The Boy With Orange Hair

by Bill Bowler

Table of Contents

Chapter 10 appears
in this issue.

Chapter 11

They looked out the cockpit window and, instead of stars and planets, they saw fish and seaweed.

“I think we made a wrong turn,” said General Rickrack.

“Maybe we should ask directions?” said Gerry the groundhog.

As they were looking out the window, a fish swam up and looked back at them from the other side of the glass.

“Will you look at that,” said General Rickrack.

“I wonder what kind of fish that is?” said Gerry the groundhog.

“Tuna,” said the fish through the glass. “You want to come out and play?”

“Well,” said the boy, “maybe just for ten minutes.”

They put on pressurized spacesuits with oxygen tanks, opened up the airtight lock and stepped out onto the beautiful sand of the ocean floor. The sand dunes rippled and the seaweed swayed around them. They walked around to the front of the rocket, towards the tuna fish, but stopped and stepped back with a gasp when they saw something dark and gigantic rising from the tall seaweed behind the fish.

“Let’s get out of here!” shouted General Rickrack and turned and ran back towards the airlock, but the tuna fish swam over and said, “Don’t worry. That’s just my friend Walter. He’s a whale.”

General Rickrack smiled, feeling a bit foolish, and they all laughed and started talking about whether to play tag or hide and seek. Not far from where they were standing, in the green swaying strands of seaweed, loomed the broken hull of a sunken pirate ship, half buried in the sandy bottom.

“Do you hear something?” said the boy with orange hair.

They all stopped talking and listened. They heard a faint, “Oooooohhh..”

“Is that a car alarm?” asked Gerry the groundhog.

“It seems to be coming from over there,” said General Rickrack, pointing towards the sunken ship.

“Hop on my back,” said Walter. “I’ll swim over and we’ll take a look.”

They climbed up on Walter’s back. It was a little slippery but they hugged tight, and Walter’s enormous body began to move swiftly and smoothly through the water while the tuna fish swam alongside.

Walter pulled up to the sunken ship and the guys climbed up the old ladder to the deserted deck of rotten planks and gaping holes. Fish were swimming in and out the port holes and a little crab scurried across the rotten boards. But the noise was much louder now, “Oooooooooohh.”

“Hello?” shouted out Gerry the groundhog. “Anybody home?”

The moaning stopped.

A moment later, a transparent shadow floated up through the deck and appeared before them. It was the figure of a man, so faint you could see right through him, with long black hair, a long flowing black beard, and a patch over one eye. He had on a three-cornered hat with a skull and crossbones, a gold earring in his ear, and a rusty sword at his side.

“Oooooooooohh,” moaned the figure.

“Look!” said Gerry, “A ghost!”

“Yeeeeeeeeeesssss,” moaned the ghost.

“Who are you?!” shouted Gerry the groundhog. “I mean, who were you?”

“Myyyyy naaaaaame iiiiisss Caaaaaaaptainnnnn Kiiiiiiiid.”

“We’ve heard of you,” said Gerry. “How’s everything?

“Noooooooooooot goooooooooood,” moaned the ghost of Capt. Kidd.

“What’s wrong?!” asked General Rickrack.

“Iiiiiiiiiii’mmmmmmm looooooonnnnnnnleeeeeeee,” moaned the ghost.

“Yeah,” said Gerry. “It must get pretty lonely down here if you’re the only ghost around.”

“Iiiiiiiiiiit doooooooooesssss,” wailed Capt. Kidd. “Iiiiiiiii’mmmmm gooooooiiiiing toooooo liiiiiiiie dooooooownnnn fooooooor aaaaaaa whiiiiile.” And the ghostly silhouette floated back down through the deck and disappeared below.

“He seems very sad,” said General Rickrack.

“Yeah,” said Gerry the groundhog. “He’s all alone.”

“You know what?” said the tuna fish. “I’ve heard noises coming from another ship, too, sunk in the sand near the rocks just the other side of that seaweed.”

They looked where the tuna fish was pointing and saw the edge of a dark forest of seaweed, thick and green and tall as trees, swaying gently back and forth in the ocean currents.

They climbed up on Walter’s back again and the giant whale moved forwards into the seaweed. Inside the underwater forest, thousands of fish, and eels, and octopuses, and squids of all sizes, shapes and colors were darting to and fro, in and out of the waving green strands. Crabs and lobsters were hiding under rocks and crawling along the sand bottom. Walter swam deeper and deeper into the green seaweed and it got darker and darker, and they caught glimpses of staring eyes and grinning jaws with rows of sharp fangs that glowed in the dark.

With a sigh of relief, they reached the far side and came out again into clear water. In front of them, they saw another sunken ship and heard a sound like Capt. Kidd’s voice, but higher. They climbed down from Walter’s back, boarded the shipwreck, and followed the sound down a rickety rotten staircase to the cabins.

“Oooooo.... Oooooo...”

“It’s coming from behind that door,” said Gerry the groundhog. They stood in front of Cabin 6 and listened.

“Boooooo hooooo hoooooo (sniff, sniff) Booooo hoohooohoo...”

“Somebody’s crying,” said Gerry.

The boy with orange hair knocked on the door.

“Cooooooome Iiiiiiinn.”

They opened the door and entered. Across the room, they saw a faint ghostly image of a woman. She wore a long white dress, and her long yellow hair was floating in the water around her head. She was lying on a bed and her face was hidden in the pillow.

“Booo hooo hooo (sniff, sniff).”

“Um, excuse me,” said the boy with orange hair.

“Whoooooo iiiiiis iiiiiit?

“It’s us,” said Gerry the groundhog.

“What’s your name, dear?” asked General Rickrack kindly.

“Aaaaaaannabeeeelle Leeeeeee.”

“What a beautiful name,” said Gerry.

“What’s wrong, Anabelle?” asked the boy with orange hair. “Why are you crying?”

“Iiiiiiiimmm sooooooo saaaaaaaad.”

“But why?” asked Gerry.

“Beeeeecaaaaaause Iiiiiiii’m aaaaaall byyyyyy myyyyy seeeeelf heeeere.”

“Boy, do we have a surprise for you!” said Gerry. “Just come with us. It’s not far. Come on! Let’s go!”

The guys turned and climbed back up the rotten stairs while the ghostly figure of Annabelle Lee drifted up off the bed, passed through the ceiling and appeared up on deck.

Walter swam back through the green forest of seaweed with the guys on his back and the ghost of Annabelle Lee and the tuna fish floating alongside. When they reached the sunken pirate ship, they jumped down and ran up the rotted gangplank to the deck.

“Capt. Kidd! Capt. Kidd!” shouted Gerry the groundhog, “Come out. Hurry up! We have a surprise for you.”

“Ooooooooooooh Oooooooooooh...” The ghost of Capt. Kidd appeared. He looked at them sadly but then,

“Aaaaaanaaaaabelle?!”

“Wiilllliiiiaaaammm? Iiiiiiiiis thaaaaaat youuuuuuu?”

“Iiiiiiiit’s beeeeeeen aaaaaages. Hoooooooww aaaaaarrre youuuuuuu. Whaaaaaaat’ss neeeeeeeew?”

“Oooooohh, Wiilllliiiiaaaammm! Iiiiiiii haaaaaaave sooooooo muuuuuch tooooo teeeeeeell youuuu.”

“Do you two know each other?” asked Gerry.

“Yeeeeesss,” said both ghosts.

“Weeeee’re oooooold frieeeeeeends,” said the ghost of Capt. Kidd with a big smile. “Youuuuu’ll eeeeeeeexcuuuuuuuse uuuuuus, pleeeeeeeease. Weeee haaaaave aaaaa looooot oooooof caaaatchiiiiing uuuuup tooooooo dooooo.”

And the ghosts of Capt. Kidd and Annabelle Lee floated down through the deck of the shipwreck, holding hands, and disappeared below.

To be continued...