The crew of the Leaky Battery felt better for being back in the Caribbean, where the water was blue and the skies were clear.
Ridgey had hung around long enough to discover that the treasure was worthless. Once he realized there was no booty to be shared, he announced that he was leaving.
“You sure about that?” said Captain Clockheart. “I’ll be sorry to see you go.”
“Off you go!” said Twitter. “Off you go!”
“I think one bird is quite enough for a ship,” said Ridgey.
“Where will you go?” asked Pendle.
“I’m going to find that electrical lot. They’ve got a lot going for them, but they’re in need of someone with ideas – someone like me, if they’re going to make it in this piracy game.”
“Good luck,” said Captain Clockheart.
“Goodbye,” said Lexi.
“Good riddance!” said Twitter.
The following day the helmsman steered the Leaky Battery into a safe harbour. They dropped anchor to make the repairs that had been needed since the storm.
Pendle sat at the bow of the ship, with a long line of moaning pirates ahead of her. She had finished making Twitter’s new set of wings and was finally able to pay them some attention. Twitter’s new wings were bigger than the old ones, but Pendle had to explain that it was not practical for them to be quite as large as Ridgey’s.
While Gadge led the crew in a rousing singalong, Captain Clockheart leaned over the stern to inspect a patch that needed fixing. He heard the click-tick-tock of Mainspring before his first mate spoke.
“What can I do for you, First Mate Mainspring?” he asked, not bothering to turn around.
“Click, you never asked why I didn’t take the ship as you instructed. Tick, you know that’s what I wanted. Tock, you know one day that’s what I’ll do.”
“I was just pleased that you decided to do the right thing,” said Captain Clockheart.
“Click, what if I didn’t decide? Tick, what if I was forced to do the right thing? Tock, what if I wanted to leave you?”
Captain Clockheart turned around to face his first mate. Steam hissed from his ears. “Now, Mr Mainspring, I don’t pretend to know anyone’s reasons for doing anything and, to be honest, I’m not interested. Who cares why you do things? All that matters is what you do.”
First Mate Mainspring looked at the queue in front of Pendle. “Click, it’s good to have the lad back,” he said.
“Aye,” said Captain Clockheart. “Pendle is worth his weight in gold.”
“Which is more than you can say about that gold,” said Lexi, joining them.
Captain Clockheart chuckled. “That’s very true. Now let’s get this ship back to its former glory. There’s a whole ocean of trouble out there and I’ve a feeling a lot of it will be coming our way.”
“Or we’ll be going its way,” said Gadge, climbing down a rope ladder to join them.
“We’re Steampunk Pirates,” said Captain Clockheart. “Trouble is the only way we know. Now, Mr Gadge, a song, if you please.”
Gadge raised his voice and sang while the rest of the crew rattled their heads and banged their chests along with him.
