The Mother of Life was pleased with these, and turned back to Tortoise, certain she could do a better job on him now.
He was gone.
While she was distracted with better creations, Tortoise had seized his chance and slipped away.
~The audience laughed. It was such a Tortoise thing to do.~
How many times had his mother’s hand smacked his young bottom? How many meals had it helped prepare, helped serve? How many times had it gripped his head, turning his face toward his plate while his mother ordered him to eat so the children in Asia wouldn’t starve?
Now Holly was in trouble – deep water trouble! She had hidden aboard one of the ships, had fallen asleep in a lifeboat, and now she was a stowaway.
And not just any ship. A peek at the flagstaff showed the black banner with the white skull that marked the ship as a pirate vessel. If the pink bow had been on the side of the skull’s dome, Holly would have been somewhat comforted by knowing the captain was a woman, but the bow was at the skull’s throat; the captain was a man.
