Whirlwind

Chapter One - Mary.

Welcome to our first ever journal.
My name is Mary. I suppose you are wondering many things right now, but let me introduce you to my family.
The eldest of all seven of us is Philip. He is the leader of us all! Phil is 14, then me, at 13.
Of course Wendy comes next, currently aged 12, then John (aged 11), Jane is 10 (the trouble-maker!), then Ellen-Rose, who is 8. Finally, there's little Oliver, who is 5.
Let's not forget dear mother and father though! We live in a darling little cottage, with a lovely big field outside, and a beautiful lake of which we sail the single-sailed dingy boats. We do have two, mind, otherwise we'd all get rather squished, I should think!
Oh, I simply must tell you about the game we played today - it was positively marvellous! Me and Phil were the parents of the others and we lived in a mansion, far bigger than the rest, where we performed out greatest talents.
There'd been a stage in our mansion, and John, Jane and Ellen-Rose had been splendid tap-dancers, whilst Wendy, Phil and me were actors! Ollie was the 'Little Joke Star,' as he liked to say.
We had played this game before, but never had we thought of being famous performers! That was dear Wendy's idea.
After we'd performed, Mrs. May (me) had to take the children to bed.
"Oh but mama!" Young miss Ellen-Rose complained.
"Can we not stay up just a little while longer?" She pretended.
I was just about to add a very exciting twist to the game when our actual mother called us.
"Children! Do come down a moment. Outside, even!" She called.
We all stopped the game and ran outside to mother.
" 'Tis a lovely warm day, my dearies. Mightn't you come and play outside instead of wasting the glorious sunshine?" She said.
We all looked at each other, then Ellen-Rose whispered into mother's ear. She nodded, then went to see father.
We all knew what to do. We were going to Ivy's Island! That was the small island over the lake, where we had had many adventures!
I rushed up to the girls' room with Jane, Wendy and Ellen-Rose. Each of us grabbed our small suitcases, and searched for our things to take on our journey. I, of course, brought the journal, Little Women, my pen and 4 folded-up blankets.
Ellen-Rose brought 3 other blankets and some snacks, Jane took of one of the spring-loaded tents and some torches. Wendy took the other tent, more torches and lunch that mother had given us.
When we had packed, we found that the boys had got the matches, knife, water, pillows and changes of clothes for everyone, as well as nightwear and swimwear, even though we weren't meant to be gone for long!
We carried out cases downstairs, said goodbye to mother and father (promising that we'd be back at 6:30) and ran across the field. It took a while to reach the water and boats, but once we'd got there, our tiredness turned into excitement!
"We haven't been to Ivy's Island for months!" Exclaimed Ellen-Rose, smiling.
"It was due to the cold weather, dear. But aren't you glad to be going back!" I said.
Me and Phil dragged the boats up from the water and onto land.
"Ready for set-off?" Phil asked us all.
"Ready!" We all yelled in unison.
"Mary, you're with John and Wendy. Jane, Ollie and Ellen-Rose, you're with me!" Phil declared.
Me, John and Wendy jumped into Wind-Chime (one of our boats) and the others jumped into Water-Soar, plonking down our cases.
"I'm jolly excited for the journey!" John said, practically tipping the boat over.
"John! Do be careful, or we'll loose our cases!" I said, jokingly.
"Come on, Wendy!"
We set sail soon enough, before the Water-Soarers.
We had all always loved to be sailors, as we pretended, and well, I suppose you could say that we really were! After all, we did use proper ships' terms and went out on voyages often.
I let John be the captain of our boat this time. I knew he'd always wished to be the leader.
The moment we got to the shore was brilliant - with the Water-Soarers so far behind, too!
As both boats were tied up, once the other one came, the loudest Indian Call started. It was so loud and wonderful at the same time! It was Ivy's greeting! We all met up and chatted excitedly, then rushed up to the leading rock.
Ah, of course! You don't know about Ivy yet! Well, let me explain.
Ivy is our dear friend who almost lives on Ivy's Island (she named it!)! She's always with us on our voyages!
She actually lives in a boathouse nearby. Or, so she says!
But usually she's on the island.
Ellen-Rose ran up to Ivy and gave her a very welcoming hug at one point!
Dear, friendly Ivy! We all felt ever so pleased to see her again!
"Oh, Ivy, mightn't you tell us the story again?" Ellen-Rose pleaded. It seemed almost a tradition for Ivy to tell the story each time we saw her - the story of us eight! Ivy always tells the story as if it were a fairytale, with the girls as princesses and the boys as knights.
"Of course, little princess Rosy, but first, we must set up camp!" She replied, eyes twinkling, just as I'd remembered they did!
The beautiful island trees looked greener than ever - a truly awe-inspiring scene!
We all immediately ran up to Ivy's place of the island, known as 'Camp Ivy.' There, was her huge tent, barbecue and other belongings set out on either the floor or on small tables.
Ivy was my age, meaning Phil was still the eldest.
We put up the tents in Camp Ivy, unpacking everything. This only took around 15 minutes though, as we were generally used to doing it by now.
"Ooh! Ooh! Ivy! Now it's time for the story, as you said!" Ellen-Rose exclaimed.
"Yes, yes, of course, we will get to that! But can't you wait until we have gotten to the storytelling place? You know, the cave!" Ivy grinned, as she saw all our faces as we remembered the cave.
But this was no ordinary cave! There was glistening crystal rock around every corner, waiting for someone to stop and stare at it. It was a beautiful place!
We all danced the whole way, not paying much attention to where we were going! But we'd been down that route many a time, so there wasn't a problem.
As the cave came into view, we all dashed into it, the girls giggling and the boys grinning.
"Now, let us sit down calmly. Calmly. CALMLY!" Ivy said in a mock-angry voice, making the little ones laugh even more.
I soon had them settled, and then, the magnificent story began!