A Girl Pirate

Charline Henley climbed a tree, jumped over the wall and ran across the street. “Phew,” she said, “I’ve finally escaped from aunt Broomhilda the terrible. So long horrible tea class and that awful wig, now to find father. I’ll convince him to never make me stay with aunt Broomy again.” Charline looked down at her manly attire and sighed. “They don’t fit at all! But at least they’re better than what I’d normally be wearing. Now Charlie, pick up that bag and walk like a man!” and she said to herself and ran off toward the dock.
Once Charlie was out of sight of the house she slowed her pace and started to swagger until she felt her long brown hair falling out of her oversized hat “Oh bother it,” she said as she walked into a small alleyway filled with barrels full of water. “How am I supposed to look like a boy with long brown hair, big blue eyes that fill up my entire face and bright red lips? And people said when I was younger that I looked like a boy, well I wish I did because my looks are not helping me out here.” Charlie sighed and tucked her hair back up into her hat, she was about to leave the alleyway when she heard someone crying:
“Pirate raid, it’s a pirate raid, everyone get inside something.” Charlie, without thinking jumped into a big old wine barrel and closed the lid
“Now I’m safe.” said Charlie, returning to her old habit of talking to herself. “Probably just as safe if not safer than I would have been at aunt Broomy’s, Oh no, what am I doing, I’m talking to myself again, gosh after all that time it took me to break that habit now I’m here doing it again hey, I should probably practice fainting too, and then waking myself back up again, it’s awesome, I haven’t practiced it in awhile but I probably should now, okay, 1------2------hey, what’s that noise?” Charline heard one set of footsteps coming towards her,
“Uh oh” she said out loud
Charlie thought that she would be fairly safe in the barrel, but suddenly she felt it being dropped to it’s side and being rolled in some direction she could not discern(for she was too dizzy). Then she heard a rough voice, so nearby, that it was all she could do to keep herself from jumping , say “I’ve got one, but it feels like it’s nearly empty.” She heard another voice, farther away, and much more masculine answer “Take it anyway; we need all the eatables we can get.” The word “eatables” made her shiver, though she was almost, ALMOST, sure they wouldn’t eat her if they found her on board, but still, she didn’t like the sound of it.
She felt herself being rolled up something steep, “Probably the gangplank of the ship”, she thought to herself. Then she heard the sound of a trapdoor being opened and her barrel fell, leaving her unconscious at the bottom.
***

She woke in complete darkness and the room she was in reeked. The ship (for that was obviously what she was on) was tossing back and forth, but she didn’t mind: her grandfather had once been a pirate, and when her mother had been sick, she had practically lived on the ship with him. She could hear snatches of conversation coming from somewhere above her, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She rested against the walls of her barrel and tried to think, but the pounding in her head wouldn’t allow her such a luxury.
Then she heard the sound of the trapdoor being opened an the tramp of feet coming down the steps. She held her knees to her chest and tried not to make any noise, but to her dismay, they opened the lid to her barrel. She had no choice but to jump out and run.
She could hear two men shouting” STOWAWAY” behind her as she dashed up the ladder, and across the deck, and right into Captain Robert Matthews.
“Well well, what do we have here?” he said, grabbing her by the wrist so that she could not run away “a stowaway”
“Let me go, let me go!” said Charlie as she squirmed and struggled against his grip.
“I guess we ought to kill you, but you are a girl, anyway.” He stood there thinking for a while, while she squirmed and wriggled, ‘till his patience ran out, then he yelled at her to stop squirming.”What SHALL we do with you?”
“I’m a girl, I am, how dare you call me a boy!, No wait, I’m a boy, how dare you call me a girl!”, she cried, quite confused as to what she was really supposed to be.
“You’re a girl, all right!” He said with an amused smile, “I know,” he added, after a short pause,” we shall turn you into, a cook’s assistant!”
“A cook’s assistant?” chorused the crowd that had gathered nearby.
“Yes,” said the captain, “if she knows anything about cooking, she may be able to turn our meals into something edible, and if she doesn’t, we shall be none the worse for the experiment. Anyhow, we can always dispose of her later.”
The words made Charlie tremble and she was glad that she had studied cooking, still she put on a defiant face “Why are you saying that, you know I’m standing right in front of you.”
“Hanging,” he corrected, and leaned into her face with a leer, “I’m attempting to scare you.” he said.
“Well, it’s not working!” she said defiantly, though she was quaking inside.
“Well you sure had me fooled. Now, get down there, and help cook, it’s almost time for lunch.”
“I don’t know where to go.” She said.
“Cook will show you the way,” he said motioning to a beefy looking man who seemed to enjoy sampling his own cooking, even if nobody else did.
“Well I can’t go.” She said.
“Why not?!” he yelled, being quite angry by now.
“Because,” she said, “you’re still holding my arm.”
“Well I’m not anymore!” He said disgustedly dropping her to the deck. She said nothing, being too busy rubbing her arm and trying to bring some circulation to it.
“I won’t” she said, after scooting herself away a few inches.
“Pirates can be very merciless, and I’m considering slapping you off this ship right now.” He said, almost convinced that he would do just that if she protested one more time.
“Oh, um, can the first slap be on my left cheek?” she asked for the benefit of aggravating him.
“NO!!!” he shouted, nearly making her jump ten feet in the process.”Now go down and help the cook!”
“I can’t!” she cried.
“Why Not?!” he yelled making the entire ship seem to shake.
“I think I’m going to faint!” she cried, falling back against the deck and somehow willing herself to oblivion.