Read Online Pirate Loop, The by Simon Guerrier - Free Book Online Page A

others badgers were around, though, he became like a sulky teenager.
     
'I was askin' 'em questions,' he told Dashiel.
     
'Find anythin' out?' Dashiel asked him.
     
'Nah,' said Archibald. 'They're pretty stupid.'
     
Martha couldn't stop Mrs Wingsworth. 'Well really!' she huffed, more than a little too loudly.
     
'You got summin' to say, 'ave you?' growled Dashiel, jabbing his gun towards her.
     
Mrs Wingsworth trembled where she stood. 'No,' she squeaked.
     
Martha reached out her hand and took hold of Mrs Wingsworth's tentacle. There was little she could do if the badgers turned on any of the prisoners, but Mrs Wingsworth seemed grateful for the gesture and her trembling began to ease.
     
'Don't annoy them,' Martha whispered.
     
'I don't mean to, dear,' Mrs Wingsworth whispered back. 'But, you know, I mean really...'
     
The three badger pirates conferred by the door back into the ballroom. Martha edged forward to better hear what they were saying, but Mrs Wingsworth held her back.
     
'Don't, dear!' she whispered. 'They'll kill you.' And Martha didn't need to get any nearer; Dashiel was so angry he didn't bother to keep his voice down.
     
'We found the bridge,' he growled, 'but couldn't get in there.'
     
'An' we couldn't find the engines,' said Jocelyn.
     
'It's that door with the stuff,' Dashiel told her. 'I bet you.'
     
'Could be,' said Jocelyn. 'But you know what Captain Florence'd say. You can't prove it, can you?'
     
'An' what about the others?' asked Archibald.
     
Dashiel glanced over at Martha and the tentacled aliens before he said anything further. He whispered, but Martha didn't need to hear the words. To want to keep it secret could mean only one thing: these three badgers were all there were. And Martha could deal with three badger-faced pirates.
     
'There's food here if you want it,' she said, gathering up the tray of cheese and pineapple on sticks and taking it over to them. Again the tray had replenished itself; despite what Archibald had taken just a moment ago, the tray was full again.
     
'What's this?' asked Jocelyn warily.
     
'Oh, yeah,' said Archibald. 'You should try these.' He showed his colleagues how to eat the cheese and pineapple and what to do with the sticks. Dashiel and Jocelyn followed his example, and like him their eyes widened with amazement.
     
'That's amazing!' said Dashiel. 'That's like . . .' He trailed off, unable to think of words to describe what it tasted like.
     
'It's nice !' agreed Jocelyn, wowed by the very idea that food could taste good.
     
'You,' said Dashiel, prodding Martha with his paw. 'What's this stuff called?'
     
Before Martha could answer she heard a tutting behind her. She didn't need to guess who that was.
     
'You,' said Dashiel. 'Come 'ere.'
     
Martha watched in horror as Mrs Wingsworth came forward. Her tentacles trembled with fear but Martha saw her struggling not to show that she was scared.
     
'I really didn't mean anything by it,' said Mrs Wingsworth, talking quickly. 'But really, dears, it is funny. I mean, imagine! You've never even seen a canapé.'
     
'Canner-peas,' growled Dashiel, still holding a half-eaten cheese and pineapple stick. 'That's what they're called?'
     
'Yeah,' said Martha, trying to calm the situation. 'That's a posh name for finger food. I call them "nibbles".' It was like any family party, with her having to be the peacemaker. Except when her parents argued, they weren't also wielding guns.
     
'Nibbles,' said Dashiel slowly. 'Cos you nibble on 'em. Yeah.' He seemed quite taken with the word, and finished the cheese and pineapple stick as he considered. Martha stepped forward, proffering the tray so he could put the stick into the little silver box. She didn't withdraw, waiting in front of him until he took another cheese and pineapple stick from her tray. Anything to keep his mind off the gun in his other hand.
     
'We've also got sausage rolls and scotch eggs,' she told him, 'and those things like baby