School Ship Tobermory

  Or was it something altogether different – something he had absolutely no idea about; something perhaps just a little bit mysterious?

  I’m going to find out, he said to himself, as sleep overtook him.

  The names in Cook’s hat

  The draw took place after breakfast the next morning.

  “Now pay attention, everybody,” shouted Mr Rigger, as the whole school stood lined up on the deck. “I’ve prepared a slip of paper for each name.”

  He gestured to a pile of pieces of paper before him.

  “Now,” continued Mr Rigger, “I’m going to ask Cook to remove his hat. I shall place all the slips in the hat and invite Matron to pick out twenty. Do you understand me so far?”

  Ben was about to shout “Yes!” but he heard everybody shouting “Aye, Aye!” And so that’s what he shouted too.

  “Good,” continued Mr Rigger. “Here we go.”

  Once the slips of paper were tipped into his upturned chef’s hat, Cook held it out in front of him. Then Matron stepped forward and dipped her hand into the hat. As she did so, she closed her eyes so she could not see the slip she was picking.

  “Right,” said Mr Rigger, taking the first slip from Matron. “Who have we here?”

  The whole school held its breath.

  “The first name,” announced Mr Rigger, “is … Angela Singh.”

  A cheer arose from the Lower Deck lines. Angela Singh was a popular member of her deck, and she was liked too by the other decks.

  “Well done, Angela,” said Matron as she fished into the hat for the second name. “Now then, who’s next?”

  The next name was read out – a boy from the Upper Deck – and then the next and the one after that. Then it was time for the fifth name.

  “William Edward Hardtack,” said Mr Rigger.

  For a moment there was silence, and then came a few half-hearted cheers from the Upper Deck. Hardtack punched the air in triumph. “Yes!” he shouted. “Yes!”

  “Now,” said Mr Rigger, taking a slip from Matron, “here we have … Thomas Seagrape.”

  Ben caught Thomas’s eye and smiled. “Well done,” he said.

  “And now,” said Mr Rigger, “the next one is … Geoffrey Shark.”

  “That’s two of them!” groaned Badger. “Hardtack and Shark.”

  William Edward Hardtack gave a whoop of delight, punching the air again in triumph, just as he had done when he himself had been chosen.

  The draw continued. Neither Ben nor Fee was chosen, nor were Poppy and Badger.

  “I don’t care,” said Poppy. “I would have liked it, but I don’t care now that Hardtack and Shark are going to be there.”

  “They’ll spoil it for everybody,” said Badger.

  “Yes,” said Poppy. “That’s one movie I won’t be watching.”

  They had begun to turn away when suddenly they heard Mr Rigger clapping his hands.

  “Hold on, everyone,” he said. “Matron has pointed out a problem.”

  They stayed where they were, curious to find out what this problem could be.

  “I’m told,” Mr Rigger continued, “that Bartholomew Fitzhardy – whose name I pulled out of the hat – is in fact in the sick bay – and will have to stay there for the next week or so. It’s a case of …” He looked to Matron for guidance.

  “Infectious boils,” said Matron cheerfully. “Infectious boils with complications.”

  “It’s a case of infectious boils,” Mr Rigger continued. “And that means we have only nineteen names. I shall have to draw one final name out of the hat.”

  This announcement caused considerable excitement. Suddenly there was a chance again, and everybody thought it possible – just possible – that his or her name would be called out.

  Matron reached into Cook’s hat and extracted a name. “Now then,” he said, looking out over the assembled crew, “I have a name here and that name is …”

  Fee closed her eyes. If I don’t look, she said to herself, then it will be me.

  Poppy took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. If I promise to be really good, she said to herself, then my name will be called out, even if it means putting up with Hardtack and Shark … And she promised to be really good, straight away, with no conditions.

  Mr Rigger was ready to announce the name. “The name I have is … MacTavish B.”

  Ben gasped. “Me?” he said.

  “You’re the only MacTavish B on board,” said Badger. “Well done, Ben.”

  In his excitement at being chosen, Ben did not see William Edward Hardtack call Flubber and Shark to his side and whisper something to them. He did not see Shark turn to look in his direction and grin. He did not see Flubber looking over too, smiling. He saw none of that, but Badger did, and Badger swallowed hard. His friend was going to be in the company of Hardtack and his gang for several days and he – Badger – would not be there to defend him. He would have to have a quiet word with Thomas Seagrape and warn him of the danger that he thought Ben might face. Then at least there would be somebody who would be able to look out for Ben when Hardtack made his move, whatever that move might be, and whenever he might make it.

  Ben did not have long to pack his kitbag, but he did not have much to put in it. He needed his lifejacket, of course, and a change of clothing in case he got wet. He was also able to pack some chocolate that he still had from the supply his mother had given him before he joined the Tobermory. With these things all tucked into the kitbag, Ben was ready to say goodbye to Fee, Badger and the others who would be staying behind.

  He had one thing still to do, and this involved Fee. He had not forgotten what he had seen the previous night, and he remembered, too, what he had said to Badger about it. He was going to ask her – as directly as necessary – what she and Poppy were up to.

  The opportunity soon arose, as Fee came over to wish him good luck on the other ship.

  “You’ll have an interesting time,” she said. “You’re lucky.”

  Ben thanked her, and said that he wished that she had been chosen too. Then he asked her, “What are you and Poppy up to, Fee?”

  His question had an instant effect. Blushing deeply, Fee stared at her brother. “I don’t know what you mean,” she answered.

  Ben frowned. “You do, Fee. You do know what I mean.”

  She shook her head vigorously. “No, I don’t.”

  Ben leaned towards his sister so that he was looking directly into her eyes. “Listen, Fee,” he said pointing his finger at her. “I saw you! I saw you and Poppy last night in the passageway. I saw you going into that cabin at the end. You were talking to somebody.”

  Fee looked away, uncertain what to do.

  “So,” said Ben. “So you should tell me, Fee. You’ve never hidden things from me before.”

  It was clear to him that his sister was struggling. One part of her, he thought, wanted to tell him everything, but there was another part that was saying, Hold on!

  He decided to try a different tack. “Are you scared to tell me?”

  She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak. “It’s not that …”

  Fee stopped. Poppy had joined them and was looking at her anxiously. “What are you talking about?” the Australian girl asked.

  “Nothing,” said Fee.

  Poppy glanced at Ben. “Are you sure?” she said.

  Ben was unsure what to do. He could see that his sister was unwilling to talk, and he could see, too, that of the two girls, Poppy was a bit older, and a bit bigger, and was obviously in charge. If he pressed the matter now, he could make things awkward for Fee. He had instantly liked Poppy, but was she a good influence on his sister? He wasn’t sure now. Ben decided to hope for the best. “I’d better go,” he said. “We’ll be going across to the Albatross in a couple of minutes.”

  “Good luck,” said Poppy. “Have fun.”

  Fee, who was clearly relieved, went forward to give her brother a goodbye hug. As she did so, she whispered into his ear, “I’ll
tell you – I promise you. But not just yet.”

  They needed two boats to take all twenty people over to the Albatross. Then, when the ferrying was done, both ships hauled up their anchors and began to sail out of the bay. For safety reasons they kept some distance from each other – ships need lots of room when they are at sea – and this made it hard for those on the Tobermory to see exactly what was happening on the Albatross. They could see, though, that there were large piles of equipment on deck, and people were milling about these.

  On board the Tobermory, ordinary activities continued. Now that they had embarked on their voyage, the normal school routine could begin. This meant that Fee and Poppy found themselves sitting next to one another in a classroom as a geography lesson began. As they were on a school ship, geography was mostly about the sea rather than the land. There were the names of all the oceans and the seas to learn; there were maps of currents to be studied; and there was a great deal of information on how great rivers run into the sea and where they do this. Fee found this all fascinating, and copied out the names of the oceans carefully on the first page of her notebook: Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, she wrote. There were two more, to make five: Arctic and Southern. Then she wrote: The biggest is the Pacific Ocean and the smallest is the Arctic Ocean.

  The teacher who taught them about oceans was called Miss Worsfold. She was a small woman whom Fee had seen on deck but had never met. She was small indeed – smaller than most of the students – but she made up for her lack of size with sheer energy, and with the brightness of her eyes. These were of a deep blue colour – “rather like an ocean,” Poppy had said – and they flashed with light. Poppy had told Fee that she would like her, and Fee found that this was so. There was something about Miss Worsfold that made you believe she understood what you felt.

  “Not only are there oceans,” said Miss Worsfold, “but there are seas too.”

  Poppy put up her hand. “The Caribbean Sea,” she said.

  “Exactly,” said Miss Worsfold.

  Fee joined in. “The Mediterranean Sea, Miss Worsfold,” she said.

  “Well done,” said Miss Worsfold.

  The geography lesson went on for some time. Next were two hours during which the sails were taken in and the ship simply bobbed up and down on the sea, going nowhere. This was because the Albatross had stopped to do some filming, and the two ships were to stay within sight of each other.

  “If anybody wants to swim,” said Mr Rigger, “then you may do so – as long as you stay close to the ship.”

  It was a warm day, and this suggestion was popular. Poppy, though, had a better idea. “Did Matron say anything to you about diving lessons?” she asked Fee.

  Fee nodded. “When we saw her photograph, we asked and she said that she would teach us.”

  “Good,” said Poppy. “She promised me too. Let’s find her.”

  The two girls went off to Matron’s cabin and knocked on the door. Matron was in, and asked them what they wanted.

  Fee felt a bit shy, but asked nonetheless. “Could you teach us how to dive?”

  “Of course I will,” said Matron. “What a good idea, MacTavish F!”

  Once changed into their swimming costumes, the two girls joined Matron on deck. Matron was wearing an elegant silver swimsuit and a tight-fitting swimming cap that had the Olympic ring symbol on its front. “Now then,” she said, “I shall begin by demonstrating a dive. Then I’ll show you the basic techniques. Watch closely, girls.”

  Fee and Poppy watched as Matron began to climb up one of the rope ladders that led up towards the top of the mast.

  Fee was nervous. “Is she going to go right up to the top?” she asked.

  “No,” said Poppy. “She won’t go that far.”

  Poppy was right, Matron stopped about halfway up. There she turned, and holding onto the rope ladder with one hand, she stretched the other one out in front of her. Then, for a breath-taking moment, she balanced on the rope beneath her feet before letting go and launching herself out into the void below.

  Fee gave an involuntary gasp. She was worried that Matron would hit the side of the ship on her way down, but that did not happen. As perfectly as an arrow shot from a bow, Matron cut through the air. Then, with what seemed like no splash at all, she entered the sea, cutting into the surface with all the cleanness of a knife. For a few moments she was lost to view, but then she popped up, waved and swam back to the side of the ship.

  Back on deck, she smiled at the two girls. “You see,” she said. “It’s easy.”

  Poppy looked up at the rope ladder. “Do we have to go up there?” she asked.

  Matron laughed. “Of course not. You can dive from the side of the ship – it’s much easier that way.”

  She led the girls to the side, and talked them through the proper way to dive. There was rather a lot to remember, thought Fee: you had to keep your arms together, make sure that your legs did not flip over backwards, and not land on your stomach.

  “It’s not as hard as it sounds,” said Matron. “Now you go first, Poppy.”

  Poppy stood on the side of the ship, stretched out her arms, and dived. She entered the water at the wrong angle, but Matron seemed pleased enough. It was not a perfect dive, but a strong start. Then it was Fee’s turn.

  Standing at the side of the ship, looking down into the sea below, Fee wondered why she had asked for diving lessons in the first place. There were plenty of easier ways of entering the water, she thought. Jumping was one of them, and that was how she had always done it before, even when she had intended to dive. Or climbing down a ladder and lowering yourself in bit by bit. But that was not the point: this was a diving lesson and they were waiting for her to try.

  She almost jumped, but then, in her mind’s eye, she saw Matron, and she thought: I’m going to do this for her! It worked. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, and fell forward into the air. Down she went, so quickly, she thought. And then there was a rush of water and the sudden shock of the cold. And green all about her. And bubbles. And the taste of salt.

  Before she knew it, she was back on the surface. Above her, looking over the edge of the ship, were Matron and Poppy.

  “Excellent!” shouted Matron. “A first-class dive, Fee!”

  Fee could hardly believe she’d done it. She couldn’t wait to tell Ben. She would also write and tell her parents. Diving felt just like going under water in a submarine. They would be interested to hear that, she thought.

  The extras came back in the early evening, just as dinner was being served. Ben and Thomas Seagrape joined their friends at the Middle Deck table and immediately faced a barrage of questions. What was it like on the Albatross? Did he speak to the director? What costumes did they wear? It seemed that everybody wanted to know even the smallest detail of what had happened.

  Thomas started by explaining the roles they had to play. “We are meant to be the crew of a ship that has been taken over by pirates,” he said. “So we were all dressed in nineteenth-century sailors’ clothes – you know, britches and those shirts you don’t tuck in. They weren’t comfortable.”

  ‘No,” said Ben. “Mine scratched badly and I still feel a bit itchy.”

  Thomas glanced at Ben. “Should I tell them?” he asked.

  “Tell us what?” said Poppy.

  Ben nodded. “You may as well. They’ll hear soon enough, anyway.”

  Thomas sighed. “There were two main parts available,” he said. “So they said that two of the extras would be chosen for these.”

  “Starring parts?” enquired Poppy, her eyes wide. “Why would a film company give these roles to the likes of us?”

  “I don’t know, but they did,” said Ben. “Proper speaking parts.”

  “And guess who got them,” said Thomas.

  Fee smiled. “You?” she asked.

  Thomas shook his head sadly.

  Now Poppy groaned. “Oh no!” she exclaimed. “You mean that …”

  She did not
finish. “Yes,” said Ben. “William Edward Hardtack and Geoffrey Shark. They chose them! Can you believe it? They chose those two.”

  “They pushed their way to the front,” Ben explained. “They elbowed everybody else out of the way, and when the director said that he needed two people for bigger parts, they went right up to him and said ‘Me, me, me.’”

  “I would never choose somebody who said “Me, me, me,’” said Poppy.

  “I wouldn’t either,” said Fee.

  “Well, they did,” said Thomas. “And you should have seen Hardtack and Shark when they knew they were going to get the parts. They turned round to the rest of us and smirked. They had great big, greasy, disgusting smiles on their faces – the sort of smiles that say “See?!”

  Poppy winced. “I feel a bit sick even hearing about it,” she said.

  “Well, it gets worse,” said Ben.

  Thomas took up the story again. “Hardtack and Shark were told that they would be in charge of the pirates. That was us, of course. So they started to give orders: ‘Stand here! Do this! Do that!’”

  “Awful,” said Fee.

  “Yes,” agreed Thomas. “It was really awful. But wait till you hear this: after filming had been going on for a few hours, they brought us a whole tray of doughnuts. We were told that we could have a fifteen-minute break. And then …” He paused to exchange a glance with Ben. “And then, Hardtack and Shark took three doughnuts each. Three! And that meant that we were four doughnuts short. Some of us had to share.”

  “Thomas and I shared,” said Ben. “We had half each. Angela Singh only had a third, because she shared with two other people.”

  “Didn’t they feel ashamed of themselves?” Poppy asked. “Not even a tiny bit? Well, I guess I know them well enough. They never do.”

  “They said that they were entitled to them,” said Thomas.

  “But they weren’t!” Fee exploded.

  Thomas went on to explain. “They said they had a much more difficult job, being in the bigger roles. They said that because of this they were entitled to three doughnuts each.”

  “But what about the director?” she asked. “Why did he let them do this?”