Attack of the Giant Sea Spiders

by Gareth Jones

  “Rather that than lose to this scoundrel,” replied Captain Clockheart.

  “Full speed ahead!” yelled Inkybeard.

  Both crews braced themselves. Even if the pier had been brand new, the damage from the ships hitting it at such a speed would have been severe. Being made of old rotten wood, both pirate ships tore through it. The welcome sign went spinning off into the water and the pier splintered and snapped as the ships finally dropped anchor and came to a halt.

  Captain Clockheart and Inkybeard leaped down on to the dock, each desperate to reach the harbour master’s house first. Inkybeard panted and held on to Nancy while Clockheart sent up puffs of smoke like a speeding locomotive. When they reached the harbour master’s house, a figure stepped out on to the balcony, but he kept to the shadows.

  “Ah, my pirate spies,” he said. “What information do you have for me?”

  “Defoe is slapping men in chains and using them to build weapons,” blurted out Inkybeard.

  “No ordinary weapons, neither,” said Captain Clockheart. “Steam-powered war machines called Sea Spiders. They walk on the bottom of the ocean. Now, where’s our reward?”

  “All in good time. You have both proved very useful. His Majesty will be most grateful.” The man stepped forward so that yellow lamplight fell on his face, illuminating his large bushy moustache and wicked eyes.

  “It’s the Iron Duke!” said Pendle, who was standing on the dock with the other Steampunk Pirates.

  “What?” exclaimed Gadge. “You mean the duke was using us to spy for him this whole time?”

  “Click, we’ve been tricked,” added Mainspring.

  “Duped by the duke!” squawked Twitter. “Duped by the duke!”

  “Yes, yes, yes,” said the Iron Duke with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You’ve been working for me all along. Oh, what a shock. One–nil to me. The duke wins. Some good old-fashioned British planning has won over your sloppy piratical greed.”

  “You may have tricked us, but you can’t touch us here in Barbary Bay,” said Captain Clockheart.

  “That’s right,” said Inkybeard. “Here, the only law is that there are no laws.”

  “And that one about parrots,” said Lexi.

  “No parrots!” squawked Twitter.

  “Yes, I like that one,” said the duke. “But, you see, with no laws there was nothing to stop me tying up the harbour master and assuming his identity. Isn’t that right, Fussington?”

  Admiral Fussington stepped on to the balcony behind the duke. “I suppose so, although as a representative of His Majesty, the King of England—”

  “Oh, stop talking,” snapped the duke. “Anyway, I’m feeling generous, so you can have the reward. Fussington, let them have it.”

  “Very well, sir.” Admiral Fussington unhooked the chains that held the large treasure chest, allowing it to drop suddenly. It smashed straight through the wooden walkway beneath and sent both Inkybeard and Captain Clockheart flying into the sea.

  “Ha! You see, you’ve lost!” crowed the Iron Duke. “Goodbye, Captain Clockheart. Rust in peace. Do you get it, Fussington? Rust in peace?”

  “Very good, Duke,” said the admiral.

  “No laws! No laws!” Twitter flew straight up to the balcony and landed on the duke’s shoulder.

  “Get off me, you disgusting creature,” he exclaimed.

  “Fresh feathers! Fresh feathers!” Twitter fluttered around the duke’s head, plucking red feathers out of his hat and sending them all over the place.

  “Fussington, don’t just stand there. Do something, man!” the duke protested.

  “Yes, Duke.” The admiral tried hopelessly to swat the mechanical bird away.

  As he did so, a stray feather from the duke’s hat went up Admiral Fussington’s nose.

  “A-a-chooo!”

  The force of the admiral’s sneeze sent him stumbling forward. He reached out for something to hold on to and grabbed the Iron Duke’s moustache.

  “Fussington, release me at—”

  The Iron Duke and Admiral Fussington crashed into the balcony railing, which collapsed under their weight, sending both him and the admiral into the water.

  Twitter performed a loop the loop then flew back to the balcony and into the harbour master’s house, where he pecked through the ropes holding the harbour master captive.

  In the water below, Inkybeard, the duke and Admiral Fussington swam to dry land. Captain Clockheart, however, had sunk like a stone.

  “We have to rescue him!” yelled Pendle frantically.

  “None of us can go underwater,” said Gadge. “The seawater would put out our fires in a second.”

  “Then I’ll go,” said Pendle.

  “You’re not strong enough, laddie. You’d never lift him – you’d die trying.”

  “Click, I am strong enough. Tick, I have no fire to put out.” Mainspring jumped on to one of the chains dangling down. “Tock, lower me in and make it quick. I’ve a captain to rescue.”

  Life at sea presented a number of problems for the Steampunk Pirates. There was the rust, the fact that metal does not float, and the very real danger that if any one of those steam-powered men were to fall into the water, their fires would go out in an instant.

  But life at sea meant freedom and, for freedom, all that was a price worth paying. Captain Clockheart sank down into the murky depths of Barbary Bay. Water gushed into his body and rushed through his insides. It put out the fire in his belly and made him feel as light as a feather. He felt free.

  As Captain Clockheart’s fire was extinguished, the last thing to cross his mind was his earliest memory. It was the moment his creator, Mr Swift, had first lit his fire. Clockheart remembered opening his eyes and seeing his creator gazing at him with wonder and delight.

  “Clockheart,” said Mr Swift. “That’s what you shall be known as. You are a steam-powered man with a clockwork heart – the best of both worlds. You will be the leader of these others.”

  Clockheart turned his head to see fifteen mechanical men staring back at him.

  “They will follow your every order as you assist His Majesty the King.”

  “We will assist,” Clockheart heard his own voice say. “We will assist.”

  This memory vanished as all of Captain Clockheart’s thoughts were lost in the darkness and silence of the ocean bed.

  “Click, dry him out. Tick, fetch fresh coal. Tock, relight his fire.”

  Clockheart was unsure where these words came from, but he knew who was speaking them. He felt the warm glow of life return and opened his eyes to see First Mate Mainspring leaning over him.

  “Click, welcome back, Captain. Tick, it’s good to see you.”

  “You could have let me drown,” said Captain Clockheart groggily. “The ship would have been yours.”

  “Click, and give the duke the satisfaction of defeating you? Tick, not a chance. Tock, if anyone is going to get rid of you, it’ll be me!”

  “That’s a comforting thought, Mainspring.” Captain Clockheart sat upright.

  “Captain, I thought I’d lost you.” Pendle threw her arms around his neck.

  “Let’s not get sentimental now, lad,” said Captain Clockheart. “Where are the others? Where’s Inkybeard?”

  “We chased him off. He left with Goldman and that rough-looking crew of his,” said Gadge. “They’ll turn mutinous soon enough, I’ll bet you.”

  “The duke and the admiral have also gone,” said Lexi.

  “Then it’s just us and the ocean,” said Captain Clockheart. “Exactly as it should be.”

  “But if we helped the duke get his information,” said Lexi, “then this was all for nothing.”

  “Quartermaster Lexi, have you not learned? Adventure is never for nothing. Life at sea is about creating memories worth remembering. It’s about living a life worth living,” said Captain Clockheart. “Ain’t that right, Pendle?”

  “Aye, Captain. Besides, the harbour master has given us a reward for resc
uing him.”

  Twitter flew down and landed on the captain’s shoulder. “Back to the ship!” he squawked. “Back to the ship!”

  “Aye, back to the Leaky Battery, ye marauding metallic mariners,” cried Captain Clockheart. “I’ll wager there’s an ocean of adventure awaiting us just over that horizon.”

  When Captain Clockheart reached the Leaky Battery, the crew sang a raucously rousing sea shanty as they raised the anchor and set sail.

  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, 2015

  Illustrations copyright © Artful Doodlers, 2015

  First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2015

  eISBN: 9781-84715-627-3

  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.

  www.littletiger.co.uk