“Blow a hole in the side of a cave many leagues below sea level, flood the cave with several gallons of ocean water and lock ourselves in trunks? This be madness,” said Inkybeard. “Luckily, old Inkybeard embraces madness as other sailors embrace scurvy and warts. Let’s do it.”
Things had never looked worse for the Steampunk Pirates. A hundred guns had been loaded and every single one was pointing their way. Their ship was unarmed and letting in water. Kidd was safely on the navy ship, managing to look smug even though his mouth had been gagged.
“Yo ho, goodbye to all I know,” yelled Blower, with a final whistle.
“It has been an honour serving with you all,” said Captain Clockheart. “Rustknuckles, Washer Williams, Mr Pumps—”
“Ow.” Something heavy hit Pendle on the head.
“I’ll thank you not to interrupt, Pendle lad,” said Captain Clockheart. “I’m making a final speech.”
“Sorry, Captain. It’s just that something hit me.” She bent down to pick it up, but Captain Clockheart grabbed it first. It was a coin. He tested it between his teeth before announcing, “Gold. It be raining gold!” He looked up and another coin hit him in the eye.
“Pennies from heaven! Pennies from heaven!” Twitter swooped and swerved to avoid being hit, as more coins came down.
The soldiers on the navy ship dived for cover, but the tough, metal-bodied pirates were unaffected by the shower of coins.
Captain Clockheart snatched a glistening jewel from the sky. “Look at this. There’s jewels, too. This be a downpour of treasure.”
“How is that possible?” asked Pendle.
Twitter was turning figure of eights and loop the loops to avoid getting hit. “What goes up!” he squawked. “Must come down!”
“Look,” said Pendle. “It’s all coming from the island.”
In the middle of the island was what looked like an erupting volcano of treasure.
Small pieces were followed by heavier ones, then two large wooden trunks flew into the air.
One landed in the sea next to the island, while the other knocked the mast head off the navy ship and splashed down between the two ships.
“Corporal Thudchump, don’t just stand there,” yelled the king. “Get us out of here. These raining coins are tearing our ship apart!”
“Turn the ship about,” cried Thudchump.
“What on earth is going on?” asked Lexi.
A lid popped open on the nearest chest and Mainspring appeared. “Click, oh, you lot are back, are you? Tick, come to apologize, have you? Tock, well, I don’t forgive you for leaving me.”
“Then I won’t waste my time on apologies,” said Captain Clockheart. “Instead, I’ll ask whether you would like to remain captain of that wooden chest or return to your role as first mate of this pirate ship.”
“Click, oh, very well,” Mainspring replied.
“Drop the rope ladder,” said Gadge. “Let’s get him up.”
By the time Mainspring had climbed on board, the last of the treasure had fallen and the king’s ship was sailing away as fast as it could manage.
“Tick, who was that?” asked Mainsping.
“No one important,” replied Captain Clockheart.
“In actual fact,” said Lexi, “the King of England is one of the most important people in the world.”
“Not to me, he’s not,” said Captain Clockheart. “The only important people are right here on this leaky old vessel.” He picked up a coin and tossed it into the air.
Twitter swooped down and caught it in his beak. “Or just above it!” he said, dropping the coin to the deck.
“Captain, this ship is still badly in need of repair,” said Gadge.
“Aye, and I know I can trust you to get this crew working on it straight away.”
“But what happened to Inkybeard?” asked Pendle.
“Over here,” yelled a voice from the island.
Inkybeard was sitting on the beach with an open chest beside him. Nell was clinging on to his head tighter than ever, obviously alarmed by the ordeal she had just been through. “You wouldn’t leave a fellow pirate stranded here!”
“Don’t you know?” said Gadge. “There’s no such thing as a fellow pirate.”
“Very true, Mr Gadge. Goodbye, Inkybeard,” said Captain Clockheart. “Until next time.”
“Tock, goodbye, Mr Tree,” Mainspring waved at the island.
“Are you feeling all right, First Mate Mainspring?” asked Lexi.
“Click, never better. Tick, you see, down in that cave I had more treasure than I’d ever dreamed of. Tock, but what use was that without my freedom?”
“Now, there is a lesson for you, Pendle,” said Captain Clockheart. “I know how you like to find morals in our adventures.”
“That’s not the moral of this,” said Pendle. “Kidd betrayed us and tried to sink us just as Inkybeard and all those others we’ve met have done. The moral is that we should not trust anyone.”
“That’s not right,” said Gadge. “We met you, didn’t we? Remember? Back in the king’s kitchen when you showed us our true path. That day we put our trust in you.”
“That’s very true, Mr Gadge,” said Captain Clockheart, “but we’re Steampunk Pirates. We’re not here to learn lessons. We’re here to fight and loot and claim our reward. We’re here to seek bright horizons and to make our future rich with golden opportunities. Now, my badly bolted buccaneers, let’s get this ship shipshape. Gadge, a song is required.”
“Aye aye, Captain.”
As the Steampunk Pirates set about repairing the damaged ship, Gadge threw his head back and sang:
The storm had come out of nowhere. Huge waves crashed over the side of the Leaky Battery. The ship rocked back and forth, and the crew clung on for dear life.
“Reef that sail and batten down the hatches,” cried Captain Clockheart. The hand of the clock in his chest whirled around.
“This storm will drag us over given half the chance. Then we’ll all be in the drink, for sure.”
“Och aye,” replied Gadge. “Tin-pot Paddy, Loose-screw, you’re with me.”
The mechanical pirates climbed up the rigging expertly but the ship suddenly tilted to the side and Loose-screw lost his footing. Before the pirate could fall, Gadge grabbed him using the hook attachment on his adjustable arm.
He hauled Loose-screw back as the ship righted itself.
“Quickly now,” cried Captain Clockheart. “If any of you metal marauders fall in that ocean, you’ll sink faster than a bucketful of cannonballs! Now, let’s get this ship in order.”
“Click, you heard him,” shouted First Mate Mainspring. “Tick, tie everything down. Tock, secure the ship.”
“Captain, the chances of surviving this storm…” Quartermaster Lexi’s words were cut off by a wave hitting the deck. When the water drained away, it left a flapping fish caught in the word-wheel on Lexi’s head. “Help me! Get it out! I don’t like it…”
Captain Clockheart flicked the fish back into the ocean with the tip of his cutlass as another enormous wave came down on top of them. Gadge climbed down the rigging and dropped on to the deck. “The sails are reefed, Captain.”
“Click, everything is secure,” said First Mate Mainspring.
“Then it’s time we got down below and sat this one out,” said Captain Clockheart.
The Steampunk Pirates hurriedly followed their captain below deck.
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Quartermaster Lexi, holding his hand to his mouth.
“There’s no need to worry, Lexi,” said Pendle the cabin boy.1 “The Leaky Battery has survived worse than this.”
“I know that,” said Lexi, “but all this rocking is making me feel rather queasy.”
“I didn’t know you lot could even get sick,” said Pendle.
“It’s the oil and the water getting mixed up together,” replied Lexi. “Oh dear.” He ran to a corner and sent a stomachful of oily water into a bucket.
�
��Better out than in, laddie.” Gadge chuckled and patted Lexi on the back.
“Is everyone accounted for?” asked Captain Clockheart.
“I think so,” replied Pendle, “although I haven’t seen Twitter in a while.”
Hearing his name, the mechanical bird fluttered down from the rafters and landed on Pendle’s shoulder. “Safe and sound!” he squawked. “Safe and sound!”
The storm raged against the ship for several hours, but as the sun was setting in the blood-red sky, the wind calmed down and the rain eased off. Captain Clockheart opened the hatch and led the others up on deck. He gazed at the torn sails and broken crossbeams. The ship’s wheel was hanging on by a thread.
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Lexi, looking at the mess.
“The old Battery has taken quite a battering,” said Captain Clockheart.
“Click, we must repair her. Tick, if we hit another storm in this state, tock, she’ll be the Sunken Battery,” said First Mate Mainspring.
“We’ll need to find new wood to repair her properly,” said Pendle.
“Och, then it’s a safe port to drop anchor that we’ll want,” said Gadge.
“Aye. Now, where are we?” Captain Clockheart shielded his eyes and surveyed the horizon.
“Maybe that albatross will lead us to land,” said Pendle, peering through a telescope.
Lexi’s word-wheel turned and a card clicked into place. “Albatross,” he said. “A large seabird. If shot down, it is believed to bring bad luck to sailors.”
“Click, it’s coming this way,” said First Mate Mainspring. “Tick, I’ve never seen a bird catch the sunlight like that. Tock, it’s almost as though…”
“It’s made of metal,” said Pendle.
“Metal?” Captain Clockheart snatched the telescope off Pendle. “Why, I believe you’re right, lad.”
“Shoot it down!” squawked Twitter.
“It’s in range.” Gadge selected his rifle attachment.
“Lower your weapon, Mr Gadge. Let’s find out what this shiny seabird wants,” said Captain Clockheart.
1. Pendle the cabin boy was the only human crewmember of the Leaky Battery. She was unlike most cabin boys for two reasons: a) She had a flair for engineering. b) She was a girl.
Copyright
STRIPES PUBLISHING
An imprint of Little Tiger Press
1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road,
London SW6 6AW
Text copyright © Gareth P. Jones, 2016
Illustrations copyright © Artful Doodlers, 2016
First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2016
eISBN: 978–1–84715–743–0
The rights of Gareth P. Jones and Artful Doodlers to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Rise of the Slippery Sea Monster Page 5