صورت روی ماه

Chapter eight

The Face in the Moon

When Captain Pike’s men put the chest with Blackbeard’s ghost on it down on the pirate ship’s deck, Blackbeard stood up and saw that it was not his treasure.

He opened the top, picked up the gold coins in both his hands, and threw them to the ground.

The pirates could not see Blackbeard; they only saw the chest open itself and the gold coins flying in the air and falling to the ground by themselves.

“The gold, Captain. It was flying in the air.”

“Who opened that chest?”

“The treasure! Where is the treasure?”

Blackbeard ran to the ship’s side to see if the Queen Anne was still nearby. It was gone. He let out a loud scream, but no one heard him. His voice disappeared into the grey clouds that were beginning to cover the sky.

It began to rain heavily that night. Santiago and Captain Pike were sitting in the warm yellow light of the Captain’s cabin below deck.

“How long will it take to fix the ship?”

“One or two days. I don’t know.”

“We’ll lose that English ship, and I want that treasure.”

“But Captain, we’ve got the gold. Why do you want more?”

“You don’t understand. That treasure is more valuable than ten chests of gold. It has some magic in it. There is a story behind it, and I think the man who has it is going to feel he has everything.”

Blackbeard was alone at the front of the ship, looking out at the dark sea. Everything around him was wet, the men had gone below deck for the night. Slowly, the rain stopped and the clouds moved away.

A full, shining silver moon appeared, lighting the sea in front of him. Blackbeard looked into its round face for a long time. It looked like a round ball turning and turning. Then he thought it was more like a circle cut from a piece of paper. Suddenly, a face appeared in it.

It was the face of Queen Hanzani. She closed, then opened her big, brown eyes slowly. She was smiling at Blackbeard. She looked to her left and Blackbeard did the same. He saw a light, in the distance. The light was Rum island, but no one knew it.

The Queen’s face disappeared, and Blackbeard ran to the bell near the ship’s wheel. The man at the wheel was almost asleep when Blackbeard rang the bell and frightened him. Captain Pike, Santiago and the other men ran upstairs.

“What is it, what do you see?”

The man at the wheel was still trying to wake up.

“I think it’s a light.”

Captain Pike looked through his telescope. He saw the beach of the island in the moonlight.

Then he saw a light coming from the Queen Anne.

“Santiago, tell the men to drop the anchor. We’ve found the treasure and this time we’re not going to lose it.”