The Magic Saber: Chapter Three

Well, yet another busy, busy week full to overflowing of activities. I just can't seem to get used to it. I'm loving the summer weather though! Today was kind of iffy, because half the day it rained and the other half was sunny, but windy. (The wind was probably causing the constant weather changes...) I hope that tomorrow will be nicer, and of course the day after that, and the day after that, etc. :)
Alright, another chapter for you all to enjoy. It starts getting more exciting...trust me on that one! :P

Sorry the picture isn't very good, but I thought it went well with the story. :)

Chapter Three

Emily was sent almost immediately to the kitchen to help the ship’s cook, and so Luke and John were put on cleaning the captain’s cabin. It didn’t take long with both of them working on it, and the captain was very pleased.

“You two boys will be a good help I think, after all. I have no further need of you for the moment, but you have my permission to explore our ship. If any of my crew asks what you are about, send them to me.” He said after inspecting their work. Luke and John stammered a quick thank you to the captain and rushed out onto the deck again.

The crew members didn’t try to stop them and only looked on in silent amusement as the two boys rushed from place to place looking into every nook and cranny excitedly.

Luke decided to take a look out the spyglass from the crow’s-nest, and obtained permission quickly. The old sailor in charge smiled at them and offered his own, more powerful telescope for their use. Eagerly, Luke scanned the horizon in search for land, but instead he spied a ship. Frowning, he handed the glass to John.

“What do you make of that?” he asked. John squinted as the ship came closer.

“It looks like it may be a pirate ship!” he finally exclaimed in a hushed whisper. Luke licked his lips worriedly, and took the telescope from John, studying the ship until he saw the flag more clearly. Once he was sure, he sucked in air through his teeth, and then called down to the captain who was watching him from below.

“Cap’n!” he shouted, his excitement mounting. “I’ve sighted the Jolly Rodger off the port side! She’s coming in fast with a good wind behind her, heading in our direction.” The captain and crew immediately got to work, and Luke and John slid down the ropes to see how they could help. The old sailor shook Luke’s hand.

“Ye’ve got better eyes than I have lad, thankee kindly for spotting the ship and warnin’ us well.” He grinned and slapped Luke on the back, almost sending him sprawling onto the rolling deck. “We’ll make a sailor o’ ye yet!”

Luke was grateful to the old man, but right now he was worried about the ship. And where was Emily? He and John went as speedily as possible on the pitching ship to find her. She was working on baking something when they came into the ship’s kitchen, but she stopped long enough to wipe her hair from her face, leaving a streak of flour behind, and ask what was happening.

“I think we’re getting attacked by pirates!” John burst in before Luke could manage to say anything. A look of alarm passed over Emily’s face.

“Pirates!” she exclaimed. “Are you sure?”

Luke nodded, but, knowing his sister would worry too much, patted her on her shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the captain and his crew will have everything under control.” Emily’s frown faded some, but she still bit her lip and glanced toward the door. Finally, she washed her hands and removed her apron.

Suddenly, taking them all by surprise, a cannon boomed, and a great splash near the ship warned them that the pirates were upon them. Luke, John, and Emily rushed from the kitchen, nearly running down the captain. He frowned darkly at them.

“You need to return to my cabin and stay there until the fight is over. This is no place for women and children.”

“But we want to help!” Luke pleaded, his voice rising above the crash of waves and the cannon fire.

Emily pulled him away, earning herself a grateful look from over the captain's shoulder as he rushed off to help his men fight. “The captain knows best, Luke. He’s in charge and we need to follow his advice. Come, we will find the captain’s precious documents and hide them where the pirates will not find them if they win.”

“But…” Luke pleaded. Emily held her ground.

“You are not going to take place in the fighting, that’s final.” She replied sternly. Luke sighed, but when Emily put her foot down about something, he knew it was useless to argue. Mutely, he followed her back to the captain’s cabin.

While the war raged on all sides of them, Emily calmly searched the cabin for anything that might prove of value. She hid the maps, charts, and a small packet of letters that had the queen’s seal on them in her shawl, and Luke poured a small bag of gold coins into his boot. John took the captain’s small pistol and a pocket knife, hiding them in his boot.

Quietly, they listened as trampling feet overhead grew louder and louder. Orders were shouted, and all of a sudden, almost as quickly as it had begun, the fight ended. In dread, the three siblings waited fearfully for the captain to come in smiling, saying the fight was over and they had won.

Instead, when the door finally opened, the worst of their fears were realized.

See what I mean?
What do you think happens next?
How are you enjoying the story?
Have you figured out who the character's are based off of?

The Magic Saber: Chapter Two

Another busy week...tonight some siblings and I are going to be preforming in a homeschool choir at our church, so I barely had time to quickly type out this and copy and paste the next chapter of my story: "The Magic Saber".
Hope you enjoy it, and have a great week! :)

Welcome Summer!! :D

Chapter Two

They appeared to be on a ship of some kind. The children were behind a pile of rope, so they could watch the crew of men rushing about without getting stepped on. Luke had been reading about ships recently, so he knew which parts were which, and who everyone was.

“That must be the captain.” He whispered, pointing to a tall, thin man standing on a higher deck and bellowing orders to the scurrying sailors. Emily looked worriedly around her.

“Are you sure this is safe?” she asked.

Luke nodded. “Oh yeah, these guys are probably safe. Look up there. Do you see the flag?” Emily nodded, so Luke went on. “They’re flying the Union Jack, which means that this is an English ship.”

Emily gave a sigh of relief. “Alright, should we show ourselves to the captain then?”

Luke thought for a moment. “Well, he might think we’re stowaways, which may get us into trouble.” John looked up from where he had been being quietly standing.

“What if we promise to work for it?” he asked suddenly.

Luke chewed on his lip thoughtfully. “Well, I guess it’s worth a try. Let me sneak around to the captain’s cabin and figure out where we’re headed.”  Emily nodded in agreement to his plan.

“You do that, and I’ll stay here where we’re hidden with John.” Quickly, Luke took off, weaving his way through the ship. He crawled in behind some barrels just in time, as two crew members walked by. Taking a deep breath after his close call, Luke went on to the cabin. The door opened easily, and he made a speedy check to make sure no one saw him before ducking into it.

He found the map of the ship’s journey easily; it was already lying on a table. He looked over the charts carefully. There didn’t seem to be any indication that the ship was a pirate’s ship, for the route only went from England to France, and then back again. Pirates, he was sure, would have made detours to possible islands that might hold treasure.

Now reassured, he slipped out of the cabin again, leaving everything as it had been before he arrived. He saw the captain coming his way, so he quickly ducked out of sight behind a few handy sacks.

The captain passed him by, so Luke followed him at a safe distance. Before entering his cabin, the captain turned around once more, and his eyes fell on Luke before he had time to hide again. The captain’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“What’s this!” he exclaimed.

Luke swallowed, and his words came out in a tumble. “P-please sir, my siblings and I would like to work on your ship for a while. We don’t need any pay but food and a place to sleep. I promise we won’t be any trouble.”

The captain frowned. “But you’re only a child; I cannot take a child onto my ship.”

Luke bit his lip, his mind racing. “My sister is a very good cook, and she can help care for your wounded men. John and I could make your cabin cleaner than it’s ever been since it was built. Please sir, we don’t have any home right now, and we need the food to survive!”

The captain seemed to weaken. “Very well, but you must earn your keep, or you leave at the next port.”

Luke’s eyes brightened. “Aye, aye sir! I’ll go get my siblings next!” and he ran off quickly, before the captain had a chance to change his mind. Darting around curious crew members and piles of goods, Luke found Emily and John still behind the ropes. He pulled them out, explaining the news as he did. “Come on, we need to report to the captain right now if we want our food and beds!”

Emily and John followed Luke back across the deck, and in no time at all they stood panting for breath in front of the captain, awaiting their first duties on board the HMS Golden Eagle.

The Magic Saber

Since I couldn't think of anything else to post today, I decided to give you a story I wrote. This story was requested by my cousins Oliver, (age 8) and Colin, (age 7). Here's how it happened:

One day while I was baby-sitting them they asked me, "Rebekah, tell us a story!"
I smiled. "Ok, what do you want the story to be about?"
They thought for a minute, and then all at the same time said: "Us! And have us fighting pirates! On a ship! With a parrot!"

So, that's how "The Magic Saber" came to be a story. Of course, I used different names, in fact, let's see if you can figure out who is who in this story. I'll give you a hint: I am also one of the character's.

Without further ado:

 The Magic Saber

 

Written By: Rebekah Eddy

 

Dedicated to: My cousins, Oliver and Colin Olson; for their active imaginations and love of adventure.

 

Chapter One:

Once upon a time, not long ago or in a country far away, there lived three children. Their names were Luke, John, and Emily. Emily was the oldest at age fifteen, and loved history. Luke was next oldest, he was eight and he loved anything that had to do with battles or weapons of any kind. Then there was John, age six; he loved a great many things, but mostly he liked to follow along in his older siblings footsteps.

One of their many adventures began when one day, while the trio was visiting their grandparents; Luke decided to explore the attic. Now, you must understand, this attic was not a clean, organized attic, but a delightfully old and dusty one. It was full to overflowing with queer things, and usually the children spent most of their time looking through the various boxes and chests.

This was what Luke was doing when he suddenly came across a chest he had never seen before. It was covered in decades of dust, and its lock was rusty. He tried to move it, but it remained where it was; not so much as moving an inch. Luke again applied all his eight-year-old muscles to moving it, but was rewarded only with a slight groan of complaint. He frowned thoughtfully, and tried a different method. Instead of moving it, he put himself to opening it. After several minutes of sweaty work with a bent nail on the lock, he succeeded, and opened the lid.

It gave in at last, and creaked open, revealing a sword of some kind. Now thoroughly confused, Luke sat back on his heels to contemplate this. What was an old sword doing up in his grandparents attic? It puzzled him, and he was still thinking heavily on the matter when John’s head popped around the door.

“Hey, what are you doing up here?” he asked. Luke jumped with surprise, and he spun around.

“Oh, it’s just you!” he exclaimed. “Look what I found!” John came over and looked over his shoulder at the sword.

“What is it?” he asked.

Luke shrugged. “I think it’s a type of sword, but I’m not sure. Let’s go see if Emily knows.” Quickly, the two boys dashed down the stairs and skidded to a halt in front of Emily. She was engrossed in a book at the moment, and it took a few polite coughs to get her attention. She looked up, and smiled.

“Alright, what do you need?” she asked, uncorking a flow of questions from Luke and John.

“Can we show you something?” “We’re not sure what it is.” “It looks like a sword or something.” “Can you come?” “Please?” Emily held out her hands to stop the questioning.

“Hold on you guys!” she laughed. “Ok, Luke, you tell me about it.” In as few words as possible, Luke told Emily about his find. She leaned forward in her chair excitedly, and once he was done, she agreed to see the thing they found. Wasting no time, they went back into the attic and Luke showed her the sword. Emily picked it up carefully and looked at it. After a while, she spoke.

“It’s not exactly a sword…” she began, “It’s a saber, like what pirates would fight with.” Luke exchanged a glance with John. Pirates? It sounded exciting. Emily suddenly gasped and looked at the boys, her eyes gleaming. Wordlessly, she pointed to the handle of the saber, and Luke leaned over to investigate. He frowned, there was some sort of inscription on it, but he couldn’t read it.

“What does it say?” he asked.

Emily grinned. “It says:

‘Whosoever picks me up, to find a treasure hidden deep,

These few words will do the spell,

And then, when found, the treasures keep.’”

She paused. “Then there’s a few lines of words beneath that must be the spell. I suppose we should say them out loud.” Luke and John nodded, so they held their hands together, and Emily said the spell:

“Away, away, take ye us; away back to your home.

And then, when treasures found, back to ours we’ll come.”

There was a rush of air that caused them to shut their eyes tightly, and they felt themselves spinning dizzily.

Suddenly all was still. Luke opened his eyes and blinked once. Then he blinked again, but he still couldn’t believe his eyes.

Another Week...

Ahh! Is it Saturday already?! Wow, our week has really flown by! (almost literally!!) Talk about crazy...
I'm looking for some ideas on what I should post about. I mean, other than daily life. I don't want to bore you with too much about me and my family right? :P
Do you want more quizzes? A short story? Pictures? Please, let me know what you think...
For now here's some pictures of things I'm blessed with:

Mom and Dad



Siblings

 

Church Family/Friends

Believer's around the World

(this is a group of Ethiopian Churches singing praise together)

 

Sunshine

 

God's Creation

Horses



Coffee

Music

 

I'm sure I could think of more to add, but even as it is...if I put EVERYTHING that was a blessing to me, this post would go on and on and on and on and on and on...you get the idea...FOREVER!!! Here's a piece of free advice before you go from my blog...be blessed by lots of things, and bless others in every way you can. Even something as simple as a smile can make someone's day. You don't think so? Try smiling at someone and you'll see what I mean. God Bless!! :)