Susanne Stemmer - Ilvie Little and the Fearless Sailors

Ilvie handles the old photo carefully. “What a great, proud woman! And I really like her eye patch!” she says with admiration.

Leonie giggles. “Hee hee—yes, the eye patch; that was my great-grandmother’s fantastic pirate trick. You see, she fought on the decks of the ships that she and her troop conquered, but then sometimes the fight shifted suddenly down to the cabins and the rooms under the deck. When you go from sunlight into a darker room at first you can’t see anything because your eyes have to get used to the darkness. However, if you’ve ­always had one eye ­covered while the sun is shining and then you take the cover off in the dark, you can see much better than your ­opponents who had both eyes free in the sunshine. You should try it sometime! It really works. And there’s something else—­great-grandmother decided that she looked bolder and scarier with the eye patch; that’s why she almost always wore it when she was on board. It’s probably still in some box on her ship. Maybe I should put it on over my bandage—then I’d look as strong and bold as ­great-grandmother Grace!” says Leonie with a giggle.

“Why are you wearing the bandage? Not because of your great-grandmother?” Ilvie asks curiously.

“Oh, no!” replies Leonie. “It’s just that my left eye doesn’t work as well as my right one. So to train my left eye and get it used to seeing better, I have to c­over my right eye for a while. That’s all.”

‘Aha!’ twinkles Theo. ‘That’s a great trick! I’ll try it and we’ll see if I can see even better than I already do.’ He slides off the swing, holding his left eye shut and hopping around a tree. ‘Maybe it also works with your legs!’

“Oh dear,” Leonie snorts. “Theo, you’re really a hoot! Maybe you should join the circus!”

“Leonie!” calls a loud, droning man’s voice from far away. “Leonie! Lunchtime! Where are you? Leonie!”

“Oh, that’s papa! I have to run home for lunch,” says Leonie as she ­begins to pack the photos back into the box. “Will we see each other again later? Do you want to see the Anastasia? My great-grandmother’s boat is still down in the boat house, which once upon a time was used as a concert hall. Sometimes I go down there, have a look at it, and dream how things must have been when my great-grandmother went to sea on it. Do you want to go to the boathouse with me ­after lunch?”

“Of course we do! Gladly!” cries Ilvie, jumping off the swing. “I would most like to set sail on it right away to go on a treasure hunt!”

‘Waah!’ twinkles Theo with disgust. ‘Are you crazy? The waves get really big out there and there are storms! I won’t go with you. I’m sure I’d get really seasick! I don’t need any treasure!’ Defiantly, the little monkey puts his hands on his hips.

“Super, then we’ll meet here right after lunch!” says Leonie, running away. “I’m looking forward to it already!”

“See you later!” cries Ilvie to her new friend, but Leonie had already ­disappeared.

Ilvie sits back down on the swing next to Theo, swinging back and forth a little as she stares out at the ocean.

‘I know what you’re thinking about,’ twinkles Theo with disgust. ‘And ­no, we’re not doing that! We will NOT go to sea, Ilvie! The adventures we’re ­having on land are already exciting enough for a sensitive little monkey like me!’

‘How do you know that it’s so terrible out there when you’ve never been on the high sea?’ she twinkles back, putting her arm around her little friend. ‘We’ll see, dear Theo, we’ll see. But don’t worry, I’ll look after you, I promise!’

Hey, that’s really cool! What a beautiful, giant boat!” Ilvie cries enthusiastically. “And that was your great-grandmother’s ­little boat?”

Leonie meets her two new friends by the swing right after lunch and leads them to the old boathouse.

“Yes, the Anastasia truly is a very beautiful boat. It’s too bad that she’s been out of the water for so long,” replies Leonie.

“Imagine how fantastic it would be to go to sea on her and find the ­treasure!” says Ilvie, already imagining the adventure. “We would sail across the sea for days and days, sail around wonderful islands, get to know all kinds of ­people, and fulfill your great-grandmother’s mission which she couldn’t fulfill herself. Imagine if we could find the treasure, Leonie!”

Ilvie is very excited.

Theo quickly hides behind a box that is lying around next to the old boat. He can’t believe it—that is typical Ilvie. If it were up to her, all three of them would already be sitting on that dumb boat and sailing through the history of the world. How much work all of this is! Adventures! Pooh! Why couldn’t they just lie around in the meadow with the sun shining on their bellies as they ate a few cupcakes? Why did Ilvie always have to have adventures?

“Oh yes, that would be great,” replies Leonie, “But the boat is already very old. And we don’t know where the treasure map is. I‘m also not sure whether the three of us can sail well enough to handle such a big ship …”

Theo breathes a sigh of relief —in secret, of course!

“That means … Do you really know how to sail, Leonie?” Ilvie asks, ­grinning mischievously.

Theo’s secret hopes fade quickly because he knows Ilvie all too well.

“Of course! My whole family knows how to sail, and I’ve been sailing since I was three years old,” replies Leonie hesitantly. “But the Anastasia? She’s still quite big … Anyway, the fact remains that we don’t know where the treasure map is. And without the treasure map, there’s no treasure.”

“But maybe we’ll find that treasure map somewhere,” responds Ilvie ­determinedly. “Do you think we can take this tarp off the Anastasia? We’d really love to see all of her without this cover over her,” she adds, pulling on one corner of the tarp which covers half of the pirate ship.

“Yes, let’s do that! This beautiful ship really should be dusted off!” Leonie agrees, starting to search for a ladder.

A little while later, she pushes the giant ladder that she’s found across to the old boat and quickly climbs up it.

“OK, dear Anastasia; this is your moment—I’m going to show you off in all your old glory, by the glass-eyed, red-tailed Hippocampus!” cries Leonie. Lickety-split she undoes the knots that fasten the tarp to the boat and throws the giant tarp to the ground in one fell swoop. Ilvie and Theo are amazed at how clever and skillful Leonie is, almost like a circus artist.

Theo coughs loudly three times. As the tarp flies off it cloaks half the ­boathouse in a giant, thick dust cloud. ‘Pooh, I’m going to suffocate!’ he twinkles. ‘Ilvie, Ilvie, where are you? I can’t see you anymore! Everything is foggy here! Ilvie! Help!’

‘I’m here, Theo, don’t worry,’ Ilvie twinkles back.

“This tarp clearly hasn’t been moved in a long while,” she gasps.

“Are you OK down there?” calls Leonie from the ladder. “I can’t see you! Is everything OK?”

“Yes, yes,” calls Ilvie, coughing and waving the dust away from her face with her hands. “It’s just a little dusty here!”

When the dust has settled a bit and Ilvie can see the ladder again, she climbs up quickly behind her new friend. Leonie is already all the way up on the deck, looking around.