Puppy Pirates Super Special #3

by Erin Soderberg

  Wally’s ears pricked up. If he listened hard, he could hear bells jingling. The sound was coming from all around them. And it was getting louder.

  “There you are!” Mrs. Claus’s face lit up with a grin. “I was afraid you would miss it!”

  Wally wondered who she was talking to. And then—

  “Ho ho ho!” The air shook with a booming laugh. A large human stepped out into the night. The man was wearing a big red hat and stroking his fluffy white beard. He chuckled and said, “Miss Christmas? Never!”

  “Santa!” the puppies cried. They bounced up and down, waving their tails.

  “I hear you pups saved Christmas,” Santa said, reaching down to scratch the dogs behind their ears. The puppies all glowed with pride. “Now whose sleigh do I ride in?”

  Blizzard cleared her throat. “If you ask me—”

  Captain Red Beard barked loudly over her. “I know the answer to this one, Santa!”

  Wally watched the two captains nervously. What would Santa think if they started fighting all over again?

  “You should ride with the North Pole Racers,” Captain Red Beard said. “After all, I hear they’re the best sled dogs in the world.” He winked at Blizzard. “And Santa deserves the best.”

  Santa patted Captain Red Beard on the head. He ruffled Wally’s fur. Then he climbed into the huskies’ sled. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get on with the giving!”

  Mrs. Claus waved her hand through the air. Sparkling snowflakes swirled all around them. Wally thought he must be imagining it, but for a moment it almost felt as if his feet left the ground. The snug harness around his belly suddenly felt loose and comfortable. And for some reason, the dinghy now felt weightless, even under the weight of hundreds of presents.

  Bells jingled from every corner of the village. The time had finally come. Santa bellowed, “Ho ho ho!” and all the dogs set off at a run. Wally raced through the twinkling snow, howling with joy. This was going to be a night none of them would ever forget.

  The next morning, after all the gifts had been delivered, Mrs. Claus invited the pups back to North Pole Adventures. She brought out platters filled with warm sausages and peanut butter treats. Henry sipped a mug of hot chocolate and then played a few songs on his fiddle. All the puppies curled up in front of a crackling fire to rest after a long night of work. In the far corner of the shop, Santa snoozed in a rocking chair.

  As soon as Wally finished his breakfast, Mrs. Claus called him over. “I have something for you,” she said. Quietly, she led him into the garage at the back of the shop. She handed him a wrapped package.

  “What is it?” Wally asked. He nosed the package open, and dozens of pictures fell out onto the floor. There were pictures of Wally and Henry and their Great Ice Race team. There were pictures of the puppy pirate crew cheering them on. There was even a picture of Frosty. Wally poked through the whole batch. He stopped at a picture of him and Henry, standing side by side in front of a dinghy filled with gifts.

  “These are for you to do with as you wish,” Mrs. Claus said, smiling.

  As soon as she said it, Wally knew exactly what he wanted to give Henry for a gift. It wasn’t big, it wasn’t shiny—but it was perfect. He would make Henry a memory book of their adventure at the North Pole. That way, his best mate would never forget their fun time there.

  Mrs. Claus smiled and nodded, even though Wally hadn’t said anything. “In case you were wondering, parchment and glue are on the bottom shelf, next to the paint.”

  Wally got to work. In no time he had a photo book he couldn’t wait to share with his friend. He even dipped his paw in red paint and pressed it onto the cover. That way, Henry would know who it was from!

  When Wally returned to the front of the shop, his mates from the Salty Bone were giving each other gifts. Humphrey had found a blanket for Spike that was just like the one he used—only much bigger. Puggly gave the Weirdos matching elf suits. Santa gave Captain Red Beard a huge box filled with every single thing on his Christmas gift list.

  Red Beard eyed the gifts greedily…then, one by one, he passed them out to his crew.

  “This stuffed duck is for you,” he said to Curly.

  “An old shoe suits you,” he told Old Salt.

  “This tasty bone for you…this bag o’ jewels for you…” This went on until all the gifts were gone. “Givin’ gifts is almost as good as gettin’ ’em. Almost.”

  Frosty got up from his place beside the fire. “We have a gift for you, our pirate friends,” he said. “A present from the North Pole Racers.”

  Captain Red Beard’s tail wagged. “Oh, another present for me? I’ll open it!” He tore open the wrapping paper. A pile of tangled ropes spilled out onto the floor.

  “We got you your own harnesses and tow lines,” Frosty said, bouncing up and down with excitement. “If you ever want to rig up a sleigh, you have all the stuff your crew will need to pull it. Maybe you could try pulling some kind of sled through the sand sometime!”

  While Captain Red Beard tried on the new gear, the puppy pirates went around thanking the huskies. When Wally got to Frosty, the little pup said, “I was wondering something, Wally.”

  Wally cocked his head. “What?”

  “Do you think Captain Red Beard would let me join your crew…for good?”

  Wally’s tail wagged. The thought of having a new friend on board made him very happy.

  “But what about the North Pole?” Wally asked. “Won’t you miss your friends here? And your adventures in the snow?”

  “I can come back to visit my old friends,” Frosty said. “And if I joined your crew, I could make so many new ones!” The little pup sighed. “I love exploring, but I hate the cold. Even with my new jacket. I don’t think I’ll ever feel like I’m part of the action here, you know?”

  Wally did know. Not long ago, he was the pup hoping for a new life filled with friends and adventure. He understood how Frosty felt. And he wanted to be able to share his pirate life with a new friend. He was sure Frosty would love the high seas and life on the Salty Bone.

  And after the Great Ice Race, Frosty already seemed like part of their crew.

  As soon as Captain Red Beard heard the idea, he leaped up and howled. “Of course this pup can join me crew! Christmas is all about giving, right? So let’s give him the whole ship! I’ll give him my job as captain, too!”

  Curly stepped forward and said quietly, “Er, maybe the best gift for Frosty would be the gift of pirate training? Wally could help him learn the ropes as a cabin pup, and we can see how it goes from there.”

  “Yes,” Red Beard said. “Yes, just like I said. I think perhaps he should start as a cabin pup.” Then he spun in a happy circle and raced toward the door. “Now that our bellies are full and our tails are waggin’, it’s time for us to return to our ship, me crew! Our next adventure awaits.”

  As everyone said their goodbyes, Henry pulled Wally aside. “Hey, mate, I have a little something for you.” He handed Wally a gift wrapped in brown paper. “It’s not fancy, but I hope you’ll like it.”

  “I have something for you, too!” Wally said. He dropped the book of photos in Henry’s lap.

  The two friends opened their gifts at the same time. “It’s a book of stories I wrote!” Henry told Wally. “I wrote about some of our best adventures—the treasure hunt on Boneyard Island, the battle against the Sea Slug, that time we were prisoners on the kitten pirate ship. It’s all in there! I can read it to you before bed sometimes. The only thing I haven’t put in there yet is our trip to the North Pole.”

  That’s when Henry opened the book from Wally. He laughed when he saw the pictures of their North Pole journey. “You made a book about the Great Ice Race?” He patted Wally on the back and said, “I guess we had the same idea, eh? In case you were wondering? Great minds—and best mates—think alike!”

 
As the puppy pirates padded back to their ship, Wally nuzzled his head against Henry’s leg. Just ahead of him, Millie and Stink sang a song. Behind him, he could hear the pugs telling Frosty about their next prank. Wally thought about how lucky he was to have such good friends. They had been on many adventures together, and the best part was, there were more to come.

  Wally was certain that having great friends was the greatest gift of all!

  Turn the page for more

  Puppy Pirate fun and adventure!

  How to Draw a Puppy Pirate!

  Follow the steps below to draw a favorite Puppy Pirate—Frosty!

  Step 1: Draw a Christmas tree with the top cut off for the head and body. Add two triangles for the ears and two triangles for the legs.

  Step 2: Add another triangle for the nose and a zigzag line down the middle of the body. Now that you have the basic shapes in place, you can add curves and feet to make your drawing look more realistic.

  Step 3: Add eyes, a mouth, toes, and a tail. You can draw another triangle on the blanket for the patch.

  Step 4: Continue adding details like wrinkles, stitching, and Frosty’s black-and-white patches. Now you have a finished drawing of Frosty!

  Mrs. C.’s Secret Message

  Happy holidays! Mrs. C. has left Wally a special holiday message. Put your knowledge of Race to the North Pole to the test by helping him decode it. You can use a notebook to copy of this page.

  1. Wally is a soft golden _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ puppy.

  2. _ _ _ _ _ _ and her sister, Puggly, play a prank with a crate of steaks.

  3. The race takes the puppy pirates through Candy Cane _ _ _ _ _ _.

  4. To win, the puppy pirates must cross the rainbow-colored Snow Cone _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

  5. The race ended in a tie when the puppy pirates and the North Pole Racers crossed the _ _ _ _ _ _ line at the same time!

  Now look at your answers above. The letters that are circled spell four words—but those words are scrambled! Unscramble the letters to complete the final puzzle.

  There is nothing better than

  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _!

  Answers: 1. Retriever. 2. Piggly. 3. Forest. 4. Glaciers. 5. Finish.

  Final Puzzle: There is nothing better than THE GIFT OF GIVING!

  Present Delivery Race!

  Help Santa get presents from his workshop to children and puppies all over the world!

  You will need:

  Empty boxes covered in wrapping paper (Make sure there are at least three boxes for each team. It’s better if the boxes are all different sizes.)

  A large, empty room or space

  At least four players

  How to play:

  1. Split into two teams: Team Puppy Pirates and Team North Pole Racers.

  2. Split each team into two groups. Half of each team should stand at one end of the room. Give one member from each team three boxes stacked on top of each other. Make sure each person has boxes of different sizes.

  3. The other half of each team should stand at the other end of the room.

  4. Ready, set, go! Balancing the boxes in one hand, players must walk across the room toward their teammates as quickly as they can without dropping a box. If they drop a box, they must go back to the starting line and try again.

  5. When players reach the other side of the room, they must pass the boxes to their teammates. Balancing the boxes in one hand, teammates then walk as quickly as possible back to the other side of the room. Again, if a box is dropped, that player must start over.

  6. Play continues until all team members have successfully carried the boxes back and forth across the room. The team to finish first is the winner!

  Want to make it harder?

  Add a new box to the stack every time a player passes the presents to a teammate.

  Captain Red Beard was fighting with the ship’s huge wheel. “Blimey!” he shouted, pushing it to port. Then, “Arrrrf!” He swung the wheel to starboard, and the ship lurched with him.

  “What’s happening, Captain?” asked Henry in alarm. The boy peered out to sea. “Are we under attack?”

  “Me compass!” Red Beard howled. “It’s goin’ crazy!”

  Wally climbed into the steering cabin. He studied the huge compass their captain used to navigate. Usually, the compass needle pointed due north at all times.

  But at that moment, the needle was wiggling and wobbling all around the face of the compass. One second it was pointing north, then it swished to point east, then it spun around to point west. To avoid the Triangle, they had to sail north. So every time the needle moved, the captain spun the steering wheel to follow it. All that crazy steering was making the boat zigzag through the water.

  “In case you were wondering? This isn’t good,” Henry said, studying the compass. “It seems to be broken.”

  “What happened?” Curly asked. She hopped up onto a stool and studied the broken tool. “The compass needle is always supposed to point north. It shouldn’t be moving around like that.”

  Spike wailed. “Nooooooo!”

  “What’s wrong, Spike?” Wally asked.

  “Old Salt’s story must be true. I bet we sailed into the Triangle!” Spike whined. “Our compass is broken. We are going to be lost at sea forever. We be dooooomed!”

  The rest of the crew began yapping and barking nervously. Old Salt stood quietly, gazing out to sea. Wally thought the strong, old pup looked a little worried, but that couldn’t be right. He was the calmest, surest pup Wally had ever met.

  “We didn’t sail into the Triangle,” Curly promised. She turned to the rest of the crew and said loudly, “We won’t be lost at sea forever. Even if we had sailed into the Triangle, there’s no truth to all those silly stories. There’s just something funny going on with our compass.”

  “I don’t think it’s funny,” Captain Red Beard growled. He tugged the wheel left, and the ship lurched again. “Not funny at all.”

  Erin Soderberg lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, three adventure­ loving kids, and a mischievous goldendoodle named Wally. Before becoming an author, she was a children’s book editor and a cookie inventor, and she also worked for Nickelodeon. She has written many books for young readers, including the Quirks series. Erin writes the Puppy Pirates series for her own kids, who love to read and are a big help when it comes to writing the funny stuff. Visit Erin online at erinsoderberg.com.

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