Deary Terry - The Pirate Captain

First published 2011 by
A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3DP
www.acblack.com

This electronic edition published in March 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Text copyright 2011 Terry Deary
Illustrations copyright 2011 Helen Flook

The rights of Terry Deary and Helen Flook to be identified as the
author and illustrator of this work have been asserted by them in
accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

eISBN 978-1-4081-8105-8

A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

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Captain Fly was a small man. Not as small as a fly, of course, but not much larger than a boy.

I am the terror of the Atlantic Ocean! he boasted. In fact, I may be the greatest terror of the seven seas!

What seas are those, then, Captain? his greasy-haired, bare-footed, bear-brained, bullying mate Mr Blood wanted to know.

Seas?

Yes, Captain Fly. What are the seven seas? Blood asked.

Well, theres the North Atlantic... and the South Atlantic, of course.

Of course, his ugly friend Mr Slaughter nodded. But what about the other five?

The Pacific Ocean and that makes seven.

Three, Mr Blood corrected.

Fly turned as red as a cockerels comb. He waved his short, dirty fingers under Bloods nose and counted. North one Atlantic two South three Atlantic four The five Pacific six Ocean seven. Seven seas, see?

Suppose, Mr Blood grumbled.

Suppose? Captain Fly sneered. Nobody argues with William Fly. I was a boxing champion, you know.

I know.

And Ill batter anybody that argues with me. The captain turned suddenly towards Slaughter. Youre bigger than me, Slaughter, but I could batter you. He waved a fist under the sailors broken nose. Im fast. Fast Fly they used to call me in the boxing ring. Champion of America, I was. Fast Fly.

Too fast for me, Captain, Slaughter chuckled. Too fast for any man on the three seas.

Seven seas, Fly said.

Yes, them as well.

Captain Fly turned back to Blood. Now fetch the prisoners on deck. Its time I gave them their orders.

Mr Blood opened a hatch in the deck of the rolling ship. Five men and a boy blinked in the sunlight.

Up on deck, you scurvy lot. Captain Fly wants to give you your orders.

The men had been crowded into a small space for over an hour and they were stiff.

Hurry it up, Seaman Slaughter shouted. Nobody keeps Captain Fly waiting or, if they do, he batters them. Batter, batter, batter, Slaughter said, and made punching movements with his fat fists.

Most of the prisoners looked afraid. But one man stood taller than the rest and he just looked amused. He held a trembling skinny boy by the hand and muttered, Itll be all right, young Arthur. Ill not let them hurt you.

Slaughter pushed them into a line. Right, prisoners. Silence while Captain Fly speaks.

Fly climbed up onto the aft deck so he could look down his twisted nose at the miserable men. He gave a black-toothed grin. Youre a lucky bunch, you are. When we captured your ship this morning, we took your tobacco load and then we sank the old tub. Any other pirate would have sunk you with it. But not me. Not Captain Fly. Im too kind for that.

The tall prisoner stepped forward. A kind man wouldnt have robbed us in the first place, he said.

Fly turned purple with anger. Nobody argues with William Fly. I was a boxing champion, you know, and Ill batter anyone that argues with me. Whats your name?

Captain Jed Atkinson, the tall man said. Im captain of the ship your villains just sank.

Fly threw back his head and laughed a mad laugh. Ha! Ha! Hahhhhh! You are not captain any longer. Theres room for only one captain on a ship, and the captain of Fames Revenge is me. And if anyone ever calls you captain on board my ship, Ill feed him to the sharks. Understand?

There are not many sharks on the east coast of America, Jed Atkinson said quietly.

Captain Fly pretended he hadnt heard. As I was saying, I am the kindest pirate youll ever have the good luck to meet. My ship is short of crew, and you are sailors, so I kept you alive to help me.

What happened to the rest of your crew? the boy said in a trembling voice. Did you feed them to the sharks?

Fly glared at him. No. No they got so rich with their share of the treasure, they retired. And thats what you will do, too. Serve me for a year, and Ill make you as rich as a king. But try to escape, and Ill batter you.

Hell batter you. Batter, batter, batter, Seaman Slaughter said, and laughed. Hur, hur, hur!

Were slaves, young Arthur groaned. His red-brown hair had been cut with a blunt knife and it was as shaggy as a bear.

Slaves? Jed smiled. For a while

For ever, the boy said.

Jed hauled on the ropes to raise the sail and head north. The coast of North Carolina was a grey-green smudge on the horizon. We have a lot going for us, Arthur.