 
An Accidental Pirate

The Adventures of Captain Pigtail McQueue

By J.A. Sprouls

Published by J.A. Sprouls at Smashwords

Copyright J.A. Sprouls 2012

Cover Design Copyright J.A. Sprouls 2012

Discover other titles by J.A. Sprouls at Smashwords.com:

My Grandfather Is One Heck Of A Mummy

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Mace of Spades

<http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/43569>

Kamikaze Pigs

<http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97712>

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Dedicated to my Mother and Sister

For always being there!

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Epilogue

About the Author

Prologue

~~~~~~~

Where the wind had been calm just minutes before, there was suddenly a vicious storm sweeping across the Gulf of Mexico. Rain and wind pounded every vessel in its reach, including the mighty pirate ship The Flummery. The ship was thrown from side to side, almost rolling over at times. The sails were splitting from the sheer force of the wind. The captain was struggling at the helm with two deck hands in the process of tying him to the helm to keep him from being swept overboard. It was taking the two deckhands longer than it might any of the other crew hands simply because the captain had the unfortunate luck of choosing the two very deckhands that failed the knot-tying test. As the rain pelted them and the wind whipped the rope they were using to tie the captain down with, there ensued a bit of an argument.

"I'm thinking a reef knot will be best at a time such as this. To insure that it doesn't come untied. The last thing we need is for the captain to be swept overboard," Deckhand Wicket said to Deckhand Tally

"Don't be ridiculous. We need a granny knot. 'Cause my dear old granny said that there's nothing like a granny's knot. So I think that should be the knot to use to insure the captain will stay with the ship."

"Granny? Are you kidding me? This ain't no woman's work, it's a hardy man's manly work. We don't need no sissified granny in this knot. And a reef knot would be perfect simply because it's got to do with the ocean. And what do ships sail on? Oceans. So it's the perfect knot to use," Wicket said in disgust.

"Well if we're gonna go by that, then why not use a midshipman's hitch knot? That's got to do with sailing so that would be a good knot to use," offered Tally.

"Don't go being ridiculous. We're simple deckhands. We go and use a midshipman's hitch knot then we're dragged up on charges of impersonating a ranking person's knotting. Then we get keelhauled. I don't know exactly what that is, to be keelhauled, but it can't be good, now can it? So forget about the midshipman's hitch. I still say we should go with the reef knot," explained Wicket.

"But that's just a stinking uppity name for a simple square knot and it ain't gonna hold in this weather. How's about a sailors knot? I realize we're not sailors but they can't keelhaul us for impersonating a sailors knot. Now can they?"

"Sometimes simple is the best answer to things. If we go and try thinking of advanced knots then we might let it go to our head and we might start thinking we could do better knots and that can only lead to us using a midshipman's knot and I already done told you we can't use that knot. I guess we could go with a waterman's knot because we are men and we are on the water. They can't go and keelhaul us for using that knot. What say we go with that one?"

"Okay, fine but I think the sailor knot would be better. So just you remember that was my suggestion," Tally certainly didn't want to be blamed for anything that might go wrong.

It was about that point when the whole conservation became moot because the captain went flying past the two deckhands and went over the starboard side. The two deckhands might have been just a bit overly sensitive because they both thought the captain gave them a dirty look as he went over the side.

With the captain gone, they did the only thing two deckhands could do, while being the only ones in position to take over the helm. They panicked. They started running around and around the helm screaming and flinging their hands over their heads. Since they had forgotten to pick up the rope, they ended up tripping over it and falling to the deck. It was then that the first deckhand pointed out that in the tangle and struggle with the ropes they had formed a rolling hitch.

"Now that was the knot we should have used. I mean look how good and tied up we are. There's no way we're gonna get out of this rope without a knife to cut it with. Hand me your knife so I can start cutting so that we can get back to our uncontrolled panic." Wicket held out his hand and waited for the other deckhand to give him his knife.

"You know darn well I lost my knife in the card game last night. I did win a nice tea cozy but I don't see how the heck that's gonna get us outta this mess," confessed Tally

"Well, that's just great. You realize that we can't properly panic if we're tied down, don't ya?"

"It's not my fault I lost my knife. What about your knife? Where's yours?"

"I don't believe in violence and knives can only lead to violence on a ship full of hardened seafarers, most particularly when they hit the rum. So I divested myself of that knife the moment I got on board." Wicket hated to admit that he lost it right after he got on board.

"You mean you got it stolen from you when you weren't looking, don't cha?"

"No..., okay, so I misplaced it, so sue me. Either way it's not gonna do us a lick of good. We're trapped like a couple of hogtied pigs and we're not going nowhere anytime soon without a knife."

It was at this point that the ship's cook came topside to see why the ship was veering so wildly. He cringed when he saw the two deckhands, Wicket and Tally, hogtied at the foot of the helm. He thought to himself that all he needed was a couple of apples and then he could have a luau. The ship gave a sudden and unexpected lurch that caused the cook to lose his balance. He grabbed the rope banister and started climbing up to the helm. As the cook huffed and puffed to get to the helm he thought silently to himself, 'I really should lose some weight.' Tally was thrilled to see the cook coming to rescue them. After all, cooks always had a knife on them, so he could cut them free. Apparently, Wicket had the same thought because he exclaimed, "Oy, here comes the cook and he's got a meat cleaver in his hand. We're saved!"

"All right! And it's about time; the ropes are starting to chaff."

"Of course, being cut free isn't gonna save our lives from the raging storm that swept the captain overboard. Now that's probably gonna kill us."

"Always looking on the bright side aren't ya?" Tally was disgusted with his deck mate. He was always looking on the bad side of everything. This time was no exception. Just like the time they were drinking at the pub. Wicket said 'boozing it up never comes to a good end.' Well, okay, so they were snatched and forced to become deckhands for a pirate but at least they have job. That's more than anyone else in his family could say. And here he was being a pessimist yet again.

By now the cook had reached the helm, grabbed the end of the rope, tied his legs with it, grabbed the wheel, and started to steer her hard to port side to counteract the leaning caused by the tossing sea. This was a struggle for the cook because of his small stature. It's very hard to steer anything when you only come up halfway to the wheel.

"Hey, hand us your cleaver so we can untie ourselves," Wicket shouted.

"Forget it! I'm gonna have to steer this ship, so you two are staying where I can see you and where you can't cause any trouble. Besides if I'm swept overboard then I'm taking you with me!"

His brave act of taking over the helm during this storm reflected well in the eyes of the crew. That and none of them wanted to risk their necks to go to the helm. For pirates, they were basically, big chickens. When the storm had finally calmed down, they named the cook the new ship's captain - Captain Pigtail McQueue, as a reward for saving their lives and the treasure on board. As a cook, he didn't want to get any hair in the food so he tied it up into a couple of pigtails. It was one of the few things that really bothered the cook. He just hated to see hair in food. It grossed him out and he refused to eat anything with hair in it. He even wore a hair net on his beard to keep it out of the soups. Since pirate captains had to have nicknames, and Hair Net McQueue didn't sound right, they went with the next obvious choice. On top of being big chickens, they really lacked imagination.

The two deckhands were promoted to cooks. This was done mainly to keep them out of everyone else's way. It certainly wasn't due to their cooking ability, which was pretty much non-existent. Also the fact that they were both skinny as rails meant the crew didn't have to worry about them eating everything, so there would be enough food for everyone.

The Flummery wasn't the biggest pirate ship out there; in fact, it was one of the smallest pirate ships. But despite the size it was a much feared ship, known for the savagery of the crew when overtaking another ship. They were considered the scourge of the Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean. And now Pigtail found himself in charge of the ship and its vicious crew.

Captain Pigtail was still a little shocked but rather pleased by being made captain. He never had been in charge of anything before, let alone a crew and a ship. It wasn't the same as being a cook. After all, the food was already dead and no one could back-talk you. But he was bound and determined to show them he would be the best and meanest pirate out there. He just wished he had an all-inspiring Sage to help him. The former captain had gone to see the Sea Sage just before sailing off on this trip. He had taken the cook along with him because, well, who would recognize a realistic sage better than a cook? The captain waited until the cook verified that the Sea Sage was, in fact, a bonafide sage before he listened to her. As it turned out, she was dead on in her prediction of the trip. It was just all in how you interpreted it.

She had told the former captain that his next voyage would be 'rocking n' rolling and that he was at risk of being carried away. The captain took that to mean that he would collect some pretty rockin' tunes and that he might collect a few too many. But he figured that with good music there was no getting carried away with it. Needless to say, he had interpreted it all wrong. But then Pigtail thought that the captain hadn't figured on Wicket and Tally.

Yep, he sure wished he had a sage to ask questions. She could predict his future and warn him. Pigtail wasn't stupid. He figured that no matter what the sage said, he would assume the case scenario and then he would prepare for whatever happened.

However, not even the greatest of sages could have predicted what was about to happen to the captain, crew and the ship, the Flummery. You see, the storm hadn't calmed down. In actuality it was a hurricane and they had just been inside its eye. Now the storm was again raging against the ship and its crew. The crew decided that since the captain wasn't a real captain then he would most assuredly sink the ship, so they all went overboard in two dinghies, thinking they stood a better chance of surviving that way. Pigtail held on to the helm for dear life. He was cursing himself for taking the job as captain. But daggum it, he liked the thought of being a captain of a pirate ship. The winds became so strong that it caught up the ship and the next thing Pigtail knew he was flying. He had heard about the ship the 'Flying Dutchman' but he thought it had just been a name, now here he was the captain of the 'Flying Flummery.' He was starting to get motion sickness and was thankful that he was at least up on deck and not down below. Since that was where everything was stored, he figured everything was being tossed around and smashed to pieces. He was also thankful that he hadn't untied himself from the helm. He had forgotten to do so when he had finally released Wicket and Tally.

Wicket and Tally were huddled under the prep table in the galley, having decided to take their chances with the captain and the ship rather than going overboard with the rest of the crew. They had no sooner acquainted themselves with all the items in the galley when the ship started rolling all over again. Unfortunately, the knife drawer flew open and all the knives headed straight for the two of them. They dove under the table and made a pact not to come out until the cutlery had stopped attacking them, though Wicket did feel the need to point out one very important thing.

"See I told you knives lead to violence. I think the forty something knives stuck in the table top above us just proves my point."

The captain was the only one up on deck so he was the only one who realized they were airborne. It seemed like days rather than a few mere hours that the Flying Flummery was indeed flying. Just as suddenly as they had taken off they landed with an extremely hard 'thunk' on the hard dirt ground. Wicket and Tally ended up hitting their heads on the table above them but it didn't seem to knock any sense into them. The captain ended up sprawled on the deck and decided not to open his eyes until everything had stopped spinning, even though that didn't seem the captainly thing to do. However it was a good thing because he really didn't need to be dizzy to see the view that he had over the railing of the ship.

~~~~~

Chapter 1

Pilar had been hiding in the storage compartment during the whole storm. She was absolutely terrified of the storm and what it was doing to the ship. It was a very helpless feeling to be tossed from side to side, not knowing if the ship would turn over completely. She had never learned to swim which made it all the more terrifying. It wasn't as if she had really wanted to be here in the first place. Her father was a pirate, just which particular pirate he was she didn't know, but she knew somewhere there was a pirate with the same violet eyes she had and she was bound and determined to find him. Most particularly since her mother succumbed to an illness, leaving her all alone. She didn't like being alone. After all, she was only twelve years old so she figured that she would find her father and then he would take care of her. The only way she figured she could do this was to join a pirate's ship. Surely they would know of a pirate with violet eyes.

Therefore, she signed on as a cabin boy. She had cut her hair and wore baggy trousers and shirts in order to look more like a boy. And most importantly, she kept to herself. She only served the captain. If he wanted something, she would get it, but avoided the rest of the crew if she could help it. That isn't to say that she didn't pay attention to what was happening on board. She watched them doing all the necessary things to get the ship out to sea and she learned a lot. The main thing she learned was a completely new language, though she figured that her mother wouldn't want her to actually use most of those new words.

She overheard a couple of the crew talking and they mentioned the captain had been tossed overboard in the storm. She also found out that the cook had been made the new captain. If she understood them right, it was mainly because they figured they could lose him and not be out too much and it kept them from having to take charge and risk going overboard like the other captain. If he didn't die in the storm then they could very easily overtake him and put in a 'real' knowledgeable captain. This concerned Pilar very much. She always liked the cook. He was one of the few crewmembers whom she had dealt with on a regular basis and he had always been nice to her. She figured that the first chance she had to talk to the captain she would warn him. After all, she was a cabin boy and served the captain, so it wouldn't look suspicious if she talked to him. Since she had been hiding from the very start of the storm she didn't know the crew had decided to abandon the ship and that is was just her, Wicket, Tally and Pigtail still aboard.

There was a horrible scratching noise coming from the other side of the door. She wasn't sure what it was but she figured the only way she would find out was to open the door. She wasn't a brave person, so she stayed put. The storage compartment was just for captain supplies - booze mainly - but there were other things here also, like blankets and clothes. That was why she hid here during the storm. She figured it would be a lot softer t with the ship tossing about like it was. The booze had been tied down along with a few other boxes so basically the blankets and clothes were the only things that were tossed about. Therefore, nothing hurt when she was hit by falling items.

That's when the door suddenly swung open and there stood Wicket. She always liked him and his friend Tally. He was very funny but she didn't think he meant to be funny most of the time. It's just that things he did didn't seem to work out quite the way he had expected them to.

"There you are. We got to thinking we hadn't seen you lately and got a bit concerned. Hey, Tally, Pill's in here." That's what they called her. She hadn't told them her full name for fear they would figure out that she was a girl and not let her come but, she thought, that was the least of her problems now.

"I heard a crash and felt a horrible bump. Did we get stranded on a reef?"

"Don't know, haven't been topside just yet. We were headed that way when Tally asked if I had seen you. So I told him it would be best if we went looking for you. So we did."

"And we found you," Tally felt the need to add.

"Well, seeing as how we're talking to her, I think she could figure that out. Let's go topside and see how the new captain fared," Wicket suggested.

"Guys, I think you should know that the other crew members are planning on getting rid of the new captain. That was why they made the cook captain, they felt he was expendable."

"That has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard," Tally exclaimed.

"It's true, I swear. I overheard them just after the other captain went overboard." Pilar was a bit miffed at Tally for thinking she would make something up like that.

"No, no, you misunderstand me. I didn't mean something like - you misunderstood them or something like that. I meant the thought that they considered the cook expendable. How you gonna eat if you don't have someone to cook for you."

"He's got a point. On the other hand, you have to consider the fact that the crew on this ship wasn't the swiftest in the fleet. I mean, they use their knives to clean their ears."

Tally whispered to Pill, "Wicket's got some sort of aversion to knives." He winked at her like this was a secret just between the two of them. He said in a louder voice, "But we don't have to worry about the crew taking over. Because when the second storm came up they took the dinghies and went overboard. I guess they were thinking they would stand a better chance that way than they did with a new captain who used to be a cook. So, let's not dilly dally below deck, let's see how bad the damage is and just where we ended up stranded. I hope it's a nice tropical island with lots of pretty women."

"Hey, real smooth Tally, You're talking like a sailor in front of a kid. Kids are impressionable and you don't want to go leaving Pill with that kind of impression about you, now do you?"

"Well, he's got to learn it from somewhere, who better than me?"

~~~~~

Chapter 2

When they made it up top the first thing they saw was the captain laying on the deck still tied to the helm. They rushed over to him, and Tally, who had grabbed a bucket filled with water, threw it on the captain.

Sputtering he yelled at Tally, "What in tarnation are you doing?! Here I survive a bloody hurricane and then you try to drown me when we're safe and sound. I ought to keelhaul you right here and now."

"Now, Captain Pigtail, Tally was just trying to help you. I'm sure he figured that you were passed out and so you needed reviving and water is the best thing to achieve that. Isn't that right, Tally?" Wicket explained.

"Oh, yes sir, Captain, sir. I wasn't meaning no disrespect of any sort, I can assure you."

"Well, don't let it happen again. And to make it clear, I was not passed out. I was resting after the long and arduous struggle with keeping the ship from going under. And that is the only reason I was laying down, got me?!"

"Yes sir, Captain sir!" All three of them exclaimed loudly out of fear of getting him madder.

"Sir, Captain Pigtail, sir," Pill approached him rather hesitantly. "I think you should know that the crew chose you as captain because they figured you were expendable and that if the storm didn't kill you then they could very easily do it themselves. Then they could have The Flummery all to themselves. I just think you should be aware of that, um, sir. Just in case there are some crew members who stayed behind. They may think they could still overtake you even if they don't have the numbers of force they did have before the others went overboard. "

"Oh, is that what they think? Well they've got another think coming, I can tell you. They don't know who they are dealing with and if I have to keelhaul them all, I will." He had a rather mean look to his face and this concerned Pill quite a bit. She had always thought he was a bit gruff but otherwise a nice person. She was seriously rethinking this.

"You don't have to worry about us Captain, sir; we'll help you no matter what. If you want us to spy for you, we'll be more than happy to." Tally was like Pill, he had always liked Pigtail as the cook but now that he was Captain he was showing a whole new and uglier side to himself and it scared him just a bit.

"I'll deal with that when and if the time comes and it would best if you three stay out of the way." Great, he was thinking, I have the support of two nincompoops and a little boy, how can things possibly get worse. He just hoped there weren't any of the crew members left, that they had all gone overboard in the dinghies, then he wouldn't have to depend on those three to help and back him. He then rose and went to look over the railing. And he learned that things had gotten considerably worse.

"Where the heck are we?!" Pigtail exclaimed not truly believing what he was seeing, or to be more specific, what he wasn't seeing.

Tally had come over and was now standing by the captain. "So what happened to the ocean? Where's the water? Did the storm just carry it all away and leave us without any more water?"

"Don't be thick, no storm can carry away all the water in the ocean. That's too daggum much water. It's us that the storm carried away. As to where, I have no idea," Wicket said.

"For your information we was in the Gulf and there's not as much water in a Gulf as in a full blown ocean so that could very well have happened. So don't go calling me 'thick.'"

"Well, the storm would have to do something with the water, now wouldn't it? So where is all that water? There'd have to be some place big enough to keep all that water and the only place that big would be the Gulf, so since the water isn't here then it's only logical that we're not in the Gulf no more." Wicket was getting exasperated over his friend's lack of logic.

"Okay, you two, just stop the bickering or I'll rethink my decision to keelhaul you. Now I don't know where we are but it's just a matter of looking at things and figuring out just where the ship could have landed," The Captain's nerves were already worn enough, he didn't need Wicket and Tally adding to it.

"Why don't we just ask someone where we are? That would be the simplest thing to do, don't y'all think?" Pill asked.

"Well, who the heck are we gonna ask? In case you hadn't noticed we're stranded and there's nothing in sight, no houses, boats or nothing." Tally told Pill.

"Yes, there is. You're looking to the horizon, I'm just looking down and I see a few wagons and bunch of people all looking up at us. So why don't we ask one of them just where we are?" It made perfect sense to Pill but then again she was talking with Tally and Wicket and they weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.

They all looked down and sure enough there were a bunch of people all staring up at the ship and the four people at the helm. They had horses, oxen and covered wagons and were all spellbound by the sight of a full blown pirate ship sitting there, right in front of them.

~~~~~

Chapter 3

"Okay, Tally, why don't you throw that rope ladder down so we can go talk to those people," Pigtail ordered.

Tally grabbed the rope ladder and was about to secure it to the rail when he turned and asked Wicket, "Granny knot, or do you think a simple hitch knot will do the trick? I'd hate for it to slip any, most particularly if we're all going down there. We might not get back up if it comes untied and I'm guessing, if there are any crew members left, they just might not be all that fussed about getting us back on board."

"Well, a granny knot is pretty good but I still think a reef knot would be much more appropriate, seeing as to this is a ship and ships sail on water, which is where you find reefs, in the water."

"Yeah, but the problem with that logic is that we are no longer on any type of water. So there are no reefs around here. So a reef knot wouldn't be all that appropriate, now would it?" Tally pointed out the obvious to Wicket.

"Maybe not, but we are a ship just the same and we were on the water at one point and since that is the sole purpose of a ship; to sail on water, then a reef knot would be the perfect choice."

"For God sake, just tie the stupid ladder to the railing and be done with it. I don't care which knot you use!" Pigtail bellowed.

"You may not care now but when the ladder falls and we can't get back up then you're gonna really care, now aren't you?" Tally said defensively.

"Tally! You don't go getting smart with the captain. It's his ship and he can keelhaul us any time he wants. So just tie it to the rail and use whichever knot you think will hold the best, jeesh." Wicket could see Tally getting them all keelhauled just because he was too wishy washy to make up his mind as to which knot to use. Wicket just couldn't understand why Tally had such an aversion to using the reef knot, but he seemed dead set against using it.

It took a little while for Tally to finally get it tied to the railing but that was mainly because he didn't have all that much experience tying knots. How the heck was he supposed to get any good at knot tying if no one let him tie knots? And no one let him tie knots because he wasn't any good at it. So he was doomed to never learn how to tie a knot if this vicious cycle kept going.

Pigtail, seeing all the trouble that Tally had tying the knot wasn't too sure how secure the ladder would be. He decided to send the cabin boy over first. After all, he weighed less than the others and it might actually hold his weight.

"Pill, you go over first and find out if they are a friendly sort and mean us no harm. If they are friendly then ask them where the heck we are."

Pill wasn't the least bit happy about this. She knew the captain wasn't going over the rail just because Tally was the one who tied the knots. But since he was the captain and her job was to serve the captain she had no choice. She sighed and climbed up on the railing. Tally and Wicket both grabbed the ladder's lines just to make sure someone had hold of it in case it came untied. The knots held just fine and Pill made it to the ground without a single slip. She looked up at the other three who were now looking over the railing at her. Pigtail waved her to go on, which she did reluctantly.

"Excuse me, sir, but could you please tell me just where we happen to be?" She tried to look confidant but her insides were mushier them mashed potatoes.

"What exactly do you mean, 'where are you?' Don't you know where you are?" From his tone it seemed he found it strange for a person not to know where they are. Which was just silly as far as Pill was concerned. There are lots of times that people get lost, so a number of people have not known where they were. It just so happens that at this point and time, she and The Flummery's captain were in that very predicament.

"No sir, I'm afraid we don't know where we are. I do know where we were. We were in the Gulf and were dealing with a very severe storm with very strong winds. Obviously the winds blew us off course and we now find ourselves lost. So if you could please tell us where we are, I would really appreciate it."

The fellow was a short stocky man with blazing red hair. He wore a brimmed hat and had a bandana tied around his neck. Pill found herself wondering if he had used a granny knot to secure the bandana. His clothes were all very dusty and well-worn and they had patches in various spots. He wasn't saying anything; mainly he was looking Pill over from head to toe. It was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. The last thing she needed was someone to pay too close attention to her and realize that she was, in fact, a girl. He might then tell Pigtail and then who knows what would happen to her.

The captain, not knowing what was going on or being said, yelled over the railing, "Pill, what's he say, where are we?"

Pill looked back at the captain and then turned to the man and said, "The captain would very much like to know where we are. So if you could please tell us, I would really appreciate it."

"Well, now, I'm not sure." Great. The one person they find to ask doesn't even know.

"What do you mean you don't know?'

"It ain't that I don't know. I know you're in a state called Texas. But as to just where in Texas, I don't rightly know. Hang on just a moment, I'll ask the wagon master if he has a clue as to where we all are." With that he turned and walked over to this tall bulky man. It wasn't that he was fat, no, it was all muscle, Pill could see that, and he was a rather formidable looking man. She really hoped she wouldn't have to deal with him. He was scary. He had his brimmed hat pulled down so far you almost couldn't see his eyes. The two talked for a few minutes before the big man sauntered over to where Pill was standing.

"Billy here," he pointed to the redhead, "says you folks were in the Gulf when a storm blew in and blew you off course, is that right?"

"Yes, sir," Pill was very intimidated by the man. He was at least six feet tall and just seemed to tower over her.

"Now that is a strange bit of happening, if I do say so myself." He had removed his hat from his head and was scratching his head in wonderment. "I say it's strange, because the Gulf is a few hundred miles south of here. I never heard tell of any type of ship being blown inland before, least of all a few hundred miles inland. Those must have been mighty strong winds. Now we did have a bit of a wind storm here last night but that's just the area. They get lots of winds here. Well, don't that beat all." He had this silly smile on his face which didn't make him as intimidating as before which was a relief to Pill. He wasn't the least bit angry either, so that just might mean he would be nice to her and give her the information she needed.

"First off, you're in America and you're in the great state of Texas. This is Texas and it's a big old place, let me tell you. I've been all over it. I help Northerners who want a new life in a new land come out here and settle down. So I know all about the place. Now there's the Great Plains which includes the Caprock. The Caprock is where the flat plains cease and it starts to get canyons and what not. Then there are the central plains, which is in the center of Texas, and the mountains and the Gulf region. You would think that a ship would still remain in the Gulf region but apparently that didn't happen. I can tell you that you are on the South Plains of Texas, just above the Caprock. And the Gulf is way the heck southeast of here."

Pill just stood there not really understanding just what he said. How the heck could they have gone hundreds of miles and get blown that far off course. Maybe he was just fooling with her. That's got to be it. She was betting the Gulf was just a few miles away and nothing more.

"Now, I know what you're thinking, you're thinking I'm plum loco and don't really know where I am, but I can assure you that I know this place like the back of my hand and I know exactly where you are, I promise you that and I swear it on all that I hold sacred. I just can't figure out how the heck any old wind could have picked up a big heavy ship like yours and blown it all the way over here. It just doesn't make sense. It goes against mother nature, I can tell you that much."

"Would you excuse me just a moment while I go tell the captain what you just told me. He'll want to know right away." Pill turned around and ran to the ship. She climbed the rope ladder and over the railing where they stood waiting for Pill's return.

"So where are we and how the heck can we get this ship toted back to the Gulf?"

"I'm not sure you can. Apparently, we were really blown off course. He said he knew this place well because he brings people here from the northern states of America. We're in the state of Texas and we're on the Great Plains, which is apparently a few hundred miles from the Gulf. He can't figure out how the heck we got this far inland. That's pretty much everything he said. Is there anything else you want me to go ask him?"

"A few hundred miles inland? He's pulling your leg Pill. He's just seeing if you're gullible enough to believe him. So stop being gullible and get back down there and find out where we really are," Pigtail said, exasperated that his cabin boy would be so naive.

"Nope, I thought the same thing but he promised that was where we are. And he even swore it on all that he holds sacred. So I can't see him lying about it," Pill said defensively.

"Well, just look at him. He don't look like he holds a whole heck of a lot sacred so he might have been lying about holding anything sacred. Go back and talk to him again."

"No, sir. If you're not gonna believe me now then you're not gonna believe me when I come back here and tell you exactly what I just said. So if you want to know the truth then you need to go down there and ask him yourself." She was trembling in her boots for talking back to the captain but he just smiled and said, "Fine. I'll do just that. Wicket, you're coming with me and so are you Pill. Tally, you stay here just in case we need help getting up." With that the captain climbed over the railing and down the ladder. Tally was secretly thrilled that the ladder held his weight. The captain wasn't exactly petite, not with that gut hanging over his belt. Tally figured that he did a lot of extra tasting when he was the ship's cook.

"Good day, sir, Pill tells me that you told him we were a few hundred miles from the Gulf. Do you really believe that?"

"Sir, it's not a matter of what I believe, it's a matter of fact and I guarantee you, that is indeed a fact."

"Could you show me on a map exactly where we are?"

"'Fraid not, I'm not much good at map reading. I have it all located up here in my brain," he said tapping his finger on his temple. "It's not too hard to carry around information that way, most particularly, when it's best to pack light. I certainly understand you're not believing me. If it was me I'd be the same way. But like I told the kid here, I swear it on all that I hold sacred. And I assure you that I may look a little travel worn, but I do hold a good number of things sacred. Like my mother. And I don't take swearing on her lightly," He laughed and added, "Course she don't like swearing period, so I try to avoid it in her presence."

"Great, then how the heck are we gonna get back to the Gulf? What the heck good is a ship if it doesn't have water to sail on?"

"Can't rightly answer the last part because I'm strictly a landlocked type of guy. As far as the other question goes, I suppose you could talk to the Wind Hag and ask her to get another wind storm going, only in the opposite direction."

"Wind Hag? Who and or what is a Wind Hag?"

"Not sure exactly what she is, I guess she's got some witch in her or something along those lines, but that's no promise on my part. I just know that she's a mighty powerful woman who has the ability to control the wind. Well, that and she has a really powerful temper too. I remember Duward got her so riled that we had a dust storm so bad it lasted about three solid weeks. We had to stop the wagon train because we couldn't see where we were going. So just remember that when you talk to her. It's best not to get her riled."

"If we got her riled she just might give a good enough wind storm to get us back to the Gulf," Wicket offered.

"Yeah, that might work, but then again she might also blow you a couple thousand miles from the Gulf. And that would be a heck of a lot worse, I figure, unless she manages to get you near a lake or some type of body of water. But either way, you'd still not be near the Gulf. Nope, it's really best not to rile her. I promise you that."

"So where exactly do we find this Wind Hag? Is there some type of information that we need to know about her? I mean, do we take a tribute to her or say anything in particular to her that will get her to help us?" Pigtail asked.

"Now that's a right smart question. I'd take her some type of flowers. I'm sure she'd like that. Of course, you do that then there is a chance that she might take a liking to you. And if she does that, then look out. See, that was how Duward got on her bad side. He took her some flowers and asked for a gentle breeze. He was courting a gal on the wagon train and he wanted a slight breeze when they had a picnic. That way it wouldn't be too hot. So the Wind Hag saw this gal as competition and so she let it rip. I've never seen so much dust in my life. It was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The only problem with doing that is there was another layer to take the place of the portion you cut away. I think we were all coughing up dust for about a week after that."

"Great, so where do I find this Wind Hag and some flowers?" Pigtail asked.

"The flowers are no problem. There are all sorts of wildflowers, you just have to pick 'em. As to finding the Wind Hag, that's another story. You'll have to find a Knarl to lead you to her. Those are her helpers. They live under and in mesquite trees, so you need to find a mesquite tree first off."

"Okay, what's a mesquite tree?"

The wagon master gave Pigtail a strange look and then rolled his eyes. "Now, no offense meant or nothing but are you telling me you ain't never seen a mesquite tree?"

"I'm the captain of a ship and before that I was the cook on the ship. There really aren't too many mesquite trees or for that matter, any tree of any sort out in the ocean. So no, I don't know what it looks like. If you could show me one then I would know from here on out and you would have passed on your knowledge to a less fortunate and desperate soul." Pigtail was obviously rather ticked at the wagon master making him feel stupid just because he didn't know what a mesquite tree looked like. He added, "I don't suppose you know the difference between the bow and the stern of a ship, now do you? It's all a matter of what you are around and what you are used to, now isn't it?"

"I guess you got a point. Okay, you see that tree over yonder," he was pointing to a tree that was some distance off, "the one that is sort of irregular looking? That's a mesquite tree and you best watch yourself because they have these really sharp thorns and let me tell you those thorns are sturdy suckers. They can go right through your leather boot sole. So watch your step when you're walking around one. We try to steer clear of them because the oxen can get really hurt if cut by them. As to the Knarls, they don't live in every mesquite tree out here. They pick and choose where they live so if you can't find them at one tree then move on to another one. It may take you all day just to find one Knarl. A Knarl's skin looks a lot like the bark of the tree and he's kinda shaped like a branch with lots of little branches coming out of his head and he has leaves for hair. You could be looking right at one and not ever know it. You'd just think it was simply a branch on the tree. And that Knarl isn't gonna show himself unless he knows for a fact that you're a friend and not an enemy. So you best be careful when you approach a tree. Too fast and you might scare them stiff and if they don't move then, like I said, you won't know they're there."

"How do I make them understand that I'm a friend?"

"You wouldn't happen to have any honey on ya, would ya? They go crazy over honey. That's 'cause it's so darn rare around here. If you do then you're a shoo in. They'll accept you in no time flat. From there you just tell them that you need to see the Wind Hag. If you give them enough honey then they'll take you straight to her. From there you just ask for her help, oh, and give her the flowers. That should just about do it for you."

"Thank you so much for your help, sir, is there anything that we can do to repay you for your help?" Pill asked mainly because she knew that Pigtail wouldn't have even thought of thanking him.

"Naw, just glad we were out and about here to help you. Now if you'll excuse me, we need to get the wagons circled and ready to settle down for the day in order to give the oxen and horses a chance to rest. It's kinda hard to find a spot around here that has enough grass for them to feed on. That's because the mesquite trees have a tendency to soak up what little water is out here from everything else. So if ya want, we'll keep an eye on that ship of yours, if you like."

"Thank you, but I'll leave a couple of my crew behind to guard everything." Pigtail told him, he then looked at Wicket and Pill, and then motioned with his head for them to follow him. He climbed back up the rope ladder and waited for the others to join him. As soon as they made it back onto the ship he gathered them into a small circle and filled Tally in on what the wagon master had told them. The captain then said, "Okay, first off we need to make sure we are the only ones left on the ship. The last thing we need is to have someone come along and try something. We'll split up and each check a portion of the ship. I'll take everything up top, including the captain's cabin. You three split up and take everything down below." With that they all set off to search the ship.

Wicket, Tally and Pill were rather miffed that they ended up with everything down below simply because that was the majority of the ship. But they really didn't have a choice in the matter; after all, Pigtail was the new captain. They decided that Pill should stay at the hatch, that way if anyone decided to make a run for it then they would know. It would also keep someone from hiding in one place and then going to hide in some other place that had already been searched. This suited Pill just fine. She didn't like the thought of having to confront someone, least of all a pirate. They really didn't have the best of reputations. And Pill knew from watching the crew that they weren't the nicest people around. They liked to fight way too much.

Wicket and Tally had taken off and were making a lot of noise. They had decided that the more noise they made the better. It would warn anyone hiding they were coming and so they wouldn't surprise them. Surprised pirates have a tendency to attack the surpriser and just might kill them. It took almost forty minutes for them to search the whole ship but in the end, they didn't find anyone else. This was a relief to the captain. He had taken seriously what Pill had told him about the crews planning to overthrow him. But since there weren't any others onboard he knew he wouldn't have to worry about that now. He really doubted that Wicket, Tally or Pill would lead a coup to become the new captain. If they did, well, he was tougher than all three of them and he figured he could take them if necessary.

~~~~~

Chapter 4

"Okay, now we need to go out and find one of these Knarls so they can lead us to the Wind Hag. First though, we need to get the honey from the galley."

"Actually, sir, I grabbed a jar before we came back up on deck." Pill said and held it up so they could all see it.

"Great, Wicket and Tally will stay behind; Pill and I will head over to the first tree and start our quest for the Knarls. When we leave, pull up the rope ladder so no one can climb up it without your knowing it. When we get back we'll holler at you to let the ladder down, got it?"

"Yes sir, but don't you think it would be best if we decided on a code word. That way we would know for sure it was you," Wicket said.

"All you have to do is look down and you will see that it's us. How hard is that?"

"Well, someone could try and disguise themselves to look like you and from that great of a distance we might not be able to see that they are imposters. It could also take you a very long time and so it might be night fall before you get back and then we most definitely couldn't see if it was you or not. But if we had a special password then all you would have to do is yell it up to us and then we would know it was you, night or not," Wicket explained.

"Okay, I suppose that makes sense. After all, I don't know for sure how long this will take. Okay, what sort of password were you thinking of, Wicket?"

"What? I have to think of the password too? Isn't it enough that I figured out that we would need one to begin with?"

"Fine," Pigtail said through gritted teeth, "Tally think of a password, now!"

"A password, golly, there are so many good ones to choose from. There's hunkery dunkery, slippery dippery and even picot. Those are all good passwords but I'm not sure if any of them fit the moment. We need something that is appropriate for the setting. That is, if we're gonna do this right and proper. I know, how about 'landlocked?' That's a good one, eh?"

"Don't be ridiculous Tally. What if someone comes along and yells up to us 'looks like you gents are landlocked.' Boom, he said the password and so we would have to lower the ladder to him and then he might go and rob us. Okay, so he wouldn't get anything, but it would still be a traumatic experience, just the same. And that can only lead to nightmares and you know how much trouble you have sleeping anyway you don't need to add nightmares to it, now do ya?"

"Oh, yeah, right, I'll think of another password." He started thinking hard for a new password that couldn't be used in your everyday sentence. The strain of doing this was starting to make him cross-eyed and red in the face. Then finally he let out a deep breath and exclaimed, "I've got it, 'granny knot' that's the password. Now that's not gonna be used in your regular everyday sentence.

"I suppose so," said Wicket, "Unless, of course, someone comes along and hollers up to us 'Have you seen my Granny, not that it matters, I'm sure she'll find her way home soon anyways.' Then we've got to lower the ladder again because they did, in a sense, say the password. So think of another one and make it quick. The captain looks as though he's about to have a fit or something." This last sentence was said in a rather hushed voice so the captain wouldn't over hear him.

"Fine, though it's not as easy as you think it would be," Tally complained.

"Well do you think coming up with the password idea was all that great and easy a thing to do in the first place. I'll tell ya, it wasn't. So now all you have to do is come up with a password so get to it."

Tally thought and thought. Pill figured that it would be next spring before he finally had a good word so she decided in an effort to speed things along that she should give them a password.

"How about we use the word 'longitude' as the password? It's not gonna be your everyday word and mostly sailors know the word and I'm thinking that there aren't too many sailors out here in a landlocked area like this is."

"Good job, Pill. We'll go with 'longitude,' so the second you hear us say that word then let the ladder down, Okay?"

"Yes, but what if someone comes along and sees that we are depressed and says 'my, what long tudes you have.' Then what do we do?"

"Now why would anyone go and say something as stupid as that?" Tally asked him. "Tudes ain't even a word, now is it?"

"It's slang. It's a shortened version of attitudes. I can see someone at some time in the future shorting attitudes down to tudes. And they will be considered 'in style' for doing it," Wicket said with a note of irritation in his voice.

"Yeah, well, anyone who uses that or the phrase 'in style' for that matter, is gonna be stark raving mad so I wouldn't have anything to do with them in the first place," Tally said. "So I wouldn't throw the ladder down to him in the first place.

"Okay, you two, we have the password. It's 'longitude' and if anyone and I mean anyone, comes up to the ship and uses the word 'tudes' as a shorten form of attitudes then you have my permission to drop a cannon ball on his head. Let's go, Pill." Pigtail grabbed the railing, climbed over it and headed down the ladder before Wicket or Tally could come up some other excuse for not using that password, which would just end up making him even more frustrated and mad.

Pill followed trying to hold on to both the rope ladder and the jar of honey without losing grip on either. It was a lot harder then it looked, but she managed to do it successfully.

Meanwhile Tally and Wicket, after pulling the ladder back up, went down below to retrieve a cannon ball to drop on someone's head, just in case they used the word 'tudes.' It was, after all, best to be prepared.

Pill and Pigtail headed toward the tree the wagon master had pointed out. It was a small tree with twisted branches and sparse leaves. The leaves were oblong and there were thorns on the branches. Pill was looking closely at the tree when suddenly out of nowhere someone said, "There aren't any Knarls on this tree. You'll have to look for them on another one."

They turned around and saw a young girl standing a little off with her hands behind her back. She had straw colored hair that was very fine and brown eyes that seemed to take up most of her face. Her nose was small and her chin slightly pointed but she had a very big grin on her face.

"My name is Lark. My dad is the wagon master. He said you might need help finding a Knarl so he sent me to help. Let's go look at those trees over there, she said pointing to a small clump of trees just a few hundred yards off.

Pill was thrilled to see her. At least they wouldn't miss a Knarl. It also meant she had someone her own age that she could talk to. She wanted to tell her that she was a girl too but figured that the captain wouldn't appreciate that new bit of information. They followed the girl to the clump of trees with her talking nonstop.

"My dad said y'all are really far from home and need help getting back. Did you really come all the way from the Gulf? I've never seen the Gulf. I've never seen the ocean at all. But I want to. Is it as big as they say it is? I think it's great that you're here now," she said the latter while she was looking at Pill. "There aren't any kids on this particular wagon trip. Its older people or young couples who haven't had time to have kids, it's pretty boring without anyone to play with. Do you like to play? I do."

"I don't know. I've never played before. I've always had to work for as long as I can remember. My mother was not well and she couldn't do much so she washed clothes and I helped her. Then I would deliver the clothes to the people. Then when she died, I had to get another job because no one trusted a kid to clean their clothes, even though I had been doing most of the work there at the end anyway. So I got this job as cabin boy. Can you teach me how to play?"

"Boy, can I! I'll teach you how to play with dolls and how to rope and tie all sorts of stuff."

"Well, that would be helpful, seeing as to how Wicket and Tally aren't all that up on tying things." Pigtail said to Pill. "But right now we need to find a Knarl and get in to see this Wind Hag. So let's focus on that for the moment."

"Yes, sir, I just hope we have time for her to teach me how to play before we go back home." Pill never once thought it strange that Lark knew about dolls and roping and tying things.

They looked at four trees before Lark called out that she had found a Knarl. Pigtail and Pill opened the jar of honey and headed toward the indicated tree. Suddenly, out of nowhere a big stick with leaves for hair jumped from the tree and clamped onto the honey jar. It was shaped just like a branch with smaller branches for arms and legs extending out from its body. It stuck one of its branches into the jar and pulled it out, dripping with honey and stuck it in what appeared to be a small knot hole. There was a smacking noise and a sigh of satisfaction.

"We were wondering if you could, please, help us to get in to see the Wind Hag. It's very important that we talk to her. You're more than welcome to take the whole jar of honey in return for helping us," Pigtail told the Knarl.

The Knarl seemed more interested in eating the honey than listening to Pigtail or helping them out. Finally, Lark grabbed the jar and tried to pull the Knarl off of it. It wasn't easy to do. Knarls apparently have very strong grips and finally Lark asked Pill to hold the jar while she pulled. It took a few minutes and some straining to finally separate the creature from the jar but they did manage it.

"Okay, Mr. Knarl, if you want any more honey then you need to help us out. We need to see the Wind Hag. Now we know you serve her, so if you would please get us an audience with her as quickly as possible then we would appreciate it and you will get the rest of the honey. How about it?" Lark asked the Knarl.

"Give me the honey, then I'll consider taking you to her Highness. Otherwise, I ain't gonna do it." He crossed his limbs with a note of finality and stared at Lark. He had a rather high pitched voice that probably could have broken glass if he really tried.

"Nope, you've got to get us in to see her or no more honey. And you can try to demand more but we're not budging on that. It's very important that we see the Wind Hag. So either you get us an audience with her, now, or we walk away and take the honey with us. It's your choice, what's it gonna be?" Lark apparently had dealt with Knarls before. She had an authoritative attitude and it was apparent that the Knarl was going to fold. He had this helpless look on his face that turned to longing every time he would look at the honey jar.

"Fine and dandy, okey dokey, I'll have to go and contact her, which may take a while, if she's busy stirring things up. So why don't you give that honey so I'll have something to keep my strength up."

"No, you find her and get us an audience and then you take us to her and then and only then, do you get the honey. We'll be waiting over there by the big ship, Mr. Knarl," Lark told him.

"Ship, what are you, bonkers, girly? Tis no water or lake in this area so there's no ship either. You're just doing that to keep the honey from me and that ain't fair, I tell you!" he shook a tiny limb at Lark's face. Then he added, "My name ain't Mr. Knarl neither, it's Piteque with no Mr., Miss, or nothing else in front or back, for that matter."

"Now you know why we need to see the Wind Hag. Our ship was blown off course and landed here. We need her help to get another wind going to get us back home." Pigtail explained to the Knarl.

The Knarl let out a high pitched squeal. Pill figured it was his way of laughing because of the look on his face and fact that he was doubled over shaking. When he finally stopped he said to Pigtail, "Boy, I doesn't know what the heck you did to her Highness but you must have really set her off if she did this to you and your ship. Unless..." He trailed off, not finishing the sentence.

"Unless, what? Is there something we should know that you're not telling us?" Pigtail sounded a bit worried when he asked this question.

"Well, you are a handsome bloke, for a human, that is. So her Highness might have seen ya and taken a liking to ya, which would explain your being here. She brought you to her so you could court her." Piteque started to laugh again. Pill clapped her hands over her ears to keep the shrill sound from bursting her eardrums.

"I seriously doubt that, but if that was the case then shouldn't you take us to her because she is bound to be expecting us."

That got Piteque's attention and then he got a worried look on his face. It was clear he was thinking things through. This was evidenced by the strained look on his face. Pill guessed he wasn't used to having to think too much. Actually, Pill was starting to think he just might hurt himself from the strain when he finally said, "Okay, I'll go find her Highness and then come back and meet you at your ship. But you best have the honey ready to give me, got that girlie girl," he said to Lark.

"Thank you, but we will give you the honey only after you have taken us to the Wind Hag and not until then. And we would appreciate it if you found out the reason she created the storm that brought them here. That way they would know what they are facing." Lark added the last part because of the look the captain had had on his face when the Knarl mentioned that the Wind Hag could have a crush on him. She felt it would be best if they knew what they were in for before they had the actual meeting.

The Knarl was not happy but promised to get a meeting with the Wind Hag as soon as possible and he would come to the ship to let them know what he had arranged. He suddenly jumped down and scuttled down a hole at the base of the mesquite tree.

"Well, I guess that's it until we see him again. Um, that was a he wasn't it?" Pigtail inquired of Lark.

"Yes, I suppose so. I'm not sure if they have male or female Knarls or not. We just don't know that much about them. They are rather strange creatures. We only know of them because my dad was trying to chop down a mesquite tree for wood and one of the Knarls jumped on him and started hitting dad. It didn't hurt him at all but it certainly startled him. He's made a point of bringing something like honey, with him whenever he's out in this area. He figures he can use it to enlist the Knarls help if he ever got lost. Knarls are dead bang certain when it comes to directions."

"That's nice to know. I suppose we should get back to the ship and wait. Besides, I'm getting hungry. I hope Tally and Wicket haven't eaten everything up, though I wouldn't put it past them."

"Gosh, I think Tally and Wicket are okay, Captain. They always try their hardest to do things right. It's just that they never seem to manage to do it properly, do they?" Pill said.

"You've got a point. I think they have good hearts and are genuinely trying to please and do the job right. I just don't think it's in their makeup to actually achieve it. I also don't think that they have what it takes to be a pirate. No bloodlust. For that matter, I'm not so sure I have it in me either. But I aim to find out. That is if we ever get back to the Gulf." Pigtail was talking to himself primarily, though Pill felt he was directing the conversation towards her.

"So, since we're waiting for Piteque to return do you think, Captain, that I could go and have Lark teach me how to play? I've never played before but I've seen others do it and it looks like fun. So do I have your permission, Sir?"

"Sure, why not. But you have to play on board the ship. There's no way I'm staying there by myself with Tally and Wicket to keep me company. They can play with you two. That will keep them outta my hair and you can teach them about tying things up," He said to Lark.

Pill was thrilled about this and asked Lark, "Do you think your father will let you play on our ship?'

"Don't see why not. We're not going anywhere any time soon and he likes me to have fun and he wants me to have adventures too, so I think he will. I'll go run and ask him and then I'll grab some dolls and rope to play with. I'll be there in a jiffy," she said as she took off toward the covered wagons.

~~~~~~

Chapter 5

As Lark ran off to ask her father, the others made it around to the side where the rope ladder would be let down. Captain Pigtail hollered, "Longitude!" as loud as he could.

Tally's head popped up over the side and he yelled back, "Is that you, Captain?"

"No, it's your mother. Who do you think it is that knows the password, you idiot?"

"Well, now my mom would have called me an idiot too. So you could very well be my mom. And I'm pretty sure I don't want to deal with my mother at the moment, so I'm not gonna send the ladder down."

Wicket had come up behind Tally and wacked him on the head. "You idiot, it's the Captain. He was being sarcastic about it being your mother. So let the ladder down."

"Now how do you know that it isn't my mom? It could very well be," Tally said defensively.

"Your mother doesn't sound like a man, now does she?"

"Well, I don't know, she does get a bit of huskiness to her tone and it drops even more when she is mad." Tally explained.

"Longitude! Now lower the stinking rope and I mean now!" Pigtail yelled.

"Now look and see what you have done. You've gone and ticked off the captain and now he's gonna be mad at us for not lowering the ladder right away."

"If we don't lower it then he can't do us no harm, now can he?" Tally offered.

"Then he would find some other way up and he would keelhaul us both. And I'm not getting keelhauled over something you did." With that he grabbed the rope ladder and threw it down to the Captain. "Now, if he asks why it took so daggum long to throw it down, we'll tell him it was tangled and we had to untangle it first. Got that?" Wicket asked Tally.

"You bet, it was tangled and we took our own sweet time to untangle it."

"No, we did not take our sweet time to untangle it. We hurried and got it untangled just as soon as we could and then immediately threw it down to them. Here they come, now shush and let me do the talking." Wicket turned to face the Captain as he was coming over the railing. "My apologies about it taking so long but the rope had gotten tangled and we had to untangle it before we could throw it down to you."

"How the heck did the rope get tangled?" Pigtail asked.

Pill nudged the captain and said," It's Tally and Wicket, need you ask?"

Pigtail leaned down to Pill and whispered, "Good point." He said more loudly to the others, "All right, we are going to have to wait for the Knarl to show up and let us know if the Wind Hag will see us, so you two keep lookout for the Knarl. And no, before you ask, he does not have a password. How many little sticks do you see talking and running around? So just let him come on board and show him to my cabin right off. Got that?"

"Aye, aye, Captain." They said in unison.

"Lark is going to see if she can come play on the ship so I'm gonna stay on deck and watch for her. I can't wait to learn how to play. I hear it's fun to do."

"Well, you're right about that. I always loved to play as a kid. And I did a pretty good job of it, if I do say so myself." Tally said as he put both thumbs under his suspender straps in a proud gesture. "Now, if you needed someone to show you how to play all you had to do is ask and I would have been more than happy to show you."

"Thanks, Tally, but I think I need to learn from a fellow kid and not from an adult. Adults have so many responsibilities, that they forget how it's done and I want to learn the right and proper way of doing it." Pill tried to tell him this in a way that wouldn't hurt his feelings.

"I see I guess you're right. I haven't actually played in a few years, now that I think about it. So I might be a bit rusty about how it works and all. Maybe I'll watch Lark and you playing and that might bring back some memories as to how it's done. That way, when we make it back to the Gulf then I can play with you, since Lark isn't gonna be around."

"Hey, that's good thinking, Tally. I would appreciate it. I think playing is supposed to be more fun if you have a friend to play with." That seemed to cheer Tally up. He hasn't had many friends, so it was nice to have at least one, other than Wicket.

Lark's head came over the railing and she threw a doll over the side onto the deck. She then pulled herself over the railing and grabbed the doll and ran over to Pill. Tally and Wicket grabbed the rope ladder and pulled it up so that not just anyone could climb up to the ship.

"Dad said I could play until it started to get dark. Then I have to get home for supper. Dad is a real stickler about me eating proper so I can grow up good and strong." Lark explained.

"As any father worth his salt would be like." Wicket said smiling down at Lark. "We haven't been formally introduced, I'm Wicket and this is my friend Tally. We hope you enjoy your stay aboard our ship and if there is anything we can get you, just let us know." He grabbed Tally's arm and led him off towards the crow's nest. "Come on Tally," he said in a low whisper, "Let them two have some private playtime. Pill deserves to have a friend his own age."

"What was all that stuff about if she needed anything? It sounded like you were some type of director of fun. And we all know that there is no fun on a pirate ship."

"Well, one of these days, and I'm not saying just when, 'cause I don't know when, but one of these days, people will be getting on ships for fun and they will have someone around that makes sure they have fun while sailing. So I'm just practicing in case it happens in my lifetime," Wicket told Tally.

Tally snorted and laughed, "Yeah, right! Like that is ever gonna happen. What? You think people will be willing to get on a ship and go to sea for fun. That's got about as much chance of happening as them putting a big old lake in the middle of the ship so people on these fun ships can take a swim in it."

"Well, now you're just being ridiculous. Who would put water in a ship when the whole point is to keep the water out of it?" Sometimes Wicket couldn't believe just how stupid Tally could be.

Pill and Lark went over to bow of the ship and sat down on some barrels.

"I'm not sure exactly how you go about playing. But I'd really like it if you showed me how to do it right."

"Playing is easy; the first thing you have to have is an imagination. You think up a story and then from there you play like the story is real and that you are a character in the story. We can play like we're traveling on a great voyage. You can be the captain of the ship and me and my doll, Betsy, are passengers. But we are being chased by pirates. So you play like you're the captain and do captain's things and we will play like we are scared of the pirates who are chasing us," Lark said.

"Um, could we do something other than pirates? You see," Pill was a bit embarrassed about it and so she had turned a light peach color in her cheeks. "We're actually pirates, Wicket, Tally and the Captain, all of us. And I would kinda like to pretend we were something other than what we really are. You know, do something different for a change."

"You're really pirates? That is so neat! Have you got any treasure? Did you ever invade or capture other ships?" Lark seemed genuinely interested in Pill's real life.

"I didn't, I'm just a cabin boy. But the others have done that. Well, not so much Captain Pigtail. He was only made captain after the other captain was washed overboard during the storm. He was the ship's cook before that. Wicket and Tally sorta took part in capturing other ships. Mainly they were told their job was to stay outta the way and so they did that. They went down below and tied themselves to some posts. Just to be sure they didn't get a hankering to go out and try and fight like the others."

"That sounds really exciting. It beats a wagon train any old day. Of course, we get the occasional Indian coming after us. But I can't say that I blame them. This is all their land. Or at least it has been in their mind. After all, they have lived here and taken care of it for a lot of years. But Dad says this is God's land and we, as people, are simply using it for a short time and so it doesn't belong to any human being. That's why he's so strong willed about taking care of the land. He thinks you should leave it like you found it. Unless you're a farmer, then you're using the land as God intended to help feed and care for his people."

"Being chased by Indians sounds pretty exciting. I'm sure I would be scared to death if I found myself being chased by them."

"Yeah, I suppose so, but it does get kinda boring after a while. What's really funny is you get these city folks coming out West to try and make a new life. Not one has had to kill and pluck a chicken before. Or cook on a campfire or take care of horses. They do some of the goofiest things. One woman was just so embarrassed that her horses were pooping as they went along that she made diapers for the horses. I bet the Indians were laughing their heads off at her. I know Dad and I were."

"Diapers? Jeesh, even I know that would be stupid to do, if for no other reason than the horse is liable to kick you when you were putting them on." Pill laughed.

"Why don't we play something that has nothing to do with pirates and wagon trains?" Lark offered.

"Okay, but what could that be?" Pill asked.

"I'm not rightly sure; I've never really played many things. I've played house but you need a boy to be the father and you're not a boy." Lark said matter of factly.

Pill looked shocked and stammered, "What makes you think that?"

"Oh, come on, really, you're so obviously a girl, you don't look or act like a boy at all. Basically, you're not trying to prove how brave and strong you are. Boys have a tendency to do that. They think that's what makes them all grownup. But you're not like that at all."

"I had to cut my hair and play like I was a boy. They don't let girls go on pirate boats, with good reason. After my mom died I decided to try and find my dad. Since the one thing I knew about him was that he was a pirate I decided if I joined a pirate's ship then I just might run into him at some point. So I had to pretend I'm a boy." Pill sat there for a moment and finally said to Lark, "You're not gonna tell them that I'm girl, are you? I mean, if the Wind Hag helps us get back to the Gulf then I don't need them knowing I'm a girl. That way I can keep the job and keep looking for my dad."

"Don't worry about me. I won't tell anyone anything, I promise. In fact, if you want to be blood sisters then there would be no way I could tell on you without dying a painful death."

"What's 'blood sisters?' And is it gonna hurt any?"

"Naw, we could cut ourselves and make a deep gash to get the blood to come out. But I discovered it's best not to have a big open wound out in these parts, seeing as to how there isn't any doctor around to take care of you. So we can just prick our fingers and get a little blood to come out. Then we smear it on our palms and shake hands and then spit on the ground. Then we solemnly swear to be blood sisters to the very end and then that's it."

"That doesn't sound too bad. Let's do it." So Lark got the safety pin holding her dolls dress on and they both poked their fingers, shook hands and spit. They were now blood sisters to the very end.

~~~~~~

Chapter 6

It was about that time that Tally starts yelling from the crow's nest. Lark and Pill looked up to see Tally hanging out of basket and waving his arms. Wicket started up the ladder to the crow's nest to see what Tally was hollering about and Lark and Pill got up to look over the side of the ship. Sure enough there was this little bit of a stick running full steam towards the ship.

"I guess he got his answer from the Wind Hag," Lark said.

"I guess so. I also guess we're not gonna get the chance to play anymore for right now. I was hoping it would take a long time for him to find the Wind Hag."

"The Wind Hag is pretty punctual, for a hag that is. Most hags just don't give a darn about being on time for anything. We had a hag travel with us once on our wagon train. She was always the last in line and last to be ready to leave. Dad got kinda ticked about her being so darn slow but he just couldn't get her to move any faster." Lark explained.

Wicket and Tally came down from the crow's nest and headed to the railing. They grabbed the rope ladder and tossed it over the side. After they got it thrown over the side they looked over the railing to see this little piece of stick sprawled on the ground with the rope ladder on top of it.

"Well, now you've gone and done it. You broke the stick man." Wicket accused Tally.

"Me! We both threw it overboard so we are both guilty of breaking him. So don't try blaming it all on me, it ain't my fault. We should share the blame equally."

"Tally, I'm older and wiser than you and I know for a fact that two people can't take the blame for something. It has to be one person and since you're stronger than me and had a greater share of the ladder when we threw it over, then you should be the one to take the blame." Wicket tried to explain to his friend.

"What about that saying - It takes two? So if it takes two, then there are two of us, so the two of us should take the blame. And I don't see how my being stronger than you makes a hoot of difference. I just think you don't want to get into trouble with the Captain. So you're trying to pawn the blame off on me and that ain't the least bit fair."

"Hey, guys, I think Piteque is alive." Pill said as she stuck her head over the railing.

"Well, now that is a stupid thing for you to be saying, Pill. If Lark was the one to say it then that would make a lot more sense but coming from a boy then that is just plain stupid."

Pill looked at them with a confused quizzical look on her face. "Just what did you think I just said?" She asked Tally and Wicket.

"That pedicures are alive. And of course, pedicures are very popular but it's mainly for high society and most importantly, for women. Guys don't get pedicures. They have standards, you know," Wicket explained, though he didn't see the reason for having to explain it to them. After all, it was more than obvious what Pill had said and she had been the one to say it in the first place.

"Piteque, not pedicure, that's what I said and it happens to be the name of the Knarl." Pill told them.

"Are you sure you didn't say pedicure, 'cause it certainly sounded like it to me. But I suppose that it makes more sense for you to have used the stick guy's name rather the start talking about pedicures outta the blue like that." Wicket said.

"How the heck do you know about pedicures in the first place? You ain't no society person and you're sure as heck ain't no dame. So how would you even know about something like that?"

"I'm a well-read man. I like to broaden my horizons and I do so by reading anything I can find to read. Once I found a book and it talked about all sorts of manners and things and they mentioned pedicures, so that's how I know about them. Is that all or do you have any other questions, mister nosey?" Wicket said a bit defensively.

"I didn't know you could read. Now why the heck didn't you ever mention that you could read? I mean, that's the kind of thing a friend needs to know about their friends."

"I didn't want you to think I was uppity and all, since I could read and you can't" Wicket explained.

"Who says I can't read? It may surprise you just what I can and can't do."

"GUYS!!!! I think we need to go down there and get Piteque up and to the captain. And I think we should do it now while he is a bit out of it so he can't take off scared, thinking we were attacking him with rope ladders." Pill tried to stop the fight before got into full swing.

"Right,. Now you're talking, Pill. Tally, you go get the little stick and bring it up here," Wicket ordered Tally.

"Why should I be the one to go and get him? You were the one who ordered me to help you throw the rope so I think you should be the one to go and get it."

"I'm not the strongest one here; I thought we had established that fact. So we need a strong person who can handle climbing up the rope with a lifeless form. So that would be you."

"It's a stinking stick, how does it require any bit of strength to carry a little piece of stick up a ladder?" Tally asked.

"It may wake up while you're carrying it up and start to struggle and that would require someone who is strong to keep a hold on him. We wouldn't want him injuring himself, now would we?" Wicket tried to explain the obvious to Tally.

"Well, it wouldn't have been hurt in the first place if you had watched where we were throwing the rope ladder. I think that makes it your responsibility to go and get him. After all, you are the brains, I'm just the brawn." Tally was a little smug when he said this because he had always valued strength over brains. Of course, that could be because he wasn't the swiftest boat in the fleet.

While Tally and Wicket tried to decide who deserved to go over the railing and rescue Piteque, Pill decided to take the matter into her own hands. She climbed over the railing and got to Piteque and gently picked him up. She then headed back up the rope ladder cradling the stick man in her arms. Lark was waiting for her at the railing and when Pill got to the top Lark took Piteque from her arms so Pill could climb safely back on board.

"I'm telling you that as the smart one I know that you would be the better man to do this. It takes a special man to go get an injured being and then climb up a rope ladder with the injured party in his arms. It's a compliment, you should be thrilled that I think so highly of you," Wicket said in exasperation.

"Yeah, right, if it's such an honor then why don't you go and do it yourself. I'll tell you why you don't want to do it; it's because you know it's a stupid job and whoever hurts the stick any further is gonna get it from the captain. And so you want me to go so you won't get into any more trouble. After all, you were the one who said to throw the rope ladder down and hit the poor thing." Tally was starting to yell now.

Pill was getting irritated with the both of them and had had enough. So she decided to take the matter into her own hands, "Enough, you two! It's over with. I went and got Piteque. See he's lying here on the deck so stop arguing and help me and Lark try to revive him. We can't take him in to see the captain with him being knocked out."

"Well, now see what you've done. You've gone and made Pill mad at us. He's the one and only one who happens to be our friend. Pill's not gonna want to stay friends with us if we keep making him mad at us, now is he?" Tally told Wicket. Lark smiled at Pill at each mention of Pill being a him.

"Me!? It wasn't my fault you wouldn't listen to me when I asked you to go and get the little stick fella. That was your doing. And you're standing there arguing about it hasn't helped a bit. All you had to do is go down there and grab the fella, but noooo, you stood there questioning my decision about sending you down there." Wicket felt the need to defend himself.

"Guys, could you please place the blame later and get me some water to revive Piteque."

As soon as she said this Piteque roused just a little bit and seemed to be saying something. But his voice was weak and they all had to crouch down low over Piteque in order to hear what he was saying.

"Honey." Piteque said in almost a whisper.

"How's about that, he's taken a liking to you, Tally, and thinks you're his sweetie. Give him a kiss and I bet that will make things all better," Wicket teased Tally.

"Me? Who said he was talking to me, I think he was talking to you. You're the one he's sweet on, not me. So you can pucker up and lay a big old wet one on him," Tally said.

"Aw for crying out loud. I said 'Honey' as in honey, the food! I want honey that's what's gonna make me feel better, so stop talking about kissing me, 'cause I don't want either of your lips touching me in any way, shape or form! And if one of you tries to kiss me I'll sock ya right in the kisser!" Piteque was sitting up; his hands on his hips and a very defiant look on his tiny face.

"I'm thinking that he's feeling so much better that he doesn't even need the honey to revive him anymore, isn't that what you're thinking, Pill?" Lark asked.

"Yes, I'm definitely thinking that is the case. So I guess we'll take you in to see the captain now and you can tell him what the Wind Hag said." Pill agreed with Lark.

"Come on, just a little bit of honey to give me the strength to talk to the captain?" Piteque begged.

"Okay, I'll give you one drop and that's it. After all, the captain said you couldn't have the honey until you talked to the Wind Hag and reported to him what she said." With that she got the jar of honey and dipped the very tip of her finger into the honey and got just enough on her finger to give him one drop.

"A drop isn't gonna help revive me. If you give me two more drops then I won't tell the captain how these two tried to kill me by bonking my head with the ladder." He jerked his tiny branch like a thumb in Wicket's and Tally's direction. Since Pill was, in fact, their friend and she didn't want them to get into any trouble, she agreed but made Piteque promise he would say nothing about being hit by the ladder to the captain. It was only after he promised that she gave him the other two drops. Piteque smacked his lips and jumped up ready to talk to the captain. They all five went to the captain's cabin and knocked.

Pigtail had been busy familiarizing himself with the captain quarters. He had looked in all the drawers and cabinets. Studied the maps on the table and even laid down to see just how comfortable the captain's bed was. In one drawer he had found a gun and had slipped it in his belt. He thought if he was going to be meeting a Wind Hag it might be best to be armed. Who knows what sort of protection he would need. He was busy looking at a book he had found, "How to Captain a Vessel and Live to Tell About It.' It was pretty good reading. This particular version of the book was the pirate's version so it told all sorts of things that you needed to know on how to be a pirate captain. He had just reached the part about how to gain treasure and what to do with it once you got it, when he heard a knock at his door.

"Enter," he said in a rather gruff voice. It wasn't that he didn't want any visitors. It's just that they came just when he got to the most interesting part of the book.

The door opened and Wicket walked in first followed by Tally, Piteque and the girls.

"Captain, sir, you said you wanted to see the stick just as soon as he came and so here he is," Wicket announced.

"Stick, who you callin' a stick? I'm a Knarl. There's a big difference between us and a stupid stick."

"This isn't the time to make petty distinctions." Pigtail snapped.

"Yes, it is," said Piteque. "How would you like it if I compared you to a cow? It wouldn't set well with you, now would it? It's the same thing. I'm not a stick. I've got a mind, and a good one at that, and I can walk and talk. A stick can't do none of those things. So there's a big difference. I'll also point out that a mere stick can't get you an audience with the Wind Hag, now can it?"

"So you got us an audience with her? That's great! Where and when?" Pigtail asked excitedly.

"Now calm yourself down. It ain't all that easy. You have to learn the proper etiquette before you go see her. She don't tolerate any ill-mannered slothful behavior. So y'all need to sit back and let me tell you how you are to dress and address the Wind Hag. If you do anything wrong then she will be ticked off and refuse to listen to what you have to say, got it?"

"Yes, of course, just tell us what to do and we'll do it. Pill, can you write?" Pigtail asked.

"Yes sir. I can read too." Pill felt it best to get all the pertinent information out.

"Why don't ya ask Wicket if he can read too? I bet he'll tell you, seeing as to how important it is and that you're an important person, being the captain and all. It's not like you're just a friend who apparently doesn't need to have such useful information about his buddy." Tally said, still ticked about Wicket's secret.

"I don't even want to know what that was about," Pigtail said and turned his attention back to Pill. "Okay, Pill, I want you to write down everything he says and I don't want you to miss anything. It's important that we do this just right."

"Yes sir," Pill said as she grabbed a quill and paper.

"Okey dokey, let's get this started." Piteque said as he rubbed his hands together. Pill thought to herself that if he did that too much he might cause enough friction to set himself on fire. A sight Pill didn't want to witness.

"You need to wear your best clothes. I'm talking ones that have been washed and have no holes in them. If ya got anything that is blue then wear that 'cause she loves the color blue. Avoid yellow if at all possible. It reminds her too much of her sister, Sunshine. She's really jealous of Sunshine because everyone just loves her to death. They are always saying how bright and warm she is. They never say that about the Wind Hag. So she's a bit touchy about it."

"I'd be bright and warm too if I had a name like Sunshine. I can't say that I blame the Wind Hag for not liking her. I mean, really, what sort of parent names one sister Sunshine and the other Wind Hag. It's obvious favoritism." Tally said under his breath to Wicket. Wicket nodded in agreement.

"If you have a hat you need to wear that. Then you can remove it in a grand sweeping motion. That always impresses the Hag. But if it has a feather in it, take the feather out. She doesn't like feathers. She had this really big fit one day and let loose a humongous wind storm but unfortunately it was during the birds' molting season and all these feathers started floating around her chambers and she started to sneeze up a storm. This is the Wind Hag I'm talking about. When she sneezes up a storm, I mean an actual bonafide treacherous windstorm the likes of which you've never seen."

"I don't know about that. Look at the storm that brought us here. That was a pretty bad one. After all, it picked up our ship from the Gulf and landed it all the way inland. So that was a pretty bad storm. And I'm betting that most folks haven't seen one that bad before." Wicket said.

"He's got a point. It was a pretty bad storm. I've never been through one like that before." Tally added.

"Well, this one was a lot worse than that storm, I can promise you that. So that should give you an idea about how bad it would be if you wore a feather. When you walk up to her you need to stand straight, no slouching. When you get up to her throne then you need to bow at the waist and say 'Good day, your royal haggness.'"

Haggness, is that even a word? Are you sure I say that and not 'your highness?' I mean, that sounds a lot better to me." Pigtail inquired.

"Nope, she likes to be called her royal haggness. So you need to call her that. Now, after you say that you stand up straight again and look her in the eyes. She doesn't like wishy washy fellas who can't look a person in the eye. So that's very important. Then you need to beg for her forgiveness for the intrusion but that you, a mere man, need her great assistance in a matter of utmost importance. That way it humbles you and makes her sound really important. She likes that. To feel important, that is." Piteque explained.

"Do I need to bring her something, like flowers or honey?" Pigtail asked remembering what the wagon master had said about taking her flowers.

"Flowers make her sneeze. The last fella that did that made her so mad that she sent a major dust storm his way. So no flowers."

"I thought she sent the dust storm after him because she was sweet on him and he was trying to court another woman and not her." Pigtail said.

"Naw, that's just what most people think because she never married. She doesn't want a human anyway. She wants a great and powerful being like herself. The problem is, there aren't too many of those out there and those that are out there avoid the Hag because she's nuttier than squirrel breath."

"Okay, so no flowers. But is there something else that I can bring in order to get on her good side? If she likes pretty smelling things how about some perfume?"

"Nope, she doesn't wear perfume. It messes with her sinuses. She really has a time of it come the spring storm season, what with all the pollen she kicks up with her wind storms."

"Then why does she make the storms, if they bother her so?" Pill asked.

"Yeah, makes sense to me that if you are allergic to pollen then you wouldn't stir up wind to make things worse." Wicket added.

"She's the stinking Wind Hag, it's her job and no one, and I mean no one, can ever accuse her of not doing her job. She does a right good job of making wind, let me tell you." Piteque explained.

"Still doesn't make sense." Wicket said defensively.

"She's the Wind Hag, it don't have to make sense. She's all powerful when it comes to the wind so she does whatever she wants to do and to heck with anyone else. That's her attitude anyway."

"I take it she's not the brightest candle in the chandelier?" Pigtail asked, wanting to know exactly what he was up against.

"Nope, but that's only because that would lend references to her sister, Sunshine, and I've already told you how she feels about her. I think you could take her some pretty fabric that she could make a dress out of. She likes to sew. That might make her happy. But nothing..."

"Yellow, with flowers or feathers in the pattern, right?" Pigtail finished his sentence for him.

"You've got it. If it's blue then that should get you on her good side. Otherwise, I wouldn't bring her anything at all. She might think you're uncouth for not bringing her anything but you can tell her that where you come from they don't give presents. That should satisfy her."

"But I don't want to offend her in any way. Tally, you and Wicket go down into the hold and see if we got any blue fabric from that last ship we attacked. If you don't see any fabric then look for something, anything that you think the Wind Hag might like and bring it up here for Piteque to look at and see if the Wind Hag might like it."

"Yes sir," Wicket said and turned to go when he stopped and asked. "You mean something like a nice knickknack?"

"Yes, something pretty and classy looking. We don't want to offend her with something ugly."

"Don't see why not? The Wind Hag is ugly beyond belief." Piteque said softly. "That's not something she likes to have pointed out to her, so don't do that."

"I don't need to be told that. I do have a modicum of common sense, you know."

"Really? 'Cause there are a lot of humans who don't. One fella asked if that was a real mole she had. And if it was, she needed to take it to the doctor to have something done about it. She took offense to that. She likes her pet mole, Swifty, and spoils him rotten. She gives him all sorts of organic soil to dig around in, so when he insulted her mole she sent a tornado after him. She chased him all the way to Kansas with it."

"Okay, Pill, make note that I shouldn't insult her mole, at any point."

"After you greet her and give her whatever it is you decide to give, then you explain what you need. The shorter the story the better. She has a very short attention span. It goes with her stature. She's kinda on the small side. She'll probably come up to your belly button. So, no short jokes. In fact, don't use the word 'short' at all if you can help it. Don't even mention that you are short on time and need this favor to happen really soon. She might take offense to it." Tally thought to himself that if the Wind Hag only came up to the Captain's belly button then she must be really short because the Captain wasn't all that tall.

"Is there anything that doesn't offend her?" Lark asked out of curiosity.

"Nope, she's pretty much offended by everything. Offensiveness offends her too. Just try to be nice, look her in the eyes and be brief. If you do those things then you should come out of it none the worse for wear. You might even get her to do what you asked. I doubt it, but you might."

"If you doubt that she will do what we ask of her, then why are we doing this?" Pigtail asked.

"As far as I can tell, it's your only hope of getting back to the Gulf quickly. Otherwise it's gonna take you weeks, possibly years to make it back, if ever."

"Great, that certainly is a sunshine and lollipops way of looking at it." Pigtail said sarcastically.

"Don't mention Sunshine to her. I told you, she don't like her. So avoid the reference."

"Right, gotcha, I forgot. I promise I won't do that when I'm talking with the Wind Hag." Pigtail held up his right hand like he was taking an oath when he said this.

"So is that everything we need to know or is there something else?" Pill asked because her hand was starting to cramp. She wasn't used to writing.

"Nope that's everything. She'll probably take a few minutes to think about what's in it for her, but then she will give you her answer. Once she answers you then you need to go, even if the answer isn't what you need or want to hear. Once she's made up her mind there ain't no changing it. End of story. So there's no use standing there and arguing with her. It'll only make her mad."

"If we make her mad then will she create a storm that could help us get back home? Because if that's the case then I might try it if she says no." Pigtail remembered what the wagon master had said earlier.

"Nope, that would make her mad enough to send you further inland, away from the Gulf. So I wouldn't try that if I was you."

"Yeah, Dad did say that was a possibility too," Lark added.

"Well, piddle. So if she says no then what do we do? We need to get back to the Gulf. What good is a ship if it's not on water?" Pigtail declared.

"I'd get used to being here. Or you could build some sort of a transport to take you back to the Gulf by way of land. It may take a few weeks or months but that may end up being your only option." Piteque said.

~~~~~

Chapter 7

Wicket and Tally came back into the Captain's cabin with an armload of things that could be possible gifts to the Wind Hag. They began setting them down on the table. As they were doing this, Pill asked a question that had been bothering her for a long time.

"If there is a Wind Hag here and she controls the wind, then who was responsible for the wind storm that brought us here in the first place? I haven't heard of a Wind Hag in the Gulf. If there had been one then wouldn't we have heard of her? For that matter, if there were Wind Hags elsewhere wouldn't we have heard of them too?"

Piteque looked at her like she was crazy but answered her anyway. "There are Wind Hags everywhere. There are different ones for different regions. Some are nicer than others. I've heard tell that some of the ones who live near the oceans can be very testy and can make a real doozy of a storm. See, the main problem you are gonna have is the Wind Hag here isn't gonna be pleased that some other Wind Hag's storm brought you to her region. You don't cross regions. That's a major no-no in the Wind Hag handbook. So she might not do anything outta respect for the handbook. Then again, she might be so mad at the other Hag that she will send you back just to show you she's not gonna stand for some other Hag entering her territory, even if it was just with a storm. Most other Wind Hags don't grant audiences with the humans. It's belittling to their rank and stature above the humans to deal with them. But this Wind Hag isn't so picky. She likes humans most of the time and they amuse her. She likes to be amused. So there are plenty of Wind Hags all around and they are all somehow related to each other. It's just some don't advertise themselves."

"Oh, so it was some other Wind Hag that sent us here. Maybe she didn't like the Wind Hag here and this was her way of getting even with her for something." Pill offered as way of explaining their presence.

"I suppose that could be the case. Most Wind Hags don't like humans so they send wind storms up just to irritate them. But they generally remain in their region and don't go into another's. So I'm not sure just why this happened." Piteque said.

"Okay, let's get back to the task at hand. Piteque, would you please take a look at the things Wicket and Tally brought up and see if any of them is good enough to be used as a gift to the Wind Hag." Pigtail tried to get the attention back to their plight.

Piteque went over to the table and started to look at everything. He grabbed a few coins and sniffed them. "What the heck are these?" He asked.

"They're coins, money. It's what we use to buy things with." Pill offered.

"Money, bah, the Wind Hag has no need for money. If she wants something she just takes it. These are useless. She might like the fact that they are shiny. I'll put them in the 'maybe' pile, okey dokey?" He grabbed a cannon ball but couldn't lift it, so he rolled it about the table looking interested.

"Why the heck did you two bring a cannon ball up here? I don't see how the Wind Hag would like it, unless she plans on throwing it at us for offering her something so lame. And since cannon balls are very heavy I would prefer not to have one thrown at me." Pigtail said in a harsh whisper.

Then Piteque grabbed the necklaces and was looking at them. One was made of shells, another of gold and jewels and the last one was an ornate cross. He seemed to really like the necklaces.

"What are these for?" He asked as he held them up to the light to study them better.

"They are necklaces; you put them around your neck and wear them. They are a type of ornamentation. Women wear them and it adds to their beauty." Wicket told him.

"Nice. Anything that can help her look better has to be a plus. Yes, you should take these to her but don't tell her they will add to her beauty. She might take that as an insult. Yep, I like these and so will she, I think." Pill wondered if he added that last bit just in case the Wind Hag didn't like them in the least bit. Piteque turned to Pill and put his hands on his hips and just stared at her. It was rather disconcerting. Finally she couldn't take it any longer and asked him, "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Where's my honey? You promised, I delivered, so where is it?"

"Hang on just a minute. You haven't told us when and where we are to meet the Wind Hag. I promised that you could have the honey when you told us all we needed to know. So fess up and tell me everything I need to know." Pigtail scowled at the little twig.

"Fine, but can I have another drop of honey so as to refresh my memory?" Piteque pleaded.

"Okay, one drop, but only one, not a drop more, got that Pill?"

"Yes, sir, just one drop, I promise." Pill took the jar of honey and dipped her finger into it again to get a drop out and then put the drop into Piteque's mouth.

He sat there smacking his lips and rubbing his tummy. "That's soooo good, may I have another?" He asked.

"No, I said one drop and one drop you got, no more." Pigtail was getting irritated with the Knarl and wished he would hurry up and tell him when and where the meeting would take place. He really wanted to get back to the Gulf.

"Fine and dandy," Piteque said in a huffy tone. "You're to come with me to the mesquite tree and I'm to take you down to the Wind Hag's chambers. That's to happen at sunset today. So you just sit back and wait until then. I'll come back and get you at sunset and I'll take you down to see her. Now give me the honey." Piteque demanded.

"I wouldn't give it to him if I was you. He might not come back and get you. It's no bark off his limb if you go see her or not so once he gets his honey he might just forget about you. And missing a meeting with the Wind Hag would be a very bad thing." Lark told Pigtail in a whisper. She didn't want Piteque getting mad at her too.

"Okay, we will all wait here until sunset and that includes you Piteque. You may have half of the honey now but you won't get the rest until you actually take us to the Wind Hag. This way I can be sure you're going to take us to the meeting." Pigtail added the last part just to show Piteque that he was on to his plan. This, of course, ticked Piteque off.

"You don't trust me. That cuts me to the quick. Here I am trying to help you and you go and think the worst of me. I think I might cry." Piteque was being overly dramatic and it was obvious he didn't really feel hurt. This was mainly due to the fact that he kept looking at Pigtail and giving him a sorrowful look and the quickly turning away and giggling.

"Wicket, Tally, I want you two to think of some way of getting us back to the Gulf, just in case the Wind Hag turns us down. We'll need a good quick way to get home, so think good and hard at how we can do it. And remember that the ship goes with us. Leaving it behind is not an option. It's worth too much money to leave behind, got it?"

Wicket and Tally drew themselves up to full their height and saluted the captain. They were both secretly thrilled with being given such an important job. That meant the captain didn't think they were screw-ups after all. They took off down below to get some paper and quills so they could start devising a plan. Pill and Lark went back out on deck to start playing and Pigtail and Piteque were arguing about the honey and breaking promises.

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Chapter 8

Once down below deck Wicket and Tally spread the paper out on the kitchen table and started to think about different ways to get them and the ship home. Tally was thinking so hard he had his tongue sticking out and his face was red.

"What we need to do is think of the most logical way to get us home. It shouldn't be that hard." Wicket said.

"Well, if that's the case then all we need to do is build a wagon that will carry the ship and us back to the Gulf. That's the most logical thing I can think of." Tally offered.

Wicket had to agree that was the most logical thing to do but he knew that wasn't what was gonna happen. "If it was gonna be that easy then Captain wouldn't have sent us down here to devise some method to do this. Nope, it's not the way it's gonna work. Besides, take a good look around outside. There aren't any trees big enough to build anything with. It's just flat land with scrub. So that's obviously not the way to go."

"Yeah, but there's a wagon train full of people who have all these wagons and oxen we could use. We could get a few of those wagons and make one big wagon that would hold the ship," Tally explained.

"Well, that could work but I don't see them giving up their wagons and oxen just for us to get home. You see, they've given up all that they had and loaded what they could on to the wagons to come out West. All they have is that wagon and so they ain't gonna part with it none too easily. I bet they would want a whole bunch of money for them wagons too. And I don't see the Captain giving up his treasure none too easily either. After all, he just kinda fell into the role of captain and he gets the perks that go with it, meaning the treasure. Now, if it were you would you give up the treasure, just like that?" Wicket snapped his fingers as he said the last part.

"Nope, I wouldn't. But the Captain seems to be a rather smart fella and so he might realize that getting back to the Gulf is more important than any treasure. So under those circumstances, he might be willing to give up the treasure." Tally thought this was only logical.

"Have you looked at the bottom of the ship? In case you missed it we got four, count them, four gaping holes in the hull. Two holes each on the port and starboard sides of the bow and stern. It's gonna take money to repair those holes. Okay, granted the holes ain't all that big but they are big enough to let water in, so they need to be fixed. So what's the point of getting back to the Gulf if you don't have the money to fix the ship? It's nothing more than firewood if it don't float."

"Yes, I see your point but I still think getting back to the Gulf is the number one priority so the Captain will want to do everything he can to get there. It's really the only thing we can do. It's the most logical way to solve the problem." Tally added the logical part just to show Wicket he could think logically too.

"Nope, if it was gonna be as easy as paying for the wagons then the Captain would have come up with that himself and not asked us to think on it. There has to be some other way to get back to the Gulf and not spend too much of the treasure."

"Well, we gotta have wheels of some sort. Because we aren't gonna move without water or wheels. And since this land is dryer then a cotton ball I don't think we can hope for a flood on Noah's level to float us back home. So wheels make the next logical solution." Tally wasn't gonna give up his wagon idea without a fight because it happened to be a darn good idea, as far as he was concerned.

"I've told you we've got four gaping holes in the hull, so no flood would help us, it would sink us. And we can't make the repairs to the hull simply because, as I said before, there is no wood around here. Besides, the Captain is seeing the Wind Hag not the Rain Hag. So asking for rain isn't gonna make a bit of difference."

Tally smiled smugly and said, "Then wheels are the only solution, right? Now don't go trying to tell me otherwise because you know I'm right."

Wicket got this big old grin on his face and smiled back at Tally. As much as he hated to admit it Tally was right but he wasn't right in the way he thought he was. And Wicket was gonna enjoy making sure Tally knew that he was only half right.

"Instead of buying the wagons and oxen we could save the treasure and just buy us the wheels. Then we rig some axles to fit through the holes in the bow and stern and then attach the wheels. From there we use the wind and the sails to get the ship moving. It would be like on the water but instead we're on land and we have wheels but it makes the ship move just the same. And so all we would have to buy is the wheels. We have plenty of large round posts in the storage hull to use as axles. All we need is two. So all we would have to do is spend a small amount of the treasure to buy the wheels. We already have the sails and everything else to fix up the ship in this way." Wicket was grinning from ear to ear. This idea was perfect and absolutely genius.

"One problem, how you gonna steer? In the water you have the rudder but that ain't gonna work on land. So that's a stupid idea. It ain't gonna work. You just don't want to admit that my idea is the only logical one and the only way we're gonna make it back to the gulf." Tally crossed his arms in defiance of Wicket and his idea.

Wicket stared at Tally for a second and thought to himself. Tally was right about steering but darned if he was gonna give him credit for it, if for no other reason than Tally was sitting there looking smug. So he thought and thought so hard he figured his mind might pop, when it came to him.

"Ropes." That was all Wicket said and smiled at Tally waiting for the sheer brilliance of the idea to sink into Tally's limited mind.

"Ropes? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Or are you thinking the Captain is gonna string you up with a rope when you spring this stupid idea of yours on him?"

Wicket rolled his eyes and realized that Tally wasn't as logical as he was making himself out to be. "Ropes, we tie ropes to the front axle and then to the ships wheel and we steer that way. When you turn the wheel one way the axle and wheels turn that direction. Turn it the other way and axle and wheels turn the other way. You see, it makes perfect sense." Wicket grabbed the paper and started drawing a sketch of the idea.

Tally grabbed the paper and yelled at Wicket, "We ain't agreed that is the way we're gonna do this and we need to agree on it. I still think my idea is the best and you're just not agreeing with me because I was the one who thought it up and not you."

"I'm doing what is the most efficient manner in which to get home and preserve the treasure. In case you have forgotten, the crew gets a portion of the treasure. That means the more we save the more we get. And we aren't gonna get any until the hull has been repaired. So I'm looking at it from the best way to preserve our share of the treasure. You just want to get back to the Gulf and who cares if we have any treasure left to spend on the ladies when we get back."

That stopped Tally in his tracks. He mulled over everything that Wicket said but he still thought Wicket was ignoring his idea because he was the one to come up with it and not Wicket. Wicket saw the dilemma in Tally's face and so he came up with a compromise, "I'll tell ya what, you draw out your idea and I'll draw out mine. Then we give both to the Captain and let him decide which one is the best one to use, okay?" Wicket stuck out his hand to show he was making a gentlemanly agreement with Tally. Tally looked at his hand for a few seconds and then grabbed it to show Wicket he was just as gentlemanly. Then they both hunkered down and started to sketch out their ideas. Both felt for sure the Captain would choose their idea and both planned on being smug to the other after the Captain chose their design.

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Chapter 9

While Tally and Wicket argued and worked on their plans to get home, Pill and Lark had gone back up on deck and started to play. They decided that they would pretend the ship was really a mansion and that they were privileged young girls. So they went around ordering an imaginary butler around and lugging the doll about. They were pretending the doll was their baby sister. Pill rigged up the wheels from an extra cannon holder and made a doll carriage to push the doll around. They had been playing for about an hour when Tally and Wicket came topside with their sketches all fixed.

They showed the sketches to the girls and even the doll. Wicket secretly thought the doll might be the only one who would support Tally's idea. The girls both thought the ideas were good and rather inventive. Pill realized she was rather surprised about how good each idea was.

"Which one do you think is the best? I think my plan is the most logical, don't you?" Tally asked them.

Pill knew she couldn't say one was better than the other because she would lose a friend that way, so she decided to be diplomatic, "I think Wicket's would be rather fun to do, just to see if it would work. And I think Tally's is very logical and could also work."

Wicket noticed that Pill hadn't said which idea was the best and he thought more highly of him for that. But he had really wanted Pill to pick his idea as being the best.

Lark didn't want to be left out and she did notice that Pill hadn't actually said which idea she liked the best so she thought she should follow Pill's lead and not say one was better than the other. "I agree with Pill. They both show great inventiveness and imagination. But..." Wicket heard the 'but' and jumped on it.

"But, one will cost way too much to do. Tally thinks the treasure we have on board will be enough to cover the cost but it won't do us any good if we use it all up here and not save some for when we get back. That's what you're thinking, isn't it Lark." Wicket smiled at her as he said this.

"No, it's not that. I don't think you'll have to spend any of your treasure..."

Tally jumped on this, hey, if Wicket could jump in then so could he, "He's not using his head and it's not gonna cost too much, you just said so yourself."

"Actually," Lark continued, "it won't cost anything because they won't sell you their wagons. It's all they have left. Most of the settlers will use the wagon as a home until they get a house built and even then they will probably end up using the wood of the wagon to build their house or make some furniture. Others will want to keep the wagon so that they have something to get them to town. And there's no way any of them would part with the oxen. They can use the milk from the females to drink or make butter and cheese. So they are a pretty important part of feeding the family. Selling them would not be an option as far as most of the families are concerned. There might be a few that would consider selling but there wouldn't be enough to pull a ship this size. So you see, it won't cost anything because they aren't gonna sell."

Wicket seemed triumphant until Lark continued, "They aren't gonna want to let go of the spare wheels they've got either. They will need them before the trip is over and not one of them is gonna take a chance of selling you one and then needing it later on. They aren't gonna want to be left behind just because they have no extra wheels."

"Ha! " Tally exclaimed and pointed his finger at Wicket. "Your idea is bound to fail too." He seemed to enjoy the fact that neither one would win in this contest.

"So what do we do? I can't think of any other way to get the ship back aside from these two ideas. Do we throw the ideas out or just show them to the Captain anyway?"

"I think you show them to the Captain anyway. This way it shows you two have been working hard on the project and that you both came up with some really good ideas. That way the Captain won't think you've been sitting around doing nothing." Pill offered.

"Good idea, the last thing we need is for him to think we didn't take the assignment seriously. Okay, let's go to the Captain and show him our ideas. Who knows, he might have something to add to our ideas." Wicket said this as he got up and headed for the Captain's cabin.

Pill and Lark followed because they knew that whatever went on in the Captain's cabin was gonna be a heck of lot more interesting than playing on deck.

They knocked and the Captain told them to enter. As they entered the cabin they saw both Pigtail and Piteque leaning over a chess board and studying it. Then Piteque moved a pawn two spaces and the Captain laughed and took the pawn with his knight. He was obviously a sore winner because he waved it under Piteque's nose. That only made Piteque mad and he danced around the board looking for his next move. Pill nudged Wicket and Tally towards the table. She was hoping that they would distract them from the game. But that was mainly because she figured that there was no way that game was gonna end well. And she certainly didn't want the Knarl leaving before they had talked to the Wind Hag.

Wicket took the hint and stepped forward. Truth be told he was thinking the exact same thing Pill was thinking. And since Lark had shot holes into both their plans he figured the Wind Hag was their only hope now.

"Captain, we have a couple of ideas about how to get the ship back home. We even drew out a couple of sketches to show you just what we planned on. We thought you might want to take a look and maybe even suggest some ideas to improve on them." He smiled at the Captain hoping he wouldn't ask Lark about the feasibility of them.

"Already? Boy that was quick." He held out his hand, skeptical about how good any idea could be that came from these two. He also didn't figure they gave it a lot of thought because it hadn't taken them any time at all.

As he studied the sketches he realized that the ideas behind them were pretty good. This totally surprised him. Okay, the sketching wasn't all that good, but they did present the ideas clearly enough for anyone to understand. He had to hand it to them; they did a pretty good job.

"We'll just set them aside for now, in hopes that the Wind Hag will do us the favor of sending us back herself. But I think they are both great ideas and I'm proud of you two for thinking things through like you did. Now if you will excuse us we have a game to finish."

What the Captain didn't know was that while he was studying the sketches, Piteque had changed some of the chess pieces' positions so that they favored his winning. Pill and Lark had been watching him move them around and when he noticed them watching him he put a small limb to his lips as if to say, 'don't saying anything, keep quiet.' Wicket and Tally hadn't noticed a thing. They were both concentrating on the Captain's face and hoping that he would like their ideas. The girls thought it best to grab Wicket's and Tally's arms to pull them from the cabin before they Captain lost to the Knarl. They had a feeling Pigtail would be an even worse loser than he was a winner.

"Hey, why don't we go below and see if there are any supplies we could possibly use to make your ideas work." That spurred on Wicket and Tally so they left the cabin quickly. Pill and Lark looked at each other and both sighed in relief. She didn't think Wicket and Tally would take it too well seeing the Captain raging at the little Knarl.

Lark whispered to Pill as they went below, "Do you think one of us should stay behind to try and keep the peace between the two of them? Y'all wouldn't want to have him go back to his tree and not help, would you?"

"I think the captain wants to get back home enough that he will hold his tongue. I mean, he's not stupid enough to insult the thing, is he?" Pill whispered back.

"I hope not. Let's just help Wicket and Tally, that way if the Knarl leaves then it's the Captain's fault and we can't be blamed for anything in regard to it." Pill nodded in agreement.

Pill and Lark headed back down below to see if they could help Wicket and Tally find the necessary equipment. They found the rope easy enough but looking for the timbers to make the axles wasn't that easy. Most ships carry a supply of extra planks and what not just in case they are caught in a storm and need the supplies to make repairs. The worst thing you can do at sea is find yourself on a disabled ship and not be able to repair it to make it sea worthy. On the very last deck they found some large timber that could easily be made into axles. So Wicket and Tally were happy. Well, Wicket was anyway. To Tally it meant that Wicket's idea would probably be picked instead of his. So he sulked as they headed back topside.

Wicket was in good spirits and was talking nonstop about his idea. "We will probably need the help of the men in your father's wagon train. Do you think they would help us?" He asked Lark.

"Oh, I don't see why not. I noticed your kitchen is very well stocked. I bet they would do it in trade for some of your food," Lark said.

"Great, I'm sure the Captain will be more than willing to part with a few provisions. Once we get everything rigged then we can be on our way back home. Boy, I can't wait to tell the fellas at the pub what all happened to us. I bet most don't believe us. What do you think, Tally." Pill thought he was just trying to bring Tally into the conversation to keep him from sulking anymore.

"I suppose, It depends on how you tell it. Since we've got Pill and the Captain to back us then I reckon they will have no choice but to believe us."

"Good point, but will the Captain back us or will he pretend none of this ever happened? Some people do that, you know. They try to block out unfortunate memories like they never happened. I had a friend like that. He didn't want to be reminded of being kidnapped and made to serve on a pirate ship. So he just pretended that he was back at home and would order the other pirates around like they were maids and butlers. Pirates don't take too kindly being treated badly. After all, they are used to being the bullies and doing the ordering. They eventually left him ashore one day, just to rid themselves of his crazy behavior."

"So did he manage to get a ship back home? Or did he decide to stay at the port where they left him?" Pill asked.

"Oh, they didn't leave him at a port. They left him on an island. There didn't seem to be anyone else on the island so they figured there wouldn't be anyone he could bug. He didn't seem to mind too terribly much. Though I suppose when he got hungry and there wasn't any food or anyone to bring it to him he probably started to mind then." Wicket explained.

They had finally made it topside and realized that dusk was soon to be on them. So they headed to the captain's cabin to let them know that it was almost dusk. When they opened the door they saw a rather strange sight. The Captain was tied to the center post of the cabin and Piteque was on top of his head and was pulling up on both pigtails as hard as he could. The Captain was making whimpering noises and looking very mad. Wicket went over to the Knarl and grabbed him. When he wouldn't let go of the pigtails he thumped the Knarl in the face with his finger. That made the Knarl really mad and he tried to grab Wicket's kerchief in order to strangle him. But Wicket just held him away from his own body and let the Knarl wiggle until he just tuckered himself out.

Tally had gone around to the back of the post and was untying the Captain. The Captain was looking around for something but couldn't seem to find what he was looking for. Pill, being the Captain's cabin boy decided it was best to do her job and asked the Captain what he was looking for.

"An axe, something that will chop this cheating twig into little tiny twigs," His face was red with anger.

"Gosh, I hate to point this out to you, Captain, but he's already a tiny twig so you couldn't very well chop him up into tiny twigs, he's already there. Now you could chop him up into itty bitty twigs and that would work, but the other way wouldn't." Wicket told the Captain.

"I don't care if he's tiny twigs or itty bitty twigs just so long as he is chopped up. Tally, go down below and get a meat cleaver. That should work. There isn't much to this twig in the first place so it shouldn't take too much effort to chop him up." Tally turned and was headed toward the door when Pill spoke up.

"I hate to tell you this Captain but it's almost dusk and we need Piteque to take us to the Wind Hag. So if you chop him up then he wouldn't be able to take us and since we don't know the way or the Wind Hag then you had better think of a different plan to take care of the cheater."

When Pill mentioned that it was almost dusk the Captain's head had turned to look out a window. Sure enough it was almost dusk. He told Wicket to hang on to the little bugger and not loosen his grip. That was apparently the mistake the Captain had made when he went after Piteque for cheating. As soon as he had loosened his grip the Knarl had jumped free and grabbed his pigtails and started pulling them. Wicket took this order to heart and grabbed the Knarl with both hands.

Lark pointed out to Wicket, "You might loosen your grip a very tiny bit because I think you're choking the poor Knarl. If he dies he can't take you to the Wind Hag, now can he?"

Wicket looked at the Knarl; he was having a bit of trouble breathing. So Wicket glanced at the Captain and the Captain gave him a barely discernible nod so Wicket loosened his grip very slightly until the Knarl was breathing easier.

"And what makes you think I'm gonna take you to see the Wind Hag now? What with the way this big bully has cheated me and treated me. I'm not gonna do it. How do you like that, buddy boy?" He said to the Captain as he defiantly crossed his twig arms.

Pill, who had expected such a reaction stepped between the Captain and Wicket and took a small drop of honey and gave it to Piteque. The Knarl sat there smacking his lips and looking longingly at the jar of honey. So Pill told him, "You want more of this then you have to take us the Wind Hag now, otherwise you're not getting another drop. How do like that, twiggy twig?"

Piteque was torn between showing the Captain he wasn't gonna take that type of treatment and getting his honey. In the end, the honey won out and so they headed out on deck and got ready to go over the side.

"Wicket and Tally you stay here and watch the ship. I don't want any intruders coming aboard. We'll use the same password as before when we get back. If you don't hear the password then you don't let us or anyone else on the ship. Got that?"

"Yes sir, but begging your pardon, what if someone on the ground heard you yell the last password when you wanted on board last time and so they figure they can get on board using the same password? Then we would have to let them on, no matter what. I mean, they would have the proper password and all." Tally asked the Captain.

The Captain sighed and said fine, the new password is Christmas. Now that's a word that isn't gonna be used in your everyday talk and no one should be able to figure out that one, now will they?" He told Tally.

"I would have to agree with you on that. I mean whoever heard of Christmas in July? Certainly not me, so Christmas it is. And may you three have a holly jolly good time in your adventure." Wicket said as he saluted the Captain and pushed the rope ladder over the side. He had mainly agreed with the captain in an attempt to keep Tally from arguing with the captain. After all, the Captain was still fuming about his run in with Piteque. The last thing they needed was the Captain to spend the time keelhauling one of them and end up missing his meeting with the Wind Hag.

But that wasn't gonna stop Tally from adding his two cents worth. "Yeah, but Lark just heard the password and since her father said she was to be home before dark then she just might tell him or someone else the password. So we might want to come up with another one, just to be on the safe side. Then you should whisper it to me and Wicket and that way she won't hear us and know the password."

"I won't tell anyone. I promise and cross my heart and spit on the ground." And she did just that.

"Hey, I gotta clean that deck, so watch where you're spitting," Tally exclaimed.

"Tally, I'll take care of Lark, I'll ask her father if she can come with us since she knows the ways of the area. I'm sure he will agree when I promise to keep her safe. So don't worry about that." Seeing the skeptical look on Tally's face he added, "And if he won't let me take her with us then I'll come back here with a new password, I promise. If I don't come back in the next few minutes then you will know her father said she could come with us, so you don't have to worry about the password. It will remain Christmas." With that said the Captain climbed over the railing down the ladder.

As they were leaving, Lark looked sympathetically at Tally and said, "I apologize for spitting and messing up your nice clean deck, Tally, I just wanted you to know that I meant it when I said I wouldn't tell anyone the password."

Tally softened and told her, "I didn't really think you would but the Captain might think we were shirking our duty to him and the ship if we didn't look at all the possible angles. I'd hate to be keelhauled for missing an important detail." He smiled at her and waved as she went over the side.

"Are you two gonna be okay here all by yourself at night?" Pill asked, a little concerned about their ability to scare themselves.

"Not a problem, we're gonna go to the kitchen and grab a couple of knifes and heavy pans so I can stab anyone who tries to come on board and Wicket can bash them on the head with a pan." Tally bent lower down so only Pill could hear this last part and put a hand up to shield Wicket from hearing, "Wicket doesn't like knives so he gets the pans as a weapon." He then winked at Pill and helped her up over the railing.

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Chapter 10

Lark's father had been more than willing to allow Lark to go with them. But that was mainly on account of the fact he thought they were rather inept and would need someone with brains to help them along.

Piteque led them back to the mesquite tree where they had found him and he pointed to the roots and said, "You need to go down there," indicating a slight hole at the base of the tree. "It might be a tight squeeze but you needn't worry, you'll fit." He had a strange smile on his face when he said this, so Captain Pigtail wasn't too sure if he was just saying this to get even with him for the fight. So Pigtail sent Pill down first. Something she thought was majorly unfair.

So she sat down on the ground and put her feet into the hole first. She figured it would be best to go feet first, just in case there was something in her way, her feet might push it back. Since her feet apparently fit she continued to push the rest of her body into the hole. It seemed to get bigger as she needed it to and allowed for her larger size to fit comfortably. By the time she had most of her body through the hole and was holding on to the rim she could look down and see that she was dangling about five feet off the ground below. Since it wasn't a far drop she let go and fell. A few seconds later here came Lark. Figures. The chicken captain didn't want to come down here so he made the girls come first. Granted, he didn't realize Pill was a girl but he was still a chicken. After all, he was much older than she or Lark so he should have sucked it up and come down first.

A few seconds after Lark dropped, here came Piteque and then the Captain. From there Piteque pointed to the signs on the dirt walls that had arrows pointing which way to go. The first arrow pointed toward the right tunnel and apparently led to the cafeteria, the second pointed to a mall, and the third indicated you had to follow it to see the Wind Hag by taking the tunnel on the far left.

So they headed down the left tunnel. The tunnels had a smell of mildew and were dark except for these rocks that seemed to glow. They were positioned every few feet along the wall of the tunnel. They didn't give off much light but it was enough to keep you from bumping into the walls and ceiling. The Captain had to walk stooped over because the ceiling was rather low. And seeing as to how the captain was rather short that was saying a lot. Pill and Lark would hit the ceiling every once in a while when there was an outcrop jutting down. Piteque had no problems with the ceiling and seemed to enjoy hearing the Captain curse every now and then when he hit his head.

It seemed as though they had walked miles when they came to this large antechamber. Standing on each side of these two enormous gold doors were these two odd looking creatures. They looked like they were made of dirt but it could also have been the fact that they hadn't bathed in a good many days, possibly years. They were blob shaped, though they did remind Pill of a pear shape. The blobs each rested on two very skinny legs. How those skinny legs were holding up something as large as the blob was beyond Pill. On top of their head they each had about five hairs, all of which were sticking straight up. They had two very tiny black beady eyes, just below the hair. Below that was a long trunk in place of a nose about two feet in length. But you couldn't use their feet as the measurement because they were about five inches long. At the end of the trunk were three things that looked like fingers but there was no guarantee that was what they were. It didn't appear that they had a mouth. They had four arms each, two on each of their sides. They both wore red velvet coats with gold trim. The coats didn't look like they had been washed recently either. The velvet part of the coats had been worn down enough there were spots, making the coats look like they were molting. Upon getting closer to the figures Pill decided they looked more like dirt clods, really big dirt clods on skinny legs. So it wasn't that they hadn't bathed, they were actually made of dirt.

"Those are Flugs." Piteque said in a hushed voice to Pigtail.

"What the heck are Flugs?" Pigtail asked back in an equally hushed voice.

"They are the Wind Hag's personal guards. Well, these two are anyway. The other Flugs form the Army of Dirt. If it has anything to do with dirt then the Army will protect it with their very lives if it's in danger. To be the Wind Hag's personal guards you have to be the smartest of the smart and the strongest of the strong. It's a very elite group with only a few guards who actually qualify. These two are named Gog and Gape. They're twins and they are the meanest of the guards. So be nice to them," Piteque explained.

"Got it, we be nice to them and they'll be nice to us." Pigtail said more to himself than anyone in particular.

"Actually they will be mean to you no matter what but if you're nice to them then they won't kill you, maybe. They'll probably just treat you really badly."

"So be nice to them but either way they treat you like dirt. That's not very courteous," Pigtail said.

"No, they like dirt. They come from dirt so they would never ever treat a human as well as they treat dirt. Naw, they'll treat you like prairie dogs, which they hate because they keep tunneling in their dirt. But if you're nice they might treat you a little better than a prairie dog. Which still isn't very nice but it is better than nothing." Piteque chuckled as he said this.

The Flugs both held long spears and when the group had appeared through the doorway the Flugs immediately snapped to attention and crossed the spears in front of the large gold doors. They moved their trunks and whispered into each other's ears. At least Pill thought they were ears, though they resembled dried fruit more than ears. Piteque walked up to these things and saluted them.

"Good Dirt to you, sirs, I am bringing the Wind Hag's guests for the evening. They have an appointment." Piteque put his arm down and waited.

Then the Flug on the left said through his trunk, "Gape, is that true? Do they have an appointment?"

"How the heck am I supposed to know? Do I look like the Royal Haggness' secretary? I think they are just making this up and we might just as well kill them now and be done with it."

"Yes, but what if I'm right and you kill someone the Wind Hag really wanted to see? Do you think she will deal kindly with you two for killing someone she wants to see?" Piteque pointed out to the Flugs.

"He's got a point. Remember what happened to Dreson. He's pushing up daisies now."

Pigtail couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "The Wind Hag killed Dreson?"

"Naw, she sent him topside and he has to care for the flowers. Actually, he's the dirt they are growing in. And he helps them grow and reach the sunlight by giving them a push. But it's not the best position for a Flug. In fact, it's the lowest of the low in rank. But that's mainly because you have to mix with the wrong sort."

"What's the 'wrong sort'?" Pill decided to get in on the conversation.

"Manure, no one wants to associate with them but if you're on flower detail then you've got no choice. You have to mix with them in order to help the flowers grow. The manure doesn't like it either. They think they are better than dirt, like that is ever gonna happen. So they put up a real stink about getting mixed up with someone like Dreson." It was about that moment that they realized they were talking to humans and they remembered they were better than humans and so they shut up.

Piteque wasn't gonna have them giving him the silent treatment so he told them, "You had better check with the secretary just to make sure. Then when she says we do have an appointment you can let us pass. If you don't make sure then you might be pushing up daises like Dreson.

They looked at each other and then Gog gave Gape a slight nod. Gape raised his trunk and trumpeted so loudly that the walls shook and a little bit of dirt crumbled to the floor.

A side door opened and out walked a very small red ant. She looked up at the Flugs in an inquiring way.

"Begging your pardon, Ethel, but Piteque here," Gog jerked one of his thumbs in Piteque's direction," says these humans have an appointment with her Royal Haggness."

"Ah, yes, yes, that is correct. They are here to ask for a favor of the Wind Hag. If you'll please show them in, then I will summon the Royal Haggness." Ethel had a very high pitched squeaky voice.

The Flugs seemed to think that their asking a favor of the Wind Hag was rather funny because they kept on chuckling as they showed them into the Royal Throne Room. As they shut the door they said to the humans, "And don't touch nothing, Her Royal Haggness hates it when anyone touches her stuff.

The Royal Throne Room was a very opulent room with thick plush rugs and a very large throne. It looked like it was made of mesquite tree limbs and it stood over eight feet tall. The cushions were red velvet like the Flug's coats and just as worn. There were doorways on both sides of the throne and blue curtains that almost hid the doors from sight. The room had a very high ceiling which pleased Pigtail because he was tired of stooping over so as not to hit his head. They stood in a very tight group and waited. For what, they weren't exactly sure but they hoped that whatever was to happen would happen soon. Most particularly Pill, she hated being underground. She realized she was a bit claustrophobic and the walls seemed to be coming in on her. All she wanted to do is get this all over with and quickly.

The red ant called Ethel came to stand in front of the throne and cleared her throat with a slight 'ahem' and then shouted in her high pitched squeak, "Her Royal Haggness, the Wind Hag." She then gave a slight bow and looked toward the door on the right of the throne. Nothing happened. So Ethel tried again and still nothing. Suddenly the door on the left opened and out walked this tiny lump of a person. It was hard to say just what she was. She could have been part Flug, due to the amount of dirt on her. She came up to the Captain's belt but no further. She was hefty but wasn't jiggly fat. Her face looked as though it had been smashed in like a Pekinese dog, with her nose being as black as a dog. Her eyes were bright blue but had a harshness to them. She was wearing purple robes that were tied with a bright yellow rope at the waist. Her hair was white, for the most part, it had blue and gray streaks throughout and it stood straight up like she had stuck one of her short stubby fingers in an electrical socket. Piteque was right; she wasn't exactly a stunning beauty. Like her fingers the rest of her was short and stumpy looking.

"Ethel, get that door fixed, it's stuck again." The Wind Hag said to the ant while pointing to the right hand door.

Then the Wind Hag noticed Pill staring at her hair and said, "I got the blue streaks from cursing too much, missy. So you best learn from my mistakes and not go about cursing otherwise you'll end up with a blue streak in your hair for every time you curse. Me, it took me a number of times before I learned my lesson, as you can see." She seemed to think that was amusing because she giggled after she said it.

"She's not a girl but a boy, Your Royal Haggness." Pigtail explained as he bowed to her sweeping off his hat in a grand gesture.

"Boy my bunions, I know a girl when I see one. She's just pretending to be a boy, for whatever reason I'll probably never know. No gal should ever pretend to be a boy, there ain't nothing wrong with being a gal, I know, I am one myself." She huffed at Pigtail and turned to Pill, "You're a gal, ain't ya?"

Pill stammered but answered in the affirmative.

"What?!" Pigtail exclaimed. "Why the heck didn't you ever tell me?"

"I knew if I did you would have told the other captain and he would have kicked me off the ship. I needed the job and so I pretended to be a boy so that I could keep the job. I also was hoping that in our travels I just might find my father. He's a pirate too. And working on a pirate ship was the best way to find him, or so I thought." She added the last bit in a hushed whisper.

"Told ya." The Wind Hag said with such smugness that she all but stuck out her tongue at him.

Pigtail sighed and said, "You still could have told me. I would have understood. That was the very reason I went to sea too, to find my pirate father. Haven't managed it so far but I keep hoping." He sighed again and turned his attention back to the Wind Hag. What might have been a touching moment for most had no effect on the Wind Hag; she just sat there sneering at Pigtail.

"I want to thank you for granting us this audience and I would like to give these necklaces to you as a gesture of gratitude for your kindness in this matter." He tried to remember to look her in the eyes and smile as he said this to her. He held out his arms with the necklaces. He decided to try and soften her up a bit by adding, "The blue sapphires will bring out the beauty of your blue eyes even more."

"Poppycock, there ain't nothing beautiful about me so don't try to schmooze me with your pretty talk." She schlepped over to the throne and sat down. She wiggled around for a bit until she was comfortable and then turned her attention back to Pigtail. "So what are you so all fired up about that you would risk my wrath by lying to me about my eyes?"

"Actually, your eyes are very pretty. They remind me of the sea on a calm day. It's so deep and blue. So he wasn't lying to you." Pill said and regretted it.

"You don't know squat about being in my chambers, do you gal? You don't speak unless spoken too. So pipe down and let the charmer try his best." The Wind Hag stared down at Pigtail and smiled, waiting for him to continue.

"Your Royal Haggness, we have come to ask a great favor of you. Our Ship, The Flummery, was sailing peacefully in the Gulf of Mexico, doing no harm and minding our own business." The Wind Hag snorted in disbelief as he said this. He decided to ignore her response and continued. "Suddenly we found ourselves in a great wind storm. We lost our captain overboard while it raged and I was made captain in his stead. I took the position in hopes of saving not only the crew but the ship. Unfortunately, as the storm grew in intensity the crew decided to take their chances in the rescue boats, leaving just a few of us on board. It was about that time that such a wind came and lifted the ship out of the Gulf and the next thing we knew we were here, a long, long way from the Gulf. We ask, no, we beg of you to give us an equally strong wind to get us and the ship back to the Gulf. So if you find it in your heart to help us in this endeavor we would be eternally grateful." He gave her another bow as he finished his story.

She sat there looking at him. She studied him from head to toe and then turned her attention to the others, studying them with equal interest. When she got to Lark she stopped and said, "You're not with this group. You're a part of that wagon train that keeps coming across my land. Those daggum wagons thunder across the land and shake the ceilings and cause dirt to come falling down. So why are you here with them?"

"Gosh, Your Royal Haggness, I know my father had no idea that he caused you any problems. He would never dream of doing anything such as that intentionally. In fact, if you told us what trail to follow across your land then we would be more than happy to follow that. My father has always said that we need to take care of the land and not harm it in anyway and leave it as we found it. As far as being with them, we helped them find a Knarl, Piteque, in order to ask your assistance in getting them back home and Pill is now my friend. I haven't had a friend before so I wanted to help out all I could, because that's what friends do. That's why I came with them." She smiled a very weak smile but she never stopped looking the Wind Hag in the eyes.

"It's my land; I don't want y'all going across it, period. I have a lot of creatures that I take care of because my land is vast and I don't need you humans going across it or messing with it in any way, shape or form. Though I admit that as long as you're on my land I will protect you. It's a matter of ethics. I protect those who come under my domain. I take pride in that fact. So you needn't worry as long as you're on my land. But show us undergrounders a little more respect by not having those wagons thundering across the land. Go nice and easy and there shouldn't be any problems. Granted, I do stir up a bit of wind now and then but that is no never mind to you and your people. I'm just having a bit of fun. If I get a bit carried away then that's my problem not yours. I'm just having some fun, blowing off steam." Turning to look at Pigtail she said, "As far as your request goes - denied! Now skedaddle, I've got supper to get to. And don't go thinking I'm gonna invite you to eat with me, 'cause it ain't gonna happen. Now vacate my chambers." She said with a sweeping dismissive hand gesture.

Pigtail wasn't gonna give up that easily. If charming wasn't gonna work then by golly he'd try a different tactic. "That's all right, Your Royal Haggness, I realize that what we asked of you was probably too much. I'm sure it would take too much out of you to create a wind so great that it would get us and our ship back to the Gulf. We bear no hard feelings and wish you nothing but the best. I hope you enjoy your supper." He bowed again and turned to leave.

"Think it would take too much out of me to create such a strong wind, do ya? Well, it wouldn't take an ounce of energy to create such a wind. I may look old but looks can be deceiving. I'm also not as stupid as you obviously think I am, Here you are thinking you can con me into whipping up a storm just to show you I could do it. Well, I'm not falling for it and I resent the fact that you think I would be so stupid. Now get the heck out of my chamber now or I'll show the young gals just how you get a blue streak in your hair not to mention I'll create a storm so great that y'all will end up in Europe. Now git!" She was leaning forward in her throne and giving him a wild eyed look. Then she started to twirl her finger over the palm of her hand and there, in the middle of her palm, a little tornado started to form.

That did the trick because the Captain was scared of the tornado as well as her crazed look. He turned and grabbed Pill and Lark and headed for the door as fast as his legs could go. Of course, it could also have been because he was angry at the Wind Hag too. For whichever reason, they were hightailing it outta there. The Flugs yelled "Good riddance, ya human scum!" after them as they fled down the tunnel. Piteque was racing after them trying to remind them that they owed him his honey.

"Forget it, you little twig, we didn't get what we wanted so you're not gonna get what you wanted, now bug off." Pigtail grabbed Lark and pushed her up through the hole and then grabbed Pill to do the same. He followed them out of the hole and headed back to the ship. Pill, when the Captain wasn't looking, had set the honey jar down for Piteque. It wasn't fair to treat him that way. After all, the deal was that Piteque was to get an audience with the Wind Hag and he did. So he fulfilled his end of the bargain and should get the honey.

~~~~~~

Chapter 11

Pigtail was walking so fast that the girls had trouble keeping up. In fact, they were practically running.

"I'm so mad I could spit nails. Who does she think she is turning us down? Well, I'll show her. She will rue the day she refused to help me."

Lark and Pill looked at each other as he continued to stomp back to the ship. When they got to the wagon train Pigtail asked to speak to the wagon master privately. Lark looked quizzically at Pill who shrugged her shoulders. Neither knew just what the Captain was up to and why he had business to talk over with Lark's father. They both sat down in front of the fire and Lark showed Pill how to skewer some meat and roast it over the fire. It tasted pretty good but Pill secretly wondered just what kind of meat it was. She wasn't about to ask because as long as she didn't know then her stomach wouldn't revolt against it.

It was a good hour later that Pigtail finished his business with the Wagon Master and he and Pill left for the ship. Lark asked if it would be okay to come and play with Pill tomorrow and the Captain said that would be just fine because they weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

As they walked back to the ship Pigtail, who had calmed down considerably, started to talk to Pill. "You know you really could have told me you were a girl. I wouldn't have minded. But that's in the past. I know now and I won't hold your lying against you. After all, you had a very good reason to do it. I understand. Like I said I went to sea for the same reason. I also understand that it was best not to reveal you were a female with the former crew. Who knows what those cutthroats would have done to you. But I think Tally and Wicket are good men. Limited, intellectually speaking, but good just the same. So I think we need to tell them too. I don't think they will mind too much." He looked at Pill and smiled in a fatherly way. Pill couldn't think of anything to say so she just smiled back at him.

They had made it back to the ship and hollered 'Christmas' and the rope ladder was let down for them. Tally and Wicket were waiting with baited breath to find out what the Wind Hag said. When they asked Pigtail what happened, he waved his hand in front of his face to clear the odor and said, "What, you two couldn't wait to eat until after we got back? Oh, and for your information the big barrel contained bait not food. Before I tell you what happened go and take care of your breath. I'm not gonna spend the evening telling you what happened with your bait breath stinking up my cabin."

"I told you it tasted too funny to be real food." Tally told Wicket as he hit him on the shoulder.

"Bait is fish food so it is too real food. It's just food for fish. They obviously have less refined tastes then we humans do. Though I bet there are some people somewhere in the world who think eating raw fish is a delicacy. In fact, I bet it could be a new thing we invented. I bet people would be pleased to pay to eat the stuff."

"Pay to eat bait? Are you nuts? If we fed this to people they would be so mad they would sue, sheesh."

"Hey! That would make a perfect name for the stuff!" Wicket exclaimed.

"What the heck are you talking about? What would make a perfect name for bait food?"

"Sue-sheesh or maybe shorten it to sushi. We can call it that as our little joke on the public. We open up a bait shop but call it a restaurant and serve people the raw bait but call it sushi. They'll think it's some sort of exotic food we picked up in our many travels on the sea and so they'll pay good money to eat something exotic." Wicket was forming the plan in his head as he spoke.

"You've got to be kidding. There ain't no human that gullible to think it is a rare treat to eat bait. And let's face it there isn't enough ketchup in the world to make it taste any better." Tally felt the need to make his position perfectly clear to Wicket.

"Well, there sure as heck ain't enough on this ship, that's for sure. You used it all up. And I'm betting there ain't a ketchup store within a hundred miles of this place so we can't restock it."

"I told you there ain't enough of it to make that bait taste good. But darned if I wasn't gonna try. Besides, it helped the bait go down quicker so it didn't linger on my tongue for too long. That way I didn't get too much of a taste of it. And that's the only way you can eat bait."

"Yeah, yeah, right, let's grab some mint leaves and suck on them to get rid of the taste and bad breath. I want to know what happened." Tally agreed with Wicket and so they grabbed a couple of mint leaves from the galley spice cabinet and started chewing on them. When they had chewed on enough of the leaves they tested their breath by breathing on each other. Since neither could detect the odor of bait they decided they were good to go and headed for the captain's cabin. Tally stopped him before he left the galley.

"Don't you think we should take some food up to the Captain? After all, he hasn't eaten and we have." Tally pointed this out to Wicket.

"Good point, I'll grab some bread and cheese and we'll serve that." Wicket was smacking his lips as he said this. Then he added to Tally, "You know, this mint stuff is pretty good at covering up the bait breath. I bet you could sell it as a breath tonic and make some money off it."

"Well, you're just filled with all sorts of grand and great ideas tonight, now aren't ya?"

"Hmm. I can't figure it out myself, maybe sushi is good for the brain, makes you think clear, clean thoughts and ideas."

Tally just laughed at the thought of that and grabbed the cheese and a knife and headed for the captain's cabin. Wicket grabbed the bread and followed all the while his mind still thinking up all sorts of great ideas.

"All set sir, no more bait breath." Wicket declared to the captain as they entered the cabin and then grabbed a chair to sit down in. They had placed the food on the table and Tally started to cut some slices of bread. Pill and Pigtail grabbed some slices and started to eat. It's not that Pill was particularly hungry after eating the skewered meat but it had left a strange aftertaste in her mouth that she was eager to get rid of.

"So is the Wind Hag gonna set up a strong storm and send us back to the Gulf?" Tally asked so fast that the words seemed to form one really big word.

"Nope, the old hag, and I'm not calling her that because it's a part of her name, I'm using it in a derogatory way, just to get that straight, refused, so we're stuck here."

"Begging your pardon, Captain Pigtail, sir, but what about our ideas to get us home. Are we gonna try one of those?" Wicket asked.

"Actually, I'm glad you brought that up. I've talked with the Wagon Master and he's agreed to help us to fix the ship up to where it can travel on wheels." Wicket gave a great big old grin because it was his idea that the captain chose to use and not Tally's.

Tally, obviously disappointed sighed and asked, "So once we get her fixed up we head back to the gulf, right?"

"Nope," Pigtail said. "We're not gonna be going home for the time being."

"Why not?" Pill asked a little confused. The whole point of going to the Wind Hag was to get home and now the Captain was saying he was in no hurry to get back home.

"Because, we are pirates, and as such, we don't take too kindly to being treated badly. We make those who do treat us badly pay and pay dearly for such treatment. The Wind Hag treated us badly so she's gonna pay for that. She will rue the day she refused our request."

Wicket had grabbed a quill and a piece of paper and started to scribble away. Midway down the page he stopped writing and turned to the captain and asked, "So how much are we gonna bill her and just what are the reasons for billing her, you know, like 'fixed a door creak' type of stuff. I think we can charge her for the honey because it was an expense on our part in order to see her, so what else?"

"We are not sending her a bill. When I say she is going to pay, I mean she is going to get what's coming to her. She's gonna receive just what she is doling out, no mercy. She protects those on her land, she said so herself. Well, I'll show her she can't do any such thing. She's not gonna be able to protect them from me and my pirate ship. We are gonna do exactly what we did when we were on the water. We are gonna be the scourge of the South Plains. We are gonna rob and steal from all those who dare to come onto her land. We are gonna show the world that the Wind Hag isn't all that powerful and she can't protect innocent humans from the Flummery and dire pirate Captain Pigtail. We will wreak havoc on all those wagon trains and stage coaches that dare to try and cross her land." He finished with a smiling sneer on his face.

"So, let me get this straight, we are going to rob, pillage and wreak havoc on the wagon trains and stage coaches who come onto the Wind Hags domain, is that right?" Tally asked

"Yep, that pretty much sums it up."

"But, really, how many stage coaches are there gonna be. I bet there isn't a theater within a hundred miles of here. And I think that is being rather short sighted and rather selective. I think if we do this, then we really need to be all encompassing and not show favoritism to anyone."

Pill tapped Tally on his shoulder and said, "Lark told me that stagecoaches are big wagons that carry people who don't want or can't afford to buy their own wagon. Or they could just be making a trip to another town to visit relatives. So it's not someone who coaches stage performers."

Tally blushed and said, "Oh, I see, gotcha, well, I'm in. I became a pirate for a reason, to do some pirating. We didn't get much practice on the water so if we get a chance to do some pirating on land then so be it." I guess Tally thought that if he agreed with the Captain, then everyone would forget his faux pas with the stage coaches.

"Okay, the wagon Master agreed to help us rig the ship so that it has wheels. He said that since it was a smaller ship then it shouldn't be too terribly hard to do."

"I have one question, about the Wagon Master. Are we gonna rob and pillage him and his wagon train?" Pill asked.

"Nope, in fact, he's kinda tired of the wagon train business so he's gonna turn it over to his second in command and join us. It seems the Wind Hag has been rather vicious to him and his wagon trains with all those sand storms she's created. So he's looking for a little pay back. He's gonna let us use his wheels and the spares, just in case we need them, and whatever parts we need from his wagon. Besides, he thinks Lark should have a well-rounded education and this is an opportunity to teach her about the other side of the law. And it seems she's been really happy about getting a friend so he didn't want to take that away from her. Oh, and that reminds me, Pill don't you have something to say to Wicket and Tally."

Piddle, Pill had hoped that he had forgotten about that. She sighed and told them the truth about her. After she finished she figured they would be really mad and everything, but as it turned out they were just fine with it. Though Tally was a bit disappointed that he wasn't gonna get to teach her how to pick up women.

~~~~~

Chapter 12

The next few days were a whirlwind of activity. But it was the only type of wind going on. The Wind Hag apparently figured that any wind might help them back and she was refusing to help. But the Captain knew that wouldn't last long. With her temper she would, no doubt, start up some winds in the near future so they better have the Flummery ready when that time came. Once the ship was fitted with the axles and wheels all they had to do was set up the rope pulley system in order to steer it. The wagon train had already started on its way. The Wagon Master had warned the new Wagon Master not to bring any of his wagon trains through this territory in the future because of the scourge the Flummery was planning on causing. He had agreed and promised not to tell the other wagon masters out there who might head out in this direction. It seems he didn't like the Wind Hag either and hoped the Flummery succeeded in her quest.

"You know, I don't think we can keep calling you the Wagon Master now that you really don't have a wagon anymore. And thank you for the sacrifice of your wagon for the sake of our revenge."

"You're welcome. Anything I can do to get back at the little squat hag. As far as my name goes, my ma called me Jethro so if you want, then you can too."

"All right then, Jethro, we will need a place to call our home port, a place where after a raid we can go and hide until things cool down. It needs to be a place not well known and hard to get to but not so hard that we can't actually get to it. Do you know of any such place?"

"You bet. It's just off the caprock and has a bit of a cave. It's plenty big enough for the Flummery to fit and it'll hide you from any prying eyes. And the best thing is it's in the Bermuda Grass Square. The locals and the Flugs and such avoid it like a plague so they won't go looking for us there."

"Why do people avoid it?" Tally didn't like the sound of it.

"Well, when the Wind Hag gets a big old sand storm going, the wagons that are blown off the trail and end up in the square just seem to disappear, never to be heard from again. People think it's got some sort of supernatural element that swallows up the wagons and anything that goes there."

"Now why the heck would we want to go there, let alone make that our home port?' Tally was mystified at the thought, not to mention a little scared too.

"Well there ain't a supernatural element to it. It's just that people are used to traveling on the flat plains and then suddenly this sand storm develops and they find themselves blown off course and in a canyon area. They weren't ready for that so they end up crashing off a cliff into a canyon. That's all there is to it. The smart ones are the ones who see a sand storm coming just stop and hunker down and quit moving. It's the stupid ones that try to outrun it and end up in the square and dying, but since the story has gotten out about it being a bad place then everyone tries to avoid it. So you see, it would make a perfect place to make your home port, as you call it."

"Sounds good to me. As soon as the Wind Hag forgets we're here and starts a wind up we'll head there first and foremost. From there we'll develop a plan of attack when it comes to taking the wagon trains that come into the area."

It was a few days before they got enough of a wind to move the Flummery but once it got going it proved to move quite well on the land.

Jethro steered the ship towards the square and showed Pigtail the difference in the terrain. "You see those tan areas where there aren't a whole lot of plants growing?" He pointed off the starboard bow. "That's where the Flugs go on vacation. They like to sun. They don't get much sun underground so when they vacation they go where the sun is. You never want to go into an area that the Flugs go to get some sun. The dirt there is not dense enough to hold up much of anything. Some people have actually been swallowed up by the Flugs because they dared to interrupt their vacation. Some people call it quicksand but there ain't nothing quick about being suffocated by dirt." This bit of information sent a slight shiver down Pigtail's spine. He knew that pirates had a reputation for being cutthroats but the Flugs sounded even meaner than any pirates he had heard of.

Jethro then showed Pigtail to the cave. Pigtail was rather unimpressed with the cave.

"Why, it's just a hole in the wall, it's not a real cave." He exclaimed upon seeing it.

"Yeah, but that makes it the perfect outlaw hangout, don't it? Who would ever think that there would be some 'hole in the wall gang' out there to rob and pillage? It's unheard of, so that makes it the best place for your hideout." Jethro did have a point, though it did seem to Pigtail that he was grasping. After Jethro had steered the ship into the cave they tossed anchor and lowered the rope ladder. Pigtail felt it best if they got a lay of the land, that way they would know if there was anyone or anything that could cause them any trouble.

"Tally, Wicket, Lark and Pill, you split up into teams and head off in different directions. Jethro and I will take off in the other direction so we can cover as much as possible. I don't want anyone going further than half a mile, got that?"

They all nodded and Pigtail headed north and Jethro headed south. "Well, I guess that means we're gonna be going east and west. So how exactly shall we split up? Should it be the girls and the men or one girl one man each?" Wicket asked.

Pill didn't know about Lark but she would really rather have at least one adult with her, even if that meant Wicket or Tally. They were a bit inept but at least they were much bigger than either of the girls. Lark saved her from having to point this out.

"I think it should be me and Wicket and Pill and Tally. That way we have someone to protect us. I mean, let's face it, we're just girls and something might come up that requires a strong man." This statement made Tally and Wicket puff out their chests a little and start strutting around. They agreed and headed off in opposite directions.

Wicket smiled down at Lark and assured her that everything would be okay; he'd make sure they made it back safe and sound. Lark smiled back at him and thought to herself, I hope he doesn't scare easily because I know darn well I'm the one who would be protecting him from anything that arises. Sure enough just as she had this thought there was movement and slowly rising up out of the ground was this blob. Wicket stopped dead in his tracks and started to whimper.

"It's the supernatural element and it's come to get us. We're doomed!" he said as he fell to his knees in defeat.

"It's not a supernatural element. I don't think you're supposed to be able to see something supernatural. It's just a feral hog. They live all around here and can be very mean. They have these sharp protruding teeth or fangs that can cut you to shreds." Lark explained to him.

"Oh, well, that is soooo much better than a supernatural element. Though either one means we're doomed. I think I would rather have a supernatural element do me in because it would be quick and painless as opposed to being shredded. I'm thinking that's bound to hurt a little." Wicket said sarcastically.

"It's way better than a supernatural element. Don't you realize just what this means?"

"Nope, the sheer terror of this moment just before death has driven any thoughts aside from my funeral from my head. I'm thinking a simple service, nothing fancy but I would like Tally to be one of the pallbearers."

Lark sighed and thought to herself, 'I'm so glad he's here to protect me.' To Wicket she said, "It means 'lunch.' And I can assure you, they taste great. Dad's caught them a number of times as we headed west. We can have a regular cookout and kick off our Land Pirating Days with a bang!" She was rubbing her hands together with excitement.

"One slight problem, how the heck are we supposed to catch him? I know I'm not about to run up to it and fling myself on his back. That takes guts and I'm too afraid if I did, the hog would shred me and spill my guts out on the ground. I just thought you should know exactly how I feel about the situation." With that said, he bent over and lost his breakfast all over the ground.

"Actually, I think you just spilled your guts, in more than one way, so why not try the literal way now by charging him full speed?" He just stared at her in disbelief. "I'm only joking. I brought a rope and all we have to do is set a trap for it and then snare it. I've seen my dad do it a hundred times. That seemed to bring a small amount of relief to Wicket.

They busied themselves with setting the trap and then Lark made a wide semi-circle until she was right behind the hog and then she started to bang some sticks together and charge at the hog yelling. That did the trick, the hog freaked out enough that it ran without thinking or, for that matter, looking where it was going. Sure enough, it headed straight for the trap. Wicket saw it headed his way and grabbed onto the rope even tighter. The last thing he wanted was for the hog to get away from him, most particularly after he had embarrassed himself in front of a girl.

The hog hit the trap and the rope sprung, grabbing onto the back legs of the hog. That just made the hog even more scared and he tried to hop out of the rope. Wicket was not having that happen so he hung on even harder. The next thing he knew the hog was dragging him across the terrain. It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that the terrain seemed to have an awful lot of cacti. Lark watched in amazement and wonder. She was really surprised that he didn't let go of the rope even after going over the first five cacti. She was also pretty sure her dad never managed to catch a hog this way. He made it look way easier than this.

It wasn't until the hog ended up going head first in to a canyon wall and knocking himself out that Wicket finally managed to get to his feet. He was a little wobbly but he made darn sure that he didn't fall down. That might push the cactus needles in further and he definitely didn't want to do that. Lark came running up to him clapping and yelling "You did it! You did it!'

Together they tied the hog up in a secure manner; all the while Wicket amazed at all the knots she knew how to make and knowing just which knot to use. When the hog was secured he sat down and she started to pull all the needles out. He would wince every now and then but mainly he was just so relieved that the needle was out that he didn't react at all.

"Um, you ain't gonna tell the others about this. Are ya?" he asked sheepishly.

"Are you kidding, you hung on even though he dragged you through cacti. Lesser men would have let go after the first one. You did a very brave and strong thing; I think the others need to know that."

"Actually, I meant the part about me whimpering and throwing up. I'd really rather them not know about that."

"No problem. I'll just tell them the pertinent facts; anything else would just ruin the whole story." She smiled at him and he sighed in relief.

They managed to drag the hog back to the cave and waited for the others.

"You know we didn't get a lay of the land, Pigtail is gonna be mad about that," Wicket pointed out.

"We brought home fresh dinner, which is gonna be more than they can say. So why would he complain. We acted on the moment as the hog presented itself. To have gone and gotten the lay of the land would have meant the hog might have gotten away. We are helping feed our gang of pirates. If he has a problem with that, then I'm pretty sure my dad will set him straight. He knows better than anyone, you don't pass up food when it walks right up to you and presents itself to you." She had her hands on her hips and made it quite clear to Wicket that she wasn't gonna let Pigtail get mad at either one of them. This was yet another relief to him.

Meanwhile Pill and Tally were having a much less eventful time of it. They had walked a long way and had finally decided it was far enough and that they should turn around and go back. Since they had come one way they felt it was best to come back in a little different way, but not too different a way that they would get lost. The last thing either of them wanted to do was get lost. Pill had brought some paper and a quill and had been mapping out the part they had gone over. Tally thought that was a smart thing to do. If for no other reason than they might need the map to get back to the cave. They finally made it back to the cave and there stood Lark and Wicket. Wicket had his foot up on a hog and was grinning. He looked like he had been wrung through the mill but he was apparently happy despite how bad he looked.

"We brought back dinner, what'd you guys bring?" Wicket asked them as they came into the cave.

Tally looked a bit crestfallen but impressed at what Wicket had done. "We didn't bring anything back; well, except for the map Pill made. We didn't see anything that we could capture or eat, for that matter."

Pill looked at Wicket and asked what happened to him so Wicket launched into a great dramatic tale of danger, risk and rope burn. He finally ended it with his hog tying and dragging the carcass back to the cave. Pill looked sideways at Lark and saw Lark, ever so slightly, shake her head. So Pill knew she needed to take the story with a grain of salt. She would have to be sure to remember to ask Lark just what really happened but that would have to wait until Wicket and Tally weren't around.

Pigtail and Jethro came back about fifteen minutes later. Jethro was pleased to see the hog, as was Pigtail. Though Jethro wondered how much of Wicket's story was true and just how much Lark had done to catch the hog. Either way it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that they had fresh meat. Everyone helped with preparing the hog for dinner. It was obvious that Pigtail had been a really good cook because he deboned the hog in no time flat. Lark had gathered some prickly pears and was showing Pill how to make a jelly from them that would make a great addition to the dinner. It was a rather large dinner but it had been a harrowing few days and they finally felt that they could relax and enjoy themselves.

"Okay, I think the main thing we need to do is plan how we will attack the wagon trains that come through the Wind Hag's territory. We need to know the trails they take and places where we can hide before we attack. The last thing we need is to have them see us and prepare to attack back." Pigtail explained to the group.

Tally and Wicket weren't really paying attention. The food had made them sleepy. Pill and Lark were wide awake. They didn't want to miss anything. The whole thing was a great adventure for them both. It certainly beat traveling in a wagon train, as far as Lark was concerned.

"I think we need to get the rules of engagement set, first and foremost," Jethro added. Pigtail looked at him in an inquiring way. So he went on, "We have the girls with us and I don't think there is any need to actually kill anyone, do you? All we need to do is take their stuff and maybe tie them up. But not so tight they can't get out of the ropes. I would hate to have them die from being tied up too long."

Lark added, "We shouldn't take their food either. That's important for them to live. I think if we just took their valuables then that would be enough, don't you think so too?" She asked Pill.

"Yes, that sounds good. Though we could take a few chickens so that we could have fresh eggs. We ate the last chicken the ship had for breakfast. But we wouldn't have to deplete them of their whole flock of chickens. Just a few from each wagon train and that would set us up with a good number to keep us in eggs and chicken for a good while."

"Don't forget the rooster. We would need a rooster too," Lark added.

"I cannot believe you guys. We are supposed to be blood thirsty land pirates. Pirates are unemotional and unprincipled. We shouldn't be taking into account the survival of our victims. Most pirates kill everyone and the ones they don't kill they take on as deck hands. How are we gonna be the 'scourge of the plains,' if we show mercy to our victims?" Pigtail said in a rather exasperated voice.

"Okay, any killing to be done, you can do it. But you can't do it in front of the girls. They don't need to see such things." Jethro said to Pigtail.

"Fine, no killing, but we can't show them too much mercy simply because we need to make people afraid of us. You know, too afraid of us to want to come after us and arrest us." Pigtail wasn't about to be the one doing the killing. Taking care of the hog was more than enough for him.

Wicket and Tally had been nodding off and were starting to snore so Pigtail shoved the table towards them to wake them up.

They both awoke with a start and looked around at everyone. Everyone looked back at them. "What? What'd we miss? Did we miss something?"

"We are trying to get the rules of engagement down so that we know exactly what to do and expect when we attack a wagon train," Pill told them.

"Oh, well, as far as rules of engagement go, is you have to get the gal a ring, otherwise she'll be mad at you. That and you have to ask the father for his blessing and permission, which, in and of itself, can be very dangerous." Wicket said.

"Not that type of engagement. We're talking about how we shall go about robbing the people in the wagon trains. Lark doesn't think we should take any food because they will need it to survive. And Pill thinks we should take a few chickens when we get the chance in order to make sure we can feed ourselves, but not take too many chickens to deplete them of their stock. Jethro doesn't want any killing, least of all in front of the girls and we shouldn't tie them up too tight when we make our getaway, to insure they will be able to free themselves and not die from being tied up. Does that pretty much cover everything we've talked about so far?" Pigtail asked the others. They all nodded in consent so Pigtail turned to Wicket and Tally, "Do you have anything you feel we need to add to the list?"

"I think we should figure out a way to move the ship without wind because we can't get away if the wind dies down. If it does that, then we would be caught and I can see the Wind Hag not blowing just to get us caught." Tally said off the top of his head.

They all looked at Tally and were amazed at the intelligence it took to come up with such a plan. This was short lived but only because Tally felt the need to add, "I think we should get a big old wheel and get us some of these feral hogs and have then run inside the wheel and make the outside wheels move. That way we could get away without any wind."

"Hog power? Are you kidding me?" Wicket snorted at his friend's solution. "Whoever heard of riding on hog power? That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard of."

"You're the one that is always coming up with the next big thing. Well maybe that's just what I did. I bet there will be people in the future who go around riding hogs. It could happen, you just don't know."

"Yeah, well, they're gonna have to be pretty big hogs for a man to ride around on one of them." Wicket said sarcastically.

Tally felt the need to defend his line of thought, "You don't know, they could breed some type of super hog that is big enough to hold a human. It could happen."

In an attempt to quell yet another disagreement with those two, Jethro told them, "I do think the initial idea is good but I'm not too sure about the hog power. It might be best to use human power. But in order to do that we would need to really cut down the ship to a reasonable and manageable size. I saw this new-fangled thing back East last year. It was called a bicycle. You would pedal it with your own legs and make it move. I bet I could figure out how to rig something using that technology to make the wheels move. If you could figure out how to cut the ship down to size I think we could manage it. But we would all have to pedal to get it going good."

"Okay, we'll work on tearing down the ship and making it smaller and lighter and you figure out how to make these 'pedals' you mentioned. And that was a good idea, Tally. Keep up the good work." Praise coming from the Captain made Tally smile even bigger.

"Yeah, well, we caught the pig that fed all of us tonight." Wicket said feeling he deserved some praise too. After all, he was dragged through cacti and Tally just came up with an idea. It took a whole lot more effort on his part than it did on Tally's.

"Yes, and it was a great meal. You and Lark did a great job on doing that. In fact, you two might ought to be in charge of seeing to it we have all the necessary supplies to keep us fed. That would be a very important job. Pill, I think you could help them do that too.

~~~~~

Chapter 13

It took about a month to get the ship down to a manageable size. There was still a good sized mast in the middle of the boat that could accommodate a large sail and it sat high enough off the ground that it couldn't be easily boarded by just anyone. He had insisted on keeping four cannons and each was rigged to move easily to different points of the ship. That way they could attack from just about any angle. They kept the portion of the deck that was elevated where the wheel was for steering the ship and they had even managed to retain the crow's nest. But it was a much smaller version of the other one so only Lark or Pill would be able to use it. The Flummery had been cut down from being twenty wagons in length to about five wagons. So it made maneuvering it much easier than it had been.

Jethro had brought all his blacksmithing tools with him when he joined the pirates, so he did not have too much trouble fixing up some gears and pedals using different pots and pans from the ship's galley. The left-over wood and material was used to make a house for the pirate crew inside the back portion of the cave.

Pill, Lark and Wicket would go out hunting every day. They mainly managed to hunt prairie dogs and birds, like quail and pheasant, for rations. They tried to eat off the land while in their hideaway so as to retain the ship's rations for when they were out on the plains looking for wagon trains to pillage and plunder. After a morning of hunting, Wicket usually helped out with the building of either the house or the new ship.

The captain was rather pleased with the newer and smaller ship. It was still large enough to present a formidable presence and to scare the wagon train people, but small enough that getting away wouldn't be too much trouble. Everything was falling into place and he would soon have his revenge on the Wind Hag.

As he stood there admiring the ship Wicket came up to Pigtail, "She's a real beauty, Captain. I don't doubt that she will be the scourge of the plains in no time flat. In fact, I bet we manage to get her going faster than any ship in the water could go. I really like that shark type fin that Jethro added to the front of the ship. He said it would help cut through the air faster. Kinda like the bow of a ship cuts through water. He said it also made it look oh so dynamic, too. So I guess it makes the ship air - oh - dynamic. Hey! That's a new word. I invented a new word. How cool and intelligent is that?" Wicket had still been smarting from Tally's 'stroke of the smarts' in coming up with the idea of having some sort of alternative power source so he was constantly trying to prove he was the smarted of the two.

"Yep, you're right about that. A new word is something to be proud of inventing. Not everyone could do that." Pigtail had grown tired of always trying to appease Tally and Wicket's egos so he decided - just to be a little mean - and so he added, "though I think Tally had something there with an 'alternative power source.' It could be one of those coming things you're always talking about. I mean we can't keep using horses and oxen to power things. Nope, there will come a time, mark my words, when horses and oxen are passé and not able to carry the full work load. So we will need to find something else to power things with."

Wicket hated that the captain had said this but he wanted to show him that he could be the bigger one of the bunch. "Yep, I suppose so. In fact, I bet we could build some type of mechanism that could use the wind the Wind Hag gives us and use that to power things up. Just what things, is beyond me. But in the future there just might be a lot of little things that need power to work and there just ain't gonna be enough horses and oxen to meet the demand."

Pigtail slapped Wicket on the back and said, "True, true. Now, what's for supper? I'm starving."

They headed back to the house to find Pill and Lark in the galley preparing supper. The girls had noticed that they had been relegated to doing the cooking and neither was happy about it. Both thought that they could help with the building but the guys seemed to think they couldn't handle it.

At supper that night they ate quail and tumbleweed hearts. Pill had discovered that the bottom portion of the fresh green tumbleweeds were edible (she figured this out by feeding it to Tally without his knowledge.) They tasted pretty good if you added enough of the prickly pear jelly to it.

After eating, Pigtail announced that it was time to get the ship ready for sailing because they were ready to make their first foray into the world of land piracy.

"Excellent, I've been looking for a good fight." Tally said happily, but realizing that he may have hurt Wicket's feelings, quickly added, "Not that fighting with you isn't fun. It's just a lot more verbal rather than physical. I like a rousing good fist fight every once and a while and since I'm not gonna fight you, Wicket, then I need to find someone I can fight."

"No offense taken. In fact, I know what you mean. I've been hankering for good fight too. I just hope the people of the wagon trains are properly frightened and awed by the majesty of our ship cruising the plains that they don't try to resist too much with guns or knives. I'm not looking for a knife fight, that's for sure." He shuddered at the thought of having to fight with knives.

"Speaking of weapons, I think Jethro and I will each have a gun. Wicket, since you don't like knives how about we let you have a whip?"

"That sounds excellent, Captain, sir." Wicket said with obvious relief in his voice.

"Pill and Lark will each have a slingshot. Lark can show you how to use it Pill. Jethro said she's a mighty good shot with it."

"Oh, so I get to have a weapon too. Neat. I won't let you down Captain, I promise." Pill said rather pleased that she was going to be given the chance to help out just like the guys.

Pigtail continued, "I think the most important thing is that we swoop down on them quickly and surprise them. That will be the best thing to do. Now, when you're out at sea you don't have much to hide behind, so other ships and ports can see you coming miles away. So they are usually prepared to fight by the time we reach that point. Out here, it's different. Jethro has mapped out some of the regular paths and trails taken by the wagon trains and he has also located some rather nice places to keep out of view until they pass by us. After they pass by we sneak up from behind and attack that way. Jethro said most wagon masters are focused on what is up ahead and not behind. He did mention that in Indian country they do have a lookout that watches for Indians coming up from behind. But since this area isn't known for Indian attacks, they don't generally have lookouts. That will, of course, change once word gets out about our piracy. So it will be the first few wagon trains that a sneak attack will be most beneficial."

Tally raised his hand, "I've been thinking a lot about that, sir. I was wondering if you think maybe camouflaging the ship would be a good idea."

"Camouflage? How so?" Pigtail inquired.

"Well, I thought we could paint the ship to look like the area. You know a bunch of tans and browns and some spots of green. We might blend in to the surrounding area enough that people won't see us coming until we are right up on them."

"Great idea, Tally," Wicket said sarcastically. "I'll just hop on over to the paint shop and grab a couple of gallons of paint. Then we can be ready to go in no time."

Jethro said, "Actually, Indians use pigments from the local plants to make colors for their clothes and pottery. We could do that I suppose. But it may take a long time to gather enough pigments to paint something as big as our ship." Tally was secretly pleased because Jethro obviously thought his idea had merit.

"We could do the bow of the ship first. That will be the part of the ship they would be looking at anyway. And as time goes by we could paint the rest of it." Tally added.

"That's a pretty good idea, Tally, but we will have to hold off on it till after our first raid. I want to get the word out that we are the scourge of the plains and that no one is safe traveling across the Wind Hag's domain. That will really knock her reputation down quite a few notches. And I think that will tick her off no end. So I want to get going early tomorrow morning. I suggest every one of you get a good night's sleep, okay?"

"If we can't paint her now how about we get some of the grass and shrubs and tie them to the bow to help disguise her?" Tally didn't want his idea to get lost totally in the preparations for sailing in the morning.

"I don't think we can afford to use the man power to get her ready in that way. I need her ready to sail and the preparations are going to take long enough for just that. Using the time and energy to camouflage the ship will detract from that and we just can't afford the time. It was a good idea, though. We'll just have to execute later, after our first raid. Goodnight, everyone." With that said he headed for his cabin to get some sleep.

Tally looked at Wicket with disgust, "You just can't let me have my ideas can you. You just have to shoot them down, don't you."

"Not at all," Wicket replied. "I just thought it was silly to think we could find that much paint in such a short time. We're not exactly in the middle of a town, now are we?"

"Yeah, I know, but we might raid a wagon train with a paint dealer on it and we can steal his samples and paint the ship that way." Tally offered.

"Now how many paint dealers are you going to see traveling out west?"

"You never know. They will have buildings out there that will need paint, so someone has to sell it. But I do think your idea of a store just selling paint is stupid. Who ever heard of such a thing? The next thing you'll try to convince me of, is there will be some type of store that will supply you with all your building needs. Like that is gonna happen. We all know that stores have a little of this and a little of that for just about anything you might need but none of them specializes in just one area." Tally chuckled at the thought of this.

"You never know, it could be another one of those coming things." Wicket felt the need to point this out so he didn't feel so stupid at the thought of a specialty store.

"You are just so filled with these 'coming things' that you don't see the reality of life. If these things are so doggone important then why don't you open a specialty store, or open a sushi restaurant or one of the hundreds of other things that you have come up with. You're not gonna do that because that would prove that you don't know a blasted thing about what you are talking about. You're just too stubborn to admit it." With that Tally turned and headed to his bunk leaving Wicket standing there fuming. Well, he'd show Tally. Some day he would act on one of these great ideas and make it rich and then he would rub all that money in Tally's face. That would show him. He sulked off towards the ship to start preparing it for the morning's journey. He didn't feel much like sleeping at the moment.

~~~~~~

Chapter 14

The wagon train made its way slowly across the plains. They had been held back a whole day by a really bad sandstorm but finally got underway again. The people of the wagon train were very optimistic about their choice to leave the life they had known behind and set out for a new adventure. Most were hoping they would end up doing a lot better than they were back east.

Winter Bleathy was no exception. He had not been able to find work since the factory he worked in had burned down. They weren't gonna rebuild the factory and so he was at wits end when it came to finding a job. He was competing with all the others from the factory who had also lost their jobs. His fifth grade education was limiting his options. His wife, Skarlet, was constantly reminding him that he had three young children that needed to be taken care of, like he could forget that.

Then one day he saw an ad up on the side of the mercantile store. It was all about the West and all the opportunities that were available to those souls brave enough to chance the journey. So he went home and talked to his wife about it. She wasn't too thrilled with the idea of packing up what they could and leaving everything else behind. After all, her whole family lived there and she would miss them. To Winter, that was one of the reasons why he thought it was such a great idea. He was tired of his mother-in-law reminding him what a loser he was. But Skarlet wasn't seeing the big picture. She was just looking a little beyond the street they lived and no further.

It took a good month of Winter pestering Skarlet before she conceded. This was a red letter day for Winter because he never won an argument or anything else, for that matter, when it came to Skarlet. So he decided to make all the arrangements before she had the chance to change her mind. Within a week he had everything taken care of and had told his wife that the wagon train left early in the morning two days from now. She was still hemming and hawing about not going but he knew in the end she would go. The last thing she wanted was for people to think that she wasn't a good wife, appearances were everything to her. And good wives follow their husbands.

They were the last wagon in the train because Winter didn't have all that much experience with driving oxen. He was holding them up too much at the beginning of the journey. But he had finally mastered the technique so that he wasn't a half day behind all the others. The sandstorm had made his wife see red and she had started to harp on him about what a stupid idea this was. He couldn't wait for the moment when they got to their new home and he made good. That would shut her up. Of course, if that wasn't gonna happen then he could always hope for an Indian raid. According to the papers the Indians sometimes took the women of the wagon train as wives. He would keep his fingers crossed in regard to that happening.

The kids were having a great time. They were kids and didn't fully understand what was going on but they knew as long as they were with their parents they were safe. They mainly just sat on the back tailgate of the wagon and watched where they had been. That was what they were doing when the youngest, Cutter, saw something. He pointed this out to his sister Wisteria, who thought she was seeing things. She was sure that was a ship's mast with a sail on it but how could that be? This was right smack dab in the middle of land. There were no ships that could sail on the land. But the middle child, Poppy, confirmed what they were seeing. This being so bizarre they felt their parents surely would want to know.

"Pa, you're not gonna believe this but there's a ship with a big old mast coming up behind us real fast," Wisteria hollered to the front of the wagon.

"Hush now, child, what have I told you about telling stories? Your Pa is too busy trying to steer these oxen and avoid any holes to be bothered by you young'uns." Skarlet hollered back at the kids.

"But Ma, I'm telling you the truth. There is a big old ship coming up behind us."

"She's telling you the truth, Ma," Cutter yelled.

"Don't go sassing your Ma, you hear me, Cutter? I'm tired, I'm dirty and I'm pretty sure that my last two teeth have been loosened by the vibrations of this here wagon. So I am in no mood for your stories either." Skarlet was gripping the seat as they hit a rather deep hole this time.

"But Ma, Cutter and Wisteria are telling the truth. Honest to goodness. I promise," Poppy hollered.

"Do not make me come back there young lady," Skarlet was getting really mad now.

"Fine, if you don't mind being hit by a ship then that's your problem, but I'm jumping off when it gets too close." Cutter yelled.

"Your Pa will stop this wagon and turn around if you three don't stop it this minute. I mean it!" She threatened her kids.

The three kids just sat there fuming that their mother seemed to think they were telling her a story. You see, in her time 'telling a story' meant the same as 'lying.' And they didn't like to be called liars, most particularly since the ship had gained considerably on them and they could see it crystal clear now. It was definitely a ship.

Pill, who had lost the draw on whose turn it was to be in crow's nest, sighted the wagon train and had told Pigtail exactly how to steer to go towards it. She had the telescope and was watching everything that was going on. She noticed that there were three kids on the back of the last wagon. She was pretty sure they had seen them. I mean, how the heck can you miss a big old ship with a sail. You'd have to be blind. It looked like they had been yelling up to the front, maybe telling them that the ship was behind them, but since the wagon hadn't changed course or sped up, then she guessed that they either hadn't told them or that the people up front hadn't believed them. Who can blame them, how many ships do you see sailing on the land?

"Wisteria, do you think that is a mirage? You know, like we read about in the books, when we learned about the desert," Poppy asked her sister.

"I don't know. I'm pretty sure that three people seeing the very same thing ain't no mirage. As to just what it is I have no idea. Aside from it being a ship and all," Wisteria answered her sister.

"Gosh, if they have ships on the land you don't reckon they have land sharks, do ya?"

"Naw, how could they? They have to swim in water. You can't swim in land. So there isn't such a thing as a land shark." Wisteria was really hoping she was right about that.

"I can't swim," Cutter stated matter-o-factly.

"I don't think that is gonna matter too much. I'm thinking that running will be a much better choice. Though how the heck we're gonna out-run that thing is beyond me. Look how fast it has gotten up to us," Wisteria said.

Then suddenly from the front of the ship a loud 'BOOM" rang out. Wicket had, following the Captain's orders, fired cannon number one at the wagon train. It hit the earth with a big old plume of smoke off to the right of the wagon train.

Winter and Skarlet screamed and slapped the oxen with the reins in order to make them go faster. Though there had really not been a need to do that. Once that cannon ball hit the earth with a loud 'BOOM' the oxen had started to haul as fast as they could away from the area. The others in the wagon train were hauling it also. There were screams and panic among the wagon train. Most wagons veered off from the trail and away from the point of impact but unfortunately that meant they were headed towards some of the canyons. Once they were stuck, there would be no way they would get out.

Jethro realized what the wagon train was doing and where it was headed and told Pigtail that it wouldn't be a good idea for the wagons to go off the caprock into the canyons. So Tally was ordered to fire a cannon off towards the area the wagons were headed. He did so and wagons stopped just before heading off the caprock. The wagons turned around and headed the opposite direction. Of course, by this time the oxen, which were not the fastest of team animals, were starting to tire. They also weren't known for great spurts of speed so their endurance had worn them out. All the wagons had finally come to a stop in a small cluster. The ship came up on them and stopped.

The ship loomed over the small wagons and Pigtail went to the bow's railing and yelled down to the wagon train.

"We mean you no harm. We simply wish to rob you of your valuables and then you can be on your way. A few members of my pirate crew will now come down and collect your money and jewelry. I would strongly advise that none of you try to hurt or harm any member of my crew otherwise you will force me to destroy your entire wagon train and everyone who is in it. We don't want that to happen, now do we? After all the money and jewelry are given to my men then you are free to go back to your trail and your dream of a new life. And we wish you nothing but the best." He tried to sound as congenial as possible so as not to scare them too much but, really, he was fixin' to rob them and he had shot a couple of cannons balls at them, how could they not be scared out of their wits?

Wicket and Tally climbed down the ropes with a couple of bags to hold the loot. They went to each wagon and the people gladly handed over all their money and jewelry. Granted, most people were like the Bleathy's and didn't have too much money or any jewelry to speak of. So the haul wasn't all that much. But it was something. And something is certainly better than nothing. After Wicket and Tally were back on deck Pigtail waved to the wagon train to get moving, which they did despite the oxen needing to a rest.

"Okay, let's swing around and pick up those cannon balls. We don't need to lose any of them." So they swung around to retrieve the cannon balls.

"I thought cannon balls exploded on impact?" Pill said to Pigtail.

"Oh, they generally do but that's because they are filled with an explosive. But I realized that once we used all the cannon balls up we wouldn't be able to replenish the stock so I had Tally and Wicket take the explosive out and replace it with sand. According to Jethro, the dirt around here is soft enough that any type of impact would send dirt into the air and make it look like an explosion. This way we get to keep the cannon balls and still have them as a means to scare the wagon train." Pigtail explained to Pill.

"Hang on," Wicket suddenly spotted a problem. "Captain, just how the heck are we gonna get that cannon ball up the rope ladder. With the sand and all, it's really heavy. Me and Tally couldn't get it up here between the two of us."

"Well, piddle, I hadn't thought of that. Well, someone needs to come up with an idea really quick. We don't linger too terribly long in this area."

Pill had been watching all the goings on with a great amount of curiosity. She had been so excited about the action that she plumb forgot that she was supposed to be ready to shoot her slingshot at a moment's notice. As she looked down at the slingshot she got a sudden flash of brilliance.

"Captain, I think I know how to get the cannon ball back up on deck," Pill said.

So after a few minutes of preparation Tally climbed over the railing and Wicket tossed him a rope with a leather sling on the end to put the cannon ball in. Then Wicket and the girls all pulled the cannon ball up.

"That's was a great idea, Pill, I'm glad you thought of it, instead of someone else. You know, a certain someone who seems to be letting all these new ideas he's been getting go to his head." Wicket said in a whisper to Pill.

"I heard that. I'm not either letting it go to my head. I just think you're jealous because I have proven I'm not just a pretty face around here and that I can contribute just like you." Tally said in a rather huffy voice.

"Sorry, but you do seem to be rather full of yourself. And I'm not jealous, not in the least bit. I've always been considered the smart one and you've always been considered the pretty one. We've each had our own areas of specialty but now you're horning in on my territory. You don't see me trying to pretty myself up, now do ya? Nope, I'm not gonna take that away from you. So I would think you would show me the same courtesy. But no, you're trying to usurp my territory as the smart one."

"I am not! I don't even use a straw and if I did I would not be slurping it." Tally countered and proved to Wicket that he was in fact, still the smart one. This made Wicket feel much better.

Meanwhile, Pill and Lark were trying to figure out how the heck Tally was pegged as the 'pretty' one because they would have to strongly disagree with that. It wasn't that he was so ugly he would break a mirror but he certainly wouldn't win any beauty contests. He might win an 'average looking' contest but nothing more.

When they got back to their home port, the cave, they emptied the bags onto the table in the galley. There wasn't much to show for their efforts, a few dollars and some worthless trinkets, nothing more. There weren't any jewels or gold bars or anything like that. Pigtail was very disappointed.

"How the heck can we make a living off this," he pointed to the take in disgust. "There isn't anything worth much here. We can't sustain our existence here if we don't get any more than this each time we go out. We need something substantial. How the heck can we be a scourge of the plains if we have to declare bankruptcy?" Pigtail sat down more depressed than when the Wind Hag had denied his request.

"Maybe we should focus on the stagecoaches. Those are people who have enough money to buy a ticket and sometimes they have payroll on them. The only problem is they would probably shoot back at us, which is why I didn't suggest them in the first place," said Jethro.

"Ooo, I'd rather do that. I felt bad about hitting the wagon trains. I mean, here are these nice people who are looking for a better life and we go and rob them. That's not very nice," Lark said.

Wicket sighed and told her, "Lark, honey, we're pirates, pirates aren't nice people. It's in the rule book for piracy."

"There's a rule book? How come I've never seen it?" Tally asked.

"Because, it's the Captain's and he's the one who owns it and goes by it. I just saw it in the bookshelf and decided to take a gander at it just to make sure I was doing it right. I'm not doing all of it right but I am doing a good portion of it right, I think."

"I have a rule book on piracy? Well, that's news to me. I'll have to be sure and read up on it." Pigtail said a bit miffed that no one had told him about the book.

"But I still think we should be nice pirates. We could write our own rule book and make pirates nice people. I think all of you are very nice and since none of us wanted to kill and hurt anyone, it proves we're all nice," Lark said.

"Yeah, but you have to remember that strictly speaking, we're not really pirates. I was the cook before the real Captain was washed overboard. I was only chosen as Captain because the rest of the crew thought they could get rid me anytime they wanted. Wicket and Tally were nothing more than deckhands. They washed and cleaned the decks and did any types of repairs needed. They never really took part in the raids either. They were sent down below when the others attacked because the pirates didn't want them getting in the way. Sorry about that, guys."

"Nothing to be sorry for, we knew that was why they did that and we didn't really care. It kept us from getting hurt or worse, killed or something. So we gladly went down below. After all, if the ship was boarded then it would turn into a knife fight and I refuse to do that," Wicket said.

"Actually, Pill is the only one who had anything to do with any of the real pirates, since she was the Captain's cabin boy. So she's the only one who might have an inkling as to what a 'real' pirate is like."

"Yes, I suppose I do, but it's not a pretty sight. So I would prefer to be pirates like Lark wants, 'nice' pirates. That could be just as much fun and no one would get hurt, physically or emotionally." Pill decided to get her two cents worth in.

Jethro felt a decision was needed. "Okay, then it's decided that we will be 'nice pirates' and forgo anything that the pirate rule book may say we're supposed to do to be pirates. All in favor say 'aye.'" They all said 'aye' and so the measure was passed.

So Pigtail and Jethro sat down and made preparations as to how to go about robbing a stagecoach. Tally and Wicket went to the galley to make lunch and Lark and Pill headed outside to play. Pill was really getting the hang of it now and so she really wanted to play more in order to brush up on all the necessary skills needed to be a good player. Lark was thrilled to have a friend she could play with and talk to and they spent most of the day playing different games.

~~~~~~

Chapter 15

Meanwhile, back in the underground, the Flugs were not happy one bit about their dirt being hit so hard with cannonballs. To make matters worse, the dirt was thrown up into the air and blown away from the point where the Flugs had put it in the first place. No one was allowed to move dirt from its proper place unless it was the Wind Hag when she had a sand storm going on. But she, at least, filled out all the proper paper work about dirt displacement. The Flugs in the Department of Dirt always approved of the Wind Hag's request of dirt displacement. That was mainly due to the fact that they would all regret it if they didn't do as the Wind Hag requested.

The news of the attack on the dirt was heralded up and down the tunnels. The Flugs formed battalions and Gape and Gog were elected to be the ones to inform the Wind Hag of the security breach in her territory. They were not happy about this. The Wind Hag didn't like breaches in security. At least they were assuming that the Wind Hag wouldn't like this. They really didn't know for sure simply because no one had the guts to go against the Wind Hag. Whoever had done this would soon regret it. That was the one thing that Gape and Gog knew was true.

They knocked on the door to the throne room. They waited for Ethel to answer the door. As the door slowly opened they saw Ethel standing there with a wig on top of her head. It wasn't your everyday kind of wig either. It was one of those that had about three stories to it. It was almost as big as Ethel. This wasn't saying a whole heck of a lot since Ethel was an ant.

"What the heck are you wearing, Ethel?" Gog asked.

"It's a wig; her Royal Haggness wanted to play a game and for some reason this game included me wearing this wig. As to why, I have no idea," Ethel told them.

"It's because the game we were really playing was 'make Ethel look silly' and I won. Of course, I always win. That's because I'm the Wind Hag. Now what in roots cellar name are you doing knocking on my door and disturbing my game?" The Wind Hag demanded.

"Begging your pardon, your Royal Haggness, but there has been a breach of security."

"Goodness gracious, you two are so weak minded you let those stupid pirates influence you. Well, newsflash, there are no beaches here. That's because there is no water in the area to form a beach. So you two get back to work while Ethel and I play another game." She dismissed the two sentries with a wave of her hand.

They didn't know what exactly to do next. Should they follow orders and leave and not inform her of the security breach and end up paying for it later when she learned of it. Or did they correct her and face her wrath for having done so. Gape looked at Gog and shrugged. Gog looked at Gape and shrugged right back at him. So then Gog took a deep breath and decided to bite the bullet and get the worst over with now rather than wait for later.

"Begging your pardon, again, your Royal Haggness, but we didn't say 'beach' we said 'breach,' as in someone breached security. Someone attacked our dirt in quadrant 51 and caused the dirt to be displaced and they didn't have the authority from the Department of Dirt to do so." Gog held his breath as soon as he finished waiting for her wrath.

"So a little dirt got displaced, it happens. I don't think that it is very important. The dirt will eventually end up back where it started. Thank you for telling me. Oh, and Gog, if you ever imply that I misheard you again then you'll be pushing up daisies like Dreson. Do I make myself clear, Gog?"

"Absolutely, but begging your pardon once again, speaking of Dreson, he claims that it wasn't just one breach, but two and the dirt was displaced because of an attack on it by cannonballs. It happened in his quadrant and he witnessed the whole thing. He was just sitting there working on pushing up the daisies, which wasn't an easy task, because some oxen had unloaded right on top of the daisies and they got hungry and greedy and so they ballooned in size and it was making it that much harder for him to push them up, what with the increase in weight. Anyway, he saw this wagon train being attacked and cannonballs being fired and landing on the dirt and kicking it up in great plumes. He also said that the wagon train members had been robbed by their attackers." Gog closed his eyes waiting for her fury to hit him. When nothing happened for a few minutes he dared to take a peek to see what was going on. Gape was hunkered down at his feet as if to shield himself from her wrath. He too had his eyes closed tight. As Gog slowly dared to look at the Wind Hag he saw her sitting in her throne looking thoughtful.

"When she noticed that he was looking at her she smiled an amazing wicked smile at him.

"I'm thinking that the stupid human pirate, you know, the one who needed my assistance to get back home to the Gulf, has taken it upon himself to start robbing. Yes, I think that is what he is doing. Poor man, he not only is not going home but he's made a very stupid move, to go against me. Yes, I'll make him and his crew pay for what they have done. Who do they think they are invading my territory and harming the people who depend on my protection? Send for the Flug covert operatives, I have need for their special skills. Well, don't just stand there, MOVE!" She exclaimed with a big huff of wind being expelled from her mouth. It was a strong enough burst of wind to knock Gog and Gape off their feet. It took a good two minutes for them to scramble to their feet and hightail it out of the throne room.

The Wind Hag sat there on the throne and drummed her fingers on the arm rest. It was quite obvious from the look of concentration on her face that she thinking of what to do to get even with those stupid humans. Ethel took this opportunity to remove the silly wig from her head. She then scurried to her desk and grabbed a pen and parchment to take down any notes the Wind Hag may need taken.

It was over an hour before the covert operatives made it to the throne room. They were granted immediate entrance into the throne room.

"It's about time, I need you to find the hide out of the pirates and let me know where it is and when they are there. Then I will send the mother of all sandstorms after them and make them regret ever attacking someone in my territory. So go find them and for goodness sake, keep out of sight. I don't want them to know I know where they are hiding. This way I'll have the element of surprise. It makes things so much worse when you spring it on them suddenly." She had a wry smile on her face as she pictured just what she was going to do to them. She had decided that she would send out a very strong sandstorm but not one strong enough to send them back to the Gulf. Nope, she would see to it that they never made it back there. Well, at least not alive. This thought brought another smile to her face.

The covert operatives left the throne room and went straight to their commander to tell him of her orders. They were offended by her 'keep out of sight' remark. They were called 'covert' for a reason. They were experts at concealing themselves. Gorbook was the best covert field agent they had. He was a master of disguise. He once portrayed a cactus to such great success that it sent chills up and down his commanding officer's back, like little needles poking him. At least, that was what the commanding officer thought until he realized he had sat up against Gorbook and then he screamed in pain from all the cactus needles stuck in him. Gorbook hadn't been allowed to be a cactus ever since, much to his consternation.

Upon learning of the orders, the commanding officer, Gahn, agreed that this was a job for Gorbook. He also agreed that it was such an important job that he could even get his cactus suit out again and go as a cactus. But he made it clear to Gorbook that he was to take off the costume before entering the C.O.'s office. Gorbook left the office immediately, before the C.O. could change his mind and headed topside to carry out his mission.

Gorbook talked to all those Flugs that had been banished by the Wind Hag to live topside. He was able to follow the trail of the robbers pretty easily by following their directions. He soon figured out that they were hiding in the Bermuda Grass Square. Not his idea of a great place to go. He was just as superstitious as the next Flug and he feared the Square. The stories of dirt being dug up and moved without its consent were the scariest thing he could imagine. But he would have to ignore and overcome his fears in order to fulfill his mission. He just hoped they would give him hazard pay for this particular mission.

~~~~~~

Chapter 16

Lark and Pill were playing hide and seek with Tally and Wicket just outside the cave area. Tally was losing and doing so in rather undignified manner.

"There's no crying in hide and seek," Wicket said in a rather exasperated tone.

"You're cheating. I see you peeking when you're supposed to be hiding your eyes. And why is it I'm always the first one found? Huh? It's because you're cheating."

"There's no cheating in hide and seek," Lark pointed out.

"Well, Wicket is cheating. And that's why I keep losing. It's not fair." Tally's lower lip was stuck out and he was obviously about to start pouting.

"I tell you what, Wicket's 'it' again and he has to stay hidden, over here. See, Tally, he can't see anything when he's in this area." Pill was showing them all an area where the side of the cliff had been worn away by erosion and had created a small indention in the side of the cliff. "So Wicket has another go and if he finds you this time then..."

Before she could finish Wicket said, "Then it shows that I wasn't cheating and that you are just a lousy hider."

"I am not a lousy hider. I happen to be a darn good one. You're just a lousy cheater and now you're about to be found out. He then stuck his tongue out at Wicket.

"Oh, that was real mature. Here we are supposed to be role models for the girls and you're acting like a kid."

"Okay, enough, let's get on with the game at hand. Wicket you get into the indent and start counting. We'll go and hide." Lark said in a commanding voice.

So Wicket forced himself to squeeze into the indent and started to count very loudly. Lark, Pill and Tally took off to find a good hiding place. Tally, who was really bad at finding a hiding place, which was the real reason he was always being 'it,' tried to hide behind a mesquite tree. It wasn't a very full tree. It had very few leaves and you could see Tally's red bandanna very easily. Lark was much better at hiding and she found a place behind a clump of cacti. Pill found a boulder that was big enough to hide her if she hunched over. So they waited for Wicket to finish counting and come looking for them. Pill thought to herself that Tally was really a bad hider. She could see him from clear over where she was hiding.

Gorbook had donned his cactus disguise and had found a nice quite spot to stakeout. It wasn't long before he heard arguing and he knew that no one in their right mind would stay in the Square unless they had a good reason. A good reason, like they were hiding out after robbing the wagon train. So he sat and waited to see if any of them would show themselves. Sure enough, in a matter of minutes three of them came out from behind the cliff and scattered. The man went to stand behind a mesquite tree. Gorbook figured he had to relieve himself. Though, he thought to himself that if it was him he would have found a much leafier tree to do his business behind. One girl took off to hide behind a boulder. No doubt she knew what the man was doing and she wanted to shield herself from such indecency. The last girl had come over and was hunched down behind him. Great! Now he would have to concentrate on not moving and work on his shallow breathing. Wouldn't you know it, he always managed to get an itch when it was necessary for him not to move.

He heard another voice; this was of a man who seemed to be counting. In a few minutes this counter came from around the side of the cliff and started to look around. He obviously saw the man behind the mesquite tree but knowing that he was relieving himself he turned his back to give him some privacy. The man started to walk towards the boulder the little girl had hidden behind. As he turned the corner he said something to the girl but Gorbook couldn't make out just what he said.

"Hey, Pill, I just want you to know that Tally is hiding behind that mesquite tree over there." He pointed in Tally's direction. "But if I find him first then he'll have another hissy fit and I'm getting tired of him being a sore loser. I just wanted you to know that I can see him and that he's just a lousy hider and that I wasn't cheating."

Pill sighed and said, "We knew you weren't cheating and that he's a lousy hider but we just didn't want to hurt this feelings."

"Great, could you tell him that?" Wicket implored her.

"Not on your life. I'd hate to hurt his feelings."

"What about mine. He's gonna go on thinking I'm cheating and I'm not. That hurts to have him think I'm a cheater."

"I'll ask Jethro how to handle the situation. He's good at dealing with kids and their feelings," Pill suggested. That seemed to make Wicket feel a little better.

"Let's go get Lark now and then we can come up with some other game to play. One that Tally won't be so bad at," Pill said as she headed over to the clump of cacti.

When they got behind the cactus Wicket felt the need to tell her, "I can see Tally behind that mesquite tree so I wasn't cheating. I'm just trying not to hurt his feelings by letting him know he's a lousy hider." He certainly didn't want her thinking he was a cheater either.

But Lark wasn't paying attention to the two of them. She was looking instead at the cactus.

Gorbook was afraid he had moved and given his disguise away. Piddle, now they would take away his 'covert' title. He had worked hard to earn that title. Not everyone was lucky enough to manage to get it. His brother, Levious, had failed his boulder disguise class and was never able to attain the title. His brother was shattered when he failed. But that was mainly due to the fact that he had chosen a spot too close to the edge of the canyon cliff. When the CO said something to him about how bad his disguise was, it startled him. He ended up losing his footing and took a header off the cliff.

"What is it Lark? What are you looking at?" Pill asked in a hushed whisper.

Lark pointed over to the center of the cactus. Pill and Wicket strained to look but didn't see anything. They both shrugged at Lark to let her know they didn't see anything. She gave them an exasperated looked and motioned for Pill to come closer. When Pill got right up to her Lark leaned over and whispered something to Pill. Pill immediately stood straight up and moved very quietly to Wicket and whispered in his ear. Gorbook really wished that Flugs had better ears and hearing. He really needed to know if they were on to him. Wicket nodded at whatever it was Pill had told him and started to look around on the ground for something. This made Gorbook even more unsettled.

It was just about this time that they all heard a soft rattling sound. Gorbook froze. Here he had been so focused on the humans that he had allowed a rattlesnake to curl up nearby. Since he didn't want to give his position away he couldn't tell the snake to leave. As he was trying to think of some way to get the snake to move, Wicket came up on the cacti with a big old stick clutched in both hands raised over his head. He then started to beat the cacti senseless in hopes that he would hit and kill the snake in the same process. Unfortunately, Gorbook was one of the cacti beaten senseless. Though, being senseless helped him not to move and reveal his position. But at the same time it didn't feel all that great before the senseless part finally took hold. After that he didn't feel a thing.

"Okay, Wicket, I think you got him. He's not moving." Pill had grabbed Wicket's arm to stop him from bludgeoning the snake any more.

Lark reached down and looked at it more closely. "Yep, you definitely got him, Wicket. Good job. And what's great about this is we don't have to go hunting for supper. Rattler makes a great stew and it tastes just like chicken."

Pill and Wicket thought to themselves, there's no way it's gonna taste like chicken. So they grabbed the snake and headed over to Tally's mesquite tree to show him what was for supper. Gorbook just laid there and hoped that he would regain the feeling in his legs soon so he could get back to headquarters to make his report and apply for a Purple Bruise Medal, a medal given for those Flugs wounded in the line of duty.

"Hey, how'd you know where I was?" Tally asked looking askance at the snake in Lark's hand.

"Your bandanna gave you away. There isn't anything that is naturally red in this area. I would suggest the next time you not wear it. That could be one of the reasons that you have been found so easily." Lark replied with a perfectly good reason, other than he sucked at hiding, as to why he was found so quickly. Pill and Wicket looked at each other in relief. This meant they wouldn't have to tell him and hurt his feelings.

They headed back to the cave with Pill asking the others, "Did you notice that when Wicket pounded the cacti that it yelped in pain a couple of times?"

"I thought that was Wicket and he had been stuck by some of the needles," Lark said.

"Nope, I didn't get poked once. I thought it might have been the snake," Wicket replied.

"Do snakes have vocal cords to make noise? I thought that was why it had a rattle because that was the only way it could make itself known," Lark explained.

"So if it wasn't the snake and it wasn't Wicket, then who or what made the noise?" Pill inquired. They all took a look back at the cacti clump and wondered.

~~~~~~

Chapter 17

Gorbook waited until it had turned dark and then crawled back to headquarters. His whole body was throbbing but at least he had found out where the hideout was. Granted, this whole ordeal just brought home the fact that Square was indeed a very unlucky place to go and he was glad his part in this was all over so he wouldn't have to go back in there again. Then Gahn tells him he will have to lead the troops to the spot where they are hiding out. This didn't sit well with Gorbook. He grabbed a piece of paper and drew a map showing the exact location and handed it to the C.O.

"This will have to do. I have to get to the infirmary due to the injuries I have sustained during this treacherous mission. I wish you and the troops nothing but the best of luck. You will need it since you are going into the Square."

The C.O. scoffed and said, "I seriously doubt that there is anything to this story about the Square being 'bad luck.' It's a story and nothing else."

"If that's the case, then the humans are much more devious than you think. If it was not 'bad luck' that caused my being beaten then the humans were very sly in making me think it was a snake they were after and not really me. But I seriously doubt they would have used such measures to hide the fact that they knew I was there. So, in other words, they were telling the truth and it was my bad luck for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ergo, that makes the Square 'bad luck' and not just a story. And for your sake, I hope it is true. Otherwise you don't stand a chance against the humans if they resort to such trickery." Gorbook huffed off to the infirmary.

The C.O. looked at the map he had drawn and sighed. He guessed it would have to do for the time being. He called for his second in command, Gesus, and handed him the map. Gahn gave him orders to go and take the humans into custody. He made it clear that the Wind Hag wanted to deal with them on her own and to not harm them in any way. Otherwise, Gesus would be the one telling the Wind Hag what happened and he could face her wrath.

Gesus wasn't pleased with this assignment, partly because the C.O. was passing the buck and partly because the hideout was apparently in the Square. He knew it was a bad luck for anyone to enter the Square. And if Gorbook's physical condition was any indicator it just substantiated this claim. So he went out and gathered his troops and they prepared to march at midnight.

Gesus figured the humans would be asleep by this time and they could sneak up on them and capture them with little or no fighting. The last thing he wanted was to lose a few good Flugs in battle. Most of his troops were family men and he took their well-being as his personal responsibility.

Most of the Flugs were not happy to be told they would get no sleep tonight. Even more were upset about the fact they were going into the Square. A good number of them wrote out their wills and left them behind with their personal effects. That way they were sure that family members would get it. Then they suited up for battle and headed into the Square.

It was Tally's turn for night watch. Since the raids had started the Captain figured it might be best to have someone watching out for the authorities. Tally didn't particularly like to do it. He never could stay awake for very long. Wicket had tried to tell them that Tally wouldn't be a good night watchman but the others said that everyone had to take a turn. Tally had noticed that Pill and Lark didn't take turns, this wasn't too fair. But he did appreciate the fact that Wicket had come to his defense. He was pretty sure Wicket still was mad at him for calling him a cheater so he wouldn't have figured that he would come to his defense.

What Tally didn't know is the reason why Wicket didn't think Tally would make a good watchman. You see, Tally had a tendency to have nightmares and start sleep walking. Or should I say, sleep fighting. Wicket always figured it was something in his subconscious that harkened back to their very first pirate fight.

They had been peacefully asleep when the dreaded pirate, Brown Nose, had, in an attempt to please his former teacher, Howard Bonnie, attacked the Flummery. Since they were deckhands they slept on deck. But they had been told if there was ever a fight then they needed to get down below and out of the way. But since it was a surprise attack they had not had the time to get below. So they had to fight their way to the hatch. It was the only fighting they had ever done and they didn't do it very well. But since they were still alive they obviously did it well enough.

Anyway, Tally seemed to keep reliving this particular moment in their lives when he went to sleep. When he tried to explain this to the others they just scoffed and headed off to bed. Wicket would have accompanied Tally in the watch but he was just so doggone tired from beating the bejeebies out of the snake that he just had to get some sleep, so Tally was on his own. Wicket just hoped that nothing important happened.

Tally had drifted off to sleep about an hour after his watch started. It had started off with a rather pleasing dream of him on a beach with a bunch of women who were all cooking large pots of stew. Tally loved stew. He went from one pot to the next testing each stew and adding whatever ingredients were needed. Mainly there was a need for salt. Why no one uses salt much anymore he did not understand. It was as he was sampling the last stew that he looked out onto the horizon and saw all the ships headed towards the island. They had seen the smoke from the fires and had smelled the delicious aroma of the stews. Well, they darn sure weren't gonna take his stews from him. They were his and no one else's. He just wished they would turn around. He really didn't want to fight them over this. Food was food and he wasn't about to give up any of his. So he grabbed a sword and made ready the cannons. If it was a fight they wanted then a fight they would get.

The Flugs had cleared the last clump of scrub and were headed for the cave when all of a sudden they heard a loud 'BOOM!' Then a cannon ball hit the middle of the ranks sending Flugs and dust flying every which way. The Flugs scrambled and dove for any cover they could find. But this being the Plains there wasn't much to hide behind, mostly cactus, bear grass and mesquite trees. None of which could withstand a cannon ball. Some Flugs, the weaker of the squad, just simply turned tail and ran away screaming \- 'The curse of the Square is upon us!'

Tally was pretty sure he had hit one of the ships on the horizon but there were others, so he had to fire upon them also. This he did with great precision. Amazingly, in his sleep, Tally was a darn good fighter. Too bad it didn't translate over to his wakened state.

The rest of the pirates were jolted awake by the firing of the cannon. Pigtail was the first outside and headed towards Tally to keel haul him. Wicket, seeing the Captain headed towards Tally, managed to intercept him and keep him from harming Tally.

"He's asleep, Captain. I told you he couldn't be a night watchman. He sleepwalks, though technically he wasn't walking but fighting. I tried to make you understand but you just wouldn't listen." Wicket implored the Captain not to hurt Tally.

"I think we need to wake him up and stop him from hurting himself and keep him from possibly hurting us." Pigtail hollered over another cannon firing. Wicket agreed and they decided to each get on one side of Tally and then grab him. During this time, Tally had gotten off three more cannon shots. Suddenly, before Pigtail and Wicket could get close to him, Tally charged out into the scrub brandishing his sword and yelling 'Death to Tyrants!'

As Wicket and Pigtail watched helplessly, Tally ran out into the night, and suddenly they saw all these Flugs jumping up and running. That was when they realized that Tally wasn't sleep fighting but that a real enemy had invaded them and that he was protecting them. They sounded the alert and grabbed swords and headed into the fray. Wicket grabbed a club instead of a sword, simply because a sword is, in essence, a really big knife and we all know how he hates knives.

The Flugs, after being pounded by cannonballs and hearing the ruckus of the charging pirates decided that all was lost so they had best save themselves from the terror of the square and they took off running as fast as they could.

By the time they had caught up to Tally it was apparent that the Flugs were hightailing it outta there. Tally stopped running and turned to go back to the cave. Wicket and Pigtail checked the area to make sure all the Flugs had gone. Once satisfied that the Flugs had all fled, they headed back to the cave. There was Tally sound asleep in his hammock. Pigtail swung it upside down and tossed Tally out onto the deck. This woke him up with a start.

"What'd you go and do that for?" He said in a drowsy voice as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Are you telling me you slept through that whole thing?" Pigtail demanded.

"Slept through what? I didn't see or hear anything," Tally told them.

"We were being attacked by Flugs and you manned the cannons and fired on them and then you charged them down with a sword in your hand. That sent the Flugs fleeing for their lives. You saved us," Wicket informed him.

"Wow, do you know what that means? It means that fighting comes so easily for Tally that he could do it in his sleep. Now that's someone I want fighting for me." Jethro was amazed at Tally's daring and fortitude.

"Actually, it means that Tally is braver and a better fighter in his sleep than when he is awake. When he's awake he's basically a big chicken." Wicket told the others.

"For whatever reason he fought, he still defeated the Flugs and sent them running. So he did a good thing and saved us all. I think he should be congratulated for that feat." Pill thought it needed to be pointed out.

"Yeah, Tally, the hero of dumb luck," Wicket said sarcastically.

"But a hero just the same," Tally felt the need to rub it in a bit.

"Okay, for whatever the reason, he saved us. Congratulations, Tally. Now we will need to fortify the area since the Flugs know where our hideout is. We don't need another surprise attack. Actually, we might need to scout out another place we can call our home port, since this one has been compromised," Jethro pointed out.

"I agree, Jethro. You wouldn't happen to know of another cave we can hide in or possibly an inaccessible canyon?" Pigtail asked him.

"Not off hand. I never really explored the Square too much due to the horror stories associated with it. I just found this one by chance. I'll go scouting first thing tomorrow. Who knows, I might find another cave we can dock in." He scratched his head trying to think of the best place to start looking.

"Okay, Tally, you continue with the night watch and we'll try and get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us. I don't think they would dare another attack tonight. Not after such a resounding defeat." Pigtail said as he headed for his cabin.

Tally just stood there scratching his thigh and wondering what the heck happened to all his stew. Oh, well, it's around here somewhere; he thought to himself and climbed into his hammock.

~~~~~

Chapter 18

The Flugs were slowly making their way back to the barracks. Those who had turned tail and ran after the first cannonball were already in bed. The others trickled in one by one and fell into bed exhausted. Those few Flugs who had gotten lost in the Square would eventually manage to make it back. At least, that was what Gesus hoped would happen. He was just thankful that there were no lives lost in this battle.

Gesus was humiliated. Such a resounding defeat and at the hands of humans, he'd never live this down. He went to the C.O.'s quarters to fill him in on the details. Gahn wasn't too happy about being awakened so early in the morning. His mood didn't improve any when Gesus told him what all had happened.

"Are you saying that not one of your troops stood his ground? They all just chickened out and went home? What type of troops are you training? Yellowbellies?" Gahn demanded answers.

"Actually, my troops are family men who want to be there for their family. Being killed in the line of duty isn't what they had planned on. We also didn't plan on the pirates being ready for our attack. But they were. We were hit with cannonballs before their cave had come into view. So they knew we were coming. I'm guessing that Gorbook isn't as good at covert disguises as he used to be and they knew we were watching them. So they were ready and armed to take us on. As to their running away, we didn't have the necessary equipment to take them on. All we had were spears and bows and arrows. They are no match for cannons and gun powder. If you want them defeated then we must match them, fire power for fire power."

Gahn sat there for a good five minutes before answering, "You're right. We have to beat them at their own game. So if they use gun powder then we must do so also. We don't have much of it in our supplies so you had better plan out our next attack carefully and you must make sure that optimum damage is incurred. That way we won't have wasted the explosives."

"I'll begin planning right away. I know the lay of the land now so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to win against them. They are, after all, humans. We Flugs have and always will be superior to them in every way. They may outsmart us once but certainly not twice." Gesus saluted and left Gahn to get back to sleep.

Gesus woke up his very best strategists and they stayed up the rest of the night to figure out the best plan to take out the humans.

Meanwhile, Jethro couldn't sleep after all the excitement of the attack so he got dressed and headed out to look for a new hideout. He thought it might be best to find one immediately so that if the Flugs attacked again then they wouldn't know where the pirates were.

He saw that Tally was back in his hammock sound asleep. Though Tally did stir every once in a while and murmured something about no one touching his stew. Jethro shrugged, not knowing and, for that matter, not wanting to know what that was about. He headed south in hopes of finding some place in the canyons that would be protected and not that easy to get to. He had searched most of the night and by early morning he had finally found the perfect place. It wasn't a cave but it was definitely well protected and would be easy to defend in case of an attack. It was also well hidden. So the Flugs would have a hard time finding them. He headed back to the cave and made it back by the time Wicket had breakfast finished. He informed the others of what he had found and they all agreed it would be best if they went there immediately before the Flugs could rally the troops back together again. Jethro figured that it might take a while to get the troops all gathered up simply because they had scattered like dust in the wind. Since he knew that most Flugs didn't have a great sense of direction that might take days to happen.

After Wicket and Tally had gathered up the cannonballs that Tally had used in last night's battle, the pirates started to break down the hideout and prepared to head out to the new one. It took most of the morning to get everything torn down and loaded up. Jethro was just thankful that he had kept his two oxen, though he had mainly done that to insure the girls had fresh milk. But the oxen came in handy in getting everything moved and moved quickly. By midafternoon they had everything they needed and wanted at the new hideout. All they needed to do now was set up the cabins.

Jethro took one of the oxen back to the original cave. It had been decided to try and fool the Flugs into believing that this was still their hideout. That meant that Jethro would set things up to make it look inhabited. He got some of the gourds that grow wild and with some straw and old clothing he made dummies to pose as lookouts, using the gourds as heads. He even went so far as to paint faces on the gourds. He went out a few hundred yards to see what the dummies looked like from afar and was pleased with the way it looked. So he got back on his oxen and tied some scrub to the back of the oxen so that it would drag the ground and obliterate any signs of their having moved their hideout.

With all the precautions achieved the pirates settled down into their new hideout. It was a large outcropping in the canyon wall. You couldn't see it from up top and you wouldn't have known it was there from the way the wall angled out to the side. It wasn't until you were right in front of it, that you would see it. But by the same token there were little perches that could be utilized by the lookouts to watch most of the valley area. From those lookout points you could see for miles. So there was no way the Flugs would be able to sneak up on them like they did last night.

The Flugs, like the pirates had had a very busy day and they too had accomplished a lot of things. It had been decided that a lookout would be sent to keep an eye on the humans. Just so they knew just what they were up to. Unfortunately, this decision wasn't made until after the pirates had already moved. But the lookouts thought the dummies that Jethro had set up were really humans so they thought they still were using the cave. They sent a report saying as much back to the C.O. and Gesus.

Gesus and his strategists had devised a great plan that even the C.O. approved. They would send the demolition crew out in early evening and set charges on the cliff just above the cave opening. Then they would do another, though hopefully more successful, frontal attack and drive the pirates into the cave. Then they would blow the cave entrance up and trap them inside. There would be no way they could dig themselves out. After all, they aren't Flugs. They don't have control over dirt like the Flugs do. They would then starve to death without the Flugs actually having to take their lives by their own hands. They would never bother the Flugs again. So the C.O. gave the necessary orders to have this plan carried out. This time, he would be sure it was done properly and would supervise it himself. That way the victory would go down on his record. Of course, if it failed, then it was all Gesus' idea and he had nothing to do with it.

The demolition squad had managed to make it to the cliff top just above the cave and set their charges. They then crawled back down and signaled the ground troops that the charges were set so they could commence with the ground attack whenever they were ready. Gahn was looking at the cave entrance and could see two humans just sitting there. He knew that they would spot any movement above ground so he had the mining crew dig shallow tunnels in the direction of the cave. This way the troops could get up close enough to the cave without being seen. And since they were Flugs they were very good at traversing the dirt.

With the tunnels finished in short order he sent the first wave of troops to get through the tunnels and take up positions for attack. He had a second wave of troops ready to head out on ground if the humans spotted the tunnel squads coming out of the tunnels. He hoped the ground troops would distract them so that all the tunnel squads would make it out of the tunnels and in position to attack and drive the humans back into the cave. The two humans at the mouth of the cave didn't appear to have noticed anything. They hadn't even moved since the Flugs had gotten there. Gahn figured that the two had fallen asleep on the job. That was typical for humans, too lazy to stay awake for an attack. Well, all the more easy for the Flugs to gain a great victory. So Gahn gave the order to start attacking and drive the humans into the cave.

The ground troops, from the initial tunnel squads, leapt up and threw their spears at the humans and the archers let loose their arrows. The humans pretty much rolled over and played dead from what Gahn could see. Daggum it, he told them not to kill anyone. It was about that time that Gesus, who was also looking through another pair of binoculars, noticed that the heads of the humans were headed into the cave. It almost appeared as though they were rolling but that was impossible. It was most likely they were crawling into the cave to keep low and out of the range of the spears and arrows. So Gesus told Gahn that the humans were crawling into the cave to hide. Gahn immediately ordered the charges to be detonated and in a few minutes there was a very loud explosion and the top of the cave crashed down covering the entire entrance, thus trapping the humans inside. This was a really great victory for the Flugs. Now with the humans trapped they would have to just sit there and wait to die.

Gahn congratulated all the troops and told them that this was an important day in the history of the Flug military. Yes, the Flugs outsmarted the humans and trapped them like the animals they were. They headed back to headquarters to celebrate.

Just off to the south of the cave, Jethro and Lark, who had been hunting for supper, heard a ruckus and so they crawled closer to the noise to see just what was up. They saw the Flugs not too far from the cave opening. They heard them charging at the cave and attacking. In a few minutes there was a great explosion and the top of the cave came crashing down.

"Gosh, I guess it was a good thing that we left," Lark said in the greatest understatement of the world.

"I figured the Flugs would try to attack again. That was why I wanted to get us out of there. They aren't the swiftest of creatures but they are bound and determined to win, no matter what," Jethro said.

"You think we had better get back to the new hideout and let everyone know what happened?"

"I think, for the moment, we should just lie here real still and wait for the Flugs to leave. That way they won't see us and then follow us to the new hideout. The last thing we need is to have them attack us there."
They lay there for over an hour to make absolutely sure all the Flugs had left the area. It took them a while to leave because the Flugs had to have their epic battle recorded by their historical artist, who obviously was very slow at drawing. A souvenir, Jethro supposed. He didn't figure any of them would hang around for too terribly long simply because they were in the middle of the Square and the Flugs were just as superstitious as any human was about the Square. When it was absolutely obvious that they had left, Lark and Jethro slowly crawled back down into a canyon and headed back to the new hideout.

~~~~~

Chapter 19

When they got back to the hideout Lark and Jethro proceeded straight to Pigtail's cabin to inform him of the Flug's attack on the cave. Wicket and Tally followed them into the cabin, not wanting to miss out on anything good.

"The Flugs blew up the entrance of the cave. It's totally covered with rock and dirt now," Jethro told them.

"Didn't they realize that we weren't in there?" Pigtail asked.

"Nope, I set up dummies of Tally and Wicket in the cave's entrance. So it looked like we were still there and the dummies were the lookouts. The Flugs aren't all that smart and they pretty much think all humans look alike. They fell for it, hook, line and sinker," Jethro laughed.

"So they think we are buried underneath all that rubble? This means they shouldn't come looking for us any time soon. At least until we rob a stagecoach. Then they will know we weren't killed or trapped in the cave," Pigtail said.

"That's pretty much the scope of it," Jethro agreed.

"I guess this means we should really think about this next robbery and figure out a way not to let the Flugs know that we are still out there robbing. Any ideas as to what tipped them off to us in the first place?" Pigtail asked the others.

"It was the cannonballs hitting the dirt. It would have sent a rumble through the tunnels and they would have felt that. Then they have those Flugs who are topside who would have witnessed it all. I think it'll be mighty hard not to let the Flugs know that we are still out here. We can stop using the cannons, that should stop the rumblings but as to those Flugs who are topside, that's another story. We would need to know their whereabouts and then avoid those areas. I have no idea about how to get a location on them. They blend in with the dirt so well that you could be standing on top of one of them and you wouldn't know it. Well, you'd know it, but that would be because they would be yelling at you to get off them. But that's the only way," Jethro explained.

"Too bad we don't have any little creatures of our own to use as scouts to let us know where the Flugs are." Wicket was thinking out loud.

"Hey, what if we got some of the other creatures to help us? I bet they don't like the Wind Hag either. Maybe they know of some way to destroy her. That would really be getting even with her, making her lose her kingdom and all," Tally said excitedly.

"Yeah, but who would we get?" Wicket asked.

"We couldn't get any Knarls to help us. I treated that little Piteque badly and didn't even let him have the honey, so that rules them out," Pigtail added.

"Actually," Pill said rather hesitantly, "I gave Piteque the honey. I mean, the deal was that he would get an audience with the Wind Hag for us and he lived up to his end of the bargain. So I thought it was only fair to give him the honey."

Pigtail smiled at Pill's act of kindness and thought to himself that she would never make it as a real life pirate. He secretly hoped that she never found her father because he was relatively sure that she would be really disappointed in the type of person he was.

"So do you think we should try and find a Knarl and ask them if they want to help bring down the Wind Hag? They might actually know of a way of taking her out," Lark asked.

"I think we should find one and ask them to join us for dinner. Then we could feel them out as to whether they would be willing to help us or not," Pigtail suggested.

"But we don't need to invite them here. The last thing we need is for one of them to tattle to the Flugs and then lead them to our hideout. So we need to have this dinner as far away from here as possible," Jethro said.

"Actually, I think that plan would be moot," Pill stated.

"Why is that?" Pigtail asked.

"Piteque is sitting in that mesquite tree just over there," Pill pointed over to a tree just outside the hideout's entrance. "I bet he's been listening to everything we've been saying."

"How the heck do you know it's Piteque? All Knarls look alike to me," Jethro asked.

"Because he still has the jar that had the honey in it. See it; it's at the base of the tree," Pill pointed to the tree again.

"Well I'll be, I wonder how long he's been following us? If it's been since we moved to the cave then he could have warned us about the Flug's first attack last night. That might be a clear sign that he isn't willing to help," Pigtail pointed out to the others.

"Or, it could mean that I didn't know about the attack and so I couldn't warn you about it." Piteque shouted as he climbed out of the mesquite tree and walked over the others. "The Flugs don't like the Knarls and we return the favor. They are filthy dirty things that wallow around in mud and call it a 'bath.' We avoid them just as much as they avoid us. Besides we live topside and the Flugs are undergrounders. Well, those who haven't gotten into trouble with the Wind Hag are undergrounders, the others are punished by being sent topside. So there was no way I could have known that they were going to attack. Though I figure it was considered retribution after you beat the stuffing outta their spy, Gorbook." He nodded his head in Wicket's direction as he said this last part.

"I didn't beat anyone, let alone a Flug," Wicket said defensively.

"Yeah, you did, when you were hitting that snake you also hit the cactus. And one of the cacti was Gorbook. He's one of their top covert field operatives. He's a master of disguise. I didn't even realize that the cactus was him until he started to crawl away. I didn't mention that because I didn't figure that Gorbook would admit to what happened. I mean, being jumped and beaten when you're undercover normally means your cover has been blown so it makes you look like you're doing shoddy work. That usually means a trip topside."

"So they sent a Flug to come and spy on us? I guess we need to get some lookouts set up to watch the parameters. The last thing we need is to have another attack, most particularly since they are blasting things now," Pigtail sighed.

"Actually, my sources say that was the last of their gun powder. So you needn't worry about that. My sources also say that the Flugs think you were in the cave when it blew so you are now trapped. So they shouldn't be sending someone to search for you anytime soon. Though if you rob anything else and use those cannonballs and shake the earth then they will know you are not trapped," Piteque told them.

"Is that why they came after us this last time, because we used cannonballs?" Pill asked.

"Oh, my, yes, they don't like anyone to disturb the earth and your cannonballs not only shook the earth but it sent dirt flying. That's two major no-no's as far as the Flugs are concerned."

"But the Wind Hag disturbs the dirt when she creates a dust storm. How come it's okay for her to do it and not us?" Jethro said defensively.

"Because she is an all-powerful being who has the power to control the wind. And I'm not just talking about topside either. She can send a fierce wind through the tunnels and sends Flugs flying. That doesn't even take into account of the mess that the Flugs have to clean up afterwards. So she can do what she wants. She is, basically, their queen. This is why she has that big old throne of hers and why the Flugs are her 'army' of minions. So of course they are going to take whatever she hands them. But you're not all-powerful and you can't control anything, really. So they aren't scared of you humans in the slightest bit," Piteque explained.

"Is there some way we can take the Wind Hag down?" Pigtail asked.

"You could rob her of her powers. But that's all you could do and that wouldn't be easy. If it were easy then it would have been done by the Flugs years ago," Piteque said.

"Well, we are pirates and robbing is what we do best. After all, we robbed the wagon train, didn't we?" Pigtail said matter of factly.

"True, but what did you get to show for your efforts?" Piteque asked.

The pirates sat there and looked sheepish. It was one thing to know you didn't get anything from the wagon train and another to have someone or something else know it too. No one likes to have a failure thrown in their face.

"Okay, so we didn't get anything worth mentioning from the wagon train. But that was due to the fact that they didn't have anything to start with. You can't get tomato juice from a turnip. So we don't have anything to show for our efforts but the fact is we stopped them and held them at bay and robbed them. So we did do the job we had set out to do and we succeeded in that respect. It wasn't our fault that they didn't have anything valuable," Pigtail said in a rather defensive tone.

"He's got a point; we did do the job we set out to do. We just picked the wrong thing to rob. We should have gone after a stagecoach and not a wagon train," Jethro agreed with the Captain. "I take full responsibility for that. I should have known better. After all, I've led wagon trains most of my life and I just didn't think about the fact that most families are trying to escape poverty, so they wouldn't have too many valuables."

"Actually, the truth be told, the Captain wanted to make it where the people who come under the Wind Hag's protection would not feel safe. So that would be a bad reflection on the Wind Hag and her powers to protect those in her territory. We managed that so we did achieve what we initially set out to do. Any money we got was just going to be the icing on the cake," Pill added.

"True, I did want the Wind Hag to pay for not granting us our request. I mean, she wouldn't have sent the Flugs out to get us if we hadn't managed that, would she?" Pigtail brightened up a bit at this realization.

"True, the Flugs would never have come after you without her orders. It doesn't matter how much dirt you displace. They are too scared of doing something that she wouldn't like. So they get permission for every little thing. They even got permission to set up a compost heap. What difference would it have made if they had set it up without her permission? They are just too scared of her and her wind." Piteque was rummaging around in the cabinets looking for honey as he said this.

"So, we have established that we are competent robbers and that we did actually achieve our mission, though we have nothing to show for it. I think we should have no problem robbing the Wind Hag of her power. That is if a certain someone was to tell us just how to go about doing that," Pigtail summed it up and had turned to look at Piteque, who had his head sticking inside the lard bucket.

"You're not gonna find any honey in there," Lark giggled as he pulled his head out with some of the lard sticking to the top of his head.

Piteque wiped the lard outta his hair and it ended up being slicked back and unmoving. This gave Wicket a great idea.

"Hey, I bet we could sell that stuff as a hair product. You know, 'If you don't want flyaway hair then use Lardo, the complete hair care product that guarantees your hair will stay in place.' That could be the next big thing," Wicket was smiling as he said this.

"Well, it's a heck of a lot better idea than the sushi," Tally admitted but deep down inside he really didn't think people would be gullible or stupid enough to want to slick their hair back with lard.

"Sushi?" Lark looked questioningly at Tally.

"It's a long and rather sickening story that involves raw fish and restaurants. I'll tell you about it later," Tally said as soon as he saw the look on Pigtail's face. The last thing he wanted was to tick off the Captain. He was pretty sure the Captain was still a might ticked about his sleep fighting last night, even if it did save their lives.

"I'll be more than happy to tell you about how to rob her of her power source. But like I say, if it were something that was easy to do then the Flugs would have done it ages ago."

"The Flugs, no offense, don't strike me as being the swiftest of creatures so I figure they haven't robbed her of her power source because they are just too dumb to figure out how. All we need is all the necessary information about it and where it is. Then we can devise a plan to steal it from her. Once we get our hands on it then we can use it to send ourselves back to the Gulf and away from here. Now that would really tick off the Wind Hag. And I want nothing more than to tick her off," Pigtail was rubbing his hands together just itching to get started on the planning.

The others were just as excited about robbing the Wind Hag but for them it was more for the adventure than for the power itself. Sitting around the cave and now their new hideout could get rather tedious and boring. And the adrenalin rush from the wagon train holdup had long ago worn off. So Pill went over to the locked cabinet and pulled a small jar of honey from it and gave it to Piteque on the condition that he would give them all the details they needed to plan this robbery and that he would help if necessary. Piteque agreed, but mainly because he wanted the Wind Hag brought down, the honey was just a bonus as far as he was concerned.

~~~~~~

Chapter 20

Piteque was smacking his lips as he settled down at the map table. Most of the maps on the table were useless because they were of the Gulf and there were none that were of the land. So his first suggestion was to call his kinfolks in and have them help with the drawing of maps of the landscape and the tunnels. Pigtail wasn't sure if that was a good idea but Piteque eventually convinced him that they wouldn't tip off the Flugs as to what was going on. Knarls hated the Flugs and the Wind Hag so they would be more than happy to help with her downfall. Though he did say he would be sure that his cousin Raymond wouldn't be invited, but that was because Raymond was dumber than a stump and wouldn't help their cause but would only get in the way. Pigtail gave a sidelong glance at Wicket and Tally but said nothing.

Piteque left to get the word out to his kinfolk and the others settled down to making the new hideout a much nicer, homier place to live. Lark and Pill decided to go and look for more honey since they would have Piteque's clan coming. They were pretty sure the honey wouldn't last them all that long once they got here.

Tally and Wicket decided to go with the girls because they were afraid that something might happen to them and then they would get into trouble for not watching out for them. It didn't take too long to find a bee hive. Lark had said it would be near the fields of flowers so they could gather the nectar and make honey from that. Tally just marched right up to the hive and started to gather the honeycomb when he suddenly realized that probably wasn't a good idea. Pill figured it was all the bees stinging him that got that across to him. Wicket stifled a laugh as Tally ran around in circles, yelping each time a bee stung him. Lark yelled at Wicket to head for the small pond and dive in and hide underwater until the bees left. So he hightailed it to the water and jumped in. Lark, taking advantage of the bees' absence, headed straight to the hive and gathered all the honey she could fit into the jars they had brought along.

It was about five minutes before the bees gave up on Tally and headed back to the hive but by that time Lark had gathered all the honey she needed. They waited for Tally to surface. Luckily, he had found a reed and was using that to breathe with. When he finally came up out of the water he was swollen all over with the bee stings. Wicket had to half-carry half-drag him back to the hideout. Once they got there Jethro tended to Tally and his bee stings. Wicket was thinking that bee stings were a good thing. Well, for Tally. He hadn't said a single thing since he got stung. In Wicket's book that could only be a good thing.

It wasn't until late afternoon that Piteque came back with his family. There were five members of the family with him today. And they all looked exactly alike, except for his mother. She had tied a bow in one of her branches to either make sure we all knew she was female or she was just the bow type of person.

Pill and Lark sat down with the family of Knarls and waited expectantly for something good to happen. They had both figured that Pigtail's dislike of Piteque would also be transferred over to his family and that surely meant fireworks. Or at the very least a great wrestling match and they didn't want to miss a second of it.

Piteque gave a bow to the girls and then introduced his family to them. "This is my Ma, but most people call her Orida."

Lark said, 'Oooo, that's a pretty name and unique too."

"Yep, nary a one is named that, in this area. And I'm pert near sure that they aren't named that outta this area either. My pop wanted a boy and told mom that that she better give him one 'Or I da run if I were you'." So mom shortened that to Orida, what with me being a girl and all. But pop didn't seem too sorry he had a daughter. I could keep up with my brothers any old day. And couple of them I would out do, in certain things. So I was just as good as a boy as far as my pop was concerned," Orida explained.

Piteque continued with his introductions as soon as his ma finished speaking. "These are my brothers, Billy Bob Bubba..."

Pill interrupted him, "Which one is Billy and which one is Bob?" This was a perfectly logical question under the circumstances.

"Um, just this fella right here, he's all three in one. That's his full name Billy Bob Bubba. We call him BB for short."

"Shouldn't you call him BBB for short?" Tally asked as he walked over to the table.

"That's too much of a mouth full, buddy boy, so is his full name so we just shorten it as much as we can. And two 'B's' is better than three any old day," Orida explained.

"Gotcha," said Tally, a little put off at being told off by a stick.

"This one here," Piteque had grabbed the middle Knarl and shoved to the front, "is Bobby Joe Jelly, we call him BJ for short. And he's named jelly because he prefers that to honey. And this one is my Pa, his name is Arbordale. And this scrawny one here, this is my Uncle Barkley. Don't worry his bark isn't worse than his bite. So don't tick him off 'cause he always bites you if you don't agree with him. But that's strictly between us and not for the Captain's ears." He had big grin on his face when he said this last part. Pill thought he wanted Barkley to take a bite outta Pigtail and see if he would squeal like a pig.

"That's all the clan I could get hold of real quick. There are others who would help but they weren't around. I'll have to wait until night fall when they go home to get ahold of them. But you needn't worry; we'll get plenty of them to help. Like I said, we Knarls don't like the Wind Hag so if we can help with her downfall then we most certainly will."

Pigtail and Jethro walked in to see the Knarl clan standing on the table and talking to Pill, Lark and Tally. So they came over to the table and asked if they needed anything. It appeared as though Pigtail was willing to call a truce with Piteque in order to take down the Wind Hag. They were given small cups of honey, except for BJ; he got a small cup of jelly and they were allowed to finish them off before they got started on the maps.

When the Knarls had finished with their libations they got up and told Pigtail they needed something to draw the maps with, so Pigtail handed them a pencil. Arbordale grabbed the pencil and looked at it wearily, "Uncle Woody, is that you?" He asked the pencil.

Jethro slapped his hand to his forehead and said, "Great, we just gave him a reason not to help us. We killed his Uncle Woody."

"Well, ya fill anything up with that much lead and what do you expect," giggled Lark.

Arbordale looked at Lark and broke out laughing. Piteque told Jethro that it was a 'Knarl joke' and not to take too much that his pa said seriously. Jethro laughed and then sighed in relief.

They sat down and Arbordale used the pencil while Barkley guided him. BJ and BB sat down watching as they ate some honey. Orida sat and talked to the girls.

"It's so nice to have some feminine talk. With the boys all you get is sports talk or hunting talk. I can't tell you how nice to sit here and not have to talk statistics and whatnot," Orida told them.

Lark asked her, "Did you not have any daughters?"

"Nope, wasn't lucky enough to have any gals but that don't bother me none. The boys are real good at taking care of things and looking out for me and their pa. So I can't complain. I would like for them to get married. That's one of the reasons I'm all fired set on getting even with the Wind Hag." She continued when she saw the confused look on Pill's and Lark's faces. "The way she has things running, once you pick a mesquite tree to call your own then that's it, no traveling to other trees to visit. Nope, you've got to stay and protect the tree. That cuts down on the visiting and courting. Now how the heck are you gonna get married if you don't move about and visit and court. I personally think it's the Wind Hags' way of trying to get rid of our species. She's never liked us too much. At least not since my Grandpappy went and played that practical joke on her. He gave her a gift of these looking glasses. You could see real far away if you looked through them. Well, that's just what the Wind Hag did and when she pulled the glasses away from her face she had two big old black eyes. She didn't find that very funny. But the Flugs were on the ground rolling with laughter. That was probably why she hated the joke so much because she was getting laughed at and she didn't like that in the least. I think the poor gal just doesn't have a sense of humor. I say you should be wary of anyone without a sense of humor. Anyway, after that joke she laid down some new laws, most of which were aimed at getting even with the Knarls."

"Boy, that's not very nice," Pill declared.

"There ain't nothing nice about the Wind Hag. I thought y'all had a pretty good grasp of that. I thought that was the whole reason you were going after her," Orida said.

"That's true, but Pill isn't one to think unkindly of anyone. So she gives people the benefit of the doubt. She thinks there has to be something good about almost anyone. And a lot of the time that's just not true, as is the case, apparently, with the Wind Hag." Lark explained to Orida.

"Well, you got that right, there ain't nothing that's good about her. She even eats with her mouth open." Orida shivered a little at the thought and continued, "Did you know that her father was even worse. Not only was he a blustery fella but he was full of hot air. It's bad enough to make the wind blow but to make it a hot wind, now that's just cruel."

"So what happened to her father?" Pill asked.

Orida thought for a moment and then decided it was okay to tell the girls. They should be old enough to hear the story, "Well, when you have special powers, like controlling the elements, then you can't really die. At least, not until you're made mortal again. As an immortal you can live forever. That's why most offspring have to go elsewhere to use their power. All the immortals who have the power to control the wind are offspring of the Wind Hag's pa. They had to find another place to use their power. And you know how it is when families get together; they have this need to outdo each other. If they had all stayed home, then they would be constantly competing against one another trying to outdo the others. If they had all stayed here then it would have been too windy for anything, creatures, trees or grasses to survive. So they all left."

She took a swig of honey and continued. "Now her pa had a wandering eye when it came to the ladies. But most of the immortal women didn't want to have anything to do with him. After all, he was just a big old wind bag, what woman wants to tie herself down to that? Not me, that's for sure. So he got to where he was looking at the human women. There was one in particular that really caught his fancy. So he courted her. But she knew he was an immortal and she wasn't one to want a whole lot of power herself. She was afraid that she might abuse the power and so she told him the only way they could be together was for him to give up his power and become a mortal too. None of us figured he would but sure enough, he did in no time flat. So he gave his daughter his power source and became mortal. He owns a used wagon lot in Toledo and seems to be very happy."

"He gave the Wind Hag his power source so now she has his and her power source so that makes her the most powerful Wind Hag there is. That's why the winds of West Texas can be so brutal. She is also more powerful than any of her siblings. They were all jealous that their pa had given her his power source so they haven't spoken to her in decades. So that's how she became so powerful." Orida finished up her story and smiled at the girls.

"Now why would anyone give up power to marry someone else? That doesn't make sense," Lark huffed.

"Shoot, love don't have to make sense. That's why it's called 'love.' Love is short for 'Look Out, Very Emotional.' It's unlike anything else on earth. Now, you gals are just too young to understand because you haven't been in love yet. But you can bet, as sure as the wind will blow on the Plains, that when it does happen to ya, you'll understand everything. But until that happens you're just gonna have to take my word for it," Orida said knowingly.

"Boy, I'm not too sure I want it to happen to me if you lose all your common sense," Lark said.

Pill added, "Me neither. So if she's the most powerful then how are we gonna get both her power sources and destroy them both?"

"That's the easy part. It's the getting to the location to where the power sources are that's gonna be the hard part. It's very well protected, as well it should be. But once we get there then we'll be able to take care of them, no problem." Orida gave a sweeping gesture with her arm to indicate that it would be wiped out.

"But if there is no power source then will that mean that there won't be any more wind on the Plains? That's what makes it the Plains in the first place. It's all so wind swept that no mountain could withstand the force. I would hate to cause the Plains to stop existing. It's some of the most beautiful country in the world," Lark said with a hint of distress in her tone.

"Don't you go and worry about that none. As long as there are Wind Hags then there will be wind on the Plains. Once this particular Wind Hag loses her power I'm betting that another one will be more than happy to take over for her. If for no other reason than to show her up by rubbing in the fact that she still has her power source and this Wind Hag doesn't. So you needn't worry about that," Orida smiled knowingly.

"So what exactly is the plan, in regards to our getting to the power source? I mean, if it's gonna be really hard to get to it than just how will we do it?" Pill asked with genuine curiosity.

"You shouldn't worry about that. My Piteque is one smart Knarl. In fact, I'm guessing he's had this planned out for years and was just waiting for someone who was willing to go after the Wind Hag and who was strong enough to possibly achieve it."

"Just what does he have against her? He seemed to like her when he took us to her," Pill pointed out.

"Like her? Are you nuts? He hasn't got a wife because of her and he's kinda lonely. But that pretty much sums up the life of any Knarl at the moment. So we'll be able to get their help in this quest without any problems. It's the other underworld creatures that we might have trouble with. They like the Wind Hag because she takes care of them and provides food for them. This way they don't have to go looking for it themselves. And let's face it; if some of them were left to fend for themselves then they would starve. The Wind Hag has provided for them for so long they have forgotten what it's like to hunt. So we'll be going up against all of them because you bet your sweet honey, they are gonna do everything in their power to stop us, most particularly the moles. They can't see all that well and so they don't want to have to try and catch supper for themselves."

"Hey, if they can't see all that well then we should be able to use that against them, can't we?" Lark inquired.

"Certainly we will," Piteque had come up from behind to get in on the conversation. "But they have other means in which to 'see,' so to speak. It's a type of sonar and the Wind Hag gave it to them so they owe her and therefore will fight for her and her power source. Actually, the moles aren't the ones we need to worry about; it's the prairie dogs that scare me. They are ruthless little buggers. They dig holes any and every where they can. I've noticed a number of wagon train folks having to put an ox or horse down because it broke its leg in one of the prairie dog's holes. Now that's just plain mean spirited to go and do that to another poor old creature," Piteque shook his head in disgust.

"So what exactly are we gonna do?" Pill asked Piteque.

"We're gonna make do with what we got. It may not be enough but I think that Pigtail fella is one person you really wouldn't want to mess with. He's okay to play chess with but that's only because he's lousy at it. It's always fun to win against someone when they are lousy at that particular game," Piteque laughed as he said this.

"So when will we get down to planning this whole thing out?" Lark wanted to be sure she and Pill weren't left out of the planning.

"Just as soon as my pa and uncle get through drawing up the maps to the power source, we can start with filling in the map of the Wind Hag's defense mechanisms. From there we can decide the best way in which to go after the power source. It'll take cunning and intelligence to figure out some sure fire ways of getting past most of the traps," Piteque hesitated for a moment and then added in a hushed whisper. "So it might be best if Wicket and Tally aren't included."

"Actually," Pill said, "I think that they are a lot smarter than you think. In fact, they had some pretty good ideas about fixing up the ship. And Pigtail used some of their ideas. So I think they might be of use." She said this a little testily but she didn't want to exclude them because it would hurt their feelings.

"Fine, but if they can't add anything constructive then they should keep their mouths shut. If we let them get on a roll in their bickering we might never get this raid planned out." Piteque didn't like to be overruled so he decided he might ought to exert some kind of control over the situation.

Lark knew that Pill was friends with Wicket and Tally and she was pleased to see that she wouldn't desert them, most particularly since she was now a friend of Pill's. But by the same token she knew Piteque was right about their bickering. Once they get started it's really hard to make them stop. So she said, "Piteque is right, if we let them bicker then we will never get them back on track. Pill and I will try to stop them before they really get going." She looked at Pill hoping for confirmation on that and Pill nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's settled, then. Now we just sit back and relax and wait for the maps to be drawn," Orida smiled at the three of them and leaned back against a coffee mug and tried to get some sleep.

~~~~~

Chapter 21

Arbordale was having fun drawing the maps out. Barkley was just the opposite; he was sweating trying to get every nook and cranny included in his map. He wanted to make sure it was as complete as possible. Arbordale wasn't all that picky and figured that it really didn't matter if it was perfect, just so long as they got the general picture of the area.

"Hey, Barkley are ya gonna get your map done by the end of this year? 'Cause that's gonna be a little late since we are planning this raid to happen in a few days," Arbordale called over to his brother.

"Do you want it done fast or do ya want it done right?"

"Yes," was all Pigtail told him.

"Okay, I've got an idea, Barkley. Instead of you drawing the map why don't you start writing down all the traps and obstacles that we know of. Once we get that list down then we figure out how we are gonna get past them all." Piteque offered knowing full well that Barkley would be drawing well into next summer if they let him continue.

Barkley hesitated for a moment and then decided to do as Piteque had suggested. Besides he would be going with them so he knew he would be able to offset Arbordale's shoddy map drawing when it came down to it. So he sat down with another piece of paper and started to write. He decided it would be best to separate the obstacles by category. This way they would know what they were going to be up against and know if it was a creature or a trap, since no one knew the exact order they were set up then it wouldn't matter if his list wasn't in order either.

He started with the creatures: Flugs advanced guard, mole special forces, prairie dog battalion, puffer worms, grub worms, beetle brigades, fire breath lizards, stalagmice and stalagticks, and those pesky terra slugs.

His list for the traps was a lot harder because those were kept secret and the only ones they knew about were the ones that some Knarl had set off at some point accidently. He had factual knowledge of the swinging tandem pendulum axes, the poisonous blow darts, the ooze of doom, sand traps, pointed stick traps and rope traps. These were fairly simple traps that were at the first part of the protected area, which is why a few Knarls had set them off and knew about them. But he had heard rumors about some other more devious devices the deeper you got, so he felt it would be best if he wrote them down too. That way there would be no surprises if they actually ran into one of them and a great bit of relief if they didn't. So he added to his list: hematite dust, self-closing /crushing doors, a labyrinth, curses, water traps and the force shield that was said to be protecting the power source.

He sat back from his list and studied it to make sure he didn't forget anything. When he had satisfied himself that it was as complete a list as he was gonna be able to make, he handed it over to the captain. Pigtail and Jethro bent over the list and started to take each one separately and try and decide how best to go against it and win.

"The swing pendulum axes could be beaten simply by watching them and judging their swing time. If we time it just right then we could get past them fairly easily with very little effort," Jethro said.

"The poisonous darts are another thing," Pigtail said as he turned to Barkley and asked, "How exactly are the darts situated? I mean, do they fall from the ceiling, are they shot from the side or are they embedded in the floor and we are expected to 'accidently' walk over them?"

Barkley scratched his chin and finally answered, "I only know about them from my sister's old beau. He got into them by accident when he got lost going to the cafeteria. I believe he said they shot out from these holes in the walls."

"We could have a wooden shield that the dart would stick to but not hit anyone. If we used metal ones there is a risk that the darts might ricochet and hit someone," Jethro offered.

"That's a good idea. Wicket, we need you to build us some wooden shields. Make sure they are light enough to carry but sturdy enough to take a flying dart," Pigtail ordered Wicket, who snapped to his feet, saluted and wrote it down on his 'to do' list.

"Okay, what's the 'ooze of doom' and how do we overcome that?" Pigtail asked the Knarls. BB and BJ had come over once it was clear that plans were about to be made.

"The 'ooze of doom' is this really sticky stuff. Once you set foot on it you're stuck and there ain't nothing that is gonna get you out. The positive is that it's a purple color so if you have some type of light then you could see it before you ever even step into it. If you don't, then forget about it. You'll be there until the end of time or you die, whichever comes first," BJ told them.

Tally, not having a 'to do' list decided he needed to contribute so he said, "If we took planks with us we could put them over the ooze and then just walk on the planks."

"Say, that's not a bad idea, good job, Tally, So you'll be in charge of getting us some light planks we can carry and use," Pigtail ordered and Tally smiled because he wasn't gonna be left out after all.

"Okay, that leaves the sand traps, pointed stick traps and the rope traps. I'm guessing that all of these are associated with the ground. The sand traps and pointed stick traps are probably dug in holes in the ground and utilized that way, right?" Pigtail turned to Barkley for conformation and Barkley nodded his affirmation. "So we just need to keep our heads down and watch the floor?"

"Nope, they disguise them to make it look like the floor so you can't see it coming. It wouldn't be that effective a trap if you saw it coming, now would it?" Barkley said.

"But you can see the ooze, why not the other traps?" Pill hated to point out that it wasn't always the case, but thought it might be best.

"Yeah, but that's only if you have a light. Most of the creatures in the underground don't carry light. They don't need it. So it's an effective trap on them. But as you get closer to the power source the harder they make it. I seriously doubt that they are gonna make it easy to get to. If they did then someone or something would have already destroyed the power source, now wouldn't they?" BB said in exasperation.

"Okay, how about if we use a stick or cane that we use to tap the ground in front of us to make sure it's solid ground? If it isn't then we know that one of those traps is being used and we need to be careful going around it," Wicket offered not wanting to be out done by Tally.

"That's a good idea. Add that to your list of things to bring," Pigtail said. He looked down the list and asked, "What's hematite dust?"

"It's a dust that is on the ground and your feet stir it up and it gets on your skin and in your eyes and irritates them. If you're exposed to it too long your eyes can start bleeding. It looks like any other type of dirt so seeing it beforehand is gonna be a problem," Barkley explained.

"How about bringing water to wash our faces and skin? It will wash off the hematite dust and then not bother us." Lark was really enjoying this and was glad to finally be able to contribute to the planning.

Pigtail clapped his hands together, "Well, that's taken care of a few of the obstacles we are facing. So we've at least accomplished something. Now let's look at the other traps. Now you say, Arbordale, that these are traps that you have only heard about but you don't know for sure if they actually are being used to protect the power source, right?"

"Most definitely, but a couple of them, like the self-closing/crushing doors are in all likelihood real because I've heard of the tunneling squad being called in to dig new tunnels to circumvent tunnels that have been shut down. So that implies that someone had triggered the doors and since they are made to insure that the intruder can't get back out, then it would be necessary to dig a new tunnel to access the power source if the doors were triggered and had in fact, sealed themselves."

"Maybe they were triggered accidently and they called in the tunneling squad to get whoever it is out," Pill suggested.

"Nope, the Wind Hag don't take kindly to anyone trying to get to her power source so she would just let them die in the trap. She wouldn't care one way or the other about them. Unless it was someone she wanted to punish and torture before she let them die. Then she would get them out. Otherwise, it is gonna be their tomb," Piteque told her.

"Jeesh, she is really a horrible little squat woman," Pill said disgustedly.

"Yep, but then again, anyone who could think up so many foul ways to protect her power source can't be the gal next door type, can she?" Arbordale added.

"So that leaves the curses, labyrinth and force shield, in regards to the booby traps. The labyrinth we will just have to figure out when we get there. There's really no way to plan on that," Jethro said.

"We could take a compass to make sure we're heading in the right direction," Wicket offered.

"Hey, that's a good idea," Pigtail told him. Wicket smiled. Great, now he was one up on Tally.

"Now the water traps don't sound too bad," Pigtail looked around and asked the others, "You can all swim can't you?"

Everyone nodded and the Knarls added, "Sticks float so that shouldn't be a problem with us either."

"So what type of curses are we talking about here?" Pigtail asked as he turned back to Arbordale.

Barkley was the one to answer that question, "Oh, you know, your normal curses, like your ears grow to where they touch the ground. Luckily, that particular one wouldn't affect us Knarls because we don't have ears, so to speak. There's also the upside down curse. That's where you walk on your hands all the time because you think the world is upside down."

"I've heard that one fella just sorta dried up. Got all the moisture drained out of him and there was no water around to replenish it, so he died," BJ mentioned.

"Maybe we might run into one of the water traps after that and we can get moisturized from them," BB suggested.

"The Wind Hag ain't gonna have a trap that counteracts another trap one after another. It would defeat the purpose of having a trap in the first place," Piteque rolled his eyes at his brother's stupidity and sincerely wished he had been adopted at the moment.

"I heard of another curse. It's one where you end up having nothing but brats for kids," BB said hoping to be helpful.

"Naw, that ain't a real curse. Your grandpa just told you that to explain why his kiddos weren't well behaved. He refused to take any blame on that because he refused to discipline any of us when we did something wrong. When that happens you end up with kids who are brats but there was no curse involved," Orida explained.

"Okay, so basically we will have water on us for the hematite dust so if we get drained of moisture then we can drink some water so that one is covered. The ear thing, I have no idea how to counteract that one. I guess we just tie the lobes into a knot to make sure you don't trip over them. And walking upside down shouldn't be too hard to counteract. We just grab whoever is doing it and turn them right side up and hold on to them so they can't get back on their hands. So what is the force field made of?" Pigtail asked.

"No one knows because, as far as we know, no one has gotten that far. It's just a rumor but rumors can be true, ya know. It's just best to be prepared," Arbordale said.

Tally, realizing that Wicket was one up on being helpful had been fuming silently about it. Now he saw his chance to draw even with Wicket so he suggested, "How about if we take a mirror, maybe we can reflect the force field off to the side or something."

"Yeah, but what if it don't want to reflect, then what do we do?" Wicket said huffily because he saw Tally's advice as an attempt to pull even with him.

"Then we figure something else out. But as of this moment we don't know that the force fielded won't reflect or not. So what's the harm in taking a mirror, just in case?" Tally yelled back at Wicket.

"Knock it off you two. We are not gonna get into any type of arguments, got it? We've got too much to plan and too many things to get together. And a mirror might work or it might not but it wouldn't hurt to take one just in case. This is a matter of all of us needing to work together and not against each other. So calm down and cool off," Jethro tried to soothe over the petty competition that had apparently arisen between Tally and Wicket.

Wicket and Tally, seeing Jethro was ganging up against them decided to unite and both took offense at Jethro's words. "Yeah, but who do you think is gonna be lugging all this stuff around, the shields, water, planks, canes and light and now you add a mirror. It's gonna be us," he indicated him and Tally and then added, "I'm betting if any of you carry anything it will be the light stuff while we break our backs lugging the heavy stuff around." Wicket crossed his arms to show his disgust to the others and Tally mimicked him.

"We will all carry our own load and we will take turns carrying the heavy stuff. As far as the mirror goes, we don't have a big one to take with us in the first place so we will take my daughters hand mirror and she can carry that herself," Jethro was getting really tired and frustrated with Wicket and Tally's mood swings.

"Well, okay, then, I just think fairs fair and we should all pull our own load, so to speak. After all, we're all in this together and we all stand to lose or win, together," Wicket felt the need to explain.

"You're quite right and I couldn't agree with you more. So now all we have to do is figure out how to get by the creatures and then we'll be set to get this shindig on the road," Orida said. "Now the moles are darn easy to get by simply because they have really bad eyesight. We just have to supply them with a enough worms to keep them busy eating. And then just walk on by. Moles will take food over anything anytime. They're kinda stupid that way, you know."

Piteque took up where his mother finished, "So that leaves Flugs advanced guard, prairie dogs, puffer worms, grub worms, beetle brigades, fire breath lizards, stalagmice, stalagticks and the terra slugs. Now the grub worms are not unlike the moles. We just give them plenty of grub to eat and that's what they are gonna focus on so we'll be able to just walk on by." Seeing Jethro's curious look he added, "They eat roots and grasses, so we just bring enough to feed them and that's a done deal."

"Okay, what the heck are 'puffer worms?' I've never heard of them. For that matter I've never heard of stalagmice and stalagticks either, so just what are these things?" Pigtail asked as he scratched his head.

"The puffer worms are the worst of the creatures that we have to handle. They are the most deadly. They are these worms that have spikes all over their body. When they get ticked or really mad they puff up. Only they manage to grow as they do this and so you can have a small puffer worm in a tunnel and if it gets mad enough it will puff out big enough to cover the whole tunnel from top to bottom and side to side. And if you're unfortunate enough to be beside it when it puffs up then you get one or more of the spikes poked through your body. It can kill ya before you even know what happened."

"What!" Pigtail exclaimed, "You're telling me that there are worms like a blowfish? Only they get bigger and can actually kill you?! Who the heck decided to create something like that? What the heck was God thinking?"

"Actually, it wasn't God who created them it was the Flug scientists who developed them in their labs. They spend days on end thinking up new ways to kill and torture. They are the ones who have devised most of the things we are gonna be facing. They get a sick enjoyment out of trying to outdo each other in the labs. The fella that thought of the puffer worms got an all-expense paid vacation to the compost hills of Washington, D.C." Arbordale explained.

"Since when does D.C. have compost hills?" Pill asked, trying to remember just what she had learned in school about the place.

"Since it became the mecca of politicians it became the most logical place to have it. That way you don't have to travel too far to unload it. And let's face it, they are chocked full of it so they needed to dump it now and then." Orida said.

"Golly, who knew?" Tally said a little bit awestruck at the ingenuity coming from them.

"Okay, so how the heck do we take on a puffer worm and how will we know when we see one if it's small to begin with?" Pigtail asked a bit exasperated.

Wicket saw another chance to get ahead of Tally and so he seized the opportunity to offer, "If we take a harpoon with us then we can puncture the puffer and be on our way."

Tally not liking being one upped said, "Isn't that just one more thing to carry?"

"Yeah well, how the heck are we gonna get by them if we don't deflate them?" Wicket shot back at Tally.

"That's a good point but I think we need to first be able to identify what a puffer worm looks like and how to recognize them before we get midway into the tunnel. We don't want anyone spiked to death." Pigtail said irritably.

"From the sound of it, we don't want to make them mad or tick them off. So if we knew what sets them off then we could avoid doing that." Pill offered in the hope of avoiding an argument.

"Oh, that's easy; they hate anyone and anything that isn't a Flug. Since a Flug invented them they took great pains to make sure that the puffers liked them. Their spikes can kill a Flug too, ya know. They break them up like a crushed dirt clod. So they made sure that they trained them to like any and every Flug out there. They also hate whistling and singing. Pretty much anything joyful and happy they dislike so they puff up at the sound of happiness. Flugs are never happy so that was the reason they made them hate happiness. Either we have a Flug with us or just don't act happy."

"Okay, how about we make some Flug costumes and have a few of us dress up like them and then we can get by them. And it would be a way to get past the Flugs too. We just need to make it seem like some VIP Flugs are visiting the region to see how they do things. You know, suck up to them and make it sound like they are an exemplary Flug outfit and that they want their Flug army to be just like the ones here." Tally smiled as he finished up knowing that it would kill two birds with one stone so that made him one ahead of Wicket now.

Pigtail and Jethro just stared at Tally for a good two to three minutes before they said in unison, "Brilliant! That could be the key to get us through a large part of the whole defense system. Good one, Tally!" They slapped him on the back and clasped his hand and shook it as Wicket sunk a little lower in his seat, seething.

"I know how to sew. I could make the costumes, um, I mean the uniforms they wear. But I would need some help remembering what they looked like." Pill offered.

"I remember what they look like. In fact, I drew them in my diary the night the Wind Hag rejected Pigtail's request. I'll go get it." Lark exclaimed as she jumped up and headed for her room.

"You'll also need to know the insignia that is used for the high ranking Flugs in the army. That way they won't be recognized for imposters." Orida added.

Pigtail sighed, "Great, how are we supposed to know what they look like?"

"Not a problem, BJ and I will break into the Secretary of Military's office and steal whatever book tells about that. It shouldn't be too hard to do. They don't guard it very well. They've never had a break in before so they won't be expecting it." BB decided things were getting a bit dull and he was chomping at the bit to get started on this adventure.

Jethro thought about that for a few seconds before he said, "We would need you to do it without their ever knowing about it. If they suspect something then the plan might not work, most particularly if they miss the book. They might be able to figure out why it was taken."

"Naw, Flugs are too stupid, so that's not gonna be a problem." BB dismissed Jethro's concerns.

"Just the same, I think it would best if we not take any chances. Who knows, the Secretary of Military might be the one bright bulb in all the Flugs and he might figure it out." Jethro reiterated.

"The Secretary of Military, whose office we are gonna break into, is a gal. She's one of the few Flug gals to make it in the military. Of course, her job is a secretary's job which is normal work for a gal." BB thought that would settle matters and it did but not the way he thought it would.

"Then that settles it, you are to go in and make darn sure that you leave no signs of a break in. After all, if it's a gal then she is gonna be a stickler for details and she just might realize what is going on. Now if it had been a fella then I wasn't worried about it. But if you're gonna go after a gals' book then take any and all precautions," Orida ordered her boys.

~~~~~

Chapter 22

BJ and BB headed out the door and the others turned their attention back to the other creatures that they would have to deal with.

"So just what are stalagmice and stalagticks and how can we get past them?" Pigtail turned back to Arbordale. He had been making it a point to ignore Piteque because he still had not forgotten the chess fight.

"Well, it would best to just get rid of those suckers. And I do mean suckers, well, at least in the case of the stalagticks. They're just like any other tick except they inject a type of venom that makes a person really sleepy and they live on the stalactites. You know those rock formations that hang down from the ceiling. They just sit up there waiting for something to come along that has blood, so that lets us Knarls and the Flugs out, and then they just drop on ya. They do so in mass so that if any of them miss or are shaken off then at least one will manage to sink into the skin and get some blood. There's not much you can do because those suckers of theirs can go through just about any type of clothing."

"Yeah, but if we dress up like Flugs, as planned, then they will leave us alone, won't they?" Tally asked, a bit squeamish at the thought of ticks.

"Naw, they don't really have eyes and rely mainly on their sense of smell. They can smell a blood carrier a mile away, so to speak," said Arbordale.

Orida sat up suddenly and hit her forehead with one of her branch hands, "I know, we grab some of the fire lizards and use them. Ticks hate fire. So the lead people need to carry fire lizards at the ready. The second we see any stalactites then those people yank the tail of the lizards and that will make them shoot out some flames. They aim them at the stalactites and it will burn off the ticks. But no Knarl can carry them because they can burn us up."

"What if we don't encounter the fire lizards before we encounter the ticks?" Lark questioned.

"Not a problem, I know where a couple of them are living at the moment. As a piece of wood it's always best to know where those fellas call home so we can avoid them," Piteque piped in. "I'll take Wicket and Tally with me and let them grab ahold of them. We can use them against the other fire lizards too. They don't hurt anyone who has hold of a lizard because they are too afraid of hurting a fellow lizard. They may breathe fire but that doesn't mean that they are immune to it. They can burn just like anything else."

Lark shifted in her seat and asked, "Can we use them against the stalagmice too?"

"Don't see why not. But the main problem with the mice is that they come at you from below and crawl up your pants. Once there they wreak havoc. There's nothing worse than the feeling of their little paws scratching your skin. Or so I've heard, seeing as to how I don't have any skin," Arbordale felt the need to explain.

"Why don't we just tie the bottom of our pant legs really tight with string and that way the mice can't get in and do that?" Wicket knew it was a lame suggestion and would never match Tally's but darned if he was gonna let Tally one up him.

"Yes, that would be the best thing but they will still climb up your legs," Orida told them.

"Yeah, but if we hit them with the fire lizards too then that would burn them and they might just stay away from us in hopes of not getting burned," Lark persisted.

"True, that might work or you just might succeed in setting 'em on fire and then they crawl up you and they set you on fire. Of course, that would insure that none of the ticks would drop on you if you were in flames. So it could be a win-win situation aside from getting yourself burned. I think it would just be best to tie your pants shut and bring a broom to whack the stalagmice with."

Wicket sighed and thought, great, one more thing we have to bring.

"And while you're at it, bring some salt for the terra slugs. That stuff will dry 'em up in no time flat. In fact, one year they tried to cross the salt flats in the southern end of the Wind Hag's domain and they only made it a few feet in. Yep, whole families were wiped out. But that was only because some juvenile delinquents had sold them some salt resistant lotion. Only it wasn't really. But hey, if you're gonna be a gullible slug then you get what you deserve." Piteque shrugged as he said the last bit.

"Okay, so that pretty much covers everything you know of and have heard of. So I guess we need to wait for BB and BJ to get back and for Pill to make our costumes. We can spend the time gathering up all the things we need and then figure out the most efficient way in which to lug all that stuff around." Pigtail clapped his hands together and added, "So let's get started on the gathering."

Everyone got up and headed in different directions. Piteque grabbed Wicket's arm and told him to grab some oven mitts and they would go collect the fire lizards. Wicket, less than happy about this particular assignment nodded and headed towards the galley. When he had gotten some mitts and couple of glass jars to put the lizards in he followed Piteque out of their hideout.

Pill and Lark headed to where they had stored the fabric that the pirates had stowed away from their last plunder in the Gulf. Then they started to draw out designs to figure out how to make a human look like a Flug. It took them a while to figure it out and since they knew they had a long time to wait they decided to have some fun with it. They had made all these designs from the ridiculous to the sublime but eventually settled down and got serious about their work.

Wicket and Piteque came back smoldering a bit but with two fire lizards tucked tightly in some canning jars.

The others had set up a pile of all the things they needed: planks, salt, brooms, water, Lark's hand mirror, and a compass. Jethro and Tally were off in a corner trying to figure out just how to make the shields for the poisonous darts. Wicket sighed and walked over to them still smoking a bit from his left sleeve.

BJ and BB arrived about two hours after they had left but they were triumphant in their task. BB was waving the book over his head as he came in, which would have been great if he hadn't been a twig and so small. The weight of the book was too much for him and he collapsed under it with the book making a 'thump' sound as it covered him up.

"Well, I always told ya if you're gonna get anywhere in this life you need to hit the books. But I don't recall saying anything about having the books hit you," Orida laughed at BB.

Lark took the book from BB and lifted the Knarl up on to the table. He was swaying a bit and his eyes were a little crossed but otherwise he didn't appear to be any worse for wear. Pill took the book and started to thumb through it looking for the uniforms. She finally found them near the end of the book and they discussed just what rank they needed to make the costumes. It was decided that they needed to be a high enough rank to make the local Flugs kowtow to them but not too high that they might question anything. After that decision was made they then had to decide who was going to be fake Flugs and just why they were in the company of humans. That took a little longer, mainly because Wicket and Tally were refusing to play the Flugs.

"It is type casting, that's what it is, and I ain't doing it," Wicket said as he crossed his arms in defiance.

Lark whispered to Pill, "What does he mean it's typecasting?"

"I'm thinking it's because the Flugs are supposed to be a little dim, well, okay, dumb and Wicket and Tally have always felt inferior to most people in the brains department," Pill whispered back.

Jethro, who overheard the girls' whispered conversation said, "I'll do it, no problem." Though he was only doing it because he had thought that it should be someone who could think on his feet if need be. It shouldn't be too hard to out think a Flug, or so he hoped. But he was pretty sure that Wicket and Tally didn't particularly qualify for that.

It took the rest of the day for the girls to make the uniforms and Flug disguises. Pill was a little concerned that the Flug disguise didn't look like dirt. As she recalled the Flugs, Gape and Gog, looked like dirt clods with legs and the costumes didn't look anything like dirt. When she voiced this concern to Wicket he said that she shouldn't worry about that. Before they left they would douse them in water and make them roll around in the dirt. That way they would have a good coating of dirt on them. That should fool the Flugs as far as he was concerned.

They all got together to brain storm as to why the Flugs would be in the company of humans. It took about two hours before Jethro finally came up with a plausible reason.

"They, the humans, will be our captives and that we are bringing them to the Wind Hag. That should be acceptable, don't you think?" He asked the others.

"What if they take us directly to the Wind Hag and present us to her? Then what do we do?" Wicket asked a bit concerned about being imprisoned.

"We Shanghai them long before we get anywhere near the Wind Hag's chambers. If we have to we will take them with us. We will use them as shields. Make them go in front of us so that if anything is going to happen in regards to the booby traps then it will happen to them first." Jethro said rather pleased because it sounded like the perfect plan and would spare any of them from having to be caught off guard in regards to the booby traps.

"But what if the other Flugs want to tag along with as we go to the Wind Hag? Then we would have a whole passel of Flugs to deal with. We might not be able to take that many of them on by ourselves." Wicket insisted seeing the flaw in this plan.

"Yeah, but if we make it clear the Wind Hag is mighty mad at the other Flugs for not destroying the humans then they may not want to go with us for fear of her wrath.

"Good point. But I still think that there are a whole bunch of things that could go wrong and we would all end up in jail. I don't handle jail well. I hate being locked up." Wicket said defensively.

"Since when have you ever been locked up?" Tally asked.

"It was way before I met you. I got into a bit of trouble. There was this loaf of bread that really wanted to escape from the baker's store. I guess it figured I was its best bet to get away so it attached itself to the inside of my vest." He turned a bright red as he finished up, "But the baker didn't see it that way and said I was stealing it. Here I was a dupe of that loaf of bread, a patsy and I end up being thrown in jail for 24 hours. The bread got its comeuppance though. The baker took it right back into the store. I hope it sat there and rotted after what it did to me." He scowled at the thought of this betrayal of the bread.

Pill and Lark giggled silently, looking at each other in disbelief. He wasn't fooling anyone but that was what he wanted them all to believe then they would, for his sake.

~~~~~

Chapter 23

With the costumes made, the supplies gathered and the plan made, they decided that they would wait until morning to head out. Wicket and Tally thought they should hold back for one more day and send the Knarls in to scout for any more possible traps or creatures they might have to face but Pigtail put the kibosh on that idea. He knew Wicket and Tally were scared of what they were going to be facing but the sooner they got on with it the sooner it would be over and the sooner the power supply would be destroyed. So they settled in for the night in hopes of getting a good night's sleep.

Wicket and Tally thought that was expecting too much from them. After all, they were about to risk their lives and if Pigtail thought that was going to make for a peaceful slumber then he had another think coming.

"You awake, Wicket?" Tally whispered from his hammock.

"Now that's a darn fool question to be asking. Of course I'm awake, and I ain't getting any good night's sleep no matter whether the Captain ordered us to or not. I don't know who he thinks he is if he figures that'is gonna happen." Wicket whispered back to Tally.

"Do you think we're gonna die? Do you think this is just some stupid bit of revenge on the Captain's part and nothing more? Do you think the color yellow makes me look sallow?"

"How the heck should I know if yellow makes you look sallow? It's not like I'm looking at you at every opportunity I get. You're my buddy, buddies don't look at that sort of things, now do they?" Wicket said, a bit aggravated. "I also think you're right that this is just a bit of revenge on the Captain's part. But when we became pirates we knew that we might not survive it. I mean, let's face it; the mortality rate isn't very good, is it? And the way I look at it, if we can stop that old Wind Hag from hurting others or denying them their requests, like she did us, then it serves her right and we'll be doing a bit of good here on earth. As I understand it, doing a good act is the only thing will get a pirate into heaven. So I'm more than willing to try, even if I do die. Not that I want to die, but I've decided to think positive about this whole adventure. Besides, in case you've forgotten, the old hag tried to kill us by caving in our old hideout. And what for, you may ask, because we robbed someone in her territory and for no other reason than that. It's not like we made anything from the robbing, now is it? No, we got our comeuppance from robbing because we didn't get a darn thing that was worth anything. And, I might add, we wouldn't have to resort to robbing if only she granted us our wish to go home. So it's all her fault and she's getting what she deserves," Wicket finished up.

"I know that, but I would really like to live. I would also like to go home. I just wish I could put on some magic shoes and click the heels and think about there being no place like home and then suddenly find myself back home. That's what I wish could happen." Tally sighed and rolled over in his hammock.

Wicket snorted and told Tally, "Magic slippers and them being able to transport a person home is pure fantasy and would never happen, not even in some strange work of fiction. I mean, really? That is just not gonna happen. And no, before you ask, that ain't no 'coming thing' either. Now let's just try and get some sleep, okay. We'll be getting up in few hours so we need as much sleep as we can muster."

"Hear, hear!" Came the chorus from the Knarls who were hanging down from the hammocks ropes.

With the sun rise came the smell of cooking bacon and coffee. That seemed to rouse most of the inhabitants of the hideout. The Knarls were trying their best to ignore all the activity and get in some more sleep time but Pill wasn't about to let that happen. If she had to get up then, by golly, so did they. She climbed up on a stool and dripped honey on each of the Knarls. That really woke them up. Not so much because they didn't like someone dripping sticky stuff on them as they slept but because their fellow Knarls were trying to lick as much honey off the others as they could get. Most took offense to that.

"Hang on now, that's my honey, it's on me, now isn't it? Go and lick your own honey and leave mine alone," BB shot at his brother BJ.

Pigtail was yawning and stretching as he walked over to the table and sat down. Jethro was already there and going back over the plan again for about the sixth time. He didn't want to miss anything and was sure the more he pored over it the better it would be etched in his mind so that he could simply react and not have to think about things when they happened.

Lark was helping fix breakfast and mumbling to Pill, "I thought Wicket and Tally were the cooks, so how the heck do we always end up doing the cooking?"

Pill sighed and told her, "They're chauvinists and think that is all a girl can do. Well, let's just hope they don't need us to help them out of a bit of trouble in this adventure because I'm thinking I'll only do so on the condition that I never have to cook again. Besides, I'm not any good at it. My mother washed and repaired clothes, she didn't cook. Then again we didn't have all that much to cook, so she never taught me how. As a cabin boy I was supposed to do 'boy' things and cooking wasn't considered one of those duties."

"Wicket and Tally are boys and Pigtail was the cook before the old Captain was swept overboard. So why would they think it was a girl thing?" Lark inquired.

"Because they don't have women on pirate ships so they have to make do with what they have, and that's mainly men. That's pretty much the only reason that I can figure out," Pill replied.

They set the food on the table and Jethro made them say grace before digging in. The others weren't too happy about having to say grace before eating but Jethro pointed out that they had to set a good example for the girls. Wicket and Tally agreed, but secretly thought it was a waste of time. The girls didn't seem any better off or worse for that matter, because of it.

The Knarls took turns dipping their branches into the honey and then sucking on them. Pigtail hardly touched his breakfast, he was too nervous about what they were about to do. As Captain he was responsible for their lives and would regret ever going if anything happened to them. But he was also responsible for getting them back home and with the power source he just might manage it. So he told himself that over and over again so as to convince himself that they were doing the right thing.

After everyone had finished their breakfast Jethro and Wicket went to change into the Flug suits. The others were busy trying to pack everything into the bags they were planning on carrying. They were straining trying to fit the planks and shields into one of the bigger bags and sacks when Jethro and Wicket came out in their suits.

Then Pigtail and Tally grabbed some glue and started to rub the entire suit with it. As soon as they finished Jethro and Tally rolled around in the dirt so that they had a 'fresh' dirt look so as to fool the Flugs. Once that was done they set out towards the Flug headquarters. Barkley stayed behind to hold down the fort as was decided the night before. They wanted to be sure that they had a safe haven to return to most particularly if they had failed to retrieve the power source. Either way, the Wind Hag was bound to be after them and a safe hideout was crucial to their safety.

It was very silent going. No one was speaking. In Tally's case it was because he was afraid that his breakfast might try to make a break for it through his mouth if he opened it. He was very worried and extremely scared.

Arbordale was perched on the shoulder of Pigtail as he directed them. It had been decided that when they came into view of the headquarters then the Knarls would hide so as not to end up being called traitors if the plan failed. The last thing Jethro wanted was for them to get into trouble just for wanting to help them out. Pigtail protested over this but that was only because he really didn't trust Piteque. The chess game was still very much in the forefront of his mind.

BB was the first to see movement off to the left of the group's position. He and the other Knarls scrambled around and hid in the sacks. Wicket moved to the back of the group and pulled a spear out as if he was leading them as captives. Jethro was in front and trying to look important. As it turned out Gesus was the one who first approached them, Levious was following him, spear drawn. Gesus was very cautious because they didn't look like Flugs, at least they were unlike any Flugs he had ever seen.

Gesus put up a hand and the group halted. "So just who the heck are you and what are you doing in our territory?"

Jethro stepped forward and raised his hand in salute as the Knarls had taught him and said, "We're from the Central Nether Region, CNR for short. We were sent by our commanding officer to inspect your headquarters and see if you had any security improvements that we could utilize. He sent us here because he had heard that your region was tops in security. As I understand it you have the most to protect and therefore would have up-to-date security measures." Jethro shifted around a bit nervously as he finished telling them.

Gesus smiled and nodded in relief. That would explain why they looked different from the local Flugs. He had heard that there had been a lot of inbreeding among the CNR Flugs and so that would account for their odd appearance. "Well, your commanding officer is right. We have the absolute best of the best when it comes to security measures. But what's with the humans? Who are they and where did you find them?"

"We were passing by this collapsed cave and here they were crawling out of a hole they had dug. We thought there might have been a reason for the cave to have collapsed so we decided in the best interest of Flugs we ought to take them into custody. I figured they could be questioned later. I'm sure we can learn from your interrogation techniques too."

Gesus frowned and then turned to Levious, "Aren't these the humans we were supposed to have killed by collapsing the cave?"

Levious hung his head down and nodded meekly.

"Well, it seems we didn't fully achieve our objective. I'll have to report this to Gahn who in turn, will report to our Secretary of Military, who will then go to the Wind Hag. I just hope this doesn't mean that I or anyone else under my command is going to end up going topside." He sighed as he said this and hung his head. Jethro came very close to pointing out that they were obviously topside at the moment but managed to check himself. The last thing they needed is to tick off any of the Flugs, most particularly those who were in command.

Gesus told Levious to run and inform Gahn that some VIP's were coming and they had the humans in custody. Levious hesitated for a moment because he knew he was going to be the bearer of bad news and he really didn't want that to happen. It wasn't until Gesus raised his hand as if to hit him that he turned and hustled back to headquarters.

Gesus slowly led the others toward headquarters. He hoped that the slower he went then the more time Gahn had to calm down after being told of their failure.

Meanwhile, Jethro, Pigtail and the others were rather relieved that the Flugs had taken it for granted that Jethro and Wicket were actually Flugs.

As they neared the underground entrance to the Flug headquarters Tally began coughing uncontrollably. Wicket jabbed him with his spear to try and make him stop but that just tickled Tally and his coughing became an uncontrollable laugh. Gesus turned and looked at Tally and then at Jethro and asked, "What's wrong with him?"

"He's a human, we all know they aren't right in the mind. I figured this one was even more unstable from the others because he was actually eating dirt, the cannibal." Jethro snorted.

Gesus was obviously revolted by the thought of someone eating dirt and turned away from him in disgust. Tally was really ticked about being called a nutter but at least he had stopped laughing.

Once inside the headquarters Wicket moved his prisoners to a corner out of the way and to give them a full view of what was going on. They wanted to be able to attack them unhindered by any furniture and other Flugs.

As it turned out the Secretary of Military was with Gahn when Levious had arrived. It was, however, not lucky for Levious. They were so upset over this failure that they decided to blame Levious for everything. He was on the floor begging and groveling at Gahn's feet as the Pirates gathered into the office. Levious even grabbed some dirt off the floor and began rubbing Gahn's boots with it. Funny, thought Wicket, in human military they tried to polish boots until they shined, here, obviously, they wanted it smudged with as much dirt as possible. He quickly tried to rub dirt onto his boot with his other foot just so he could blend in even better.

"I do not forgive sloppiness. Having these humans survive and using all our explosives is unacceptable. Levious, you will go to the brig and inform the warden that you are to spend the next week there as a punishment for this failure," said the Secretary of Military. She stood there with her feet spread and hands on her hips. She towered over Gahn who was not a small Flug by any means. Pill figured it was her physical features and her commanding manner that got her the top job in the Flug military. The Secretary of Military was obviously someone you didn't want to cross.

"Yes, your Secretaryness. But I would like to state that I was sent on patrol to find the humans and find them I did. I ended up being beaten severely by one of the humans and after arriving back here and reporting, I went to the hospital. I had nothing to do with the planning of or the leading of the attack. I did my job and told them where they could find humans," Levious said in a quavering voice.

Gahn, wanting to get his failed leadership off the Secretary's mind spoke, "And just which of these humans beat you. We will not tolerate such actions so they must and will be punished."

Levious turned and looked at the humans and studied them before saying, "I don't see him, but then again humans all look alike to me, so who knows, it could be one of them." His voice trailed off meekly.

"Actually, we asked the humans if there were others and they mentioned that two had been killed in the cave collapse. That could account for the one who did such a despicable act not being here," Jethro said thinking quickly for a reason why there were two missing from the original number of humans.

Levious looked up at the humans and counted them and said, "He's right, there are two less than there had been."

The Secretary crossed her arms and took a deep breath before saying, "It doesn't mean that someone should not have to pay for this failure. I will not allow shoddy work under my command. After all, I'm the one who has to report to the Wind Hag, I'm the one who will have to face punishment from her. And if I'm gonna be punished then, by golly, so will someone else. I won't suffer alone."

Pigtail then stepped forward and spoke to the Secretary, "I think I can spare you that bit of punishment."

The Secretary looked at him oddly before saying, "And just how do you figure on keeping that from happening." She didn't usually listen to humans but if it could keep her from getting punished then she was certainly gonna hear him out.

With that he pulled out his sword and the others, following the Captain's lead pulled out their weapons too. "Easy. We are taking you as prisoners and you will lead us to the Wind Hag's power sources. We won't harm you, but if you try to fight and escape then we will take any and all means necessary to stop you, even if that means turning you into mud."

It seems the horror of being turned into mud was a very convincing threat and so they surrendered their weapons and held their hands up.

Arbordale popped up out of one of the sacks and said to Pigtail, "They don't need to have their arms up, if someone sees that then they will know that there is something wrong. I think they should lead us to the brig and make it look as though they are taking the prisoners to jail. The tunnel to the power sources is just off to the left of the tunnel to the brig."

"Good idea and thanks for the tip about turning them into mud. I wasn't sure it would work but apparently you were right about that," Pigtail whispered back to Arbordale.

So they all got underway with the Secretary in front, followed closely by Gahn and Levious with Jethro right after them holding on to a bottle of water ready to douse them if they tried anything. Wicket brought up the rear with the others in the middle of the group. Just as they got to the fork that leads to the brig they instead took the left tunnel and headed towards the power source.

~~~~~~

Chapter 24

As soon as the tunnel forked again BB and BJ told the others to stop. They then tied and gagged their captives and deposited them in a small side tunnel that was a dead end.

"That should keep them out of the way, at least until we can achieve our objective," BB said with a satisfied tone.

The pirates and Knarls then took the other fork and headed out on their quest for the power sources.

The tunnel was darker than the other tunnels so Tally pulled the lamps and lit them, handing them t to Pigtail, Jethro and Wicket. As soon as the tunnel was illuminated they headed out again cautiously.

"When do you think we'll start getting into the booby traps?" Pill asked with a bit of a tremor to her voice.

"I don't know but it should be soon," was Arbordale's response.

Jethro stopped and said to the others, "Maybe we should stop here and tie our pant cuffs down, in order to keep the stalagmice from crawling up our trousers." They all thought that was good idea so they stopped for a few minutes while they all tied their cuffs. Once that was done Tally handed out the long sticks to Jethro and Pigtail, since they were in the lead positions so they could detect any sand, rope, pointed stick or water traps ahead.

They walked on with Jethro and Pigtail tapping the ground in front of them to make sure the path was clear. Pill and Lark were just behind them with Tally and Wicket bringing up the rear. Pill and Lark had their eyes on the ceiling looking for the stalagticks as they went since the front two were focusing on the ground before them. It wasn't until they had gotten a good half a mile into this particular tunnel when Lark saw them. Dangling from the stalactites were hundreds or maybe even thousands of little black bugs. They seemed to know of the pirates presence because they were moving in a frantic wild way.

"Hang on, there are the stalagticks," Lark said pointing to the ceiling.

"Not a problem." Wicket said as he pushed to the front of the group. He had forgotten to bring the fire lizards but luckily he had brought a small flask of rum, for a bit of liquid encouragement. He pulled the flask out of his pocket and took a sip and then took a lantern and lit a torch with the lantern fire. He then put the torch up to his face and angled it so that he was facing up towards the stalagticks. He then took a deep breath and blew on the torch. A great ball of fire came from the torch and engulfed the stalagticks who dropped to the ground, burned to a crisp from the fire ball Wicket had made.

The group gave a resounding cheer for Wicket's success and they moved on with the burnt stalagticks crunching underfoot.

Twenty feet farther in they got to a small chamber area of the tunnel and to the first sand trap. Jethro had hit a soft spot and told everyone to stop. He poked the soft part harder with the stick when suddenly there was a loud whooshing sound that filled the tunnel. Then the spot where Jethro had prodded suddenly gave way and the sand seemed to become a whirlpool and slowly drained out from the pit it was covering and revealed sharp pointed sticks at the bottom.

"Well, now that's just cold. They suck you in with the swirling sand and then drop you unceremoniously to your death by being impaled on a stick like shish kabobs. Man, that Wind Hag is one mean ugly cuss, isn't she?" Pigtail said in disgust.

"Well, the whole point is to make sure you don't get to the power source, and that would pretty much take care of you and anyone else going this way." Orida said in a matter of fact tone.

Suddenly the cave was filled with this horrible shrill siren that echoed off the walls and only seemed to intensify. They all slapped their hands over their ears and hit the ground in hope that the sound wouldn't be that low to the ground. Unfortunately, it seemed the siren was even louder closer to the ground. It was then that Pill nudged Pigtail and handed him some cotton puffs to put in his ears. They knocked out a good portion of he siren noise. She handed the cotton puffs to the others and they followed suit. Once the siren was deadened a bit they got to their feet and headed out of the small chamber as quickly as possible.

Pigtail pulled Jethro back before he could enter into the narrower portion of the tunnel just in time to keep him from stepping onto the ooze of doom. The purple ooze was smeared all over the floor of the tunnel.

"That's how they get you, make you want to run out to escape the siren and then, smack, you're stuck in the ooze of doom." He shuddered as he looked down at the ooze.

"Good thing you saw it and stopped me. I would hate to be stuck here for an eternity with that stupid siren going." Jethro yelled at Pigtail. He had to yell to be heard over the siren and the cotton stuffed in their ears. Wicket hit Pigtail on the shoulder to get his attention and handed him a plank of wood. Pigtail grabbed it and placed it over the ooze so they could cross it safely. As soon as they all got over the ooze of doom they went down the tunnel as fast as they could in order to escape the siren that was still blaring. When they finally turned a sharp corner in the tunnel the siren ceased to reach them any longer.

They all stopped and cautiously took the cotton out of their ears. Pigtail held the lantern up high looking all over the tunnel ahead of them to see if he could see any traps. Then he turned the lantern to look at the tunnel behind them.

"I'm guessing that the Wind Hag and her troops will now know that there is someone trying to get to her power source. I'm sure that siren was not just to hurt the ears of the intruders but to also alert them of our presence," Pigtail said in an exasperated voice.

"I'm pretty sure you're right about that. Okay, guys and gals, keep a sharp lookout for any of the special troops she has guarding the tunnels, like the moles and puffer worms. We want to make sure we don't suddenly come face to face with any of them," Jethro ordered.

"Okay, but now that they are alerted to our presence shouldn't we reconsider this attempt?" Tally asked in hopes that they would all agree and decide to go back to the security of their hideout.

No such luck, because Pigtail gave him a stern look and said, "You knew the dangers we would face and you still came. Besides, you don't see the girls whining about going home, do ya?"

"Yes sir, you're right, just a brief moment of weakness sir, it won't happen again," Tally responded. Under his breath he mumbled something about not being given a chance to say no in the first place, before he started following the others again.

When they came to a very narrow part of the tunnel Jethro held up the lantern to get light onto as much of the tunnel ahead as possible. On the ground there were these worms wiggling up the tunnel.

"So are these the grub worms or the puffer worms?" He asked Arbordale who was sitting on his shoulder.

Arbordale squinted down at the worms and said, "Puffers, so no whistling and singing, nothing to make them think that you are happy. Now Jethro and Wicket might ought to go first since the puffers like the Flugs. That way they can lead the us through, hopefully."

"Is he kidding, think no happy thoughts? Now why in the name of survival would I be thinking something happy right now? I mean we were nearly sucked into a sand whirlpool, impaled on sticks and suffered a hearing loss, which I'm betting you anything is permanent. Yeah, I'm really thinking of frolicking puppies and bunnies right now." Tally spat out.

"Hey, that's doing the trick, Tally. The puffers are turning back and heading back up the tunnel. I bet they are sensing your negative feelings so they are reacting to them by letting us pass. Good work, keep it up." Pigtail said beaming at Tally. His happiness at Tally's success was short lived because the puffers sensed his happiness and turned around and came back p towards them.

Tally, realizing what happened shouted at the Captain, "Oh, yeah, nice job, your royal happiness, here they come back to destroy us. Yeah, that was real smart, and you think I'm the dumb one, well, it's not my fault that they are coming back, now is it?" He said frustrated and worried about becoming skewered.

The puffers stopped, trying to figure out what to do. They were getting mixed signals, someone was happy. They could sense that. But then again, someone was very unhappy too. So which was it? Was it someone happy or not? What should they do? So out of the confusion they decided it would probably just be best to puff up and fill the tunnel so that whoever it was would be stopped. This is exactly what they did and blocked the tunnel completely.

This frustrated Tally even more and so he sat down to sulk. Wicket, on the other hand decided to take matters into his own hands, but that was only because he didn't see any choice on the matter. Either they stay there and die, go back and get stuck in ooze, go deaf from the siren, or they could go on ahead. He grabbed his spear tighter in his grip and them gave a great whooping holler and charged the puffer with his spear held out in front of him.

He hit the puffer worm with all his might and thrust the spear in as far as he could get it. He stood there for a good minute or two, amazed at his own daring and also a bit sick at his stomach. What was he thinking? He looked back at the others and gave a sickly-sounding chuckle and then grabbed the spear and pulled at it to get it out of the worm's body. After all, he might need it later on.

It was stuck rather deep into the body and he had trouble pulling it out. Tally, deciding that he might just as well help out than sit there depressed, got up and started to pull on the spear also. It took about three jerks on their part before they finally got the spear out. As soon as it was free they stepped back from the worm, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

Suddenly, without any warning there was a loud raspberry sound and then the puffer worm began to deflate. The next thing they knew the puffer worm was flying around the tunnel like a balloon that suddenly lost all its air. Then it landed at the feet of Lark, who looked down at it and laughed for a moment before raising her right foot and stomping on it. The others cheered and clapped and then were suddenly silent.

The silence was caused by the sudden inflating of the other puffer worms who heard the happy cheers. They had been further down in the tunnel. That meant the tunnel was once again blocked.

Wicket and Tally looked at each other and then Wicket raised his spear and with a roaring holler bounded towards the other puffer worms, spear out and ready to puncture another one. Tally grabbed Jethro's spear and followed suit. One would lunge at a worm and then the others would help pull the spear out and the other would lunge at the puffer worm just behind the recently deflated one. Pill and Lark would follow the descent of the deflated worms and then they would stomp on them, making sure they weren't gonna cause any more problems for the group.

With all the hollering and cheering at the defeat of the puffer worms they never heard the troops that were coming up from behind. It wasn't until Pill, who had turned her back on the others to stomp another worm, saw them and gave a yelp. Jethro turned and saw the troops of moles headed their way. Luckily the moles weren't moving really fast. They were, being blind, having difficulty navigating the tunnel. They kept bouncing off the walls and losing their sense of direction. Behind the moles, bringing up the rear, was the prairie dog battalion. Their progress was impeded because of the ricocheting moles and they were getting frustrated at the bouncing moles bumping into them and knocking them down. Lark grabbed her backpack and pulled the food out they had brought to distract the moles and grub worms with and started to throw it at the advancing forces. The moles and prairie dogs stood still for a moment. The aroma of the food was hitting their noses and putting them in a quandary. Should they keep after the intruders or should they stop and eat? As soon as their stomachs started to growl with hunger, Lark knew they had made their choice.

As they settled down to eat, the pirates took off down the tunnel away from the moles and prairie dogs. They ran as fast as they could, trying to put as much distance between them and the moles and prairie dogs. They weren't able to go at full speed for fear of running into another trap. Sure enough, before they knew it they were surrounded by fire lizards. Small jets of fire were coming out of their mouths and aimed at the pirates. The pirates were jumping as soon as a flame was directed at them. It was only as Tally climbed up Wicket's back that he saw that there was a wall behind them. Now that hadn't been there before, had it?

"Hey, where'd that wall come from?" Shouted Tally to the others.

"Daggum, that's not a wall it's one of the self-closing doors, we must have triggered the mechanism. What do we do now?" Jethro asked Arbordale.

"Run forward before the door on that end closes otherwise we'll be trapped," Arbordale yelled at the others.

They didn't need to be told twice so Pigtail took the lead with his lantern held high and they continued down the tunnel as fast as they could, stepping on fire lizards as they went. They could hear the yelps of those behind who got singed by the flying flames. As they got to the end of that particular tunnel they could see another door slowly coming down from the ceiling. Wicket, thinking fast, grabbed some of the planks they still had and jammed them up under the door to keep it from closing completely. The others got down on the ground and crawled under the door as it strained to close, ending up in a sort of antechamber. As soon as the last person got out from under the door, Wicket, Tally, Jethro and Pigtail grabbed the planks and pulled them out from under the door. When they got the last plank out, the door made a hissing sound as it sealed tight.

Wiping the sweat off his brow Pigtail said, "That was way too close. We need to be more observant. We have a tendency to focus on what's ahead and not what's behind. We've got to stop doing that." He leaned back against the tunnel wall.

"I could be in charge of looking back behind us often enough," Tally volunteered.

"Okay, that should do it. Now let's rest a bit and catch our breath." Pigtail was bent over grabbing the stitch in his side. The others were all for that and each one collapsed onto the ground and sat there breathing deeply.

"Um... not to be the one to rain on the parade, but do you think we have enough air to breathe?" Tally asked.

"Certainly, they had to be able to breathe when they built all this, didn't they? So if they had enough air then we should too. Besides, I can feel a breeze, can't any of you?" Wicket answered.

"Actually, I do feel a breeze. Now where the heck would a breeze be coming from down here? Surely, we're miles beneath the surface." Jethro responded.

Tally spoke again, "You don't think it's the Wind Hag do ya? I mean her job is to make wind and a breeze is a form of wind."

"Naw," Orida said shaking her head, "The Wind Hag isn't gonna travel down this far. She leaves that to her troops. The breeze could be coming from the tunnel up ahead. Maybe they put air vents into tunnels to insure the creatures that live down here would get plenty of air."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Pigtail said as he stood up, grabbed his lantern and headed out of the antechamber into the tunnel. He stood at the opening of the tunnel and held his lantern up high so that the light would cover as much ground as possible. As he stood looking he gave out a long whistle and said, "Well, I'll be darned."

~~~~~~

Chapter 25

"What is it?" Jethro asked as he got to his feet and went over to stand by Pigtail. Then he too gave out a long whistle. "Now who would have thought you would run into something like that in a tunnel?"

Their curiosity piqued; the others joined them at the tunnel entrance. They all stood amazed at what they were seeing. There, in a gigantic cave-like room was the labyrinth. Even though they couldn't see too much over the top of the tall walls it was obvious just what it was.

Wicket sighed and asked, "So what do we do now?"

Pigtail who was holding the lantern as high as he could was looking around to see just what could be done. Finally he saw what he was looking for off to the left. There was a bit of a ledge that one of the girls could climb up to. From there they could see the whole labyrinth and be able to figure out how they should go through it. It was worth a try, anyway.

"So who wants to volunteer to climb up to that ledge and see if you can see the entire labyrinth? If you can, figure out how we need to go." Pigtail said with enough enthusiasm that it made sound like a treat, though Wicket and Tally knew otherwise. They just wondered to themselves if the girls would fall for it.

"I've never been very good at figuring things out so maybe it should be Lark," Pill offered.

"Shoot, I'm probably even worse than you so maybe you should go," Lark countered.

Wicket and Tally realized the girls were a heck of lot smarter than they had thought.

"Say, what about the Knarls? They are even smaller that we are. They could do it just fine I bet," Pill offered.

Pigtail didn't particularly want the Knarls to do it because he still had trust issues with them. Granted they had been right about things before now but who knew if they were going to always remain on their side. He didn't want to say this but he was saved the trouble by BJ who said, "Knarls don't do well at great heights. We get really dizzy and if that happened way up there then we could fall and hurt ourselves." Well, 'duh' thought Pill, that was exactly why she didn't want to do it and she knew it was also why Lark didn't want to either.

"Okay, I'm thinking of a number between one and ten..." Pigtail started.

"Three," shouted Tally and then nudged Wicket in the side with his elbow, "I love this game."

"It's for the girls to play to see who gets to go up there," Pigtail said through gritted teeth. He then turned back to the girls and said, "Okay, Lark pick a number and then Pill will pick a number."

Lark kicked the dirt with her shoe and finally said, "Nine."

Pill was trying to figure things out. If Lark said nine then that was the closet number to ten there was. So if she chose a number in the middle then she would automatically be the one closest to the number Pigtail was thinking, as long as it wasn't the number nine. So she should say a number as far from the number nine as possible to keep herself from being nearest to any other number. "I say, number one." She smiled to herself and figured that should do it.

"The number I was thinking of was four, so you win Pill."

"See, if I had been allowed to play I would have won because the number three is closer than the number one is to four." Tally was smiling as he was telling Wicket this. He liked to win and in this case he would have won but this time he doesn't have to do anything like climb up the side of a rock wall.

Pill wasn't too happy about winning. But since she did win she headed over to the rock wall. Pigtail shined the lantern up so that she could see where she was going as she climbed. It wasn't easy to do. There weren't too many places to grab onto. Once she got to the ledge she realized that it was much smaller than it had looked from the ground. She had to turn around very carefully so as not to lose her footing. As soon as she got turned around she looked out over the labyrinth. It was pitch black. She could only see the first few walls but then nothing, though this did give her an idea.

"I can't see anything from here, it's too dark. But the walls are wide enough at the top that we can walk on them. So why don't we all climb up to the top of the walls and get through to the exit that way?" She called down to them.

"Hey, that's a good idea! Great thinking, Pill," Jethro called up to her.

So Pill slowly climbed back down. When she had almost reached the bottom Wicket reached up and grabbed her just to make sure she didn't fall.

Pigtail got down on all fours and Jethro stood up on Pigtail's back. He held out his hands cupped so that Tally could put his foot in the cupped hands and then be lifted up to the top of the wall. As soon as Tally was up they handed him his bag and then Wicket was lifted up next. The Knarls went up Wicket's back while he was stretched out to grab the top of the wall. They jumped up onto the wall and waited for the others. Pill and Lark went after them and then Jethro and finally Pigtail was hoisted up by Tally and Wicket.

Tally held his lantern over the labyrinth, "So how the heck are we gonna figure out the labyrinth if we can't see any further than four walls?"

"Actually," Pill explained, "We don't need to figure it out. All we have to do is use the planks we have left and just put them over any empty spaces and cross over to the next wall-top that way. There's no reason to have to figure out the labyrinth."

Tally still wasn't sure what she was talking about and Wicket realized this so he grabbed some planks and walked along a wall top until he came to a gap. He then took the plank and put it over the area of the gap to where it touched the wall top across from it. He then walked across it and turned around to Tally and said, "See, this is what she is talking about. Let's get going."

With comprehension finally dawning on Tally he smiled and walked over to Wicket. "I hope that's the only plank I ever have to walk," he said with a smile. "But aren't we gonna run out of planks pretty soon? Then what do we do?"

Jethro was the last to cross the plank and to answer Tally's question he reached down and took the plank up and followed the others who had gone further down the wall top. It took about an hour for them to finally make it across the labyrinth top before they could see an opening. When they finally got to the opening Pigtail tied a string to the lantern handle and carefully let it down to make sure there wasn't anything on the floor. It was a good thing he had done this because there was some more of the ooze there.

"Toss a plank down but try and angle it so that you have to use just one plank. We don't want to lose too many of them. They've come in real handy." Pigtail ordered.

So Wicket got down on his stomach on the wall top and carefully dropped the plank so that it would take just one plank to get across the ooze. As soon as he did that, Tally jumped down on to the plank and carefully walked to the end and checked to see if there any more ooze around. He called up to the others, "That's it as far as the ooze is concerned."

So the girls were carefully lowered down by Jethro and went over to Tally and waited for the others to follow. Once they all got down they looked around and didn't see anything of danger in the tunnel and that worried both Jethro and Pigtail even more. It was as they were walking down the tunnel, kicking up dust with their feet that Arbordale realized it and shouted, "It's the hematite dust. Stop kicking up the dirt," he ordered.

"How can we do that? It just automatically kicks up when we take a step." Pill asked in exasperation.

"Everyone just stop. Let's get the water ready so that we can wash our eyes and let's put a bandana over our mouth and nose to stop it from entering." Jethro suggested to everyone.

Once they did this they continued on down the tunnel and finally reached an area where the dirt was a rich dark brown color. They had gotten past the hematite dust and so they stopped to wash their eyes and face with the water. They shook out their bandanas and stowed them as they moved on down the tunnel. As they came around a sharp turn in the tunnel they all heard this weird squelching sound and so they all stopped suddenly and looked down. Pigtail was afraid they hadn't seen some of the ooze but the floor was still a dark brown color and not purple.

It was then that Tally, peeking around another sharp turn saw them. The terra slugs. They were huge and taking up the whole tunnel.

"Aw, now that's just disgusting," he said as some slime slowly slid down the slug's bodies.

"Man, I don't know what is worse, the way they look or the way they smell." Wicket said coming up behind Tally waving his hand under his nose as if to sweep the horrible aroma away.

"Jeesh, it smells like a dung heap, only more potent," Jethro said as he also waved his hand under his nose.

"It smells like the time our ox got into the homemade chili. You remember that pa? He could only walk a few steps before he let loose and then went another few steps and let loose again. It got all over the wagon wheels and we smelled that aroma for a good two weeks." Lark laughed.

"Now what is it we're supposed to do to these terra slugs, I forgot?" Pigtail asked Orida.

"You salt 'em. That should take the fluid out of 'em," she told Pigtail. So Lark reached into her sack and pulled the salt out.

"Now don't use too much. You don't want to use all the salt now. There might be more down another tunnel." Arbordale warned as she opened the salt container and tossed some at the slug.

"So how long do we wait?" Tally asked because he realized he really needed to go, as he danced from one foot to the other. Wicket realizing just why Tally was asking this, realized also that he to needed to go.

"If you gals don't mind, me and Tally here need to visit the little boys room," he pointed over his shoulder to the back of the tunnel that turned sharply.

"Who you calling a little boy? I'm a man, last I checked," Tally said defensively.

Lark and Pill giggled said they would stay where they were. Jethro and Pigtail also went with them and made the Knarls stay behind to watch the girls. As soon as they finished, the girls took their turn with Orida as lookout to make sure nothing came up behind the girls as they took care of their business.

With all that done and nothing to do until the slugs shrunk enough to get by, they all sat down and ate lunch. Wicket was really hot and was getting tired of wearing the Flug suit and asked if he could take it off, but Pigtail still thought that it might come in handy in case they met up with some other Flugs, so he made him keep the costume on. So Wicket sulked the rest of the time they waited.

It wasn't until 30 minutes later that the terra slugs dried up enough to get past them. They inched around them very carefully just in case the slugs still had a little bit of life left in them and would try to attack. After passing them they headed down the tunnel until Tally, who had taken the front position for a spell tripped and fell, sending the lantern rolling down the tunnel. As the lantern came to rest on a small tile shaped like a diamond there was a slight whooshing sound. That stopped everyone in their tracks. Pigtail held his lantern up high to illuminate as much ground as possible and looked down the tunnel. He noticed that there were more of the tiles on the floor.

"So what was the whooshing sound?" Tally's voice shook as he asked this.

"Beats me, I don't see anything that could have or would have made that noise," Pigtail replied.

It wasn't until Pigtail started to circle the lantern to cast light on the entire tunnel that Lark shouted, "Look, on the ground, it's a dart."

Everyone's eyes found the dart and they all took deep breaths and looked around at each other.

"What do we do now?" Wicket inquired.

"Give me something to roll down the tunnel. I want to see what happens when a tile is rolled over." Pigtail called over his shoulder to the others.

Lark quickly grabbed her backpack and pulled the round salt container out and emptied the contents onto her bandana. She handed the container to Pigtail and then tied the bandana up so as not to spill any of the salt. Pigtail took the container and squatted down onto one knee. He lined up the container with the tiles and then rolled it across the tiles.

Darts began flying from both sides of the tunnel and bounced off the adjacent walls. They all ducked just in case any of the darts came towards them but luckily nothing like that happened. Pigtail then grabbed one of the planks and reached out to drag the container back towards him. Once he got the container back he rolled it again. Nothing happened that time.

"You went over the very same tiles. Maybe that means that they have only one good dart in them that is triggered," Jethro suggested.

"If that's the case then I guess we can roll the container over the tiles, let the darts release then advance and roll the container over the next set of tiles until we get past this particular trap," Pigtail offered.

Pill and Orida spoke up from the back of the group, "I don't think we can afford to do that. There are some fire lizards advancing," they said in unison as they backed into Wicket to get away from the lizards.

Wicket, who was just as scared as the others of being burned decided he would rather take his chances with the darts. He turned to Tally and said, "I've an idea. Tally, you grab one of the shields and I grab one and you face that wall," Wicket indicated the left wall with his thumb. "I'll take this wall and we'll run through and let the darts hit the shields. That will clear the way a whole lot faster than rolling the container a few feet at a time and get us away from the lizards."

Tally wasn't too hep on playing the hero but he didn't want to get burned any more than Wicket did and he certainly didn't want the girls or the Knarls burned either. So he agreed to Wickets idea.

"Okay, we go on 'three' and we need to keep pace with each other. If one of us gets ahead of or behind the other then we might get hit by the darts, got it?" Wicket nodded his head at Tally, who jerked his head in acceptance.

As soon as Wicket said three the two of them with their backs to each other started down the tunnel. Their heads were ducked down below the shield and they held the shields as low as they could in order to protect their feet and legs. It was slow going but it was certainly faster than rolling the container down the tunnel. Pigtail and Jethro grabbed two other shields and followed Tally and Wicket just to make sure all the darts had been triggered. Pill, Lark and the Knarls were backed as close to the first tile as they could get without stepping on them waiting for the okay. As soon as Jethro got to the end of the tiles he hollered at the others to come on through. They didn't need to be told twice and the girls, with the Knarls in their arms, took off running down the tunnel.

There were one or two other darts that were triggered but since the girls were running through, the darts missed their mark. At the end of the tunnel there was some rubble that Wicket and Tally were in the process of putting into the path to keep the lizards from following them.

"I wonder why there is rubble here. There hasn't been rubble anywhere else in the tunnels we've been down," Pill pointed out to the others.

"Hey, you're right, there hasn't been. Why would there be some here and not anywhere else?" Lark echoed Pill's curiosity.

"Who knows and cares, just so long as we have something to keep the lizards from making us flambé." Pigtail said, exasperated and tired from all that running and moving rubble.

~~~~~

Chapter 26

They took off down the tunnel again once they were sure they had stopped the lizards' approach. This time Wicket had taken the lead and was followed by Pigtail and Jethro with the girls and Tally bringing up the rear. Arbordale, BJ and BB were with Pigtail, Jethro and Wicket, while Orida was sticking to the girls to make sure they were safe. It was when they entered a new antechamber not far from the rubble that they found out why there was rubble there and not elsewhere.

Wicket had stepped down only to find that there wasn't any ground to step on. He tried to backpedal but his momentum carried him forward. He and BJ fell straight down. Luckily Wicket was able to grab a rock jutting out from the side and stop his descent. Unfortunately, BJ kept going. Then there was a soft 'splash' sound as BJ hit the water.

Arbordale was at the hole's edge before anyone else really realized just what had happened. He was bending over and hollering for BJ to answer him.

Then he was joined by Pigtail and Jethro at the hole's edge and they too were yelling for BJ and Wicket.

Wicket returned their call and informed them that he was holding on but the rock was slowly slipping. Pill had grabbed Pigtail's backpack and was pulling the rope out as she shouted, "How are we gonna hold onto him? He's awfully heavy for me and Lark to pull him up."

Jethro grabbed the rope and replied, "Don't you worry about that. Pigtail and I will manage it. Tally, you keep watch on the back of the tunnel and let us know if anything is coming." Tally nodded and turned around with lantern held high.

Jethro tied the rope around his waist and Pigtail tossed the end down to Wicket. He readied himself to pull as soon as the rope was taunt from Wicket's weight. Once Wicket got hold of the rope he let go of the rock which proved to be just in time because the rock went plummeting down the side. There was another splash and then an exclamation, "Ow, what the heck are you trying to do? Knock me out so I can't stay afloat?"

Arbordale squealed with excitement when he realized that his son was still alive and hollered down to him, "Hold on, son. Once we get Wicket up then we'll throw the rope down and pull you out too."

BJ replied, "No hurry, it's just a well of water and doesn't seem to be going nowhere."

They strained to pull Wicket up, and Tally kept glancing over his shoulder, worried that his best friend might not make it up safely.

"Daggum, he's skinny as a railroad rail, how come he weighs so much?" Pigtail grunted in the effort it took to pull him up.

It wasn't until they had Wicket over the side that they found out just why he weighed so much. In is free hand Wicket held a huge gold cup the size of a punch bowl.

"I've struck gold," he exclaimed beaming at the others. They all looked from one to the other and were amazed at what he had in his hand.

Then Orida broke the moment with her desire to get her son back up safely too. That shook Pigtail to action and he dropped the rope down to BJ as Wicket explained where the gold cup came from.

"There's another tunnel down there. And this was in the mouth of the tunnel. I shouted down the tunnel and could hear my voice echo so it must be pretty deep. I'm guessing and hoping there is more of this treasure there. We could be rich!" He said with a self-satisfied smile stretched across his face.

"No, no, no, it's another of her traps. You focus on the treasure and forget all about the power source. Besides, gold is too heavy for any of you to carry. So you couldn't carry out enough to make yourselves rich. It's just another trap, that's all." Arbordale explained.

Pigtail scratched his head and said, "How about this, we let Wicket go back down there and take a look around in the tunnel. If it's nothing but gold and is a dead end then we pull him back up and head on down this tunnel. But if there is another tunnel there, then it might be the one to the power source." As Arbordale tried to argue with him Pigtail held up his hand and continued, "It makes sense for the Wind Hag to set up a trap of gold to distract us. But by the same token, it makes sense for her to have created a totally different tunnel to the power source. After all, what are the chances of someone finding this particular tunnel? You're supposed to drown in this water trap so that may mean that this new tunnel is the true tunnel." Before he could finish his line of thought there was an exclamation from BJ down in the hole.

"Hey, guys could you please pull me up, there's something swimming in the water and I don't think it's friendly." The last part was in a higher squeak than usual and it was definitely a squeak of desperation. Pigtail immediately began pulling and Jethro grabbed the rope to help pull him to safety.

"See, that makes my argument even sounder. There was something in that water to keep you from climbing back up and discovering the new tunnel. So that could very well mean that it's the tunnel to the power source. Okay, Tally come here and we'll lower you down to the tunnel and you take a gander at what's down there. If there is another tunnel, give us a holler. If it's just a big room of gold then tug on the rope and we'll pull you back up, got that?"

But Tally didn't particularly hear what Pigtail had said to him. He was way too busy looking at the gold cup and drooling.

Pigtail and Wicket looked at each other for a moment before Lark said exactly what they were thinking, "Maybe Tally isn't the best one to send down there. He seems to be consumed with gold fever. Pa and I have seen it before, when we were out west, in California. There's not much a person sees aside from gold when you got the fever," she explained to the others.

"Good point, Lark, Okay, Pill, it's your turn to help out." Pigtail said as he turned to her with rope in hand.

"Me, no way, I climbed the wall in the labyrinth room, it's Lark's turn. Besides, she's seen gold before so she shouldn't be consumed by gold fever. Who's to say I won't succumb to the temptation?"

Jethro was about to protest and volunteer instead, when Lark chimed in.

"Hey, I thought you were my friend? Why are you trying to pawn this off on me?" Lark exclaimed in frustration.

"You are my friend but I've already helped out once, it's your turn now, fair's fair," Pill explained to Lark.

Lark knew deep down inside that Pill was right, but she really didn't want to go down in a hole all by herself. BJ walked up to Lark and put his hand on her leg and told her, "I'll go with you. I've already been down there and it's not all that scary."

"Yeah, but you said that there was something in the water." Lark felt the need to point this out to him.

"Well, sure, but I don't intend to go into the water again, do you?" BJ countered.

"No, I don't intend to but who says I won't accidently fall into it."

"I do, because I intend to keep a strong hold on the rope and make sure you don't fall in at all," her father told her as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Orida came up to her also and said, "And I'm gonna go with you too. That way we can get a lot better look at what is down there."

This seemed to perk Lark up and she finally agreed to be lowered down to the tunnel mouth. Pill, meanwhile, was a little ticked, no one offered to climb the tunnel wall with her but they all seemed to be rallying behind Lark. That didn't seem nice to her. But she kept her mouth shut because she didn't want to appear to be a baby about it.

Lark was slowly lowered into the hole. BJ and Orida were hanging on to the rope just above Lark. BJ was holding the lantern and seemed to be excited to head back down the hole. Lark gave a yell when she got to the mouth of the new tunnel and the rope slacked as she gained entry to the gold room.

They were down there for about thirty minutes before she hollered for her father to pull them back up. Once they made it back up Jethro grabbed Lark and hugged her. BJ then laid out some smaller pieces of gold he had brought back up inside Lark's bandana. Everyone just stood staring at it.

Wicket finally broke the silence, "The coins are nice but they don't compare to my gold cup."

"This isn't about what is better and greater. Besides, we need to focus on what they saw and not what they brought back up," Pigtail pointed out. He turned to Lark and looked expectantly.

Orida was the one who decided she should give the report. "We got inside this really big room. It's filled with gold and I mean a lot of gold. There were small pieces of gold, like Lark brought up and there were huge pieces."

Lark broke in and added, "They even had these wagons made of gold. It was so cool."

"Once we got over the grandeur of that much gold in one spot, we got to work," Orida gave Lark a reproachful look for interrupting her. "We headed to the back of the room and found another tunnel. I think Pigtail is right. I think this might be the right tunnel to proceed down. We could see some more ooze down the tunnel and I think there were some slugs or puffer worms too. I didn't want to go out too far because of the ooze but there are definitely other traps there. If it weren't the right tunnel then there wouldn't be more traps, would there? And I think the gold is just another trap in that it would make most people try to figure out how to get it all out of there, instead of focusing on the power source."

"I think we need to take a vote what to do next," Jethro spoke, still holding Lark in a tight hug.

"I thought that we had decided that if there was another tunnel at the end of the gold room then we would follow that," Pigtail replied.

"No, you decided that. There are more than just you here and it affects us all. I think we need a majority vote to pursue that tunnel or to continue on with this tunnel," Jethro said still a bit ticked that Pigtail had made his daughter take such a risk.

Pigtail sighed and said, "Fine, okay all those who what to pursue the new tunnel raise your hand." BJ, Orida, Pill, Wicket, Tally and Pigtail all raised their hands. "And those who want to go down this tunnel," he indicated the one they were standing in, "raise your hand." Arbordale, BB and Jethro all raised their hands.

They all turned to look at Lark, who hadn't voted and she said, "My vote wouldn't matter either way. Y'all got the most votes to go to the new tunnel so what's it matter what I want?" She shrugged as she said this.

Pigtail looked at her and said, "I don't care if you don't think your vote matters, it does to us. In the future, I want you to vote with your heart and forget whether it'll make a hoot of difference or not. You promise to do that?"

Lark looked up at Pigtail and smiled and nodded, "I promise."

Jethro looked at Pigtail approvingly and then saw a flaw with choosing the new tunnel. "How exactly are we gonna get back up here? If we leave the rope tied to a rock then whatever has been following us will remove it, we will be stuck here."

"Actually we won't," Tally said as he pulled a grappling hook from his bag. "I thought it might come in handy."

Pigtail walked over to Tally and grabbed the hook. "Good thinking, Tally." He proceeded to tie the rope to the end of the grappling hook. "Okay, I'll go last since this was basically my idea. The rest of you go first. I think we should leave at least one of the girls as last before me so that I will be able to lower her down."

Pill immediately volunteered. She figured it wouldn't hurt to put it off until the very last. Each of the crew took their turn being lowered down into the hole. Jethro went first so that he could be sure to grab the next person and pull them into the tunnel. Once they all were down Pigtail flipped the rope and it and the grappling hook came lose. They pulled it into the tunnel and then started through.

"Grab some of those plates, Wicket, Tally," Pigtail ordered.

"Hey, we don't have time to focus on grabbing the loot. I thought we had decided that this was as much a trap as anything else," Jethro said huffily.

"Yeah, I know that. We're gonna use these plates instead of the last couple of planks we have to cross the ooze with. That way if we need the planks farther on then we still have them," Pigtail explained.

"Oh, I gotcha, my misunderstanding, how about these?" Jethro said pointing to a stack of rather flat plates.

"Perfect, Okay everyone grab a few and let's get to the tunnel entrance," Pigtail said.

They each grabbed a couple of plates had headed for the tunnel. It was hard not to look at all the gold. Tally and Wicket seemed to be dragging their feet as they went through. Each one was trying to figure out how to grab some gold and take it with them and not let the others know what they had done. Pigtail, sensing that something was up with those two finally just grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and pushed them to the tunnel entrance.

Jethro, Lark and Pill were in the process of laying out the plates as the last three caught up. They each crossed carefully to make sure they stepped on the plates and not the ooze. When they were past the ooze they turned their attention to the worms. Though the closer they got the less they looked like worms. Wicket was the first to get to them and he bent over and carefully picked up the round dark shapes.

"These don't look like worms. They don't even look alive, if you ask me," Wicket said.

Arbordale jumped down from Pigtail's shoulder and walked over to Wicket. Wicket lowered the thing down to Arbordale so that he could get a better look at it. Then Arbordale started to laugh and said, "You're right, it's not a worm or anything living for that matter."

"Well, just what the heck is it then?" Tally asked.

"It's poo." Arbordale said still laughing.

"Poo? Just what the heck do you mean poo?" Wicket asked as he quickly dropped it.

"It's the droppings of a horny toad. And from the size of the droppings I'd say a really big horny toad." Arbordale explained, "Most horny toads are about the size of a silver dollar and almost as flat. You can hold them in your hand, no problem. But they leave very small droppings. These are considerably larger."

"A horny toad? What kind of a toad has horns? Are you talking about horns like a cow has horns?" Tally asked, liking the sound of the horny toad even less.

"Naw, they just have these little types of things like spikes over their body. So people call them horns. The horns and the horny toad are harmless. They eat ants so they aren't gonna eat a human, or for that matter, a Knarl." Arbordale proceeded down the tunnel without a bit of hesitation so the others followed. Wicket and Tally brought up the rear hoping that Arbordale was right about them not being carnivorous.

They rounded a slight bend and there, chained up were four giant horny toads the size of miniature horses. They had collars around their necks with the chains leading to a spot on the tunnel wall where the bolts holding the chains were fastened.

Pigtail looked at them and figured that if they had been bred to a bigger size then they might have been bred to be carnivorous too.

"Are you sure they don't eat humans?" He asked Arbordale skeptically.

"Um... well, the ones topside don't. These," he indicated the four, "who knows what they have been bred to do."

Jethro stepped forward and said, "Well, there's only one way to find out." And he headed to the closest one. He slowly reached out his hand and as he got closer the horny toad stretched out its head towards the hand. When Jethro got close enough to the horny toad's head he started to stroke the bridge of the nose and horny toad went kinda slack as he let Jethro pet him. Jethro turned and smiled as he petted the horny toad. Lark went to the next closest one and did the same thing. It became just as docile as the one Jethro was petting. So the others followed suit and went to pet the other two. Pill pulled a jar out of her pack and unscrewed the lid. She poured these little dark spots out in front of each horny toad.

"What the heck are those?" Wicket asked.

"Chocolate covered ants. The last captain really liked them and ate them constantly. I figured no one was gonna eat them and they might come in handy on the adventure. I know they are chocolate but they're also ants and let's face it, as far as I'm concerned, there ain't enough chocolate in the world to get me to eat ants."

The horny toads sniffed them for a moment and then started to gulp them down. Pill poured the rest of the chocolate covered ants on the ground and then the others moved past the horny toads. They got clear of the horny toads and proceeded down the tunnel. They got a little farther down the tunnel and they could hear the horny toads straining at their chains trying to follow them.

"That's horrible to keep them chained up like that. They are living creatures and deserve to be free," Lark said in a disgusted tone. "We have so got to stop that horrible hag! Then we can free the horny toads and let them roam the range like they should have been doing in the first place."

"I agree with you, Lark, but right now we need to focus on getting to the power source. Once we get that, then we can let them free when we head back to the surface," Jethro consoled her.

~~~~~

Chapter 27

They ventured farther into the tunnel when they stopped suddenly at the sound of n whooshing.

"What the heck is that?" Tally said rather sick at his stomach at the thought of just what it could be.

"Well, we won't know until we take a look," Pigtail said and started off again, though he wasn't going as fast as he had been. As he got closer to the noise the tunnel seemed to be widening. The next thing they knew they were standing in a large subterranean cave.

"Is it hot in here or is just me?" Tally asked the others.

"Well, it certainly ain't you. I mean you're an attractive man but that's as far as I'll go. And I only say that because you're my best friend, "Wicket replied.

Tally gave his friend a quizzical look and then said, "I'm not talking about that kind of 'hot,' I'm talking about the temperature has gotten hotter, hasn't it?"

Wicket blushed and retorted, "I knew that, I was making a joke. We need a little levity here. In case you've not noticed we're in a life and death struggle. So I figure if I had a say in things I would want to go out laughing. And it looks like I'm gonna be the only one who ends up laughing."

"No one is gonna get hurt or anything else. So let's just take things one step at a time, okay?" Pigtail tried to put as much bravado into this as he said it, in the hopes that the others might start thinking more positively.

"Yeah, that's all well and good, but I still think the temperature has risen," Tally told them.

Orida decided she needed to add to the conversation as a voice of reason, "The temperature has increased. And if I do say so myself, it's starting to get rather uncomfortable."

Pigtail had to agree with her but did so silently. He wasn't gonna say anything negative simply because he felt he needed to set a good example.

"We won't know anything until we actually advance further and see what is up ahead, so I think we should get moving," Jethro suggested.

The others nodded in agreement and they started to inch forward slowly. Wicket and Tally were having an elbow shoving match as they got further inside the cave to see who would go ahead of the other. Lark and Pill just rolled their eyes at each other over the behavior of the two men. They sighed and walked around the two leaving them to their fight.

As they went further into the cave they noticed a glowing light all around. It was on the floor and the walls, even the ceiling was glowing. The glowing was made even more eerie by all the steam that was coming up from the floor of the cave.

"Why is it glowing and why are there all these big craters in the ground?" Tally asked knowing full well he probably didn't want to hear the answer.

"Beats me what the craters are but the glowing isn't really glowing. It looks like sunlight is shining through those holes in the ceiling," Jethro said as he pointed up.

But before anyone could say anything else there was a sudden whooshing and a plume of water came bursting out of one of the craters and went straight up to the ceiling and into one of the holes in the ceiling.

Comprehension came to Jethro just as suddenly as the plume of water had come. "I know where we are, we're in the geyser fields. Or to be exact, we are underneath the geyser fields."

"Just what the heck are the geyser fields?" Tally squeaked. He and Wicket had stopped fighting with each other the moment the crater belched the water out.

"It's a field where all this hot steamed water comes out of the earth. We never took the wagon train out into the field because it was too unstable."

Wicket shuddered and said, "Unstable doesn't sound good. I think stable sounds a heck of a lot better at the moment."

Jethro retorted in disgust over Wicket's obvious cowardice, "Well, we don't have a choice in the matter. We can't make the unstable suddenly turn into something stable, now can we?"

Pill and Lark were sensing that the grownups were getting a bit testy after this long ordeal. So in order to keep the peace they decided to try and distract them.

"I bet if we each grabbed a gold plate and put it on top of a crater we could ride it up to the top and out of here," Pill said.

"Hey, how cool would that be? You want to go grab some plates to see?" Lark said with as much enthusiasm as possible.

"We are not gonna try and ride a geyser out of here. We are here for the power sources, remember? So let's just get out of this area as fast and as safely as possible." Pigtail shouted. He had to shout because another geyser from another area in the cave suddenly shot up with a roar.

As they ventured further into the geyser field the plumes of water kept bursting up every now and then around them.

"Hey, is anyone else sweating as much as me? Or am I sweating because it's so hot down here?" Tally honestly wanted an answer to his question.

"Aw, piddle, we've really died and we all ended up 'you know where.' Man I was so hoping I'd go the other way. It's my own fault for becoming a vicious pirate. I really should have listened to Ma. 'Become a lawyer, no matter how good or bad things go, someone will always need a lawyer,' she would tell me over and over again. But did I listen, nooo, and now I'm paying the price for it. So where do you suppose the devil is? I think we should introduce ourselves, it's the polite thing to do," Wicket said as he looked around for the devil to suddenly appear.

This brought laughter to both Pigtail and Jethro. They were laughing so hard that their eyes had started to water.

It wasn't until Pigtail had finally gained control of his laughter that he managed to tell Wicket, "Number one, if you want to do the polite thing then that proves you ended up going in the wrong direction, if you are dead. Number two, if you had become a lawyer then you certainly would be meeting the devil when your time comes. Number three; it's the water that is causing the cave to be so hot. It's not because we all died and went 'you know where.' The water is producing steam and that's heating the cave, that's all."

The others laughed about it, as did Wicket, though his laughter was more out of relief that he hadn't died, yet, anyway. It was while they were trying to determine how to navigate the crater field that they heard a rustling from behind them. They all turned suddenly to see what had made the noise. Tally lost balance because his turn had gone a little too far and his feet hadn't managed to catch up with the rest of his body.

"It's the horny toads!" Exclaimed Pill. "Now what the heck are they doing here?"

"Look," Lark said as she pointed to the chains being dragged by the horny toads, "They must have pulled themselves free."

The largest horny toad came up to Lark and rubbed up against her. She started to pet him and he sat down and closed his eyes as he enjoyed the attention.

"I think they wanted to join us, but why?" Pill asked. "Aren't they supposed to be protecting the power source?"

"I think that we were probably the only ones who were nice to them. So they wanted to be with us because of that," Jethro surmised. "Let that be a lesson to you, girls - acts of kindness are always rewarded."

"Um, no offense and pardon me for interrupting your life lesson for the girls, but how the heck is their being here a reward?" Tally asked totally confused.

"Well," Jethro paused in order to think up something good. He finally said, "Because now they can protect us from whatever else we have to encounter as we get closer to the power source. In fact, I bet they end up being really helpful."

Wicket, who had one of the other horny toads rub up against him wasn't too sure of Jethro's logic but as long as they didn't try to eat them then he was okay with their following them.

"Let's just get outta here. I think I'm about to melt," Pigtail said gruffly as a horny toad rubbed up against him and poked him with one of his spikes. Pigtail was thankful the spikes weren't sharp.

"You know, this could be the coming thing," Wicket said knowingly to Tally.

"How do you figure a horny toad is a coming thing, aside from the fact that they came to us?" Tally inquired.

"Not the horny toads, Tally, the steam. I bet if we could fill a room with steam, people would pay to sit inside that room," Wicket explained.

"Now why would any sane person pay to do that?" Jethro asked.

"I think you just answered your own question," Pigtail retorted. "No sane person would." He said as he took his captain's hat off and wiped his brow.

"Just listen for a second," Wicket wanted to explain, "If someone thought that the steam would melt a person down to size then they would think it was a good idea as a way to lose weight. This way they wouldn't have to work out at all, just sit and melt away."

"Why would someone want to lose weight that way? I personally like a little extra padding, myself. It helps you to bounce when you fall," Pigtail said.

Pill and Lark started to giggle at the mental picture of the Captain bouncing up and down. They quickly stifled the giggling when he turned to give them a stern look.

"It don't have to make sense, all it has to do is make money, loads of money. You're forgetting that people will buy into anything that offers a big return with little or no effort on their account. Besides, if they lose weight, then they can have the joy of gaining it back by eating more. Then they would have to come back to the steam room to lose it again. Repeat customers are a must for any successful business." Wicket hoped he had impressed them with his savvy business acumen.

"Okay, whatever! This isn't getting us any closer to the power source. Let's get back to that and focus on everything else later," Orida felt someone needed to get them back on track.

With that said, they all started through the crater field with the horny toads following closely behind them.

Lark whispered to Pill, "I bet I could ride one if I set my mind to it," she indicated towards the horny toads with her thumb as they walked along.

"I'm sure you could. You seem to be able to do anything you set your mind to, though it might be a bit uncomfortable." Pill said trying to make up for causing her friend to be lowered in to the hole. That's when a thought suddenly occurred to her, "How did the horny toads get down the hole to get to us?"

Arbordale answered that question, "Horny toads are natural climbers. Climbing down the face of the wall wouldn't have been difficult for them at all."

"Good, then next time there's a hole that needs to be gone down, they can do it and not me." Obviously, Lark still hadn't forgotten her ordeal. Piddle, thought Pill.

"Let's have a little less talk and little more walk," Pigtail said in an exasperated tone. He just wasn't sure if the group could keep their mind on the endeavor at hand. It could be because they were all tired. He would like to find a nice spot to rest but they needed to get this over with. The sooner the better as far as he was concerned.

~~~~~~

Chapter 28

Just as he finished saying that, one of the horny toads let out a great screeching sound. His chain had become wedged between two rocks and he couldn't move. Lark immediately went over to the creature and started to pet him to calm him down.

"This shouldn't be a problem," Wicket said as he studied the lock on the metal collar. "I should be able to pick this lock in no time flat." He pulled his backpack off and rummaged through it until he found some wire. He twisted the wire so that he could fit it into the lock. He wiggled the wire around for a few seconds when the lock clicked and the metal collar fell off.

Pill was tickled pink over his success and asked him to do that to the other collars so that the horny toads would be free. Wicket obliged and in a matter of minutes the horny toads were free of their bondage. They seemed very happy about that because they started to skip around Wicket as if to say thank you.

Wicket was a little overwhelmed at the outpouring of appreciation and a bit embarrassed too. "Okay, okay, I freed you. You you can to go anywhere you want. I'm not stopping you from going topside if you want to. So have happy new life, and just don't forget to help someone in their time as need." Wicket told them and sincerely hoped they would stop dancing in a circle around him.

"Okay, they're free and able to choose what they want to do, so let's get moving. I want to get this whole ordeal over with as quickly as possible," Pigtail said as he moved into the tunnel.

The others followed, as did the horny toads. Of course, the fact that Pill and Lark were dropping bits of food behind them wasn't hurting.

"You know," Pill said in a hushed voice, "We can't just call them 'horny toads' from here on out. They need names, don't ya think?" She asked Lark.

"You're right, that would make them more like pets rather than just some big old scary creature," Lark said as she turned to look at the horny toads. "I think the big one should be called Ketzial."

Tally, who had been listening to the girls talk, asked, "Now why would you name it that? I mean that's not your normal average every day type of name for a pet."

"But they aren't your normal average, every day, type of pet, now are they?" Lark replied.

"No, I guess not...." Tally had started to say but Lark cut him off.

"Nope, they are unique and genuinely special, so they need a name to match. And I think the name Ketzial is fitting for one of them." She went over to the big one and petted him and asked him, "You like the name Ketzial, don't ya, boy?" The horny toad seemed to understand what she was asking him because he began to nod his head. "Well, that settles that, this one is named Ketzial. Now we need three more really unique names for the others. I named my horny toad so y'all need to come up with the other names. And remember, they have to be unique and special to reflect their true selves."

Tally, nodded in agreement with Lark and as he walked you could almost see him straining to think of a great name. Pill and Wicket were also thinking of names but they didn't have to strain as much as Tally. That was probably because they had much more practice at thinking than Tally.

Wicket was the next person to think of a name for a horny toad. "I think this jumpy one here should be called Spring. You know, because he jumps and springs. Now that is a unique name, isn't it?" He asked Lark.

"Oh, my yes, that is a very special name. So Spring, do you like your name?" Lark said as Spring began bouncing around Wicket in favor of his new name.

"Okay, that has those two taken care of, it's your turn now," Wicket smiled as he said this to Tally and Pill. This ticked Tally off a bit because he thought Wicket was rubbing it in his face that he got a unique name before he did, but he wasn't gonna let that stop him from coming up with an even better name than Wicket did.

Before Tally could even start his thinking process again Pill came up with her name.

"I remember reading once about a gentle breeze being called a Zephyr. And since it was a horrible bad wind that got us here and in all these bad situations then I think we should go with the exact opposite and name one of them Zephyr. That way the horny toad could represent the good side of wind and so when we call him, then we will think pleasant thoughts. Just like when a gentle breeze when it hits your face on a hot day. It's a very nice experience and this is a very nice horny toad," Pill finished as she stroked the forehead of the horny toad she named Zephyr.

The horny toad really enjoyed her stroking him and he also seemed to like the name Zephyr too. So now what was left was for Tally to name his horny toad. This could take a while. The last horny toad, sensing that Tally was having trouble coming up with a name for him, came up beside Tally and rubbed his leg in hopes of inspiring him.

Pigtail and Jethro were unaware of what the others were up to and the Knarls, who had attached themselves to the two lead adults in order to see what was coming up next, hadn't heard any of their conversation either. So they continued on, not realizing that Tally was in danger of a major brain explosion as he tried to think of a great name.

"Tally, just think of the qualities of the horny toad, that's what I did and that's where I came up with the name of Spring." Wicket said in hopes of helping his friend come up with a good name.

"I think you should just think of something that is inspirational for you and then you could come up with a name from that," Pill offered.

Tally was just a little ticked at everyone talking while he was trying to think. I mean, how the heck could they expect him to come up with a great name if they were jabbering all the time. Hey, how about Jabber. Now that would be a unique name, he thought to himself. He looked down at the horny toad and realized that he didn't make much noise at all. So Jabber was out. Gosh, he had only just met this horny toad. How was he supposed to know what his special qualities were? It wasn't as obvious as Wicket's, what with his jumping up and down all the time. Tally sighed to himself. All he hoped was that his horny toad was going to be a lot braver than he was. But that shouldn't be too hard to do seeing as to how Tally was a big chicken. Hmmm, how about Chicky? No, he was pretty sure his horny toad was a boy, just how he knew that he wasn't sure, but he just knew. So a girly name wouldn't fit him at all. Maybe when they encountered the next booby trap then his horny toad would show some sort of valor and save them all. That's when it came to him and he got a big old grin on his face and turned to the others.

"I think mine should be named Valiant." That was all he said and then he looked down at the horny toad beside him and it was obvious that the horny toad approved of the name. He had done it. He had come up with a unique and special name and no one had to help him do it. Maybe he was starting to become the smart one of the group. Then again, maybe not, but the thought did make him feel a little less stupid.

It wasn't until they heard a shout from the front that they all forgot about the horny toads and focused on the fact that they were still on a dangerous adventure.

Wicket and Tally made their way to the front and stood alongside Jethro and Pigtail as they watched a shimmering blue light that appeared to stretch from the bottom of the floor all the way up to the top of the cave. It created a tunnel or tube shape and in the very middle you could see two silver glowing orbs sitting on top of two pillars. The light itself was a bit hypnotizing and they all stood there as if in a trance. It wasn't until Orida pinched Pigtail's cheek that he started to focus again on the mission at hand.

"I'm guessing that is the force field? What do we do now?" He asked the others in hopes of pulling them out of their trance-like states.

"Isn't this the reason we brought the mirrors?" Tally asked.

"Yes, it is but I'm not too sure if that is gonna work," Pigtail pointed out the obvious.

"The force field isn't the only thing we have to contend with. In case none of you have noticed there are Flugs guarding the force field and the power sources," Jethro indicated the dirt clods in velvet with a wave of his hand.

They all shrunk back into the tunnel and peeked around the wall looking at the Flugs they would have to get past. Pill had grabbed the binoculars that Tally had in his backpack and started to look around to see if there was any way they could get past the Flugs without them knowing they were there.

"See, Wicket, it's a good thing we made you and Jethro stay in the Flug costumes. You two may be our only hope in getting to the power source," Pigtail sounded a bit relieved that he might just get out of having to do anything dangerous.

Pill was still looking all around the cave with the binoculars as the horny toads sat down and made themselves comfortable.

"Hey, look at the very top of the force field," Pill told the others.

"It's really hard to see. The brightness of the force field against the darkness of the cave makes it difficult to see. It's kinda blinding," Wicket pointed out to Pill.

"Well, then take the binoculars and look at the very top," Pill said as she held the binoculars out.

Pigtail took them and focused them on the top of the force field. "Okay, so what am I looking at?" He asked Pill.

"You notice that it doesn't actually go all the way to the top. It just looks as though it does from here," she pointed out to him.

"Okay, so excuse my ignorance, but so what?" Pigtail replied.

"Well, if the horny toads could make it down the cliff side to the new tunnel then I think they could climb up to the top of the cave and hold on. Then one of us ties a rope around the horny toad's middle and lowers themselves down to the power sources, putting them in a backpack and climbing back up to the horny toad, who then turns around and brings that person back, easy as pie. And since I thought of it I don't think I should have to be the one to go." She added as an afterthought.

"Say, that might just work. But just because you thought of it doesn't mean you are getting out of it that easy. It's going to need to be someone small who doesn't weigh too much so that the horny toads aren't overwhelmed by the weight and lose their grip and fall. So that means you and Lark need to be the ones to do that." Jethro pointed out to Pill.

"Piddle, don't I get any credit for thinking of it?" She sounded very disappointed.

"Certainly you do, but now we need to focus on the job at hand. Kudos will be handed out after we are safe back at our hide out," Pigtail told her.

"I think we should also have a diversion. I mean, they probably are gonna be wondering why there are a couple of giant horny toads climbing the wall, don't y'all think?" Tally offered.

"Good point, which is where Jethro and Wicket being dressed as Flugs will come in handy. They can say they are inspecting the force field to make sure it is still functioning properly," Pigtail said.

"Yeah, but that would mean maintenance and not some high ranking official in the military. So we are out of uniform in that regards. Maybe we can say we are inspecting the technology of the force field to see if might have any military applications and that's why we are here," Jethro offered.

"No, I don't think they would let Flug military personnel from another colony know about their technology. They might think the others would turn it against them and conquer them. No, I think maintenance is our best bet," Pigtail concluded.

Lark had the binoculars now and was looking at the two Flugs who were standing on either side of the force field. "Hey, those two Flugs look familiar," She said after a moment of staring at them.

"How can you tell, they all look like big walking dirt clods to me," Pigtail replied.

"It's because of their uniform. I think those are the ones who were guarding the Wind Hag's chambers. What were their names again, Glop and Goop?"

"No," Pill answered, "it was Gape and Gog. They are twins, remember? I also believe they are the meanest of the Flugs and that's why the Wind Hag had them guarding her chambers."

"Well, that makes sense," Wicket said, "I would want the meanest to protect me too. And since they were alerted to our presence in the tunnels a long time ago the Wind Hag probably figured that they should be the ones to protect her power source. Not that they expected us to get this far, I figure."

"But that could work in our favor, since we know their names then we could pass ourselves off more convincingly as Flugs," Jethro pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's not gonna be worth a darn since they aren't dressed like the maintenance Flugs, now is it?" Arbordale indicated Jethro and Wicket with his thumb.

"Would it show what maintenance looked like in the book? Because I brought it along, just in case," Pill asked.

Pigtail looked at Pill in amazement and grinned broadly at her. "That's a girl; you've got one smart brain, Pill." She smiled at the compliment. After all, girls aren't usually praised for intelligence but rather for their looks.

"So does that mean I don't have go with the horny toads to the top of the cave?" She hoped.

"Nope, but when we get back to the hide-out then you're in store for some mighty strong praise, I can tell you," Pigtail told her.

Pill thought to herself - yippee, praise! She rolled her eyes and pulled the book out of her backpack and handed it to Pigtail.

He thumbed through the pages until he finally found the page for the dress requirements for working in maintenance. He would look at the picture and then at Jethro and Wicket and then back down at the book again. "Near as I can see, if we take off the gold braids and the shoulder adornment and add a patch onto the sleeve then they would look like maintenance workers. What do you think, Pill?" He asked her as he handed the book back.

She looked at the one and then at the others and felt the captain was right. "It shouldn't be too hard to make the patch. All I need is some material and we can use the different backpacks for that." She was pulling her small sewing kit from her backpack as she said this. She began cutting and removing things from the uniforms and then made the patches and sewed them onto their left sleeves. She stepped back to look at her work and then handed the book back to Pigtail and asked, "You think that should do it?"

"Looks good to me," Pigtail told her. He handed the book over to Jethro and the others and asked their opinion. They all agreed that they looked like the picture in the book aside from the fact that they were humans in Flug costumes.

"I think it is dark enough down here that they won't notice anything amiss," Jethro said.

"Yeah, but you're forgetting that Flugs are under grounders who are used to the dark. So they can probably see as well we can up top. So don't count on that saving you," Orida pointed out to the others.

"What about names and ID's? Do you think they will need that?" Tally asked the others.

"Good point," Jethro said as he rummaged through his backpack. He grabbed a sheet of paper and handed it to Wicket. "That will be our work orders, so be sure to consult it often and don't let them near you. I would hate for them to find out it's just the map Arbordale help draw."

"Now all they need are some good Flug names. Ones that won't make them seem too human. I think that names with the letter 'G' are very common in Flug households. And they can't be normal names like Goliath or Gunter," BB pointed out.

"Goliath and Gunter are common 'G' names?" Wicket asked in a confused tone.

"Normal for humans, but Flugs are not normal, I think that's why they live underground, so that their differences are harder to spot." BB retorted. He was a bit ticked that Wicket would question what he said.

"Then how about Glop and Goop? That was what I thought those two down there were named so maybe that would make them perfect names for Flugs," Lark said.

"Yeah and Glop and Goop would be perfect names for maintenance workers because they clean up all sorts of stuff," Tally said with a slight giggle to his voice.

"Okay, so you're Glop and Goop and you're there to inspect the force field to make sure it is strong and hasn't been weakened in any way. After all, the last thing you would want is for it to fail just when there are humans down here headed this way," Pigtail told Jethro and Wicket.

"Which one is Glop and which one is Goop?" Wicket asked wanting to make sure he knew the story well before going in there.

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Jethro replied.

"Well, then I get to be Glop and you can be Goop, seeing as to how it doesn't matter," Wicket told Jethro.

"Fine, I'm Goop and you're Glop. Now we need to fix up a harness for the girls and the rope they will use to get down to the power sources. I hope the horny toads don't mind having something tied to their middle," Jethro said.

It took about thirty minutes to get the horny toads all decked out in their harnesses. Lark gave Pill two bags to put the power sources in once she got down to them. That way hoisting them back up would be easier than her trying to climb back up with them in her hands.

"Hey, why am I the one going down there? I thought of the idea so it should be you who goes down there, not me." Pill didn't like the idea that she would have to try and climb back up a rope after climbing down one in the first place.

"But I'm not any good at climbing; you can ask my dad, if you want to. I've always been really bad at it. And besides, I am stronger than you are and I can help pull you back up easier than if you had to pull me back up. So it only makes sense that you be the one to climb down."

Pill gave her a dirty look and thought to herself that she really needed more friends. Pill accepted this only because she wanted to get it over with and arguing would only delay the inevitable.

She and Lark climbed up on the horny toads and secured themselves and gave Jethro and Wicket the signal that they were ready. The horny toads climbed up the wall of the tunnel to the top of the cave mouth and were waiting for the fake Flugs to go in.

Jethro and Wicket entered the cave area and tried to look as though they knew what they were doing. They walked up to Gape and Gog and gave the Flug salute that Arbordale had taught them.

"Hey, there Gog, Gape, how's things going? It's a real punch in the gut about everything going on isn't it?" Jethro said as he walked up to them.

Gog and Gape looked puzzled at each other. They were pretty sure they didn't know these strange looking Flugs but that was no guarantee. They didn't have the best of memories. Jethro realized that they were confused so he said, "I'm Goop and this is Glop. We're from maintenance. Remember, we met at that party a few weeks ago."

Gog and Gape, didn't want to look as stupid as they were, so they pretended to remember them and asked how things were going and what they were doing here.

Gape, not wanting to be the stupider of the two told Gog, "Obviously they are from maintenance and are here to fix something."

"Well, I can see that, I've got eyes, you know. Granted they may not be very big eyes but they are eyes, just the same. Besides they already told us that was where they were from so it didn't take any great brain wave for you to have figured that out," Gog snapped back at Gape.

Then Jethro, realizing that he was talking to a Flug equivalent of Wicket and Tally, explained that they were there to make absolutely sure that the force field was at full force. As Jethro explained this to the Flugs they walked around to the side of the force field hoping to draw the attention of the guards so they wouldn't see the horny toads coming into the cave.

Pill and Lark were hanging on for dear life. It was a very strange sensation to be hanging upside down and to be moving. Pill was thankful she had learned how to control her motion sickness on The Flummery; otherwise she might have been really sick. Lark was another story. When Pill looked over at her she could see she was trying very hard not to get sick. Jeesh, the last thing they needed - for one of them to throw up on the Flugs below. That would be a sure give-away.

"I'm thinking we need to first check the density of the force field, don't cha think, Glop?" Jethro said to Wicket.

Wicket was too afraid of saying something wrong just nodded his head in agreement. Jethro fumbled with his back pack and pulled his father's pocket watch out. He held it up and fiddled with the top knob to make it look like he was adjusting it.

Gog was curious about what Goop had in his hand and so he asked him what it was. He had never seen the likes of it.

"This, oh, well, this is a density meter. It will tell us how dense the force field is in different areas. If the force field is weaker in some areas than others then that means we will need to tweak it so that I get a steady reading all over." Jethro rolled his eyes at Wicket when the two Flugs turned to each other, obviously impressed with the pretend capabilities of the pocket watch.

Gog and Gape watched Jethro and Wicket as they walked very slowly around the force field. Jethro continued to move the pocket watch up and down as though scanning the force field. It was when Wicket indicated to Jethro that the girls were above the force field right now that he stopped and tried to draw the Flugs' attention back to the front of the cave and away from the force field.

Pill and Lark were waiting for the Flugs to stop looking at the force field and were wishing they would hurry up. Pill was getting dizzy with all the blood going to her head. Lark was readying the rope and the pack to put the power sources in as they waited.

Finally, Jethro managed to draw the Flugs attention away from the force field and so Pill lowered the rope and started to climb down. She was kinda glad she was the one to climb down now. It meant she wouldn't be hanging upside down even if it was just for a little bit. She had to wait for her head to clear before started down the rope.

Jethro was trying hard to think of some way of keeping the Flugs attention away from the force field so he tried to engage them in conversation.

"What have you heard about the break in? They don't tell us squat in maintenance."

Gog gave a smug smile to Gape and started to tell him what all he knew, "We know they made it past the labyrinth. Darned if I can figure out how the heck they managed that. We had to take the elevator from the Wind Hag's Chambers down here 'cause we never have been able to get through that maze. Gape here," Gog indicated his twin "always gets stuck halfway through. Me, I usually make it to near the end but always seem to get stuck in a dead end. So the Wind Hag told us to take the elevator." He motioned over towards the side of the cave and Jethro looked and was able to barely see the outline of a door. He thought to himself, if they could get Gog and Gape tied up they might be able to use the elevator to get back up top.

"Hey, why didn't you two use the elevator?" Gape asked them.

Jethro did some quick thinking and replied, "Well, we had the things those intruders had messed up to fix, now didn't we?"

Gog and Gape thought for a second, which appeared to be too much for them to do. They were really straining and looked as if their heads were about to explode. But then apparently they decided to take them at their word.

"Makes sense, I bet those humans are blundering around in these tunnels, totally lost," Gape giggled as he said this.

"Well, one thing we know for sure, they didn't find the special entrance to this tunnel." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the cave entrance they had used.

Gog and Gape seemed a bit relieved to hear that.

"That's good, which means they will be in the tunnels for a lot longer, giving the Special Forces time to find them. I wasn't looking forward to having to deal with them. Humans are such barbaric creatures. I betcha they don't fight fair at all." Gog told them.

"Yeah, I bet they would use water on us and make us all sticky and runny. Man, I hate getting wet. It takes so daggum long to dry out and you can't do anything while you're wet," Gape complained to them.

Jethro and Wicket looked at each other and silently assured the other that they would be emptying their water bottles on them if it came to that. It was really darn nice of the Flugs to tell them how they could be defeated.

Meanwhile Pigtail, Tally and the Knarls were watching from the cave entrance as Pill slowly lowered herself down to the power sources. She managed to get them into the pack and Lark was slowly pulling them up trying not to make the pack swing too much. The last thing they needed was for it to hit the force field and alert the Flugs what they were up to. Once Lark secured the pack to the horny toad she grabbed the rope Pill was dangling from and started to pull it up. Pill, in an intense desire to get the heck outta there started to climb up the rope. She figured that would be the fastest way to get back up. But the movement of climbing combined with Lark's pulling made the rope swing more than it needed to. It wasn't until Pill nearly touched the force field that she stopped climbing and depended on Lark to pull her the rest of the way up.

Once she secured herself to the horny toad again they turned around and headed for the cave entrance. Wicket, who had been keeping up with the girls' progress realized they needed to draw the Flugs attention away from the cave entrance again. So he looked over at the area where Gog had indicated the elevator was and said, "Is there someone coming down in the elevator? I hear it moving."

Gog and Gape automatically turned and looked and Gog cocked his head so as to hear better before saying, "Yep, it sure does sound like someone is coming down. I bet it's the Wind Hag. She's been checking in on the power sources regularly just to make sure they are safe and sound."

Wicket gave Jethro a helpless look and tried to get Jethro to understand that he had just made that up. But before he could get that across to his fellow pirate Jethro said, "The Wind Hag herself. Jeesh, we better get outta here, Glop. I mean we're not authorized to gaze upon the Wind Hag." With that said, they turned and took off for the cave entrance, leaving the two Flugs standing there a Gape and a Gog at their abrupt departure.

When they got there they told the others that the Wind Hag was maybe coming down the elevator and that they better get the heck outta there. So the pirates all took off back up the cave.

Once the Wind Hag had made it down the elevator and realized that the power sources were missing, she let loose a wind unlike any that has ever blown across the Plains before or since.

The Flugs, after experiencing the Wind Hag's wrath, were really wishing they could have gone with Glop and Goop. They never once realized that they weren't actually Flugs.

~~~~~~~

Chapter 29

They made it back to the geyser field and were about to go through it when they heard an uproar behind them. Obviously, the Wind Hag had noticed that the power sources were gone and wasn't very happy about it. Pigtail pulled his back pack off and reached inside. His hand emerged holding a couple of sticks of dynamite.

Wicket recognized the dynamite for what it wa and, hollered, "What the heck are ya gonna do with those?"

"I'm gonna blow the tunnel shut. At least, I hope that's what I'm gonna do," Pigtail said as he pulled the matches out the pack too.

"Everyone get going. We need to make it through the geyser field quickly once I light these puppies."

"Puppies, I thought you had dynamite. Man, my eyes are really playing tricks on me. I guess it's from being down here for all this time," Tally exclaimed.

"It's a figure of speech and no, there are no puppies here. Just a few giant horny toads," Pigtail explained as he lit the stick and tossed it into the tunnel entrance. He quickly lit the other stick and tossed it too. Then the group all took off for the other end of the geyser field. The horny toads proved to be capable of moving extremely fast when they had to. By the time they got to the other end the dynamite blew and collapsed the tunnel entrance. Dirt filled the air for a few minutes after the explosion occurred. Once the dust had settled back down they could see that the dynamite had successfully closed off the entrance.

"So what do we do now?" Wicket asked.

"I know exactly what we are gonna do. We've bought us a good deal of time with closing that entrance off so we are gonna go to the gold room and pile the gold wagons high with as much gold as we can and tie the wagons to a horny toad. Then we bring them back here and set them over a geyser. The force of the geyser will send all of us back up top and to freedom. So then the Wind Hag will have lost both her power sources and her treasure," Pigtail rubbed both his hands together as he told the others his plan.

"But do we really have time for that and will the geyser really manage to lift that much weight?" Jethro questioned the captain's plan.

"If it's too heavy then we will abandon the gold and grab plates like the girls suggested earlier and get ourselves up top. Our main concern is for everyone to get up top safely. So let's stop standing here and get to work."

They all took off to the gold room and headed for the wagons. Jethro stayed behind. When the Captain asked him why, he said he was going to time the geysers so that they would know which ones were gonna erupt and when. Pigtail realized that was a very good idea so he left Jethro to it.

Tally and Wicket were working with the ropes, making a harness for the horny toads to pull the wagons. Once they got the ropes fixed up and horny toads hooked to the wagons they pulled the wagons close to the gold so that it would easier for them to load the wagons. Then they all started to scoop up the coins, goblets, bars and plates and placing them in the wagons. They were working so hard that they were really starting to sweat.

"I'm not particularly looking forward to going back into the steam room after all this work. It's gonna be boiling," Tally said to Pill. She nodded in agreement and turned back to loading one of the wagons.

It took about thirty minutes for them to get all the wagons loaded with the gold. The Knarls couldn't understand the humans' fascination with the gold, but since they were all in this together they helped as much as they could. Being so small they could only each carry one coin at a time. But they did contribute to the loading of the wagons. They mainly just made sure to stay out of the way of all the gold being thrown into the wagons.

They had a done a pretty good job of emptying the chamber of its gold. There were only a few pieces left and they were all too big for any of them to attempt to move. Once they were done Wicket, Pigtail and Tally took the reins and steered the horny toads towards the geyser fields. The Knarls were not too happy at the thought of going up top by way of geysers but they didn't want to stay here and face the Wind Hag's wrath. They decided to go with Pigtail, they figured that he was the fatter of the group so their landing would be padded. The girls climbed onto the last wagon and each took a set of the reins figuring that they could steer the wagon together. That proved to be much harder than they had anticipated and they ended up almost turning the wagon over. They both screamed. Pigtail turned to see what the problem was.

When he saw the wagon leaning to the side her hollered at the girls, "Leave it; I'll come back for that wagon myself. I don't want you girls to get hurt. Now come on," he motioned for them to get onto his wagon. Once aboard, he got the horny toads moving again.

"Jethro, I need to go get the last wagon. You take over this one," Pigtail said as he jumped down and ran for the treasure chamber.

By the time Pigtail had made it back Jethro had positioned the wagons over specific geysers and had unharnessed the horny toads. The horny toads had scrambled up on top of the piles of gold of each of their wagons. Jethro then showed Pigtail which geyser he needed to get over. Once he saw to it that everyone had themselves tied-in safely, he headed over to his wagon. The Knarls, realizing they had lost their potential cushioned landing, headed for Tally's wagon and climbed on board with him.

Jethro yelled to the others, "Mine should blow first. If I don't make it up to the top then you guys need to get off your wagons as fast as you can. It will be a quick sequence for the geysers blowing after mine goes, got it?" They all gave him a 'thumbs up' and sat on their wagons, each of their hearts pumping like never before in anticipation to their escaping and being rich.

Suddenly Jethro's geyser blew and he and his wagon and horny toad went straight up into the air. They disappeared into the hole in the ceiling corresponding to that geyser and they all waited holding their breath.

Then there was a loud crashing sound from up top and then Jethro stuck his head down a hole and yelled at the others, "It works! Yahoo! It works!"

The others cheered and clapped and then just as suddenly as Jethro had been propelled upwards the girls, Pigtail, Zephyr and the wagon went flying towards the ceiling. They landed a few feet from the hole they had been pushed out of and landed with a hard sickening thud. The horny toad clambered down and stood in front of the wagon waiting to be hooked back up.

Jethro came running over to them and asked, "Are you two okay, no problems, no broken bones?"

The girls sat there for a few minutes catching their breath which had been knocked out of them on landing. After taking a few big gulps of air Lark replied, "That was so cool! I've never flown before. Now Wicket and Tally need to rig up something like that so people can fly, Now THAT would be a new up and coming thing!"

Pill was a little flushed from the excitement and was not nearly as excited with the ride they had taken as Lark was but at least they weren't underground anymore. It wasn't until she had gotten back up top that she realized she really didn't like closed in spaces.

WHOOSH! The sound came from their left and then there was a loud, "Yipee!!!!'" From Wicket as he landed with a humongous thump. Spring, the horny toad clambered down and stood in front of the wagon. Wicket hopped down and fixed the harness to him and then turned and waved to the others.

It was only a matter of seconds when Tally, the Knarls and Valiant were flying out of a hole. Unlike the others, none of them seemed to have liked the experience at all. The Knarls were rubbing their backside and looked rather put out. Once all the horny toads were harnessed up Jethro hollered for them to follow him. It took a bit to get through the geyser field. They were dodging geysers right and left before they had finally made it out of the geyser field. Once out they steered the wagons for the hideout.

~~~~~~

Chapter 30

The horny toads ran at a full gallop but unfortunately for horny toads, a full gallop wasn't all that fast. The pirates kept looking behind them waiting for the Flugs or any other creature to come after them. But they never saw anyone or anything following them. It took about an hour to get back to the hide out. By this time the sun had set and the horny toads, being reptiles, were getting very sluggish from the cooler temperatures. The horny toads crawled into the hide out entrance and then just collapsed. Lark and Pill climbed down as fast as they could and grabbed some food for the horny toads.

Jethro started a fire close to the horny toads in order to warm them up. The last thing they wanted was for something to happen to the horny toads. After all, they pretty much saved their lives by showing up and helping them. The horny toads seemed grateful for the food and warmth. They settled down near the fire and went to sleep.

The others were way too excited to sleep. But they were also very hungry so Tally and Wicket whipped up a quick supper for everyone. Once they had eaten and settled down in front of the fire Pigtail asked the girls to give him the power sources.

Lark and Pill each grabbed their back packs and pulled the power sources out. The orbs glowed of their own accord and the places where the girls' hands were pressed up against them glowed even more. The Knarls, placated with food, were in a much better mood, and they crowded around the orbs, staring at them in amazement.

BJ reached out to touch the orb with one of his branches but his mother slapped his branch down. The last thing she wanted was something to happen to him because he touched one of the orbs.

"They're pretty things, ain't they?" BB said to Arbordale, who nodded in agreement.

"They look like little suns. Kinda like a pocket size sun you can carry around with you wherever you go," Tally said a little sleepily.

"You'd have to have a really big pocket to put it in, but you're right, it's just like the sun - round, warm and glowing a pretty yellow, only smaller, of course," Wicket told Tally.

"So what do we do now? I mean we have the power sources but no knowledge to work them and we have a whole bunch of gold and no way to spend it. I mean we're out in the middle of nowhere." Pigtail said to his crew of pirates.

"There's a fella over west of us who opened a general store and trading post. He planted a few oak trees and he makes his own acorn flour and sells it. We could get supplies from him, I suppose. Once he settled there some others set up households nearby so that they have a source of food through him. They help run the flour mill and do washing and other things. He calls the place 'Tree,' after all the trees he planted," Jethro offered.

"Yeah, but I'm talking about in the long haul. I think in the morning we need to hide the gold. Bury it and make a map so that we can find it again. And that way the Wind Hag can't come in and take it from us," Pigtail offered.

The other's agreed that this might be the best solution for the moment. They would keep a few of the coins to pay their way and would fill the ship with some of the smaller pieces but otherwise they would bury everything, including the wagons. They all agreed that the Bermuda Square would be the best place. This way no Flugs would stumble upon the gold and steal it back.

"But what do we do with the power sources? How do they work?" Wicket asked.

"I think we should ransom them back to the Wind Hag on the condition that she gets us back to the Gulf. But we shouldn't give them back to her right away, otherwise she might try and trick us and not return us to the Gulf. I figure she's a tricky little cuss. I say we only give them back if she gets us safely back to the Gulf, ship and all," Tally told them.

"That's a thought, but I think these orbs may be a way to greater power and wealth for us. Not that I'm greedy, really, I just would so like to retire and never have to find a job again. I like the sea, I just don't like having to work so hard when I'm out on it," Pigtail sighed as he said this.

Wicket concurred, "I know what you mean. When you were the ships cook everyone was bossing you around and then you became the captain and you finally were in charge. That must be a nice feeling. Me and Tally, we've always been the bottom of the totem pole and we're not likely to rise above that any time soon."

"Yeah, but you're forgetting I was only made captain because the crew had figured they could easily overtake me. So I didn't make it on my skills but rather I was the only one who fit the bill at that particular moment," Pigtail reminded them.

"I know, but they still thought enough of you to make you captain. I mean you saved the ship, if only for a brief moment in time, you still saved us through your actions. So you're a hero as far as Tally and I are concerned," Wicket explained.

Pigtail blushed a little and then said, "Well, you two have proven your weight in gold," he paused and then laughed, "and we now know how much gold that would be," he indicated one of the gold filled wagons with a wave of his hand.

Tally and Wicket smiled at the compliment and then Tally added, "Besides, look at all you have done now. You created a land ship, and we all became land pirates, then we all went after the power sources and are now richer than we had ever dreamed. So I bet all those crew members who abandoned ship would be feeling really stupid right about now. I bet those pirates will never succeed in getting this type of riches in their entire career."

"I suppose, but, really, what have I done that has been all that good? I robbed from poor people. That's nothing to be proud of. I risked all of your lives because I wanted revenge on a little old Wind Hag. No, I'm not cut out to be a pirate. If we manage to get back to the Gulf, then I'm taking my share of the gold and I'm gonna relax and enjoy myself. I might fish a little or even start my own business. You know," he winked at Wicket, "one of those up and coming things Wicket here keeps talking about."

"Hey, we could be partners. I would be more than happy to share my thoughts and ideas with you and Tally. We could become our own business empire."

"So who would be the emperor? I'm not sure if I like the thought of a partner being higher up in the company than me." Tally said feeling a bit slighted because he knew he wouldn't be the emperor.

"I think we could each have a division in the company that would make us all equals. Like, Wicket could be in charge of ideas. And you, Tally, could be in charge of making those ideas come true, so none of us would be over the other. But at the moment I think we need to focus on the power sources and just what to do with them. Any ideas?" Pigtail asked them.

Pill, who was getting really sleepy now that she had eaten, raised her hand.

"You're not in school, Pill, if you have an idea then let's hear it," Pigtail smiled at her as he said this.

"Well, why don't we try and figure out how to work the orbs. I mean, if we could do that then we wouldn't need the Wind Hag and we would get what we wanted - out of here."

Pigtail looked from her to Jethro who nodded in agreement. "Okay, so how do you think we should figure on making these things work for us?" Pigtail asked everyone.

"Why don't you just hold one and then think of something, like moving one of these cups or something," Orida offered.

So Pigtail grasped one of the orbs in both hands and concentrated on the cup in front of him. The cup wobbled a little and rose up about an inch off the ground but then it fell back down. Pigtail was gasping for breath. He had, unknowingly, held his breath as he tried.

"Anyone else wish to try?" Pigtail asked as he held the orb out for someone else to take it. Jethro tried next with the same results, as did Wicket and Tally. Then Lark was given the chance. As she took the orb into her hands she felt it warm up considerably to her touch. Then she looked at the plate in front of her and concentrated on moving it over next to Pill's plate. It moved so quickly that Pill had to duck to get out of its way.

"Hey, why are you throwing your plate at me? I didn't do anything," Pill exclaimed.

"I'm so sorry; I was simply trying to move it next to your plate. I wasn't trying to throw it at you. Wow, this puppy has quite a kick to it, doesn't it?" She said smiling.

Lark handed the orb over to Pill for her turn at it. Pill had the same success as the others did, in other words, nothing really happened.

"I guess Lark is the only one who knows how to work it," Pigtail told the others.

"Wait a second, I've got an idea. Tally, hand me that other orb, please." Jethro said as Tally handed him the orb. Jethro in turn handed it over to Pill and said, "Okay, try to move something with this orb."

Pill took the orb and tried to move the plate again. This time it went flying at Lark.

"Okay," Lark said laughing, "we're even now."

Pill just grinned at the others as she held the orb gingerly with both hands. She wasn't too sure she liked having something that had the power to make things move like that.

Pigtail sat straight up and looked from Lark to Pill and finally asked Jethro, "What's up? Why did one orb work for Pill and the other one not?"

"This was the one Pill had in her back pack and the one Lark has is the one she had in her back pack. I'm guessing the fact that they both had their back packs around them from the time they snatched the orbs until we got home means that the orbs absorbed something of the girls into them and so they will now recognize the girls and obey them, that or the orbs recognize them as their new owners. You know something along those lines. I'm not some scientist who can explain things well." Jethro blushed when he pointed out the last fact.

"Oooo, I don't think I want them to have absorbed something about me. What if the absorbed a something I wasn't willing to let go of?" Pill said with a slight shiver.

"I don't think it was that type of absorbing. I just think it, the orb, basically came under your control. It now recognizes you two as the owners or the controllers of the orbs power. So you two are the ones who will have to work on figuring them out. I think for the moment that we should all get some rest. I figure the Flugs and the Wind Hag are working on a way to find us and get the power sources back. Pill, Lark, if I were you I would sleep with the orbs. Number one," he went on when he saw Pill's expression when he had suggested this, "it will keep you warm. Number two, it might help you to get even closer to it to make it work easily." Pill and Lark didn't like the idea but since Jethro felt it would be best, they did as he suggested.

~~~~~~

Chapter 31

Pill snuggled up against Zephyr in order to help keep the horny toad warm. She figured if the orb was supposed to be so good at keeping a person warm then it should work just as well with a horny toad. Lark decided to do just what Pill was doing so she got her blanket and settled down next to Ketzial. The two horny toads purred a little at the warmth the orb and the body heat was providing them. The girls both looked at the other two horny toads and then patted the ground on the other side of them. So Spring and Valiant got up and went over to the girls to sleep next to them. The warmth of the orbs seemed to encircle the little group of sleepers and glowed so much that Wicket and Tally had to sleep with their pillows over their eyes.

By the next morning the girls had gotten over the uneasiness of the orbs' connection with them. After all, the orbs did manage to keep them warm all night long. The horny toads had gotten up when the girls did and they went outside to settle themselves down in a spot where the rising sun was hitting and warming the rocks.

The girls decided to try and use the power they had with the orbs to make breakfast. It took a few tries and a number of broken eggs before they got the hang of it and that was only after Pill got an idea as to what to do..

"Maybe we're thinking too fast. I mean, I don't know about you. But I think I want an egg in the skillet and then 'zoom' the egg goes crashing into the skillet and the wall. Maybe if I think of moving the egg slowly then that would make the egg move slower," Pill suggested. She gave it a try and sure enough it worked. They started to think in slow motion terms after that.

"You know, I really wished that these orbs were more like Tally had said, about being pocket sized. They would be a heck of a lot easier to manage," Pill told Lark. And as if the orb was listening to Pill it began to shrink down until it fit snuggly into the palm of her hand.

Lark, impressed with what Pill had done immediately thought the same thing and her orb also shrank down to palm size.

"Neato!" Pill exclaimed, "I wonder what else we can do?" They spent the rest of time they had while the others slept trying out different things. By the time the adults had gotten up the breakfast was ready, the ship had been loaded with all the gold it could hold and the rest of the gold had been buried in a very neat and deep hole dug out by the orbs power.

No one had noticed that the gold was gone or that the ship's wheels were sagging a little. They all just sat there quietly eating and enjoying their breakfast. Tally was having his breakfast in the hide out's entrance. He still wasn't over the closed in feeling that the tunnels had given him. He sat there and ate and took in deep breaths of good, clean, fresh air.

It wasn't until Wicket was getting the plates and cups to wash that he thought to himself, the gold plates might be easier to clean so they should eat off of them. But when he looked over to get a better look at them he realized the gold was gone.

"Hey, where's the gold? It's gone! Daggum it, those stinking Flugs snuck in here in the middle of the night and stole it! Those thieving, good for nothing robbers!"

Pigtail and the others all looked at where the gold had been and jumped to their feet when they saw it was gone.

The Knarls, who had been sipping their honey quietly as they sat on the end of the table were also on their feet.

"No way, those Flugs wouldn't come into the Bermuda Square. Not if they didn't absolutely have to." Arbordale exclaimed.

"Yeah, but they came into it before when they blew up the cave, now didn't they?" Tally retorted. "Besides the Wind Hag would make them whether they wanted to or not."

"He's got a point, I just didn't think they could get that organized that quickly," Pigtail said in a defeated voice.

It was about that time that the girls, who could no longer keep it to themselves, burst out laughing. Everyone turned to them and stared at their cavalier attitude towards the missing gold, not to mention the the fact that the Flugs had invaded their hide out.

Lark was the first one to stop laughing long enough to explain, "The Flugs didn't do anything with the gold, we did" She had this big old grin on her face and was just beaming at the others.

She and Pill both held up the orbs, now palm sized, to show the other pirates what they had done.

"Pill thought the orbs were too big to handle as they were and just as soon as she thought it the orbs shrunk down to a manageable size. So I thought the same thing and my shrunk too. It took a good part of the morning before we figured out that we needed to think in slow motion to make things move at a reasonable speed and not lightning fast the way we did last night. Once we got that down then the rest was easy. We loaded the ship with all the gold it could hold and then we dug a hole and put the rest of the gold in there," Lark finished rather breathlessly.

Pill was holding a map in her hands and was grinning as big as Lark was at the others. "We even had time to make maps for everyone so that we all know where the treasure is, seeing as to how we are all part owners of the gold." She handed a map to each of the pirates. Then she looked at the Knarls and then at Pigtail in a questioning way.

"The Knarls risked just as much as we did so they deserve a portion of the treasure too," Pigtail told Pill. "Unless the others think otherwise, it is a democracy here. I mean, I pretty much admitted last night that I didn't make a good pirate captain. So I shouldn't be making all the decisions by myself, now should I?" He added as looked around at the others.

"Well then, all those in favor of the Knarls getting a portion of the treasure raise your hands," Jethro called for a vote. The vote was unanimous and so Pill and Lark sat down to draw maps for the Knarls.

But before they could get started Arbordale stood up and said, "Thanks for offering but let's face it, gold means nothing to us Knarls. So y'all might as well keep it all for yourselves. Nope, all we ask for is honey. Honey, now that's gold to us. If you keep us supplied with that then we will be as happy as a Flug in a mud bath."

"I'll tell you what; I'll go over to the trading post in Tree, and make a deal with him to give you a jar of honey, once a week.

"The problem with that - it would mean telling the owner about us. Not too many people know about us and we would like to keep it that way. Who knows what those humans may do to us if they found out we existed. You only knew about us by accident and you never abused it. Not once, not any member of your wagon. They always respected us and our lives. But you can't be sure other humans will be as nice," Orida said, a little frightened at the thought of other humans finding out about them.

"What if I pay the owner to put the honey in a specific place? You'll need to go and find the exact spot you want the honey put and then I'll pay him enough gold that he will do that from here on out, okay?" Jethro offered. "I'll also make it clear that if he ever stops, then he will bring bad luck on to him and his trading post. So if he stops leaving the honey there, then you and your family need to pull some tricks make him think he's got bad luck. Then he'll go back to leaving you the honey just to make the bad luck disappear. How's that sound?"

Arbordale, BJ and BB all laughed at the thought of pulling pranks on the owner and they agreed to the conditions that Jethro offered.

Once that was all settled, Jethro got on his horse and the Knarls climbed on after him and they headed for the trading post. Jethro had decided to stay within the Bermuda Square as much as possible to avoid any Flugs who reside up top.

While they were gone the girls were stationed as lookouts to make sure there weren't any Flugs coming to get them or the power sources. Wicket and Tally started to get lunch all prepared and Pigtail got his telescope out and helped the girls scan the horizon for any movement.

It wasn't until midafternoon that Jethro and the Knarls came back. The Knarls figured they had helped as much as they could so they bid the pirates goodbye and headed home.

Tally whispered to Wicket, "I think they just want to make darn sure they aren't around when the Flugs and the Wind Hag come after us." Wicket had to admit that Tally had a point. He kinda wished he could go off with the Knarls.

They traded off time as lookouts with Tally and Wicket's turn coming just before supper time. The girls, using their orbs, helped prepare the meal. They had finally gotten it down and had stopped sending things flying uncontrollably when moving an item. As they were about to settle down for supper Wicket raised the alarm.

"Hey, there's this big old mass moving towards us," he hollered.

They all ran to the entrance and stood there staring at the horizon. Pigtail had the telescope to his eye and Tally had grabbed the binoculars.

"Yeah, there is certainly something moving this way. As to just what it is I'm not sure," Pigtail said.

"Hey, maybe we could send one of the horny toads out to go and see what it is," Tally suggested.

"Yeah, right and when they come back then just how the heck are we supposed to understand what they are saying? I don't know about you but I left my 'Horny Toad Translation' book back on the dock in Galveston," Wicket said in a sarcastic tone as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, well, maybe they could mime it. You know, act it out so that we figure out just what they saw," Tally offered.

"Naw, no one likes mimes and no one really understands them. Mainly, mimes just irritate people. And I'm pretty sure the horny toads like us so they probably wouldn't want to irritate us," Wicket explained to Tally.

Pill and Lark had huddled together and had talked things through as to just what they could do with the orbs. Finally, Pill asked the captain if she could see the telescope. Pigtail handed it over to her and she held it up to her eye and held the orb in her other hand. She thought about making the telescope more powerful and sure enough, it worked. She was able to see all the way over to the horizon and she could see an army of Flugs headed across the land.

"I don't think the Flugs know where they are going. They knew about the cave but I don't think they are sure just where we are," Pill told the others.

"We could use that to our advantage. We could go over to that out cropping over there," Jethro pointed to a group of rocks to the south of their hideout. "Then we could make them think that it's our hide out. That way we could protect our true hideout."

"That's an idea but in the end what good would it do? They would probably find this hideout at some point," Pigtail countered.

"Yeah, but if the girls use the orbs and make the Flugs think that the Bermuda Square is haunted, it just might scare them enough to make them scatter and run home. If they do that then we could well be on our way back to the Gulf. The girls could create a wind to drive the land ship back home. All they would need to know is the proper direction. You have a compass so you could tell them which way to make the wind blow," Jethro explained.

"Yeah, I suppose that could work, but what if they don't scatter and run home but stick it out. Then how are we gonna get past them?" Pigtail wanted to make sure that all the bases were covered before they decided to act.

"Oh, I think the girls can produce some very convincing 'ghosts.' All they need are some sheets and a bowl underneath it to give it a 'head' shape. Then all they would have to do is make it go flying towards the Flugs and that should scare them properly.

"We could do that easy enough," Lark told them. "But I'm not too sure if we can get a strong enough breeze to move the land ship now that it's weighed down with the gold."

"Sure we can, as long as we do it together. I don't think that would too much of a problem. We would have to take rest stops here and there though. If y'all don't think that would be a problem then that would be a good plan," Pill told the others.

Jethro looked to the others and then said, "Okay, let's do that. Wicket, Tally, go fetch us some sheets to use and a couple of bowls."

As Wicket and Tally took off to get the supplies, Pill looked through the telescope again. It was then that she saw the Wind Hag being carried on a sedan chair.

The Flugs were holding the Wind Hag up high so that the humans would be sure to see her. They weren't sure just where the humans were but the Flugs figured they would show themselves to fight back. Then the Wind Hag would let them have it. The Flugs were unaware that the humans now had the power sources and were able to use them and that the Wind Hag had no power over anything. If they had known that they never would have ventured into the Bermuda Square. They were counting on her to protect them from all the evil creatures that lurk inside the Square.

The pirates got the sheets all fixed up and the girls tested them out by having them fly around the hide out. Once they were certain they could make them fly and float in a menacing manner they directed the 'ghosts' towards the approaching mass of Flugs.

The Flugs were going at a slow pace waiting for the humans to reveal themselves. They were looking in all directions hoping to spot them before the humans realized they were coming. The Wind Hag was barking orders to turn this way and that. The Flugs were really wishing she would keep her voice down. They would lose all elements of surprise if the humans heard her yelling at them. They followed her orders because they figured she knew where the humans were. After all, her power was stronger than anything they had ever known. That's why they had vowed their allegiance to her. The Flugs figured it was better to go with the strongest individual than to have that individual go against them. So they followed her orders and hoped for the best. Too bad she didn't still have her power sources.

~~~~~~

Chapter 32

The girls each had their ghosts flying low to the ground so that they wouldn't be seen too soon. It would be a dead giveaway to the location of the hideout. Once they got the ghosts far enough away from the hideout they had them 'hide' behind some rocks waiting for the Flugs and the Wind Hag to appear. As they came ever closer the girls were waiting with great anticipation. This was going to be so much fun, they thought.

"You know, Pill, this is kinda like playing," Tally was telling her. "It's called 'playing a practical joke on someone.' It can be really funny if they react right. I remember the time Wicket played a joke on me. I was getting ready to wash the deck when Wicket told me that they called it the 'poop deck.' I asked him why and then all of a sudden the captain's parrot piddled on top of my head. I didn't think it was funny at the time but looking back on it it was really funny."

"I'm thinking the Flugs and the Wind Hag aren't gonna think this is all that funny, myself,"  
Pill said softly.

"No, I'm pretty sure she won't. But we will certainly be laughing at them. And they say a world without laughter is a very sad world, indeed," Tally tried to cheer her up.

Pigtail gave the girls a little wave and told them to get ready as the Flugs were almost to the proper point. A few minutes later Pigtail gave the signal and the girls concentrated on making the ghost come up out of the rocks and fly at the Flugs.

Standing frozen in one spot the Flugs were petrified at the sight of the ghosts. Some fell to the ground in a kneeling position in order to pay tribute to the ghosts in hopes that they would be spared. Others just simply were too terrified to move.

Pigtail, who had been watching all this through his telescope was disappointed that they weren't moving anywhere.

"They're just standing there frozen in terror, so now what?" Pigtail asked the others.

"I know, hey Jethro, remember what those two Flugs told us down under about water. Why don't we drench them? That way they can't move and they can't come and get us."

"Great idea, Wicket, the only problem is there is no water in these parts. It's drier than dirt here. That's why not too many people want to settle down here. You'd have to be totally nuts to live in an area without too much water," Jethro explained to them.

"Actually, that's not totally true." A small voice came from behind the water pitcher on the table behind where the others were standing. It was Piteque, he apparently hadn't followed his families lead and left before the trouble began.

"Piteque, what the heck are you doing here." Pigtail was obviously not too happy to see him.

"I'm not a coward like the rest of my family. I told ya I would help so I'm gonna live up to my word. Now there's a spring not too far from here and it feeds into an underground well. But it's not too underground, if you get my meaning. I think the girls could use their power sources to move the water and dump it on the Flugs. Then all you would have to contend with is the Wind Hag," Piteque explained.

"Okay, Pill you keep your ghost hovering around the Flugs to keep them frozen in place. Lark you go with Piteque and see if you can move any of that water in a sizable amount. If you can, then get enough to soak the Flugs, got it?" Pigtail ordered them.

Lark saluted the others and ran after Piteque who had taken off for the spring the second Pigtail gave his okay. As soon as the two reached the well area Lark concentrated really hard on making the water rise up. It wasn't as easy as it looked.

Meanwhile, the Flugs remained frozen and the Wind Hag just stared at them in disgust. She then jumped off her chair and and started to march in the direction that she had seen some movement a few minutes before.

"Um, guys, the Wind Hag is headed this way. What are we gonna do about her? We can't drench her like the Flugs and stop her." Wicket said as he looked through the binoculars as the little mean broad headed their way.

They all just stared at one another and shrugged in unison. They hadn't given much thought as to what to do with the Wind Hag if they ended up having a faceoff with her.

"Guys, she doesn't have the power sources anymore. So she doesn't have any power. We could all gang up on her and tie her up, no problem," Pill told them in a rather exasperated tone. She thought to herself that they really weren't all that swift in pressure situations.

It was about this time that Lark had finally figured out how to move the water. She just had to imagine a big hand scooping up the water and carrying it around. She set all her thoughts on scooping up as much as possible and then taking it over to the Flugs. Once she managed to do that she just imagined that the hand dropped the water and sure enough a cascade of water soaked all the Flugs and they just seemed to all turn into one giant mud puddle. Then a thought occurred to her and so she imaged her giant hand again, this time scooping up the mud made by the soaked Flugs and carrying it away from where they were. She tried to envision in her mind the location of the Flugs' headquarters and once that was secured in her mind then the mud Flugs were taken there and dumped unceremoniously on their own doormat.

Once the threat of the Flugs was removed she and Piteque headed back to the hideout. They made it there just about the time the Wind Hag did.

"Okay, you stupid humans, I want my power sources back and I mean now!" She stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring at the pirates.

"Now the way I see it, we have the power sources so you're not in any position to stand there and demand anything," Pigtail matched her glare for glare.

"Don't you ninnys get it? The power sources are mine for a reason. I don't abuse it; I use it to help and control things. If I didn't then you have a weather cycle that would be horrendous. Every spring there would be wild uncontrolled winds, the winter time would so unpredictable that you would never know when or if it was gonna snow, rain or hail. Tornados would be popping up all over the place. Now is that what you humans want? I need those power sources to help keep order in the weather here. That helps all the creatures that live here and that's the type of life that they have come to know. You will totally upset the balance of things if you don't give them back to me. Is that what you want?" She was glaring so hard at Pigtail now that her eyes were bugging out almost to the point of popping.

"You don't abuse it, my foot. You control the population here through fear and bullying. You do things that suit you and to heck with anyone else. If you had just let us go back to the Gulf then all this could have been avoided, but nooo, you didn't do that, did you? You had to prove who was in charge, well, newsflash; you're not in charge anymore." Pigtail rather enjoyed yelling at her.

"If you don't give them back to me now you'll regret it, I promise you that." She shook her little fist at him and he laughed at her.

"You have abused your power and subjugated the creatures of the area to do your bidding. Well, no more, that time is over and the creatures here are free to do as they please."

"They like serving me, they think it is an honor. Their whole society has been based on serving me for too many years for them to remember what it was like before I came along. You're dooming them to a life of wandering around and trying to find a purpose in life. And let's face it, these creatures are too dumb to figure out any type of purpose other than serving me," She was turning really red by this time.

"I think you're not giving us enough credit, you old crone," Piteque told her in a rather soft voice. "We all remember how life was before you. And I can guarantee you it was a darn sight better than it is now. We have had no life under your rule, but now we have a chance, now we can move on and do the things we want to do because we want to and not because you have ordered us to," Piteque was still talking in a soft low voice that captivated whoever was listening to him.

"He's got that right you old hag, and no, that's not a compliment, you wart on the face of this earth," Orida came up behind Piteque and was shaking her tiny branch fist at the Wind Hag.

"Ma, what the heck are you doing here? I thought you went back with the others?"

"I did, until I noticed you weren't with us. I knew you were gonna keep your word to these humans and help them. I blame myself, if I hadn't taught you that honor was so important you would have been like the others and just fled to safety, but nooo, you had to do the honorable thing. And in doing that, it meant I had to come and protect my baby boy. So here I am." She gave him a slight smile and then a big hug.

"Gee, ma, it ain't your fault. I just happened to listen to what you were telling me as I grew up. If I had been more like my brothers and ignored you, then I wouldn't have felt the need to come back here," Piteque told her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, in case you haven't noticed, you little bent twigs, this is the climactic moment and we don't need any of your sentimental dregs mucking things up. I mean, we had some mighty nice tension going on here but then in saunters your ma and bing, bang, boom, the tension has been sucked away. Jeesh, don't you two know anything about climaxes?" The Wind Hag was obviously rather put out that her flow was broken.

"Actually, I think it is fitting that your climax has been interrupted. Because there isn't gonna be any climax. All there is going to be is you turning around and walking away, powerless and unable to bully. So bye and good riddance, may you have a miserable rest of your life." Pigtail waved at her and turned his back on her and walked over to the others.

The Wind Hag glared at him for a full minute before she turned around and started to walk away. The pirates all started to congratulate each other when there was a sudden roar and the Wind Hag was barreling down on them with her hands in the air and her fingernails bared.

Wicket and Tally simply reacted without thinking and tackled the Wind Hag just before she got to Pigtail. They had the rope looped around her body multiple times and were about to tie her up when Tally asked Wicket, "So, how about a granny knot? I mean she is old enough to be someone's granny, so it would be a fitting knot to do."

"I've heard of one knot called the 'monkey's fist' and I think that would be perfect because she looks like a monkey to me." Wicket countered.

"Naw, if you've just heard of it then you have no idea how to tie it. Now what good is a knot is that if you can't tie it? Now I can tie a granny knot so I think that would be the best one to go with," Tally tried to inject a little logic into the decision process.

"How about a water knot? After all, the Flugs were defeated with water so that would be a fitting tribute to their demise," Wicket asked.

"Naw, we aren't near enough water to go with that type of knot, so that lets out the midshipman's knot and the reef knot so don't go trying to suggest those types of knots next," Tally said defensively. He was getting tired of everyone not giving the granny knot its due and never wanting to use it.

"Hey, I know what knot we should use, the constrictor knot, because we are trying to constrict her movement. So that's the perfect knot to use," Wicket declared triumphantly.

"Yeah, that would be perfect if you knew how to tie that particular knot but you don't, now do ya?" Tally retorted.

"So, it's still the best knot to use and you can't deny it, now can you?" Wicket was smug in his victory.

"It's not the best knot to use if you can't tie it. That's because we can't actually use it, now can we?" Tally was starting to get mad now.

"Actually, fellas, I know how to tie that particular knot. So if you'll just let me show you how then we can be finished with the Wind Hag and get her out of our lives," Lark offered.

"Yeah, she would be out of your lives but we would still have to deal with her," Piteque pointed out.

"No we wouldn't, we just leave her here tied up and just let her die, then she's not our problem anymore," Orida told Piteque.

"Ma, we can't go and do something like that. That would just the same as killing her right here and now, and I ain't willing to do that," Piteque crossed his arms as he told her this.

His mother sighed and said, "Now see, you're going and doing the honorable thing again. Where did I go wrong in your upbringing, where you went and actually listened to me?"

"I have a solution. How about we tie her up and then send her as far away as we can from this area. That way, she can be someone else's problem and not yours," Jethro asked them.

"That's a pretty good idea but where would we send her?" Orida asked.

"Now, Ma, do we really want to foist her onto some other unsuspecting people? That doesn't seem like a really nice thing to do, now does it?" Piteque asked.

"Piteque, there is a time and place for compassion. Though I guess since she never showed us or any of the other creatures any compassion then we should do the honorable thing. I happen to know that there is a wagon train going through the mountains west of here. We'll have Lark think about that location and send the Wind Hag there. The wagon train will pick her up and probably take her onward with them to the coast. That is if she's nice to them. If not, they are liable to leave her there to rot. So basically, she will be forced to be nice in order to survive and so whoever ends up with her will have a nice Wind Hag and not the evil surly one you've come to know and hate. And if she isn't nice to them then they will just leave her to die and that would be her own choice from that point on because she would have chosen not to be nice." Jethro explained to Piteque and the others.

"I suppose that would be okay, that way she would be in charge of her own destiny and we would have washed our branches of her. Okay, you can do that," Piteque told Jethro.

With that decided Lark closed her eyes and concentrated with all her effort to send the Wind Hag to the trail where this particular wagon train was headed. That way they would be sure to find her. There was a sudden popping noise and the Wind Hag had disappeared.

The pirates thanked Piteque for saving the day and for doing the honorable thing of returning to help them as the Flugs had approached. They gave him and his mother all the honey they had left and reminded them to be sure and pick up the honey left by the trading post. So Piteque and his mother left, weighed down by the honey but very happy and satisfied with a job well done.

"So now what? Do the girls get up a wind to fly us back to the Gulf or what?" Pigtail asked the others.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to fly ever again. How about we go with the plan of having the girls produce enough wind that we can travel back there on land with our land ship. It wouldn't be so bad and we could consider it a little vacation," Wicket suggested.

The others agreed and so the next morning they set out by way of land towards the Gulf. The girls were at the bow of the ship producing just enough wind to get them moving but not too much to make it a bumpy ride.

Pigtail stood at the helm steering and following Jethro's directions as he studied the compass.

Wicket and Tally were huddled together trying to figure out what they were going to do with all their gold. Tally felt it would be money well spent if they invested in taking some knot tying lessons.

Wicket's response, "We have enough money now, we can hire someone to tie our knots.

But Tally persisted explaining, "Yeah, but we might get into some type of situation that would require knot tying skills so I think we should invest in the lessons. They shouldn't cost too much. Stop being cheap, we're richer now than we ever will be again."

"Actually, we could always come back for our share of the buried treasure," Wicket pointed out to Tally.

"Yeah, but that won't be for a good while. So let's just think of today and let tomorrow take care of itself," Tally told him.

"Why, Tally, I do believe you have the heart of a poet," Lark told him.

"Yeah, but that don't pay the bills, now does it?" He laughed but was secretly pleased with what she had said about him. After all, no one ever told Wicket he had the heart of a poet.

Elsewhere, in the snowy mountains of Utah, the Wind Hag struggles against her bonds. Suddenly a wagon comes up on her. The wagon master just barely stops the horses in time to keep them from hitting her.

"Hey there little lady, what the heck happened to you?" The wagon master asked her.

Remembering what Jethro had said about being nice she told them an elaborate story of robbers and being shanghaied. She told how her kidnappers tied her up and put her in the back of their wagon but she had managed to escape them by rolling out of the back of the wagon. That was how she had ended up in the middle of the trail.

The wagon master, being a compassionate man, felt it would be proper to take the little lady into the wagon train. But the decision wasn't his to make. That belonged to the man who hired him to take the wagon train west. So he turned to the tall thin man and asked if they could help her.

"Sir, how about we show some compassion on the little gal. Winters coming and it's gonna be darn cold pretty soon. She'll never make it on her own," the wagon master explained.

The man agreed saying, "I've always liked a hefty gal with a little meat on her." And so the Wind Hag was allowed to travel with the wagon train.

"I really can't thank you enough for your kindness," she told the wagon master.

"Shoot, you don't need to thank me; the one you need to be thanking is Mr. Donnor."

~~~~~

Epilogue

Wicket decided, in the end, that his idea for a sushi restaurant was the best idea of the coming thing, so he opened up a restaurant in New Orleans. Tally joined him after much arguing and convincing by Wicket. To this day their offspring still manage the Golden Knot Sushi Bar and Seafood Restaurant.

Pigtail, wanting to get away from the sea and the life of a pirate, ended up investing in numerous railroads and earned enough to settle down to a nice, quiet life of a gentleman. He does visit the Golden Knot and his friends from time to time.

Pill hired someone to look for her father but as of yet hasn't had any luck finding him. But she keeps on hoping she will one of these days. She lives with Jethro and Lark on a farm in the hill country of Texas. They raise cattle and chickens. Instead of cowboys or dogs to help round up the cattle they use Spring and Zephyr to round them up. The horny toads are so intimidating the cattle wouldn't dare go against them.

Ketzial and Valiant fell in love and decided to stay in West Texas. They are spotted from time to time, thus creating the legend of the Giant Horny Toad. Even to this day, the search for the Giant Horny Toads causes Cryptozoologist to travel to the region in an attempt to find evidence of the elusive creatures and to gain fame. As of yet, they have found no proof of their existence.

To this day, without the Wind Hag and her power sources to maintain control over it, the weather is very unpredictable in West Texas and the winds of spring blow uncontrolled, creating storms that coat any and everything in their path with a fine coat of dust.

~~~~~~

The End

About the Author:

J.A. Sprouls lives in the beautiful and rather flat Rollin' Plains of Texas. As a former antique dealer whose business tanked along with the rest of the country's economy she had to go out and get a real job. Writing, for her, has become a way to wind down after a long day's work and escape reality for just a short while. She is currently working on her next novel.

Discover other titles by J.A. Sprouls at Smashwords.com:

My Grandfather Is One Heck of a Mummy

<http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/22897>

Mace of Spades

<http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/43569>

Kamikaze Pigs

<http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97712>

Connect with Me Online:

Smashwords.com:

<http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jasprouls>

My blog:

<http://jasprouls.blogspot.com/>

