Lilly and the Pirates

Lilly and the Pirates — page 1 — Destinations he hot wind sneaked in through the flap of the ragged canvas tent and rattled the pages of Lilly's book She curled on her cot in a corner pretending to read Millicent Murray and the Fish That Didn't Splash A new crate of books had just arrived by camelback and sat in the center of the tent floor Usually Lilly couldn't wait to dive into the latest Millicent Murray mystery What Lilly was really doing though was eavesdropping on her momma and poppa as they sat nearby reading and rereading the pages of the letter The envelope had lain on top of the books when they pried off the lid of the wooden crate Lilly had recognized the return address printed on the envelope

Lilly and the Pirates — page 2 — SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE the college that sent them off on all their expeditions to the corners of the world Except of course the world didn't have corners Lilly knew that She knew the world was round pear shaped really with a circumference of 24 901 55 miles at the equator Just because Lilly had never gone to a real school didn't mean she didn't know things Lots of things The crates that followed them on their expeditions to the jungle or the desert or the tops of old volcanoes always contained schoolbooks along with scientific journals for her parents and any new Millicent Murray mysteries for Lilly Lilly's poppa always said she was smarter than any two ten year olds he knew He had said something like that ever since Lilly could remember Smarter than any two four year olds Smarter than any two five year olds Lilly was seven before she realized Poppa didn't know any other seven year olds How could he It had always been just the three of them Lilly and her momma and poppa traveling together to study boomerang beetles or lily pad leeches or snowshoe mosquitoes Lilly's poppa lowered his voice and Lilly leaned closer to hear This was new this whispering Usually they told her straight out where they were going next

Lilly and the Pirates — page 3 — IM AP Do you think the frangipangi fruit fly has really been sighted he whispered There have been mistaken reports

Lilly and the Pirates — page 4 — before But if the reports are accurate Lilly's momma whispered back And we have an opportunity to study them in their native habitat If only someone knew where that habitat was Maybe we could answer that question We've always dreamed that someday we would study them A soppy sentimental look passed between her parents Lilly knew about their dream She had often heard how her parents had met two extremely shy students whose hands accidentally touched at the library of the Scientific Institute as they both reached for the same book Frangipangi Fruit Fly Fact or Fiction But why were they whispering Something must be really dangerous about where they would be going next Lilly reached for her worry book always at her side ready for her to scribble down any worries she might think of If Lilly worried enough about all the things that could go wrong if she wrote her worries down in her worry book the bad things she worried about might not happen What Lilly wrote in her worry book was one of two secrets she kept from her momma and poppa They were far too scientific to believe that worrying could keep disasters at bay She had started her first worry book not long after the wave that had almost swept her momma and poppa away forever She had found a blank notebook in a crate of books and drawn a picture of an enormous green wave curving menacingly over her

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