4 Monsters

4. MONSTERS Grandpa really wasn't happy. "I was all cozy in me hammock, havin' an afternoon nap, and I'm awoken by a screechin' fiddle!" Grandpa shouted. "Who is this scupperlout? What's he doin' aboard our ship?"

"Matilda found a treasure map, and it was the old fiddler who scribbled it. Or so he says," said Jim's mom. "My silly husband invited him aboard for the shanties, and hopin' he'd get some help with his map reading." "Even from 'ere, I don't like the look of him. And brush me barnacles, he sounds even worse than he looks!" said Grandpa. "He looks a bit like you," said Jim's dad. "But even thinner and less crotchety!"

Grandpa scowled and hobbled across the deck to sit in his rickety rocking chair, pulling the cork out of a bottle of grog with the few teeth he had left. "There are tales I could tell ye, of swivel-tongued scugs who'd show ye their maps and take yer ship to the edge of beyond. I could tell ye of great galleons lost at sea on the promise of a map. Be warned!" Squawk landed on Grandpa's shoulder, ruffled his feathers, and said, "Tentacle!" Down at the other end of the ship, Jim had joined Matilda on the fo'c'sle. He was showing her the best way to coil ropes while they listened to the fiddler's latest ditty.

"There is one small thing I forgot today— There's also a monster, or so they say, that likes to eat pirates who come for the treasure, and chew up their ships, just for good measure." "Did ye hear that, Tilly? A monster!" Jim looked worried. "Do ye reckon we should turn back to port?" "Nah, monsters aren't real," said Matilda. "We learned that in school." "Yes they are!" said Jim. "I've seen 'em on maps, and I've read 'bout them in Grandpa's old leather books. There's

been many a tale of pirates devoured by monsters." "That's just it, they're tales, told by one sailor to another, and the so-called monsters get bigger and badder each time! There aren't real monsters, only shapes in the water or normal sea creatures... whales and sharks and giant squids and stuff. I saw a picture of this really big oarfish once, and it looked like a sea serpent. But

it was just a fish, and fish don't eat people, not even pirates!" Matilda nearly jumped out of her skin when the fiddler's head suddenly appeared over her shoulder, accompanied by the high-pitched screech of his fiddle. "They ain't just tales! They ain't just whales! There's a beast out there! Ye'd better BEWARE!"