“I can’t believe you tipped the president of the pirate league out of her chair, Mr. Fletcher,” Hilary said as she followed the others down the lane. “I’m sure Leading the League has quite a few things to say about that.”
The pirates filed down the hill, across the square, and through a tangle of narrow cobblestone streets. At last they arrived at the wall that encircled the island. A small iron gate was hidden away behind a rosebush, and Jasper pushed it open.
Beyond the gate was the shore, beyond the shore was the sea, and anchored in the sea was a ship with battle-scarred sails, long rows of bookshelves, and a basket tied to the bowsprit just big enough to fit a gargoyle. For a moment, Hilary was sure she’d imagined it. “But the Pigeon sank!” she said. “I saw it happen!”
“It was thoughtful of the Mutineers to build us a replica,” said Jasper, “and even more thoughtful of Captain Wolfson and his men to patch her up once they’d chased Oliver Sanderson halfway around the kingdom. I’m afraid you’ll still need to give her a good scrubbing to get the villainy off her, though.”
“She’s a good size for setting out in search of buried treasure,” said Charlie.
“And for visiting friends,” said Claire.
“She’s perfect,” Hilary said. She set down the gargoyle and ran across the sand to the dinghy that sat ready to take her out to the Pigeon. Waves lapped at her ankles as she dragged the dinghy into the water, climbed inside, and took up the oars. Gunpowder Bay was still cold enough to numb Hilary’s toes, but even when she finally noticed the chill, she didn’t mind it a bit.
Then she looked back at the others, who were still waiting by the gate. “Are you coming?” she called.
Her mates glanced at one another. “You want us to come with you?” Miss Greyson asked.
“Of course,” said Hilary. “If we start right away, we’ll have just enough time for a sail around the island before the fireworks begin.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’M HUGELY GRATEFUL, as always, to the people who guided this book into the world and made the experience so rewarding while they were at it:
To Toni Markiet, whose warmth, wisdom, and mastery of pirate jargon are unparalleled, and whom I can’t wait to join on more adventures;
to Abbe Goldberg, who’s taken excellent care of these books since her first day on the job;
to the entire team at HarperCollins: Amy Ryan, Gina Rizzo, Karen Sherman, Kathryn Silsand, Emilie Polster, Alana Whitman, Kate Morgan Jackson, and everyone else who worked in large and small ways over the past four years to bring this series to life;
to Pétur Antonsson and Dave Phillips, who draw the worlds I can only imagine, and to Katherine Kellgren, who makes it all sound even better;
to agent/miracle worker Sarah Davies and the whole wonderful crew at the Greenhouse and at Rights People;
to my foreign publishers, who have guided Hilary around the world with great talent and enthusiasm;
to Hannah Moderow, who always has the right words;
to the multitude of writers who’ve given me advice, encouragement, company, and sanity in equal measure;
to the parents, educators, librarians, and booksellers who have shared these stories with the young readers in their lives;
to my friends and family, who are the finest of their kind anywhere in the known world;
to Zach, who makes all challenges less fearsome;
and to the gargoyle, who came to visit one day and decided to stay for a while.
BACK AD
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by Amy Rose Capetta
CAROLINE CARLSON holds an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She grew up in Massachusetts and now lives with her husband in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, amid many stacks of books. She is also the author of the first two books in the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates series, Magic Marks the Spot and The Terror of the Southlands. You can visit her online at www.carolinecarlsonbooks.com.
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CREDITS
Cover art © 2015 by Pétur Antonsson
Hand lettering by David Coulson
Cover design by Amy Ryan
COPYRIGHT
THE VERY NEARLY HONORABLE LEAGUE OF PIRATES: THE BUCCANEERS’ CODE. Text copyright © 2015 by Caroline Carlson. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Dave Phillips. 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.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carlson, Caroline.
The Buccaneers’ Code / Caroline Carlson ; illustrations by Dave Phillips. — First edition.
pages cm. — (The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates ; book 3)
Summary: When Miss Pimm, Enchantress of the Marsh, decides to retire, she enlists young Hilary Westfield to gather a band of scallywags and prepare to challenge Captain Blacktooth in an all-out battle for the presidency of the League in order to save the kingdom.
ISBN 978-0-06-219439-8 (hardcover)
EPub Edition © August 2015 ISBN 9780062194411
[1. Pirates—Fiction. 2. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 3. Leadership—Fiction. 4. Magic—Fiction. 5. Sex role—Fiction.] I. Phillips, Dave, illustrator. II. Title.
PZ7.C21644Buc 2015 2014042510
[Fic]—dc23 CIP
AC
15 16 17 18 19 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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