CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Three Pirates

Tom now felt hopeless again. He felt that no one cared about him anymore. He didn't want to be a bad boy; it's just that people gave him no choice. How can someone be good without love? So Tom decided that it wasn't his fault that he was the way he was. It was everyone else's fault. He left the village, imagining that he would never return. After walking quite a long way, he found his good friend, Joe Harper. Joe seemed to be feeling pretty terrible himself. When Tom told him that he was planning on traveling the world looking for new and exciting adventures, Joe said that he had had the same idea. He was angry because his mother had hit him for no reason. He didn't feel that she loved him or wanted him anymore, so he ran away.

The boys decided that since they had both lost their families, they would have to be a family now. Just the two of them: Tom and Joe, friends and brothers forever. So, now they had to plan what they would do next. After a few moments, they agreed to become pirates.

Near the village, at the widest part of the Mississippi River, was a small island, about one mile wide. Tom and Joe decided to make this their new home. It was totally empty of people and there were lots of trees, so no one would be able to see them from the shore. It was the perfect secret hiding place for pirates.

While looking at the island, they met Huckleberry Finn. He didn't have family either, so they asked him if he'd like to become a pirate too. He very happily agreed to join them.

They planned to meet at 12 o'clock that night and take a small boat over to the island; this way, no one could see them going there. They were all to bring food and any other useful supplies to help them live on the island.

Tom brought some meat, a compass, and his knife with him that evening. He waited for his friends up on a hill above the river. It was a very quiet night, so he started to whistle. Then he heard someone whistle the same song somewhere down the hill. Tom tried whistling again, and someone said: "Hey! Who's that?"

"I'm Tom Sawyer, the famous Black Pirate! And who am I talking to?"

"Huck Finn the Red-Handed and Joe Harper the Destroyer of the Seas." These were all names that Tom had found in one of his favorite books.

"Do you know the secret word?"

"Blood!"

"OK, wait for me, I'm coming down." Tom said as he started walking down the hill.

Once they were together, they looked at what everyone had brought. Joe had some meat with him and Huck had brought his tobacco.

Seeming happy with this, the Black Pirate said: "OK, men. Now we need something to build a fire with."

They decided to steal some firewood from one of the riverboats. This would be pretty easy to do now that most of the workers were in the village, but just in case someone had stayed behind to guard the boat, they were very careful when they went aboard.

Once they had the firewood, the pirates then found the little boat that would take them to their island. Tom stood at the front of the boat and gave orders to the other boys: "OK, let's go faster now. Alright. A little to the right. Wait, no a little to the left. Watch out for those rocks up ahead!"

At one point they could see the village they had left forever. Tom was happy to be leaving it and everyone he ever knew. He thought about his aunt and Becky, and he wished they could see him now, being so brave.

A couple of hours later, they landed on the shore of the island. The first thing they did was hide their boat and find a place to keep their food safe from the animals. They decided not to build a shelter for themselves, as they liked the idea of sleeping outside, like real pirates.

Later that evening, after dinner, they relaxed around a fire. Huck thought this was the perfect opportunity to smoke, so he took out his tobacco and started rolling a cigarette. The other two pirates watched him and wished that they knew how to smoke, and then they could really be like pirates.

Huck lay back and began to smoke. After a couple of minutes of silence he asked: "So, what exactly do pirates do?"

Tom was the first to answer: "Well, Huck. They steal treasure from ships and kill the sailors, except for the women. They don't kill women; they steal them along with the treasure, if they're pretty."

"And they wear beautiful clothing from all over the world," said Joe.

Huck looked at his own clothes. "My clothing's not very beautiful," he said. "Where can I get some better ones?"

"Don't worry, Huck. We'll have plenty of opportunities to find new clothes once we start to travel."

Soon they all became tired, but the only person to really sleep was Huckleberry. The other two pirates were feeling a little guilty about having stolen the meat, the boat, and the firewood. They agreed never to take anything of anybody else's in the future.

(end of section)