Sam was allowed to take a break from his deck-scrubbing every now and then, especially when Stinger was down below and could not shout at him to work harder. It was while he was having one of these rests, leaning against a large coil of rope, that he heard the sound that made his heart leap. It was not exactly a bark, but it sounded rather like one.
Sam turned round sharply. The sound seemed to be coming from the middle of the coil of rope and when he stood up and looked into it, his heart gave another leap. It was Biscuit! Sam put a finger to his lips and told Biscuit to keep quiet. The little dog seemed to understand, as he stopped his whining and lay down quietly where he was.
“Stay there!” Sam whispered to him. “Don’t make a sound.”
Sam looked around him. Stinger was nowhere to be seen and the other pirates seemed quite uninterested in what Sam was doing. Charlie was sharpening a knife, whistling cheerfully as he did so, and Tommy was sitting contentedly at the prow, eating a large piece of cake.
Sam made his way back along the deck and peered in through the galley door.
It was dark inside, and it took his eyes a few minutes to get accustomed to the darkness, but when they did he saw Lucy and Hermione sitting at a table, each polishing a pan.
“Psst!” said Sam. “Lucy! Psst!”
Lucy turned round and saw her brother at the door.
“It’s all right,” she whispered. “Mrs Bert’s not here. You can come in.”
Sam ran into the galley and told the two girls what he had seen.
“But how did he get there?” asked Hermione. “Did one of the pirates bring him?”
“No,” said Lucy. “They just ignored him. I think that he must have jumped over on to their ship without their seeing him.”
“Well, what are we going to do?” asked Sam. “If the pirates find him they might do something terrible. They might make him walk the plank or something like that.”
“We’ll smuggle him into our cabin,” said Lucy. “They probably wouldn’t find him there. Can you get him, Sam?”
Sam said he would try. He had an idea which he thought might work, and when he went back out on to the deck, the first thing he did was to walk over to one of the rails and look out to sea. After a while, he put his hand up to shade his eyes, as if he was trying to see something. Then, when he thought the time was right, he shouted out at the top of his lungs, “Ship ahoy! Coming our way fast!”
The pirates all sprang to their feet when they heard this and rushed over to where Sam was standing.
“Where?” shouted Tommy. “Where did you see this ship?”
“Over there,” said Sam, pointing into the distance. “Over there! Look, I think that’s its mast.”
“Can’t see a thing,” snapped Charlie.
“The boy must have sharp eyesight,” said Tommy. “Are you sure you saw a ship?”
“Yes,” said Sam. “There it is! Can’t you see it?”
“Go down and fetch Captain Bert,” said Tommy. “Tell him there’s a ship coming our way. We’ll keep watch up here.”
Sam slipped away from the pirates, who were all peering off into the distance with such interest that they would never notice what he was doing. Returning to Biscuit’s hiding place, he picked up the dog and ran back to the galley. Lucy and Hermione were still alone, and they took Biscuit from Sam and spirited him away to their cabin.
Sam now went down to Bert’s cabin and knocked on the door. Bert’s rough voice told him to enter, and when he went in, he found Bert and Stinger sitting round a table, drinking rum and playing cards.
“There’s a ship coming our way,” said Sam, saluting Bert as he spoke. “Mr Tommy said I was to warn you.”
Bert and Stinger dropped their cards and pushed Sam out of the way as they rushed up to the deck. There, after a ten minute search of the sea with the telescope that Bert had stolen from Captain Foster, the pirate captain shook his head.
“You were right to raise the alarm,” he said to Sam, patting him on the head. “Even if it’s been a false one. You’s got the making of a pirate, so you have. You work hard and one day you’ll get a full-time job in the pirate trade, won’t he, Stinger?”
Stinger tried to smile, but it came out all wrong. “Yes,” he said. “As long as no sharks eat you before then, you’ll probably grow up into a good pirate.”
With these encouraging words, the two pirates returned to their game of cards, and life on the pirate ship went back to normal. The children, though, were all thinking of one thing. If Biscuit was on board, then Captain Foster would have had nobody to help him. And that meant that he could still be tied to his chair, with his boat drifting hopelessly at sea. They would have to do something soon, as there was not much time.
7
Lucy’s Great Idea
The pirates were so pleased with all the hard work which the children had done that day that Bert agreed to let them stop early and have some time together on the deck before dinner. This was a mistake on Bert’s part, because this was their chance to discuss what they could possibly do to get out of their terrible plight.
“We could try to take one of the rowing boats,” said Sam. “We could lower it over the side and row away in the dead of night.”
Lucy shook her head. “Not a good idea,” she said. “We’re too far from land by now and we wouldn’t stand a chance of getting anywhere.”
“We could put a bottle over the side with a message in it,” ventured Hermione. “Somebody might pick it up and come to our rescue.”
Again Lucy had to pour cold water on the idea. “It could be years before anybody found it,” she said. “That would be far too late.”
They were silent for a moment. Then Lucy smiled. “I’m beginning to get an idea,” she said. “If you want to get the better of somebody, what do you do?”
She looked around for an answer, but nobody could think of anything to say.
“You think of their weak points,” said Lucy. “And what are the weak points of these pirates?”
“They’re greedy,” said Sam. “Especially Tommy.”
“Yes,” said Lucy. “And did you see how those two with earrings ate – just like pigs? It’s disgusting.”
“And they’re lazy too,” said Hermione. “That’s why they’re pirates, rather than having an honest job.”
“Precisely,” said Lucy. “So we have a group of greedy, lazy pirates. At the moment, they’re in control of the ship, but we want to take over. So what do we do?”
Again, neither of the others could think of an answer. So Lucy had to explain her idea to them. When she had done so, nobody spoke for a few moments. Then Hermione stood up and clapped her hands together.
“That is a brilliant idea,” she exclaimed. “A wonderful, brilliant idea that is bound to work.”
“Yes,” said Sam, a little more hesitantly. “Very clever.”
That evening, while the pirates were having their dinner, Lucy went up to their table and said that she had an announcement to make.
“Oh yes?” sneered Stinger. “What could you have to say that would possibly interest us?”
“Maybe they’re going on strike,” said Tommy. “Maybe they’ve had enough.”
“Oh aye?” said Ed. “Well, if you don’t like your job, you can always leave the ship. And we’ll even provide a plank to help you on your way!”
The pirates all laughed at this joke, but Lucy did not mind.
“We wanted to do something for you,” she said.
The pirates became silent.
“Do something for us?” said Bert. “Well, that’s more like it, isn’t it? What would this thing be?”
“We want to cook you some popcorn,” said Lucy. “You see, this boat is full of popcorn, and we would like you to try just a little bit of it. We come from the Popcorn Islands, as you know, and nobody knows how to cook popcorn as well as a Popcorn Islander.”
The pirates looked at one another. Greed: they could hardly resist the thought of a popcorn fe
ast. And laziness: somebody else would be doing it for them.
“Well, I must say you children isn’t too bad,” said Bert. “Why don’t you do that little thing for us. What do you say, men?”
The other pirates all nodded their agreement.
“Shall we do it for lunch tomorrow?” asked Lucy. “If you wouldn’t mind giving us the morning off work, we’ll get everything ready.”
“Naturally,” said Bert. “It’s all in a good cause, of course. But you’ll have to work twice as hard in the afternoon, mind you.”
Lucy left them to the rest of their dinner and went back to the others.
“It’s working,” she said. “They fell for it. Now all we have to do is get everything ready tomorrow morning.”
That night, as they lay in their hammocks – or on the galley floor, as the case may be – each of them thought of what was planned for the next day. It was a very daring plan, which might just work. Of course, if it didn’t work … Well, that didn’t bear thinking about.
The next morning Tommy accompanied the girls down into the hold of the pirate ship to get supplies of popcorn for the lunch.
“We’ll need a whole sack,” said Lucy, pointing to a particularly large sack of popcorn on top of all the others.
Tommy was a bit unsure, but his natural greed soon overcame his doubts.
“I suppose that’s all right,” he said, as he lifted the sack down on his broad shoulders and began to carry it to the galley. “I must say I can’t wait to taste some of this stuff. I hope it’s as good as you say it is, otherwise we shall all be very cross indeed and we may be tempted to throw you to the sharks.”
Sam was waiting for them in the galley. They had it to themselves that morning, as Mrs Bert saw no reason to cook if there was going to be a popcorn feast for lunch. So the children did not even have to whisper as they made their preparations, and they were even able to bring Biscuit out of his hiding place to give him a chance to stretch his legs around the galley.
The first thing that they had to do was to move the cooking stove into the middle of the galley. This was not difficult, as the stove was on wheels, which could be locked into position once it was in the right place. Then, when the stove was ready, Sam and Lucy went off to the bathroom and carried back the large tin bath which the pirates used to wash in. This was given a good scrubbing and placed on top of the stove.
“Now all we have to do is to pour in the oil,” said Lucy. “And then we can put the popcorn in.”
The children went to the galley cupboard and took out several large bottles of cooking oil. These were poured into the tin bath, where they made a greasy, golden pool.
“Now,” said Lucy. “Let’s pour in the popcorn.”
There’s a very large amount of popcorn in a popcorn sack, and when they had finished, the tin bath was filled to the very brim with raw popcorn.
Lucy stood back and inspected their work. “I think we’re ready,” she said. “Let’s put Biscuit back in the cabin and then we can sit down and wait until lunchtime.”
There was only an hour or so to go before lunch, but it seemed to the children that the minutes were dragging by terribly slowly. Then, at last, the hands of the galley clock pointed to twelve o’clock and they knew that it was too late to back out.
8
A Lot of Popcorn
The pirates did not need to be reminded of the treat in store for them. At precisely twelve o’clock Tommy was at the galley door, where his eyes fell hungrily on the large tub of unpopped popcorn.
“Oh my goodness!” he cried, rubbing his stomach in anticipation. “This looks very interesting!”
The others arrived shortly afterwards. Mrs Bert was the last to sit down, as she had some difficulty finding her teeth. But at last they were found in one of the frying pans and everybody was ready. They were all in a very good mood and were clearly looking forward to their unusual lunch.
“Makes a change from your potatoes, Mrs Bert,” said Stinger.
Mrs Bert glared at him angrily. “Nothing wrong with my potatoes, is there, Bert?”
Bert smiled. “Nothing at all, my dear. But I must say that I does like a nice bit of popcorn now and then.”
Lucy stepped forward and clapped her hands.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she began.
“Oh, that’s a nice touch,” said Bert. “They shows proper respect for their betters, these kids. I think it was a pretty good bit of work we did when we stealed … I mean, when we invited these kids on board.”
Lucy waited until he had finished. Then she continued. “To thank you for all your kindness to us, we have prepared a traditional Popcorn Island feast for you. All I have to do is to light the stove and then, in a few minutes you will have all the delicious popcorn you could possibly eat!”
“Get on with it, then,” said Bert impatiently. “We’re all waiting.”
Lucy stepped forward and lit the stove. Then the three children stood in the doorway and waited. The pirates all watched hungrily.
“I hope it doesn’t take too long,” said Tommy. “I didn’t have a big breakfast this morning. I was saving myself for this.”
“Excuse me,” said Mrs Bert. “I saw you eating like a horse. You had four fried eggs and eight slices of toast. I saw you, Tommy. You can’t fool me. Can you, Bert?”
“No,” said Bert. “You can’t fool Mrs Bert. I’ve tried for years, but it’s never worked. You can’t fool her.”
While the pirates were arguing, the children were waiting for the first sounds of popping. Suddenly Sam nudged Lucy, and Lucy in turn nudged Hermione.
“It’s started,” Lucy whispered. “There it goes.”
It is a special feature of popcorn from the Popcorn Islands that it explodes with a particularly loud pop. This started to happen all of a sudden, and the pirates let out whoops of delight. As some of the popped corn started to come to the surface, it was grabbed by eager hands and stuffed into eager mouths.
“Oh, this is wonderful!” mumbled Tommy, as he put handfuls of popcorn into his mouth.
This brought grunts of agreement from other popcorn-filled mouths. But now, as more popcorn exploded, something quite extraordinary happened. So much popcorn started to go off, popping and cracking like a hundred little fireworks, that it flowed over the edge of the tin tub. The pirates thought this was very exciting, and they got down on their hands and knees to scoop the popcorn off the floor. But they could not do it quickly enough. More popcorn went off, and still more after that. The galley was now beginning to fill up with popping popcorn, surrounding the pirates and completely hemming them in.
“Help!” shouted Mrs Bert suddenly. “Stop this popcorn! It’s out of control!”
Nobody heeded her cries. The children certainly did not. They had now closed the galley door and were standing out on the deck, looking in through the window at the pirates. It was an unequal struggle they witnessed. No matter how hard the pirates tried to stand up and get out of the galley, they were forced back into their seats by exploding popcorn. It was like trying to swim in honey – quite impossible.
“It’s worked!” shouted Hermione. “They’re trapped!”
It was now a simple matter for Lucy to turn the key in the galley door and lock the pirates in. They could do nothing to stop her, and they shouted and waved their fists angrily as they realised their plight.
“We’ll get you!” shouted Stinger, from the middle of the great mound of popcorn which had surrounded him. “It’ll be sharks for you!”
“Well it’s popcorn for you!” shouted Sam in reply. “And it serves you right too!”
It was one thing to trap all the pirates, but quite another to take control of the ship. They would now have to try to turn it round and sail right back, hoping to reach the place where they had last seen Captain Foster. This would not be easy, as none of them knew a great deal about sailing, and the pirate ship was quite a large one.
“You go up and start pulling on those ropes,” Lucy
said to Sam. “Hermione and I will …”
She stopped. While everybody had been sitting down to their popcorn feast, the ship had continued on its way. This meant that the pirates must have left somebody in charge of the ship – somebody who was not in the galley!
Lucy quickly looked through the galley window. The room was now almost completely full of popcorn, and so it was difficult to tell exactly who was there. There was Bert – or a bit of him – and there were Stinger and Charlie, up to their necks in popcorn, and that arm over there, waving and pounding away to no effect, looked like a part of Bill. And of course Tommy could be made out in another pile of popcorn, or at least his stomach could. But there was no sign of Ed.
Lucy turned to Hermione and began to tell her what she had discovered.
“Ed must be at the ship’s wheel,” she said. “We should have thought –”
She was interrupted by an angry shout. There at the other end of the deck, shaking his fist in their direction, was Ed.
“What’s going on?” he shouted. “Where’s everybody? Why have you closed the galley door?”
The children stood stock still. Ed was now running towards them and nobody had any idea what to do. It would be impossible for them to resist him, as the pirates, even if lazy, were all remarkably strong. Ed would quickly overpower them and release the others, and then …
Biscuit leapt out and stood in front of Ed, growling and barking as fiercely as he could. Ed stopped where he was and looked down at the plucky little dog.
“Get out of my way, you stupid little animal,” he snarled.
Biscuit did not take well to being talked to in this way, and he let out a low growl.
Ed now drew back a leg and aimed a hard kick in Biscuit’s direction. With most dogs, that would have worked, but Biscuit, of course, moved sideways. Ed did not expect this, and suddenly found a determined little dog latched painfully on to his leg.