11 Aboard the Ghostly Galleon

Chapter 11. ABOARD THE GHOSTLY GALLEON Jim Lad steered the rowboat against the far side of the Black Rat, cautiously pulling up against her timbers as she bobbed and creaked and tugged at her anchor.

The ship was solid, but Jim noticed it had a strange shimmer around it. He reached out and touched the hull. It felt real enough. "Stand back, Tilly," he warned as he took the grappling hook from his leather bag. In one smooth motion, he hurled the hook upward through the fog. There was a wood-splitting clunk as it caught hold of the Black Rat's rail. "I'll go first, Tilly, then you follow me up. Bones, you stay 'ere and guard the boat. If ye hear anythin' or see any of them ghosts, you bark good and loud."

"Yip!" barked Bones quietly. Matilda tried to look confident, but her hands were trembling. As Jim shuffledup the knotted rope, she grabbed hold of it behind him. Pretty quickly, Matilda decided that she didn't like climbing ropes. Her arms were on fire and the coarse rope hurt her hands. On top of that, the ship was covered in limpets, barnacles, and slimy seaweed, which were making a real mess of her tights. Jim, already at the top, whispered encouragement over the rail. Finally, with her palms as red as beets and seaweed sticking to her knees, she

dragged herself over the rail and onto the deck. Jim was hitching up a block and tackle. "To lower the booty into our boat," he said. But they had to find the booty first.... Matilda gazed into the eerie stillness. In the moonlight, the rigging cast long, dark shadows across the deck. Masts and yards towered above them, hastily furled sails flapped in the breeze, just visible through the fog, while ropes and chains clattered against one another. "Where do we start?" she whispered. "We'll try the cargo hold first," Jim replied.

He crept over to the center of the deck and peered through the gratings, his eyes taking a few seconds to adjust to the dark. There in the hold were all the treasures of the Dull-on-Sea Museum, piled high directly below. "Like catchin' fish in a barrel," he said excitedly. Matilda and Jim pulled back the grate, and Jim swung down on a pulley. He spotted a large wooden bucket, secured it

to the pulley, and then started loading it with booty. "Hoist away, Tilly!" Matilda found it surprisingly easy to raise the bucket, even with the weight of all the treasure. Once she had emptied it out she lowered the rope for Jim to fill up again. And again. And again. And again... Before long, Jim and Matilda were both on deck, admiring their handiwork— a great pile of treasure that would shortly be returned to the museum.