Barefoot Pirate Read Online Free

inspection”) that
was tied up against the storm. Lightning struck all around and thunder roared
overhead, the seas were churning and choppy, and Blackeye’s friends were
afraid, but she showed them how to step the single sail and they launched
straight out to sea.
    By dawn the island was a distant hump on the horizon.
    They were free.
    They traveled back to her home island, where, she was glad
to find, the old Magic Spell still permitted them entry.
    No one had bothered to change the Spell because nothing was
left of the house but the burned shell. However, Bera remembered another Spell,
one she’d never spoken of to anyone. This one, only known to her parents and
herself, opened the way to a small cellar underground, where was kept some of
the treasure that had (she had thought) occasioned the attack in the first
place. It had gone undiscovered. Also undiscovered was the ship’s log, which
their father had always stored in the cellar when they weren’t sailing.
    Bera sat up all night reading this, for here was the proof
that her parents had not, in fact, been ‘criminal pirates.’ The log listed the
terrible things the Regent had done to gain control of the island kingdom, and
how traders who did not want to join his fleet had banded together to fight.
    By this time Bera had learned something of the true nature of
the islands’ government. Everyone knew that the prince, who had inherited his
throne at a young age, was not quite right in the head, and a trusted adviser
was Regent. What Bera read in the ship’s log was the story of the Queen’s
murder—and the placing of the young Prince under a terrible enchantment.
    Bera’s parents had not only been privateers, they’d been the
leaders of a growing underground movement dedicated to overthrowing the Regent,
and restoring the young Prince first to his wits, and then to his throne. The
treasure stored in the cellar, taken from the Regent’s ships and friends, was
all to be dedicated to winning the prince free again.
    Bera shared this information with her friends, and after a vote,
all four enthusiastically vowed to carry on the parents’ work. Her friends all
chose new names to formally acknowledge their new identities—Kevriac naming
himself for a famous sorcerer, Sarilda for the people from whom she’d
descended, and Bron and Tarsen for legendary heroes.
    Drawing a breath of pleasure, Nan read on.
    The book described how, within two years’ time, Blackeye and
her crew found a new hideout, transferred the treasure there, and trained
constantly to make themselves ready for the work ahead. They also embarked on a
career of harassments against the Regent’s Guard.
    Kevriac obtained magical books and he was able to help them
with what he learned. Meanwhile the crew expanded—Warron they rescued from some
real pirates, and it was he who taught them a great deal about the handling of
boats so that they would be ready for the Blue Falcon when they did
steal it back.
    Then they rescued Tarly, a young centaur who had been stolen
by some unscrupulous traders from her home on a faraway continent, and who was
in the process of being sold to some wealthy friends of the Regent’s, to live a
miserable life as a talking beast of burden/nanny, drawing their spoiled
children around in a buggy, and being responsible for them. Tarly was able to
read other languages, and helped Kevriac with his studies. They made friends
with Elan, who had a job as a servant in the Regent’s palace, and they adopted
two street children, Mican and Shor, who narrowly missed hanging when they were
caught stealing food to keep from starving.
    At the end of the two years, Blackeye decided they were
ready to start on their plans. The first item was the recovery of the Blue
Falcon ...and the last would be the freeing of the prince.
    Nan discovered that she’d already reached the last page.
Just two paragraphs remained.
    “What?” she muttered. “Where’s the rest of Blackeye’s story?
It