by Chris Blake
“Then don’t touch it!” Tom said.
“This place isn’t fit for a princess!” Isis protested.
Tom lowered his voice to whisper. “Keep your voice down. I’m not sure these pirates would take kindly to you insulting their favourite hang-out.”
Sal returned and slammed two tankards down on the table. “Grog,” he announced. “Drink up!”
Tom sipped the drink… and immediately spat it out.
“Ugh! Sal, what do they put in this? Washing-up liquid?” he cried.
“No idea what you’re talking about, shipmate. It’ll put hairs on your chest.”
Sal swigged the contents of his tankard. Grog poured down the sides of his chin and on to his shirt. Then he went back to work in the kitchen.
Pretending to drink, Tom and Isis listened to what was being said by a scary-looking group of pirates at the next table.
“So, Jones tells me there be a Spanish merchant ship leaving Cuba,” one man said, glancing round to make sure no one else was listening.
“What’s it carrying?” another asked, scratching his nose with his dagger hilt. “Will there be rum and spices and sugar and—”
“Aye,” the first man said, nodding. “And cotton too. But listen…” he looked round again, then whispered, “It’s got a chest full of gold!”
“Ooooooh!” the other pirates gasped.
Tom was just about to nudge Isis when there was a crash, followed by gunshots. Tom turned round and saw a huge, fearsome man standing in the doorway pointing a gun into the room. He had the biggest, blackest beard Tom had ever seen. His bushy whiskers were plaited with colourful ribbons at the end. Tom gulped.
Suddenly every man in the inn started screaming as loud bangs, pops and flashes of light exploded round the man.
“We’re under attack!” Sal yelled.
Tom dived to the floor, and pulled Isis down with him. A terrified Cleo leaped into Isis’s arms.
“Under the table – quick!” Tom said.
As he, Isis and Cleo hid beneath the table, another explosion went off with a terrifying BANG!
THE HUNT CONTINUES…
Travel through time with Tom and Isis as they battle the mightiest warriors of the past. Will they find all six amulets, or will Isis be banished from the Afterlife forever? Find out in:
Go to: www.time-hunters.com
Travel through time and join the hunt for the mightiest heroes and villains of history to win brilliant prizes!
Copyright
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2013
HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,
77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London,W6 8JB.
The HarperCollins website address is: www.harpercollins.co.uk
Text © Hothouse Fiction 2013
Illustrations © HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2013
Illustrations by Dynamo
Source ISBN: 978000751045
Ebook Edition © July 2013 ISBN: 9780007514052
Version 1
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au/ebooks
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East – 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com