15 The Sea Chase

15. THE SEA CHASE They all rushed onto the beach. Jim was riding Bones, and his dad was running along with the Blackhole under his arm. Grandpa was still staggering about on the deck of the rolling ship, firing out the tiny cannonballs. Each of them grabbed something from the pile of beach things on their way by leaving only the tent flapping in the wind. They clambered aboard their vehicle, fastening buckles

as swiftly as they could. Jim's dad flicked the key and floored the accelerator and the wheels churned up sand and pebbles as they surged into the water. Jim Lad looked back toward the rocks and saw the three hags scurrying along a wooden jetty toward a small motorboat. Flashes and crackles followed them, like a miniature lightning storm. They had their boat untied in seconds. Thick clouds of smoke poured from the exhaust as its

engine gurgled into life. They headed toward Matilda and the Jolley-Rogers. "Ye'd better be quick with them spells!" Jim said to Matilda. "They'll be on us quick enough...." Matilda was frantically turning pages, pointing the wand at the Blackhole and muttering spells, but nothing was happening. All the time, the sea hags were gaining on them. Their vehicle could travel on land and sea, but in the water it wasn't as quick as a regular boat. The sea hags were getting closer. Dabberlocks was at the wheel, and her sisters were hanging over the sides, firing shards of lightning that exploded around

them, showering sparks. They were traveling farther and farther from the shore, and the waves were getting bigger and bigger. Bow waves crashed over the front of the Jolley-Rogers' vehicle and poured into the cabin, soaking everyone's feet. "YER ALL GETTIN' A SOAKIN!" Jim laughed from his high point on a surfboard at the back end of the vehicle. "Yeah, very funny," grumbled Nugget. "Look out!" Jim Lad ducked as a stream of light fizzed past his head. They hit another wave and Jim lost his balance and fell into the seawater swilling about the footwell.

"Jim!" cried Matilda, and reached down to try and help him— but before she could pluck him from the water— POP! Jim burst back to his normal size. "It's the water!" cried Jim, pulling himself up. "The seawater reverses the spell! As soon as I hit the water, I felt the change!" Matilda stuck the wand in her belt and reached for the Blackhole with both hands. She scooped up water into the bottle, where it poured around the shrunken ship, then quickly threw the whole thing overboard. POP! The Blackhole shattered the glass bottle and burst back to its enormous,

normal size, its sails immediately catching the wind. "QUICK! THROW A LINE, JIM!" yelled Dad. Jim hurled a rope toward Grandpa, who was hanging over the rail of the Blackhole and, though he was still minus a contact lens, managed to grab the rope in his flapping arms. He quickly secured it to the windlass on deck, and yanked the vehicle across the water, safely out of reach of the sea hags.