Yo-Ho-Ho! Read online

  “I was just trying to make you guys feel safe,” he said.

  Vicky rolled her eyes and tried to ignore him.

  Then it started to snow harder. Soon, the whole sky was full of snow. “How are we going to look for Santa now?” Inna asked. “I can’t see anything!”

  Then, all of a sudden, there was a huge CRASH! The Sea Rat stopped dead in its tracks. We were almost thrown right out of the crow’s nest!

  “ARRR! WHAT WAS THAT?” Vicky yelled.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But we better go check it out.”

  We each grabbed onto a rope and swung down to the main deck. Then we raced to the front of the ship and peeked over the railing.

  “Great sails!” I shouted.

  I couldn’t believe my eyes! The ship was stuck right in the middle of an island made of ice! The sea was frozen solid.

  “Arrr! Let’s try to break it,” Gary said.

  “Aye!” Aaron agreed. He picked up an oar and threw it at the ice like a spear. But the oar bounced right off and slid away into the blizzard.

  “We need a plan,” I said.

  “Aye!” my mates agreed.

  Only we didn’t have time to think of a plan because the rest of the crew was already making their way onto the deck.

  We GULPED!

  “Arrr, I think we’re in really big trouble this time!” Gary said.

  I nodded.

  “Aye!” I said. “Even if the ship isn’t stuck forever, Captain Stinky Beard’s probably going to kick us out of Pirate School when he finds out it’s all our fault.”

  Chapter 8

  Caught Red-Hatted!

  Captain Stinky Beard marched to the front of the ship. My mates and I hid behind some barrels and watched as he peered over the railing.

  “Arrr! He looks pretty steamed,” I whispered to my mates.

  “Great slimy pigfeathers!” the captain shouted when he saw the ship stuck in the ice. “How could this happen?”

  My eyes opened extra wide.

  I’d never heard the captain sound so angry. Most of the time, he was the nicest captain on the seas. But the other pirates on the ship had told us stories about when Captain Stinky Beard got angry. They said he could be even fiercer than Rotten Tooth.

  “Arrr! Who be on lookout duty?” he roared to the crew. They were all gathered around him. Their timbers were shaking and shivering and not just because it was cold. Someone was going to walk the plank because of this!

  “Pssst,” Aaron whispered. “This is a pretty big blunder. Maybe we should hide somewhere far away?”

  “Aye,” we agreed. Even Vicky wasn’t going to argue with that plan.

  We’d just started to sneak away when . . . WHOOSH!

  Inna and I were lifted right into the air.

  I peeked at Inna, but she had covered her eyes with her hands. So I peered over my shoulder instead. A rotten green smile stared back at me.

  “Arrr, Cap’n! Here be the culprits!” Rotten Tooth hollered. Then he scooped up Aaron, Vicky, and Gary in his arms, too, and carried us over to the captain.

  Then . . . THUMP!

  He dropped us down on the deck!

  “This here mangy lot were on lookout duty,” he said.

  Captain Stinky Beard squinted and glared at us. “Arrr, is this true?” he asked.

  “Aye, Cap’n,” we said.

  “Aye, but it wasn’t our fault,” Vicky said. “We couldn’t see the ice because of the snow.”

  “Aye! Plus, my glasses were foggy,” Gary said.

  “Aye! My eyes were foggy, too,” Aaron said.

  “Stow it!” Rotten Tooth growled. Then he faced the captain. “There be more to it, Cap’n!” he said. “I’ve been watching these sprogs and they’ve been acting fishier and fishier the closer it gets to Christmas. They’ve been wearing those silly caps. And I found decorations and presents by the main mast. Now the deck is covered in snow, and the ship is stuck in ice! I’d say we’re somewhere near the North Pole and that these pollywogs are to blame!”

  We DOUBLE GULPED!

  The captain scratched his beard. “Arrr, that’s impossible,” he mumbled. “I’ve checked the course every hour. This can’t be true, can it?” he asked us.

  We all looked at one another. None of us wanted to get caught, but I knew we had to tell the truth.

  I stood up straight and raised my hand. “Cap’n?” I said. “Rotten Tooth is right. We changed the course because we wanted to see Santa.”

  The whole crew made ooohhhs and aaahhhs. It was mutiny to change a ship’s course behind the captain’s back!

  “Arrr, this is very serious,” Captain Stinky Beard said.

  I hung my head. “Aye,” I mumbled. “But we didn’t mean for the ship to get stuck.”

  “Aye,” Inna said. “And we planned a party and presents for the whole entire crew. It was supposed to be a fun surprise.”

  “ARRR! Yer the ones in for a surprise!” Rotten Tooth said. “I say we strand them here on the ice! That be fit punishment for mutineers!”

  Then he scooped us all up again and carried us to the railing.

  “Put them down!” the captain ordered. “I think they’ve learned their lesson. And since we’re stuck here, we might as well go ahead with that party.”

  “Aye?” we asked.

  “AYE!” he said and smiled really wide. “Ye went through all this trouble. After all, it is Christmas!”

  “AYE!” the whole crew cheered.

  “Yippy skippy!” we shouted.

  “So, where be those presents?” the captain asked us.

  “Arrr, dead ahead!” I said. Then we led the entire crew over to the main mast and started the holiday party.

  Chapter 9

  ’Tis the Season for Giving!

  “See! I told you they were yummy!” Vicky said when she saw the crew munching down on the sea slug cookies.

  “Arrr, I guess you’re right,” I admitted. I still didn’t know how anyone could eat those yucky snacks. I had to pinch my nose anytime I caught a whiff.

  “Ahem,” Inna interrupted. “Don’t you think it’s time to give out the presents?”

  “Aye!” I said.

  We had made special presents for our favorite members of the crew.

  “Let’s give Clegg his present first,” Aaron suggested.

  “Aye!” we agreed.

  Clegg was the oldest, nicest pirate on the Sea Rat. Plus, he was our friend. He always told us the best stories.

  We found Clegg sitting near the fire that Rotten Tooth had made on deck to keep everyone warm. “Ahoy, me little shipmates,” he said. “This be a fine party.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “But it’s not over.”

  “Aye?” he said.

  “Aye!” Inna said. “We all made you a special gift!”

  Vicky was hiding the present behind her back. It was a homemade book. “Surprise!” she hollered and handed it to Clegg.

  “We each made a drawing of our favorite stories that you’ve told us,” Gary explained.

  “And we made them into a book all by ourselves!” Inna said.

  Clegg smiled really wide and flipped through book. Then he pointed to his eye patch and said, “I might not be able to see so well, but me one good eye thinks these look shipshape!”

  “Arrr, but mine’s the best,” Aaron bragged. Since it was Christmas Eve, we let it slide.

  Clegg thanked us again, and then it was time for us to give Captain Stinky Beard his present. It was a necklace made of shark teeth!

  “Blow me down!” Captain Stinky Beard said. “This is a real nice gift.”

  “Aye!” Vicky said. “Every captain should have one.”

  Inna leaned close to the captain. “Arrr, I thought we should paint it pink because a necklace is supposed to be pretty. But they wouldn’t listen to me.”

  Captain Stinky Beard smiled and patted Inna’s head. “Arrr, that’s okay,” he told her. “It’s the thought that counts.”

 
We had one more gift to give out.

  I looked all around the deck until I spotted Rotten Tooth sitting all by himself. “He doesn’t look very jolly,” I told my mates.

  “Arrr, maybe his gift will cheer him up,” Vicky said.

  We raced up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. “ARRR! What do ye pups want?” he grumbled.

  “We want to give you a Christmas gift,” I said.

  “Aye?” Rotten Tooth asked.

  “AYE!” we shouted.

  I handed him his gift. It was a Christmas cap just like ours, only a lot bigger. Plus, we wrote something special with glitter. “It says ‘World’s Best Pirate Teacher!’ ” I told him.

  Rotten Tooth looked really surprised. His eyes got all red, and I was worried he didn’t like the gift. “Arrr, I don’t know that I be deserving this,” he mumbled.

  “Of course you do!” Vicky said.

  “Ye really think I’m the best pirate teacher?” he asked.

  “Aye!” Inna agreed. “If you didn’t teach us how to plot a course, we wouldn’t even be having Christmas!”

  It was the truth. Even if Rotten Tooth was the grumpiest teacher ever, he was still the best. Then we all leaned over and gave him a great big hug.

  “Arrr,” he said. “This be the best present I ever got.” Then he put the cap on and joined the rest of the crew. We sang sea carols for hours and hours!

  Finally, everyone was getting sleepy. It was time for bed. But before we went back to our quarters, the captain stopped us. “Arrr, you never said what ye wished for,” he said.

  “Me and Vicky wished for swords so we could swashbuckle,” Aaron said.

  “I wished for a brand-new dress,” Inna said. “But not just any dress, one with lots of ribbons and bows. Plus matching ribbons and bows for my hair.”

  “Arrr, and I wished for a new book of pirate tales,” Gary said.

  Captain Stinky Beard smiled and said those were all good things to wish for. Then he looked at me. “What about you, me lil’ buccaneer? What do you want for Christmas?”

  “I wished for a treasure map so me and my mates could go on an adventure,” I said. “But you know what? I don’t even want that anymore, that’s what!”

  “Why not?” the captain asked.

  I lowered my head. “Because all I want for Christmas now is for the Sea Rat to get unstuck, since it was all our fault.”

  My mates thought about that and nodded their heads.

  “Aye,” they all mumbled.

  Captain Stinky Beard told us that was a noble thing to say, but it didn’t make us feel much better. “Arrr, it’ll be dark for a few more hours. Perhaps Santa will still bring you what you want.”

  “Aye?” we asked.

  “Aye!” he said. “Now off to bed before he catches you awake.”

  “Aye aye!” we said. Our spirits were cheered up. If the captain said there was still a chance we’d each get our wish, then there must be. Captains know everything!

  Chapter 10

  Merry Christmas!

  The next morning, I was sound asleep when all of the sudden my eyes popped open. That’s because I heard a really loud BANG!

  “Arrr! Santa?” I shouted.

  I sat up in my bunk and looked around.

  “Arrr, it’s only me,” Gary said. “Sorry, I fell out of my bunk again.”

  “Arrr, that’s okay,” I said. Then I noticed something fishy out the porthole window. “Blimey! We’re sailing again.” I couldn’t believe my eyes! There was no ice anywhere to be seen.

  Aaron sat up in his bunk and looked out the window, too. “See, I told you we wouldn’t be stuck forever,” he said.

  Vicky was about to argue with him, but then she noticed something else fishy. “AVAST!” she shouted. “GIFTS!”

  When I looked over the side of my bunk, I double couldn’t believe my eyes! All the presents we asked for were there in our quarters.

  Two wooden swords for Aaron and Vicky!

  A fancy dress and ribbons for Inna!

  A treasure map for me!

  And the biggest, fattest book of pirate tales for Gary!

  We all rushed for our presents and scooped them up. “I knew Santa would come,” Inna said as she tried on her dress.

  “Aye,” Gary said, flipping through his book.

  “Arrr, and YOU didn’t believe,” Vicky teased Aaron.

  “Arrr, I was only yanking your timbers. I knew it was true all along,” Aaron joked. He picked up his sword and he and Vicky started jumping all around the room, pretending to swashbuckle.

  Then there was a knock on the door. It was the captain and Rotten Tooth. They looked super-surprised when they saw our presents. “Arrr, looks like Santa came after all,” the captain said.

  “Aye!” I shouted. “I got both presents. The ship is unstuck, and I got this shipshape treasure map. From the picture, it looks like a lot of treasure!”

  “Do you think it was really Santa?”

  Gary asked them.

  The captain looked at Rotten Tooth, and Rotten Tooth looked at the captain. They both shrugged and smiled.

  “Hard to say,” Rotten Tooth said. “But I did find this on deck this morning.” He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a cap like ours, only different.

  “Great sails!” I said. “That must be Santa’s cap!”

  “Aye,” my friends said.

  “It just might be,” Captain Stinky Beard said.

  Inna rushed over and grabbed it. “We’ll send it back to him,” she said. “Tomorrow we’re making our lists for next year. We’ll stuff this in the bottle, too. That way he gets it in time for next year.”

  “Aye aye!” we said.

  Then we all went back to looking at our gifts. Next Christmas was still a whole year away. We wanted to enjoy this Christmas as long we could. After all, we all agreed this was the best pirate Christmas ever!