The Night the Stars Led Us Home

The pirate ship was called The Salty Cracker. It was a very good ship.

One evening, the wind blew the wrong way. Then the clouds came. Then there was a bit of fog. Then it was very, very dark.

"Hmm," said the captain. His name was Captain Tom. He had a big beard and small round glasses.

"We are lost," said the cook. Her name was Bea.

"Are we?" said the youngest sailor, whose name was Sam. Sam was nine years old and had only been a pirate for a month.

"I am not worried," said Captain Tom. But he was a tiny bit worried.

Then the clouds moved.

Just a little. Just enough.

One star appeared. Then two. Then — like someone lighting lamps all at once — the whole sky lit up.

"Oh," said Sam.

The captain cleaned his glasses. He looked up. He nodded.

"That bright one," he said, "is the North Star. It always points the same way. And that way — " he pointed — "is home."

Sam looked at the star. It twinkled at her as if to say: I know the way. Follow me.

They did.

The ship sailed quietly through the dark. The sea was calm. The stars moved slowly across the sky, like great slow fish.

One by one, the sailors stopped worrying.

Sam stood at the front of the ship and watched the North Star. It stayed steady and clear.

"Thank you," Sam said, very softly, to the star.

The star twinkled back.

Then came the lights of the harbour. Then the bell. Then the smell of land and warm bread.

They were home.

Captain Tom hung up his hat. Bea made cocoa.

Sam looked out the window at the stars, still bright and steady in the sky.

"Goodnight," she whispered.

And the stars sparkled back, quiet and kind, all through the night.