“Excuse me!” Captain Rascal almost fell over in surprise. “Who’s the captain around here?”
“You, of course.” Pippa reddened. “But the cow sharks aren’t attacking us. They look like they’ve got something stuck in their teeth.”
“Stuck in their teeth, that’s Pippa’s belief,” chirped the parrot in a disbelieving voice.
“They do!” said Stardust. In her excitement she leaned too far over the edge of the boat. Pippa grabbed hold of her and pulled her back before she toppled overboard.
“Thanks, Pippa. It’s seaweed!” Stardust added breathlessly. “They’re using the ship’s bow like a giant toothpick to remove the seaweed from their teeth.”
“They’ll never get the seaweed out like that!” Pippa stared around the boat thoughtfully. She’d once gotten a piece of apple stuck between her teeth, and it had been very irritating until Mom had given her a strand of dental floss to remove it. What could they use to help the cow sharks? The closest thing to dental floss was rope, but that was too thick, even for the enormous teeth of the cow sharks. As Pippa’s eyes traveled the boat, they came to rest on a lifeboat, suspended above the deck. Her face broke into a smile.
Pippa ran to the lifeboat and took out a wooden oar. She carried it to the ship’s bow, calling “Come and help me!” to Stardust as she passed.
“What are you going to do?”
“Watch,” said Pippa, “and hold on to me, so that I don’t fall overboard.”
Stardust wrapped her hooves round Pippa’s middle as she leaned over the side of the boat.
“Hello, cow sharks,” Pippa called out. “Line up and I’ll help you to clean your teeth.”
The cow sharks’ eyes widened in surprise.
“It’s a girl!”
“That’s not just any girl, Velvet,” whispered the smallest cow shark. “That’s Pippa MacDonald!”
“You’re right, Daisy!” replied Velvet, who had two small horns. “I’ve always wanted to meet her. Aren’t we lucky that she’s out here on the open seas!”
Obediently, the cow sharks formed a line with Daisy in front.
“Open wide and say ‘ah,’” said Pippa, repeating what the dentist told her on her last visit. Carefully, she angled the oar into the waiting cow shark’s mouth and scraped out the seaweed trapped between her teeth.
“Oooh, that feels better,” mooed Daisy. The cow shark ran her long, rubbery tongue over her teeth. “Thank you, Pippa.”
“Thank you, Pippa,” chorused the other cow sharks after Pippa had cleaned their teeth.
“This is our lucky day,” said Velvet. “We were very lucky to swim into Pippa MacDonald.”
“Thank you,” said Pippa. “It’s a lucky day for me too. I’ve always wanted to meet a cow shark.”
Stardust threw her a puzzled look.
“I would have if I’d known they existed,” Pippa whispered.
Velvet continued. “Have you come to hear the music?”
“Music?” Captain Rascal’s ears swiveled with interest. “What music? We love a good sing-along, don’t we, pirate crew?”
“Aye, aye!” roared the ponies.
“Then you must visit Hoofishbofin, the island to your west. The ponies there make the best music around,” said Daisy. “We often swim by to listen to them sing.”
“Hoofishbofin? Never heard of it,” said Captain Rascal. “Come to think of it, I didn’t know that the islands around Chevalia were inhabited by ponies. But much as we love to sing, we haven’t got time today. We’re off to find pirate gold.”
“Then you must definitely visit Hoofishbofin,” said Velvet. All the cow sharks nodded in agreement. “Rumor has it, there’s gold on the island.”
“Why didn’t you say that earlier? Thanks, cow sharks. Full steam ahead, pirate crew, to the island of Hoofishbofin.”
Pippa couldn’t help worrying as they waved good-bye to the cow sharks. What if the rumors of gold were just that, rumors? They’d be better off looking for the unlucky horseshoe.
“We won’t stay long,” said Stardust, guessing her concern. “And if there isn’t any gold, then the pirate ponies will work better for having a sing-along.”
The Jolly Horseshoe creaked and juddered alongside the small wooden jetty on Hoofishbofin Island.
“All ashore, me hearties,” called Captain Rascal when the hoof plank was lowered.
Pippa’s wavy hair blew around her face as she followed Stardust ashore. She held it back with a hand as she made for the shelter of a rocky outcrop. Stardust joined her and they huddled together while they waited for the pirate ponies to disembark.
“Listen,” said Pippa. “I can hear music.”
It was impossible to stay still. Pippa temporarily forgot about the unlucky horseshoe as she headed toward the music, her feet dancing in time with the merry tune.
“That music sounds just like the kind my aunt Maeve’s band plays.” Pippa hummed along, sometimes making up words to the tunes.
As Pippa turned a corner, she stopped, clapping her hands in surprise. “An outdoor theater!”
Tiers of seats were carved into the rocky ground around a raised circular stage, where four ponies were singing. Two were also playing fiddles, while one played a harp that was almost as tall as Pippa; and the fourth pony, a pretty golden Connemara, was keeping the beat with a small drum.
“That’s a bodhran!” Pippa clapped her hands in delight. “Aunt Maeve plays one.”
As they approached the stage, the song finished. The musicians bowed to each other. They laid their instruments down and the gold-colored pony shared out a pile of coin-shaped tokens. The ponies lined up to take turns at flicking the coins into a round, black pot.
“Tiddledyhooves!” cried Stardust. “I love tiddledyhooves. Can I play?” she called, trotting on ahead.
The ponies turned in surprise.
“Visitors!” The golden pony had a musical lilt to her voice. “Now there’s a rare thing, to be sure. And who might you be?”
Stardust stopped in surprise. “Don’t you know?” Her chest swelled with pride. “I’m Princess Stardust, royal foal of Queen Moonshine and King Firestar.”
“Well, I’ll be clovered! Welcome to our humble island of Hoofishbofin.” The pony dropped a curtsy. “I’m Connie and these are my band members: Rowan on the harp, Kira and Alby on fiddles. Our band’s known as the Happy Hooves.”
Stardust curtsied back. “Nice to meet you. Now, please can I play tiddledyhooves?”
“To be sure.” Connie tossed a token at Stardust. It glittered as it spun through the air. “Your friend can play too, if she likes. It’s a long time since I’ve seen a real girl!”
“Wait!” Pippa caught the token aimed at Stardust. She held it out in the flat of her hand. “Look!” she breathed. “It’s not a tiddledyhoof. It’s a gold coin.”
“Shiver me horse bones!” Captain Rascal trotted over to the black pot. “I thought I recognized this pot. It belonged to my granny, the great Captain Scallywag. The cow sharks were right. There is gold on the island. Great Captain Scallywag’s pot of gold.”
