............................ One of the pirates, that Jack thought had really mean-looking eyes, growled, “He looks daft, he could be dangerous, and he’s got a knife, Rogan.”

“Let’s hear what he has to say for himself, Rumpleman,” Rogan, the tall man, said.  “Come here, boy,” he commanded. Jack obeyed and stepped forward, still grinning.

“Who are you and what are you doing on our island?” he asked gruffly.

“I’m Jack,” he said. “I’m here waiting for my father to find me. I was with him on our fishing boat and a storm came up. We had a problem with the boat, I was at the helm, a huge wave broke over us and I was thrown over board.  I didn’t know it was your island, but I didn’t have any say where the ocean was going to spit me out,” he babbled.  Jack heard the men chuckling and took a breath.  “It’s really a nice island. Lots of fruit, fresh water, oh, and lobsters too,” Jack continued.

The group of pirates was speechless.  Finally, Rogan said, “Slow down, Jack.  I have some questions for you.  Please answer them as briefly and clearly as possible.”

Jack nodded. “How long have you been here?” he asked.

“Two days, I think, sir, but it might be three,” Jack replied. He started to say something else, but Rogan raised his hand to silence him.

“You said this island is well supplied with food and water?  Can you show us where these things are?”  He asked with a challenging look.

Jack looked back at him and said, “I thought you said this was your island.” Several of the pirates laughed out loud.

“Silence!” he shouted to his men, then turned back to face Jack. “It is.  We claimed it this morning when we came ashore.” He simply stated, “We need supplies for our ship, and you, evidently, can save us some time by showing us where these items are located.”

“Okay,” Jack said.  “I can show you now.”  He bent over to pick up a stick and heard the clatter of swords again.  He slowly stood up and showed the pirates what he held in his hand.  “It’s just a stick I can use to draw a map in the sand,” he explained.

The suspicious group relaxed but most of them looked at him with raised eyebrows and doubt etched across their faces.

Squatting close to the sand, Jack took the palm of his left hand and smoothed the surface.  With the stick, he drew what he thought was a pretty good image of the shape of the island. The men began to form a circle around Jack and Rogan.  The ones in the front kneeled or sat in the sand, so that everyone could see what Jack was drawing.

Using the stick as a pointer, Jack said, “This is the pond.” He touched the end of the stick to that location on the sandy map.  “And, the fruit trees run down the middle,” he continued, as he drew a line down the center.  “Now here on the north end you have the reef,” he said as he wrote R-E-E-F in the sand.

“The lad can write!” Rumpleman said in slack-jawed amazement.  In all his life, the few people he had known could read and write had been officers aboard the ships he had helped crew.  He looked at Jack with surprise and admiration.........................

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