Atticus Claw Goes Ashore Read Online Free PDF Page B

clock. It was half past five. The competition was supposed to finish by six.
Half an hour to go
. He sighed. If at that moment he’d been able to summon the mermaid from the Casket of Desires, he would have wished for it to be six o’clock already so that nothing went wrong!
    The Casket of Desires
. That was another thing worrying Atticus.
What if the pirates found out about Fishhook Frank’s message?
Mr Tucker said he’d hidden it in a safe place but was anywhere safe when your house was full of pirates? Atticus wasn’t sure. And he wasn’t sure about Mr Tucker’s plan to rescue Fishhook Frank either. The plan, if youcould call it that, was to tell Inspector Cheddar and Mrs Tucker all about the message in the bottle when the beard-jumper competition was over, then set sail to rescue Frank and get to him before a pirate did. It sounded simple enough but Mrs Tucker would hit the roof if she found out that Mr Tucker had once been a pirate. Not to mention the fact that Atticus had never been sailing before or that they didn’t even know where Fishhook Frank was. So it wasn’t simple at all! Sometimes Atticus couldn’t help thinking life had been a lot easier when he was a cat burglar.

    ‘Don’t worry, Atticus,’ Callie whispered kindly.
    ‘It’ll be okay as long as the pirates don’t steal any more cutlery.’ Michael gave him a stroke.
    Atticus wished he felt so confident about it. He had a bad feeling that something was about to happen. His instinct was kicking in again.
    ‘And now for the moment youze all been waiting for,’ Mr Tucker took to the stage. ‘The judges have made their decision.’ He noddedtowards the back of the stage. The judges sat behind a table with the prizes on it. Mrs Tucker and Mrs Cheddar sat beside them. ‘Please welcome Inspector Ian Cheddar who will announce the winners of this year’s World Beard-Jumper Competition.’ There was a round of applause from the hall. Some of the pirates took the stolen teaspoons out of their pockets and banged them on their hooks.

    Atticus saw Mrs Tucker’s forehead crinkle into a frown. Her eyes scanned the room. Mrs Tucker used to be a secret agent called Agent Whelk. She was very good at finding things out. Her eyes met Atticus’s. Atticus felt himself blush under his fur. Mrs Tucker was also very good at knowing when he was being naughty. He looked away.
    Mr Tucker raised his hands for quiet. ‘And then my lovely wife, Edna, will hand out the prizes for the best-dressed pirate … er … I mean, the best pirate
costume
!’ Mrs Tucker gave her husband a sharp glance. Mr Tucker shifted uncomfortably. So did Atticus.
She definitely suspected something!
    ‘So, without further ado, I’ll hand over toInspector Cheddar.’ Mr Tucker shuffled behind the table to join the others.
    Inspector Cheddar climbed the steps to the stage and stood in front of the microphone. He had a gold envelope in his hand.
    ‘Good afternoon, ladies, gentlemen, children, fishermen …’ he sniggered ‘… and – er –
pirates
!’
    There was silence in the hall.
    Inspector Cheddar ripped open the envelope. ‘In third place, we have Hairy Mac. Come on up, Mac, there’s a bottle of Thumpers’ Traditional Beard Dye for you!’
    Hairy Mac was one of Mr Tucker’s fishermen friends. Like the rest of the fishermen his beard-jumper was tucked into a pair of brightly coloured waterproof dungarees, which in turn were tucked into a pair of brightly coloured rubber boots. There was a smattering of applause as Hairy Mac went to collect his prize. Some of the pirates booed.

    ‘In second place, we have Short John Silver. Where are you, John?’ Inspector Cheddar peered out across the sea of bristly faces. ‘Ah, there youare!’ A tiny pirate in a dirty coat pushed his way through the crowds. His beard-jumper brushed the floor. He had to pick it up in his arms to stop himself tripping over it.
    ‘Impressive!’ Inspector Cheddar remarked. He bent down to give Short John