The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt (5 page)

Until . . . they heard a voice.

“Walk the plank! Walk the plank!” said the voice. It was not a Scurvy Sam pirate voice. It was a high, squeaky voice. “Shiver me timbers! Shiver me timbers!” the voice screeched.

“I think it’s coming from the pet shop,” said Judy, rushing inside.

“Pet shop!” Stink called to his parents, rushing after Judy.

“Jolly Roger! Pieces of eight! Jolly Roger!”

“It’s that parrot!” said Stink, pointing to a large red, yellow, and blue bird with long tail feathers. They hurried over to his cage.

“RARE!” said Judy.

“What’s your name?” Stink asked in a parrot voice.

“Stink, it says right here that his name is —”

“BLACKBEARD!” Judy and Stink both screamed at the same time.

They rushed over to the teenage boy behind the counter. He had coal-black hair that fell in his eyes, a green army jacket with the sleeves ripped off, and a silver hoop earring.

“Maybe
that guy’s
Blackbeard,” Stink whispered.

“Do you know about the treasure hunt?” Judy asked the guy. “Because we think your parrot is Blackbeard, and that’s our next clue.”

“You got it,” said the kid, putting on his red sash. He pressed a button on the cash register and handed them four pieces of eight. “That’s ten!” said Stink. “We have ten! We’re gonna win! We only need to solve three more clues and get six more pieces of eight.”

Stink and Judy went over to the cage again. They looked around for a piece of paper inside the cage, outside the cage, under the cage. “Hey, there’s nothing here,” Judy said to the guy.

“He has it,” the guy said, smiling. “Just ask him.”

“
Bwaack!
Blackbeard singing in the dead of night!”

“Hey! He’s singing that old Beatles song Dad sings about the blackbird,” said Judy. “Maybe the clue’s a black bird.”

“Is it a black bird?” Stink asked the parrot. “Is that the clue?”

“Sign of the pirate. Sign of the pirate,” said Blackbeard, ruffling his feathers and bobbing his head up and down.

“He’s getting all excited. Maybe ‘sign of the pirate’ is the clue.”

“
Bwaack!
Sign of the pirate.”

“That has just got to be it,” said Judy. “Every time we say the word
clue —
”

“
Bwaack!
Sign of the pirate.”

“There — see what I mean?” said Judy.

“Yeah, he sounds just like a broken record,” said Stink.

“Is it ‘sign of the pirate’? Is that the clue?” Judy asked the guy at the counter. The guy nodded.

“Sign of the pirate,” Blackbeard the parrot squawked again.

“We know! We know!” said Stink, covering his ears. “Let’s get outta here. I can’t think.”

Judy and Stink waited outside while Mom and Dad were in the art store. A family with two little kids walked past, clutching the first clue.

“They didn’t even find the You-Know-What yet,” Stink whispered.

“But what about
that
kid?” said Judy. She pointed to a red-haired, freckle-faced kid with white gunk smeared on his nose. “I think I heard his pockets jingling when he walked past. As in
pirate booty.
”

Stink wasn’t looking. He was busy counting silver coins again.

“Hey, Tall Boy and Smart Girl are going into the smoothie shop.”

“Do you think they know something we don’t know?” Stink asked.

“Not unless the shop has a pirate sign on it somewhere. C’mon, Stink. Think. Get that genius brain humming.”

“Maybe they have a special flavor like Shiver Me Timbers ice cream, and that’s the sign of a pirate.”

“Oh, brother.”

“Or else, I think it’s gotta be a flag,” said Stink.

“I think you have flags on the brain,” said Judy.

“Yeah, on the
genius
brain,” said Stink, cracking up. “I mean a pirate flag. Every pirate has his own sign on his Jolly Roger or Bloody Red.”

“Don’t look now, but I think
somebody’s
spying on us.”

Across the street, while Smart Girl slurped a smoothie, Tall Boy was looking through binoculars — aimed right at Judy and Stink.

“Those Sneaky Petes,” said Stink.

“Let ’em spy,” said Judy. “We’re not even doing anything.”

“Yeah, they’re not the only spies on this island,” said Stink, taking out his spyglass and pointing it at Tall Boy. “Never mind. They’re not even looking at us. Looks like they’re spying on the art store.”

“What’s the big-whoop deal about the art store?” asked Judy. “It’s just paintbrushes and stuff.”

“I think they’re checking out every store on this side of the street. Probably looking for any signs that have pirates on them.”

Judy looked up to read the old-timey wooden sign.

“Way rare,” said Judy, pointing at the sign. “Check that out. The sign is in the form of an acrostic — get it? The first letter of each word spells out
PIRATE
. That’s gotta be it! I just know it! C’mon, Scurvy Stink.” Judy yanked her brother by the arm. “Let’s hurry and get our next clue before those Nancy Drews beat us.”

The Assistant Pirate at the art store handed over three more coins — and the next clue.

As they were leaving the store, Tall Boy and Smart Girl crossed the street, heading for the art shop. Judy and Stink ducked in a doorway and bent their heads over the next clue.

“Clock!” Stink said in a loud whisper. “It’s a clock!”

“But the clue says it doesn’t tick or tock,” said Judy. “Or have hands. Hey, maybe it’s a digital clock — like a watch.”

“Let’s ask Mom and Dad if there’s a watch store around here.”

Judy read the clue again. She looked at Stink, who was walking the plank (aka sidewalk bench), waving his pirate flag in the air while they waited for Mom and Dad to catch up.