right? But really you just want to be on the sea…is that it?”
He could see Shane shaking his head in the dim light. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t remember where I came from. I don’t remember much before I signed on with Jack Sparrow.”
“Captain Jack Sparrow,” Jean corrected automatically, even though he rarely remembered to call him that when they were together. He squinted at Catastrophe Shane. What an odd story. How could anyone not remember where they came from?
Jean was one of the few crew members who knew about Jack’s shadow-sickness. He also knew that it had started the day Catastrophe Shane came aboard.
Was there a connection?
What if Catastrophe Shane was lying?
What if he was really working for the Shadow Lord? He certainly muttered some odd things in his sleep…things about how dangerous he was. Jean had always assumed these were normal pirate ambitions. But what if they were something more?
“Look!” Barbossa suddenly seized Billy’s arm. The first mate pointed through the bars.
A strange sight was coming down the corridor toward them. Before they could see it clearly, they could hear an approaching jangle-jangle .
Then a small shape emerged from the darkness…with five smaller shapes right behind it.
In the lead was a sandy-colored, scruffy-looking dog. It trotted proudly, with its head held high and its paws briskly stepping over the uneven stone floor. In its mouth the dog carried a heavy ring of iron keys, which jangled along with its movements.
This was strange enough. But to add to the strangeness, the dog was followed by a row of five puppies—all of them equally scruffy and sandy-colored. And each of them was also carrying a ring in its mouth. The only difference was that the puppies’ rings held only one key apiece. Clearly a whole ring of keys would be too heavy for them.
Billy shook his head, blinking. It sounded too crazy to believe…but it looked like the dogs were practicing. At each cell, the mother dog would sit down just outside the bars. She gave her puppies a stern look, and they all tumbled into sitting positions beside her. Then they sat there while the pirates in the cells tried to call to them.
“Here doggie! Come here! Come on! Nice doggie!” yelled the pirates in the next cell. They leaned through the bars, trying to grab the rings of keys, but the dogs had carefully put themselves just out of arm’s reach. The puppies turned up their noses and tried to imitate their mother’s proud, determined expression. None of them would let themselves be coaxed by the pirates.
Once the mother dog was satisfied with their performance, they moved on to the next cell.
“Look at the little one,” Jean whispered.
The smallest puppy seemed to be having the most trouble with the task. Instead of staring off into space like he was supposed to, he kept getting distracted by flickers of light on the floor or cockroaches darting out from cracks in the wall. His ears flapped as he whipped his head from side to side, watching for interesting things. At one point he noticed the pirates waving to him and bounced to his paws with a small yap, nearly dropping his key. His mother growled and nudged him firmly. The puppy quickly sat back down again, looking embarrassed. The other four puppies exchanged amused, knowing glances.
“Even so,” Billy murmured, realizing what Jean was thinking, “what are the chances that the little one has our key?”
“Let me try,” Jean said, getting up and crouching by the front of the cage. The dogs were sitting in a row against the far wall, pretending to ignore Barbossa as he tried to shove his arm out of its socket to reach the keys. The mother dog lifted her nose. The four bigger puppies lifted their noses, too.
But the littlest puppy looked at Jean. His dark eyes were curious.
“Hey,” Jean called softly. “It’s okay. Come here, puppy.” His voice was softer and more welcoming than those of the pirates in the
He could see Shane shaking his head in the dim light. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t remember where I came from. I don’t remember much before I signed on with Jack Sparrow.”
“Captain Jack Sparrow,” Jean corrected automatically, even though he rarely remembered to call him that when they were together. He squinted at Catastrophe Shane. What an odd story. How could anyone not remember where they came from?
Jean was one of the few crew members who knew about Jack’s shadow-sickness. He also knew that it had started the day Catastrophe Shane came aboard.
Was there a connection?
What if Catastrophe Shane was lying?
What if he was really working for the Shadow Lord? He certainly muttered some odd things in his sleep…things about how dangerous he was. Jean had always assumed these were normal pirate ambitions. But what if they were something more?
“Look!” Barbossa suddenly seized Billy’s arm. The first mate pointed through the bars.
A strange sight was coming down the corridor toward them. Before they could see it clearly, they could hear an approaching jangle-jangle .
Then a small shape emerged from the darkness…with five smaller shapes right behind it.
In the lead was a sandy-colored, scruffy-looking dog. It trotted proudly, with its head held high and its paws briskly stepping over the uneven stone floor. In its mouth the dog carried a heavy ring of iron keys, which jangled along with its movements.
This was strange enough. But to add to the strangeness, the dog was followed by a row of five puppies—all of them equally scruffy and sandy-colored. And each of them was also carrying a ring in its mouth. The only difference was that the puppies’ rings held only one key apiece. Clearly a whole ring of keys would be too heavy for them.
Billy shook his head, blinking. It sounded too crazy to believe…but it looked like the dogs were practicing. At each cell, the mother dog would sit down just outside the bars. She gave her puppies a stern look, and they all tumbled into sitting positions beside her. Then they sat there while the pirates in the cells tried to call to them.
“Here doggie! Come here! Come on! Nice doggie!” yelled the pirates in the next cell. They leaned through the bars, trying to grab the rings of keys, but the dogs had carefully put themselves just out of arm’s reach. The puppies turned up their noses and tried to imitate their mother’s proud, determined expression. None of them would let themselves be coaxed by the pirates.
Once the mother dog was satisfied with their performance, they moved on to the next cell.
“Look at the little one,” Jean whispered.
The smallest puppy seemed to be having the most trouble with the task. Instead of staring off into space like he was supposed to, he kept getting distracted by flickers of light on the floor or cockroaches darting out from cracks in the wall. His ears flapped as he whipped his head from side to side, watching for interesting things. At one point he noticed the pirates waving to him and bounced to his paws with a small yap, nearly dropping his key. His mother growled and nudged him firmly. The puppy quickly sat back down again, looking embarrassed. The other four puppies exchanged amused, knowing glances.
“Even so,” Billy murmured, realizing what Jean was thinking, “what are the chances that the little one has our key?”
“Let me try,” Jean said, getting up and crouching by the front of the cage. The dogs were sitting in a row against the far wall, pretending to ignore Barbossa as he tried to shove his arm out of its socket to reach the keys. The mother dog lifted her nose. The four bigger puppies lifted their noses, too.
But the littlest puppy looked at Jean. His dark eyes were curious.
“Hey,” Jean called softly. “It’s okay. Come here, puppy.” His voice was softer and more welcoming than those of the pirates in the
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