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Jeez, More Pirates

As promised, here are the first and last chapters of Willpower. Please note that I have set this in the 1930's, about 60 years after convicts stopped being sent to Australia. I realise that the characters in these chapters would be about seventy, with the main story taking place when they were 10-20ish, but let's just say that they are very fit grandmas!

Prologue
Melissa sighed contentedly as she sat on the porch of the worn down beach house, sipping her drink and watching the children she was babysitting play in the soft grass. It been a while since she had been able to run that fast and jump that high, but that didn't mean she wouldn't give it her best shot. Just as soon as the heat relented a little. As was often the case in Australia, the weather has grown increasingly hotter as the days drew closer to Christmas. A small smile tugged at her lips as she thought of being able to visit her oldest friends at Christmas time again. It had become a longstanding tradition amongst the nine girls, and she couldn't wait to see them again. The life of an old woman was boring in the small, costal town of Sorrento, but it was not without its perks - she was trusted to look after many of the small children of the town, and today was no exception.
The sound of arguing brought Melissa out of her thoughts as she turned a keener eye on the children whose parents had entrusted her with their wellbeing. Down by the old willow tree that had been there even longer than Mel, the kids had found some sticks and had obviously just finished an intense boys versus girls sparring match, and were currently arguing over the winners. On the girls team were Sammy Campbells, Alex Lawster and Selena Trambas, while the boys team consisted of Leo Kalden and Callum Williams.
Sighing, Mel left the shade of the porch and walked out into the hot afternoon sun, heading toward the cool shelter that the willow tree offered. The minute she arrived, the children immediately stopped arguing and stared at their shoes.
"Okay," Melissa said in a stern but calming voice, and five pairs of eyes swivelled up from the ground to look at her. "What's all this arguing about?" she asked.
Sammy, the oldest of the kids present, replied, "We were sorting out who won the battle."
Mel sighed. This was not going to go well. "And who, may I ask, won?"
This time there was a brief moment of silence before all five children started talking at once. "Alright, alright. One at a time. Callum, you want to speak for the boys?" Mel gestured to the two boys and Callum began to explain.
"We were pretending to be pirates, and so we were having a duel, and we won 'cause we're stronger than them!" he cried.
Alex looked murderous, though she was only 11, and she interjected, "But we have more people than you!"
"So?" Leo demanded, a look of annoyance clear on his face.
Selena turned to face her brother. Though she was only nine, she certainly knew how to raise her voice. "So we WON!" she screeched. Mel, who had been observing the argument finally made her stand.
"ENOUGH, THE LOT OF YOU!" she yelled over the arguing friends. They at least had the grace to look embarrassed, and bowed their heads, suddenly finding the grass at their feet incredibly interesting. Sighing, she made them apologise to each other then crouched until she was the same hight as them. "You know kids, sometimes winning doesn't depend on who's stronger, or who's got how many troops."
"It doesn't?" asked Leo, a curious look replacing the anger and shame he had felt minutes ago.
"No Leo, it doesn't. Sometimes it depends on the strength of your mind, and how many brain cells you have." Seeing the puzzled looks on the kids faces, she led them to the porch and sat down again in her armchair, the children sitting around her feet. "In a land far away, a long time ago, there lived a young girl. Her name was Cleo."

END OF PROLOGUE

How was that everyone? Interested?

Epilogue
As the sun was setting and Mel finished her story, there was a knock on the door. Rising from her armchair, she walked through the house to the front and opened the door. "Cleo!" she exclaimed, almost knocking her over in a hug. "Speak of the devil, we were just talking about you."
"Were you now?" she replied, "Was any of it the truth?"
"Of course!" Seeing Cleo's panicked look, Melissa elaborated. "Well, it was just a story, if that's what you mean. Come on, the kids will want to meet you." Leading Cleo through the house, she could see just how different her life was now. Though Cleo was older and her hair was more grey than blonde, she was still alert and ready for any sign of danger. Mel knew that if a fight began, her friend would still come out on top, even if Mel wouldn't. She had long ago stopped living the life she had been forced to as a teenager.
Reaching the children, she saw that they had finally resolved their earlier argument and we talking excitedly about their favourite parts of her tale. "Kids, this is my friend Cleo. She's taking me-"
"Like the girl from the story?" an excited Selena interrupted, staring at Cleo in awe.
"Yes," Mel said, grinning at her friend, "Exactly like her."
- - - - - - - - - -
Later that night, after the children's mothers had come to collect them and put them to bed, Mel followed Cleo out of the house towards her car. Cleo started the car, but instead of driving towards Lyra's house to meet up with the other girls, she headed towards the other side of town, where the fishing ports were located. Frowning at Cleo, Mel asked, "Where are we going? Lyra's house is on the other side of town."
Cleo shot a look, as if to say I know what I'm doing Mel, then said, "Little surprise Becky suggested to Lyra and I. The others will be there, don't worry."
Feeling annoyed but knowing that was the only answer she was going to get for now, she shut up. A little while later, they pulled up in front of a house that Mel recognised. Bounding down the front steps was a familiar woman in a pink dress. Hopping into the back seat, Chelsea awkwardly tried to embrace both Melissa and Cleo at the same time. After exchanging pleasantries and continuing on their way, Chelsea turned to Mel.
"Any idea what's happening?" she asked her best friend.
"No clue whatsoever, Chels. Only thing I know is that it's Becky's idea." Mel replied.
"Well this can't end well. If something blows up, I'm going to yell at her." Chelsea said, making Melissa laugh.
"Again," came the joking reply from the other girl.
- - - - - - - - - -
After the same conversation had been repeated after picking up Melody, they finally arrived at their destination.
"A fishing port. Really?" Melody asked Cleo, but the other girl just shrugged smugly. "Hello, we've got company."
Looking out of the windows, the girls could see a guard walking towards them - a man from the night watch in charge of looking after the boats, judging from the uniform.
Melody and Cleo tensed for a fight, but Chelsea laid a hand on their shoulders and got out of the car to talk to the guard. Melissa smiled, knowing the guard stood no chance of stopping Chelsea once she was on a roll. Not that he would want to, as she was undoubtably putting all of her womanly charm to good use. As Chelsea returned to the car and the guard waved them through, Cleo turned around in her seat to stare at her.
"How do you do that?" she asked incredulously.
"I'm just too fabulous!" came the reply, earning a snort from Melody and a laugh from Melissa. Cleo just drove onto the docks, mentally resigning herself to just punching the next guard they saw. Perhaps thankfully, they did not see any more guards. They did, however, see another car parked on the far side of the docks.
Saying hello to Breanna, Elizabeth, Lyra and Emma, Melody voiced the question that everyone except Cleo and Lyra were wondering. "So what's going on?" she said looking around the edge of the pier they were standing on. Almost as an afterthought she added, "Where's Becky?"
A new voice from behind them called, "Nice to see that someone remembered me. Hey guys."
"Becky!" came the general chorus from the assembled party on the pier.
Becky strode forward, and dumped the sack she was holding on the ground. Opening it up, Lizzie pulled out a shirt and pair of pants from the pile in the bag, noticing that it was the same style that Becky was wearing. Becky responded to Breeana's questioning look with an exaggerated flourish to the ship moored behind her, followed by a grin as her friends began to realise what was going on.
"One last adventure," she announced, "for old time's sake."
As they eight girls began to get changed, Becky set about untying the mooring ropes and preparing the ship for sailing. Melissa was the last to board, glancing at the name of the boat, Willpower, freshly painted over the decades of wear at the bow, she realised that she was probably leaving her life behind for the second time, and found she didn't actually mind all that much. After all, she thought, turning to face the empty ocean ahead, with a little bit of friendship and a whole lot of willpower, there's nothing you can't do.

THE END

So what did you think? Worthy of a story or nah?
Worth the trouble Boonie?

Hope you enjoyed it,
Captain Bianca ;)