twenty-one

Poppy and Sylva watched the scene in horror.

“What will we do?” said Poppy, near tears.

“We can’t steal that treasure chest,” Sylva said. “It’s too heavy. And the pirates might see us, and then they’d—” Sylva did not want to say what the pirates might do to two young fairies and their pet kitten.

“Meeew! Meeew!” cried Lucky from inside the pirate trunk.

“Oh, she’s breaking my heart!” said Poppy. “And this fog is so spooky. It’s making everything worse and—”

Sylva’s eyes lit up. “What did you say?” she asked.

“I said the fog was making everything worse!”

“No, before that,” said Sylva. “You said the fog was—”

“Spooky,” said Poppy. And her eyes lit up, too. “I know what you’re thinking!” she said. “I heard him say it too!”

They both remembered Captain Sinker’s words, I be ever so afraid of the wild ghosties.

The two best friends looked at each other. “I’ll fly out to the middle of the cove,” said Sylva in a rush. “Then I’ll make a sound like a ghost, and they’ll be scared, so I’ll swoop in and—”

“Sylva?” said Poppy. “Why don’t we make a plan . . . together?”

Sylva put out her hand and Poppy smiled. “Secret best-friends handshake!” Two shakes, a spin around, and touch wings together! Then they quickly came up with a plan.

“Do you think it will work?” asked Poppy.

“It has to!” said Sylva. “Let’s go!”

Acting as one, Sylva and Poppy flew to their places. Poppy perched higher up on the spruce tree. Sylva quietly glided to a rock near the captain’s shovel.

“Wooo-oooooo!” called Poppy in her spookiest voice.

“Woooo-hooo-hooo!” called Sylva, sounding even more ghostly.

“What was that?” said the captain. He tensed.

“Just the wind, Cap’n,” said Mr. Leakey. “Do I dig here? Do this be the treasure?”

“Whooo dares disturb our island?” called Poppy.

“Did you hear that, Leakey?”

“I did, Cap’n! It be the fairies trickin’ us.”

“Whoooooo steals our kitten?” called Sylva.

“Those ain’t fairies. Those be ghosts!” said Captain Sinker. “The wee ghosties who come out in the fog!”

Sylva almost laughed out loud at the pirate captain, and she was sure Poppy was doing the same. Our plan is working!

“Giiiiiive us baaaaaaaack our kitten,” said Sylva. “And weeeeeeee’ll haauuuuuunt you no mooooooore!”

“Do as they say, Leakey!” shouted Captain Sinker. “Give them the kitten, and let’s scarper!”

“What about the treasure, Captain?” asked Mr. Leakey. “We can’t leave till—”

“Let’s be gone, man! I’ll just grab as much treasure as I can.” The captain ripped up some flowers from where Mr. Leakey was digging.

“You’re picking flowers, Cap’n?”

“I have me reasons, Leakey!”

“Gooooooooooo now!” called Sylva. “Leeeeeeeeeave the kitten to usssssssss!”

“Turn awaaaaaay from the treasure chessssst,” called Poppy, “so we can releeeeeease the kitten!”

With his knees knocking and his hands shaking, Captain Sinker turned his back on the treasure chest. “Didn’t you hear them, Leakey?” the captain asked. “Leave that chest and do as they say, or they’ll haunt you all your life, just as Ma warned me!”

In a flash, Sylva and Poppy flew over to the treasure chest. With a huge effort, they lifted up the lid and turned the chest on its side. Lucky took one look at the two friends smiling in on her, flipped out of the chest, and seemed as pleased with herself as she could be.

“Pick her up like this, Poppy,” said Sylva in a whisper, showing her how. Poppy scooped up Lucky in one sure movement and held her tight. “Now let’s get out of here!”

“C-c-can we go now, ghosties?” asked Captain Sinker. “Pretty please?”

“Awaaaaay with you now,” said Sylva. “And don’t daaaaaaaarken our island again.”

“Oh, thank ye, ghosties, thank ye,” said Captain Sinker.

“I still think they were fairies,” said Mr. Leakey.

But by that time, Captain Sinker had dragged Mr. Leakey into the rowboat, and they splashed their way back to the Bilgewater.

Lucky, who seemed to think it was all a game, purred in Poppy’s arms.

“You did it, Sylva! You beat the pirates!”

“We did it together, Poppy,” said Sylva. “Now let’s go home!”