The Black Boot Pirates

The Treasure of Mashugana Land is lost... and so is Kyra!
A treasure hunt! Throw in a gang of monkeys, an alligator's head, a lost crown, and an elephant that keeps loosing its temper, and you've got the making of a great time... if the Shubin Cousins can only find Kyra.

Published: 2006
Artwork: Kathy Hayes
Characters: Nichol, Skyler, Olivia, Georgie, Trinity, Anika, Kyra
Character Order on Cover: (back row) Nichol, Georgie (middle row) Skyler, Trinity, Anika (front row) Olivia, Kyra, Faith (mention)
Story Location: Real; Masha's bedroom in the Ironwood Terrace house in Woodburn, Oregon.

Trivia

All of the non-Shubin characters are nik-nacks in Masha's room.

Purchase

Paperback: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells

Also available on Kindle soon!

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First Chapter

The Lost Treasure of Mashugana

“We’re fire-breathing dragons!” declared Georgie spreading out his imagination cape like giant wings.

“And we eat dragon slayers for breakfast!” added Skyler standing next to him.

They were perched on the couch in Bunya and Deyda’s living room. On the floor Nichol, Trinity, Anika, Olivia, and Kyra looked up.

“Everyone is scared of us!” Georgie continued. “Lions are scared of us!”

“Crocodiles are scared of us!” crowed Skyler.

“Dinosaurs are scared of us!” boasted Georgie.

“Alien monsters are scared of us!” bragged Skyler.

Kyra jumped up next to the two boys and fanned her imagination cape, “Slugs are scared of us!”

“Kyra, slugs aren’t scary,” corrected Trinity.

“They’re icky!” Kyra insisted.

“Icky isn’t the same as scary,” Nichol pointed out.

“Let’s start again.” Georgie said. “Kyra, you get down with the other girls. Only boys are allowed to be dragons.”

Kyra didn’t move. “I wanna be a dragon!”

“You’ve got to be a dragon slayer, Kyra,” explained Skyler. “All the girls are dragon slayers.”

“Yeah,” Georgie insisted with a grin, “and we’re going to eat all the dragon slayers.”

Kyra stomped her foot. “But I don’t wanna be eaten!”

“And what makes you think you’re going to eat us so easily?” demanded Nichol.

Suddenly the room erupted with dragons and dragon slayers shouting over who was going to eat whom.

Ever the peacemaker, Olivia suggested, “This is no fun. Let’s play something else. Besides, we might wake up Faith.”

Kyra suggested, “Let’s play Baby Teddy Bear’s Tea Party.”

Instantly Georgie and Skyler proclaimed, “No!”

Skyler added, “No tea parties or play birthday parties of any kind!”

Trinity grinned mischievously and asked, “What about a tea party where monster dinosaurs invade and eat up all the people but leave the tea?”

The boys thought a moment then Skyler asked, “Do I get to be a dinosaur?”

Nichol quickly cut in. “No dinosaurs eating up tea parties.”

“Is there anything we all like to play?” asked Anika.

“What about pirates?” suggested Georgie.

Everyone shouted, “Yeah!”

“We can hunt for Auntie Masha’s treasure,” Skyler offered.

“Perfect!” Nichol said.

Trinity asked, “What’s the name of our pirate gang?”

“The Shubin Pirates!” shouted Kyra.

“Nah,” dismissed Georgie with a wave of his hand. “That’s not scary enough.”

Kyra pouted, “You never like my ideas.”

Before Georgie could remind her that he liked some of her ideas, Trinity came up with another name.

“What do you think of the Black Boot Pirates? It’s like the Black Pearl, but we’re ‘Shoe’-bins and boots are like shoes. So, we’re the Black Boot Pirates.”

Everyone liked the name, except Kyra, who liked her own idea better.

“We are the Black Boot Pirates!” declared Nichol with a swish of her imagination cape. WHOOSH! Instantly, the Shubin cousins were transformed into pirates.

“I’m Captain Nichol.” She had a big pirate’s hat with a huge feather sticking saucily out of the top.

Georgie became first mate and had a gleaming sword strapped to his belt for protecting the captain and crew. Skyler was the navigator and was armed with a long telescope and crackly, browned pirate map. Trinity, Anika, Olivia, and Kyra all became the crew, dressed top-to-bottom in pirate rags and shiny black boots. All were ready for pirate adventures.

They were set! The fearless Black Boot Pirates charged upstairs to face the dangers of Auntie Masha’s bedroom in search of the Lost Treasure of... of... of Mashugana.