The Terror of the Southlands
Page 23
The gargoyle craned his neck so far that he nearly fell out of his bag. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Oh, Hilary, are these my admirers?”
“Yes,” she said, “I believe they are.”
“And could that be—” The gargoyle paused, and his ears twitched. “Well, what do you know,” he said happily as a queen’s inspector struck up a fanfare from a window across the street. “They remembered the trumpets.”
AFTER HILARY HAD hugged Claire good-bye and given Miss Pimm a hearty handshake, and after she had bought a new pirate wardrobe and a fine new hat that the gargoyle declared to be breathtaking, she trudged back to the Pigeon and tossed her brown-paper packages down on the deck. Then she settled the gargoyle back into his Nest and watched the wavelets break against the ship’s hull far below them.
Charlie asked if she wanted to practice a new dueling strategy Jasper had described to him, but Hilary shook her head. “It’s kind of you to offer,” she said, “but I’m not much in the mood for dueling.”
“That’s all right,” said Charlie. “Pirates don’t always have to duel. Sometimes they can look out at the waves with their friends.”
Hilary smiled. “Is that one of the VNHLP’s rules?”
“Absolutely not,” said Charlie. “It’s my own, and you’re welcome to borrow it.”
“Thank you,” said Hilary. “I believe I will.”
They looked out at the waves for quite some time, munching on hardtack and trading fearsome pirate tales until the sky above the horizon was streaked with sunset. Then the gargoyle stirred in his Nest. “Shiver me timbers!” he said. “It’s the Blunderbuss!”
A cheerful bell rang out from Cannonball Jack’s houseboat as it approached the Pigeon. “Ahoy, Terror!” Cannonball Jack called out. “I was hopin’ I’d find ye here. I’ve got some scallywags who’d like to talk to ye.”
As Hilary watched, a handful of pirates shuffled out onto the Blunderbuss’s deck. They all wore bedraggled peacock-blue uniforms, and they all looked utterly exhausted. Hilary nearly swallowed her hardtack whole when she saw that the pirate at the front of the group was Captain Blacktooth’s first mate, Mr. Twigget.
“I found ’em floatin’ on a little raft a few leagues south o’ here,” Cannonball Jack explained. “They say they gave ol’ Blacktooth the slip, and they want to talk to Pirate Hilary Westfield.” He paused and gave Hilary an apologetic sort of smile. “Which is who ye be.”
“But they’re Mutineers,” said Charlie. “Why should we listen to them?”
“Hold on a moment,” said Hilary. “I suppose we should hear what they want.” She stood up straight and studied the line of pirates who looked up at her from the Blunderbuss. “Well, Mr. Twigget? What is it?”
Mr. Twigget cleared his throat and shuffled forward when Cannonball Jack poked him with the tip of his sword. “Ahoy, Pirate Westfield,” he said. “We—my mates and I, I mean—we’ve been thinkin’ a bit about our careers, and we were hopin’ we might be able to join your crew.”
“But you work for Captain Blacktooth.” Hilary reached for her cutlass.
“Not anymore,” Mr. Twigget said earnestly. “There are a few of us who don’t care for his methods—meanin’ the kidnappin’ and all. It’s not very nearly honorable, if you know what I mean.”
Hilary nodded. “I know perfectly well.”
“Anyway, we’re tired of bein’ ordered about by that Mrs. Tilbury, and we heard you stood up to Captain Blacktooth. Some scallywags are already talkin’ about takin’ sides, and we’d rather be on your side than his.” Mr. Twigget wrung his hands. “It’s all right if you say no. We can find other hobbies. . . . There’s more to life than piratin’, I suppose. . . .”
The other pirates looked at Mr. Twigget as though they were not at all sure this was true.
Hilary raised her eyebrows at Charlie and the gargoyle. Then she turned back to Mr. Twigget. “I can see we’ve got a lot to discuss,” she said, “so you might as well stay for dinner. You too, Cannonball Jack. Miss Greyson always cooks twice as much food as we need anyway.”
Charlie tossed a rope down to the Blunderbuss, and the pirates scrambled aboard. Mr. Twigget took Hilary’s hand in both of his and shook it up and down until Hilary was sure it would come loose from her arm. “Thank you, Terror,” he said. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
“You’re welcome,” Hilary said as she freed herself from Mr. Twigget. “Charlie, could you take these scallywags down to the galley and explain things to Miss Greyson?”
When all the pirates had clomped down the deck after Charlie, Hilary sighed and scratched the gargoyle behind the ears. “I suppose a pirate never gets much of a rest from adventure,” she said.
The gargoyle agreed. “And it’s a good thing, too,” he said. “I think I’d get awfully bored otherwise.”
“Well, then,” said Hilary, “where should we set our course? To the far corners of Augusta, perhaps? To someplace so perilous that not even Captain Blacktooth would dare to follow?”
The gargoyle thought for a moment. He sniffed the air. “To the galley,” he said at last. “I think Miss Greyson is baking a pie.”
Hilary laughed and scooped the gargoyle from his Nest, and as the sun set over Pemberton Bay, they followed the rest of the pirates down to dinner.
Excerpt from The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #3: The Buccaneer’s Code
TURN THE PAGE FOR A PEEK AT
HILARY’S NEXT VERY NEARLY
HONORABLE ADVENTURE
(GARGOYLE INCLUDED).
* * *
THE VERY NEARLY HONORABLE LEAGUE OF PIRATES
Servin’ the High Seas for 153 Years
ATTENTION PIRATES!
The VNHLP regrets to report that an unscrupulous band of rebels is traveling the kingdom in an attempt to recruit pirates to their cause. They are led by Pirate Hilary Westfield, who aims to seize control of the League from its rightful president, Captain Rupert Blacktooth. If she dares to approach you, do not allow her to enlist you in her ranks! According to League regulations, Pirate Westfield may not be harmed, but the VNHLP recommends that all scallywags on the High Seas stay as far from her as possible. Do not talk to Pirate Westfield. Do not look her in the eye. Do not be lured into conversation with her gargoyle. Any pirate who is seen communicating with Pirate Westfield or her friends will be interrogated, stripped of his cutlass, and keelhauled by Captain Blacktooth. And remember: each loyal scallywag who chooses to support the president in his battle against Pirate Westfield will receive a purse of magic coins and a new hat feather of his choice.
* * *
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
EVERY BOOK RELIES on the talents of a daring and heroic band of scallywags, and this one is no exception. Thanks to my editor, Toni Markiet, whose keen eye makes me a better writer, and whose confidence makes me a braver one. Thanks also to Rachel Abrams, who is a true professional both when editing and when hailing cabs; to Abbe Goldberg, who calmly does more than I can possibly imagine; to Dave Phillips for his beautiful illustrations; and to everyone at HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster UK who has done amazing work on the pirates’ behalf, particularly Amy Ryan, Emilie Polster, Mary Ann Zissimos, Gina Rizzo, Karen Sherman, and Alana Whitman.
As always, I owe heaps of gratitude to my agent, Sarah Davies, and to the team at Rights People, who take excellent care of my books.
Thanks to Hannah Moderow, Meg Wiviott, Alison Cherry, Melanie Crowder, and Anna Drury for their smart, spot-on advice, and to all the writers who so generously offered up suggestions and support: Jonathan Auxier, Anna Boll, Brandy Colbert, Corey Ann Haydu, Val Howlett, Kristen Kittscher, Jessica Leader, Helen Pyne, Lindsay Ribar, Tom Sweterlitsch, Liz Whelan, Kathleen Wilson, the L.E.C.S., and the Vermont College of Fine Arts community.
And thanks to my family—Zach Pezzementi and Jane, Chris, and Jonathan Carlson—for their love, their enthusiasm, and their willingness to read many, many drafts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
&nbs
p; 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 book in the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates series, Magic Marks the Spot. You can visit her online at www.carolinecarlsonbooks.com.
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CREDITS
Cover art © 2014 by Pétur Antonsson
Hand lettering by David Coulson
Cover design by Amy Ryan
COPYRIGHT
THE VERY NEARLY HONORABLE LEAGUE OF PIRATES #2: THE TERROR OF THE SOUTHLANDS
Text copyright © 2014 by Caroline Carlson
Illustrations copyright © 2014 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014937633
ISBN 978-0-06-219436-7 (trade bdg.)—ISBN 978-0-06-236178-3 (int.)
EPub Edition © AUGUST 2014 ISBN: 9780062194381
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FIRST EDITION
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