10-A TRUE SAILOR ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT TO DO

A TRUE SAILOR ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT TO DO On the morning of the thirty-second day of sailing, I woke up with a start. "Wake up, Gerrykins!" Thea shouted in my ear. "There's a storm out there!" Still Half asleep, I slipped on my coat and followed Thea up to the deck. The sky in the east was dark with big black clouds! "Go and lower the sails, Thea. No, wait a minute, leave the smallest one up. That way the boat will hold the seas better," I said. Maybe sailing wasn't such an easy thing after all.

"I'd better get Trap," I told my sister. "He's a true sailor. He'll know what to do." I left Thea at the helm and went below to search for my cousin. The boat was being tossed about by the churning waves, which kept growing bigger and bigger. I opened the door to Trap's cabin. My cousin was huddled up in his bunk under the covers. "Trap, the Lucky Lady is taking on water! We don't know what to do!" I shouted, shaking him. "I... I... don't know, either! "he mumbled, rolling his eyes. "B-B-B-ut," I sputtered, tossing my hat on his bed. "I thought you knew everything about the sea! Didn't you say you were once the captain of a ship?!" In answer to my question, my cousin sat

up with a jolt and threw up right into my hat! "HOLEY CHEESE!" I screamed, leaping away from the bed. I fell against Trap's closet. A book fell out. I stared at the title: Learn How to sail in Eight Hundred Easy Lessons. A horrible feeling gripped me like a mousetrap in a fully stocked kitchen. I grabbed the book. A bookmark was stuck at page eleven. Lesson number three: Sails come in many different colors. Try to pick one that will make you smile. "SMILE!" I choked. "You'll be lucky if

you can still eat soft cheeses when I'm through with you!" I screamed at Trap. He had crawled back under the covers. "I'll deal with you later!" I called as I rushed back outside. Waves as high as Mouse Everest were pounding onto the deck. Each time the bow of the ship hit a wave, the boat sank lower. Then it would pop up again, this time tilted in the other direction. Trap wasn't the only one feeling seasick. I lurched over to my sister and gave her the bad news about our seriously truth-challenged cousin. For a minute, she looked

as if she'd seen a cat. But she quickly got a grip. "WHO NEEDS HIM ANYWAY?" she squeaked, flipping her tail over her shoulder. What a mouse, that sister of mine! A FIRST-RATE rodent, for sure. The wind was getting stronger and stronger. Its high-pitched whistle could have called every dog in the world. Moldy mozzarella! This is no storm! This is a hurricane! I thought, nervously tugging the fur on top of my head. What rotten luck to be caught by the storm just now. We had only two or three more days before we would hit Treasure Island! Each time the boat rocked, I could hear my seasick cousin moaning down in his

cabin. Serves him right, I thought. It seems Trap had "accidentally" forgotten to mention he was never a captain of a ship— he was a cook! Night came, and things got even worse. We couldn't make out the direction of the waves in the dark. The Lucky Lady rocked back and forth like my uncle Nibbles dancing at a family wedding. We were soaked through to our tonsils. Dawn came, and THE SEA was still raging. Suddenly, disaster struck. A gust of wind tore down the mast. The Lucky Lady TILTED ON ITS SIDE, AND WATER BEGAN TO FLOOD IN. We were sinking!