Pirate Pug Page 2
He looked to Lady Miranda for reassurance.
‘Don’t worry, Pug! I’ll rescue you!’
Finnian wobbled the plank, forcing Pug to shuffle closer to the edge. Bravely he turned to face his foe and mustered his best pirate’s ‘Grrrrrrr!’.
As he growled, he realised his bottom was wet.
He looked behind him nervously. The plank was now at water level.
‘We’re sinking!’ wailed Morgan.
‘You’ve sunk our ship!’ Finnian accused Pug.
It was true. The collision had made a hole in the side of the Black Octopus and they were rapidly taking on water.
‘Abandon ship!’ shouted Lady Miranda.
Finnian, Caspar and Morgan hurriedly jumped on board The Fearless.
‘I think you’re forgetting something,’ said Lady Miranda, dashing across the now sodden deck of the Black Octopus and rescuing Pug from the plank. He gave her a quick lick of gratitude. He knew she’d never leave him behind.
‘It’s your choice,’ said Finnian to Daniel, Mimi and Hannah. ‘Either you join our crew and act like real pirates or you sink beneath the waves with Lady Fancy Pants and her spoilt pooch …’
‘You’re not real pirates,’ said Daniel, stepping on board the disappearing Black Octopus. ‘Real pirates don’t borrow boats from their dad.’
‘Or throw stones at birds,’ said Hannah joining him.
‘Or get their mums to tie their shoelaces,’ added Mimi, following the others.
Morgan and Caspar both looked at Finnian, who blushed.
‘The Fearless is ours now!’ he jeered back. ‘No matter what you say.’
He pushed The Fearless away from the doomed Black Octopus and the wind filled Wendy’s wonderful apron sails.
‘What are we going to do?’ asked Hannah.
‘Sink or swim, I suppose,’ said Daniel.
Pug knew it would be sink for him. He looked at the water with great concern. It was already up to his tummy.
But Lady Miranda was not going to give up that easily. ‘Quick – to the lifeboat,’ she ordered. Being an excellent lookout, she’d spotted it earlier.
They hurriedly climbed in.
‘How many souls on board, Pirate Pug?’ Lady Miranda asked as they cast off.
‘Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!’
‘Good work!’ she patted him on the head.
For once Pug was glad to be on a boat. They drifted away from the Black Octopus as she bubbled under the waves.
‘Finnian’s dad’s going to be really mad,’ said Daniel.
The crew of The Fearless was cast adrift, but all was not lost.
‘Grab an oar, Pug,’ ordered Lady Miranda. ‘We’re heading for dry land.’
This was the best news Pug had heard all day.
Chapter 5
The crew of The Fearless made landfall at Stub Toe Cove on Finders Keepers’ Island. The island felt almost tropical. There were lots of trees and lush undergrowth, and thankfully no sign of Finnian and his crew.
‘We need to find Rio before the sun goes down,’ said Lady Miranda. ‘Let’s split up.’
Pug looked concerned. He didn’t like being separated from Lady Miranda.
‘It’s all right, Pirate Pug,’ she said, comforting him. ‘You stay here and guard the lifeboat.’
Lady Miranda and Daniel took the coastal path, over some sharp rocks.
Mimi headed towards the highest point on the island.
And Hannah followed a line of trees she thought would appeal to Rio.
Pug didn’t much like being left alone so close to the sea. Plus he was beginning to feel hungry. He heard a strange sound.
Was that my tummy? he wondered as he heard the noise again.
‘SQUAWK!’
Rio!
Pug bravely followed the noise into what seemed like a jungle.
Where would I go if I were Rio? he wondered. He liked the idea of being a bird, but worried that, with his large tummy, he’d find it difficult to take off.
As he pondered these things he came into a clearing with an old shack in the middle. Pieces of broken glass hung from string outside the door. They glinted in the sunlight.
This, Pug decided, is exactly where Rio would be.
Pug carefully nosed open the door. It creaked loudly, and sure enough Rio flew out of the shack.
‘Who’s a pretty boy, then?’ squawked the parrot. (Pug did love Rio.)
Then he noticed something else.
There, on the floor of the shack, was the mayor’s chain! Lady Miranda was going to be so pleased with him.
Pug picked it up and thought he’d try it on for size. He was just admiring his reflection when a shadow darkened the doorway.
‘Not so fast,’ said Finnian.
Pug shrank back. He desperately wanted Lady Miranda to be there. She’d know what to do.
‘You don’t want to be mayor for a day anyway, do you, Pirate Pug?’ said Finnian, grabbing the mayor’s chain from around Pug’s neck and slamming the door of Finders Keepers’ shack in his face.
‘Quick, run to the boat!’ shouted Finnian from the other side of the door. ‘We’ve got it!’
Pug heard footsteps moving away from him followed by a desperate cry for help.
Pug tried the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He pulled a chair towards a table by the window and jumped up.
Finnian, Caspar and Morgan were waist-deep in sand.
‘It’s quicksand! HELP!’ shouted Finnian.
Pug could see they were in trouble. He took two steps back, closed his eyes and, like a true hero, ran at the glass.
Pug sailed through the air and landed, quite gracefully, on the porch. He rushed over to Finnian, Caspar and Morgan, while Rio flew off to get help.
Finnian was still holding one end of the mayor’s chain, but the other end was on solid ground next to Pug’s feet. Pug took hold of it in his mouth. Then Caspar grabbed hold of Finnian, and Morgan clung on to Caspar.
Pug started to pull.
‘Keep going!’ said Finnian, lifting up from the quicksand. ‘You’re doing brilliantly.’
‘HELP!’ shouted Morgan, who was sinking the fastest.
Then, to Pug’s relief, Lady Miranda appeared. She clasped her hands around Pug’s tummy and Daniel put his hands around her waist. Then Mimi and Hannah arrived and joined in too.
They pulled like a tug-of-war team, heaving for all they were worth. But the crew of the Black Octopus was stuck fast.
Finally, Rio came to help too, and with a satisfying POP! Finnian, Caspar and Morgan were free.
Both crews collapsed in a heap, safely away from the danger.
The crew of the Black Octopus dusted the sand off, and Lady Miranda helped Finnian tie his shoelaces, which had come undone. Together they walked to The Fearless, which was moored in a small lagoon.
Before they boarded, Finnian handed Pug the mayor’s chain. ‘I think this is yours,’ he said, placing the gold chain around Pug’s neck. Everyone cheered.
‘Any ideas how you’re going to spend your day as mayor?’ Lady Miranda asked Pug as she set their course for Pebbly Bay.
Pug had a think.
Chapter 6
The morning of the Pebbly Bay Parade had arrived. Because Pug was mayor for the day, the parade started from the Smuggler’s Rest Hotel. The chef had made an extra-large batch of jam tarts, which Lady Miranda, Daniel, Mimi and Hannah handed out to the cheering crowds as Pug was lifted high on people’s shoulders and carried through the streets.
Rio flew overhead squawking.
When they reached the square, Pug made a short speech …
‘Woof!’
Which was greeted with rapturous applause.
He then gave out various prizes for the best fancy dress, the coconut-shy champion and the finalists in the fishing contest.
By mid-afternoon, his work was done and he was ready for a nap.
Everyone agreed that Pug had been an excellent mayor – clearly pira
tes weren’t all bad after all.
Back at No. 10, The Crescent, Wendy was preparing a fish supper. Lady Miranda was giving Pug a bath, and Running Footman Will and Running Footman Liam were looking through their holiday snaps.
‘Do you think it’s a pirate’s life for Pug, m’lady?’ asked Wendy.
‘I don’t think so,’ replied Lady Miranda, lifting Pug out of the bathtub and towelling him dry. ‘He’s too kind, Wendy. He’d always return the treasure, which I think is against the pirate’s code.’
Lady Miranda and Pug sat down by the fire. ‘Don’t worry, Pug,’ she whispered, giving him a hug, ‘I won’t ever make you a pirate again.’
Pug sighed with relief.
‘I’ll just have to think of something else you can be instead.’
Laura James’s love of storytelling began at an early age and led her to study Film and Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. The adventures of Pug are based on the antics of her very own adventurous dogs, Brian and Florence. Laura lives in the West Country.
Églantine Ceulemans was born in Belgium where she spent her childhood devouring comics before moving to France to study illustration. As well as drawing, she loves riding her blue bicycle, cooking (which she is not very good at) and cleaning windows (which she is very good at). Églantine lives in Paris, France.
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First published in Great Britain in 2019 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Text copyright © Laura James, 2019
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Laura James, Pirate Pug
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