Chapter 18 - Page 265 - Pirate Ship

   "Rhasha and Shanha's eyes had grown large as Jim talked about pirates. He decided to have some fun with them. "Girls, when we get on the boat, we'll be just like any other sailors. I'll be the captain and you two will be my crew."

   Rhasha and Shanha knew he was teasing. "Is the captain the boss of the crew?" Rhasha asked.

   As Jim prepared to answer her question, he painted a serious look on his face. He continued to talk in a gruff voice. "Yes," he said, "and when I yell 'all hands on deck,' both of you have to run to me and stand in front of me with your arms straight down at your sides and your feet together. You have to stand stiff as a board. Also," he added, "you have to salute me." He raised his right hand to his forehead and snapped it down to his side.

   Rhasha and Shanha mimicked him, and of course Rhasha stuck her tongue out at him, then smiled.

   "Papa," Shanha said, "you're being silly again, aren't you."

   "Yes," Jim confessed. "I just couldn't resist."

   Jim drove until midnight and then slept for five hours. The next day he drove past Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi. After they passed Mobile, Alabama, they were only about seventy miles from Pensacola, Florida. They arrived in Pensacola at one o'clock in the afternoon and quickly parked the Freightliner at a local truck stop.

   Jim called a taxi to take them to the marina. On the way, he had the taxi stop at a grocery store and picked up a few supplies. When they got to the marina, they walked up to a railing that separated a restaurant from the boat docks and hung over the rail, Rhasha and Shanha babbling excitedly about all the huge and beautiful boats.

   "Which boat is yours?" Rhasha asked.

   Jim stared at a small dinghy moored to the dock. The dinghy was used by marina personnel to move around in the marina. "I said it was just a small sea cruiser."