Summer in Enchantia (7 page)

Rosa lost herself in the dancing. It was easier now the serpent had stopped moving
as much and the ship was steadier. She glanced at the serpent again and saw that the creature was sinking back into the water, her vast head coming lower and lower until it was level with the ship. It was the strangest feeling ever to be dancing on a pirate ship, while a giant sea serpent stared at her!

The monster opened her mouth, but didn’t roar. This time, she yawned dreamily, a slight whimper of pain escaping from her.

The music came to an end and, as the girls stopped with their hands in front of them, the serpent looked at them sleepily and then breathed out a long sigh. “Ahhhhhhhhh.”

Nutmeg walked slowly forward. “H … hello,”

The sea serpent blinked. “Hello.” she rumbled. “I liked your dancing, little fairy.”

“Thank you,” said Nutmeg. “I’m Nutmeg and this is my friend, Rosa.”

Rosa waved cautiously.

“My name is Esmeralda,” announced the sea serpent.

“What’s the matter with you, Esmeralda?” Rosa asked, going forward to stand beside Nutmeg. “You sound like you’re hurt.”

Esmeralda nodded. “One of my teeth is sore. Your dancing made me feel better …” She broke off and gave a loud groan. “But it’s starting to hurt again now.” She lifted
her head back and roared, “It hurts. It really hurts!”

Rosa stared. What could you do to help a sea serpent with toothache?

Esmeralda started to thrash her tail around again and the ship began to toss up and down on the waves.

“Stop! Please stop!” cried Nutmeg in alarm. But Esmeralda was shaking her head so hard she didn’t hear her.

“Let’s dance again, Nutmeg!” cried Rosa, but the ship was moving too violently for them to begin. Every time they tried to stand up, the ship swung up and down and they fell over.

“Watch out!” yelled Nutmeg as a particularly large wave hit and the ship
stood almost on its end.

Rosa and Nutmeg both grabbed on to the side railings just in time to stop themselves from tipping into the ocean. “Esmeralda! You’ve got to stop it!” cried Rosa. “Please! You’ll sink the ship!”

But the sea serpent didn’t hear. Her tail hit down against the ship’s railings on the other side of the deck, shattering them in one blow.

“Abandon ship, me hearties!” she heard King Rat shout as the ship righted itself. “Rats, mice and men first!”

“Shouldn’t that be women and children first?” cried Nutmeg, grabbing Rosa’s hand as the pirates started swarming over the sides of the ship and leaping for the boats.

They were blubbing and yelling.

“Not on my ship!” snarled King Rat, pushing her back. “Stay out of the way, you annoying fairy! Don’t you even think of getting into one of our boats.”

“But the ship’s going to sink if this goes on!” cried Nutmeg. “You can’t leave us here.”

King Rat chortled. “Watch me!”

And he ran to the side of the ship and jumped overboard!

As he did so, the ship gave another great heave. Rosa and Nutmeg grabbed one of the masts. A barrel of ship’s biscuits fell on its side and rolled down the deck, its lid smashing off. As the big biscuits rolled out all over the place, Rosa had an idea.

Letting go of the mast, she ran over to the
barrel. They had to get Esmeralda to calm down again so they could talk to her. They couldn’t dance with the ship tossing and heaving like this on the waves, but maybe there was another way.

“What are you doing, Rosa?” cried Nutmeg.

“This!” Rosa grabbed the remaining biscuits from the barrel and started throwing them like Frisbees into the sea serpent’s open jaws. Esmeralda spluttered in surprise as she crunched down on them.

“Ow!” she roared, opening her mouth again. As she did so a big white tooth rolled out, attached to a biscuit!

For a moment Esmeralda opened and shut her jaws, and then a look of astonishment crossed her face. Her thrashing slowed down. “The pain!” she rumbled in surprise. “It’s stopped!”

“Your tooth has come out,” Rosa told her. “That’s why the toothache has gone.”

“Oh, well done, Rosa!” said Nutmeg, hugging her. “How do you feel, Esmeralda?”

The sea serpent worked her jaws up and down and from side to side. “Much better,
actually,” she commented.

Rosa breathed out a sigh of relief.

“What a brilliant idea,” Nutmeg said.

“I just meant to calm Esmeralda down,” admitted Rosa. “I didn’t mean to make her tooth fall out. Those biscuits really
are
hard!”

Esmeralda smiled. “Thank you for helping me.” She peered down. “Now what are we going to do about
them
?”

The ship had settled now and the girls suddenly became aware of the sound of yelling from beneath them. Rosa peered over the side. The pirates were splashing about in the water. The waves had turned every rowing boat upside down. Even King Rat was floundering around, his
wig soaked through and flopping to one side.

“I could always eat them,” said Esmeralda thoughtfully, “although I don’t think they look as if they would taste very nice – I really prefer eating seaweed.”

It was a tempting offer, but Rosa quickly shook her head. “No, you’d better not. Maybe you could you put them in the brig for us, though?” she asked, looking at the trapdoor on the deck that led down to the ship’s prison.

“Certainly!” said Esmeralda, swooping down and scooping three pirates out of the water in one go. “It’s the least I can do!” She swung them over the deck. Rosa and Nutmeg pulled the trapdoor open and
Esmeralda dropped the yelling pirates inside, before swinging back for some more.

Soon all of the pirates were in the brig. Last of all, Esmeralda scooped up a very wet and bedraggled King Rat.

“Let me go!” he yelled, shaking his fist. “You can’t do this to me!” he shrieked at Rosa.

She grinned. “Just watch us! Thanks, Esmeralda!”

The sea serpent dropped King Rat into the brig on top of the rest of the pirates.

“But I’m cold and wet and hungry!” wailed King Rat from inside the brig.

“There’s plenty of ship’s biscuits to eat!” said Rosa, tipping a load of them down inside.

Nutmeg slammed the trapdoor shut and bolted it. “That should keep them safe.” She grinned. “Me hearties!”

Rosa giggled. “Now we just need to get the ship back to the shore,” she said. “Then we can unload the King and Queen’s treasure and magic it back to the palace for the party.”

“Hooray!” said Nutmeg. Then she frowned. “Though how
are
we going to get it to the shore? I don’t know how to sail a ship.”

“Maybe I could help you out there, too,” Esmeralda volunteered. “I could push you back to the beach.”

“That would be brilliant!” said Rosa. “Thank you!”

“My pleasure. You certainly helped me out, little human. If it wasn’t for you, my tooth would still be hurting and goodness knows what damage I would have caused. Here we go!”

The sea serpent dived down and hauled up the anchor with her teeth. Dumping it on the deck, she gave the girls an almost
shy look. “Would … would you mind dancing for me while I push the ship along? It’s just, I love to watch dancing and I hardly ever get to see any.”

“Of course we will!” exclaimed Rosa. “We love dancing too!”

Nutmeg waved her wand and the music for the jig they had danced earlier flooded out. The girls began to dance the hornpipe on the deck, skipping forward, backs straight, arms folded. Smiling happily, Esmeralda pushed the ship gently through the waves and, with the first stars of the night shining overhead and the lively music in their ears, Rosa and Nutmeg danced on.

When they reached the beach, Esmeralda pushed the ship all the way up on to the sand until it would move no further. Then she unloaded the treasure from the hold, her long tentacles snaking down the steps and plucking the chests out one by one. At last, everything King Rat and his pirates had stolen was piled up on the sand.

“Thank you so much!” Nutmeg said gratefully to Esmeralda. “Now I can use my magic to whisk everything back to the palace and we can have the garden party tomorrow after all.”

“I wish you could come,” Rosa said, patting the sea serpent’s neck.

Esmeralda smiled. “I will think of you all having a lovely time, and be happy. I prefer it in the sea.” She glanced at the brig. “But what about those perishing pirates?”

Rosa and Nutmeg looked at each other. “We’re going to have to let them out at some point, I suppose,” said Nutmeg reluctantly.

Rosa walked over to the brig trapdoor and banged on it.

“Let us out!” groaned King Rat. “I feel seasick!”

“You can only come out if you promise that you won’t be a pirate any more,” said Rosa.

“I promise!” wailed King Rat. “I’m fed up of the sea and I never want to see a ship’s biscuit ever again. I won’t be a pirate any more. I’ll be good, I’ll be ever so good!”

“OK, then we’ll let you out,” said Rosa, reaching for the trapdoor bolt.

She heard King Rat give a low chuckle, and hesitated.

“Maybe it would be safer if I let the pirates out in the morning when you and Nutmeg have got safely away,” Esmeralda said thoughtfully. “Then if any of them
have any funny ideas of trying to stop you, they’ll have me to deal with.”

“Noooooooo!” yelled King Rat.

Rosa smiled. “Thanks, Esmeralda. That’s a great idea!” She turned to Nutmeg. “Shall we go to the palace?”

“First let’s change our clothes,” said Nutmeg, looking down at her tattered and wet cabin boy costume. “We can’t go back looking like this.”

They climbed down to the sand then Nutmeg spun round and round before stopping and pointing her wand first at Rosa and then at herself. There was a bright flash of light and Rosa looked down to see that her cabin boy clothes had changed back into her green and blue dress and her
ballet shoes were back on her feet. “That feels better,” she said, pointing her toes with a happy smile.