“Dad!” Joy looks up excitedly as Justin and I approach her soon after docking. “Madelyn says maybe I’ll get a scar! I’ll get a scar, Dad! I’ll be just like the grownup pirates!”
“Yarrrr!” Justin gives her a half-hearted pirate roar.
He is still having a tough time with what just happened. Our talk hadn’t sunk in yet.
“Joy, we have to keep you off your feet and out of adventures for three weeks at least. I think we’re going to move you to Grampa’s and Grandma’s apartment.”
“I want to be on Bonny’s Revenge!”
“You’ll have my old room, I’ll create a nice hammock for you on the porch to lie on, and your grandparents can take care of you all the time and they’ll play with you and tell you stories when I’m not here.”
“Three weeks with no adventures! Just kill me now!” she exclaims. Madelyn and Charlie are shocked and they both gasp.
Justin is the only one who isn’t fazed by the things she says. “Two weeks,” he says.
“Two days,” she says. “I’ll be walking and jumping in two days!”
“Don’t you dare try to do that! The wound will open up and it’s not even closed yet!”
Madelyn leans down to Joy and says softly, “A true heroine has to know when to heal and when to fight. If you do not heal, you do not fight.”
Joy listens to her and her expression changes. She adores Madelyn’s ability to fight through difficulty and to overcome anything. So much so that Joy allows herself to be convinced.
“One week,” she tells Justin.
Justin says, “I’ll take it. One week and then we’ll see how you are and what Sandra says.”
“Phooey Sandra!”
“Sandra saved your life, you’ll be nice to her!”
Joy nods. “Okay.”
We all look aside, as we hear Master Mind groan. “Little Pirate!” he sits up immediately. “Little Pirate, are you hurt?!”
He sees Joy lying down, my shirt tied around her leg in a tourniquet. “Thank my evil maker, you are alive! I could not stand the sight of…” and he now is clearly saying the pools of blood on the deck. “Of bloo--Of bloo--Of…” and he faints again.
“For god’s sakes!” Justin says. “You’re a killer robot! What’s the matter with you?” But Master Mind is out cold.
Justin leans down and raises Joy just a centimeter above the ground. “Hold on, Joy. This’ll be super easy.”
A flying carpet appears on the deck and slips under Joy. “Lie down,” Justin tells her.
She does and he removes his hands. He stands up and the carpet raises Joy to the air. “Let’s go,” he walks down the ramp with the carpet next to him. The carpet glows a soft blue. Joy likes the carpet and now it’s here forever.
“This is coooool! I love being here!” Charlie follows them down, staring at the magic carpet. I follow, too.
“I’ll wash the deck from blood for the robot,” Madelyn says.
“Merci beaucoup, Madelyn,” Justin says.
Water erupts from Madelyn’s hands and washes the blood into the ocean.
Boy, what a strange place I live in now.
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt