Wednesday Morning – Weird times – Mood: Creeped out

I woke up this morning at a normal time, without an exploded house! Yay! Except, another strange thing happened today.

Remember the old man from yesterday? Well, he was still outside my house. It looked like he had walked back up the path to the lane that runs into town and then just...stopped. He was staring intensely into the distance, and was just kind of standing there with his staff. Weird.

When I had finished eating my breakfast, I opened my front door and slowly walked up to him. I didn't want to go too fast, in case it turned out he was a creeper in disguise or something. When I was right next to him, I tapped him on the shoulder. “Hello?”

He suddenly shook, as if waking up from a deep sleep, and said:

“I am Abraham, Great Wizard of the Forest, Elder of the Magic Council, Savior of the Diamond Realm….”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waving a hand at him. “I know, we met yesterday, remember?”

He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes, inspecting me like I was a rotten apple.

“Hmm,” he said. “You look a bit familiar. I definitely recall a boy with a big nose.”

“I'm a girl,” I snapped at him, resisting the urge to kick him in the shins for the big nose remark. My nose is beautiful, thank you very much. “Have you found Scotty yet?”

“Scotty!” His eyes widened. “Yes! Scotty! The chosen one! Destined to save the world! Bringer of the light!”

I blinked. This old guy sure liked to go a bit overboard with his Scotty compliments.

“Yeah, him.” I said with a sigh. “You found him?”

The old guy frowned and scratched his chin. “No, not yet. I am looking for him, though.”

Clearly this guy's brain was past its best. “Right. You want to come into my house for some food, and then we can find him together?”

The wizard smiled. “That sounds wonderful!”

So now I'm sitting in my kitchen with 'Abraham, weird of weirdos,' who is eating some bread. He even started writing something down in a kind of journal. I glanced over his shoulder and read this:

Bigge nose, haire of orange, mayebee a girle? Gudde Bred.

He really needs to work on his spelling. I guess he likes the bread. When he finishes, we'll head down to town.

Come to think of it, where is Scotty? He should be back by now, being as annoying as ever and trying to break my house. He went down to town yesterday. What is he doing? Maybe he got lost and fell into a lake.

Hmmm. I guess the old man and me both have a quest to find Scotty. Although, mine is more along the lines of 'drag him back here by the ear' and less 'saving the world'. Still, we can cross that bridge when we come to it.

The old man wants more bread. He must really like bread!

Wednesday Afternoon – Going to town – Mood: Frustrated

I've never met someone who gets lost when walking in a straight line before. It's a good thing I am guiding this old man to town, because otherwise he would definitely get lost. I even found him talking to a flower at one point. He stopped in the middle of the road, looked at the flower and said: “Mighty Flower! I am Abraham, Great Wizard of the...oh, what are you doing?”

I grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him along.

“Come on,” I said. “No time to be talking to flowers if you want to find Scotty.”

Abraham stood back up. “You're right! We need to go! Farewell, sweet flower!” and then he started walking down the path... in the wrong direction!

“Abraham!” I shouted after him. “This way!”

He spun on his toes and turned back, walking towards me. “Right, right, yes, of course.”

We've only just made it to town. I guess we need to ask around for Scotty. We'll go to the Jake's first and then....

Oh no. He's wandered off again.

Hang on.

Wednesday Afternoon – The Soggy Spoon Night Club – Mood: On the hunt for Scotty!

There are two things about 'The Soggy Spoon Night Club' that have always bothered me. First, it closes at 6pm, so it is never open at night. Second, it has a jukebox in the corner but my friend Jake, who owns the place, says that music gives him a headache and so he never has it on (except for absolutely special occasions).

I think the Soggy Spoon is actually more of a cafe, but Jake doesn't think owning a cafe is manly enough.

However, the good thing about Jake is that he has his ear to the ground. Not literally, but he knows all the gossip and stuff that is going on in all the villages around. If I was going to find Scotty, this would be the best place to start. I sauntered up to the bar and flashed him my widest grin.

“Jaaaaake, my buddy, my pal, my best friend,” I said. He isn't actually my best friend, but he doesn't need to know that.

Jake frowned at me from behind the counter, which he was cleaning with his sleeve. “What?” he grumbled. I could tell straight away that he still hadn't forgiven me for beating him at the fishing contest a few weeks ago. It's not my fault his fishing rod broke. He shouldn't have left it on my chair. “Who's the old timer?”

Abraham seemed to be having a very intense conversation with a nearby wall, asking for it to 'divulge its secrets'. I dismissed him with a wave of the hand.

“Ignore him,” I said. “You seen Scotty?”

Jake shrugged. “Maybe.”

This wasn't going to be easy, I could tell. I needed to bribe him somehow. “If I promise to give you back the bow that I won off you last week, will you tell me?”

That got his attention. He loved that bow (unsurprisingly, it was a very good bow) and he would be willing to do anything to get it back. “Aye,” he said. “That might work.” He wiped a particularly mucky spot on the wood in front of him. “I saw him yesterday. Came in here talking about how bored he was and stuff, so I sent him off to the docks. I heard there was a ship down there about to set off on a big quest or something.”

The docks. Had Scotty gone off on an adventure without telling me? If so, there will be hell to pay.

Actually, now that I think about it, was the bow hanging on that wall that got blown up?

Huh. I won't mention that to Jake. Maybe he'll forget.

Yeah. Probably.

Wednesday Afternoon – Down at the Docks – Mood: Everything here stinks of fish!

I'm pretty good at fishing. There is something very peaceful about sitting in a rowing boat that I have built with a fishing rod dangling in the blue water, and just doing nothing. I don't even have to catch fish. It's very relaxing.

Unless Scotty is with me.

He fidgets and grumbles and wobbles the boat and moans about how it is so boring and how the water doesn't do anything and how it is too quiet.

He only comes with me when I go to the docks. It is a bustling market of people all working hard on building ships, loading ships with goods, selling their goods, and generally being loud. In fact, being quiet at the docks is almost against the law. You have to push your way through crowds of people just to take a few steps in one direction.

I don't come here very often.

Scotty loves it here.

So it would make sense that he would come here. I've asked around at all his usual haunts: the old pier, the new pier, the middle pier (which is neither new nor old), the cake shop (that's my favorite), the bakery, the weapons shop. No one had seen him.

Where is Scotty?

Wednesday Afternoon – The Docks – Mood: Angry!

Scotty is stupid and dumb and reckless and foolish and...ugh, lots of other, much ruder words! I found some fishermen who had just come back from a day's fishing, sorting out their catch by one of the smaller docks. I recognized the main fisherman as Hank, a huge guy who was mostly beard, carrying a large collection of fish from the boat. I approached him.

“Hank! Have you seen Scotty?”

Hank didn't take long to think about it.

“Aye.”

“You have? Brilliant! Where?”

“He's gone,” he replied.

“What do you mean, 'gone'?” I asked.

“Acotty is lost to us? Oh mercy, this is truly a devastating blow for the forces of good! How we shall suffer in the oncoming wave of darkness!” Abraham cried and stroked on his beard.

“Shh,” I said to the old man and turned back to Hank. “Where is he?”

“He's on a ship,” Hank said, loading his fish into a nearby chest. He looked out towards the horizon. “That one. Called the Angry Mermaid, I think. The Captain was raving on about an adventure to a mysterious island on a distant coast.”

An adventure? Yes, that sounded right up Scotty's street. He would have definitely jumped on that chance. I looked to where Hank was pointing. In the distance, beyond the outer wall of the dock, was a small ship sailing towards the setting sun. It was definitely too far away to stop it now. I sighed. I had failed in my quest to get Scotty back.

“Yep, they're probably going to do something very exciting,” Hank continued in a voice that suggested he would find drying paint exciting.

“An exciting adventure?” I said. “But I have an exciting adventure waiting for him right here!” I pointed at Abraham who was inspecting something on his finger which he had just pulled out his hair. He popped it into his mouth and looked up at me.

“Hmmm?” he said. “What?”

“Oh, yeah,” said the fisherman, sarcastically. “Looks exciting.”

“Quiet,” I grumbled.

So that's it. Adventure over. Scotty has gone and left without even saying goodbye (rude!) and the world is going to end, apparently. It's a shame. I shouldn't have bothered fixing my house again. It will probably be destroyed by tomorrow.

Wednesday Evening – The Docks – Mood: Determined

You know what? No.

I am NOT going to be left behind while Scotty does something exciting and I have to babysit Abraham, Great Wizard of weird. He smells like cabbage.

I am going to find my own ship with my own crew, and we are going to get Scotty back. Then Abraham can take him and save the day and I can go back to looking after my cows and sheep and chickens. I don't care what happens after that.

Yeah, I can do this! Now all I need to do is find a ship. There are plenty to choose from on this dock. One of them has got to want to go on an adventure, right? Yeah. This won't take long, I am sure.

Wednesday Evening – The Docks – Mood: Why do I bother?

Why is it so hard to get a ship?

The captain just laughed in my face!

OK, ok, stay calm. Let's try the next one.

Wednesday Evening – Down at the docks – Mood: Not giving up!

Alright, so these are the ships and the captains I have talked to so far and their reactions. I am mainly writing it down so I can get revenge later:

Name: The Floaty Boat

Captain: Kyle Rogers

Reaction: Hahahaha! No.

Name: The Fisher King

Captain: Lenny Withers

Reaction: Ew. You're a girl? Get off my ship.

Name: The Plucky Penguin

Captain: Jason Falt

Reaction: What do you mean my ship's name is silly?

Name: The Creeper's Menace

Captain: Sarah Gets

Reaction: Sure, I'll take you, for 5 diamonds. (Where am I supposed to get 5 diamonds?!)

Name: ???? It was too rotted to tell.

Captain:??? Some man wearing underpants on his head.

Reaction: mumbles and grumbles and drools (I didn't want to get too close.)

So that's that. I'm down to two ships left and one of them...oh yep. It just left, I am watching it sail out of the harbour right now. I guess I should get a move on and try and persuade the captain of the remaining ship that they absolutely want to go on an adventure with me.

Wish me luck!

Wednesday Evening – Down at the docks – Mood: Happy! (I'm eating dinner)

OK, so the final ship I approached was interesting. I wasn't sure at first if it was even sailable. I mean, sure, it had everything a ship needs, a sail, a big wooden hull, and it just about floated, but apart from that it looked like a wreck! There was a big hole in one side and the whole thing went crreeeeaaaaak every time it rocked with the waves. On the side was a wooden sign that looked like it had been stuck on in a hurry and was beginning to fall off. It read:

The Happy-Go-Lucky

The flimsy rope that held it to the dock looked like it might once have been a lead to tie a horse, but at this point, I wasn't complaining. I mean, I would try anything just to get a ship to sail me in the direction of Scotty. This was my final chance.

I went to the wooden ramp that led up to the boat and said, “Hello? I'd like to speak to the Captain?”

There was no response from anyone on the ship. Creeeeak.

“Hello?”

“I think it's a ghost ship,” Abraham commented. “Ghosts can be very unhelpful.”

I rolled my eyes and advanced toward the ship.

“Hello?” I said again. “Is anyone-”

“Ya HA!”

I almost fell off the ramp leading up to the ship as someone leapt in front of me, sword drawn and pointing at my neck!

“Stay back, ye scurvy pirate!” I looked up at the person who was holding the sword. The first thing I noticed was the long plait of golden hair that wrapped around her body and across her waist as a belt. Atop her head was a big, triangular black hat with a picture of an orange cat sewn neatly onto the front. The rest of her clothes seemed to be colorful patches of cloth all stitched together. She looked at me with wild green eyes and wiggled the sword a bit more.

“Back, pirate!” she said. “Back, I say!”

I frowned. I wasn't about to be bullied by this strangely dressed person. “I'm not a pirate, and neither is he.” I pointed at Abraham who was picking something out of his beard. I'm sure whatever it was wiggled tiny legs in the air.

“Hello!” he said cheerfully. “I like your sword. It's very sharp.” He leaned over to me and whispered: “She's not a ghost. Ghosts don't like sharp swords.”

The woman narrowed her eyes at me and then, after a second, lowered her sword. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

I rolled my eyes. “Who did you think I was?”

The woman shrugged. “My mother.”

I frowned. “And who are you?” I asked.

“I am CAT DANGER!” she said, standing tall and proud. “For I have a fierce love of cats and I sometimes can cope with a bit of danger...” her voice trailed off. “Not too much, though.” She thought about it. “Actually the less danger, the better. Heard of me?” She glanced down at me.

I shook my head. “Nope.”

She sighed. “Most people haven't. Except for my mother, sadly. How can I help you?”

I grinned. It was time to put on the charm. “I need to hire your ship for....”

“To save the world!” Abraham chimed in.

“Yes,” I said. “I need to....”

“It’s very important!” Abraham waved his staff to add emphasis.

“Right,” I agreed. “What I'm trying to say is....”

“DO YOU HAVE ANY BREAD?” Abraham asked, just as dramatically. I turned and gave him an angry stare. “What?” he looked at me. “I'm hungry.”

“Shh.” I said. I turned back to Cat. “I need, we need to hire your ship for a very important quest to....”

“Nope,” Cat Danger said.

“Nope?” I replied. “But you haven't even heard what I am offering yet!”

“Still nope.” Cat shrugged. “As you can see, my ship is a bit...how to put it?”

“In an awful state of repair? Un-sailable? A complete wreck?” Abraham offered.

Cat wrinkled her nose. “One of them would probably have been enough.”

A thought popped into my head. “So what you're saying is, if it were fixed, you'd be glad to help me.”

Cat thought about it. “Yes, I suppose so, but-”

“Deal!” I said, grabbing her hand and shaking it before she realized what was going on. “I will fix your ship and then you can help me save the world.”

Cat looked down at our hands shaking and then back up at me. Her eyes narrowed. “I don't like it when people play me, girl.”

“My name's Alex,” I grinned. “Or as you'll later know me, partner!”

Cat rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She turned and walked back onto her ship. “You've got until tomorrow. If it isn't fixed by then, the Happy-Go-Lucky isn't going anywhere.”

I frowned again. “Only one night? That's impossible!”

“Ugh,” Cat rolled her eyes. “You sound just like my mother.”

But you know what? I think I can fix it in one night! If I can, then we can all sail off to Scotty tomorrow morning! What Cat doesn't know is that she has just asked the best builder around to fix her ship. I mean, I've had to rebuild my house so many times, I could probably fix things in my sleep! I'm going to leave Abraham at the docks (he is apparently talking to some fish now) and I am going to run back up to my house and get some supplies. This ship is going to be fixed before you know it!

Eeee! I am so excited!