Kindle Edition
Download to your Nook (eBook)
Download from Smashwords (eBook)
Amazon
Scalawag
Category:
Young Adult/Teen
Publisher: Strict Publishing International
ISBN-10: 9780857793096
Type: Fiction
Pages: 165
Copyright: October 12, 2013
ISBN-13: 9780857793096
Price: $4.25 (eBook)
A rollicking high sea coming of age adventure. This story has everything, pirates, ghosts and lots of fun.
“Scalawag” is a swashbuckling coming-of-age adventure set in a world of pirates and ghosts of the 17th century.
Henry Downs was only thirteen when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery to the notorious pirate, Captain Black. Henry becomes cabin boy on the pirate ship The Swan, with little hope of ever seeing his home again. Even so, he sets about learning everything he can about the ship and about sailing on the high seas, in the hope his knowledge will one day enable him to make his escape. Unbeknown to the other members of the crew of The Swan, the ship is haunted by its former pirate Captain, Mad Dog Jamison. Soon, Henry becomes aware of the ghost, but Mad Dog is not the only ghost on that ship and Henry could not have imagined in his wildest dreams (or nightmares) what would happen after sailors from Spanish galleons capture all but one of The Swan’s pirate crew.
Recommended for readers from eight years to adult.
Excerpt
PROLOGUE
“You wouldn’t dare!” the captain shouted, waving the end of his crutch angrily in the air. “The Swan is my ship, Black, and don’t you be forgettin’ it! I designed her, I built her, and I sailed her around the bloody world!”
The large man stared hard into the captain’s eyes, a glare like steel beneath his three-cornered hat. Black towered over the captain, his burly frame casting an ominous shadow over the other. He scratched at the scraggly, black beard that framed his crooked mouth and then placed his hands upon the two muskets that crossed in his belt.
“Is it?” he asked with contempt. “Take a look around you, Mad Dog. Most of the men stand with me!”
“You mutinous dog! The pirate’s code…” Mad Dog felt the back of Black’s hand. It smacked loudly across his face.
“Blast the pirate’s code!” Black turned to the crew and smiled broadly. “Well, lads,” he began. “What should we do with them?”
“Hang ’em!” cried one voice, then another.
“Yeah, string ’em up,” sang a chorus of pirates.
Mad Dog raised both hands over his head in an attempt to silence the crew. Black crossed his arms, a smile stretched across his ruddy face.
“Sink me! Do what you like with me,” snapped Mad Dog, “but spare the lads…”
“Nooo,” was the muddled call from the crew. “Hang ’em, one and all.”
“Hey,” hollered an unseen pirate, “there’s a clean dozen of ’em. I ain’t sure if we got enough rope!”
The slimy crew burst into a raucous fit of laughter.
“Now, now, lads,” shouted Black. “Let’s not be hasty…”
“Hasty?” screamed another. “His men killed five of ours…”
“You scum!” shouted Mad Dog. “There ain’t nothin’ lower than mutineers!”
This brought another burst of laughter, whistles, and calls.
“Shut up, Peg Leg,” cried one grimy pirate.
“The rope for you!” shouted another.
Black raised his arms for silence. The crew responded. Black turned back to Mad Dog, but said nothing. Finally, after a parting glance at each of the faithful dozen that his crew had condemned to death, he growled, “Hang ’em!”
His crew responded with a great cheer, ropes wildly waving overhead.
“Wait!” screamed the one legged Mad Dog. The crew quieted with an involuntary respect from years of obeying his orders. “I swear to you, Black, if you kill us, I will come back to haunt you for the rest of your days!”
“Yeah,” shouted the small, pudgy quartermaster, who stood loyally at his captain’s side. “We too will come back – right lads?” But the other eleven just hung their heads. The spirit beaten out of them, the lads had resigned themselves to their fate.
Black moved closer to Mad Dog, laughing louder with every step.
“I don’t believe in ghosts, Mad Dog,” he declared softly. Black began to laugh. So hard did he bellow that he clutched at his aching sides.
“Mark my word, Black!” screamed Mad Dog. “I will have my revenge! Savvy?”
Black reached down and snatched a coil of rope from the deck. He paused, stared hard at the cord, and then glared at the peg-legged Mad Dog and his faithful crew.
“Hang ’em,” Black growled, before throwing the filthy rope to the outstretched hands of his crew.
|
