Summer in Enchantia (3 page)

A cloud of silver sparkles swirled around Rosa and Nutmeg. The magic lifted them into the air and whisked them over the water. Rosa grinned. She loved travelling by fairy magic! But then, just as they got closer to the ship, it was as if they had hit the wall of a bouncy castle. Rosa and Nutmeg both rebounded backwards.

Suddenly they were no longer spinning; they were falling down and down …

SPLASH!

Rosa gasped and spluttered as she plunged feet-first into the sea! Kicking her way to the surface, she saw Nutmeg’s head popping out of the water at the same time. “What … what happened?” Rosa cried.

Nutmeg swam over, looking dismayed. “There must be some spells protecting the
ship. My magic has taken us as far as it can. We can’t get on board.”

Rosa saw that the ship was just a little way off. Luckily the pirates seemed so busy partying, they hadn’t noticed Nutmeg and Rosa landing in the sea nearby. Another cannon boomed into the air and there was a great cheer from the deck. Rosa glanced behind them. The beach looked very far away. “What are we going to do?” she said in alarm.

“Get out of the sea as quickly as possible!” Nutmeg replied. “These waters aren’t safe for swimming. There’s a hungry sea serpent living in the depths. I’ll use my magic to take us back.”

Rosa grabbed Nutmeg’s hand and the fairy waved her wand in the air. The magic whisked them out of the water and they landed back on the beach by the trees.

“I’m soaked through!” said Rosa, shaking water droplets out of her hair.

“Let’s get dry,” Nutmeg said, magicking up two large towels. The girls quickly rubbed away the water. Luckily the sun was shining and their clothes soon started to dry out.

“So someone’s put spells on the ship,”
said Rosa, looking out to sea. “How are we going to get on board then?”

Nutmeg looked thoughtful. “Maybe I could conjure up a small boat and we could row over?”

“The pirates would be bound to see us coming,” Rosa pointed out. She wracked her brains. They couldn’t swim or row to the ship, or use magic to get there. If only they could get the ship to come to them! Her thought gave her an idea.

“Could you magic up a treasure chest, Nutmeg?” asked Rosa. “A really big one the pirates will see from the ship?”

“Yes, I could. But why?”

Rosa grinned. “Because if the pirates see it they’re bound to come over in their
rowing boats – the ship would run aground if they brought it any closer. And then maybe we can pretend to be in their crew and get on to the ship that way.”

Nutmeg stared at her. “It’s very risky.”

“I know,” said Rosa. “But what else can we do?” She looked at the fairy’s doubtful face. “Come on. You know we can’t give up!”

Nutmeg nodded. “You’re right. OK, I’ll magic up a treasure chest.” She waved her wand and a tune filled the air. It was a lively hornpipe jig. Nutmeg crossed her arms in front of her and danced forward in a straight line, toes turned out, taking three small skipping steps to the right, followed by three small skipping steps to
the left. Then she stopped and danced on the spot, putting her heels forward and using her hands as if she were hauling a flag up a mast. It was a very jolly tune. Rosa could feel the music pulling at her feet, urging her to dance.

“Join in!” Nutmeg cried. Rosa didn’t need asking twice. She ran to Nutmeg’s side and copied the dance. They skipped forward together, arms folded, and then danced on the spot, rocking from side to side as if they were on a stormy sea.

Nutmeg turned a pirouette and pointed her wand. With a flash a wooden treasure chest appeared. It had big metal bands around its sides and it was massive! The top of it reached Rosa’s shoulders and it was as long as a car.

“Oh, wow!” breathed Rosa.

Nutmeg heaved open the lid. “Ta-da!”

Rosa gasped. The chest was full of diamonds! She had to shield her eyes as
they glittered and sparkled in the sunlight.

“They’re not real diamonds,” Nutmeg explained. “My magic isn’t strong enough to conjure up real jewels. But hopefully the pirates won’t realise they’re fakes.”

“They look real enough to me.” Rosa glanced towards the ship and saw the glint of a telescope as it looked towards the beach. “I think they’ve noticed the chest already! Quick, let’s hide!”

The girls ran behind a tree and peeped out. They could see the pirates on the ship all starting to point and look towards the beach where the treasure chest was.

“Let’s see what’s happening on deck,” said Nutmeg. She pointed her wand at the ground. A mist started to form and in the
mist there was a picture. It showed a close-up view of the pirate ship. Rosa saw the pirates clustered around the telescope, pushing each other out of the way, all shouting.

“Look at it! It’s massive!”

“Check out those diamonds!”

“Where did it come from?”

“Who cares!”

Some of the voices sounded familiar. Rosa peered more closely and caught her breath. The pirates were a mixture of big burly men and man-sized mice! Each of them had a sharp cutlass hanging from their leather belt. They wore bandanas, boots and big baggy trousers. The human pirates were big and muscly and several of
them had wooden legs, but the mice looked even scarier. Their eyes gleamed beadily and when they opened their mouths to shout and snigger they showed off rows of pointed teeth.

“Mice!” whispered Rosa, turning to Nutmeg. “That must mean the pirates are something to do with —”

“What’s going on?” snarled a voice on the ship.

“King Rat!” breathed Rosa as a giant rat strode into view. He wore a big black pirate hat and had a long curly wig and a moustache.

“It’s treasure, Captain!” one of the pirates said.

King Rat grabbed the telescope. His red
eyes gleamed greedily. “Go on, then! What are you waiting for? I want that treasure now. To the rowing boats, me hearties!”

“Aye aye, Captain!” cried the pirates.

Rosa and Nutmeg watched as the crew quickly lowered three rowing boats from the deck into the water and then climbed down rope ladders hanging over the side of the ship.

“Yo ho ho and a bottle of bilberry wine!” they roared as they started to row towards the beach, their strong arms pulling the boats swiftly through the waves.

Nutmeg waved her wand and the mist vanished. “They’re coming!”

Rosa gulped. Now the pirates were actually heading towards them, swearing and shouting, she was beginning to wonder if her plan was such a wise idea. The pirates’ curved swords looked razor sharp.

And did she really want to be on a pirate ship with King Rat? But then she thought of the stolen treasure and how sad everyone would be if the garden
party was spoiled. She
had
to do something! She saw Nutmeg’s worried face, and reached out and squeezed her hand. “We’ll be OK. This plan will work.”

The pirates pulled the rowing boats on to the beach. Jumping out, they ran to the treasure chest. Rosa took a deep breath. “Come on!” she hissed to Nutmeg. “Let’s join them!”

The pirates had clustered around the huge treasure chest on the beach. They were so busy looking at all the diamonds that they didn’t notice Rosa and Nutmeg creeping out from behind the trees. Rosa wrinkled her nose as she edged into the crowd. It wasn’t very pleasant being so close to the pirates. They smelt as if they hadn’t washed
for a long time. The mouse pirates’ fur was greasy and the human pirates had grubby skin. They were all very loud, shouting over the top of each other and elbowing each other out of the way as they plunged their hands and paws into the diamonds.

“We’d better get this chest back to the captain,” said one of the mice. Shutting the lid, they started to heave at the chest. Rosa and Nutmeg joined in.

“You, boy!” snapped a voice.

Rosa froze and looked round. A mouse pirate with an eye patch was pointing at her. Had he realised that she wasn’t part of the crew?

“M … me?” she stammered.

“Yes, you! I don’t recognise you.” He
frowned at Nutmeg. “Or you!” His frown deepened.

Rosa had never thought so fast in her life. “That’s because … because we were on the ship that this treasure came from,” she said. “We were supposed to wait here with it until the people from the palace came to collect it. But … but …”

“We’ve always wanted to be pirates!” Nutmeg put in quickly. “And when we saw you we hoped that we could maybe join you.”