The pirate ghost, p.4
The Pirate Ghost,
p.4
“He’s singing that song someone taught Crackers,” Frank whispered.
“Maybe that someone,” Joe whispered back, “was Plunderin’ Pete!”
Chapter 9
ALL HANDS ON DECK!
Plunderin’ Pete led the kids in a chorus of the song as Frank quietly shut the door.
“Do you think a singing pirate would scare Jason into believing in a ghost?” Frank asked.
“He did look disappointed after Jason told him he didn’t believe in Captain Scurvydog’s ghost,” Joe said. “Maybe Plunderin’ Pete wanted to make it look like his story was true.”
All singing stopped. After a few seconds the auditorium door swung open, backing the brothers against the wall. Peeking around the door, Frank and Joe saw kids filing out, each holding a bag. The bag was red with a Jolly Roger design on it.
“Jason got the same bag from Plunderin’ Pete for winning the contest yesterday,” Joe whispered.
“We never got to see what was inside,” Frank pointed out.
Suddenly out walked Plunderin’ Pete. He was soon greeted by Mr. Tuttle. Still behind the door, Frank and Joe listened in. . . .
“Thanks, Pete,” Mr. Tuttle said. “The kids seemed to enjoy your show.”
“The pleas-arrrgh was mine,” Pete growled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Captain Scurvydog awaits.”
“Frank!” Joe squeaked. “He said he’s going to meet Captain Scurvydog. What do we do?”
“There’s only one thing to do,” Frank said as they watched Plunderin’ Pete leave the museum. “Follow that pirate!”
By the time the brothers burst out of the museum, Plunderin’ Pete’s car was driving away.
“Are we sure it’s Pete’s car?” Frank asked.
“How many cars have Jolly Roger flags on them?” Joe said. “Let’s go!”
Frank and Joe hopped onto their bikes. Keeping a safe distance, they trailed Plunderin’ Pete’s car to the Bayport Marina. From their bikes the boys watched Pete step out of the car to walk up the dock.
“He’s heading toward one of the houseboats,” Frank pointed out.
Pete stopped at one of the boats. Joe squinted to read the name painted on the hull. . . .
“It’s called the Captain Scurvydog!” Joe exclaimed. “Plunderin’ Pete named his houseboat after the pirate—or the pirate ghost.”
The boys watched as Pete whipped off his pirate hat and cape. He tossed them onto the boat’s deck, then walked up the dock back to his car.
“Are we lucky or what?” Joe said as the car zoomed off. “Now we can search the boat for coins and a blue bottle.”
Frank shook his head and said, “I don’t think so, Joe. If Plunderin’ Pete lives on the boat, then—”
“Last one there is a rotten oyster!” Joe called back, charging up the dock.
Frank groaned as he followed Joe to the deck of the Captain Scurvydog.
“Let’s go, Joe,” he suggested as they looked around. “I don’t want to walk the plank if Pete finds us snooping—”
“Wait!” Joe cut in. He pointed to a crate with the word TREASURE painted on the lid. “What could be in there?”
“Another treasure chest?” Frank said with a smirk. “Did Plunderin’ Pete have a birthday party too?”
Joe was already lifting the lid to see what was inside. “More of Plunderin’ Pete’s red treasure bags,” he reported. “A lot more.”
“He must give away millions of those!” Frank said.
“Let’s see what’s inside once and for all,” Joe suggested. He took out a bag and pulled out items one by one: a pirate eye patch, a plastic compass, a blue bottle—
“Blue bottle!” Frank exclaimed as he grabbed the awesome find.
“Yeah, but the bottle on Jason’s doorstep didn’t say Pirate Pop,” Joe said, pointing out the label on the bottle.
“The label peels off,” Frank said. “What else is in the bag?”
Joe flipped the bag upside down. Out onto the deck dropped a music CD and a small pouch tied with a cord.
Frank picked up the pouch. He tugged the cord to open it and looked inside. That was when his jaw dropped.
“What? What’s in it?” Joe asked.
“Coins,” Frank answered excitedly as he spilled golden-colored coins from the pouch into his hand. “Check it out!”
Joe grabbed a coin. One side was stamped with a sailing ship. On the other side was a Jolly Roger flag—just like the coins Jason had found on his windowsill.
“It’s a match!” Joe declared.
Frank’s attention had turned to the CD. “Look at this,” he told Joe. “It’s called Plunderin’ Pete’s Greatest Hits.”
“Pirate songs, coins, a blue bottle,” Joe said, quickly writing the clues in their clue book. “Who else could have left those pirate things other than Plunderin’ Pete?”
Frank narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. He looked up from the CD he was holding and said, “I think I know someone else who could have done all that.”
Joe stared at his brother. If it wasn’t Plunderin’ Pete—who could it be?
THE HARDY BOYS—and
YOU!
CAN YOU SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE GHOST?
Grab a piece of paper and write your answers down. Or just turn the page to find out!
1. After looking inside the treasure bag, Frank thought of a new suspect. Who could he or she be? Write some possible suspects on a piece of paper.
2. Frank and Joe searched Plunderin’ Pete’s boat for pirate coins and a blue bottle. What other clues would you look for on his boat? Use a sheet of paper to write some possible clues.
3. Why did Plunderin’ Pete’s treasure bag turn out to be such a great clue? Write some reasons on a sheet of paper.
4. Which clues helped you to solve this mystery? Write them down.
Chapter 10
PIRATES AHOY!
“But the pirate stuff came from Plunderin’ Pete’s treasure bag,” Joe said.
“And Jason got one of Pete’s bags on Friday for winning the contest,” Frank stated.
“Frank!” Joe gasped. “Are you saying Jason planted those pirate clues himself?”
“Maybe.” Frank thought about it. “Jason could have taught Crackers an old pirate song from Pete’s CD. He could have peeled the label off the Pirate Pop bottle and stuffed in a message he wrote himself.”
“Jason had coins from Pete’s treasure bag too,” Joe said. “But why would he want us to think a pirate ghost left those things?”
“I’m not sure,” Frank admitted as he slipped the CD back into the bag. “All I know is that we have to get off this boat before—”
“Arrrgh, loitering landlubbers!” a deep voice growled.
The brothers froze. They’d know that voice anywhere. It was Plunderin’ Pete’s!
“If yer wanted a treas-arrrgh bag,” Pete said as the boys turned around, “why didn’t you lads just ask for one?”
“Sorry, Plunderin’ Pete,” Joe said, holding up the clue book. “My brother, Frank, and I are detectives.”
“So we were looking for answers,” Frank added.
“Answers?” Pete raised a brow above his eye patch. “To what question, me hearties?”
“Here’s one,” Frank said, lifting the treasure bag he and Joe had examined. “Is this the same bag you gave Jason Wang on Friday after he won the Talk Like a Pirate Contest?”
Pete nodded. “All my bags have the same treasures,” he said. “It’s a great way to promote my new CD!”
“Does your CD have the song we heard you sing at the museum before?” Joe asked. “The one about the blowy wind?”
“Aye!” Plunderin’ Pete exclaimed. “That’s one of my greatest hits!”
“Bingo,” Joe said under his breath. If the song was on the CD, Jason could have taught it to Crackers!
“Now, then,” Pete said. “Do you lads want a treas-arrrrgh bag?”
“We’ll take this one, thanks,” Frank said. “Then Joe and I will go.”
“But not before I ask one more question,” Joe told Pete. “Was there or was there not a Captain Scurvydog?”
Pete looked Joe straight in the eye and growled, “Dead men tell no tales.”
Joe gulped, until Pete smiled and said, “But this pirate does tell tales, and Captain Scurvydog is my favorite!”
“So he’s not for real?” Joe asked.
“Shiver me timbers, no,” Plunderin’ Pete said. “Why do you think I call them tall tales?”
The brothers thanked Pete for his help and the treasure bag. As they walked to their bikes, Joe said, “This bag is filled with the best treasures we could find.”
“You mean the eye patch?” Frank asked. “The compass?”
“The clues!” Joe declared happily.
The brothers pedaled straight to the Wang house. Jason stepped out onto the porch. His eyes widened when he saw the treasure bag in Frank’s hand.
“Look familiar?” Joe asked.
“It’s got a blue bottle, pirate coins,” Frank said, “and a CD of old pirate songs.”
“One of Crackers’s new favorite songs is on it,” Joe said. “The one about the blowy wind.”
“The ghost of Captain Scurvydog taught Crackers that song!” Jason blurted.
“I’m sorry, Jason, but there was no Captain Scurvydog,” Frank said gently. “Or his ghost. We talked to Plunderin’ Pete, and he told us that the legend of Captain Scurvydog was a tall tale.”
Jason stared at Frank and Joe. “I’d better go back inside,” he said suddenly. “I have to cram for a science test tomorrow.”
“It’s spring break, Jason,” Joe said. “No school tomorrow.”
“Rats,” Jason mumbled.
“Come on, Jason,” Joe sighed. “We just want to know if you left those pirate ghost clues around the house.”
“You got the same treasure bag on Friday,” Frank pointed out. “You also had time to teach Crackers a new pirate song.”
“Yo-ho-ho!” Crackers sang from his cage. “Blow the man down!”
“Two new songs,” Joe said.
Jason shuffled his feet. He then heaved a big sigh and said, “I did teach Crackers that pirate song. I also put the fake pirate doubloons on my windowsill and wrote the message, too.”
“How come, Jason?” Frank asked.
“Why would you want to trick us like that?” added Joe.
“Because I didn’t want to dig up the treasure chest and make Captain Scurvydog mad,” Jason admitted. “So I used stuff from Pete’s treasure bag and wrote my own warning message.”
Jason then cracked a smile and said, “I should have known that Frank and Joe Hardy would find out the truth!”
“It’s okay, Jason,” Frank said, smiling too. “Solving mysteries is what we do.”
“And this mystery is totally solved!” Joe said, and wrote Case Closed in the clue book.
“Awesome!” Jason exclaimed. “Now that I know there’s no Captain Scurvydog, I want to use the map I won to find the buried treasure.”
“Can we still help?” Frank asked.
“You bet,” Jason replied.
“In that case,” Joe said as he traded high fives all around, “pirates ahoy!”
“Are you sure this is the place?” Jason asked. “Under this rock?”
It was later that day, and Joe was studying the treasure map. It had led him, Frank, and Jason to a spot near the snack stand in Bayport Park.
“X marks the spot!” Joe declared.
“What are we waiting for, mateys?” Frank said as he picked up the rock. “Let’s start digging!”
Using his mom’s gardening shovel, Jason dug a hole in the ground. He kept digging until his shovel hit something with a clunk.
“I found it, you guys!” Jason declared. “I found the treasure!”
The boys pulled out what looked like a pirate’s old treasure chest. Jason spit on both hands, then popped open the lid.
“Cool,” Frank said as they peered inside. The chest was filled with all kinds of things to have fun with.
“Thanks for helping me dig it up, guys,” Jason told Frank and Joe, “and for telling me the truth about Captain Scurvydog.”
Frank smiled as he pulled a plastic telescope from the chest. “No problem, Jason,” he said, peering through the telescope. “The ghost of Captain Scurvydog may be fake, but this buried treasure . . . is the real deal!”
About the Author
Franklin W. Dixon is the author of the ever-popular Hardy Boys series of books.
Santy Gutiérrez resides in the seaside city of La Coruña, Spain. He has won awards such as the Best Spanish Young Editorial Cartoonist and Best Galician Caricaturist, among others.
DON’T MISS THE NEXT HARDY BOYS CLUE BOOK:
The Time Warp Wonder
ALADDIN
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Don’t miss any of the cases in the Hardy Boys Clue Book series!
#1: The Video Game Bandit
#2: The Missing Playbook
#3: Water-Ski Wipeout
#4: Talent Show Tricks
#5: Scavenger Hunt Heist
#6: A Skateboard Cat-astrophe
Coming Soon
#8: The Time Warp Wonder
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Aladdin paperback edition April 2018
Text copyright © 2018 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Library of Congress Control Number 2017963812
ISBN 978-1-4814-8873-0 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-8872-3 (pbk)
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Franklin W. Dixon, The Pirate Ghost
