GHOST SHIP
                                                By Sharon Jones Chapter 4(continued)

        "It was from the seventeen hundreds.  Lark was engaged to Reginald.  They were to be in married 
in America.  I believe it were pirates who shot a hole on the port side of the ship."
        "Is that Lark's fate?" asked a concerned Dorian.
        "It's everyone's fate on that ship," Alvar replied solemnly.
        Dorian ignored Alvar and went back to his work.
        In the middle of the night Dorian woke and found the ship again.  This time it was so close you 
could swing on a rope and land on the other ship.  Dorian saw Lark again dressed in a pale blue dress.  Lark 
was with Reginald.
        "Can you wait until we arrive in the Colonies?" asked Reginald.
        "Can you," asked Lark concealing her sadness.
        "Of course not.  I only wish the wind was with us all of the time so we could get there twice as 
fast. What about you?"
        "Yes.  I can't wait either," said Lark attempting to conceal her sadness.
        Lark really wanted to marry this gentleman named Darius Ellis.  He wasn't a very rich man but he 
did love her and knew how to make her laugh.  That's why she was so sad.  She didn't want to leave 
Darius.  She had to because her father consented to the marriage.  Lark couldn't just go up to her father and 
say, "Dather, I want to marry Darius Ellis, a mere shopkeeper." She liked Reginald, but she didn't love him 
like she loved Darius.  Lark sighed at the memory.  The blue color of her dress was very appropriate for 
how she felt right now.  Lark couldn't believe that she's supposed to have children with this man.
        "Reginald, could I speak with you for a moment?" asked Hugh Brightman, Lark's father.
        "Of course," replied Reginald.  He turned to Lark, "I'll be back in a minute."
        Reginald went to speak to Hugh.
        Lark looked out mournfully onto the ocean and sighed.  Dorian looked at Lark and examined 
every detail of that angelic face.  Little did he know, but Dorian was the descendent of Darius Ellis.
        "If I could only whisk her away," thought Dorian.  "She'd be happy with me.  I'd make her 
happy."
        The ship faded off into the horizon and Dorian went back to sleep.


            Chapter 5

        All day as Dorian was doing his chores on the ship he kept thinking about Lark and wondering 
why she was so sad about marrying Reginald.  He did seem like a nice man.  Always watched his language 
around a lady, always treated her with respect, always acted like a perfect gentleman.
        "So why wouldn't she want to marry him?" thought Dorian.  "Maybe her heart belongs with 
another man!"
        Dorian knew that he was going to be awoken by the Ghost Ship so why bother with sleeping.  He 
sat in bed for an hour to make sure he'd catch the ship at the right time then went onto the deck.  He found 
the Ghost Ship on the starboard side of the boat tonight.  Lark was standing there in a plain lilac colored dress with a full skirt and one petticoat.  She stared out onto the ocean the same way as she had done last night.  Dorian knew it might be foolish to speak to her, but it was worth a try.
        "Lark," he shouted.  "Lark, Lark!"
        Lark looked around and asked, "Where are you?"
        "On the ship across from you!"
        "What?  This is a joke.  It sounds too like Darius, yet I know it's not him."
        "It's not Lark! Just look!"
        Dorian had woken Alvar up and he had come to see what was wrong.
        "She can't hear you boy.  It's like talking to a painting," said Alvar.  "You can see what it is, but you can't talk to it and it can't talk back."
        "I can hear Lark too.  And she can hear me.  When I shouted her name she looked up tried to figure out who was yelling to her," replied Dorian.
        "Dorian, it's just the gift taking over you.  If you let it, it'll be your cause of death."
        "It won't Alvar!"
        "It will Dorian! I don't want you to end up like the ones that jumped overboard.  You're too smart. I want you to live!"
        "I'm not a child, I can make my own decisions!"  and with that Dorian stormed off to his bed and fell asleep.



               Chapter 6

        Tonight, Dorian went out on deck to meet his ocean mistress once more, ignoring all of Alvar's warnings and stories.
        Lark was out again with that dismayed look on her face with her hair down and wearing and plain yellow dress with a sash tied in the back.
        "Why has this happened?" thought Lark out loud.  "I didn't mean to hurt or insult him.  I can't control my dreams.  Can I help it if I call someone's name out in my sleep?  I tried to explain it was just a dream.  But he said I told Darius that I love him and I'd marry him instead of Reginald.  Of course I said that in my dream.  But what do dreams mean? Reginald thinks that there is too much truth in my dream.  It is true that I love Darius more, but I'll listen to my father, be obedient to him, and marry Reginald."
        "Lark!" shouted Dorian.
        Lark looked around for the voice.
        "Darius?" asked Lark.  "Where are you?"
        "Out in the ocean!"
        She strained to look for him and found Dorian, who looked like his ancestor, Darius.  Lark extended her arms out.
        "Darius! Darius! Oh Darius! I thought I had lost you!"
        Dorian extended his arms and the ships came so close together that they were able to hold hands.
        "Darius, why are you hear? I thought you were in England."
        "Change of plans, Lark.  I'd hate for either one of us to fall into the ocean, so could you grab onto me and I'll bring you onto this ship." WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? WILL LARK DROWN AS DORIAN BRINGS HER TO THE SHIP? WILL DORIAN BE TRAPPED IN THE SHIP?  WILL THEY DROWN? WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? FIND OUT IN OUR NEXT ISSUE.