Lulu Bell and the Pirate Fun (2 page)

‘I have an idea,' said Lachie. He shook the raindrops off his cowboy hat.

‘What's that?' asked Rosie.

‘We need boats,' said Lachie.

‘Boats?' asked Lulu. She wrinkled her nose. ‘Where would we get boats?'

Tom and Lachie exchanged glances.

‘To the garage!' cried Tom.

All the children raced to the garage. Tom pulled the creaky door wide open.
The shadowy garage was full of treasure. There were planks of wood, crates, dusty cushions, coils of rope, cracked old bridles, tools and tarpaulins.

Lachie pointed to a rack against the southern wall. ‘Ahoy there, me hearties.'

In the rack was a jumble of surfboards and boogie boards, stored away for summer beach holidays.

‘
Arrr
,' said Tom. ‘A fine flotilla of pirate vessels.'

Lulu laughed at the boys with their pirate accents. She put one hand on her hip and waved the other. ‘A grand idea, matey,' she said, in her best pirate voice.

Everyone dragged a board out of the rack. Rosie and Gus shared an old blowup mattress that was in with the boards. Then they carried their ‘boats' down to
the flooded paddock and launched them from the bank.

Lulu lay on her tummy. She paddled with her hands and waved her legs up in the air. The board shot out, skimming across the shallow water.

‘Woohoo!' she cried.

Lachie paddled his foam surfboard straight at the air mattress that Rosie and Gus were sitting on.

‘Watch out, you scurvy bilge rats!' he cried.

Rosie and Gus giggled. They paddled hard to escape, but Lachie's craft was faster. He bumped into the mattress, making it jump forward.

Tom launched his craft at Meg's and Lulu paddled hard to defend her.

Jessie ran back and forth on the bank, barking.

‘We're paddock pirates! Shiver me timbers!' yelled Tom.

Dad and Uncle Nick drove up in the farm car. Uncle Nick leaned out the window.

‘What a racket,' he said, with a grin. ‘Sounds like you've been enjoying the rain.'

‘Climb in,' called Dad. ‘It's time to feed some animals.'

The kids dragged their boards and the mattress up onto the grass. Then they
piled into the car. It was a big four-wheel drive with three rows of seats. There was a large stack of towels in the back so everyone could rub themselves dry.

Uncle Nick drove the car along the road, over the rickety bridge and up to the old timber dairy. Many years ago, the dairy had been used for milking cows. Now it was used as a barn to store hay and farm equipment.

The kids clambered out of the car and ran towards the barn. Lulu slid open the heavy door. Light streamed into the dark barn. Specks of dust danced in the air. It smelt of sweet dried grass. Lulu breathed in deeply.

The farm tractor was parked in a bay on one side. The rest of the building was half-filled with bales of hay. These were stored to feed to the horses and cattle.

‘First we need some hay for Nutmeg and Flirt,' said Uncle Nick. ‘Then a couple of bales for the cows.'

The stack was built like a pyramid. At the sides, the bales were arranged like steps, forming a sturdy pile.

Gus scrambled up onto the row of bales. He ran along and then climbed to the highest point. ‘I'm the king of the castle,' he crowed.

‘Not for long,' replied Lachie. He raced up the pile. ‘Avast, ye!' he cried.

Lulu, Tom, Rosie and Meg followed. They jumped from bale to bale. The six kids sat on the top row and swung their legs. The hay was prickly.

‘Come on, little monkeys,' said Dad. ‘There are hungry horses and cows to be fed.'

Lulu and the cousins bounced down.

Dad lifted a rectangular bale of hay from the stack. He took a folding pocket knife from the leather pouch on his belt and cut the twine holding the hay together. The hay bale fell apart, into sections. Dad passed one biscuit of hay to Tom and one to Lulu.

Outside, the two horses had come over from the paddock and were waiting in the round yard. They hung their heads over the timber posts. Their chestnut coats looked dark brown from the rain. Nutmeg whinnied with impatience. Flirt pawed the ground with her hoof. Lulu rubbed Nutmeg's damp neck and fed her a handful of hay. Lulu loved the two farm horses.

The kids spread the hay in two separate piles on the ground. Nutmeg and Flirt dropped their heads to feed.

‘It's too wet to go horseriding today,' said Dad.

‘But it might clear up tomorrow, so we can ride,' said Lulu.

Dad looked up at the dark, heavy clouds. ‘It might,' he said doubtfully.

Uncle Nick shook his head. ‘I don't think so. There's definitely more rain coming. Let's throw some feed out for the cows before it gets much heavier.'

Uncle Nick was right. They had only just thrown out the bales of hay for the cows when the rain started again. It poured down in torrents. Everyone raced back to the car, then they drove up to the house.

The noise of the water hitting the tin roof sounded like hundreds of beating drums. Water bubbled over the top of the water tanks.

‘When will it stop?' moaned Rosie, after lunch. She and Lulu stared out of the window.

‘This must be the wettest weekend
ever
,' said Lulu.

‘Well, luckily we have lots to do,' said Mum. She popped a cardboard box onto the kitchen table. The box was filled
with coloured cardboard, paper, scissors, staplers, glue, paint and glitter. ‘We need to make pirate decorations for Gus's party tomorrow.'

‘Like Jolly Roger flags,' said Lulu.

‘
Arrr
, me hearties,' said Tom.

‘We can make happy-birthday bunting,' said Rosie.

‘And a super-duper pirate ship,' added Gus.

The cousins spent the next two hours creating plenty of things for the party. Lulu, Tom and Lachie drew lots of small skull-and-crossbones. They glued
them onto toothpicks to make little Jolly Roger flags, which they would use to decorate the food. They also made a few bigger ones to hang up.

Gus painted sea monsters on brown paper bags for the lolly bags. Mum and Auntie Tor were busy cooking food for the party. Meg and Rosie made some pirate-themed bunting that spelled out ‘Happy Birthday Captain Gus'.

Lachie made a pirate hat out of black cardboard. He put on his hat and scowled ferociously at everyone. ‘What has eight legs and eight arms?' he snarled.

‘An octopus?' asked Rosie. ‘No, octopuses don't have arms…'

‘A sea monster?' guessed Lulu.

Lachie picked up the ruler he had been using to measure out his hat and waved it like a sword. ‘No. Four pirates!' he roared.

Everyone giggled.

‘Why are pirates so mean?' asked Tom.

‘They just
arrr
!' bellowed Lachie.

Lulu and Rosie shook their heads.

‘Why are pirates called pirates?' asked Tom.

Lulu laughed. ‘They just
arrr
!' she cried.

Mum covered her ears and laughed. ‘Well, I hope the rains stops tomorrow so we can have the party outside. It's way too noisy with six pirates in the kitchen.'

That started Lulu thinking again.
What will we do if the rain doesn't stop? Where can we have a fun party for Gus? And how can we build him a really cool pirate ship?

Gus yawned and rubbed his eyes.

‘I think it might be time for a little pirate to have a sleep,' said Mum.

Gus shook his head furiously. ‘I not tired.' He yawned again.

Mum picked him up. ‘I'll read you a pirate story, honey bun. Then you can lie down for a little while.' Gus nestled his head against Mum's shoulder.

Auntie Tor helped the older kids pack everything up. ‘The rain seems to have finally stopped,' she said. ‘What mischief are you pirates planning for the rest of the afternoon?'

Lulu gave a mysterious smile. ‘Follow me, everyone. I've just had a
brilliant
idea.'