Adam and the Arkonauts (24 page)

‘Yeah! Yeah! Who's that? I thought I was the only one who barked on this ship.'

Sausage emerged from below deck.

‘Where's the land going?' he woofed.

The Doctor and his wife turned round in horror.

‘Why didn't you get off the boat?'

Sausage was offended. ‘Sniffage said he could smell a dead thing so I went to investigate. It took me some time because I have little legs.'

‘Yeah! Yeah!' barked Sniffage, delighted to see his friend still on board. ‘Want to be an Arkonaut?'

‘Are there sticks?' asked Sausage cautiously.

Sniffage barked yes.

‘And smells?'

Sniffage barked yes again.

Sausage woofed back that he wanted to join and the two dogs sniffed each other's bottoms in celebration.

‘Look!' said Adam, pointing into the sky.

The Arkonauts looked up. There, just visible against the razor-sharp snow-capped peaks of Los Puntos Afilados, being buffeted back and forth by the strong winds that raged at the top of them, was a yellow balloon.

‘Scabellax!' Adam exclaimed. ‘Where do you think he's going?'

‘Wherever the winds take him,' said the Doctor. ‘Perhaps it's fitting that a man who tried to bend nature to his will is now helpless in its power.'

‘But what if –' began Adam.

‘Today we're not going to worry about Professor Scabellax,' said Adam's mum, putting an arm around him. ‘We'll leave him to the elements. They seem to know what they're doing.'

And as if to confirm her words, a giant gust swept the yellow balloon into a menacing black cloud that clung to the tallest peak and out of sight.

The Doctor turned to his wife.

‘How does it feel to be part of a family again?' he asked.

She smiled. It felt very good.

‘Well, of course, a family plus Calico Jack,' the Doctor added.

‘Where
is
he?' said Lily. ‘I saw him here just before we set off.'

‘Yes, he was . . .' said the Doctor, looking around. ‘Ah, there.'

‘Where?' Lily couldn't see him on the deck.

‘There!' The Doctor pointed back to Buenos Sueños. And there, on the edge of the wharf, watching the ship sail away, was Calico Jack.

‘He must have slipped ashore just before we weighed anchor,' the Doctor said. ‘Why would he have done that? I had a lot of questions to ask him. I'm still convinced I've seen him somewhere before.'

‘Maybe we'll meet him again one day,' said Lily. ‘The world is a very strange place and the most surprising things seem to happen in it, don't they, Adam?'

But Adam didn't answer. While everybody else waved to the crowd, he was waving to only one figure, a figure who grew smaller and more distant with every gust of wind that pushed the
Ark
away from Buenos Sueños. Anna. Dark, pretty, mischievous Anna. The only friend he'd ever had. He would miss her.

c

c

Also by Dominic Barker

.

Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World

Blart 2: The Boy Who Was Wanted Dead Or Alive – Or Both

Blart 3: The Boy Who Set Sail on a Questionable Quest

.

Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Berlin, New York and Sydney

First published in Great Britain in May 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

36 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QY

Copyright © Dominic Barker 2010

This electronic edition published in October 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 4088 1631 8

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