o’ ‘llowed himself to be taken unawares nor find hisself unable to defend his charges, neither.” The poor man hung his head. His lips fell into a deep frown upon his scarred face. But Lacey, who cared very much for the retired pirate, put a gentle hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
“MacGuffy, please don’t say such things. You did your best. You’ve taken such good care of us for all this time, haven’t you? Besides, there were ten of them after all, and that’s not even figuring the Count, that horrible Bartholomew, and that wicked pirate, Splitbeard.”
“Too right, Lacey,” George agreed. His brothers flanked him on either side and all three of them gave MacGuffy their winningest smiles.“And I say, you took that wallop to the back of the head like a true champion, MacGuffy! That blow would have killed a lesser man, no doubt about it!”
“Your head is hard as a rock, MacGuffy!” Peter added.
“Solid as an oak, sir,” Paul concluded. He clenched both fists before his face for added effect. “Solid as an oak!” Jim thought those might have been the worst compliments he had ever heard, especially given the circumstances. But they were genuine and so even MacGuffy managed a laugh, which had him wincing with pain all the more.
“Rascally sea pups! Ye have good hearts after all, don’t ye? I thank ye for it, I do. But I think that’ll be enough dawdlin’ o’er an old man’s bumps and bruises, Cap’n. I’ll live, I will. Per’aps we should be getting’ down to business and tellin’ the lad why ye was sailin’ to Morgan Manor this night in the first place.”
“You are right, MacGuffy, for our arrival was not by chance.” Dread Steele said. The lantern light in the cabin cast a hard shadow on the Captain’s face, so much so that it seemed to Jim that darkness was drawn to the pirate lord.
“You were coming anyway?” Jim asked. But he quickly realized that Dread Steele could not possibly have known the evil goings on at Morgan Manor. Even if he had, the
Spectre
could hardly sail to the coast of England in a single night. “You were coming to talk to me about something. You were coming to ask me about the Treasure of the Ocean, weren’t you?”
Steele nodded in reply to Jim’s question, his mouth drawn into a thin line. “Indeed, I was, Jim. For little more than a year now Cornelius and I have sailed the
Spectre
to the very world’s edge and back. At every port and isle did we lay a false trail of bread crumbs for Cromier and his dark son to follow.”
“We did have some fun with it all along the way though, did we not Captain?” Cornelius said. He laughed with a caw and hopped down from the hook onto the desk, twisting his wings this way and that as he spoke. “Told old Shark-Tooth Tim we’d buried the entire treasure beneath the Inn of the Wet Rock. Largest overbite you’ve everseen has old Shark-Tooth. Could very nearly nip the bottom edge of his own chin with his incisors, I’d wager. Ha! Anyway, never expected Tim to actually believe that one, really. Thought he caught the winks I was giving him the whole way, if you know what I mean. King’s men captured the poor bloke the next week breaking in after midnight. He was pulling up the floorboards, using his teeth to draw out the nails, no less. Had the fool in stockades for half a month. Left the most wicked splinters in his lips too, or so I heard.”
“How awful!” Lacey said with a gasp. But Dread Steele cleared his throat loudly and frowned in Cornelius’s direction. Cornelius squawked irritably, tucking his wings down to his sides and keeping quiet.
“Nevertheless,” Steele continued. “Certain were we that the Cromiers had set themselves upon our winding path. Thought we that finally you would be safe to return home, Jim. So we came to meet you in hopes of divining some clue as to the Treasure of the Ocean’s true whereabouts.”
“You knew about the map, then?” Jim asked. A sudden pinprick of
“MacGuffy, please don’t say such things. You did your best. You’ve taken such good care of us for all this time, haven’t you? Besides, there were ten of them after all, and that’s not even figuring the Count, that horrible Bartholomew, and that wicked pirate, Splitbeard.”
“Too right, Lacey,” George agreed. His brothers flanked him on either side and all three of them gave MacGuffy their winningest smiles.“And I say, you took that wallop to the back of the head like a true champion, MacGuffy! That blow would have killed a lesser man, no doubt about it!”
“Your head is hard as a rock, MacGuffy!” Peter added.
“Solid as an oak, sir,” Paul concluded. He clenched both fists before his face for added effect. “Solid as an oak!” Jim thought those might have been the worst compliments he had ever heard, especially given the circumstances. But they were genuine and so even MacGuffy managed a laugh, which had him wincing with pain all the more.
“Rascally sea pups! Ye have good hearts after all, don’t ye? I thank ye for it, I do. But I think that’ll be enough dawdlin’ o’er an old man’s bumps and bruises, Cap’n. I’ll live, I will. Per’aps we should be getting’ down to business and tellin’ the lad why ye was sailin’ to Morgan Manor this night in the first place.”
“You are right, MacGuffy, for our arrival was not by chance.” Dread Steele said. The lantern light in the cabin cast a hard shadow on the Captain’s face, so much so that it seemed to Jim that darkness was drawn to the pirate lord.
“You were coming anyway?” Jim asked. But he quickly realized that Dread Steele could not possibly have known the evil goings on at Morgan Manor. Even if he had, the
Spectre
could hardly sail to the coast of England in a single night. “You were coming to talk to me about something. You were coming to ask me about the Treasure of the Ocean, weren’t you?”
Steele nodded in reply to Jim’s question, his mouth drawn into a thin line. “Indeed, I was, Jim. For little more than a year now Cornelius and I have sailed the
Spectre
to the very world’s edge and back. At every port and isle did we lay a false trail of bread crumbs for Cromier and his dark son to follow.”
“We did have some fun with it all along the way though, did we not Captain?” Cornelius said. He laughed with a caw and hopped down from the hook onto the desk, twisting his wings this way and that as he spoke. “Told old Shark-Tooth Tim we’d buried the entire treasure beneath the Inn of the Wet Rock. Largest overbite you’ve everseen has old Shark-Tooth. Could very nearly nip the bottom edge of his own chin with his incisors, I’d wager. Ha! Anyway, never expected Tim to actually believe that one, really. Thought he caught the winks I was giving him the whole way, if you know what I mean. King’s men captured the poor bloke the next week breaking in after midnight. He was pulling up the floorboards, using his teeth to draw out the nails, no less. Had the fool in stockades for half a month. Left the most wicked splinters in his lips too, or so I heard.”
“How awful!” Lacey said with a gasp. But Dread Steele cleared his throat loudly and frowned in Cornelius’s direction. Cornelius squawked irritably, tucking his wings down to his sides and keeping quiet.
“Nevertheless,” Steele continued. “Certain were we that the Cromiers had set themselves upon our winding path. Thought we that finally you would be safe to return home, Jim. So we came to meet you in hopes of divining some clue as to the Treasure of the Ocean’s true whereabouts.”
“You knew about the map, then?” Jim asked. A sudden pinprick of
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