Tattamungatail and the Pirates

But the bed stayed a bed, covered in a red and white and blue and yellow quilt. "I said," Benjamin repeated, louder, in case the magic powers were a little deaf, "I wish this bed was really a boat." Nothing happened.
Benjamin, like any self-respecting pirate, knew how to throw a tantrum. He stomped his feet on the bed. He threw down his beautiful feathered hat. He jumped up and down. But the bed was still a bed.
Tattamungatail paid no attention to Benjamin. She lay at the edge of the bed, one arm and one leg dangling. She imagined the bed turning into a ship. It would rock gently on the waves. The sun would warm the wooden deck. The wind would blow through all the ropes of the rigging, would fill the sails, would cool her fur. Tattamungatail wished that she could be on a real boat.
And suddenly she was! The ship around her creaked and sighed. The sails cracked in the wind. She sat up and looked around her. There was ocean all around the ship, tossing. The ship itself was just the right size for her and Benjamin, for they seemed to be the only ones on board.
Benjamin, still dashing in his pirate costume, stood at the ship's wheel. "Ahoy, there, Tattamungatail!" he called. "Take the wheel. I want to explore the ship."

"No!" she replied. "I want to look around first." It didn't take long. There was a galley with a stove and pots and pans. There was a small hold with barrels of apples and coils of rope and bolts of canvas in it. There was a small cabin with two hammocks and a desk in it. On the desk, there was a compass, a sextant, a log book, and a map.
As Tattamungatail glanced at the map, she noticed a big golden X on an island. At the top of the map, she saw some other letters. Another cluster of words sprawled across the lower corner. She didn't know how to read yet, but Benjamin could, so she rolled up the heavy paper and went back on deck.
"Where have you been so long!" Benjamin grumbled. "I want a turn."
"I found a map. Can you read it?"

"A map!" Benjamin grabbed the paper out of her hands, unrolled it excitedly. "It's a treasure map!" he said. "Let's find it!"
"How do we do that?" Tattamungatail asked, rubbing her ear.
"Well, we use the compass and the sextant to figure out where we are and then we set our course and adjust the sails to catch the wind the right way and then we get there and follow the map's directions to where the treasure is buried and..." "But we don't know how to do all those things!" Tattamungatail protested.
Benjamin sighed. "I wish we did."
"I wish we could find the island," said Tattamungatail. Her nose began to twitch. "Benjamin! There it is!"
On the horizon, there was an island. Tattamungatail could see dark smudges that must be trees from far away, and stretches of white that must be sandy beaches. To one side of the island, she could see the head and shoulders of a hill rising above the tree tops. The ship bounced along peacefully toward the shore.
When they were close enough that the trees really looked like trees, the ship began to make horrible grinding noises. The whole thing lurched almost up on end. Tattamungatail and Benjamin were flung along the deck, ending up in a heap. "What's happening?" Tattamungatail demanded.
"I think we've hit a rock or something. Let's go down below and see," Benjamin replied. He got up and dusted his beautiful jacket. He took Tattamungatail's paw and they crept down the ladder into the hold. There was water everywhere and a gaping hole in the side of the ship.
"What should we do?" asked Benjamin in a small voice.
Tattamungatail thought. "Swim, I think," she said. "The island is close enough. We can bring the map with us. Then we can still find the treasure." She resolutely tucked the map into her belt, climbed back up on deck and jumped into the water. It was cold and salty. It filled her ears with its own peculiar rushing sound and her eyes with its greenness. Then she was back at the surface and swimming for shore. She could hear Benjamin splashing along behind her.
When she reached the beach, she was tired. She lay on the warm sand and took deep breaths. Benjamin waded noisily over to her, grumbling. She opened her eyes to look at him and laughed. His beautiful pirate outfit was a mess of water and sand. His lacy shirt dripped water on his black pants. The feather of his hat draggled down his back. Even his red coat looked forlorn. "Hmph!" said Benjamin. "To think I wanted to be a pirate."
"I want to find the treasure!" said Tattamungatail. "Are you coming or not?"
Benjamin emptied out the water and sand from one buckled shoe. "I'm coming," he said.
"Good," said Tattamungatail. She unrolled the map and weighed down the corners with rocks. "Can you read all these words down in the corner, Benjamin?"
He peered at the lettering. "It says that we take fifteen paces north from the lone palm on the beach to the skull rock. Then we turn to the east and go thirty paces to the triangle of trees. We turn north again, walk five paces to Parrot's Beak and start digging."
"That must be the palm," said Tattamungatail. She skipped over the sand to the base of the tall tree. "Which way is north?"
Soon the two rabbits were at Parrot's Beak, a strange rock that really did resemble the beak of a giant parrot. They began to dig with their paws. Rabbits are very good at digging. Before long, they had uncovered a great big chest. With all their might they heaved and lifted and worked to get it out of the hole. At last, it rested on the ground near Parrot's Beak.
"Now how are we going to open it?" Benjamin asked.

"Open it?" replied Tattamungatail, wiping her forehead.
"Yes. It has a great big lock on it." Benjamin shook the lock and banged it against the chest.
"I wish it would just open," Tattamungatail said. "I want to see the treasure."
Benjamin banged the lock again and this time it burst open. Joyfully, the two rabbits lifted the lid. They found gold coins. There were large gold and silver plates. There were strings of pearls long enough to wrap Tattamungatail from head to toe. There were diamonds and rubies and sapphires and opals and emeralds. Benjamin bedecked himself with jewels. Tattamungatail tossed gold coins into the air to see them sparkle and, like a true pirate, put a gold earring in her ear.
Just then, they heard a rustle in the bushes behind them. Tattamungatail whirled around. There was a group of real pirates! The biggest one, a man with a dirty red and white striped shirt and a crooked scar down his cheek said, "So, pirate rabbits trying to steal our treasure. Fancy that."
Instinctively, Tattamungatail and Benjamin backed away from him. He had a very sharp-looking cutlass. Unfortunately, they backed into more pirates who had snuck up behind them. Tattamungatail and Benjamin were captured!
The leader said, "We don't take too kindly to other pirates stealing our treasure. Get it back, mates." A small, cheery, chubby pirate moved to take Benjamin's jewels. "No!" yelled Benjamin.
"Jim, you'll need to tie these two up first, I see," commented the leader.
"Aw, Stripey, I hate to tie up rabbits," protested Jim.
"Do it, or you can explain your case to the fishes!" roared Stripey. Jim obediently tied Benjamin and Tattamungatail to trees. He removed all of Benjamin's jewels. Tattamungatail's earring, however, stayed in her ear, since Jim assumed it wasn't part of their treasure. Meanwhile, the rest of the band of pirates was dragging away the treasure chest.
Benjamin, his ears drooping miserably, sniffled. "I want to go home. I'm tired of being a pirate. This isn't any fun. I don't even want the treasure anymore."
Home. Tattamungatail thought about the bed with its colorful quilt. She thought about sleeping next to Sydney and about pretend tea and cookies. Her nose itched. "I wish we were home again, too."
And they were. Captain Sydney was just waking up. Benjamin was back in his princess costume. The ship was a bed again.
"Sydney!" called Mom. "Time to clean up your room!" Sydney stretched. She picked up Tattamungatail to toss her into the toy basket and paused for a minute because Tattamungatail now had an earring as well as a scarf and hat.