A Better Way to Stop Pirates Read online

CHAPTER 9

  BAD TIMING

  At first, Harry didn’t realise what had hit him. A galloping horse appeared from the shadows and someone grabbed him and swung him up onto the horse’s back. He landed backwards. By the time he worked out what had happened, the horse was flying through, dark foggy streets. Flossy had been left behind.

  ‘Stop!’ yelled Harry to the horse. ‘We have to go back! We have to turn round!’ He pounded on the animal’s rump with one paw while clinging desperately to its tail with the other. There was nowhere to hold on and he could feel himself slipping.

  The horse didn’t slow. It weaved through alleyways, leapt over gutters and galloped through plazas. In an instant they had crossed Town Square, to the surprise of many who were gathered there, and punched out the other side like a fist.

  ‘Stop!’ he yelled. But the horse showed no sign of having heard. Harry couldn’t jump, they were travelling too fast, so he tried to turn around. ‘Stop I say! We have to go back!’

  They were on a straighter stretch of road now, one that lead north out of town, and so Harry was able to swing his leg over and twist himself into a forward-facing position. Holding onto the horse’s mane he pulled himself forward. There was a sloth hanging beneath the horse’s neck. It was the sloth who had grabbed him.

  ‘Stanley!’ he yelled, putting two and two together.

  Finally, Stanley broke his gallop and cantered to a stop beside a low stone wall. He was breathing hard and his sides were slick with foam. They were well outside the town’s limits and above the fog. The farmland around them was dotted with glowing Heat Trees. Above them, stars peppered the sky like a million twinkling fireflies.

  Harry leapt off Stanley’s back, angry.

  ‘What do you think you’re doing, Stanley! We need to go back.’ Harry stood with his paws on his hips, tail bristling and every muscle tense.

  At first Stanley had looked pleased with himself. Now he looked surprised. ‘B-B-But we just, we just rescued you from the pirates!’ he stammered, hot breath misting in ragged plumes.

  Harry stared, exasperated. ‘Pirates! What pirates?’