Rating: T



Pirate's in Schooner Bay

Part 1

June 1975

It was a warm sunny Saturday when Jonathan got home from a baseball game
with some exciting news in hand. When he got to the house he was greeted
in the hallway by Martha, who immediately noticed Jonathan's furious
facial expression.

"What has happened, Jonathan?" she wanted to know.

"I'll tell you what has happened, Martha." the boy answered. "Although I
think the rest of the family should hear it, too."

"Very well," came Martha's response. "Your mother and Candy are in the
living room. But I don't know where the Captain is. I haven't  heard nor
seen him for a week, Jonathan. Wonder where he could be?"

"Now that you speak of him, I haven't seen or heard him either for few
days. Maybe he has another meeting with the spectral fraternity without
telling me or someone else has kidnapped him?" Jonathan was a little bit
worried.

"Oh, come on, Jonathan, why should someone kidnap a ghost like the
Captain?  I'm sure he is alright. I think he will pop in when you begin
telling your news, whatever that may be!" Martha tried to calm the boy
down. "Why do you think something happened to him?"

"I have a very bad feeling, that's all. Ever since I heard what Claymore
has done."  The lad spoke darkly and mysteriously.

Suddenly, Martha got goose bumps as Jonathan mentioned Claymore's name.
Now she was thinking. 'What has this man started to make Jonathan
suddenly so worried about Captain Gregg?  If he has done something bad,
I'll slam him in the face myself!'

Martha and the boy entered the living room to find Mrs. Muir and Candy
working on something together.  Carolyn looked up when she heard the
footsteps of two people coming into the room and immediately noticing
that something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" she asked. "I can tell by the look on both your
faces that something is bothering you two. What is it?  Tell me."

"It's Jonathan who has some news to tell us about Claymore." Martha
answered before Jonathan could do it.

"Jonathan brought news about Claymore home?  What news?  I hope it's
that Mr. Gregg has left town for ever and we have Gull Cottage to
ourselves." Candy was a little leery, too, when she looked up from her
work. "But the look on your face, little brother, tells me that that
isn't the case. I hope you aren't going to tell us you've heard that we
have lost our wonderful Captain Gregg through his nephew's fault for
ever! Please, not that news." Candy was close to tears now.

"Candy, I doubt that's the news your brother wants to tells us.  I
hope!" Now Carolyn had a single tear in her eyes too. She, too, didn't
want to think that she had maybe lost her beloved Daniel for ever. Like
the rest of the family, she hadn't seen him for a couple of days.

Now it was Jonathan telling the news he had gotten. "No, Mom, that's not
the news I wanted to tell all of you.  But maybe it has something to do
with the fact that none of us has heard or seen the Captain for a couple
of days.  I'll start from the beginning. First, after the baseball game,
I heard some adults talking about Claymore Gregg."

"Claymore!" Carolyn and Candy cried at the same time. "Mom, we should
have known that Mr. Gregg has something to do with the Captain's
disappearance." Candy continued.

"Please, can I continue with the story I've heard?" the boy said very
nervously because he wanted to finally tell his news.

"Of course, little brother." Candy said, when she noticed her brother's
agitation. "Please, tell us what you heard."

"Ok, now to my news. First, I heard that Mr. Gregg got a very
interesting phone call two weeks ago. There was a man on the phone who
asked Claymore if he had an empty house in Schooner Bay for him so he
could rent it. And  Claymore said: 'Maybe YES'. After Claymore had said
that, the man gave him the price he intended to pay as rent so Claymore
couldn't resist that offer."

"And what did the man say he wanted to pay?" Carolyn asked curiously.

"You all won't believe what the man said for an amount. He intended to
pay Mr. Gregg $20,000 for the rent."

"$20,000 for rent!" all three cried unbelieving at the same time. And
Candy continued. "I think I know what Mr. Gregg answered. But say it,
Jonathan."

Jonathan continued. "In his avarice, he couldn't resist this horrendous
financial offer, so he agreed and didn't asked any further questions.
And then he asked the stranger to come as soon as possible to Schooner
Bay and sign the lease. And, of course, he should bring the money with
him."

Before Jonathan could continue, he was interrupted by Martha. "Typical
Claymore, he never can resist such big offers." Now Martha was
completely in stride.  "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you, Jonathan,
but I couldn't help myself.  Who told all this about Claymore?  Do you
know that, Jonathan? There had to be someone in Claymore's office who
heard the whole conversation on the phone. And now that we speak of that
stranger, you didn't mention the man's name, Jonathan. I'm sure he told
Claymore his name so that pennypincher could write the full name into
the lease."

"Yes, Martha, I do know who said all these things about Mr. Gregg. It
was Mr. Peevey who mentioned the phone call to the adults who were still
there after the game. And then the people asked Mr. Peevey if he knew
the stranger's name who wanted to invade our town.   Mr. Peevey said:
'YES', and then told them the name. After Mr. Peevey had said the name,
the discussion was well under way. No one liked that Claymore had
invited a mysterious stranger to stay here in our town. All had a very
bad feeling about that stranger. That discussion gave me such a fright
that I came home as fast as I could."

"ED!" Martha burst out and she understood why Jonathan was so
frightened. "Why didn't he tell me anything about Claymore's mysterious
phone call the last time I had a chat with him?  Now wait!" Ms Grant was
in full rage now. "Don't be too tight on the torture, please tell us who
that man is."

"Okay, if you let me finish my story, I'll tell who invaded our sleepy
town."

"Say it!" Martha was very curious now and still angry with Ed Peevey.

"It's a scientist, his name is Melvyn Rocheford and he moved three days
ago into the empty cottage near Mr. Hampton's. Since his moving here, he
has never shown himself to anyone in the town except Claymore. I have a
very bad feeling about that scientist." Jonathan was very nervous again.

After Jonathan mentioned the stranger's name, Carolyn was close to an
outburst of rage, but she stopped herself. "Jonathan, are you sure
that's the stranger's name you heard?" his mother wanted to know.

"Yes, that's the man's name." came the boy's prompt answer.

And Martha continued. "Mrs. Muir, that worried look on your face tells
me that you know that man. Right?

"Oh yes, Martha, I do.  About five weeks ago, I read some strange things
about him in some scientist magazine. Can't remember the name of the
magazine any more, but I know I read the article when I was at the
hairdresser's. To my regret, I can't remember the whole article exactly
but it wasn't good things I read about him. The only line I remember was
something about a time machine."

"Time machine!" Jonathan, Candy and Martha cried with fright.

"Mommy!" Candy yelled, very scared now because she was remembering the
movie 'THE TIME MACHINE' which had been on TV a short time ago. Now she
saw again these horrible creatures which called themselves 'MORLOCKS'
before her eyes.

At the same time in the other cottage, Melvyn, the scientist, had built
up the last of the equipment for his time machine. Now he began to
adjust the machine to a particular date to offer a certain pirate and
his men the possibility of coming to the 20th century and pouncing upon
Schooner Bay and in that case making an revenge on a certain sea captain.

Melvyn was grinning devilishly at that thought. His ancestor, Fat
Philippe the Pirate, would finally have the opportunity to practice his
revenge on Captain Daniel Gregg.  And it gave Melvyn obvious pleasure
that he had succeeded in luring the spirit of Captain Gregg away from
Gull Cottage with a very brilliant plan.  That stupid Claymore Gregg fit
in with his plan perfectly. Somehow, the scientist had find out about
Claymore's avarice and about the fact that the spirit of Captain Gregg
still haunted his former home in Schooner Bay. So everything was running
according to his plan.

In the early morning of the following day, he planned to start his
experiment and he was very sure this time experiment would turn out
well. And his malicious laughter resounded through the whole house.

The children didn't get much sleep that following night, especially
Candy who again and again saw the horrible 'MORLOCKS' in front of  her
eyes with the Captain very helpless in their talons. Every time they
awoke, both children called for the Captain but he didn't come.

Carolyn and Martha fared the same. Carolyn missed Daniel desperately.
The thought of the stranger didn't let rest her any more. She feared
that this man certainly had something to do with Daniel's disappearance.
She began thinking aloud. "Why is this scientist here and what did he
want from Daniel? It's always Claymore's fault, why is he always
grasping after money? If I were a man, I would break him apart, bone by
bone."  Now she sounded like her beloved Daniel. "Oh, Daniel, where are
you? Please come back to us, to me." she called into the empty space but
didn't get any answer.  She couldn't even cry because she was so furious
with Claymore. At this time, Carolyn did not yet suspect how right she
was with her assumption and that she herself was in the greatest danger.
Towards three o'clock on Sunday morning, she fell into a restless sleep.

Suddenly, by a terrible deafening noise, at eight o'clock on Sunday
morning, Martha, Mrs Muir and the children were very roughly pulled out
of their restless night's sleep.  The other inhabitants of Schooner Bay
also were torn very roughly out of their quiet sleep by this dreadful noise.

Part 2

The deafening noise started as Melvyn began to press all the switches of
his time machine. The noise followed a shrill lightning bolt and the
gate to the past began to open. Bingo, his machine did his work. By and
by, he could recognize, through the tiny hole, the outlines of the
pirate ship of his ancestor.

At the same time, somewhere in the thin air, Daniel tried to find out
where he was and who had ordered him to this place.  At this point in
time, he knew only one thing; somebody had left a very explicit note for
him.  In this note it was said that he would be expected by a special
spirit who would have a piece of very interesting news for him,
something like why his soul was still on earth.

But now it dawned him gradually that this message had been a fake. And
now he came to the realization that somebody wanted to have him out of
the way. But why and to what end?

And then a dreadful thought came him. "Oh no!" he cried aloud. "Somebody  
wanted to have me out of the way because that certain someone wanted to
take revenge on my dearest Carolyn. But who could be so angry with her?
I don't understand that. She is such a dear lovely person. Everyone
loves her." He didn't suspect that he was actually the real victim and
Carolyn was merely the bait. "I must find out who called me to this
place and I must find a way out of here. But where am I?"

The whole area was covered in such a thick fog that any orientation was
really impossible.  And then a miracle happened;  his cry for help was
heard.  'Daniel Gregg', he heard a voice call from a place near him, but
Daniel couldn't see anyone.  'This light which you will see', the voice
continued, 'will guide your spirit back to Gull Cottage. But don't ask
any questions. I can't tell you what's going on in Schooner Bay. You
must found out by yourself. I can tell you only one thing, you must get
back in a hurry to your former home before it's too late'. And then the
voice was gone before Daniel could ask any further questions, like, who
this voice was and if this certain someone knew who had left that
underhanded note for him.

While Captain Gregg was guided by the big light back on his long way
home, the time gate had completely opened to the past and the ship of
'FAT PHILIPPE' sailed through that gate. At first, it was still in a bay
of a Caribbean island but a short time later it lay at anchor in the bay
below Gull Cottage.

On deck of the pirate ship was a total confusion after the ship had been
washed through the time gate. Eight of the pirates who were divided up
as a deck guard were completely directionless because they
didn't know what had happened to them.  However, they all started to
come to themselves when they discovered a strange man on the deck of
their ship. Melvyn had come on board in the same moment as the ship
appeared in the bay below Gull Cottage.

All eight pirates rushed at Melvyn at once before he suspected what
happened to him. He tried desperately to free himself from the clutches
of the wild horde, yelling, "I am not your enemy. I am one of you, so to
speak." But the pirates didn't believe his words because the clothes in
which this man was dressed were horrifying. They had never seen a man
dressed in such clothes!  Melvyn had completely forgotten, in all his
excitement, to fit his wardrobe to the 19th century.

At the same time, below deck, Fat Philippe was still sleepy when a
dreadful screaming and wild raging from the ship's deck assailed his
ears. He had deliberately ordered his men only wake him up if a special
ship, which he wanted to loot, had anchored in the port of this special
island.  He was so furious about the awakening that he stormed, snorting
with rage, to the deck. He wanted to feed his men to the sharks. But
when appearing on deck, his rage smoothed a bit when he saw that his men
had a prisoner. At first glance, Philippe didn't recognize the stranger
but when he got closer he saw it was the man he had met a short time ago.

Now he yelled at his men. "What's come over you?  Let that man go
immediately!  He isn't our enemy,  he is on our side! You all get
immediately back to your work, is that clear?"

The eight pirates let Melvyn up and yelled. "Aye, Aye, sir."  It was
clear for them that if they didn't follow the Captain's order, they
would fare badly. None of them grumbled and no one dared to say a word
about their new anchorage.  Maybe the captain knew something the rest of
the crew didn't.

"Melvyn, my friend." Philippe called after his men had got back to their
work. "You know, my men are very rough and you know they had to be." And
then, recognizing that his ship wasn't in the bay of that Carribean
island any more, he asked, "Is this the place you have talked about
where I will find this Captain Gregg?  Will I get my revenge here?"

"Oh yes, my friend, this is the place I told you about.  Look at the
cliffs right over there." Melvyn pointed with his right hand starboard.
"And then look below the cliff's, there you'll see the cottage of your
enemy."

The pirate's look followed the right hand of Mr. Rocheford's.  When he
couldn't see exactly which thing the scientist meant, he called for his
hand telescope. Taking it and looking through it, now he could clearly
and definitely recognize Gull Cottage. Philippe was about to order his
crew to shoot at Daniel's house but was preventing by Melvyn doing it.
"NO, Captain, that's the wrong way. That way you won't get your revenge."

"Why not?" The pirate wanted very angry to know. "Tell me, why it should
be the wrong way? Immediately!"

Mr. Rocheford looked into the furious face of his ancestor and said.
"Because this captain isn't in his home at this time, but he will be
back shortly, I'm very sure of it. I have a better plan so you'll get
the final fight with Captain Gregg. Look, there is a very beautiful
woman who lives in his house and this Captain is very much in love with
her. He would do everything for her, especially rescue her out of
dangerous places. You only have to bring her into your control and you
will finally have your revenge. Believe me, it will work."

"So this Captain Gregg is in love with a beautiful woman, you say." now
Fat Philippe was laughing devilishly.  Then he yelled. "All men on deck,
immediately, there is lots of work to do in this sleepy town."

After the yell of the captain, the crew was on deck in a hurry and
waiting for instructions.

While giving his wild horde the order to pillage Schooner Bay, Jonathan,
Candy, Carolyn and Martha had rushed out of their bed's after that
deafening noise. All four now stood outside on the porch to see where
the noise had come from. "Mrs. Muir, what was that? I suddenly sat
vertically in my bed." Martha confided in a shocked undertone.

"I don't know, Martha. I had the same experience. And I can tell by look
on the kids' faces that they had the same." Mrs. Muir spoke very nervously.

Suddenly, Candy and Jonathan looked in the direction of the beach. "Mom,
Martha." both called at the same time.

"Please, look out to the sea!  There is some ship in the bay." Candy
continued. "I can't see what kind of ship it is. But I know it wasn't
there yesterday."  Looking around, she saw her brother had gone. "Mommy,
where is Jonathan?" she asked, very worried.

Carolyn looked around too. "I don't know, Candy. Martha!" she called in
fright.

"I don't know either. But I hope he is doing nothing dangerous." Martha
was frightened too.

At this moment, a voice called from the inside of the house. "No one
should worry about me. I'm here. I just was in your bedroom, Mom, to get
a closer look through Captain Gregg's telescope to see what kind of ship
has been washed into our bay." Jonathan was completely breathless as he
came out of the front door again.

"What kind of ship did you see, brother? Tell us! Is it a ship we have
nothing to fear from or...."  Candy stopped when she suddenly recognized
what kind of ship Jonathan had seen. "NO!" she cried.

"I'm afraid, yes, Candy. It's an old pirate's ship which lays at anchor
out there." Jonathan said breathlessly.

"Mrs. Muir, you were right about this scientist. That man is evil. Now
I'm very sure he is the one who brought that ship here through that time
machine or whatever that machine may be. Claymore, that completely money
randy idiot!  I could kill him if he were here, in front of me." Martha
was in full rage. "Come on, let's all of us quickly rush back into the
house and we should probably quickly barricade all windows and doors
because I have a very bad feeling about this whole matter."

"You are right, Martha. Come on kids, let's hurry back in to the house
and do what Martha has suggested." And all four rushed into the house
and began shutting all doors and windows. While doing that, Carolyn
whispered into the air. "Daniel, wherever you are, come back quickly,
please! We all need your help."

She didn't suspect yet that her entreaty had been heard and Daniel
already was on the fastest way home.  Neither did Carolyn, Martha and
the children suspect that there were six of the common pirates, on
behest of  FAT PHILIPPE, on the way to Gull Cottage to kidnap Carolyn.

Daniel's unrest multiplied on his long way home. How far was he still
from Gull Cottage and would he arrive on time to prevent the worst from
happening to his family? His worry about Carolyn got bigger and bigger
and he swore terrible revenge on that underhanded guy who had crumbled
this whole Odyssey for him.  He felt almost faint because of his worry
for his dearest Carolyn. He knew one thing, the family needed him just
now. He could hear their cry for help the closer he came to Schooner
Bay. He didn't know, at this time, that his nephew Claymore had brought
big trouble to Schooner Bay. The light now guided him faster back to
Gull Cottage.

At the same time, the six common pirates had almost reached Gull
Cottage. Inside the family was fearing for their lives when they heard
the wildly loud pirates approaching.  There was chaos also in the sleepy
town. The rest of the pirate mob had pounced upon the town like a herd
of furiously stamping bulls.  Everything was stolen and all valuables
looted. Every courageous man who tried to stop the pirates were knocked
down and then tied up and gagging brutally.  It was dreadful.  Bad
things happened to the young women of the town. Some pirates pounced
upon them like hungry wolves.

Claymore was tied up and gagged like the other men of the town after he
had forgotten his fear when some pirates had grabbed his valuable
things. Now he  started to regret his avarice bitterly. The more he
tried to escape his bonds, the more the ropes cut into his flesh. He
inwardly yelled with pain.

Part 3 (the finale)

While Claymore still kept trying to free himself, silence returned to the town.
But, it returned only after the pirate mob had traveled back, with their spoil, to
their ship. Of course, the wild horde of the pirates had left a wake of devastation
in the town. Some of the more courageous men still lay gagged and tied at the pier.

But now the disaster approached Gull Cottage. Eight pirates had reached the front
gate of Gull Cottage, and now they rushed through that gate toward the front door.
The leader of the group started wildly rattling at the front door. Noticing that it was
locked tightly, he then looking at the front windows to see if there was a possible
way to get into the house without a great effort. But it was no use. They were
barricaded, too.

Now the leader shouted orders. "You two", pointing at Jim and John, "to the back
side of the house. Take a look to see if we can get into the house there without
much force, so we can catch that young woman. But if not, you have to come back
immediately and we all will pound at this door here to open it. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir", the two called back. They rushed behind the house and now were
pounding at the back door. But it was locked in the same way as the front one
and the windows, too. In a hurry, they were back again at the front. "No use,
Sir", John said. "All is locked the same way as here, sir. Maybe the people inside
knew that we were coming, so they have barricaded themselves."

"Well then, men," the leader yelled, "let's open the door with force." Now all
eight pirates braced themselves against the door, to open it with force.
Something had been wedged inside against the door, so that the eight men
only succeeded with great exertion to open the door.

In the meantime, Carolyn, Martha and the kids had barricaded themselves in
Mrs. Muir's bedroom. They heard the wildly pounding pirates and they knew
that the front door wouldn't withstand this force rush for a long time. "Mommy!"
Jonathan and Candy yelled with fright. In this moment, a loud crashing noise
was heard. The front door couldn't withstand the pressure any more and had
given way.

Now Carolyn saw only one way to protect her children, she had to oppose
these pirates.Martha immediately noticed Mrs. Muir's determined facial
expression. Instantly she stood in front of the barricade. She had no intention
of allowing Carolyn to do something dangerous and stupid. Like Mrs. Muir
and the children, she too heard the wildly loud horde of pirates as they
stormed into the house. "Mrs. Muir, don't do that, please. I forbid you to
go." Now Martha sounded like Captain Gregg. "You didn't know how many
pirates have invaded our house."

"Martha!" she yelled. "Get aside! I'll do what I must." Then Carolyn suddenly
stopped herself when she saw the horror in her children's eyes. It was Candy's
frightened face that held her back from doing something dangerous. "You are
right, Martha," and she took her children in her protective arms.

Now there were loud footsteps coming up the stairs. The pirates seemed to
have noticed that no people were below. They heard the footsteps of three,
maybe four, pirates. Now they reached Carolyn's bedroom door. Carolyn
did the only sensible thing she could in this special case, she took care that
the kids hid themselves in the wall cupboard, and she gave them the order to
be very quiet not matter what should happen to her or Martha.

Jonathan wanted to protest but stopped himself. He knew his mother was
 right and that he had to protect his sister from these pirates, should
something happening to Martha or their mother. Carolyn closed the door
behind them. And the kids were very quiet.

It were four pirates who now wildly rattled at the bedroom door. "There
is someone in that room, I can hear it." whispered one of them. "Now we
can't open that door without force so I'm right. There are some people in
there who have barricaded that door."

The second pirate said, "Then we shouldn't waste any more time. Let's
open that door with force. That woman our Captain wants must be a very
courageous one."

Another said. "Why don't we get her for ourselves? I don't understand
why Fat Philippe wants her, let alone what plans he has for her."

The fourth spoke up in fright. "Should our captain get here and find
out that we have her, he will feed us to the sharks. Remember, the
last time one of us did something against the captain's will? I'm not
taking on that punishment."

In this moment, the leader came up to them. "Hurry, men, open that
door at once", he shouted.

The men obeyed and threw themselves together against the door.
Inside Martha and Mrs. Muir were fearing for their lives. The door
cracked, then gave way. Both women were staring with fright when
suddenly five wild looking pirates appeared in front of them. "Three
of you grabbed the youngest of the two women while I and John deal
with the older one." the leader yelled.

And they did it. Three grabbed Carolyn very brutally because she
gathered all her courage together and fought against her attackers with
hands and feet. But it was no use, and she was dragged away by her
three attackers with force. The other two still in the room offered Martha
no other treatment. The housekeeper didn't get a opportunity to fight in
defense. Masterson, the leader, knocked her out and then tied her up with
ropes which he suddenly had in his hands and then he left a note for Captain
Gregg and rushed out of the room with his companions.

Shortly before Ms Grant lost her consciousness, she heard Mrs. Muir's
cries for help but couldn't help. She fainted and then knew nothing more.
Candy and Jonathan had heard everything in their hiding-place but they
had been quiet so the pirates hadn't discovered them. Suddenly
everything was silent again in the house and it seemed as if all pirates
had left the house.

It was too late when Daniel was back in Gull Cottage. He materialized in
the hallway one minute after the pirates, with Carolyn in their hands, had
left the house. Daniel blinked after he materialized and saw the
devastation in the house. "Oh, my God", he cried. "What has happened
here?" His thought was for his family. Where was everyone? "Candy,
Jonathan, Carolyn, Martha where are you?" he called.

Jonathan and Candy had gotten out of their safe place and seen the
devastation in the room. "Oh, my God!" Candy gasped in fright and
then she saw Martha lying tied up on the floor. "Jonathan, look what
they have done with Martha. They have tied her up with ropes. But
where is Mom?"

"I don't know." the boy answered and then it hit him. "Candy,
remember we heard cries from our hiding-place. They were Mom's
cries for help. The pirates have her."

"No, no, that can't be!" Candy cried with tears in her eyes.

"Candy, please bring yourself under control. To moan doesn't help our
mother. Come on, first we should free Martha from her bonds."

Candy knew her brother was right. "You are right, brother. Let's free
Martha and maybe together we can find out what has happened to
Mom and where the evil pirates have taken her." While freeing Martha
from the ropes, they heard Captain Gregg's voice calling for them from
downstairs.

"Candy, did you hear that? That's the Captain's voice! Our cries for
help were heard!" Jonathan sounded enthusiastic.

"Yes, Captain Gregg is back. Hurray!" Candy called happily, but
both were still thinking of their kidnapped mother. Where was she?
"Captain!" both kids yelled very loudly. "We are in Mom's bedroom."

Hearing the kid's voices, he vanished and appeared a second later
in the master bedroom. Daniel was happy when he saw the kids
but his expression changed when he noticed the utter chaos in the
master bedroom and saw the frightened expressions on the kids'
faces. He looked around the room and saw Martha who was still
rather dazed from the blow into her face. But he didn't see his
dearest Carolyn. Where was she?

Jonathan was the first whose voice was back. "Captain, where
have you been? We thought you were....," but he didn't finish
because he had suddenly tears in his eyes.

"Jonathan, please, don't cry. You know I can't stand it." the
Captain said, but then Candy was crying too. "Oh, come on, kids,
I'm here." And then it was clear to him why the children were crying.

Before he could ask the children where their mother was and
what terrible thing had happened, Martha could think clearly again.
"Oh good! Captain, you are back. Mrs. Muir isn't here any more.
She has been kidnapped by wild pirates who stormed into the house.
 They grabbed and dragged her away very brutally."

Before Martha could continue, Daniel, who had started to foam with
anger at the word 'PIRATES', yelled, "Pirates?" and thunder rolled
through the air. In his anger, he saw a note was lying on top of Mrs.
Muir's typewriter. He took it and began to read. His face darkened
more and more when he read the signature. Thunder rolled through
the air again. "FAT PHILIPPE," he cried and his rage grew even
greater.

"Captain, what's the matter? Did you know that man?" Martha
wanted to know when she noticed the anger in the Captain's face.

"Oh yes, I did know him very well. If he has Mrs. Muir, I must act
immediately."

"What do you mean, by saying that, Captain?" Martha as horrified.
"Don't tell me Mrs. Muir is in very big danger?"

"Oh no!" the children cried when it became clear to them what the
Captain was telling them. And in their thoughts, both were thinking.
 'Please, let our mother still alive.'

Daniel noticed the worry on the kids' faces and calmed them down.
"No, Candy and Jonathan, forget that thought of yours. Your mother
is still alive, believe me. Now I understand what's really going on here."
It slowly dawned him why Carolyn had been kidnapped. This pirate
had every intention of using her as bait for him. That he was really
worried about Carolyn, he hid cleverly from the children. But he
knew he couldn't deceive Martha. It was clear to him that she
knew exactly what he was thinking right now.

"Do you, Captain?" Martha asked. "Well then, you should tell us
what you want to do. I think you'll need the help of the kids and me.
And don't say no." Ms Grant was very forceful.

"Very well, I know I can't stop you, Martha. Now I'll tell you what
you should do. Drive into town, see if you can get any courageous
men for a dangerous task. I will need them to lure the crew of that
pirate ship away from there, so only Fat Philippe and I....," stopping.
"Don't say it Martha!" when noticing her questioning face. "I'll bring
back Mrs. Muir uninjured. That's a promise."

"Okay, I'll go see if I can find men in Schooner Bay who have enough
courage to fight." and she inwardly grinned when thinking of a certain
somebody. She had every intention of making sure that Claymore was
one of the men to lure the pirate mob from the ship.

While Martha was driving to town, Daniel told the children what they
should doing in this case, and Jonathan reported to the Captain about
all that had happened while he had been absent.

When Martha arrived in town, she was startled by the complete
devastation all around. Getting out of Mrs. Muir's car, she walked
through the street. When she reached the pier, she found ten men
gagged and tied lying on the pier. "Oh my God!" she cried, and ran
toward the men and freed them one after the other from the gag and
the bonds. Noticing that one of men was Dr. Ferguson, she asked,
"Doctor, can you tell me what happened here? Why were you
gagged and tied up? Of course, you needn't say a word. PIRATES,
right?" Martha was in full flight.

"Ms Grant, glad to see you aren't injured. And you are right. Pirates
have attacked our town." the good doctor was the first who had
recovered from the blow out.

"What do you mean, injured? Don't tell me that wild horde has attacked
women, too." With her thoughts, she was now with her employer.
Terrible scenes happened before her mental eye. She saw Mrs. Muir
surrounded by several pirates who stared at her with wild desire and
then pounced upon her like hungry wolves. Now she was inwardly
crying. 'NO!'

Suddenly Martha was back to real life as the doctor called her.
"Ms Grant, are you alright? You were so absent-minded."

"Sorry, doctor, I'm okay, but Mrs. Muir isn't." Now she remembered
again why she was in town.

Abner was the next who had recovered from being knocked out and
he had gotten the rest of the conversation between Martha and the doctor.
"What do you mean ‘Mrs. Muir isn't', Martha?" he wanted to know.

"She has been kidnapped by eight pirates. They forced their way into
Gull Cottage and have taken her with them. It was terrible, I heard her
cries for help but couldn't do anything because that leader pirate had
given me a blow to my face and then had tied me up and I knew nothing
more. When I woke up again I looked into the frightened faces of Candy
and Jonathan and then we....," she stopped, almost she had said Captain
had come back. But she knew she couldn't say that. "Alright, will you ten
help me lure the whole crew from their ship, so that someone can rescue
Mrs. Muir." And she was thinking that the special someone would be the
Captain.

"Someone? Oh, come on, don't tell us you mean Claymore Gregg by
saying that. He is a scaredy-cat and a pennypincher. Why do you
believe he should the one who should free Mrs. Muir from the talons
of the pirates?" Ed Peevey was feeling particularly malicious because
he was suddenly down at the pier too.

"You had better be quiet, ED! With you, I still have to pluck a chicken
anyway." Martha said viciously. "Now men, will you help me?"

"With pleasure, Ms Grant." came the prompt answer from the young
doctor. And he spoke in the direction of Mr. Peevey. "If you don't
want help us, then you better get out of our way." Doctor Ferguson
was determined.

"Okay, okay, I'll help and come with you." Ed was abashed. After
that, the eleven men were on their way to the place in the bay where
the pirate ship still lay at anchor.

On her way to Claymore's office, Martha found a completely
disturbed Nancy sitting on the steps of Norrie's restaurant. Immediately
Martha noticed that something was wrong. In a hurry she was at Nancy's
side, instinctively taking her into her protecting arms to warm the girl who
was trembling over her whole body. "Oh my God, Nancy." Ms Grant
said maternally. "I'll better take you with me."

Nancy absently got up with Martha and followed her willingly to Mrs.
Muir's station wagon. While both were walking, she put her head on Ms
Grant's right shoulder and felt safe. Now Martha was still more wildly
determined to make Claymore pay for the whole disaster. She wanted to
see him suffering. While thinking of that, both reached the car. Opening the
front passenger door, she let Nancy get in, then closed the door and said
through the open window. "Nancy, I'll be back in an instant. It will not take
long to do what I want to do. Alright?"

Nancy nodded her head. She wouldn't go anywhere.

Martha hurried to Claymore's office, finding the door open and a disaster
in there. Looking around and seeing that the door to the back room was
open too, she went in and found Claymore gagged and tied up on the floor.
'Serves him right!' she thought maliciously. At first, she had the intention to
leave him there, then remembered the better one. 'NO,' she thought, 'not
this way. He has caused the whole trouble so he shall also have the
opportunity to clearing up the mix-up.'

Kneeling beside him, she freed him from the bonds and the gag in his mouth..
"Don't say a word, Claymore." she warned him after she had removed the
gag. "Should you open your mouth, I personally stuff the gag back into your
mouth. Is that clear?" Martha was in full rage now. "You have caused
enough trouble with your avarice. Should Mrs. Muir die, it'll be your fault,
and I'll personally kill you before Captain Gregg gets the opportunity,
that's a promise."

"Mrs. Muir..." Claymore began but Martha wouldn't let him finish.

"Claymore!" shooting him a warning glance. "On your feet immediately, you
jellyfish." she yelled.

Claymore was suddenly on his feet because he was so frightened that he
 thought the Captain was here now but it was Martha herself who had said
the last words. "Okay, Okay!" he cried abashed.

Now Martha was grinning over her whole face. "Now as for you, you
brought that evil scientist here, so you will get the opportunity to get rid
of him. The children are waiting for you by that house you rented out to
him. You get that time machine this Melvyn Rocheford has built, is that
clear? Jonathan and Candy will assist you."

Claymore wanted to protest but didn't when he looked into her furious face.
 "I'll do it, Martha. I'm on my way to that cottage." In a hurry, he was out
of his office and into his car and roared away. Martha, satisfied, got back to
Mrs. Muir's car and saw that Nancy was still in the car. Now they were on
their way back to Gull Cottage, the still disturbed Nancy in tow.

Meanwhile, Jonathan and Candy had arrived at the scientist's cottage and
were waiting for Claymore. "Jonathan, what'll we do if Claymore doesn't
come?" Candy whispered

"He will, believe me, Candy." Jonathan whispered back. "Martha can be very
convincing." Jonathan had hardly finished saying the sentence when Claymore
suddenly stood behind them. "I'm here, children." he whispered. "Oh, good."
Candy said. "Jonathan, we should tell him what's going on and what we want
do."

While Jonathan told Claymore what was planned when the eleven men had
succeeded in luring the whole pirate crew into a trap, Daniel appeared on
deck of the ship. Everything was quiet. Where was FAT Philippe and more
than that, where was his beloved Carolyn? He didn't see her either. Suddenly
a cry from below came to his ears. He knew that voice very well, it was
Carolyn's cry for help.

Below deck, FAT Philippe looked at Carolyn with desire. He was fascinated
by her beauty and thought, 'Why shouldn't I have her? She should be mine.'
This thought became his undoing. Now he was completely crazy about Carolyn.
He grabbed her brutally by her right arm and pulled her into his arms with wild
desire.

A loud cry from Carolyn followed when Fat Phillipe's mouth approached her
face. She started trying desperately to free herself from his brutal embrace but
it was no use. But the more she struggled in defense, the more grew the Pirate's
desire for her. Now Fat Philippe gripped her right shoulder with his right hand,
got hold of the sleeve of her blouse and torn it down. Carolyn yelled wildly
because immediately was clear to her what he intended to do next.

In the moment when the pirate was about to rip off her blouse her rescuer
approached in the form of Daniel Gregg. "Fat Philippe!" he yelled. "Let
her go immediately!"

"Aha there you are, Captain. I've waiting for you." He still held Carolyn
firmly against him. "I think I'll take this woman with me. Look!" and he
tried to kiss Carolyn but she turned away her head nausea washing over
her. The pirate didn't like that and tried to get to take hold of Carolyn's
head, but he was stayed in this attempt.

Daniel had had enough. He grabbed the pirate's arms and freed Mrs. Muir
from the pirate's grip. Fat Phillipe's answer followed immediately. He freed
himself from Daniel's grip and the fight between this two men was well
underway. Suddenly both had swords in their left hands. Carolyn was stiff
with fright when she saw how her dearest Daniel fought for his life. Now she
wasn't sure at all if a spirit could be killed again or not. That fight was so real
that she feared to lose Daniel, this time forever. "Watch out, Daniel!" she
yelled, seeing how underhanded Fat Philippe was.

Daniel heard Carolyn yell and saw what the pirate intended to do. It was
enough, Daniel thought and then he ended the fight. He gave the pirate, with
his sword, a sting into the heart. Deadly met, Fat Philippe sank to the ground
and the fight was over.

Daniel, immediately noticing Carolyn's trembling body, lifted her up in his arms
and brought her back home in an instant. Back in the master bedroom of Gull
Cottage, he laid her down on her bed so that she could rest for a while. With
a wave of his hand all the mess was cleared up in the house and there was no
further indication of the pirate attack.

Carolyn opened her eyes again and looked into the deep blue eyes of her
dearest Captain. He was beside her bed and watching her. "Oh Daniel,
please hold me." she pleaded, still under the shock about the last hours.

"It's all alright, my darling." He sat down on her bed and took her in his arms.
Now she felt very safe again.

Suddenly there was heard a big bang and then silence. Claymore and the
kids had done their work. The time machine, with the scientist, had flown
into the air after Candy, Jonathan and Claymore had hurried out of the
house and found a safe place.

The End


Stories