7 The Island

7. THE ISLAND Jim Lad hopped out of the car-boat with its bow rope coiled around his shoulder. "All ashore, me hearties!" His dad dropped the anchor while Matilda, Nugget, and Bones splashed through the surf and onto the sand. Jim ran up the beach and tied the rope to a palm tree, to be doubly sure the vehicle wouldn't float away if the tide changed.

"What a lovely spot!" said Jim's dad. "We shoulda brought a picnic!" "Ye've only just had breakfast," said Jim, frowning. Mr. Jolley-Rogers took off his flip- flops and climbed out of the vehicle. His tummy rumbled as he paddled through the

water to join the others. He hadn't eaten as many sausages as he normally would, because everyone had been in a rush to find Grandpa a new peg leg. Before he was so rudely awoken, he had been enjoying a lovely dream about a mermaid, but now his memory was getting a bit hazy and he couldn't remember her name. "Hey ho, then, let's collect a bunch o' timber!" he said, pointing to a wicker basket he'd dropped on the sand. "Move sharply,

then we can be gettin' back to the Blackhole in time for my mid-mornin' cake!" "Here's a decent bit of driftwood," said Matilda, picking up a pale, twisted branch on the shoreline. "Good start, Tilly! Ye can stick it in the basket, but that piece looks gnarlier than Grandpa! I reckon we should be searchin' along yonder tree line for the best stuff." Jim pointed to the dense foliage at the top of the beach. With all of them rummaging among the undergrowth, the basket soon filled up. But Nugget quickly got bored with collecting wood and wandered along the beach, in search of shells.

"Don't go far!" shouted Jim Lad. "Aye, aye, Cap'n!" said Nugget, chuckling and saluting as she skipped away. She hadn't gone far when she met a monkey, sitting on a rock. It was looking directly at her, holding a banana. The monkey popped the banana out of its skin and offered the fruit to Nugget with an outstretched arm. "Mmm, I am a little hungry..." said Nugget, taking the banana and sitting down next to the monkey. But before she had finished eating, the monkey jumped from the rock and disappeared into the trees. Seconds later it reappeared with

another banana and offered her that one too. "Oh, thank ye kindly!" said Nugget. "But one's enough for me. My dad's always hungry. And my brother and his landlubbing friend, Matilda, would probably like a banana. Are there more of them?" The monkey nodded, chattering wildly as it scurried into the trees.