X Marks the Spot (6 page)

Frankie, Jim, and I took turns describing what we had heard from our hiding place in the apple barrel. I did a good job of imitating Long John Silver's voice and adding in some extra “arrh, arrhs.” Jim repeated the names of all the men Silver named as old Captain Flint's shipmates.

“In other words,” Frankie finished up, “Long John Silver is a bloodthirsty, ruthless … pirate!”

“Aha!” snarled Captain Smollett. “So our crew is no more than a bunch of buccaneers. I don't want to say I told you so, but—I told you so!”

“Quite right,” said the doctor. “We're sorry for doubting you. But Silver and the others don't know we know. This is good. The question is … what shall we do now?”

The captain paced the room a couple of times. As angry as he was, he took quick control of the situation.

“First, if we turn around now, the crew would attack us in a minute. So we must land on the island. Second, having the map is good. They won't risk its being destroyed or lost in an outright attack, at least not yet, so we have a little time. Third, not every single member of the crew is a pirate. Some men are on our side. Five, by my count. So with the six of us, there are eleven whom we can count on—”

“Oh!” the squire suddenly blurted out. “And to think these pirates were all Englishmen—born in England! Why, I could just … just … blow up the ship!”

“Whoa, dude,” I said. “We're on the ship!”

The squire blinked. “Oh, well, I meant … later.”

“Later, we'll need it to get home,” said the captain. “Our best chance now is with Jim, Frankie, and Devin.”

Everyone turned to us.

“Here it comes,” I said. “Right into the frying pan!”

The doctor rose and smiled at us. “Indeed, it's plain to see that Long John Silver rules these pirates, and that, of all our crew, he is friendliest toward you three. You should make friends with him. That way, you can keep us informed of what he's thinking, what he's like. It may save our lives to know his character.”

Frankie looked at me. “Character? That means you, Devin, remember?”

I suddenly wanted to rant and rave against Mr. Wexler and his book reports, but Frankie just kept tapping the book to remind me that characters only know the world of the book, nothing outside it. So all that came out of my mouth was a single word. “Arrh.”

A moment later, the captain was called on deck. Silver and the crew had brought the ship to within a half mile of the eastern coast of Treasure Island.

As we drew near the rocky shore, the crew was getting more and more restless. Silver was trying to calm them and we knew why. So we would find the treasure for him. After that, he'd “strike us down.”

Suddenly, Jim turned to the captain. “Sir, I have an idea. I think you should tell them they can go ashore.”

“What?” said the captain, wrinkling his eyebrows.

“Silver and the crew. Tell them they can go ashore.”

“What exactly is your idea, Jim?” asked the doctor.

“Sir,” the boy began, “these pirates are angry and restless, full of black looks and secrets.”

“I'll say,” I added. “All they do is grumble.”

“If we let Silver take them ashore,” Jim went on, “they will surely go, thinking that they will be closer to finding the treasure. If Silver can talk them out of attacking us, good. If not, then we fight it out from the ship.”

Everyone looked at Jim.

The doctor smiled and nodded.

“Quite a nice plan,” said the captain. “We've already got all the guns safely stowed in storage. I like it.”

The captain climbed the rear deck and made the announcement. “Listen up, crew. We've had a hot day. We're all tired. I say, anyone who wants to can go ashore for the afternoon and come back at sundown.”

An instant cheer went up from the crew. “Hooray!”

Dr. Livesey turned to us. “They think they'll just trip over treasure as soon as they're ashore. Let them try.”

The crowd of men jumped and hooted, making a sort of crazy atmosphere on the deck. But it was plain as day that even though Smollett was the real captain, Long John Silver was the one they obeyed. He was busy giving eyes and saying “arrh-arrh,” all over the place, keeping his pirate crew in line.

In a few minutes, it was all decided. Six pirates would stay on board with the good guys, and Silver, his parrot, and the rest of the crew would go ashore.

It was then, as I was watching them all get into the boats, that I knew what I had to do. Silver was my character, and I had to act. I had to follow him.

I pulled Frankie over to where the boats were being loaded. “I need to go to the island,” I said.

“With the pirates?” she said. “That's crazy talk.”

“I've got to follow him,” I said. “I've got to learn about his character. You heard the captain. You also heard Mr. Wexler and Mrs. Figglehopper. I won't get this book report right unless I get what's up with Silver. Plus, it might save our lives. We were lucky to hear him from the apple barrel, but only because we were close to him. If he goes ashore, we'll never know what else he's planning. Sorry, Frankie, I'm following him.”

As if I was on autopilot, I headed for the rowboats.

Frankie grabbed my arm. “Well, you're not leaving me here. I mean, as if. We're in this story together.”

“And you're certainly not going without me,” said Jim, coming up behind her. “I could turn out to be the hero of this adventure.”

I turned to them. “You know, I was hoping you guys wouldn't let me do this alone. Come on. Let the grown-ups defend the ship. They have all the guns and stuff. We need to see what Silver and his men are up to!”

Without another word, we jumped into one of the bad-guy boats. We kept our heads low. Dr. Livesey called out to us, wondering what we were doing.

But we couldn't answer him. We just had to go.

Maybe it was the look of the island with its thick woods and wild stony hills, or the surf pounding against the beach like it wanted to knock it unconscious, or the thought that Frankie and Jim and I were surrounded by deadly pirate types, but my heart sank all the way to my sneakers. From that first look at the place—a place that should have been all paradisey and islandy and cool and summery like my dream—I really dreaded the whole thought of Treasure Island.

And there we were, sailing right toward it.

“It's hard to believe,” said Jim, looking at the dark hills looming before us, “but amazing treasure is buried somewhere on this island.”

“Let's hope we don't get buried along with it,” I said.

Frankie snorted quietly. “Devin, it's probably good that you can still make jokes.”

I looked at my friend. “Who's joking?”

Chapter 11

The splashing of the oars and the shouting of the pirates echoed across the water to the island, sending swarms of birds wheeling and crying over the eerie woods.

Luckily, our little boat was faster than the others—probably because we were kids and not overweight grown-up pirates. We landed first.

It was nearly dawn when we finally hit the beach.

“Ahoy, there, Jim!” Silver was calling out from his slower boat. “Frankie, is that you? Arrh, Devin?”

We didn't answer. The moment we tripped off the boat we plunged into the nearest jungle we could find.

“Hurry,” Jim urged us.

We ran up through a marshy area and came out on an open piece of rolling sandy earth. It was dotted with a cluster of pine trees and some twisted smaller trees that looked all gnarly and spooky. In the distance was a large hill. I remember that the map called it Spyglass Hill. It stood there, towering over everything like a big dark head.

“We are probably some of the first people ever to set foot here,” said Frankie. “Except, of course, for the evil bunch that buried the treasure.”

“Speaking of evil,” said Jim, looking around at the dense forest surrounding us. “I have a bad feeling about this island. I hope we're not here very long.”

“No kidding,” I mumbled, looking at our place in the book. “But something tells me we don't have much of a choice. We're only halfway through.”

All at once there was a sharp noise from the bushes to our left. A wild duck flew up with a loud quack, another followed it, and soon it was ducks everywhere, screaming and circling over the whole marsh. Then we heard something else.

Crash! Crack
! Branches snapped and leaves crackled. This was followed by the low rumble of voices.

“Someone's coming!” said Jim. “Let's hide.”

“You don't have to tell me twice!” I said.

We slipped into the nearby woods, darted under the shelter of some thick trees, and stopped. Crawling on all fours, we made our way quietly back toward the talkers. At last, we raised our heads and peered through the leaves. Long John Silver and another crew member were standing face-to-face in conversation. Silver's parrot was on his shoulder, turning its head all around, staring into the woods.

“I still don't trust that parrot!” I hissed.

Frankie pinched me. “Will you
shhh
?”

We crouched as close as we could, in full sneaky spy mode, trying to pick up as much as possible about the pirates' evil plans. We heard an earful.

“Arrh, you're a smart man, Tom,” said Silver to one of the sailors. “That's why I'm asking you to join our little enterprise. Forget Captain Smollett and the others and think of yourself. You'll be rich, you know. Quite rich.”

The sailor named Tom shook his head. “No. I won't be led astray by the likes of you and your buccaneers. I'm an honest sailor.”

I nudged Frankie. “This is great. I think we found another good guy for our trio. Of course, if he joins us, we won't be a trio anymore—”

“Devin, hush!” said Jim.

All of a sudden there came a sound from farther away, a horrible, long-drawn-out cry. “Aaaaaaach!”

It was a man's scream.

The whole troop of marsh ducks did their quacking routine again, and I almost added to it.

“What was that sound?” Tom demanded.

“That?” said Silver calmly. “I reckon that'll be one of your shipmates. By the sound of it, he didn't want to join us, either. Perhaps you should think again, Tom.”

Long John Silver hadn't even budged when that scream sounded. He didn't blink an eye. He stood there, leaning casually on his crutch, his face, as always, just holding onto that little smirk of his.

Tom began to shake. We all did.

He backed away from Silver. “Oh, I see it all now. You and your men are killing those who don't join you. Well, I won't be a part of your bloody crew—”

With that, Tom turned his back on Silver and set off quickly toward the beach. Not quickly enough. With a loud grunt, Silver whipped the crutch out of his armpit and sent it hurtling through the air.

“Oh, my gosh!” cried Frankie.

“Incoming crutch!” I whispered. “Tom, watch out!”

But Tom didn't hear. The crutch struck him between the shoulder blades in the middle of his back. His hands flew up, he gave a sort of gasp, then fell with a thud.

“Arrh,” growled Silver as he hobbled over to the body. “That be two of ye gone, then! Arrh-arrh!”

I can't speak for Jim or Frankie, but as I watched Silver gloating over Tom stretched out and lying motionless on the ground, the whole world started to swim around me like a swirling mist of fog. Everything. Long John Silver, the birds, the tall island hilltops, all of it was going round and round in front of my eyes.

Scooping up his crutch and popping his hat back on, Silver pulled a small silver whistle from his pocket and blew on it a couple of times.

“It's a signal,” Frankie whispered.

“Meaning more men will be coming,” said Jim, his eyes darting around for a place to escape to. “We might be found here. Silver has proved he's out to kill everybody. That could mean us, too. Come on.”

Jim started up, trying to pull me with him. But I was staring at Tom just lying there. He was not saying lines, not moving around, not doing anything.

“What about Tom?” I asked.

Not far away were the crunching and crackling sounds of pirates responding to Silver's whistle.

“It's too late for him, but not for us, Devin,” said Jim, tugging on my arm.

“Jim's right,” said Frankie. “Maybe we can save the next guy, or the guy after him.”

Frankie was sounding a little like Jim. She was being brave. She was learning something from her book-report character. All I was learning from Long John Silver was how to be a nasty pirate guy. I was shocked at how bad my character turned out to be.

But Frankie and Jim were right. We had to keep going. I guess that's the thing about books. You just have to push through and hope that the story ends okay.

As quietly as possible, the three of us slipped away from where Silver was. We tramped deeper and deeper into the jungle.

We hurried along for what seemed like hours.

Until we saw something that made us stop.

A figure was moving in the trees above us. It was dark and shaggy and leaping from one branch to another, making weird gargling noises.

“Maybe it's a bear,” said Frankie.

“Or a gorilla,” said Jim.

“Or a giant squirrel,” said Frankie.

“Or maybe,” I said, “it's some crazy island monster that's been asleep for centuries until we woke it up and now it's very hungry and it wants to eat something and the something it wants to eat is us!”

The thing was still leaping from branch to branch, only it was getting closer.

“In that case,” said Frankie, “I think we'd better—”

“RUN!” cried Jim.

Chapter 12

We burst away under the trees, but the instant we did, the creature, whatever it was, sprang to the ground and took up pursuit.