“Yes. Mrs. Garlucci. Pete said you would be joining us.” The girl, Isla, according to her nametag, counted the children. “Perfect, we have all four junior pirates.” She reached into the cabinet and pulled out four paper pirate hats and four plastic swords.
“Pete picked out your pirate names ahead of time.” Isla eyed the side of the first pirate hat. “Which one of you is Gracie?”
“Me.” Gracie raised her hand.
“You’re now Cap’n Gracie Roughknuckles.” Gracie giggled as Isla placed the pirate hat on top of her head. “Where’s Violet?”
“Here.” Violet pranced forward. “I’m Violet.”
“Not anymore. Pirate Pete dubbed you Churnin’ Violet Dagger.” Isla placed the pirate hat on Violet’s head. “You must be PJ.” She pointed to Carlita’s grandson.
“Yep.”
“You’re now PJ the Jolly Pirate.” Isla slid the hat on PJ’s head and smiled at Noel. “Miss Noel.” She waved the paper pirate hat. “Pirate Pete picked the perfect name for you.”
Noel inched forward, her eyes ‘round as saucers. “He did?”
“Yes.” Isla nodded solemnly.
“You’re Cap’n Shark Tooth Noel.” Noel grinned as Isla placed the hat on her head.
Isla handed each of the children a plastic sword, but first made them promise not to stab one another and then motioned the Garlucci family on board.
They passed by Gunner, who was in his cage and stationed near the ramp greeting the guests. “Aye, matey. The Flying Gunner is getting ready to set sail.”
“This is Gunner,” Violet told the other children. “He’s funny.”
“Gunner is handsome,” the parrot squawked.
“Hello, Gunner,” Carlita said. “It’s going to be a beautiful day to walk the plank.”
Gunner strutted along his perch. “Time to walk the plank.”
It had been weeks since the last time Carlita boarded The Flying Gunner to assist Pete in interviewing potential employees. It looked different now. The ship sported a spacious snack bar and comfy sofa seating. Eerie lanterns glowed green and orange.
“This looks different,” Mercedes said. “I love the new look.”
“Me, too.”
They explored the lower deck before heading upstairs to the open deck.
Carlita heard Pirate Pete’s booming voice echo from the bow of the ship. “And, then I said to my first mate, Sully, we be needin’ to fire a shot across the bow.”
The children gathered around Pirate Pete. He was dressed in full pirate garb, from the plumed pirate hat perched atop his head, to his fitted puffy pirate shirt all the way down to his shiny black pirate breeches. A black patch covered his right eye.
“Ah, more mates for our sword fight.” Pete winked at Carlita. “And what about you, pretty lady?” he teased.
“I think I’ll hang out on the sidelines,” Carlita chuckled.
Another garbed pirate tapped the tip of his sword on Pete’s shoulder. “You be looking for me?”
“Ahh…it’s the dastardly Johnny Dud.” Pete chased the pirate to a stack of towering wooden boxes as the men dueled with their swords.
Carlita’s grandchildren stood nearby, entranced by the sword fight. The sword fight ended with the heroic Pirate Pete capturing Johnny Dud.
The pirate ship set sail a short time later, cruising along the riverfront, past the Waving Girl landing and the ferry.
They sailed all the way to Fort Jackson before turning around and starting the return trip to Gunner’s Landing, the ship’s slip.
While the children played pirates, the adults munched on popcorn and sipped sodas. The host of activities included a treasure hunt, followed by a water gun shootout.
After the water gun battle, the children joined their parents for popsicles and snow cones.
All too soon, the exciting pirate adventure ended.
Pirate Pete and his merry band of buccaneers lined the gangway, thanking the guests for joining them as they disembarked. They were also handing out discount coupons to Pete’s restaurant, The Pirate House.
Pete caught Carlita’s eye and waved her off to the side. “Any news on your wedding guest’s condition?”
“Yes.” Carlita motioned to Paulie. “I’ll be right with you.”
Mercedes slipped past her brother and joined her mother and Pete. “We had an awesome pirate adventure.”
“Thank you, Mercedes. I was askin’ your mother about the condition of your wedding guest.”
“She’s in intensive care. Elvira claims she heard it was food poisoning.”
“Shiver me timbers.” Pete placed a light hand on his scabbard. “Are they thinking it was something she ate at the reception?”
“It’s possible. We’re still waiting on the official word.”
Pete rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “I was gonna mention yesterday, an odd situation that happened during the wedding.”
Chapter 15
Pete continued. “I stopped by your kitchen to compliment your staff on the bang up job they did on the food. After I got done, I stepped out back to make a quick call to check on the early pirate ship run.”
“Elvira’s sister, Dernice, was in the alley and she gave you a hard time,” Carlita guessed.
“No. Dernice wasn’t around. There was a coupla people standing near the dumpster, a man and a woman. The woman was crying. I asked if everything was okay. The man, the one wearing a uniform, assured me that they were fine.”
“A uniform?”
“Yes. It looked like one of your restaurant uniforms. He whispered something in the woman’s ear. The man grabbed their stuff, and they took off.”
Carlita’s heart began to pound. “What kind of stuff?”
“A purple backpack.”
“Was it purple camo?”
Pete nodded. “You know who I’m talkin’ about?”
“I think I do. The afternoon trolley driver, Jim, may have seen the same couple. He told Reese they were acting suspiciously. Do you think you’d be able to recognize the couple if you saw them again?”
“Yes. Most definitely.”
Carlita had a sudden thought. “Did they talk funny?”
“Funny?”
“Like us…like they were from New York.” Carlita thought of the threat to Vito’s family. Was it possible Louie sent a couple of
