{"id":177,"date":"2009-08-14T13:27:20","date_gmt":"2009-08-14T17:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?p=177"},"modified":"2009-08-14T13:27:20","modified_gmt":"2009-08-14T17:27:20","slug":"chapter-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?p=177","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

The coin hit the floor with a \u201cplink.\u201d<\/em> Fay hit the floor with a \u201cbump.\u201d<\/em> This time it was the green linoleum floor of the Crunch & Barley broom closet. Fay felt relief…for a few seconds. Then she felt smothered as the tiny room filled to the corners with putrid pirates, jostling each other for every square inch of wiggle room.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cArg set us a trap!\u201d growled one squashed and outraged pirate.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cWe fell in a hole!\u201d snarled another.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cGet off my foot Fatso!\u201d yelled Barnaby.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cBlast and bloody cod-livers,\u201d muttered Mr. Arg. \u201cme piece o\u2019eight…whar\u2019d it go now…\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tFay made herself small and squeezed between one pair of legs, then another until she reached the door. But before she had time to open it, it abruptly opened itself. She flattened herself against the door frame as Mr. Green, of the Crunch and Barley Board of Directors, was knocked rudely off his feet by Mr. Arg bolting out of the closet.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cWhy don\u2019t you ask him if you can have your coin back now?\u201d snickered Barnaby, squeezing into the hallway beside Fay.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cBecause I\u2019m not a psycho with a death wish,\u201d Fay replied.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cThat\u2019s ok,\u201d said Barnaby with a smirk, \u201cI\u2019ll ask him for you! Mr. Arg?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cARRRG!\u201d growled Yellow Tooth jumping into the hallway, and unsheathing his cutlass.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cMISTER Arg!\u201d barked Board of Directors chairperson Mrs. Pink, stepping sharply into Mr. Arg\u2019s path to block his escape. \u201cWE are due for a SERIOUS discussion about the quantity of Jolly Rogers presently in the warehouse!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cJolly Rogers?\u201d cried Yellow Tooth. \u201cIn the warehouse? Where be this warehouse?\u201d<\/p>\n

\nMrs. Pink looked coldly at Yellow Tooth and sniffed. \u201cEmployees only. And please put away that sharp object.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cWhere be the Jolly Rogers?\u201d demanded another pirate as the remaining eleven staggered into the hallway.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cWHERE?\u201d bellowed Yellow Tooth as the ghastly crew formed a ring around Mr. Arg and Mrs. Pink.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tMrs. Pink showed no fear. \u201cEmployees ONLY,\u201d she repeated insistently.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cRrrrrrrrrrg…\u201d<\/em> The twelve pirates began a rumbling growl, and drew out daggers and cutlasses.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tMr. Brown, peeking around a bend in the corridor, was visibly quivering. \u201cFirst floor, end of the hall, green metal door!\u201d he said. \u201cPlease don\u2019t kill me! I\u2019m only thirty-four!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tYellow Tooth stood tall and grinned a nasty yellow grin. \u201cHave at it mateys!\u201d he shouted. The pirates stormed toward the stairwell in a clanking stampede.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tMrs. Pink glared at Mr. Brown with a look that would wither a tree, then turned to confront Mr. Arg. \u201cNow you\u2019ve done it,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you think four-hundred and ninety missing crates were trouble, how do you intend to replace five-hundred?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cLady, that\u2019s not half the problem,\u201d said Fay. \u201cWhat happens when the cereal is all gone?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u201cAll gone,\u201d twittered Mr. Twicky, hobbling out of the broom closet. \u201cThat\u2019s when them varmints\u2019ll have to settle fer\u2019 Pappy\u2019s hardtack. Or chicken. Ooh! I like this place! Squeaky clean!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tMr. Arg fingered his beard and shook his head. \u201cWith ol\u2019 Yeller Tooth in command of them scallywags there\u2019s no tellin\u2019 what\u2019ll happen. All\u2019s I can say is…Elbow Harbor better brace itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tElbow Harbor better brace itself?<\/em> Fay wondered how dangerous Yellow Tooth and his foul crew could be.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tThe hallway\u2019s harsh fluorescent light glinted gold off the floor by the broom closet doorway. Fay quietly reached toward the source of the flash and, once again, stashed the pirate coin in her pocket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The coin hit the floor with a \u201cplink.\u201d Fay hit the floor with a \u201cbump.\u201d This time it was the green linoleum floor of the Crunch & Barley broom closet. Fay felt relief…for a few seconds. Then she felt smothered as the tiny room filled to the corners with putrid pirates, jostling each other for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions\/179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}