Chapter 18 - Page 264 - Pirate Ship

   "Oh." Shanha looked confused. The two stories Jim had told her at the zoo were about animals.

   "Well, a lot of people did think they were animals, because they were so mean."

   Shanha giggled. "At the zoo you told us about animals that could talk, and now you're telling us about people that were animals."

   Jim smiled. "Pirates lived a hard life," he said. "Most of them had broken or missing teeth. Some of them had an eye shot out or punctured by knives. They covered the damaged eye with a patch. They ran a strap through the patch and secured it over their eye by tying it at the back of their head. A lot of pirates were missing a leg, and tied a piece of wood to their stump so they could walk."

   Rhasha became inquisitive. "How did they lose their legs?"

   "Well," Jim said, "I guess their legs were hacked off with swords or blown off in some way. Swords are like real long knives," he added, stretching his arms out to demonstrate how long swords were.

   Shanha was puzzled. "Who hacked off their legs?"

   Jim realized he'd missed a portion of his story. "Shanha, pirates were people who killed other people and stole from them. They pulled their ships up next to other ships and jumped onto those ships with knives between their teeth and guns in their hands. They killed everyone on the other ship and stole their gold or whatever they could find that was worth anything. Also, they talked mean." Jim began to talk in a gruff voice. "They said things like 'Arrr mate, you're nothing but a landlubber'-that's what they call people who don't know how to sail."

   "Oh Jim," Rhasha said, " I don't ever want to see any pirates. Where do they live?"

   Jim smiled. "There aren't any pirates anymore. They lived many years ago."