That night there was a mighty feast to celebrate the wedding, and the two ships’ companies put their differences aside. The crew of The Scavenger drank a lot of beer and wine and rum and cider and port and gin and brandy and sherry, and when that had all gone one of them remembered a big bottle of something yellow and sweet and syrupy that he had brought back from his holidays and they drank that too.

Then there was singing and music and wild whirling dancing and sitting down feeling dizzy and a bit sick and saying that they knew it was a mistake to drink that sweet syrupy yellow stuff.

Jellyfish Jones made a speech about some of the hilariously stupid things that Barracuda Bill had got up to when he was young. Everybody laughed a lot because they really were completely hilarious and extraordinarily stupid.

Then Barracuda Bill made a speech about how he was the happiest man alive and if anyone ever repeated any of the things Jellyfish Jones had just told them, he would feed them to the goldfish because being eaten by sharks would be too quick and easy for them.

Then Beautiful Princess Ermintrelda made a speech about how this was the best day of her life. She knew the Captain must be dreadfully disappointed that she couldn’t marry him too so that he could be the equal happiest man alive. She wanted to thank the Captain, because without him Barracuda Bill would have had no one to steal all her presents from. So before she handed all her vast store of treasure over to her new husband she thought the Captain should go and help himself to whatever gold and jewels he wanted.

And then the Captain didn’t make a speech he just went to find a wheelbarrow.

The next morning The Scavenger’s crew slept late and woke up with terrible headaches and declared that the sweet syrupy yellow stuff was the devil’s own drink. Then they discovered that the Codcakers had already taken their wheelbarrow full of treasure down to their ship and sailed away.

Out at sea, the waves were calm. A breeze hurried a few scuffs of white cloud through a blue sky. The same breeze billowed The Codcake’s sails as it pushed the ship through the water. The magic map now showed a single word – HOME – with an arrow that pointed off its western edge.

On deck, Eddy and the Captain were examining the contents of the wheelbarrow. The Crew stood nearby at the ship’s wheel. The Penguin was trying on a particularly fetching diamond and sapphire tiara with matching earrings and admiring himself in a mirror. All was well with the world.

“See anything you like?” asked the Captain. “Pick out something pretty for when we divides this lot up between us.”

“I don’t know where to start,” said Eddy, turning the treasure over in his hands. “Necklaces and goblets and brooches and – hey – there’s a ruby ring here, a bit like the one that we found in—”

His voice tailed off.

“Summat wrong?” asked the Captain.

“No,” said Eddy. “Nothing’s wrong. Look at this.”

He held up a heavy gold band, set with a chunky ruby. The jewel had a skull etched into it. And in its right eye socket there was a tiny letter G.

“Grungeybeard,” said the Captain in a low whisper. “Well I’ll be—”

“It’s part of Grungeybeard’s treasure,” said Eddy. “It really is. But how do you think it ended up at Ermintrelda’s palace?”

“Who knows?” said the Captain. “Treasure’s a restless thing. Give it a chance and it will wander. Which is why we are going to look after this little lot very carefully.”

Eddy dug down into the wheelbarrow.

“There’s a pearl down here that’s as big as a conker, and a diamond the size of a gull’s egg, and I’ve never seen a hamster that’s as fat as this emerald. Just like in the legend of Grungeybeard’s loot. You were right all along – even when you were wrong about the gingerbread. We found it.”

“I never doubted it,” said the Captain. “Well, yes I did. But I was right in the end, wasn’t I?”

“And you’re not the only one,” said the Crew.

“What do you mean?” said Eddy.

“Why did you say your parents had sent you to stay with your gran?”

“For fresh air and fun,” said Eddy.

“Well, there’s fresh air all around us now. And you’re not going to tell me you haven’t had fun.”

“No,” said Eddy. “This quest has been the most fun I’ve had in my life.”

“So I would say that your parents got it right as well – even when they got it wrong. What do you think?”

“I think I miss them,” said Eddy.

He gazed out over the water. The Codcake sliced through the sea, taking them home. The sound of the waves slapping against her hull mingled with the cries of the seabirds that wheeled overhead, and the faint, regular BOOM BOOM from far off over the…

BOOM BOOM?

The Scavenger was out there somewhere.

Eddy grabbed a telescope. And there she was, coming up behind them on the starboard side. Eddy knew she was faster than The Codcake. What would happen when she caught up? On the one hand, the two crews had feasted together like old friends. On the other hand, The Scavenger was manned by ruthless pirates, and The Codcake had a wheelbarrow full of treasure on her deck.

“Captain! It’s The Scavenger!”

“Perhaps they just want to say goodbye,” said the Crew, “after that lovely party.”

“Or perhaps,” said the Penguin, “they want to steal the treasure, feed us to the sharks and blow up the ship.”

“I just don’t know,” said the Captain. “And we’ll only find out when they catch us.”

“So we’d better be prepared,” said Eddy. “You stood up to Barracuda Bill, Captain. I think it’s time for The Codcake to stand up to The Scavenger. If they are coming for the treasure, we’re not going to give it to them without a fight. This time, we’re going to be ready for them.”