“I was hoping someone would have the gumption to search for the treasure when I made up that map,” said Captain Firebeard. “And I had an inkling it might be you three.”
Spencer and his cronies looked like someone had just poured cold rice pudding down their trousers.
“But, sir!” spluttered Spencer. “I demand that they be punished! This instant!”
Captain Firebeard fixed him with a
steely glare. “Another word out of you three piddling pilchards and your next lesson will be
Spencer stopped talking very quickly.
“Now,” said the captain. “Everyone back to the Barnacle – we’ve got a proper pirate celebration to prepare for.
CHAPTER 10
Tommy checked his chin in the mirror above his locker. Still no beard.
He tried a sneaky little squeeze.
Nothing.
He sighed. Oh well, he might
not have bushy face-furniture like Captain Firebeard, but after his treasure-hunting adventure he was one boot-step closer to becoming a real pirate.
“How’s the beard coming along, Cap’n Baldchin?” said a voice right behind him.
Tommy just about jumped out of his skin.
It was Milton and Jo, laughing their stripy socks off.
“Come on,” chuckled Jo. “The ceremony is about to start.”
It was the last day of school before the holidays and a grand pirate parade was being held on the deck
of the Rusty Barnacle.
The three friends climbed the staircases up through the ship and out into the morning sunshine.
Everyone was already there. The teachers, all of the pupils and, of course, Captain Firebeard himself.
There was even a special area where the parents, who had been invited aboard now the ship was safely tied up back at the harbour, were sitting. Tommy’s mum and dad waved when they saw him.
Tommy, Jo and Milton hurried to their places alongside the other pupils, who were all standing proudly in a line under the main mast.
McBeaky, Flash and Wobbles flapped down and landed on their
shoulders as the clock tower in town struck two o’clock.
“Ladeees an’ gennelmen,” declared Captain Firebeard, striding into the centre of the deck. “Shipmates and pirate pupils, seafarers and landlubbers – welcome to the grand pirate parade.”
The parents clapped and the children’s chests swelled with pride.
“We’ve had a whale of a term, with some young pirates coming through
who I’d be glad to sing a sea shanty with, not to mention go a-swashbuckling with,” continued the captain. “And now it gives me the greatest of pirate pleasures to present the
to all
that have passed this first term.”
Captain Firebeard went along the line of children and Sea Dog Steve passed him the certificates to hand out, only occasionally getting them
skewered on his hook. Maggie Magpie and One-Eyed Norm looked on, smiling proudly. Even Gumms clasped his fish-paste-covered hands together in delight.
Finally, after all the pupils had received their certificates, Captain Firebeard came to Tommy, Jo and Milton. He winked at them and smiled. Or at least they thought he smiled – it was hard to tell under all those red whiskers.
“And last but not least we come to these three starfish,” he announced. “They’ve already had their certificates, by way of a treasure chest, but I have one more thing to award them.”
Jo glanced at Tommy, who shrugged. He didn’t know what to expect.
Captain Firebeard whistled an old sea shanty tune and his big red parrot, Blaze, swooped down on to his shoulder carrying a leather pouch in his beak.
The Captain opened it and poured three small gold lumps on to his huge palm.
“Every year,” he declared, “we present the Pirates’ Gold Tooth award to the new pupils what have shown themselves to be destined for great things on the seven seas.”
He picked up a tooth and held it up between his big fingers. It glinted in the sunlight.
“You three don’t look like you have
any need of a spare tooth just yet, so there’s a pin on the back of each one.”
He pinned the first tooth to Milton’s waistcoat, the next to Jo’s and the last one to Tommy’s.
“Whizz-kid Milton – Jellylegs don’t suit ye now, lad – Jo the Fearless and Hotshot Tom, I be honoured to declare you all this year’s Pirate Champions!”
The other pupils whooped and hollered and the parents stood up to applaud the young heroes.
There were only three pirate pupils
who weren’t clapping or cheering.
That’s because Spiky Spencer, Muttonhead Max and Greta the Grouch were far too busy swabbing
the smelly canteen floor down below. It seemed there was nothing Captain Firebeard liked less than un-piratey sneaky behaviour.
“I’ll get those shrimps if it’s the last thing I do,” sneered Spencer as he heard the noise above.
But Tommy, Jo and Milton were having way too much fun at the pirate parade party to care about what Spiky Spencer thought.
As the sea shanties played and everyone danced and sang on the deck of the Rusty Barnacle the three friends huddled together and made a pledge.
“Pirate pals for ever?” said Tommy.
echoed Jo and Milton.
squawked their three parrots.
Tommy looked down at the shiny gold tooth pinned to his waistcoat.
“I don’t know about you,” he said with a smile, “but I’m looking forward to next term already.”
Cap’n Chae Strathie regularly sails the Seven Seas in his trusty ship, The Inky Nib, shouting “ARRRRRR!” at passing seagulls and writing stories about the pirates he meets on his adventures. He has a black-belt in swashbuckling and timber-shivering and has a parrot called Scribbles. When he is ashore he lives in a village in Fife, Scotland, with a bunch o’ landlubbers and some cats. Arrrrrr!
Cap’n Anna Chernyshova is a sea artist through and through. You’ll find her in the crow’s nest, drawing everything she spies – from slippery sea monsters to blistering barnacles. When she’s not adventuring the globe and sketching portraits of famous pirates, she’s moored in Cambridge with her family and salty sea dog McStinky.
Captain Firebeard's School for Pirates: Pirate School Book 1 Page 4