J.J. shut his bright blue eyes, as the wind stroked his long black and white fur and tugged at his whiskers. He swayed with it and after a moment salt spray tickled his nose and dampened his coat. He opened his eyes to see the ocean stretching before his large ship, water splashing the deck as the hull broke through the waves.
He smiled and called down to his brother, “First mate Argon,” the little orange kitten turned a confused eye to his brother standing above him, “take to the crow’s nest and keep watch for land! There’s treasure on that island, and this map will lead us to it.”
Argon gave him a bright, knowing smile as he watched his brother remove a rolled-up piece of paper from his pocket. The orange-striped kitten grabbed the mast and quickly climbed to the round perch above. “No sign yet, Captain!” he called down.
J.J. unrolled the parchment and studied the black ink scrawled across the page carefully. He looked to the sky and steered the ship to run with the sun at his back. “The sun rises in the east, so putting the morning sun behind us should put us on the right course.”
“Pirates!” J.J. looked up at Argon who pointed behind them. “There, Captain!”
J.J. spun and ran to the railing at the stern of the ship, pulling out his spyglass. He put the cold metal to his eye and studied the ship gaining on them. He let a growl escape his lips, “The pirates must have discovered we took the map, Argon. We can’t let them have it back.” He ran back to the wheel, “Full sail!”
Argon jumped from the crow’s nest and slid quickly down the mast to the deck below. He grabbed the rope and tugged, fully extending the sail. He ran to the smaller mast at the front of the ship, climbed the shorter post, untied the rope, then jumped down, letting the weight of the sail slow his fall to the deck. He quickly tied off the rope and ran back to the main mast to climb back to the crow’s nest.
“How does it look, First Mate Argon?” J.J. watched his brother as he stared out over the water.
After a moment the kitten yelled out, “They’re still gaining, Captain! We can’t outrun them.”
J.J. stomped his booted foot against the deck. “Time to turn and fight. Run out the guns!” J.J. spun the great wheel, and the ship cut through the water, making the turn.
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