The Forgotten Map (28 page)

Disguises

Soggy but safe, Whisker and Horace crouched on the deck in the pouring rain. They had escaped the Cat Fish, and Whisker was a hero. He wouldn't admit it himself, but the Captain said his clever decision-making had earned him an A+ on his
Pie Rat
Strategy Test
.

‘It was mainly the medicine,' Whisker mumbled to Horace for the eleventh time, as he tightened a slippery knot on one of the lanyards. ‘Besides, we're not out of danger yet. We still need to get through this storm and find somewhere safe to anchor.'

‘Ah, this isn't a storm,' Horace scoffed, shaking his hook at a nearby bolt of lightning. ‘It's just a large cloud of drizzle …' He paused and wiped his forehead with the back of his paw. ‘Err … having said that, we should probably get inside. I've got burn cream running into my eyes, you look like a drowned rat and I doubt your treacle medicine will stop either of us catching a cold.'

Inside the navigation room, Whisker and Horace found the rest of the crew gathered around a map of the Crescent Sea.

‘… I understand the plan, but I'm still not convinced it's a safe place to anchor,' Pete mumbled.

He prodded the map with a bony finger, and Whisker read the location,
Shipwreck Sandbar.
It was located close to the small fishing village of Whiteshore, to the south of Port Abalilly.

Whisker felt his excitement growing.
Were they headed for the map after all?

Madam Pearl gave a frustrated sigh. ‘As I have already explained to you, Quartermaster Pete, smugglers hide their boats among the wrecks, and smuggle their cargo into Port Abalilly over the bridge from Whiteshore …'

‘The
Apple Pie
is a
ship,
not a smuggler's boat,' Pete cut in, ‘and I doubt the Captain wants her to become a permanent part of the landscape.'

The Captain looked at Madam Pearl for reassurance.

‘Your ship is small,' Madam Pearl said bluntly, ‘and with the morning's high tide and a light load, you'll have nothing to worry about.'

‘A light load is definitely something to worry about,' Pete muttered. ‘We dumped all the cannon pies overboard before we entered the storm. The
Silver Sardine
is bobbing around in a putrid purple pie soup, but that won't help us if we run into a Claw-of-War fleet.'

Madam Pearl glared at Pete. ‘Do you want the map or not?'

‘YES!' Whisker blurted out, spraying droplets of water all over the room.

All eyes turned to him.

‘Ah … sorry,' he mumbled awkwardly. ‘I didn't mean to interrupt.'

Emmie handed Whisker an old towel and the crew turned back to the map.

As Whisker dabbed his soggy fur, he felt a dull pain return to his shoulder and knew the effects of the medicine were wearing off. He tried to ignore the pain and watched with interest as Emmie unscrewed a jar of brown boot polish.

‘I'm not going to polish your shoes, if that's what you're wondering,' she stated. ‘This is for Madam Pearl.'

‘I didn't know she wore brown shoes,' Whisker remarked.

‘It's not for her shoes, silly,' Emmie said. ‘It's for her disguise.'

‘Disguise?' Whisker repeated.

‘Yes,' Emmie nodded. ‘So she can sneak into Port Abalilly and find the map. It's all part of the plan. Uncle Black Rat says that brown weasels are far less obvious than white ones.'

‘Is that so?' Whisker said.

‘Of course,' Emmie replied. ‘But blue coloured weasels are extremely obvious. That was my first choice. Uncle Pete has lots of blue pencils.'

‘What other disguises have you organised?' Whisker asked, intrigued.

‘Well,' Emmie began, ‘Uncle Black Rat says that Eaton and I are too young to go. So we don't need disguises. And none of the proper Pie Rats can go – their faces are on posters all around the port. How exciting! That means that only crew members that aren't proper Pie Rats can go. Mr Tribble has already volunteered, but he doesn't need a disguise because he's not a celebrity. He's going to make sure the map isn't a fake. At school, he's good at catching students who cheat in tests.'

‘Oh,' Whisker said, taken aback. ‘So none of the Pie Rats are going?'

‘None of the
proper
Pie Rats,' Emmie explained. ‘But you can go if you want. You're still a
practice
Pie Rat.'

Whisker didn't know what to say. He lowered the towel and looked across the table to where the Captain was watching him closely.

‘Whisker,' the Captain said grimly, ‘it's too risky for any of us to show our faces right now. We're a wanted bunch. You, however, are unknown to the Blue Claw. It's a dangerous mission, I know, and you'd be unarmed. But you've earned the trust and respect of the entire crew and we believe you can do it.'

Whisker peered around the room. Every face he met gave him a look of confidence and support; every face that is, except Ruby's. Instead of returning his gaze, she stared at the wall with an obvious look of disapproval.

Whisker struggled to block out the feeling of rejection.
It doesn't matter what she thinks,
he tried to convince himself.
You're not doing it for her
,
you're doing it for your family …

He felt his tail straighten behind his back as he made his decision.

‘I'll do it,' he agreed.

‘Did you hear that, Ruby?' Emmie said in excitement. ‘Now we have two disguises to make.'

Ruby pulled a sour face at Emmie and stormed out of the room.

‘Oh my,' Emmie whined. ‘Doesn't she like dress-ups?'

‘Apparently not,' Horace said. ‘But Fred will lend you a paw. He knows where all the spare clothes are hidden and I'm sure the two of you can turn Whisker into a dashing undercover agent in no time.'

Fred's huge eye turned in Whisker's direction and the giant gave him a big grin.

Whisker gulped as the vision of a bright blue goldfish disguise flashed before his eyes.

As it turned out, Whisker wasn't cursed with a costume of another species. He was disguised as a bag-carrying bellboy.

Madam Pearl and Mr Tribble assumed the identities of two posh out-of-towners. As the story went, they were early risers and wanted to get to the shops before they opened at dawn. Whisker was responsible for carrying their bags – of which there were many.

‘Out-of-towners always bring loads of bags with them,' Fred said, thrusting yet another suitcase into Whisker's arms. ‘Our gang once stole six bags from an old turtle.'

Emmie shook a brush of boot polish at him. ‘That's terrible, Uncle Fred. You should be ashamed of yourself.'

Fred dropped his chin. ‘Yeah, I was. I returned five of the bags when the gang was asleep. In the morning I blamed it on cockroaches. No one likes cockroaches …'

Whisker turned to face a long mirror on the wall. The disguise party was taking place in Ruby's cabin and Ruby was predictably absent.

Two lines of gold buttons gleamed from Whisker's red coat. His red bellboy's cap sat neatly on the top of his parted fringe and his black trousers fit snugly, thanks to some adjustments from Pete and his surgical needle.

Fred left the cabin to collect more bags and the reflection of an elegant brown weasel came into view beside Whisker. Madam Pearl wore her white evening dress, one of Ruby's scarlet shawls and a golden locket where her famous white pearls had hung.

‘I feel naked without my pearls,' she sighed to Whisker. ‘They're far too conspicuous, so I gave them to little Emmie.'

Whisker looked across at the oversized string of pearls sagging down to Emmie's knees.

‘Here,' Whisker said, reaching for the pearls. ‘Double them over and you'll look like a real lady.' He looped the pearls over her small head and stepped back.

‘Perfect!' Emmie squealed, rushing over to Ruby's clothes trunk.

Whisker returned his gaze to the mirror and saw a sad look on Madam Pearl's face.

‘I could have done that,' she said in a dejected voice. ‘I know everything about pearls, but I don't know the first thing about children. It's never really bothered me before, but, after seeing how happy Emmie is, I thought it would be nice to have … well … you know …'

‘A family?' Whisker said.

‘Yes,' she replied. ‘And friends … anyone really.'

‘But don't you have …'

Madam Pearl took a deep breath. ‘Whisker, I once had rooms filled with antique furniture, ticking clocks, and rarities from the human world. I had treasure chests overflowing with jewels, gem stones, sapphires and diamonds. And I lost count of how many pearl necklaces dangled off my ancient marble statues. I thought I had everything. Now I've got nothing but empty rooms and hollow memories.'

‘I don't understand,' Whisker said. ‘Did the Blue Claw steal everything?'

‘No, Whisker,' she said softly. ‘Everything is still there …' She laughed quietly to herself. ‘You'd think that sitting in a cell would change someone. The funny thing is, it wasn't prison that made me think differently, it was the rescue. Do you know what my first thought was when your crew turned up to Prison Island?'

Whisker shook his head.

‘It was:
why
?' Madam Pearl revealed. ‘Why would you risk your necks to rescue me? Why would anyone want to rescue me in the first place?'

Whisker felt guilty. He hadn't risked anything for her, none of them had. They had done it solely for what she had, the map. He watched as the reflection of his tail drooped to the floor.

‘Don't feel bad, Whisker,' she said. ‘You got me out and that's what matters. Now I have a second chance. If they lock me up again, at least I can count on one rescue party turning up, right?'

‘Right,' Whisker replied. ‘I'll try not to throw you down the stairs next time.'

‘And I'll try to be a little more co-operative,' she smiled.

‘Deal.'

Whisker still felt guilty about one small thing, and thought it was best he got it off his chest. ‘So err … after we get the map, Madam Pearl, were you thinking of going back to …'

‘Sea Shanty Island?' she exclaimed.
‘
Heavens no! Emmie told me some lunatic blew up my warehouse.'

She gave Whisker a wink and he began to relax.

‘The first thing I'm going to do,' she said, ‘is fulfil my promise and help you win the Pirate Cup … hopefully in front of your family.'

Whisker's tail sprang to life as a rush of hope spread through his body. Her words were more powerful than a boat load of treacle medicine. His eyes glazed over as he imagined the happy faces of his parents and sister the moment he held up the Trophy of Champions. Horace and Ruby stood beside him, each wearing gold medals. Horace blew kisses to the cheering crowd and Ruby was smiling … smiling at him …

Madam Pearl's voice broke his daydream.

‘And following that,' she said. ‘I'm going to visit a certain school for mice that might appreciate a few spare clocks and antique desks.'

Whisker managed a small laugh, but his mind still lingered on his vision. He hoped one day it would come true, all of it.