Hal's Task a Missing Lass
A long time ago
on a bridge
far, far
away …
Hal’s Task a Missing Lass
by
Lillian Raae-Vea (9 🏴☠️👸) & Ola Vea
Only in nightmares
has Hal ever been so
squashed & pressed
by other people.
Faces loom up
and flash by
singing, laughing,
drunken. Gone in
a dizzing whirl
of colour. Hal
swallows, blinks,
his head spins.
«Surely this IS
a nightmare.»
Hal mumbles.
Hal tails Sneaky
Rat-Face through
The singing,
the clapping
the crush, the joy
and confusion.
Hal has people on every side,
pushing,
jostling,
singing.
Hundreds of them.
«Move!» A shoulder
knocks Hal roughly
aside and is gone.
hide inside a
parrot stall.
«Ahoy Hal. Out
stalking again» Whispers
Parrot-Paulie.
«Good day to you
Parrot-Paulie. See
you later at
the concert.» Whispers
Whispers Hal.
Lotta takes
over the tail,
she dances and slides
through the busteling
crowds.
«Sausage-inna-waffle!
Real beef. Hot
sausage-inna-waffle!»
«Drums! Tambourins!»
«Mieouw-
Miiieoooouuuw!»
«Oi! Lotta
I gotta get
this kitty down off
the wall.» Hal
whispers.
«Don’t dawdle
Sneako
Ratface
might BE
Lucy’s kidnapper.»
Lotta hisses back.
«But where’s our Ratface
gone to?» Hal has a good
view of the street ahead,
all the way past
their own house.
No Sneako
Ratface in sight.
Hal climbs up
the wall of the house
in no time. «I’ve saved
kitties from here
before. You’ll be
safe inside my pocket,
Hal quikly climbs
down and sprints
to Lotta.
«Gone?»
Whispers Hal.
«Yeah. Gone inside
a house maybe?»
Whispers Lotta.
«Drat! I’ll check
our house.» Hal
whispers.
«Oh yeah, forgot
to lock our door
again?» Lotta
whispers.
«Did NOT.» Hal
whispers.
«Did TOO.» Lotta
whispers.
«Nope. You’re the
one who lost
him.» Hal
whispers.
«Well our door IS
unlocked
…» Lotta
whispers.
They sneak inside,
Hal hand signals
for each of them
to go in through
a separate kitchen door.
«ALARM! THIEF!» Hal
hollers towards the
open door, knowing
his voice will carry
outside. Ratface
whirls to face Hal.
«Hah! You boy! You
and me then.»
«Others will come
Ratface, The
neighbourhood watch.»
Hal walks confidently towards Sneako.
Ratface smiles with
yellow teeth and
a clawlike blade
glints in his left
hand.
The kitten rears
it’s orange head hissing
Sneako
stumbles
3 steps back and goes
down right over Lotta’s
leg sweep.
Lotta grips
Ratface’s knifehand and
headlocks
Ratface’s neck and arm.
«GAH!» Ratface drops
his curved knife with
a tinkle.
«I yield. I yield. AAAH!»
Hal sees the
first of the
neighbourhood watch
Mrs Luhan, the muscular
wife of the blacksmith.
Coming into the kitchen.
Mrs Luhan gives a “don’t
stop for me.” wave.
«AAAA!» Screams Ratface
«Who sent you?» Lotta’s
voice is low and menancing.
«I’ll say nuffink!» Shouts
Ratface.
«I’ll show you ‘nothing’.
You think THIS hurts.
THIS is NOTHING! Here
it comes.» Says Lotta
with a smile.
«GAAAH! NOOOO! MUH!
MUH-Murdred. It was
MUH-Murdred sent me… AAAAH!»
Shouts Ratface.
«Liar. NO way. No ugly ratface
like you work for
Murdred. He’s lads
are all pretty as dancing
girls.» Lotta keeps
squeezing.
«AAAH! I’m freelance.»
Gasps Ratface
out of breath, his
face contorts in pain.
«Let him go now,
Werlin’s concert
is about to start.»
Says Hal, but too
late. Ratface’s
eyes rolls up and
he goes limp. Lotta
let’s him go.
«Neat, you put him
straight
to sleep.» Mrs Luhan
looks impressed.
«He bored me.» Says
Lotta.
«Murdred Huh?! What
if it’s true? Can’t
get worse than that.»
Says Hal.
«Yeah you two best
leave town for a while.»
Says Mrs Luhan.
Ratface is suddenly up, taking
a running jump
through the kitchen
window with a chrash
and a cheer from the
crowd outside.
«Drat, I guess he had
some secrets still
in him. Or he
wouldn’t have
jumped. Oh hello
Werlin!» Says Hal.
«Hello again my
beauties! Is it
happening? Are you
listening?!» Says Werlin
with a huge smile under
his big, bushy, black mustach.
«Haven’t I
told you to listen.
How can you listen
when you rudely
choke the man out? HMMM!»
Says Werlin.
Lotta looks at the
floor.
«Monstrous Murdred Huh?!
My, my, my. Murdred &
his merry mob of
malignants.
You best listen this
time or it’ll be too
late. If Murdred and
his witch hunters gets
a shred of evidence
against you, your DONE.
Instead you’d better
be GONE.
I’ll help you Leave.
But first
I gotta leave for
my concert.
See you
in your
yellow rooftop hut.
After my concert.
I’ll get you
out of here.»
Werlin jogs out.
«Knock. BANG. Knock.»
«What now? Don’t knock the door DOWN!» Says Lotta.
«Oh, hello it’s you.»
Hal comes to the door
and sees the Lucas
from two houses down
the street.
«Our Ariadne sent us
a letter.»
Says mr Luca.
«That’s good.»
Says Hal. Mrs
Luca sits down
on the floor,
bawling her eyes out.
Hal reaches
for the letter.
«Hal!» Lotta
shouts.
«Put the
kettle on,
that’s a
dear.» Lotta thinks Hal rub
people the wrong way sometimes, like now.
«Look, there’s
another letter
attached.» Says
mr Luca.
The Ransom Note
Wanna see
Yer gurl?
Give us the
Treasure Map’o
Web-Dev
islands.
Best wishes X.
«Why’d the Lucas come to
Lotta & Hal
with that
ransom note?»
You ask. They are
Detectives Hal & Lotta,
Pirate Detectives.
Their neighbours bring
them cases to solve.
Hal feeds
the Lucas
ginger cookies
as they re-tell
their
tearful tale.
how little Ariadne
went out
to do a
morning
delivery of chocolate
croissants, never
to be seen again.
The Lucas are bakers.
Hal writes down the
address of the chocolate
croissant customer again.
The address
WAS near Southie.
Hal says nothing but
word on our Bridge is,
our lost lass
got kidnapped by
Southies Baddies.
Nor that
The watchmen
haven’t
patrolled
into
Southie
for 12 years.
(missing card Our Lost Lassies)
«Leave it with us.» Hal
says to the Lucas.
«We’ll find this
Treasure Map of
these so-called
‘Web-Dev Islands’
&
we’ll set up
an exchange, don’t
you worry.»
«YESS! We’ve got
a new clue in our case!» Says Hal
when they are alone.
«And a tough one.»
Lotta says thoughtfully
tapping her
sharp right
front tooth.
«So what’s our next
move?» Says Hal.
«Have you
ever heard
of these Web-
Dev Islands?» Says Lotta.
«Not a pip, but
why should I have?
the whole
PLACE
sounds insanely illegal,
“web-dev”! It’s pure treason, innit?!» Hal says.
An explosion of roars
and wild clapping from
outside. Werlin starts singing.
«We can’t leve now,
we finally got our
first clue in the
Ariadne case.» Says Hal.
«If Murdred gets us
locked up in the Tower
there’s not much we
can do to find Ariadne.» Says Lotta.
«Yeah, that’s another
thing. If we leave
now, that’s like
CONFESSING we’re guilty
of whatever Murdred is
trying to get us for.»
Says Hal.
«Yeah confession, Murdred’s
favourite thing.» Says Lotta.
«And thirdly, sir Ector will
spank us if we leave his
house and his secrets
unguarded
when we promised to
protect all of it.» Says Hal.
«Bang. BANG-BANG-BANG bang bang!»
Hal opens and:
«AH! Good thing you
children are home,
cause you’re staying
for a while. Here’s
a warrant for your
house arrest. For
choking a mr Green
unconcious. The poor
innocent man is with
the surgeon as we speak.»
Says a sing-song-voice.
«Murdred.» Says Lotta icily.
«Werrreechz!» Sneers
the orange cat in
Murdred’s face.
«Yuck! I hate cat
monsters.» Murdred jumps back, then struts
around with Werlin singing
outside the open door.
«Close that damn door,
the noise irks me.»
One of Murdred’s
twelve thugs slams
the door.
«Any of you
traitors going to talk?»
Sneers Murdred.
Murdred picks up a kettle, sniffs it, drops it on
the floor. Takes a ladle and drops it.
«Weeeell I’ve got an
anonymous tip that you two
have been experimenting
treasonously with
web-dev witchcraft.
It’s true isn’t it?»
Says Murdred.
«No.» Says Hal.
«Ah. ‘No’ is it? So says every lying
traitor. But if I
find evidence, …» Says
Murdred.
«We’re Loyal to
Our Queen.» Says Hal.
«So you say. So you
SAY. HO-HO-HO who’s
been a bad boy!? I spy
with my eye a banned
book.» Murdred stretches
up to the top shelf of the
kitchen bookcase and pulls
out a blue book. Swings it
in a wide arch, piruetting
like a dancer.
«JavaScript for Kids!
TRRRREASOOOON! MO-HA-
HA-HA! Write it down
notary.» Says Murdred.
The handsome notary scribbles
furiously on his parchment
a pink tip of tounge sticks
out.
The orange kitten bites Hals
hand, gets loose and flies at Murdred’s
face, hugging it like a killer
kraken. Murdred stumbles
backwards clutching the
blue book to his chest.
His thugs backs off
horror on their faces. Smiling Lotta dances
forward snatches the blue book.
as Murdred trips to the floor.
«Run Forrest. RUUUN!» Lotta
shouts handing Hal the book. Hal sprints up the
stairs. Lotta takes the kitten calmly
by the scruff of it’s neck
and lifts it towards the
thugs. One thug opens
the outer door and they
all back off.
Lotta takes a step closer.
«BOOO!» Shouts Lotta.
All the thugs run out the door.
Lotta walks calmly up
the stairs lika straight
gangster.
«Yooouuuu’ll regreeet
thiiis!» Murdred’s sing-
song-voice has a catch
in it.
«And you sound like a
lost
little lass.» Lotta says
over her shoulder.
Upstairs Hal has a wild look in
his eyes.
«You wanna stay? In house
arrest? Like a law abiding
citizen?» Says Lotta.
«We can’t go. We need to
protect Sir Ector’s house.»
Says Hal.
«Oh yeah! You smell that?
Smoke. From a fire.
Murdred has put fire to our
house. That’s his way when
he has no proof. You know
it.» Says Lotta.
«We can put out the fire.»
Says Hal.
«Nobody puts out Murdred’s
fires. He always brings
cartloads of house burning
materials. Our neighbours will be busy watering their own houses. Let’s go up.» Says Lotta.
They climb the top secret
ladder to the rooftop.
«That’s We Are the Champions,
it’s Werlin’s second to
last song.» Says Hal.
«Good thing I packed for
both of us, I see you’ve
packed nothing.» Says Lotta.
«I’m not going, I’m staying.
Ah hey Werlin! You’re
already here!»
«Friends! Friends! I saw
Murdred roll up with two wagons, to fuel his fire.
So I made my drummer sing
the last song.» Says Werlin.
«I’m not going, I need to
find Ariadne.»
«I’ve got a tip for you,
The Merry Mermaid Pub
is the best place to
listen to tales of treasure
maps.» Says Werlin.
«The Merry Mermaid?
Never heard of that
pub.» Says Hal.
«I’ll show you the way,
IF you decide to go.»
Says Werlin.
«You’ll show us a place
were we might find the
treasure map of the
Web-Dev Islands?» Says Hal.
«Yes and much more
you’ve never seen before!»
Says Werlin.
«But what about sir
Ectors house?» Says Hal.
«You’ll build a new
one with all that
treasure you’ll find.»
Says Werlin.
«Yeah I’m ready for
a treasure hunt!» Hal
climbs into the yellow
and pink climbing ship
he built with Lotta
when he was younger.
«Oi! This is new!
‘Break Glass In Case
of Treasure Hunt’»
Hal breaks glass.
«That looks like
a sword hilt!» Says
Lotta.
«Yeah it’s an early
birthday gift.» Says
Werlin.
«Now what?» Says Hal.
«Now sweet Hal, you
pull the handle labeled
‘Request’.» Says Werlin.
«Wait Hal, it’s labeled
‘Request (Do NOT pull
in case of fire)’» Says
Lotta.
«We’ve not a moment to
loose then, before the
fire reach us.» Says Hal.
«What does it do? WAIT!
HAL!» Shouts Lotta as
Hal pulls the ‘Request’
lever.
«Yoouuuu’ll seeeee!»
Shouts Werlin.
Like a loose tooth
coming out, the whole
climbing ship lurches
sideways and slides down
the sloping roof. A big,
black square opens in
the roof a bit further
down. They slide into
the darkness. And hit
sloshing water. Werlin
sings a wild wordless
melody at the top of
his voice. The darkness
turns red, then yellow,
orange. They’re sloping
downwards. Faster back
to red. Yellow, orange.
Red. Yellow, orange.
Red. Yellow, orange.
Hal sees a black drop
ahead.
«On ‘three’ you breath in!
On ‘one’ you hold your
noses!» Werlin Shouts
over the splashing.
Hal wedges himself
with his butt into
a corner and his
legs to the wall.
Clutching the orange
cat, who is calm for
some reason.
Yellow, orange. red.
They shoot over the
edge without leaving
the water. Yellow, orange.
Red. Faster, faster. Down
ahead Hal sees a yellow,
orange and red cavern
zooming towards him.
Growing.
«Three!» Shouts Werlin.
Hal breaths in deeply.
He’s soaked now.
«Two-ONE!» Shouts Werlin.
Hal holds his nose and
hides the cat’s face
on his chest. They shoot
up the side of the cavern,
slows at the top and speed
down again. They hit in an
explosion of white water,
filling the climbing ship.
Slows down. Slides towards
a gaping boy in a black
bicorn hat. Eyes big and round.
They slide to a stop at an
old grey wooden pier.
The boy fumbles at his
belt and clumsily pulls
a rusty cutlass.
«S-s-s-stop! Please.
I mean, ALARM Aliens!»
Shouts the boy.
«No need for THAT lad,
we come in peace. Take
us to your larder.»
Says Werlin smiling warmly.
«I know how to use this!
Don’t come closer.» Shouts
the boy with a scared voice.
«Not another of your pranks
Cisco, you woke me with
your splashing ruckus.
Oh MY! MY Oh MY!» A fat
little man stares at them.
«Where are your manners man.
You’re supposed to toast
our safe landing in your
best rum.» Says Werlin
the closest Hal has
ever heard him to angry.
«Uhm-Ah … awfully sorry
sir. I … I’ll get the
glasses in a jiffy. Cisco!
Put up that old cutlass,
do they look like aliens
to you?!» says the fat
little man and shuffles
of around the corner.
«Well … Yes. Actually.»
Says the boy.
Hal steps onto the pier
and holds out his cat
towards the boy.
«Wanna hold her? Don’t
be scared her name is
Jenny» Says Hal.
«It’s a boy-cat.» Says
Lotta and walks past
the boy to stroke a
stack of pink towels,
printed with lettering,
neatly folded on a chair.
«It’s a girl.» Says Hal
looking at his cat.
«Pretend to drink
the rum.» Whispers Werlin
out the side of his mouth.
«Here’s the rum sir. Sorry
about our clumsiness.»
The man pours five tiny
glasses from a small,
brown barrel in the
crook of his arm. He
toasts with Werlin.
Lotta passes her glass
to the boy behind the
mans back.
«Thank you and have a
peacful watch.» Werlin says
and walks off toweling his
head with one of the
printed, pink towels.
«Uh … Yeah, peacful.
Right. Of course.»
Mumbles the man.
«To the Merry
Mermaid then.» Says Hal.
«Yes. Welcome to
Tube Town.» Says Werlin
with his arms outstretch
and showing his crooked
teeth in a grand smile.
«You’ll never find a
more wretched hive of
piracy and tall tales.
We must listen deeply
for clues among the lies.»
Inside the crowded & loud Merry Mermaid
«Hey! We don’t serve
their kind here.» The
bartender points angrily
at Hal’s cat.
«WHAT?!» Says Hal.
«Your feline! He’ll have
to wait outside, we don’t
want him here.» Says the bartender.
«It’s a girl cat!» Says Hal,
but he finds a little hut
outside with water. Coming
inside again he bumps
into a hard shoulder
in the dim light.
«He doesn’t like you.»
Says a scarred face.
«I’m sorry.» Says Hal.
«You watch yourself.
I have hanging sentences
on twelve islands.» Says
Scarface.
«I’ll be carful then.»
Says Hal.
«You’ll be dead!» Says
Scarface.
«YOU’ll be dead!»
Says Lotta pointing
the sailors own
pistols at them.
«I’ll give you a bullet
or a grog. Which will
it be? Bullet or grog?!»
Says Lotta calmly.
«I’ll take the grog.»
The other sailor says.
«Keep your scarred buddy
away from me or he’ll
get a round scar between his eyes.» Says
Lotta handing the sailor
two grogs from the bar.
«Yes miss. Thanks miss.
Bye miss.» Says the
other sailor.
«Humph!» Says Lotta and
drags Hal deeper into
the noisy Mermaid crowd. A
big beardy sailor points
them to the roaring fireplce
all the way in the back,
behind a bunch of actors
they see Werlin handing
out grogs from a tray
to a score of scruffy
sailors. Saying “sailors”
is not precise, proper pirates
is what they look like.
Werling gives Lotta and
Hal his ‘shut-up-&-listen’
look. A rock hard
red head rappes her
now empty grog on
the table top and
lookes around the group
with half lidded eyes.
«Web-Dev Islands? Yeeeeah.
That’s where Cap’n Crook
dug his treasure down.
Innit!?» Says the red head
and pulls a thumb-sized
wad of chewing tobacco
out of her jaw.
«Yall heard the one
about ol’ Cap’n Crook?
How he aaalmooost lost
both his hands? Hmm?»
Says the red head.
«Noooo!» Shouts a
chorus of coarse voices.
Some banging on the table.
Both Hal and Lotta had heard
THAT terrible tale. But
Werlin watched them so
they listened in silence.
«He wasnae old back then, our
Cap’n Crook. Was he a
Captain?» Says the red head.
«Noooo!» Shouts are eager pirate pals.
She smiles wolfishly
and downs a grog she gets handed.
«A beardless cute, cook boy
and his name wasnae even
Crook! Mo-Ha-Ha-HA!» They all
join in the infectious laughter.
«We were boarding a frog
in the Biscay. A fair french
frigate. Blessedly legit,
mind you. We HAD the proper
paper work. The Kings writ
with red wax on it. Those
were the days my friends!»
Shouts the red head holding
her cup out while a
peg-legged pirate pours
grog sloppily.
«Horray! More Grog!
To the King! Down
with all frogs!» Shouts the
pirates and Werlin pours the pitcher.
«Aye, the bad, big Biscay.
The sun hid behind a
cloud blazingly fast
and a wind came up from
nowhere. Slapping our
ship around. Next thing our
Captain is down in the drink.
Captain Pan hisself, out cold.
Floating around. Helpless as
a babe in a Bahamas jungle.»
The red head empties her grog
and holds it out. And keeps talking.
«Lil’ cook boy Crook
dived down and a white
shark surfaced straight
away. The boy punched
the shark straight on
the snout. And a surprised
shark it was. That shark
gave our boy a sulky
stare. Our boy didn’t blink,
he stared straight back.
Holding his guard up lika pro.
And we got a line around
Captain Pan and hoisted him
outta the drink. He always was
a wee fairy-like thing our
Captain Pan. So we hoisted
him way to fast and hard.
Flew up he did. Booped his
head on the yardarm. We
booped him back to wakefulness.
Not a bit blissful about being
booped. The most creative
cursing I’ve heard before
or since. Aye our Captain
Pan had a piraty mouth
when he was in the mood for it.
Cook boy Crook looked up,
open mouthed. And THAT
was when a colossal
crocodile clamped it’s
chops onto BOTH of Crooks
hands. Crook pulled the ONE
hand unstuck. Grabbed and
ripped the other arm loose.
We hoisted Crook up.
He lay down on deck.
With his arm aloft, held
by his other hand. Where
was his hand?»
«GOOONE!» Shouts the pirates.
«Datsright! GONE baby gone.
Blood was spraying up
in spurts and what did
Crook saaaay?»
Says the Red Head.
«Pardon me for laying down.»
Shouts the pirates.
«Datsright. Always polite
was Crook. ‘That swim
took the wind outta my
sails.’ he said. Pan
was grateful for
Crook guarding him
from the shark and
paying with his paw.
So on his deathbed Captain
Pan gave Crook a map.
A treasure map of the
Dead-Dev Islands. Or the
Web-Dev Islands as
people call them nowadays.
And THAT folks is how
it REALLY happened.»
Ext street outside the Merry Mermaid
«Bleh»
«»
«»
«»
«»
«»
«»
«» Says Hal.
«» Says Lotta
«» Says Werlin.
«» Says Hal.
«» Says Lotta
«» Says Werlin.
«» Says Hal.
«» Says Lotta
«» Says Werlin.
«» Says Hal.
«» Says Lotta
«» Says Werlin.
«» Says Hal.
«» Says Lotta
«» Says Werlin.
«» Says Hal.
«» Says Lotta
«»
«» Says Lotta
«»
«»
«»
«»
«»
«»
Våre savnede småjenter
Det er ikke bare fest og moro på brua vår. Sør for oss ligger Southie.
Og denne ene våren har 2 småjenter blitt borte fra brua vår.
Ryktet på brua er at småjentene våre 💙 blei kidnappa av slemminger fra Southie. 💀
Nattevaktene har ikke patruljert inn i Southie på 12 år.
Lotta & Hal våkna av hamring på døra.
«Ah, det er DERE.» Hal slapp inn herr of fru Black fra to hus bortafor.
«Vår Lucy sendte oss et brev.» Sa herr Black. «Det er jo bra.» Sa Hal fru Black satt seg på gølvet og hylgrein.
«Se her er et vedlagt enda et brev.» Sa herr Black og Hal strakk seg etter brevet.
«Hal.» Ropte Lotta «Sett over tevannet, er du snill.»
Lotta synes jeg … , som nå.
( Lotta thinks I rub some people the wrong way sometimes, like now. )
Utpressingsbrevet
Vil dere se jenta deres? Gi oss skattekartet over web-dev øyene.
Beste ønsker X.
«Hvorfor kom herr og fru Black til Lotta & Hal med det utpressingsbrevet?» Spør du.
Vi er Detektiver, Lotta & jeg, Pirat Detektiver.
Hal fora herr og fru Black med pepperkaker, mens DE fortalte sin tårevåte historie.
Om lille Lucy som dru ut for å gjøre en morgenlevering med sjokolade croissanter og aldri blei sett igjen.
«La oss ta oss av dette.» Sa Lotta.
«Vi skal finne dette kartet over de såkalte ‘Web-Dev’ øyene og
så setter vi opp et bytte, ikke bekymr dere.»
«.»
«.»
«.»
«JAAA! Vi har en ny SAK!» Ropte Hal da vi var aleine.
«Og en tøff sak.» Sa Lotta tankefullt og klikket på den skarpe fortanna si.
«So what’s our next move boss?» Said Hal. «Have you ever heard of these ‘Web- Dev Islands?» Said Lotta.
«Not a pip, but why should I have? The whole PLACE sounds insanely illegal. “web-dev”! It’s pure Treason , innit.» Hal said.
«Yeah … Let’s go have some egg & bacon breakfast down at the Dolphin and see what gossip we can pick up about these ‘Web-Dev Islands’.» I said
So Hal and I popped into the Dodgy Dolphin for a spot of breakfast. As always there was a loud group of musicians and actors drinking at the bar. We ignored them and went to the fireplace. A handfull of sailors were sitting close to the roaring fire. I say “sailors”, but they were proper pirates. We knew them from the “Tarquin Todd case” last summer.
Hal & I brought the pirates a round of grog and a piece of paper with my sketchnoted Web-Dev Islands Treasure Map. Hal & I ate our bacon’n eggs in silence. It’s a mistake to ask a question off of a pirate, she’ll clam up. But shut up yourself and a pirate will start chatting like a magpie. Can’t help herself. Silence is torture to a pirate. Uncle Walsingham told us that.
A hard looking redhead slammed her empty grog on the table.
«Yall heard the one about how ol’Cap’n Crook aaaalmost lost BOTH his hands?» She whispered huskily and pulled a great wad of chewing tobacco out of her upper jaw. I’ve heard several versions, but I wasn’t worried because the tales were all GREAT.
«He wasnae old back then our Cap’n Crook. A beardless cook boy he was. We were boarding a french frigate in the Biscay. Totally legit mind you, we HAD the paperwork. The weather turned treacherous, slapping our ship around. Next thing Captain Pan hisself was down in the drink. Captain Pan floating around unconscious, helpless as a babe in a Bahamas jungle! Young Crook jumped right in after. And wouldn’t you know it a shark showed up instantly. Some say Crook had read about the trick in a book, but anyway the boy punched that shark straight in the snout. The shark gave Crook an insulted stare to the count’o 10. Crook though, didn’t blink. The boy stared right back into that sharky eye, holding his guard up lika pro. That gave the crew juuuust time enough to hoist Captain Pan» Said .
«.» Said . «.» I said «.» Said Hal.
