The Ship of Lost Souls 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

the old man. Who is he to you, anyway? Not your father?”
    Jem bit his lip and tried to push thoughts of Uncle Finn out of his mind so he could think logically. Offering a pirate one’s personal information didn’t seem logical. But then again, neither did getting oneself killed by that pirate. How he wished he were back in the Old World, maybe on a courtyard stroll with Master Davis. Or a visit home from school, if his parents would allow it. His mother’s maid would be flitting around him, insisting he drink his broth or else he’d never grow tall and his boots would always be two sizes too big because—
    â€œAnswer!” Captain Wallace cried.
    â€œUncle,” Jem blurted out without thinking. “He is . . . he was . . . my uncle.”
    â€œYour uncle,” Captain Wallace repeated in a singsong voice. “My condolences then. But now, here’s your chance to right your uncle’s wrongs. The old fool refused to share his information.” He
tsk
ed. “Rather selfish, don’t you agree? But you, nephew of Finnaeus Bliss, I’m going to give you a chance to make the right decision.”
    Jem shook his head. He’d stopped listening after “old fool.” His uncle did tend to go on at length about orchids and ferns and especially bromeliads, but he was no fool. “I don’t—”
    â€œWrong answer!” Captain Wallace bellowed like a foghorn. He bent forward, grasped Jem’s collar, and lifted him a good foot off the ground. “Don’t be stupid, boy. You’ve seen what pirates do to stupid people.” He shot small bullets of spit onto Jem’s face with every
s
.
    â€œUm, Captain.” Pete cleared his throat.
    â€œWhat?” Captain Wallace, still clutching Jem’s collar, cast him an irritated glance. Pete motioned for him to release the boy, and the captain let out a great sigh before dropping Jem back on the floor. Pete tugged the captain over to a corner where they conversed in mime—Jem caught the gestures for throat-slitting, beheading with a broadsword, and what looked like being eaten alive by wild bunnies. The pirates paused their pantomime twice to study Jem. Then Pete returned and knelt beside him.
    â€œLook, boy. You don’t have much choice here. Either you tell the captain what he wants to know or you get killed. No compromises, I’m afraid. Come on, now. Tell him, and he’ll keep you around. There’re worse things than being a pirate. We’ll win no beauty contests, sure, but you’ll never want for fresh air.”
    The absurdity of the situation, the complete lack of logic, suddenly struck Jem like a tidal wave. A mere two months ago he’d been living at the King’s Cross School for Boys, getting trampled on the football field, envying the care packages his dorm mates received from home. And now here he was, captive on a pirate ship, risking death if he didn’t join them.
    He couldn’t help it.
    He laughed.
    Captain Wallace started. “What? Why’s he laughing?”
    â€œShut up, boy,” Pete hissed. “Just say yes.”
    â€œYou know how I get when people laugh at me. Why’s he laughing?” Captain Wallace’s voice rose half an octave.
    Jem shrugged and tried unsuccessfully to smother his panicked giggles.
    â€œThat’s it.” Captain Wallace stamped his boot on the floorboards. “Take him to the—”
    â€œCap’n!” A wail echoed in the hall, followed by a thunder of boot steps. Jem heard the
shing
of cutlasses being unsheathed and a chorus of oaths. Then Thomas shoved his great head through the doorway again. His eyes had grown to twice their size.
    â€œWe’re being attacked!” he cried, then galloped off down the hall.
    â€œAttacked?” Captain Wallace gave Pete an irritated look. “We can’t be under attack. Who’d attack us?”
    Pete shrugged and