The Curse of Captain Cross-eyed (4 page)

Sara and Surinder weren't so keen.

“You want us to help search a smelly wheelie bin for pirate rubbish?” said Sara, when I asked them at break.

“And keep a look-out in case you're spotted,” said Surinder.

I nodded.

Sara and Surinder looked at each other. “Perhaps it's the only way to get him to stop talking about this imaginary pirate,” said Sara.

“And get his mind back on football,” added Surinder.

“We'll do it on Saturday morning at the end of my round,” I grinned, and hurried away to football practice before they could change their minds.

When Saturday arrived, I sneaked two pairs of Mum's bright-yellow rubber gloves from the cupboard under the sink, and stuffed them into my jacket pocket. Then I pedalled off to do my round.

Sara and Surinder were waiting for me at number 13 when I finally got there.

“This
is
a weird street,” whispered Sara. “Some of the houses are very odd-looking.”

“You should see some of the
people
who live in them,” I said.

“Never mind that,” hissed Surinder. “What do you want us to do?”

“You can help me search the bin while Sara keeps a look-out,” I said, handing him
a pair of rubber gloves.

“I hope no one sees me wearing these,” he complained.

Sara stood under the chestnut tree while I put the paper under the stone by the front door, then Surinder and I tiptoed round to the back. The wheelie bin was in its usual place. Under the unblinking eye of the garden gnome, we crept towards it.

But we weren't the only ones there.

“Look, our first clue,” I whispered excitedly, pointing to a long line of insects that were making their way up the path. “Weevils!”

“They're ants, you idiot,” hissed Surinder.

I shrugged, opened the lid of the bin, and poked about among the pongy orange peel and eggshells. “There's just a load of rubbish in here,” I said.

“What did you expect? A couple of wooden legs and a pirate flag?”

I ignored him as we rummaged through cat-food tins and bird-seed packets.

“There are no rum bottles, just a load of empty fish-finger boxes. What kind of a pirate eats fish fingers?”

“This kind,” said a low, menacing voice.

Surinder and I both screamed.

A huge pirate loomed above us. He wore stripy black-and-white trousers tucked into high, black boots, a black jacket crisscrossed with silver chains, and a three-cornered hat. A thick, black beard covered his chin, and a vivid red scar was slashed across his cheek.

“Now what would you landlubbers be doin' here?” he snarled, putting his hands on his hips. “Are ye lookin' to steal Captain Cross-eyed's treasure? For if ye are I shall make ye walk the plank till ye fall SPLASH into a sea of hungry sharks. Oo-aarr!”

“N-n-n-no,” I said. “We just…”

Then the pirate took off his beard and gave a hearty laugh. “Hello, Jonny Smith,” he said. “Would you like to introduce me to your friend?
Friends
,” he corrected, as Sara came running round the corner. “And then you can tell me why you are so interested in the contents of my bin.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. So did Surinder.

“This is Sara and Surinder, and…” I paused.

“And?”

“And they didn't believe I had seen a pirate. Neither did my teacher, nor my
dad, who said you gave him boxes of sausages for the children's summer barbeque. I was looking for clues in your bin to convince them.”

“Aarr.” Captain Cross-eyed put on his pirate's voice again. “Clues. Like ground-up bones and dead-men's chests, ye mean.”

I gulped. I hadn't thought of that.

Captain Cross-eyed laughed. “I met your dad, Jonny, when he came to the factory to collect the sausages. He's a sensible man who will only believe the evidence of his own eyes. Why don't the three of you bring him here for a pirate tea, tomorrow at four o'clock.”

Sara, Surinder and I looked at each other. A pirate tea? Wow!

“OK,” we agreed.

Then we closed the lid of the bin, said goodbye to Captain Cross-eyed, and cycled back to my house.

Dad agreed to come to the pirate tea. He wanted to find out more about Captain Cross-eyed, too.

“There's just one small problem,” said Mum, when she came home and heard about our invitation. “I need to go and visit Gran again, so you'll have to take Ellie with you.”

“She'll eat all the pirate biscuits,” I protested. “We'll be left with the weevils.” But it was no use. Ellie still had to come.

Sara and Surinder were leaning on their bikes by the big chestnut tree at number 13 when Mum dropped us off the next day.

“I'll pick you up on my way back from Gran's,” she said. “Have fun!”

Dad hobbled behind us as we walked down the path. When we neared the front door, it slowly creaked open. A large pirate stood there. Out of one black sleeve gleamed a shiny metal hook. He held it up in greeting.

“I be Captain Cross-eyed,” he boomed. “Welcome aboard. Oo-aarr.”

“Er… Hi,” we all said. Apart from Ellie.

She pointed up at him. “Pi,” she said.

We laughed and went inside.

“Wow!” I breathed, when we entered the sitting room. It didn't look like the one we have at home. It was like walking into a
real
pirate ship!

Captain Cross-eyed grinned as we gazed around, our mouths open.

Two of the walls were covered in rigging, which I just itched to climb. A fantastic bookcase made out of driftwood filled another wall, while curtains made from shells and seaweed hung at the window. There were even tables and chairs made out of old barrels.

“Look,” Surinder nudged me. “That table's got GUNPOWDER stencilled on the side.”