13 Escape!

13. ESCAPE! Matilda was worn out. It had been a busy morning. She wolfed down her soup. There was freshly baked bread too,

and Matilda secretly dropped a few crumbs into the pocket of her apron, for Jim to eat. The sea hags took a little longer to finish their soup, dipping their bread and chattering to one another. They sat back in their chairs with their hands across their tummies, looking sleepy and heavy-lidded. "We'll be having a nap, snoozing in bed. We get a bit sleepy once we've been fed...." And they all yawned. Dabberlocks took Matilda back to the pantry, lifted the key from its hook, and locked her inside. As soon as Matilda

heard them leave the kitchen, she plucked Jim from her pocket and placed him on the floor. "Dabberlocks told me that they sleep for 'an hour or three' in the afternoon," she said. "That might give us time to escape, if we can unlock this door." Jim looked at the door. "You know what, Tilly, I reckon I could get me'self under the bottom of that door. Where's the key?" "It's hanging by a rope," said Matilda. "On the wall, to the right. I could reach it, but you're a bit... um... small." "But I'm a pirate, Tilly, and I love

该页暂无翻译

climbin'!" said Jim confidently, crawling out of sight beneath the door. Out of the pantry, he spotted the key on a row of hooks fixed to the wall above the counter. It was a long way up for a very little Jim. The first problem was scaling the kitchen cupboards. Jim needed a rope and a grappling hook. He surveyed the room. Under the table he could see a rusted teaspoon on the floor. He pulled at some loose thread on the tablecloth until it looked long enough to reach the counter. He took his penknife from his belt, cut the thread, and tied it to the teaspoon. It felt like the heaviest teaspoon ever and, unlike his normal grappling hook, it was

smooth and rounded. But maybe he could get it to latch on to one of the drawer handles. Jim lined himself up beneath the drawers, most of the coiled thread hanging from his left hand, while he spun the teaspoon in his right. He hurled the teaspoon upward as hard and fast as he could. It clattered against the handle, balanced precariously on one edge. Jim tried to jiggle it into position, but it came loose and tumbled to the floor with a crash. He tried again, and exactly the same thing happened.