Shivers was worried about whether or not he would ever see Brock again. But he was also worried about Margo. And he was worried about Albee. Shivers had a lot to worry about.
Just then, there was a loud blast from a giant steam whistle above the meat grinder, and the conveyor belt screeched to a halt. Shivers was so startled that he leaped up in the air, but the chains on his legs pulled him right back down.
“What is that horrible noise?!” Shivers asked. “I’ve never hated a noise so much in my life!”
“It’s the dinner whistle,” Tilda explained.
“Oh! In that case, I take back every bad thing I ever said about it,” Shivers said. “I’m starving!”
Tilda picked up a plate from beneath the conveyor belt and handed it to Shivers. “The guards will bring us the food. Then we have five minutes to eat,” Tilda explained.
“How many hot dogs do we get?” Shivers asked, rubbing his hands together.
“Mustardio doesn’t like to waste his hot dogs on us pirates,” Bob said. “He gives us French food.”
“Fancy!” said Shivers.
“Disgusting,” Bob corrected him. “So far, we’ve had mashed-up goose livers and frogs’ legs soaked in slime.”
The guards had already begun making the rounds, carrying gigantic buckets full of food and slopping a serving onto each pirate’s plate.
“Ew . . .” Shivers said, dreading whatever was in those buckets.
A guard stopped in front of Shivers and his parents. He reached into the bucket with a ladle and sloshed a green, gooey mixture onto their plates.
“What is this?” Shivers asked him.
“Escargots,” the guard grunted as he marched away.
“That’s not even a real word!” Shivers whined.
Tilda leaned over and whispered in his ear: “You have to get us out of here, Shivers. You’re our only hope. You made it this far. I know you can do it!”
“Mom, look around!” said Shivers, forgetting to whisper. “These are the bravest pirates on the Eastern Seas. They all came so close to getting the Treasure Torch. And now they’re all trapped. If they can’t defeat Mustardio, a scared pirate like me doesn’t have a chance.” He put his head in his hands.
Tilda looked at Bob with a twinkle in her eye. “Bob? What does escargots mean?”
Bob looked back at her and smiled. Quietly, he picked up one of the little green creatures from his plate and, without Shivers noticing, plopped it on his head. “Well, Tilda . . . escargots means ‘snails.’”
Shivers’s face turned as green as the food.
“Shivers!” Tilda shouted. “There’s a snail on your head!”
Shivers screamed.
Without thinking, he aimed the mustard bottle at his head and started squeezing. He squeezed until he had covered himself in mustard and his scrawny legs were slippery enough to slide right out of the chains. Now that his legs were free, he ran screaming all over the hot-dog factory. He jumped up and grabbed the lever, trying to climb up onto the machine for safety. But he slid right back off, bringing the lever down with him and starting the conveyor belt again.
Mustardio gasped, horrified. “Guards! Get him!” he shouted.
The guards tried to catch up with Shivers, but they were no match for his fear of snails. Shivers had never run so fast in his life. He hopped up onto the conveyor belt and tried to run forward, but the belt was moving in the opposite direction, so he just stayed in the same place. As he ran in place, he stepped on the hot dogs, smashing the buns and dripping mustard everywhere.
Mustardio fell to his knees. “No! My delicious doggies!”
A pirate at the relish chopping station picked up one of the snails on his plate and flung it toward Shivers with his spoon. It hit him right in the ear.
Shivers screamed again and jumped off the conveyor belt. “Drown the snails!” he screamed, grabbing a barrel full of pickle juice and pouring it on his head. Another pirate sent a snail sailing onto Shivers’s cheek. With that, Shivers spat pickle juice directly into one of the guard’s eyes and sent him stumbling blindly into a pile of peeled onions, where he began to cry. Tilda and Bob’s plan was working perfectly.
All the pirates in the factory were cheering, “Go, Shivers!” and “Go, snails!” and rattling their chains. They all began to sling their snails toward Shivers like a fleet of flying boogers. The snails stuck to his forehead and the back of his neck, and some even glommed on to his bunny slippers.
Shivers screamed so loudly that the sauerkraut jars shattered and spilled all over the conveyor belt. By now, the gears were so clogged with condiments that the machine creaked, sputtered, and broke. The floor was covered in ruined mustard, and Mustardio started to slip around.
At that moment, a final snail sailed toward Shivers. It landed like a mustache just above his upper lip, with one of its long, gooey eyeballs stuffed directly up Shivers’s nose. he started to scream. But it wasn’t a scream at all.
It was a sneeze! The force of Shivers’s sneeze sent the snail flying across the room toward the bald guard and the one with the eyebrow. Both guards ducked to avoid it, but crashed into each other and conked their heads together. Big goofy grins spread over their faces, and they tumbled to the floor for what appeared to be a very long nap. As they fell, their keys flew out of their hands.
Bob caught the keys and unlocked the chains holding all the pirate prisoners, even Great-Uncle Marvin, who just said, “Took you long enough!” He was still as grouchy as ever.
Freed from their chains, the pirates headed toward a small door that opened out from Lady Liberty’s big toe. Being pirates, they easily ran over the messy floor without slipping or sliding—it was no worse than a ship’s deck in a rainstorm. They pulled on the door with all their strength until it finally opened, and they ran out onto Liberty Island.
“No!” Mustardio shouted. He tried to run after them, but he slipped on the mustard and fell to the floor.
Tilda grabbed a relish chopping sword and pointed it at Mustardio. He was trapped.
“Shivers, you did it!” Tilda said. She had never been more proud of her son.
“Yeah!” Shivers cried. “I defeated the snails!”
“No,” Tilda said. “You freed all the pirates! You were so brave!”
“Brave?” Shivers was puzzled. “You must be thinking of someone else. I’ve been nothing but terrified all day. I was terrified when we went out to sea, I was terrified when we met Captain Pokes-You-in-the-Eye, I was terrified when we fought the giant squid, I was terrified when we escaped the cruise ship, and I was terrified when we climbed the Statue of Liberty.”
“But you didn’t run away from your fears. You ran right through them,” said Tilda. “You know, courage is not the absence of fear; it’s mastery of fear. We read that on a cereal box once.”
“I should eat more cereal,” Shivers said.
Bob squeezed Shivers’s shoulder. “We all just need a little help sometimes. That’s why I put that snail on your head.”
“You did that?!” Shivers couldn’t believe his ears, which were still covered in snail slime.
Bob nodded proudly.
Shivers walked over to Mustardio, who was still trapped on the floor. “The game is up, Mustardio,” he said. “Your hot-dog days are about to turn to cold-dog nights.”
Mustardio grinned. “You’ve forgotten one thing, Shivers the Pirate.”
Shivers looked at his watch. “You’re right! Song and dance time!”
“No!” shouted Mustardio. “You forgot your precious Margo cargo!” He snapped his fingers and the guard with the black hood appeared.
“Throw her in the meat grinder!” Mustardio commanded.
Shivers froze like a Popsicle made of fear.
(That’s sixteen in secret code)
SHIVERS AND HIS PARENTS watched in horror as the masked guard made his way swiftly down the stairs toward the Bungeon.
They could hear the guard growl, “Come on, Tiny, it’s time to mee
t the meat maker.”
Shivers couldn’t believe what he heard next.
“You’ll have to come and get me!” Margo shouted.
Mustardio let out a high-pitched giggle. “Say good-bye to your friend!”
Shivers glared at Mustardio and said, “You mean best friend!”
From below, they heard the jangling of keys, then an old, rusty door creaking open. Shivers looked nervously at his parents, frantically trying to think of a plan. Or, at least, something nice to tell Margo before she turned into a hot dog.
But then they heard something they didn’t expect. The clink of metal on metal, then a loud yelping sound, a a and a
Then, there was silence.
“Ahem.” Mustardio cleared his throat. “I said, throw her in the meat grinder!” He pointed his finger straight up in the air.
Suddenly, there was a pitter-patter of feet. Shivers saw Margo appear at the top of the stairs, a big smile on her face, and no chains around her ankles. Behind her, there was a guy as broad as a boat. As he came up the stairs, Shivers heard, “Hello, brother.”
“Brock!” Shivers shouted with glee, “You saved Margo!”
“I saved her?” Brock said, looking puzzled. “I couldn’t have ever gotten out of there without the spoon she snuck into the Bungeon.”
Margo smiled proudly. So did Shivers.
“See? I told you spoons were dangerous,” Shivers said as he ran to Margo and gave her the biggest hug of either of their lives. Then Brock and Shivers did their Secret Brother High Five, which meant Brock gave Shivers a regular high five and Shivers fell over.
Mustardio’s face was as red as the ketchup he despised. “You mean to tell me that my trusted guard was defeated with a spoon? A SPOON?!” he shouted.
Brock shrugged and looked at Margo, then said, “Yup.”
“He’s a man of few words,” said Margo. “But he’s a great pirate!”
Shivers turned to Mustardio and said, “Your hot-dog days are about to turn to cold-dog nights.”
Mustardio frowned. “You just said that to me five minutes ago.”
“But this time, it’s true!” said Shivers. “Plus, it sounded so cool the first time I said it.”
Bob nodded in agreement.
Then Margo marched over to Mustardio. He was still trapped on the cold, sticky floor with Tilda’s sword at his belly. “Now tell us where the real Treasure Torch is!” Margo said boldly, staring down at his ugly mug.
“I’ll never tell!” Mustardio spat back. Tilda took a step closer so the sword tickled his belly button.
But just then, they heard a shout from behind them. “Hold it right there!”
“Hey, that voice sounds so familiar,” said Shivers.
He turned and saw two figures standing in the open doorway at Lady Liberty’s big toe.
“Is that an old onion on a toothpick?” Tilda asked.
But it wasn’t an old onion on a toothpick. It just looked that way. It was Aubrey Pimpleton! And Captain Pokes-You-in-the-Eye was right behind him.
“What are you doing here?” asked Margo.
“We followed you! And we thought we’d lost you until we found this!” said the captain. Aubrey held up Margo’s big green backpack. Shivers and Margo gasped.
The captain continued, “And we found something even more interesting inside!”
Aubrey unzipped the front pocket and pulled out a plastic bag filled with water. Albee was swimming frantic circles inside. “The little guy was swimming so fast inside his bag that all we had to do was follow the floating backpack until we hit the shore,” Aubrey said with amazement.
Shivers was thrilled. “Albee!” he shouted. Then he turned to Margo and said, “See? I told you that Aubrey Pimpleton was a great guy. And his hair is just the best—”
“We’re not here to give the fish back!” interrupted the captain. “We’re here to hold it hostage! Give us the Treasure Torch and no fish gets hurt!”
“The Treasure Torch isn’t here. Mustardio replaced it with a mustard swirl!” Margo explained.
“Now give us our fish!” Tilda cried, swinging her sword through the air. Just as she was about to point her sword at the captain, Mustardio jumped up onto his feet and grabbed Albee’s bag. Aubrey tried to hold on, but his finger bones were like soda straws and the bag slid right out of his hands.
“Well, well, well,” said Mustardio, holding Albee’s bag high in the air. “Looks like I’m top dog again. Top hot dog, that is!”
Margo shouted, “Give him back!”
Mustardio grinned at Albee. “You know, all of a sudden, I’m feeling very thirsty.”
“No!” Margo cried. But it was too late.
Mustardio opened Albee’s plastic bag, drank all the water inside, and slurped up Albee along with it, swallowing him whole.
“What have you done?!” Margo shouted.
Strangely, Shivers did not seem concerned at all.
“Mm,” Mustardio said, licking his lips. “I do love the taste of guppy.”
“Oh, he’s not a guppy,” Shivers explained calmly. “He’s a blowfish.”
Mustardio’s eyes widened and he suddenly looked very worried. In fact, very worried was the last thing Mustardio ever looked.
Albee blew up to his full blowfish size, exploding Mustardio like a firecracker. Bob and Tilda gasped. Margo ducked for cover.
The force of the blast sent Captain Pokes-You-in-the-Eye and Aubrey flying through the air. They landed right in Brock’s massive arms. He scooped them up and started carrying them away.
“Where are you taking them?” asked Shivers.
“The Bungeon.” Brock shrugged. “Where else?”
Just as Brock was about to walk down the stairs, he slipped the big green backpack off of Aubrey’s shoulder and tossed it to Margo. Margo put the backpack on, grinning. Even though it was wet and sandy, she had never been happier to have it on her back.
Shivers picked up Albee, who was already returning to his normal size. Then he filled an empty pickle jar with water and put Albee inside.
“Way to go, Albee!” said Margo, patting the pickle jar.
“Yeah, great job!” said Shivers. “Mustardio’s hot-dog days have turned into cold-dog—”
“Not again, Shivers!” said Margo.
Brock locked the Bungeon door with a loud CLICK and then headed back up the stairs.
They all took one last look at the hot-dog factory, then cheered and ran through the door onto the sandy shores of Liberty Island.
Down in the Bungeon, Captain Pokes-You-in-the-Eye was trying to pick the lock with his poking finger. Aubrey Pimpleton was making a bed out of hot-dog buns. It had been a long day.
“How are we going to get out of here?” the captain wondered.
“We’ll find a way,” said Aubrey.
“You bet your one hair we will,” the captain growled. “The real Treasure Torch is still out there. And we’re going to find it.”
Meanwhile, Shivers and his family and friends were looking for a boat to sail back to New Jersey. Shivers noticed Captain Pokes-You-in-the-Eye’s boat, the iPoke, floating a few yards away.
“Why don’t we borrow that one?” Shivers said.
Margo grinned. “I don’t think they’ll be needing it for a while.”
Shivers sailed the iPoke into the sunset with the best crew he could imagine. Margo and Albee were at his side. His parents and Brock were on the deck.
His mom called up to him, “Shivers! Try some of this magnificent pie!”
“We found it in the captain’s fridge!” added Bob.
Shivers and Margo shouted at the same time, “Don’t eat the pie!”
Margo looked at Shivers. “So . . . what are you doing tomorrow?” she asked.
Shivers shrugged. “I guess that depends on what you’re doing tomorrow.”
Margo grinned, her green eyes sparkling like two big bowls of Jell-O. She watched the Statue of Liberty grow smaller and smaller in the distance. Now that was
an adventure, she thought to herself.
As the ship drifted away from Liberty Island, Shivers grabbed his stomach.
“Uh-oh,” he said to Margo. “I’m feeling a little seasick.”
Margo turned to him and smiled. “It must be all that courage.”
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ANNABETH BONDOR-STONE AND CONNOR WHITE graduated from Northwestern University in 2009. When he is not writing books, Connor is a director and producer for the Story Pirates, an arts organization that teaches kids creative writing, then turns their stories into a sketch comedy show. Annabeth is also a producer for the Story Pirates, and her plays have been produced in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Louisville. Connor and Annabeth once ran a half marathon together. After that, they decided to never run again.
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Credits
Cover illustration © 2015 by Anthony Holden
Cover design by Joe Merkel
Copyright
SHIVERS!: THE PIRATE WHO’S AFRAID OF EVERYTHING. Text copyright © 2015 by Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Anthony Holden. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bondor-Stone, Annabeth.
Shivers: the pirate who’s afraid of everything / by Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White; based on a really funny idea by Harrison Blanz ; illustrated by Anthony Holden. — First edition.
The Pirate Who's Afraid of Everything Page 7
