The Curse of Snake Island (4 page)

“YUCK! YUCK! AND TRIPLE YUCK!” Inna shouted once we were back in the crow's nest. “There's no way I'm going on that island!”

Clegg had told us all about the giant snake. He said the snake put a curse on anyone trying to get at the treasure. “Any bucko who looks into the snake's eyes will turn into a snake,” he'd said.

Inna did not like the story one bit. “The only thing worse than
seeing
a snake is
being
a snake!”

“Quit sniveling! Ol' Clegg was just yanking our timbers with that spooky story,” Aaron told her.

“How do you know?” Vicky asked.

Aaron closed his eyes and lifted his chin up. It was what Vicky called his know-it-all face. “Because,” he said, “curses aren't real.”

“You don't know that for sure,” she challenged him.

“Sure I do,” Aaron said. “Everybody knows that. Right, Pete?”

I shook my head.

I wasn't so sure. Clegg had never fibbed to us before.

“Well, I'm no scallywag! Curse or no curse, I'm going after that treasure,” Aaron said.

For once Vicky agreed with Aaron. “Arrr! Me too!” she said. “We came to Pirate School to be pirates, not scallywags.”

I thought about all the things we'd learned. So far, Rotten Tooth had taught us how to clean, scrub, and mop. I wanted to learn how to swashbuckle, sail, and find buried treasure. This was our only chance.

“Aye,” I said. “I'm going, too.”

I wasn't about to let one giant snake stop me. At least, I hoped there was only one. Two giant snakes would've stopped me.

I double-checked the map.

Yep!

Only one giant snake was drawn on there.

That was a relief.

I was just about to ask Gary if he was still coming along when he started shouting. “Land ho! Land ho!” he called out. He was pointing straight ahead at a little island. The island was twisty and curvy. It was Snake Island, dead ahead.

“Land ho! Let's go, buckoes!” Aaron shouted.

I looked at Gary. Gary shrugged. “It's only one snake, right?” he asked.

“Only one. I double-checked.”

Next, I looked at Inna. But she shook her head. She didn't want to come.

“Please,” I begged. “You're the best at reading maps. Without you, we'll get lost for sure.”

Inna shook her head. “No way! I don't want to get turned into a snake.”

I reminded her about our deal. “You can cover your eyes anytime we see a snake. If your eyes are covered, then the giant snake can't put a curse on you.”

“I guess that's true,” Inna said. Then she finally agreed to come along. “But if I get turned into a snake, I'm biting you first!”

Rotten Tooth stood on the beach as we came ashore. He took one step and blocked our way. His voice roared like thunder. “And just where do you pollywogs think you're going?” he asked. “I thought I told ye to stay out of me sight!”

Gary started shaking and shivering. “Um . . . um . . .” was all he could get out.

“The captain said we could sleep on the beach,” Vicky spoke up. She wasn't afraid of Rotten Tooth.

“The cap'n said?” Rotten Tooth laughed.

“AYE!” a voice yelled.

Rotten Tooth stopped laughing when he saw Captain Stinky Beard standing behind him. He looked more frightened than Aaron did standing over the fish tank. I had to cover my mouth to keep from giggling.

“Sorry, Captain,” he said. “But Cap'n? Who will be keeping an eye on these shrimps?”

Captain Stinky Beard made a face. “Surely you've taught them enough by now that they'll be all right until we get back with the treasure.”

Rotten Tooth looked at us. “Aye . . . s-surely,” he stuttered. “I've taught them plenty,” he lied.

But Captain Stinky Beard was already walking away. He called back to Rotten Tooth to get a move on.

“Aye aye!” Rotten Tooth said and hurried off after the rest of the crew, but not before giving us one last rotten look.

We waited until the crew was out of sight. Then I pulled the map out of my pocket.

I looked at the words on the map.
The treasure you seek is not in the feet; head for the head instead.
It was easy to figure out. Since the island was shaped like a snake, it meant the treasure was in the head part.

I looked at the map again. I turned it upside down. Then I turned it backside up. It looked the same both ways.

“Which is the head and which is the tail?” Vicky asked.

“The head is north,” Aaron said.

“How do you know?” Gary asked.

“Because the head is always at the top, that's how!”

I'd spun the map around so many times, I didn't know which was the top anymore. But then I noticed two lakes that looked like eyes. “That must be the head,” I said. Aaron was right. It was north.

Soon the sun began to set behind the
Sea Rat
. We all watched it, waiting for it to get dark. Well, all of us except Inna, who was watching the ground for any signs of snakes.

Vicky looked at the map again. “The crew had a head start. We need a shortcut if we're ever going to get there first.”

I took a long look at the map. It said to walk along the beach. That was the way the captain had gone. Vicky was right: We'd never beat them there if we went the same way.

Aaron pointed to the map. He made a straight line from where we were to the treasure. It took us right through the jungle! “That's the way we should go,” he said.

It might have been dangerous, but it was the only way.

“We'll leave once the sun sinks into the ocean,” I said. Everyone agreed.

“We'll just have to look out for bugs,” I warned. “The jungle is full of creepy crawlies.”

“BUGS!” Inna shouted. She stuck her tongue out of her mouth and her face turned greenish. “No one said anything about bugs.”

As soon as it was dark, we headed out. It was pretty spooky in the jungle. There were strange sounds all around us. Everywhere we turned, the glowing eyes of lizards and bugs followed us. To keep from being afraid, we talked about how great it was going to be when we found the treasure.

“How much treasure do you think there'll be, Pete?” Gary asked.

“Lots!” I said. I wasn't sure exactly how much, but “lots” seemed like a pretty good guess. Captain Stinky Beard wouldn't go after any treasure that was even one penny less than lots.

Vicky rubbed her hands together greedily. “Maybe it'll be enough to buy our own pirate ship!” she said.

“AYE!” Aaron shouted. “We kids could rule it and make Rotten Tooth scrub the dishes!”