First Day Asea

Hey Little Buddy,

Here’s what happened next.

After Black Bart feel asleep, I decided maybe this whole pirating thing might not be the best idea I had come up with. I decided to head back to shore and find another line of work.

But, when I got to the deck I found out that was no longer possible, we were all ready out to sea. Sometime during  the night we slipped out of the harbor. I stood there watching the shoreline get smaller and smaller and trying to figure out what my next move would be. About the time  I figured out I didn’t really have a lot of options at this point, a hand grabbed my shoulder. I spun around and found myself staring right into the chests of some  of the biggest pirates I had ever seen. I was a bit startled, and I guess I jumped a bit. Okay, maybe more than a bit.One of them reached up with one hand and pulled me down from the netting I somehow ended up in.

‘Best get some sleep, Boy. Ye be havin’ a busy day come morn.’ He looked down at me and said. He turned to the guy standing next to him, who had been laughing through the whole thing. ‘Madigan, See him to the Quartermaster fer quarter and rations. Put him on account.’

‘Aye, Mister Batch.’ the second replied. He turned to me, still laughing, ‘Come with me, pup.’

‘Oh, and Madigan..,’ Mister Batch said, ‘ Send his ration o’ grog to the Cap’n, at least til his whiskers come in.’

‘Aye, Sir,’ Madigan said. With that we headed below deck. He introduced himself as Mad-Dog Madigan, the Bos’n Mate aboard the ship.  By the time we got through the quartermaster, and I was led down to the bottom of the ship ( The bilge, he called it), I guess I passed out from exhaustion. The next thing I knew I was woken up with a foot on the backside.

It was Mad Dog again. It felt like I got five minutes of sleep. ‘Cap’n says fer ye to get on deck’ he said, ‘ Yer adventure begins this  morn, and the Cap’n's waitin’ The sun was barely crawling above the horizon when we reached the helm, where Black Bart was standing.

‘ Boy, ye be ready to take your duties?’ He asked me. ‘Do ye be ready to l’arn about  bein’ a seaman?’

Since it looked like I didn’t have a lot of options, I accepted the fact that it will be the pirating life for me for awhile. In fact, if I must admit it, it was beginning to sound like a grand adventure. I replied; ‘Aye Cap’n’.

I was picturing high adventure in my mind. I could picture myself swing from the mast, saber in hand, fighting off the Royal Navy, plundering ships, raiding ports, and getting treasures. ‘Yeah, ‘ I thought; ‘ This could be fun for awhile.’

“If you’ll just tell me where to get my sword and pistol, I’m rarin’ to go Cap’n’

As soon as I said that, the whole crew on-deck started laughing, which didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I didn’t see what was so funny about the crew getting another Brother in Arms. After a few minutes, and catching his breath, Black Bart hollered at Mad Dog;

‘Madigan, be gettin’ this boy ‘is tools o’ the trade.’ He bellowed. Mad Dog came up the decking, and instead of the pistol and saber I was expecting, he gave me a mop. A Mop! What kind of pirating was I going to do with a mop?

I was hopin’ for a sword, maybe a pistol, and I got a mop. I asked Black Bart how I was supposed to get any adventuring done  with a mop.

‘That be no mop, boy, that there is a Swab. Ye’ll be swabbing many a deck before ye even think o’ becomin’ one o’ my picaroons.’ He replied, still having a big grin plastered on his face. ‘ Ye best be swabbin’ many a deck ‘fore you even think o’ commandin’ one.’

So, that was the next thing I learned about being a Pirate Captain. You have to start at the bottom and work your way up. You have to swab a lot of decks, before you can think about commanding one.

So I spent the first part of my pirate adventure swabbing a lot of decks.

Next Chapter; Two Weeks Out

The Story begins Here; The Boy Captain

You may also be interested in the following;

Dear Miss Jenna

The Cowgirl Rules

Stormy’s Question

Just Thinking