Pirate Pete and His Treasure Chest

Pirate Pete woke up bright and early one morning. The hot summer sun was pouring into the window of his cabin, right across his face. He went up to the deck and was surprised to see that the ship had anchored itself onto a deserted island.

“What happened?” asked Pirate Pete, wiping his sleeve across his forehead. “Where are we?”

“Well,” said Slappy, one of the crew. “The captain got drunk last night and forgot to steer the ship. We ended up here.”

“I guess that would have been me,” said Pirate Pete. “Seeing as I am the captain and all. Not a bad place to end up though.”

“Not at all sir,” said Slappy. “Rusty Red said that there is treasure buried here.”

“How would Rusty Red know that?” asked Pirate Pete.

Rusty Red was one of the younger crew members who had just started working for Pirate Pete. He was a bit simple but he did always seem to have a constant supply of rum and when that rum ran out Rusty Red always knew where to get more.

“He says he’s been on this island before,” said Slappy. “When he worked for you know who.”

“Oh yes,” said Pirate Pete.

Rusty Red worked for a pirate that Pirate Pete loathed. Blackhat was his worst enemy on the high seas. Blackhat was sneaky and underhanded.

“And how much treasure is supposed to be on this island?” asked Pirate Pete, trying to get visions of Blackhat out of his mind.

“Rusty Red said there is supposed to be two treasure chests full of gold and pearls,” said Slappy. “Two of them.”

“And does Rusty Red have a treasure map?” asked Pirate Pete.

“No,” said Slappy. “But…”

“Well what good is that?” asked Pirate Pete.

“I was saying,” said Slappy. “Rusty Red did see the map and he does remember where the treasure is. As a matter of fact, he’s gone to look for the treasure now.”

“What!” exclaimed Pirate Pete. “Nobody goes looking after treasure without me. Slappy, you know that. How is a pirate supposed to keep track of his treasure if he crew just does as they please.”

“Don’t worry,” said Slappy. “Rusty Red is bringing the treasure back here when he finds it. He said so.”

“Oh he did,” said Pirate Pete.

“Yes,” said Slappy. “You don’t have to worry about Rusty Red. He’s very loyal and he likes working with you much better than Blackhat.”

“He said that,” said Pirate Pete.

“Yes,” said Slappy. “He said that he never wants to go back to work for Blackhat.”

“Good,” said Pirate Pete, so glad that Slappy told him that because now if Rusty Red gets out of line, he can use Blackhat as a threat.

“Slappy,” said Pirate Pete, just glancing out over the ocean. “Is that a black ship out on the horizon?”

“Oh my!” exclaimed Slappy. “Yes it is. You don’t think it is Blackhat do you?”

“I hope not,” said Pirate Pete. “Keep your eye on that horizon, Slappy.”

“Sure thing sir,” said Slappy, bringing his arm up to slap Pirate Pete in the back but remembering just in time that Pirate Pete didn’t like that.

Slappy stood looking out over the horizon for about an hour. Meanwhile Pirate Pete and the other crew members made sure that the ship was not stuck and that they could make a hasty retreat if needed.

“How is it going?” Pirate Pete asked Slappy. “Anything on that horizon yet?”

“It looks like it was just a cloud of black birds,” said Slappy.

“Oh dear,” said Pirate Pete. “Black birds can only mean one thing.”

“What is that?” asked Slappy.

“Blackhat’s ship is right behind them,” said Pirate Pete. “Gather up the crew Slappy, we’ve got about an hour to get out of here.”

“What about Rusty Red?” asked Slappy. “We can’t leave him here.”

“We won’t leave him here,” said Pirate Pete, and muttering under his breath. “Or the treasure.”

Rusty Red did not return to the ship and Pirate Pete saw Blackhat’s ship getting closer and closer.

“Slappy,” said Pirate Pete. “I’m getting worried about the tr…, I mean Rusty Red. Where could he be and Blackhat’s ship is getting closer to us.”

“What we could do is try to camoflague the side of the ship with some branches and then maybe Blackhat will just keep going,” said Slappy.

“Good idea,” said Pirate Pete.

Slappy and the crew quickly grabbed some branches from the beach and covered up the side of the ship. Pirate Pete saw Blackhat’s ship get very close to him and he held his breath.

“Whew!” exclaimed Pirate Pete, when he saw Blackhat’s ship head back out toward the ocean. “That is the end of him.”

Just then, Rusty Red came back to the beach carrying one treasure chest over his one shoulder and dragging the other one behind him.

“Well done,” said Pirate Pete, helping the crew put the treasure chests on board.

Pirate Pete opened up one of the chests and inside it were bottles of rum. He opened the other, more bottles of rum.

“Now I see why Blackhat didn’t come ashore to claim this treasure,” said Pirate Pete, disappointed. “We got nothing but rum.”

“Well I got an idea,” said Slappy, taking one of the bottles of rum out of the treasure chest. “Let’s have a party.”

Each of the crew members grabbed a bottle and so did Pirate Pete. They all had a fine party.

“Well,” said Pirate Pete to Rusty Red, the next day. “You always seem to find the rum for us.”

“Yes,” said Rusty Red. “There is more where that came from too.”

“What do you mean?” asked Pirate Pete.

“There are two more treasure chests where I found this one,” said Rusty Red.

“Why didn’t you say so,” said Pirate Pete.

“I forgot all about them once we started drinking the rum,” said Rusty Red. “I’ll go get them for you.”

“No,” said Pirate Pete, hopping down off the ship. “I’ll go myself this time.”