5 A Pirate Feast

5. A PIRATE FEAST Mr. Jolley-Rogers had raided the Blackhole's freezer, and a table beside the barbecue was piled high with an array of seafood. He was gurgling grog through two long straws attached to his favorite bicorn hat while frantically flipping food on the grills. "Maybe ye could sing us a song, old fiddler. Do ye know any shanties 'bout grub?" he asked, popping his head out

of the thick black barbecue smoke and lifting his goggles. The fiddler, who had been hunched over the rail in the corner of the deck, suddenly perked up and danced toward them, bursting into song. "Make no bones about it, it's a big old beast, that likes nothing more than a pirate FEAST. It can swallow whole ships in its whirlpool JAWS (though they say he's allergic to scarlet macaws)."

"The monster must have a right big mouth," muttered Jim. "Even bigger than Nugget's." Nugget elbowed Jim in the ribs and scowled, which looked even more frightening than usual because her face was covered in smears of bloodlike ketchup. "Hopefully he'll eat you first!" she said. "And anyways, he might swallow the ship, but Squawk'll be safe, with the monster's allergy 'n' all." "Tentacle!" squawked Squawk from high up in the rigging. "Not quite the shanty I had in mind," said Jim's dad, gaping at the fiddler. "Fancy some grub, old man? A walrus

kebab? Battered tentacles? Some surf and turf, per'aps? The fish won't keep, and the rat was fresh from the bilges this mornin'!" "I will be fine! I don't need food! Unless I be REEEALLY in the mood..." answered the fiddler with a screech of his strings before skipping back to his resting place on the rail. "He doesn't eat much," whispered Jim's mom. "That's probably why he's so thin!" said Jim's dad, digging into a barnacle burger. "Sometimes you can hear his bones clacking together as he walks."

"I don't trust him," said Grandpa. "He ain't eaten or drunk nothin' since we've been upon the scurvy sea." They looked at the fiddler, noticing how his bony limbs stuck out at strange angles and the way his eyes seemed too big for his face. "He's funny-shaped too," added Grandpa. "Mom, what's for dessert:" asked Nugget, sucking on the ketchup and fish skin that was stuck to her fingers.

"I think ye've had enough, kids. Ye'll be havin' nightmares if yer bellies are too full, especially with all this talk of monsters. It's time for bed, we've a long day ahead on the morrow." There were three loud groans. "But maybe if yer all ready for bed," Jim's mom continued, "Grandpa could tell yer some pirate tales for a little while, just until the sun drops below the ocean." There were three loud cheers. Jim, Matilda, and Nugget dashed to their cabins to get into their pajamas. But as Grandpa followed them down, a dark and mysterious shadow fell across the deck....