9 King Hairy Toes

9. KING HAIRY TOES The monkeys and their captives emerged from the forest into another clearing, to the sound of drums, an accordion, and some truly dreadful fiddle playing. There were monkeys everywhere. "Nugget!" yelled Jim, spotting his sister. Nugget was at the center of the clearing, sitting on a wooden throne. Her face was covered in paint and she

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had flowers threaded through her hair. Beside her was a grizzled old chimpanzee, wearing a crown and dressed in tattered pirate clothes, munching on a banana. On his shoulder was the oldest parrot Jim had ever seen. Most of its feathers were missing, it wore an eyepatch, and its one good eye was closed. Nugget was drinking from a coconut shell, but when she heard Jim's voice she spat her straw out of her mouth. "Tim!" "TENTACLE!" hollered the old parrot. Its body stretched tall and its eye almost popped out of its head. It surveyed Jim, his dad, and Matilda, took a deep breath... and fell asleep again.

Nugget jumped down from her throne, put one hand on her hip, and pointed at the captives. "Untie them!" she commanded, glaring at the chimpanzee with the crown. "That's my brother! And my dad! And Matilda!" From behind the throne, a small and very round pirate emerged, monkeys and parrots lined up across his shoulders. With his palms pressed together, he listened to Nugget and then turned to the chimpanzee. "Dooh! Ooh! Elech!" he said to the chimp, waving his arms around as his eyes flicked between Nugget and the captives. "Aak aak! AAAh, ahhh, oooh! Eeeh!"

The chimpanzee looked at the pirate, turned to Nugget, then looked at Jim. He waved a long, hairy arm lazily in the air, accompanied by some deep mumbles, and monkeys swarmed around the captives, fumbling with the knots that held them until they were free. Nugget sat back on her throne and slurped her coconut drink.

The plump pirate put his hands behind his back and stood as tall as he could, facing Jim. A couple of monkeys toppled off his shoulders as he straightened up and cleared his throat. "His Royal Highness, King Hairy Toes, would like to welcome the family of Princess Nugget to Banana Island! He would like to apologize for any discomfort, but we have to be careful. My name is Banana Bill. Would you like a banana?" "We're fine, thank ye kindly," said Jim. "We'd just like to take... um... Princess Nugget... back to our ship."