by Brian James
It was amazing! My mouth fell open as the ghost ship caught up to us. In no time at all, it was sailing right beside us!
Chapter 9
All Aboard!
A ghost plank stuck out from the ship and touched the deck of the Sea Rat. “Shiver me timbers!” I said, staring down at it. I thought for sure a ghost was going to come aboard.
We waited, but no ghosts showed up.
“Maybe we should go investigate,” I suggested.
“Do you think it’s safe?” Vicky asked.
“Aye? What if we turn into ghosts?” Gary asked.
“That’s silly,” Aaron said with a snort.
“That’s what you said about ghost ships!” Vicky said.
“So I was wrong.” Aaron shrugged.
“Well, we have to find out,” I said. “It’s rude not to go aboard when another pirate ship lowers a plank. That’s in the pirate code.” My friends were lucky to have a mate like me. I knew all about the pirate code.
“Aye! But that’s not a pirate ship, it’s a ghost ship!” Inna said.
“But it’s a pirate ghost ship,” I said, pointing to the pirate flag on the mast. “Ghosts or no ghosts, we have to follow the pirate code.”
I didn’t wait for an answer. I took a step onto the plank. I was a little afraid that I would fall right through. But I didn’t.
Once I was on the deck of the ghost ship, I reached down and touched it. “It feels funny. It’s sort of like a spiderweb,” I said.
“Cool!” Vicky said. “Let’s check it out.”
“Aye aye!” Aaron and Gary agreed.
Inna was the only one who wasn’t excited. “I hate spiders just as much as ghosts,” she said. But finally she ran across the plank.
I looked all around. I spied the cabin and the crow’s nest. Then I spied the fish tank. It all looked very familiar. “Arrr,” I said. “Does anyone else notice something fishy about this ship?”
“Aye!” Inna said, lifting her foot. She made a face at the stuff that was stuck to her shoes. “It’s not just spooky, it’s super gross, too!”
“Not that!” I said. “I mean, it looks just like the Sea Rat, only ghosty.”
“Aye!” Vicky said, looking around. “Pete’s right. It’s the same ship.”
“But where’s the crew?” Gary asked.
“If it’s just like the Sea Rat, then the crew must be sleeping,” I said.
“Then how are we supposed to find out what it’s trying to tell us?” Aaron asked.
All of a sudden, Inna gulped!
“Aye, I think they’ll tell us,” she said. Then she covered her eyes with one hand and pointed behind us with the other.
I spun around.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. On the other side of the deck were five ghost kids who looked just like us!
“YIKES!” Gary screamed. “I knew this was going to be trouble.”
And for once, Gary was right. I was beginning to think we were in big ghosty trouble!
My timbers were shaking and shivering. So were all of my friends’. Even Aaron didn’t seem so brave anymore.
“Ahoy,” I said, a little bit afraid.
Then the ghost who looked like me said, “Ahoy right back!”
All five of the ghost kids came right up to us. We all stared at the ghosts. They were just like us, only see-through.
I tried my best to be brave.
“Who are you?” I asked. “And why do you look like us?”
“We’re ghosts,” they answered. “And ghosts can be spooky. So we made ourselves look like you so you wouldn’t be scared.”
Inna poked Aaron in the side. “See, I told you ghosts were spooky! Even they say so!”
Aaron made a face. “I’m not scared,” he said. “And I don’t think he looks anything like me!”
The ghost Aaron made a face, too. “Aye, I look better,” he said. Both Vickys rolled their eyes. Aaron was a show-off even as a ghost.
And Gary’s ghost was just as clumsy! When he went to shake Gary’s hand, his foot got caught on a ghost rope. He tumbled onto the deck. Then Gary tumbled on top of him trying to help him up.
We all laughed, even the ghosts.
But then I remembered the story about Clegg’s shipwreck. We might still be in danger. So I took a deep breath and got my courage up.
“Why did you sail up next to us?” I asked. “Are you going to sink our ship?”
The ghosts looked surprised.
“Blimey! Never!” they answered. “Ghost ships follow other ships to warn them of danger. Those who are brave enough to board our ship are saved.”
“Aye?” we asked.
“AYE!” they answered. “The Sea Rat was blown off course in the storm. You’re heading straight for Dead Man’s Rocks! You need to change course or ye will be shipwrecked.”
“Shiver me timbers!” I hollered. Dead Man’s Rocks had sunk hundreds of ships. Every sailor knew to steer clear of them. “We need to warn Captain Stinky Beard!”
“Aye,” the ghosts said. “And hurry!”
We thanked the ghosts and waved good-bye. Then we all ran as fast as we could back to our ship.
The ghost ship disappeared as soon as we were safely aboard the Sea Rat.
Chapter 10
Gangway!
“All hands on deck! All hands on deck!” we shouted as loudly as we could.
Rotten Tooth was the first pirate to rush up from the galley. Gary didn’t see him. He ran right into Rotten Tooth and they both landed with a CRASH!
“All hands on deck!” I shouted even louder than before.
Then Rotten Tooth stood up and quickly covered my mouth. “QUIET!” he yelled. “Ye screaming sea dogs could wake the sun with all that racket!”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “But this is very, very, very important.”
“Aye!” Inna shouted. “We went aboard the ghost ship! And there were ghosts that looked just like us!”
“Aye! They even acted like us,” Gary added, rubbing his arm where he fell on top of his ghost.
“Arrr!” Rotten Tooth growled, showing his pointy green teeth. “Not another whale of a tale about ghosts,” he said. “I knew letting ye kids spend the night up here was a bad idea. Ye are all spooked by the dark.”
“It’s not a tale!” I said, stomping my foot. “It was real. They said we were heading for Dead Man’s Rocks and that we were going to sink!” I shouted.
“Dead Man’s Rocks? That be a day’s journey from here,” Rotten Tooth snarled.
“But they said we were blown off course,” Inna said.
“Aye! And the captain said that, too,” Vicky added.
Rotten Tooth still didn’t believe us. “Then where be your ghost ship now?” he asked with a smirk.
“It disappeared,” Inna answered.
“Aye? Of course it did,” Rotten Tooth said.
“It really did,” Gary pleaded. But Rotten Tooth wouldn’t listen. He grabbed my arm and Inna’s. Then he grabbed Gary’s. But Aaron and Vicky were too quick. They rushed away and headed straight for the crow’s nest.
“Where are ye going?” Rotten Tooth shouted.
“To look out for rocks,” Vicky cried out as she kept climbing the ropes.
“I order ye down here, and straight off to bed,” Rotten Tooth hollered. Aaron gave a quick glance down and stuck out his tongue.
Soon most of the crew was on the deck. Rotten Tooth got madder than I’d ever seen him. If those ghosts weren’t right, we were all going to get thrown out of Pirate School!
“What’s going on?” Captain Stinky Beard asked, coming out of his quarters.
“Arrr, ’tis nothing, sir,” Rotten Tooth said. “Just these kids acting up again. I warned ye this Pirate School idea was trouble.”
Captain Stinky Beard gave me a stern look. “What have ye got to say?” he asked.
“Cap’n, we saw a ghost ship! It told us to change course or we’d sink, but Rotten Tooth doesn’t believe us!” I said.
Captain Stinky Beard’s expression changed right away. “Did you say you saw a ghost ship?” he asked.
“Aye!” I answered.
Before I could say anything else, the captain ordered Rotten Tooth to let us go. Then he turned to the crew. “All hands man the sails!” he shouted.
“Cap’n? You don’t believe them, do ye?” Rotten Tooth asked. “It’s just a story.”
Then Captain Stinky Beard gave him a stern look. It was even more stern than the look he’d given me. “Perhaps you need to go back to Pirate School,” he said. “Any good pirate should know a ghost ship sighting is a sign of danger.”
“AVAST! Dead Man’s Rocks ahead!” Aaron and Vicky shouted down to us.
“Turn the ship!” Captain Stinky Beard ordered, and the crew pulled on the ropes.
The sails swung around. The wind quickly filled them. And the Sea Rat began to turn toward safety.
The whole crew cheered.
Rotten Tooth looked over the port side. Jagged rocks rose above the waves. “One second longer, and those rocks would have sank our ship,” Captain Stinky Beard said to him.
I looked up at Rotten Tooth. He looked down at me. “At least then I wouldn’t have to teach ye mangy kids anymore,” he mumbled.
“Aye, and we wouldn’t have to eat his seaweed slop!” I whispered to Inna and Gary. Then we all started laughing.
Aaron and Vicky swung down from the crow’s nest. Captain Stinky Beard ordered the whole crew to gather around us.
“Three cheers for our little shipmates,” he said. “Lucky for us, they are brave young pirates who take their duty seriously.” Then he flashed Rotten Tooth a look. That look meant Rotten Tooth needed to take his duty more seriously.
“Hip-hip hooray! Our little shipmates saved the day!” the crew cheered three times.
We all smiled as wide as we could. We’d passed this lesson with flying colors.
I couldn’t wait for our next lesson at Pirate School.