Prologue

Hi. I’m Arabella. Arabella Merrywhether. I’m ten. I lived in a small town by the sea called Belletown. I’m part of the crew of a pirate ship. But that’s not the beginning.

Here’s what happened: I was going to the place where all the ships come and go, the dock. It’s so fun to watch! At least I had gotten out of our house; it was a madhouse in there! My sister and brother were screaming, so my parents were yelling at them to stop screaming; yell, yell, yell! Anyway, I was there. Hey, what’s that in the water? Is it a

pirate ship? I've never seen one of those here! I thought. Wait, it’s coming right here! It's called The Raptor.

“A pirate ship is coming!” I yelled. Nobody listened. I yelled it again. This time a few people turned my way, but then turned back; thinking it’s just a little girl’s nonsense. Suddenly I felt a yank on my arm, and I was in the pirate ship and speeding away from land. I guess I was right, it was a pirate ship.

Chapter 1

Here at last

“Well , well ,well, who do we have here?” a loud voice said. I jerked awake. “I-I’m Arabella Merrywhether” I said. Looking around, I saw I was below decks now, tied to a pole. “Yes?” Raven responded, swinging around the pole. “Y-yes”. I said and shivered. “Ah, cold, huh?” I shivered again.”S-sort of, ma’am”. I said.”Just call me Raven.” She responded. And I nodded.

“Raven, we need you!” called a voice from above. Then I had time to

think. I thought about my friends, sorry friend, Clara on land. (My other friends moved away during the summer) I thought about my parents, and lots of other people on land. I really miss them all.

Suddenly a boy walked in, followed by Raven, like I had yesterday. “Hola” he said. “Buenos Dias,” “What in the world?” I said. “Oh, you speak English.” He responded. ”I’m Carlos.” “Arabella.” I said. “Nice name, Arabella,” he said. “ Really?” I asked. “Sure, it's crafty.”

“Hey!” Raven yelled. “No talking!” I stopped talking right away.

"Good. It's time for you to meet the rest of the crew.” Raven went above decks, and then came back with four other pirates. “These are the main pirates you will see around. There are more, but they're not worth naming right now. This is Molly McGee, Sally Stringgrass, Lagoo Lingtan and Ringston Manester,” she said, pointing to each one in turn. They all looked normal, like no hooks for hands or anything like that. Not like in stories.

“Now it's time for you to go above decks,” Molly McGee said, obviously Raven had whispered it in her ear.“ Yes you go,” Lagoo

Lingtan chirped.”Always, always follow Raven's orders,” Ringston Manester said, he was hard of hearing so he thought Raven had said it. “No I said it!” Molly yelled. “What? You bed it?” Ringston asked. “ I said it you- you-” that was Molly again. “Who cares who said it! Let's get upstairs!” Lagoo yelled. “Molly say to go, we will go!” Sally said. They grabbed Carlos and I and made us walk quickly up the stairs.

Upstairs was amazing, awesome whatever you want to call it. There was Raven’s big steering wheel, the giant crow’s nest, all the normal