فصل 43

CHAPTER 43

SHINING PEARL’S IDEA

SHINING PEARL CROUCHED at the entrance to the cave, peering out through the rain. Behind her, the pirates sat in the dirt, exhausted, wet, hungry, miserable.

“D’you see anything?” whispered Smee.

“No,” whispered Shining Pearl. “I think they’re gone.”

“Now what?” said one of the men.

It was a good question. The Scorpions seemed to be everywhere, patrolling in groups of four or five men, scouring the island’s jungle hillsides and valleys. Twice in the past sleepless day the pirates had come very close to being spotted; they would surely have been caught by now, had it not been for Shining Pearl’s intimate knowledge of the island’s geography. But they could not run forever. Sooner or later, the Scorpions would find them. The pirates understood this now; Shining Pearl could see it on their faces. She judged that now was the time to tell them about her idea.

“We have two choices,” she said.

They were all watching her.

“We can keep running,” she said. “There are other caves. If we’re careful, moving by night, keeping quiet, we might be able to avoid them for a while longer.”

The men looked around at the dank, dark cave.

“What’s the other choice?” said the pirate named Hurky.

Shining Pearl took a deep breath. “We attack them,” she said.

Hurky laughed, a harsh bark. “Us, attack them?”

“Yes,” said Shining Pearl.

“But,” said Smee, “we don’t have…that is, what would…I mean…How?”

“Do you have any clothing belonging to Captain Hook?” said Shining Pearl.

Smee frowned. “I b’lieve the cap’n’s old pants is back at the fort. I made him a new pair from sailcloth, but I was going to patch his old ones.” He frowned more deeply still. “But what does the cap’n’s pants have to do with attacking them Scorpions?”

Shining Pearl explained her plan. When she was done, the pirates sat quietly for a moment. Hurky broke the silence.

“Seems to me,” he said, “that it probably won’t work.”

The men nodded.

“But it also seems to me,” said Hurky, “that it’s better than spending the rest of our days hiding in caves, waiting for them to kill us.”

The men nodded again. They turned to Smee, who looked back at them, puzzled, until it dawned on him that a decision had been made and that it was up to him as acting captain to express it.

“All right, then,” he said to Shining Pearl, “let’s carry out your plan.”