Odin – King of the Puppy Pirates

 

By Ann Marie R. Harvie

Odin raised his muzzle in the air and closed his eyes.  He could feel the warmth of the morning sun on his face and smell the sweet, salty water just a few feet away. His puppy ears perked up at the sound of the lapping waves and his tongue fell out of his mouth in a pant, catching salty drops of sea foam flung ashore by the waves.

The puppy pirate king could only enjoy the peaceful morning on the beach for a minute.  Soon he and his band of puppy pirates would board their ship, “The Barking Bone” and chase after greedy King Merrick.  The king and his men had cruised along Odin’s shore earlier that morning, shortly after the puppy pirates dug up their secret, locked treasure chest of puppy treats.   The king must have seen the treasure chest and thought it was filled with silly human treasure.  The German Shepherd snorted at the thought as he started towards the ship.  Why would anyone want gold?  It didn’t smell good and it tasted worse!

Odin quickened his pace when he saw his mates – Dachshunds Klaus and Marley, Bull Dog Otis, Poodle Kip and mixed breeds Coco and Rue – were all ready to go.

Otis barked at the playing puppies that were nipping at each other’s ears on deck.  “Straighten up you scurvy swabs, here come the Captain!”

Otis always showed Odin great respect.  He was the pirate king’s first mate and best friend.  He kept the other puppies in line.  Soon the other puppies stopped playing and took their places on the ship.  “Okay, Mateys,” barked Odin loudly.  “The sooner we get back our treasure, the sooner we can get back to chewing the roots on the palm trees!”

Odin’s band of puppy pirates howled in unison before Coco and Rue hoisted the anchor by pulling on the rope with their puppy teeth.  Klaus and Marley used their teeth and paws to hoist the sails, and Odin jumped up on his hind legs and placed his big paws on the big wheel to steer the ship.

King Merrick and his men had not gotten far.  The “Barking Bone” was a smaller, faster ship and it didn’t take Odin long to find the greedy king.   Odin’s pirate ship was so small, it didn’t seem as though the king and his men noticed they were being pursued and didn’t seem to be in a great hurry to get back to their kingdom.

As the “Barking Bone” got closer, Odin could hear the king’s crew laughing and singing on the deck of the large ship.  The king’s men were so occupied with their celebration, they didn’t see the little pirate ship pull alongside them.  Odin craned his neck and could see the treasure chest glinting in the sunlight high on the quarter deck of the ship, pretty close to where the “Barking Bone” was positioned.  Odin scanned the larger ship and noticed that some of the port holes were open on the lower levels. 

The pirate puppy king had an idea.  He gave Otis the helm while he and the other puppies snuck on board King Merrick’s ship through one of the open portholes.  Once on board, the puppies whimpered at the horrible smell of dirty feet that hung in the air of the larger ship.  Odin hushed them, although his eyes watered too, and with wrinkled noses on their muzzles, they pattered their way up the stairs towards the deck.   Odin jumped up and opened the door latch with his paws.  He nosed the door open just a crack so he could see what the humans were doing.  He counted ten men on deck singing and dancing.  His puppy tail wagged.  He wanted to play, too!  But then he remembered why they were there and focused on the treasure chest.  The king was not on the deck.  The treasure chest lay all alone on the quarter deck. 

Odin turned to his pirate puppy pals.  “Rue, Coco and I will distract the king’s men by playing with them,” he said.  “Marley, Klaus and Kip will run up to the quarter deck and push the treasure onto the deck of the ‘Barking Bone.’  Then you should jump onto the ship, too.  As soon as we see you leave the ship, we’ll leave, too.”

Kip began to whine a little.  “What if they catch us?”  he yelped.

Odin shook his head.  “We are very cute.  They will want to play with us.  We will keep them busy, don’t worry.”

The puppy pirate king, Coco and Rue padded out onto the deck.  One of the King’s men played an accordion while the others danced.  Odin and part of his band walked into the middle of the festivities and wagged their cute puppy tails.  One thing the crafty puppy pirate knew – no human  could resist the charms of a cute puppy.

The music and dancing stopped when the men saw the puppies.  Odin gave out a small bark, wagged his tail, sat down and waited.  Soon the air was filled with ooohs and awwws over the cute puppies.  One of the men bent over Odin and asked where he came from.  The puppy pirate panted and got up on his hind legs and begged for a treat.  This simple trick sent roars of laughter and calls for bits of meat to be given to the Shepherd.  Rue and Coco also got on their hind legs and tried to be as cute as they could.  The king’s men delighted in petting the puppies and scratching behind their ears.

During the commotion, Odin saw the other puppies sneak their way up to the quarter deck.  As he twirled around on his hind legs, pretending to look at the dangling piece of bacon inches from his nose, he watched as Marley, Klaus and Kip pushed with all their might until the chest disappeared off of the ship.  Odin and the other puppies barked and howled to cover up the “thunk” noise of the treasure chest hitting the “Barking Bone’s” deck.  Soon, Kip, Marley and Klaus disappeared as well.  Odin panted with delight at the King’s unsuspecting men.  Soon they would run away and disappear into the bowels of the ship and make a clean get away.

Suddenly, King  Merrick’s cabin door slammed open, revealing an angry monarch filling the doorway.  “What is all the racket?” he demanded. 

The men fell silent.  Odin and the puppies stopped doing tricks and sat.  “Look, Sir!” said the first mate.  “Puppies.  We don’t know where they came from, they just appeared and started doing tricks.”

The king glared at Odin, who now stood and defiantly stared back.  The king’s eyes then went to the quarter deck.  They went wide when he saw that the chest was missing.  The king’s head whipped from one side of the ship to the other as if he were looking for something.  Odin noticed he never looked down to the sea to discover the puppy pirate ship.  King Merrick pointed to the puppies.  “The treasure!  It’s been taken!  These puppies were a distraction.  Devil Dogs!  Get them!”

Odin turned to Rue and Coco and barked.  “Go now!”

Coco shook her head.  “We’re not leaving you!” she barked.

Odin growled and then barked again.  “Do as I say.  I will handle the stinky human king.  Go now!  I will be with your shortly.”

Rue and Coco reluctantly ran past the king’s men who were trying to catch them.  They jumped overboard to their waiting  pirate puppy ship.  With all his crew and their treasure safely aboard the “Barking Bone,” Odin could turn his attention to the king.  He had to act quickly.  He dodged past the king’s men who desperately tried to capture him.  Just as he was about to jump ship himself, he felt a hand grab his collar and pull him back onto the ship.  The hand belonged to the king.  Odin yelped in surprise and nipped at the king’s hand.  The king let out a small cry and let Odin go.  Odin ran to the quarter deck, followed closely by the king.  Odin needed a distraction.  There were too many men.  He spied the king’s long waist coat and had an idea.

The king was the closest to him now.  Odin back up to the edge of the deck and began to whimper, pretending to be trapped.  “I have you now, Devil Dog!” yelled the angry king.  He lunged for Odin who dodged past him.  The king lost his footing and nearly fell overboard.  Odin used his big, German Shepherd puppy paws to help him over the edge.

Shouts of protest and screams came from the king’s men.  That got their attention, thought Odin.  He ran to the other side of the deck where his pirate ship waited.  Odin turned back to see the king’s men try to fish the king out of the sea.  They had forgotten all about Odin and his band of puppies, but most importantly they forgot about the treasure.  The pirate puppy king wanted to let out a howl of victory, but decided against it.  He jumped off the king’s ship and onto his own. The “Barking Bone” quickly sailed back to the puppies’ island.

Once they got off the ship, the puppies dug a deep hole just at the edge of the beach where the sand met the delicious palm trees.  Soon the treasure would be safe again, but Odin decided their adventure and victory merited a reward.  He placed his paw in the lock that matched his pads and pushed.  The lock clicked and the top sprang open to reveal various arrays of puppy treats they had gotten from admiring humans from different lands.  “Take one treat each, lad.  You deserve it!” barked Odin after taking his own tasty treat. 

The band of pirate puppies yipped in excitement and each took a piece of puppy treasure before Odin locked the chest back up.  The chest was pushed into the deep hole and covered with sand by powerful puppy paws.  Smelly King Merrick would never get his nasty-tasting hands on Odin’s treasure again.  That night the puppies dreamt of their treasure and the future adventures that awaited them.

 

End.