12 The Duel

Chapter 12. THE DUEL On the Black Rat, Jim was about to make his escape when a blur of colored feathers zipped by, dropping something onto the floor in front of him. The Key of Souls! As Jim stuffed the key into his belt, a gunshot whizzed past his head and cut a rope clean in two. "Hold it right there, laddie!" a voice creaked. "Ye

woke me from me slumber, and ye seems to be takin' things tha' don't belong to ye." He turned to see a hunched, peg- legged figure, waving a flintlock in his direction. Jim took a deep breath and grabbed a cutlass from a nearby bucket. He'd never had a real duel before, but he'd practiced with his dad, who said he had lots of potential. He hoped that it would be enough.... "Fight me fair, ye curmudgeon! I'm a boy and ye seem to be a man," taunted Jim as he jumped down from the rail.

The old pirate chuckled and stuck his flintlock in his belt. He took a swig of grog and drew his sword. The two opponents eyed each other across the deck, gripping their weapons tightly and inching closer. Now that he was a bit nearer, Jim didn't like the look of the old pirate at all. He had a scar that ran across his face, and one ear was hanging off. He was panting heavily, drool oozing from his mouth. Jim Lad felt beads of sweat running down his forehead. But before their cutlasses could clash, a great, booming voice echoed through the fog at the far end of the deck.

"YOU'LL LEAVE HIM FER ME!" ordered Captain Twirlybeard, striding toward them, a cutlass in each hand. His motley crew of ghost pirates followed behind him. If Jim was sweating at the thought of fighting the peg-legged pirate, he was terrified at the prospect of taking on Twirlybeard. Whatever potential his dad thought he might have, it probably wasn't enough to take on one of the most fearsome pirates who had ever lived. But before Jim could think about it properly, two cutlasses came flying toward him. It took all his strength to parry them. He lost his footing and fell to the deck,

then scurried behind the mast as one of Twirlybeard's blades cut a great chunk from the timber. Jim took a swing at his foe, but Twirlybeard effortlessly brushed it aside. "That all ye got, boy?" He grinned. "This won't take long!" Jim Lad leaped for the rigging and climbed up with one hand while parrying blows with the cutlass in the other. "GET DOWN WERE AND FIGHT, YE VARMINT!" yelled Twirlybeard. "OR I'LL BE COMING TO GET YE!" Throwing down one of his cutlasses, he began to climb after Jim. The rigging groaned under his mighty bulk.

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