“By th’ end o’ th’ day, ye’ll all be real pirates, for sure!”
That’s what she had repeated over and over again when people said they were coming along.
Her ghostly pirate ship might have some crew straight from Davy Jones’ Locker, but flesh-and-blood Kate needed some flesh-and-blood crew. With a ship at her command, the museum would be plundered of its treasures!
How could Captain Kate be outwitted? Getting rid of the coins seemed like a good idea. Whiskers was pushing the first one towards the edge of the table, ready to slide it silently down the sail cloth, when he stopped.
Kate would just turn other old coins into pieces of eight as soon as she discovered they were missing.
As he tried to roll the coin back to the pouch, Kate thumped the table, still caught up in her pirate dream. Whiskers lost his grip and watched in horror as the coin took off in the direction of her mouth, which was opening in a large, noisy snore!
At the last second, it wobbled and fell against the piece of eight tied round Kate’s neck, which was jutting out from under her chin. Something totally unexpected happened!
The coin returned to its original form – a groat.
This gave Whiskers a tiny hope. What if he changed all the coins back to groats? Would Kate think to check them before handing them out to the families tomorrow?
Whiskers worked very hard that night, dragging every dangerous piece of eight from the pouch and refilling it with safe silver groats.
The fear that Kate might wake at any moment made his little heart race, but thankfully she slept soundly, unaware of any threat to her life of piracy.
Chapter 7
By the time Kate stirred early on Saturday morning, Whiskers had finished his task and found a hiding place behind the bag of presents ready to give out as prizes.
Stiff and annoyed at herself, Kate plucked the pouch from the table without a second glance, secured it to her belt and hurried off to fetch the wooden chest she had bought for her new home.
At 10.45a.m., Kate and Needles, both in full pirate attire, were standing at the door of Captain Kate’s Cabin, welcoming families to the museum event.
Everyone had made an effort to dress like a pirate. Kate beamed as family after family arrived. Needles’ rather fierce pirate look had parents and children chuckling with delight. His humourless grimaces as they pointed and complimented him on his realistic–looking scar made them hoot with laughter.
There was no hooting from Talons, who sat inside the Cabin tied securely to a perch. Kate explained that the owl was standing in for a parrot. Again, everyone thought this was terribly funny, while Talons eyed them coldly.
Much to Needles’ annoyance, Kate insisted on entertaining her victims for a while. Perhaps this was just the last vestige of the old Kate trying to hold on, or was she playing cruelly with them, like a cat with a mouse?
“Let’s turn back time,” she suggested, theatrically producing the silver timepiece and moving its hands backwards.
Whiskers could scarcely bear to watch. Kate explained how Vikings could be considered pirates, talked about a pox of piracy in the Western Isles, including around Longship Island, and finished off with the infamous Scottish pirate, Captain William Kidd, who suffered a gruesome end.
With every mention of his name, Kate jingled the coins in her pouch.
“Well, me landlubbing good-for-nothings, time to make real pirates o’ ye all,” Kate finally announced.
Needles and Talons perked up.
“A treasure hunt is just what ye need to get yer pirate blood flowin’. Try out yer plunderin’ ’ands in Needles’ sack o’ booty and get yer pirate silver ’ere. Then, we’ll be off.”
Kate shook the pouch. The coins hidden inside held a secret, but whose secret? Kate’s or Whiskers’?
Needles lunged forward and grabbed the bag of prizes, catapulting Whiskers right under Talons’ nose. Shackled to the perch, the tawny owl flapped up and down, desperately trying to break free.
“Stop that noise, ye scabby pile o’ feathers or ah’ll be ’avin’ ye stewed for me dinner!” yelled Kate.
Talons was quiet. Whiskers took refuge behind a corner of Needles’ sail cloth. Parents grinned, thinking it was part of the show. The children squealed with laughter, jostling for their prizes and pirate silver. Parents distracted Kate with chatter. A flash of silver between tiny fingers was enough to convince her all was well.
As the last child skipped away clutching her ‘treasure’, a fierce look flitted across Kate’s eyes. Whiskers could feel a slight breeze rising and the air in the room tasted strange.
A ghostly ship shimmered before them, just as Needles’ shanty had predicted!
“Landlubbers, aboard!” ordered Captain Kate. “Swab the decks, hoist the sails. Any mutinous talk and ye’ll walk th’ plank at dawn, ye scurvy scallywags!”
A Jacob’s ladder tumbled down for Captain Kate’s crew ... but no-one moved.
“Look smart, ye pustulant pilferers!”
Still no-one moved. Kate turned to Needles for help. He was gone. A gust of salty air whistled sharply through the room, taking the ship, and Kate’s new life of piracy, with it.
“Awesome!” gasped the children and a round of applause rippled through the amazed parents.
As ‘un-pirated’ Kate led the group round the museum on a ‘kind of treasure hunt’, everyone recognised a hoard of silver groats lying in a display case.
“That’s like our pirate silver!”
Kate couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Ah think ye’ll find yer treasure’s been plundered, ye luckless layabouts!” wheezed a voice that sounded like Needles’.
All the old groats, handed out in Captain Kate’s Cabin, lay back in their original case. While, in their place, to the delight of the children, were rather delicious chocolate coins!
“Can we be scurvy scallywags again next year, please?” asked one little boy.
Kate sighed. “Maybe we’ll do something a little different next time.”
As Whiskers felt himself drawn back to his waterside companions, he passed the woodland display. The tawny owl stood on the tree branch, its head tilted downwards.
A visitor left convinced she had seen the owl’s talons tighten.
“Just a trick of the light, madam,” Kate assured her. “The museum has been playing tricks on all of us today!”
Treasure Trove of Words
for Scurvy Scallywags
accomplice – someone who helps another person do bad things
ancestral – inherited from family members who lived in the past
archive – information kept about something
artefact – something made by people, especially an object of historical interest
attire – clothes
barnacle – small creature living in a shell which can attach itself to the bottom of a ship
bilge – lowest area of a ship below the waterline
breeches – trousers to the knee
buccaneer – pirate
bucket boots – knee-high, leather boots with a flared, bucket-shaped top
Captain William Kidd – probably the most famous Scottish pirate, born in Dundee in 1645; tried and executed for piracy in 1701
cowering – pulling back in fear
crimson – deep red colour
curator – administrative director of a museum or library
damask – expensive patterned fabric
extinct – has died out; no living form exists
fossil – something from a long time ago in the past, e.g. a footprint left in the ground or a dinosaur skeleton
furrowed – having deep, narrow grooves
groat – a silver coin used in Britain from the 14th to the 17th century
impending – going to happen soon
infamous – famous for being bad
intuition – knowing something without obvious clues
Jacobites – supporters of King James II and his
family, who fought to restore the Stuarts to the British throne
Jacob’s ladder – rope or chain ladder with wooden or metal rungs used on ships
keel – part of ship running from bow to stern below the centre of the hull
Longship Island – Longay (meaning Longship Island) lies off the Isle of Skye. The Western Isles of Scotland were full of pirates in the 16th and 17th centuries
oilskins – waterproof clothing
pedigree – a record of family stretching back generations
Pictish stones – large carved stones made by Picts, people who lived north of the Forth Estuary (6th to 9th century) in a part of Scotland then known as Pictland
piece of eight – a silver Spanish dollar
pilferer – thief
pox – disease
salvaged – saved from destruction (often used about ships)
schooner – type of ship typically with two masts
shanty – a song sung by sailors as they work
silhouette – outline of something filled in black
specimen – an example of something
timepiece – an instrument, like a pocket watch, which shows the time
vestige – very small amount
Vikings – Scandinavian sailors who raided the Highlands of Scotland in the 8th century
weevil – type of beetle which was common in dry food stored on ships, in the days before fridges and tins
Needles’ Shanty
A single drop o’ pirate blood
Flowed deep through th’ veins o’ Kate;
That precious drop wer just enough
For th’ pirate piece o’ eight.
On Longship Island’s ’idden cove
For th’ centuries four or five
That plunder’d coin lay awaitin’
Pirate blood, to come alive.
Th’ finder ’ad no buccaneers
In ’is family long ago.
’e ’id ’is booty wrapped in silk
Tied up wi’ a velvet bow.
’is widow later found this prize
And thought some jewel to see;
’er anger sent th’ museum
A borin’, old coin for free.
When that piece o’ pirate silver,
Sat ’n Kate’s ancestral ’and,
’er pirate blood turned mutinous
’n her feet grew tired o’ land.
Eight days transformin’ from ’ersel’
To a swagg’rin’ Cap’n Kate,
Eight items she must gather up
Then at last ’twill be too late!
’er ghostly ship’ll fast appear
And strip th’ Museum bare,
All yer treasures gone forever
To th’ Cap’n’s pirate lair!
Born in Inverness, Scotland, Pauline Mackay has written several stories for young children. She is best known for her ‘Wee MacNessie’ picture books which are published in English and bilingual editions by Ablekids Press. Whether any pirate blood flows through her veins is unclear but guard your treasure, just in case!
Dylan Gibson be an illustrator o’ many things, includin’ books for sprogs.
When not drawin’, he be spotted out and about with his trusty spaniel or cookin’ up some treats in th’ kitchen.
Check out his other Ablekids Press title ‘The Fox and the Grapes’.
Other titles from Ablekids Press
Picture books
Fruit Lane
Ceum Nam Measan
Mrs Blackberry’s Tiring Day
Wee MacNessie
Where is Wee MacNessie?
The Fox and the Grapes
For more information on these titles,
including languages available,
please go to:
www.ablekidspress.com
Whiskers and the Pieces of Eight Page 2