Joining the Team

“I think we should give up on that necklace,” sighed Emily.  “It’s no use.”

  “We’ve searched the whole island,” complained Martin.

  Kate was quiet.  “Yes.  I guess so,” she said.

  “Hello!” said a voice.  All children spun around.

  “Chub!  Turtle?  What are you doing here?  Wha – what do you want?” cried Kate.

  “Weee . . .” Chub and Turtle looked at each other.  “We wondered if we can be on your team,” said Chub shyly.

  “Yes,” said Turtle.  “We think Captain Bones and the rest of his crew are mean and bossy too.  And so we decided if we can be on your team.”

  The four children looked at each other.  Then at the two.

  “Well alright,” Paul said.  “But promise never to go on their team again?  Ever?”

  The two nodded.

  “Then shall it be,” said Paul importantly.  “But before you can, you must be held captive against a tree for one day with just bananas and water.  While we tell you all of our secrets.”

  The children formed a circle around the two, like Indians, cross-legged, their backs straight, and their hands folded neatly.

  “Tomorrow will be the day.  So today, you may eat as much as you wish,” advised Martin, drumming on his drum that he made, like the Indians did.  Then he stopped.  “Let us catch some fish!”

  And the six ran to the waterfall, and caught two big fish.  One for Chub, the other for Turtle.  They went back to the ‘Boy’s Camp’, the same place where Emily and Kate were when they were kidnapped.  And Chub and Turtle fried the two fish, and happily ate it all.  Then they received coconut milk water, and a whole coconut as desert.

  “Boy.  I’m full,” groaned Chub, looking fatter than before.

  “Aww.  I think I’ll be so fat tomorrow that I’ll explode before you can even tie me to the tree,” joked Turtle, who had gained some weight, too.

  “well, you need all that food stored in your body for tomorrow,” giggled Kate.

  “For, we’ll just give you a banana for breakfast, a half coconut shell of waterfall water, and then another banana for supper,” replied Emily.

  “And then, tomorrow, we’ll tell you all our secrets that every member of our team should know,” added Martin.

  “And we’ll also say who killed Rummy, and why, now, when, and with what, and also where, just in case you don’t know where he died,” said Paul, remembering The Five W’s that he learned in second grade from his teacher that had taught him for almost six years at the one-room school house, back in Oregon.  He’d probably never learn anything from her again.  Not even see her again.  Nor his three smaller sisters, Jane, Molly, Margreta and little Lucy, who he still loved, even though they were a great pain sometimes.  And he knew that he’d never see his partents again.  For his whole family was dead form that terrible storm.

“Hey, Emily, wake up!” said Kate, shaking her sleeping friend. 

  “Morning already?” grumbled Emily.

 “Yap,” answered Kate sympathetically, as Emily stretched her arms and yawned.  Emily was used to banana tree leaves as her bed, but last night, the six had all slept on hard earth ground, and so Emily didn’t sleep very well, and neither did Kate.

  Martin, Paul, Chub and Turtle were still fast asleep.  Chub, curled in a ball, hugging Turtle’s foot as if he were a child hugging his teddy bear.  And Chub sucked his thumb, his face smiling.  Turtle was stretched on the ground above him, and Paul was leaning against a tree, Martin up in the same tree, looking as if he had stolen so many apples, he fell asleep without being fat.

  “Wake up the rest,” said Kate, and she gathered six bananas.

  “Wake up, Paul, Martin!” said Emily firmly, pulling Martin’s hanging leg, and she tapped Paul on the shoulder.

  As everyone slowly woke up, Emily had to carve a 1 on her rock to keep track of the days.

  “Ah, Kate . . . I have to do something for a second, okay?”

  “Sure,” said Kate, careless.  And Emily ran with all her might, to the waterfall, and found her rock beside the old house.  She quickly counted all the 1’s on it carefully.  One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.  She carved another 1 beside the last one with her jack knife.  “There,” she said outloud.  “I’ve been here sixteen mornings,” a little sadly because nobody had come for them yet.

  “You know what, Kate,” announced Emily when she returned back to camp.  She saw that Chub and Turtle were both tied to one tree.

  “What?” asked Kate, who was making fire.

  “We’ve been here for sixteen mornings,” said Emily. 

  “How do you know?” said Kate, unbelievingly.

  “I’ve kept track by carving 1’s on a rock, with my jack-knife,” said Emily proudly.

  “Oh,” said Kate.  “Want a coconut?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Sure,” answered Emily.  “I’m kind of hungry.”

  “So, you tell us your secrets now,” said Chub impatiently, eating his banana for breakfast.

  “Alright.  A little one, is that Kate, Martin, Paul, and I had been shipwrecked here,” replied Emily, her mouth full of coconut flesh.  “There was a big storm, and a flash of lightning hit the ship, right where Kate and I were standing.  We went outside, while most of the ship was on fire, and I swam towards this island which I could see from the ship, and so did Kate later on.”

  “And I – actually Paul and I stayed on the ship to look for life jackets, and we sure did.  That way, it was easier to swim to the island,” said Martin.

  “And you know what?  Emily’s been keeping track of the days we four have spent here on this island.  And the number is sixteen. She told me,” added kate.

  “We’ve been here for twelve years, and about five months,” said Turtle.  “Because I suppose it is May now.  Isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” answered Paul.  “I’ll tell the biggest secret we have!” he said excitedly.  “But I better whisper.  The pirates might hear.”

  And Paul whispered this in Chub and Turtle’s ear.  “We’ve got the treasure the others are looking for, and kate found it hidden in a cave behind a waterfall!  The first day she arrived here too!  It is a big trunk with jewels in it.  It’s beautiful.”

  The two men were surpised.  “You found it?” they cried.

Chapter 12

The Lesson about the Five W’s

  The four children grinned ear to ear.

  “Yes.  And I found it,” said Kate proudly after a long while of silence.

  “How?” whispered Chub. 

  “Okay.  I’ll tell you everything, right from the start,” said Kate, and made herself more comfortable.  Then she told Chub and Turtle about how she had swam to the island after Emily, and thought that Emily must have drowned when she couldn’t find her there.  Then she told them about that she wanted to lift one of the rocks just for fun, but as she rolled it out of place, she found an entrance to the cave, and saw the treasure in there, that she thought that there were cannibals on the island because of Emily’s house.  That she met Emily, and didn’t want to tell her about the treasure because she wanted it all to herself.  Then that she got kidnapped by Paul and Martin.  And Emily had rescued her that first night when Kate ahd been tied to a tree.  But when Emily got kidnapped, Kate was scared that she would get caught, and that she didn’t have a knife to cut the ropes.  Then Emily told them that Martin and Paul didn’t tell her about the pirates, but did later.

  “Hey, I’m hungry,” Paul finally said.  “Let’s eat lunch.”

  “I’ll get two coconut shell bowls of water,” said Martin,k grabbing two, and started running off towards the waterfall.

  “I’ll go get some coconuts,” said Kate.  “If I can find Monk, that is.  No one can climb up a coconut tree,” said Kate.  “But if I can’t find him, I get some nice bananas.  Six of them,” And she started running towards the beach where all the coconut trees were.

  “Now I’ll tell you some more,” said Paul.  “Alright.  Do you want to hear about how, what, where, why, and who killed Rummy?” asked Paul, tears suddenly filled his eyes as he thought about that day when Miss Stewart taught grade two about The Five W’s.  Suddenly he was off in his own world . . . “Now, while grades three, fourk five, six, seven, eight and nine do their own work – and grade one, two please listen – Paul Thompson!  Why do you always have to make things more complicated for me.  Quit staring out the window at the snow.  There will be plenty of time for you to do that after school,” said Miss Stewart firmly in her English accent.  The little Paul, seven instead of eleven, answered, “Yes Ma’am.”  “Now we will learn the five double uses – Jane Thompson.  Will I have to have you sit somewhere else?  Tomorrow, you will sit with Norma Bush and Jimmie Condon.  And if I catch you chatting to anyone while I am giving a lesson, I will detain you after classes.  Sometimes I think you Thompson children are quite naughty.  Ahh – Lisa, what was she saying to you ?  Will you tell me please?”

  Lisa looked nervous.  “Actually I chatted to her first.  I asked her what 8x7 is.  Because I don’t know it.  I’m awfully sorry.  You can detain my if I chat again.  And make me sit with Jimmie and Norma,” Lisa apologized.

  “Alright, that was good to say the truth.  It was quite good of you actually.  And did Jane tell you the answer?” asked Miss Stewart softly. 

  “Well, to tell you the truth, yes.  She did,” said Lisa slow.y

  “Then I will have to make Lisa sit with Norma and Jimmie, and you, Jane . . . will sit with Karla Al and Portor Kohn tomorrow.  Okay?2 said Miss Stewart.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” said Lisa quietly. 

  “Yes, Ma’am,” said Jane, who was embarrassed.

  “Now let us continue with our lesson, grade two.  Does anyone by chance know The Five W’s?”

  Dulcie put up her hand.  “Wilma Watson wants wiggly worms,” said Dulcie smugly. 

  Wilma Watson turned red, then started to cry.

  “Dulcie Hammer!  I will not put up with this kind of behaviour!” said Miss Stewart angrily, and got her ruler.  “I’m just about to give you a strap!”

  “But Miss Stewart, dear . . . I did say the Five W’s.  Wilma Wats – “ but Dulcie clamly got interraupted.

  “Those aren’t the Five W’s!  You made them up,” cried Miss Stewart.

  “But – “

  “No more buts!  I will have to talk to your parents about this!  Arguing with me like this, and hurting people’s feelings and – and pretending to be so smart!” scolded the eighteen-year-old blonde haired teacher.

  Dulcie was quiet.  And so was the one room school house.  Every person in the room had stopped their work, and Wilma was sobbing without an end.  Ellen, her best friend who was sitting beside her, tried to comfort her by giving her a pencil, since she had three.  But Wilma Watson in first grade kept on bawling.  But even though she was, her teacher continued with the lesson.

  “the Five W’s are who, what, where, and why.  For example . . .” and the teacher took a piece of chalk and read it as she wrote.  “Who took . . it?  What did he or she take, where . . . did . . .he . . or . . .she . . . take . . . it . . . or . . . where . . . is . . . it . . . right . . . now . . . and . . . why . . . did . . . he . . . or . . . she . . . take . . . it . . . ?”  Then she put the chalk back on the ledge, and wiped her chalky hand on her dress.  “I would like you to write this down, grade two in your notebook, please.  Then I will like you to mmemorize the W’s, and then make up an example like I did, in front of you.  I will give you three minutes for you to copy this, and five minutes to memorize The Five W’s and your example”

  And Paul remembered her sitting down at her big desk, and started to read a book. The little Paul leaned forward to see what book it was.  The Wedding at Sunny Book Farm.  It was a thick book, and Paul snickered at the picture.  There was a fair black-haired woman wearing a wedding dress, and a well-dressed man beside her, with lots of other people in a wagon with stack of hay.  They had laughing faces, and it was out in a field.  And the thing that made him laugh was that you could see the bride’s knees.  And in those days, you weren’t supposed to see the knees, at Paul’s time, in 1912.

  But suddenly, he saw a hand wave in front of his face, and then a familiar face, that made the picture in his head fade.

  “You, hoo!”  Earth to Paul”  Earth to Paul Thompson!”

  Suddenly Paul was back out of his thoughts, and back on the island.  He jumped up in surprise.  “Where am I?” he asked dreamily.  Emily sighed.  “Oh, Paul.  You haven’t been off to another world, again.  Have you?”

Chapter 13

The Passing Ship

“We have to make peace or get rid of the pirates somehow.  But how?” said Kate, that evening, the two men still tied to a tree, and the children sitting around a big fire.

  “But Chub and Turlte, you haven’t told us any of your secrets,” argued Paul.

  “What do you want to know?” asked Turtle.  “You still haven’t told us about Rummy’s murder.”

  “It wasn’t a murder!  I’m not a murderer!  I just had to protect my life!  That’s all,” cried Emily angrily  “he was just about to kill me!  Kill me with a knife!  And that’s one of the worst kinds of deaths besides being killed in a fire,” she added.

  “All right.  But you’re still a killer,” argued Chub.  “I think that I should go back to my old team,” he mumbled.  “You guys are even more stupid than Chub!” admitted Turtle.

  “Well then we’re going to keep you captive forever.  And no treasure for you,” added Martin.

  “We don’t care about whether we get some of your treasure. . . we’ll never get out of this stupid island, nyway,” argued Turtle.

  “Fine,” said Kate angrily.  “And we’ll never let you join it again.  If your team members are even beating you up, we don’t are.  Well,k you know, everything we said was actually just made up.  We knew that you would change your minds.”

  “It’s May Fools day, you know,” said Chub with satisfactory.

  “May Fools day?” said Emily in disbelief. 

  “There is no fool’s day,” said Paul.

  “Yes there is.  I made it up.  It’s actually April Fool’s day, since that ‘s my birthday,” confessed Turtle.  “We were just fooling you guys.  None of it was true.”

  “None of it?” cried Martin.  “Well we fooled you too.  We said that every secret that we said was made up.  So you’re actually going to stay?”

  The two nodded.

  “You know, I plan that if we ever get off this island, I’m going to celebrate it every year.  April Fools do.  But today was May Fool’s day,” said Chub.  “And did you know how I started it?” asked the man.  “Well it was an April first, I think .  And every one was nice.  Even the Captain.  I was fooled by so many people that day, even by a fish, that I called it April Fool’s day,” said chub.  Then grinned ear to ear.  “April Fool’s day!  I didn’t make it up1  the story.  But April Fool’s day was actually Goldy’s idea.”  Then he grinned again.  “April Fool’s day!  The story that Goldy made it up was a jok!  But I really did make it up.  Honest.”  And everyone laughed.  They were having such fun about May Fool's day.

  “Hey, I think we should take a walk at the beach  Even you to.  C’mon!” suggested Kate, and untied the ropes and lead the five to the beach.

  But when they did read it, they were so astonished, that they were frozen.  A ship.  A ship was in sight far away.  Then Chub started jumping up and down.  “Help! Help!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.  The other joined him.  “Help!  Help!  Help!”  they almost screamed, jumping up and down, frustrated.  But the ship kept on going, not even blowing its horn. The ship didn’t care.  Whether they couldn’t see them, or they didn’t care.  When the ship was out of sight, the six sat down hopelessly, catching their breath.

  “It’s just no use anymore,” muttered Kate.  “We’re going to stay on this island forever.”  And the six trudged sadly back to camp.

  “I think we should start making a big boat!” said Paul angrily.  “I’ve had enough of the t his.  No one’s going to come.”

  “But we don’t know the direction to Australia!  If we go the wrong way, we might end up in the North or South pole, or I n Asia!  Or we might end up in a circle, even.  And what if there’s a storm?  It’s too much risking a chance,” argued Emily.  “I wouldn’t do it.”

  “Well, I am,” said Paul stubbornly.  “Who’s going with me?” he asked standing up.  Chub, Turtle and Martin stood up.  “Then you girls can say here with the pirates, while we go off to sea.  We know the direction.  We’ll go East.  We’ll know when it’s sunset, which direction East is.  The sun settles in the west.  So we’ll go the other direction,” said Paul sheepishly.

  “We’ll give you two days for you two to decide.  And men, we’ll start building the ship tomorrow,” advised Martin.  The two boys and men walked away.  Kate lay down on the ground, thinking.  “I’m still staying here,” she said. 

  “Me too.  How are they going to make the boat move?  They can only use paddles,” said Emily.

  “That’s right,” sighed Kate and sat up.  “They can build all they want.  But I’d betcha they won’t come that far . . . you know . . . I wonder if my family is still alive,” Kate said sadly.  “We had to go to Australia because we wanted to live there,” she said.

  “My reason was because my great aunt Hillary was dying, and my mother just had to visit her.”  Emily gave a short laugh.  “She’s probably already dead now.”

  “how many sisters and brother did you have?” asked Kate.

  “I had one little sister, Isabell,” Emily answered.

  “Wow!  Are you ever lucky!  I’ve got four sisters and three brothers, and I’m the elsdest . . . but I still love them,” Kate told her.  “And Julie, the one after me, was my favorite sister.  And Tom, my favorite brother,” said Kate.

  “My sister was spoiled . . . but she’s still my sister, and I miss her alot,”said Emily quietly, and thought back to where Isabell got a new doll for Christmas, and Emily just got a new sweater.

Chapter 14

Rescued At Last

Twelve days past, and Chub, Turtle, and Paul and Martin were finished with the boat.  It looked like a smaller version of Noah’s Ark.  The nails were wooden, and it was about five metres long, and you had to paddle.  The rooms were they slept were inside.  But there were no windows.  Just a little hole, so the light could come in.

  “Would you girls help us store some bananas and coconuts?” asked Martin. 

  “Alright,” said Emily.  She and Kate picked eleven bananas, and nine coconuts, and they carried them onto the boat, which was still on land.

  “That won’t be enough,” said Paul, disgusted, and he put the food in a stack in the boat where they would sleep.  The girls sighed, and picked thirteen bananas and ten coconuts.

  “More coconuts,” Martin ordered, and Emily and Kate picked four more.

  “That’ll be good,” said Chub. 

  “But everyone just get one banana for breakfast, one coconut for lunch, and one banana for supper,” Paul warned Chub.

  “Now we need some fresh water,” said Martin.

  “But we already have water on the ocean,” argued Chub.

  “No, stupid!” laughed Paul.  “We can’t drink that!” he laughed.

  Kate got a coconut, split it in half, ate the inside, and put some water in one half.  Then closed the other half on top.  But Emily had a better idea this time.  She got a coconut, cut it into a square, made a small hole, drank out all the milk, and then put water in it.  She made ten of these. 

  “Now we must share these.  Only one per day,” said Turtle. 

  Kate made five of her other kinds, too.

  And then, the four boys were off.  Kate and Emily waving them good-bye.  Kate sat on the sand.

  “You know, even though they’re boys, I think I’ll miss them,” she said quietly.

  Emily nodded.  “Hey.  You know what?  They forgot part of the treasure,” she said.

  “You know, maybe we should have gone with them,” suggested Kate.  “Now we’re here all by ourselves with those pirates.”

  Emily was shocked.  “Kate, are you out of your mind?  Do you want to die?  You know that Martin and Paul and the others are taking a mighty big risk?  There are storms out there, and the waves have no mercy!” Emily cried.  Kate just shrugged.

  About eleven days had past since Paul, Martin, Chub and Turtle had left eh island.

  “You know, we’ve been here for thirty-nine mornings,” Emily told Kate, who was bar-b-queing a fish back at the cave, which had become their home after the others had left.

  “Really?” gasped Kate.  “Wow.  That’s sure a long time . . . you know, I wonder why I haven’t seen the pirates lately,” wondered Kate.

  “You should be glad,” said Emily, and sat down beside Kate. 

  “oh, shoot!” cried Kate all of a sudden.  “The fish is burnt!  How stupid can I be!” Kate cried, and shoved the black fish off the roaster, which Paul had made by sticking four sticks arranged Like a dice’s four (four dots on a dice), and then setting two others end to end, on top.

  “Don’t worry, let’s get another one.  Hey!  Let’s get some clams at the tide pool!  I’ll race ye!” cried Emily, and started running to the beach, racing ahead of Kate.

  Kate came running out of the bushes and onto the sand.  “You’re much fast than – “ she gasped, her hands clasped at her chest, and her mouth wide open.  There, in front of her, was a ship, and two canoes were heading to the island.  One in the canoe was waving his arms.  The girls noticed him.  He had blonde hair, and was wearing his old dark blue trousers and long sleeves.  Martin.  Ahead of him was Paul, and behind Paul was a man in the back, the one canoeing.  The other canoe carried Chub and Turtle.

  “Paul!  Martin!” gasped Emily, and grabbed Kate’s hand.  “We’re rescued!  We’re rescued!” she cried, tears filling her eyes.  “Oh, we’re going home! Home to Oregon, again!” and she hugged Kate, who was lost for words.  Suddenly Kate cried painfully, but a smile on her face.  “Oh!” she whispered, and wept on her friend’s shoulder.  “I’m so happy,” she sobbed.  Kate’s cry was contagious, and Emily started to cry too.  “Oh, I’m so happy too.”

  “Cut!” joked a voice.  “You girls have been excellent at acting, but the drama must take a break.”  It was Paul, and he, Martin, and another man were setting out of the canoe.

  “Kate, Emily, this is Tom,” Martin told the girls. 

  “Should I help you carry your treasure?” asked Tom.  The girls nodded.  They waited for Chub and Turtle to come, and then the four children led them to the trunk with the treasure, and it took Chub, Turtle, and everyone to hold the treasure up.  It was the heaviest thing Emily had ever helped to carry. 

  They had to empty all the jewelry inside so it could go on the canoe.  Chub and Turtle’s canoe held the trunk, and the other, the jewelry, but the girls still had to wait on the island until another canoe came.

  As Emily and Kate sat in one, with Tom canoeing, they noticed something.  There was another little island beside ‘Battle Island’.  There was something that caught their eye.  There was a monkey up in a tall coconut tree, and around his neck, was a diamond necklace.

  “Monk!” cried Kate, waving at him.  “Bye, boy!”  But then she noticed something.  On monk’s back was a tiny little cute baby monkey  “Emmy!  Look!  There’s Monk!  And she’s got a baby on her back!” Kate told Emily.

  Emily nodded.  I know.  I’ll miss that monkey . . and look! Monk’s still got the necklace on!” cried Emily, pointing at it. 

  Kate grinned.  “I wonder what she’ll do . . . you know, I always thought she was a boy,” said Kate.

  “me too,” admitted Emily.  “Until I saw her baby.”  And she waved at Monk again.

  Tom smiled too.  “I suppose she stole that necklace from you,” he wondered.

  The ship was much smaller than the other one, and it was a private one, too.  When the two girls climbed aboard, there was Martin, Paul, Chub, Turtle, and a little girl and a boy, and a woman standing in front of them.  “Welcome,” said the woman.  “I’m Mrs. Sanders.  And these are my children, Elizabeth and Mathew,” the woman told them.  “My husband’s inside, starting the boat.  Let’s go inside.”

  And the seven went inside the ship.  It was a big room, with t here beds against the walls, and a small stove, and a huge barrel with fresh water supplied, and the children’s treasure was there.  And a man was at the front, staring out the window, and driving the boat.  He turned around in surprise.  “So this must be Emily and Kate.  Please sit down, and tell me everything,” he said happily in his jolly voice.

Chapter 15

“Not An Orphanage!”  “Not An Orphanage” 

  “So, I heard that you six have been shipwrecked, right?” asked Mrs. Sanders, and joined the children and the two fat men on the beds.  And Elizabeth and Mathew sat on their mother’s lap.

  “You must be really rich to own your own private boat!” gasped Paul.  Mrs. Sanders smiled.

  “I’m six,” Elizabeth broke the subject.

  “I’m 4 and a half,” said Mathew proudly.

  “Now, children.  You stay out of this,” said Mrs. Sanders firmly. 

  “Well . . . Tell me how you got shipwrecked,” said Mr. Sanders, and turned around in his stool.

  “Well . . . “ Emily started.  “We were on a ship, when there was a storm, and . . . “  And Emily told how she and Kate had swum to the island, and everything, and how they got the treasure.

  “Ummmm . . . I thought Martin and Paul, Chub and Turtle weren’t . . . well how’d you guys meet?  And what happened to their ark?” asked Kate.  And Martin told the two girls that they went to Australia, and made friends with the Sanders, and told them that Emily and Kate were on an island, so they went to rescue them.  And they had left the boat on Australia.

  “And we’ll bring you back to Oregon.  I’d like to meet your folks,” said Mr. Sanders. 

  The four children frowned.  “We . . . We probably don’t have any folks, anymore,” said Paul sadly.

  “I had parents until I was four.  But they died of scarlet fever.  So Anne, Katherine, and I lived in an orphanage ever since . . . and I was supposed to be adopted, but I didn’t want any other parents.  I wanted my real ones.  So I ran away, and I was a stowaway on the ship,” Martin told Mr. and Mrs. Sanders.  “But I guess . . . it wasn’t worth it.  And I’ll go in the same place again.  In an orphanage,” he ended, sadly.

  “Why, how sad,” gasped Mrs. Sanders.  “But how come Paul, Emily and Kate don’t have a family anymore?  Why of course.  Of course.  They died of the storm, on the ship!” cried Mrs. Sanders, and shook her head sadly. 

  “That’s very sad,” said Elizabeth.  Matthew nodded.

  “So where are you going to live?” asked Mr. Sanders.  Paul, Martin, Emily and Kate shrugged their shoulders.

  “You’ll probably be put in an orphanage . . . unfortunately,” said Mrs. Sanders, and shrugged too.

  “But what’ll happen to our treasure?” sniffed Kate, and wiped a tear off her cheek.

  “Well, you’ll be the only orphan who has money in the bank,” answered Tom.

  “But still . . . I don’t want to be an orphan!” Emily wailed.  “I want my parents . . . my sister!” she cried.

  “Sorry, children.  But that’s the way it goes,” said Mrs. Sanders, and shook her head.  “Even though you have a lot of money, you still have to go to an orphanage,” she continued.  “Money has less worth than family.”

  The four children sunk deeper in their seat.  Suddenly Paul started crying.  “No!  Not an orphanage!” he cried, and covered his face with his hands.  “I wish I never went on that stupid ship!  If we hadn’t, then I would be back in Oregon . . . maybe playing soccer with Adam and David and William”

  “Oh, Paul, you can’t rewind your life, and make it better,” Mrs. Sanders comforted him, and put her arm around his shoulder.  “But who knows . . .maybe some people survived the storm . . . pray that one of your parents or sisters and brothers are one of them,“ she smiled.

  “Besides, someone might adopt you,” said Mr. Sanders hopefully.

  Emily sighed.  “I don’t want another family.  I want my Alexander family!” she said.

  “Hey.  My nefue’s friend’s friend’s name is Jimmy Alexander,” Chub spoke up. 

  Emily frowned even harder at him.    “You know what I mean, there are maybe hundreds of Alexander families, but most aren’t related.  Really, Chub.  I must say so . . . but you are quite stupid!” said Emily impatiently.  “And sorry that I had to say that,” she apologized, and closed her eyes.  “I’m just – Oh, I just don’t want to go to the orphanage!”  And she suddenly burst out with tears, and wept in her hands.

  “Don’t worry, Emily,” comforted Kate.  “Maybe you can live with one of your relatives,” she suggested.  “Besides . . . it’ll kind of be fun to be together with you in an orphanage.  Then we’ll live together . . . and I’ll bet we’ll have lots of fun too.”

  Emily dried her tears with her hand, and looked into Kate’s beautiful green eyes, that were watery, as if they was about to

  “Maybe you could be right,” Emily sighed.

  They looked out the window.  Somewhere, deep inside her, she was frightened.  Frightened about her future, and uncertain about what may happen.  Back in Oregon, she had heard that the Orphan teachers were very strict, and hardly gave them any food.  Emily would much rather go back to the lonesome island if it was that way.  She curled up in a ball, and thought for a moment.  She thought about when Lucy, her older sister, had died . . .

  “Emily!  Quick!  Run outside and get Dr. Linz!  She’s swelling up!” Mother had cried.  Emily was only eight at that time, and her father was away, working for a week in another town.  Mother, was frantically bathing Lucy with a wet towel, and Lucy was crying in horror, shrieking from the heat.  “I’m hot mother!” she cried, in gulps. 

  Emily was scared, grasping at her apron.  Mary Anne, the family’s maid, was heating some tea in the kitchen.  She looked worried too.  Mother looked angrily at Emily when she didn’t go.  “Go!  Your sister might die¬  for heaven’s sakes!  Go get Dr. Linz!” she hollered.  Emily was terrified.  Her mother had never been that cross for a long time!  Emily ran in her room, grabbed her coat, scarf, and mittens, and put on her boots.  There was a terrible blizzard outside, and you could hardly see anything.

  Emily’s eyes stung in the wind.  The snow was up to her knees, and there were cries and shrieks of the wind, and the wind carried the snow, so Emily couldn’t even see the trees or the other houses.  But she ran blindly straight ahead.  She knew her way to Main road even in her dreams.  Emily was crying of the coldness.  She knew there was no one outside that could carry her in a buggy.  She bumped into trees and buildings many times, but she was so set on her mind about Lucy, that she didn’t even feel the pain . . .

  Finally she knew she was on Main road with the stores and dentist office, the bank, the hotel, the candy shop, and more.  All she had to do was to find the right corner to turn to Dr. Linz’es house, which was beside the candy store, almost at the end of Main road.  Emily knew her way to the candy shop very well.  That’s where she went almost every day to buy candy.  Her Aunt Andrea worked there.  Finally she reached Dr. Linz’s house, and she knocked impatiently on his door.

  “Emily!  What are you doing out there!” cried the doctor.

  “Oh, Dr. Linz!  My sister!  She’s so hot she can hardly breath!” gasped Emily.

  “Well then we must go there!” gasped the doctor, and in a few minutes, Emily and Dr. Linz made their way to her house.  Mother was crying on the bed.  Lucy was redder than ever, and crying louder too.  Mother told Emily to go out of the room, but Emily peeked through the key hole of the door.  The doctor gave her medicine, and Mother wet her towel on her body.  Suddenly Lucy’s cries turned to gasps, and the she stopped suddenly, and stat up in bed, looking frantically to her left, then her right,

  “Whi – which way shall I go?” she whispered.

  “Lucy?  What’s the matter, you’re – you’re al –“ but before mother could finish her sentence, Lucy gasped and dropped back down on her back, her eyes closed, and her face pale.  Mother couldn’t breathe.

  “Ohhhh!” she screamed.  “My child . . . Lucy!  No!”  And she cried so loudly on Lucy that Mary Anne and Isabell and Emily had to come in.  Emily cried too. And so did everyone else.  Even the doctor.  “She . . . she was a very sweet and polite child . . . “ he sobbed.

  Emily could never forget that dreadful face of her mother when she had screamed.  Nor her sister Lucy’.  It was all pale and solemn.  And it was so strange what Lucy’s last words were.

  Years ever since, even until now, Emily had always wondered about how strange Lucy had said it.  As if there were two paths in front of her, and she didn’t know which way to go . . . perhaps the one path leads to heaven, and the other to the opposite of it.  Emily always hoped that Emily had gone to heaven, because Lucy was a very kind, quiet child, with black hair and blue eyes like her sisters.  She was a good, obeying and trustful girl, who cared for anyone, especially animals!  Oh, how she had loved animals, and how much she longed for pets.  But frankly her family didn’t have a large farm.  Just four horses, two cows, a dog and a cat, and six chickens and one rooster.  But Lucy liked wild animals like deer and squirrels.  Emily remembered how generous her big sister was.  When ever the three girls got candy from someone (which everyone got, usually three or four), Lucy gave all her candy to her sisters, but kept one for herself.

  But that very night in the private boat in the middle of the ocean, driven by the Stewarts, Emily thought about what her future would hold.  She would probably go to an orphanage together with Kate, Paul, and Martin in some strange town in Oregon, since there was no orphanage in Emily’s town.  She wished she could rewind her life back to when Mother told Emily that her great aunt was dying soon, and that they had to go to Australia.  If Emily knew that this would happen, that she would get shipwrecked, and the rest of her family died, then she would have warned her family not to go.  But of course, they wouldn’t believe her.  Well.  Then Emily would lock the front door, and hide somewhere – and back door – until her parents decided not to go . . . but they could go out through a window.  Well then, Emily would burry all their money, and rip the tickets to shreds.  That would show them.  And then, when they heard that the ship they had wanted to go on had sank, then they’d thank Emily so much, that they’d probably never scold her again many years!  She would be a hero!

Chapter 16

Surprise!  Surprise!

  Ten days had past when they finally arrived at the harbour in Oregon.  Emily was so happy to see her home town again, with the fresh pine trees.  The town was located only 11 km away from the habor, but Emily didn’t want to see her house which didn’t have any people in it for a long time.  Plus she didn’t want to think about her dead family nor see any orphanage.  It only brought tears to her eyes.  If Emily could just trade all her part of the treasure for her family including Lucy, she would be so happy.  She would trade anything – maybe everything she had for her family. 

  “Money has less worth than family,” Mrs. Sander’s words rang.

  Emily’s mind as she followed the Sanders towards the exit of the harbour.  Suddenly she heard a familiar voice . . . “It’s you again!”  Why, it was Mr. Turner!  The crew member on the ship!  Emily’s heart thumped with hope.  Maybe her family survived too, since Mr. Turner did.

  “You blessed child!” the man told her.  Emily kept back her tears.  “Where were you all that time?” asked Mr. Turner, and Kate, Paul, and Martin joined Emily.

  “We were shipwrecked on an island with pirates!” Martin spoke up.    “Weren’t you one of the crew members?” he asked.

  Mr. Turner nodded.  “We were shipwrecked too on an island . . . but how come we didn’t see you?  Your folks ‘er sick worried about ye.

  Then the truth flashed in Kate’s mind.

  “Hey!  The island is split in to two, and you lived on the other side . . . Wait!  Our families are all saved!” she cried. 

  The four children were frozen.  They were too happy to move.  Mrs. Sanders tapped Paul on the shoulder.  “What did I tell you?” she smiled.

  Mrs. and Mr. Sander’s house was beautiful and big.  It was out of town, and the rooms were very large.  Emily, Kate, Paul, Martin, Chub and Turtle and the Sanders had tea together, and then the children went out to play.  Kate, Paul, and Martin had their fun on the swings, while Emily sat quietly in a corner on the grass.  They didn’t even notice why Emily left.  She wanted to go home!

  She was breathless from running when she finally entered her home down.  She saw familiar people walking on the roads.  She saw the candy shop, and the school, and everything.  Then before she knew it, she saw a big, grey house, with the big fields with crop growing, and a spotted black and white cat sitting on the porch.  “Home,” she whispered.  She walked slowly up the house.  It was then when she opened the door to see herself in the mirror, that her hair was a mess with a lot of knots I nit.  She heard a close sob . . . Emily followed it.  It was a woman’s sob, and it was coming from Emily’s room.  Emily slowly opened the door. Her room looked much cleaner than it had looked before she left and there on her very bed, was her mother.  Crying on her pillow.  Her dark brown hair damp from tears.  Emily hated when her mother cried.  She knew why, too.  Her mother thought that Emily was dead.  She thought that her mother was a loser because she had lost two children.  But it was more than Emily could even bear.  Tears swelled up in her eyes, and she ran to her crying mother who hadn’t noticed her yet.  Mother was shocked as Emily hugged her.  Mother grabbed her shoulders and stared at her daughter for a moment.  Then she smiled, and hugged her tight for a long time.  Emily wasn’t sure if Mother was laughing or crying.

  “And then I ran into Mr. Turner, and he told me that you were still alive,” Emily explained, and looked at Isabell, then her father and mother, who were all grinning.  “Oh, and then we went to the Sander’s house, and I ran away because I just couldn’t stand it to be so close to you, and you didn’t even know.  Plus, I was such a foo l about thinking that you were all dead, even though we were only a few miles away!” and Emily broke into nervous giggles. 

  “Well I better phone the Sanders right away to let them know that you’re okay,” said father, ready to stand up.

  “Phone?  We don’t have a phone in our house, father.  It’s much too expensive,” said Emily in triumph. 

  Her father chuckled.  “We just bought one, Emily.  Your great aunt died five days ago, and we got 2000 dollars as heritage.  And the telephone was just for 100 dollars, so we bought one.  Come and see.   Anne?” and Father turned around to Mother.  “Will you please take the horses out in the field, for me?” he asked Mother nodded.

  “Will you please pass me the peas?” asked Paul.  The four children hadn’t had such a good meal for such a long time that this was their third plateful at the Alexander’s house for dinner!

  “Here you go,” exclaimed Father.  “So.  We’ll contact your parents as soon as possible.  All of you,” he smiled.

  “Hey!  Who ate all the chicken!” cried Emily. 

  Isabell grinned.  “I ate the last of it.  Not all!”  she said, her grin turning into a frown. 

  “And who ate all the potatoes?” asked Isabell, peering into a bare bowl. 

  “Me,” said Paul grimly.

  “Oh, you pig!” said Kate angrily, and stamped her foot on the ground.

  “Now, now, children, we’ll have another good meal tomorrow,” said Father, and smiled at his wife.

  “Tomorrow we’ll have roast beaf . . . since it’s Sunday then,” exclaimed Mother. “Emily, Isabell, you help with the dishes tonight.”

  Emily lay awake that night, safely tucked in her bed, thinking about how much she had longed for her own bed when she was on the lonely island.  She hoped that nothing would ever happen like that . . . never.

Chapter 17

A Happy Ending

“Yes, they’re alright . . . no, no.  Nothing of the sort.  Why, of course.  Gooday.”  Father laid down the phone and smiled t Paul.  “Everything’s settled then.  Tomorrow we’ll take you to Vancouver.  It’s a little ways . . . but we’ll be alright.  And Kate . . . we’ll take you down to your parents in Salem.  That’s the town you live in .  Isn’t it?” he asked.

  “Yes sir,” Kate nodded.  “But it’s more like a city too, sir.  If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to know if everyone in my family is alright,” said Kate politely.

  “Oh, I am so sorry,” said Mother quietly.  “Your sister died, while swimming to the island in those terrible waves.  And so did your brother, tom, died as well.”  Mother tried to comfort her, but Kate started to cry.  “Poor Julie, poor Tom,” she sobbed.  “Julie was just a baby, and Tom was just three”

  “What about mine?  What about my family, Mr. Alexander?” asked Paul in concern.  Father shook his head sadly.  “Your father said that your youngest sister died.”

  Paul buried his face in his hands.  “No!  Not little Tesa,” he sobbed.  “Don’t cry.  You have other brothers and sisters don’t you?” comforted father.  Paul nodded bitterly.  “I lost a sister too, when I was eight.  Her name was Lucy.  She was very nice and pretty, too.  And before she died, she was – “ Isabell exclaimed, but mother interrupted her.  “Isabell.  It is not very pleasant to talk about Lucy.  Especially since she’s dead,” said Mother impatiently, trying to hold back her tears.

  Isabell rolled her eyes and sighed. 

  “Isabell.  Don’t be rude to your mother,” said Father calmly.  He reached down in his pocket.

  “You five children. . . I have a penny for each of you.  You may get a candy at the candy store,” informed Father, and the children all crowded around him to receive a penny.

  “The only time when I get a penny to spend is on my birthday and on Christmas,” Kate to Emily.

  “Oh, we get pennies all the time,” boasted Isabell, and smoothed out the wrinkles on her dress.  “On my birthdays, I always get fifty cents to buy anything I want.  Last year I bought lots of candy.  But this year I want this really beautiful doll that’s for a dollar.  I’ve got three dollars in my piggy bank, and it won’t hurt anyone if I just take fifty cents out of it.  Well it’ll kind of hurt Sara Shirley, this other girl who really wants it too.  C’mon!  I’ll show you where she is!  Mr. O’Neal’s selling her at the toy store.”  And Isabell grabbed Kate’s hand, and ran with her to the toy store.  But Emily was angry at her little sister, stealing Kate away from her!

  “Oh, you girls are so lucky,” said Martin, who was sucking on a lollypop as the children walked home.

  “I know,” boasted Isabell, and bit a little piece out of her chocolate. 

  “Isabell, remember what father said about showing off,” cautioned Emily. 

  “I wasn’t showing off!” retorted Isabell.

  Emily quickly stuffed her pink, round candy in her mouth.  “Mmmm . . . Strawberry,” she said softly.

  “Show-off!  Show-off!” shouted Isabell, jumping up and down.

  “oh, nothing of the sort!” cried Emily, and added hautily, “You’re a show-off yourself!”  And Emily stuck her tongue out at her sister, which was pink from the candy.

  It was very rainy on the way to Vancouver.  It took Paul and father three days to get there.  But father found that Vancouver was big and crowded, which he didn’t like.  He got to meet Paul’s family, who were surprised with some treasure.  They were quite nice.  He stayed in Vancouver for two days, and then he left, leaving two dollars for Paul’s family.  But they were so grateful that father had brought Paul home safely, that they kept just half of the money, and gave the rest back by mail.  Then after that, father and Emily took Kate back to Salem.  Emily would sure miss Kate.  She had become her best friend.

  Kate had a big family, with lots of children.  But they only lived in a little house, at the edge of Salem.

  “I’m going to miss you” said Kate sadly and hugged her friend. 

  “Here’s you part of your treasure, plus the trunk,” sobbed Emily, pointing to a trunk with jewelry in it.    “You’re going to become rich!” smiled Emily, but still crying.

  Kate smiled back.  “With candy!”  And she started sobbing too.  “Will you write?” asked Kate. 

  Emily nodded.  “I promise.”

  “Emily!”  It was father.  He was already in the buggy.  “Hurry up!”

  Emily looked back at Kate, and took her hands in hers.  “Bye, Kate,” she whispered.  Kate smiled and hugged Emily.  “Bye!”

  Emily was sad as she and her father drove home.  She would see her friend only every year or so, if they visited each other.  Of course Emily had a lot of friends, like Claire, but she didn’t have any friends like Kate.  Kate was very nice, and was always so careful about what to say.  Maybe because she was poor.  But maybe it couldn’t be, because Emily knew a girl in her class that had a big family, and was poor like Kate.  But she was a mean girl, liked to tease, and liked to show-off that she was good in school.  Oh, how Emily wished that Kate lived closer.

  “So, I think I’ll telephone the orphanage now . . ummm, which orphanage is it, where – what town is it in?” father asked Martin at Emily’s home.

  Martin sighed.  “It’s ‘Christian Faith Orphanage’.  Nuns are our caretakers.  I like the orphanage, but I would much rather belong to a family,” answered Martin quietly. 

  “But I thought you didn’t want to be adopted,” said Emily, confused.

  Martin shrugged.  “I guess I changed my mind,” he said quickly. 

  Father made himself comfortable on the couch.  “And what if we adopt you?” he smiled. 

  Martin’s frown disappeared into a grin.  “Why . . . I don’t know what to say.  I’d be delighted!  I’d be so grateful, you won’t know how!” cried Martin. 

  Father looked at mother    “What about it, Anne?” he asked.

  Mother smiled, her eyes shining.  “I’d be glad to have a son . . after Lucy died,” she said.  Then father looked back at Martin.

  “I’ll telephone the orphanage right now,” said father confidently.

  Martin looked at Emily excitedly.  Could it really be real, that Emily and Isabell would get a new brother?

 

  “Alright.  Then you’ll have to sign this, and . . . Martin?  You are sure that you want to be adopted?”

   He nodded happily.

  It was at the orphanage, and the Alexander family and martin crowded around a desk with a nun dressed in black and white sitting in it.

  “Oh, and I’m terribly sorry, Sister Mary . . about running away,” added Martin sadly.

  The nun smiled.  “That’s alright.  Everything is forgiven,” she said.  “ma- may I please say good-bye to Christopher?  He is my best friend.  He and Paul,” said Martin.  “I don’t know any Paul in this orphanage, except for one of our babies!  Ohhh!  Now I know.  Isn’t he the Paul that was stranded on the island with you?” asked Sister Mary.

  “Yes ma’am,” answered Martin.  “Paul Thompson.”  Suddenly he felt sad, even though that he had been adopted by Emily’s family.  Paul was such a good friend to Martin.  Now they were so far from each other, and Martin would probably never see him ever again.  But at least something good was happening in his life!  He would finally belong to a family! To Emily’s family!

  Days past.  And soon it was time to start school again.  Everyone would be fascinated that Emily had gotten an adopted brother.  Emily could hardly wait till September the third!

  “No children, don’t lose your lunch pails, and don’t get dirty!  And don’t get into trouble!” called mother after her three children as they left the house.

  Martin was eager to go to a school with other children.  Of course in the orphanage he had school too, but nuns taught them all.

  “Oh, you’ll just love our school!  And last year oh!  Our teacher Miss Smith was so nice.  I hope she teaches us this year too!” exclaimed Isabell to her new brother.

  “I don’t think so.  Claire told me that she got married in July,” corrected Emily.  “And by the way, I’ve got three cents for us to buy a candy on the way to school or back . . . I’m going to buy mine after school, because we can’t eat candy during school,” Emily smiled. 

  “Are we almost there, Emily?” asked Martin excitedly. 

  “We just have to walk to the end of Main road, turn left, and walk a little while,” Isabell answered instead of Emily.

  “Hey Emily, do you have a boyfriend or something?” asked Amy Studd smugly.

  Emily frowned angrily at Amy.

  “he’s my brother, Amy Studd!  Amy with a Studd in her brain!” barked Emily. 

  “Hey, hi Emily!  Emily who loved Alexander Kerts!” Amy protested.

  2Oh, shut-up, Amy!” Isabell sniffed.  Then she turned to Martin.   “Oh, don’t mind her, Martin.  Amy was born to be nasty,” Isabell whispered to her brother.

  “Oh, there’s Claire,” smiled Emily and ran to her friend.

  Claire was again showing off to Thomas Porter, how she usually does in school.  Claire had long, blonde hair, and had deep green eyes.  She had always a tanned face, because she had a very strict father that made her work outside all day.

  Emily had already told Claire that she had a new adopted brother.  She told her that she had been stranded with pirates and that she had a lot of treasure.  Martin gave all his part of the treasure to the orphanage, which was a church too.

  “Quiet now, children.  Sit down at a desk please, grades ones to threes in the front seats, please,”  School had begun now, and a young woman with auburn hair was standing at the front of the room.  “My name is Miss Summers.  I will be teaching you this year.  Now.  I am very strict about neatness and behaviour, and I hope you will have fun this year.  At one o’clock we will take a nature walk.  We will look for bird nests.  Once we have found one, we will sit around it, and we will sketch a picture of it.  We will be heading back at 2:30.  But right now we will start off with our names . . starting with this row.”

  And everyone said their names. 

  Next they all had math, and the History.  Then recess, Geography, and then they had their bird nest hunting walk.  It was quite fun.  Robert Oliver found a robin’s empty nest, and Janet Ester found even a hawk’s nest!  It was all so fun, that it seemed like only a minute had passed since they had walked to school, when Miss Summers told the children that they had to walk back to school.  But it was even more sadder when Miss Summers dismissed all the children from school  To the three children, Emily, Isabell and martin, it had been such a happy day, and to their surprise, mother and father had picked them up from school in a buggy!

  “Why did you pick us up, Mr. Alexander – I mean, father?” giggled Martin, and he and his sisters took their seat. 

  Father ruffled Martin’s hair with his hand and smile.  “We’re going to the train station.  We’re picking up Kate and Paul.  They’re going to stay here for a week,” father told his children.  Emily and Martin were open-mouthed.

  “My best friend is coming!” cried Emily. 

  “Mine too!” said Martin excitedly.

  Everything was alright.  Emily and Isabell got an adopted brother.  Emily’s friends were coming to visit, and best of all, Emily was together with her family again . . . She wished it would always be that way forever and ever.

The End

May 26, 1992