"I don't care about investigations and paperwork; I don't care about tracing them; I don't care for your excuses. They stole my boat with two fairies on board. I was paying you an awful lot of money to keep them locked up and you?you failed!"
Goodall looked down, feeling a little shamed by his inability to please the pirate; in reality Goodall should be telling Dave what to do but such was the power of the fearsome pirate that Dodgy Dave practically controlled everything around Pirate Bay.
Just then, a small figure fluttered across from one of the other tables. A large cloak covered every part of its body and it came over so silently that Goodall jumped at it's appearance. Dodgy Dave, however, simply smiled.
"Hello Chancellor Osborne." He grinned.
The Positivity floated elegantly on the sparkling blue water. Princess Caldora stood at the helm and steered the heavy pirate boat with a look of great excitement on her face. She looked up and over her shoulder to watch the heavy black sails billow in the strong wind. The speed of the boat made the breeze rush through her hair and freshened her face. She couldn't believe how wonderful sailing a boat could be and thought every fairy should try it.
Capden Den studied a map he had found with Bosun Bill in the captain's quarters of Dave's boat. It was an old map of the world, stained with blood, but with a clear indication of where the Third Isle of Solitude was.
"Once we reach the Isle we should be able to work out where the fairy retreat is." Bosun Bill confirmed to his captain and the prince, who all stood in a circle studying the map.
"We need more speed though." Capden Den said as he looked up at the sky. "We've got good wind but it's going to take days to get there."
Capden Den stroked his beard thoughtfully before licking his finger and pointing it up into the air.
"Mmm, cold." He said. "We must be heading north."
A pterodactyl zoomed overhead and the three men looked up from their map to watch it fly gracefully over the top of their sails. Princess Caldora heard the soft beating of the dinosaur's wings and gazed up from her wheel.
"If only we could fly!" She cried back to the others.
Prince Purplerain smiled as he heard this; he put his hands together and started to rub his palms, generating heat between his fingers. His hands began to glow red and from the glow a small shape began to form. As it grew, Capden Den and Bill watched with astonishment as a balloon materialised out of thin air.
"She said fly." Den sighed. "What do we need balloons for?"
Prince Purplerain crouched onto his knees and, without saying a word, continued his hand rubbing, producing more and more balloons. As they appeared they bounced across the deck of the ship.
"Quick." He said. "Get some string."
Bosun Bill hurried into the hull of the ship and a few moments later came back with a huge ball of string.
"Now tie these balloons to the ship." The prince ordered.
"We can't fly using balloons, this isn't some tiny piece of paper with a message on it. It's a boat, y'know, big thing that floats on water!"
As Capden Den spoke the prince looked up and his eyes suggested that the captain should be quiet and get tying.
"Alright!" Capden Den said with a shrug. "I suppose we've got days, may as well waste the time tying balloons to a boat. If this fails we could always have a party."
For about half an hour the two pirates tied balloons all around the Positivity, making it look far less like a feared pirate galleon and more like a clown's birthday party. After about two hundred balloons were tied Prince Purplerain stopped and stood back to wait.
Capden Den couldn't stop his mouth from opening with amazement as the huge black galleon, feared throughout the world, began to lift up out of the water and into the air.
Chapter Fifteen of?
At the northern tip of the Third Isle of Solitude, a small collection of fairies flew about the modified experimental pirate galleon. Fairy Otto, all crazy white hair blowing in the wind, stood manically and proudly at the helm. Beside him the queen and Fairy Falkirk were rigid, with a look of fear in their eyes.
The large wooden 'car' sat heavily on the beach; its large wheels sinking into the golden sand while the three fairies stood checking the surroundings for any sign of dinosaurs. Once they felt they were clear, the queen turned to her fairy onlookers waiting anxiously in the sand below them.
"Ok." The queen ordered. "Let's do this quickly."
On cue, Otto, Falkirk and a few scientific looking fairies that had been busying themselves below deck, jumped from the boat and their bare feet sank into the soft beach.
"Falkirk." Otto grabbed at the wise old fairy's shoulder. "Would you do me a favour and find me the fastest dinosaur that you can?"
Falkirk gulped. "Erm?yes." He said without really thinking.
"Thank you, I need to fuel up the car. These bushes and dead branches will do."
"Is there anything I can do?" the queen bounded over with her golden hair floating dreamily in the breeze.
"No your majesty." Otto replied. "I just want you to watch."
"Oh." The queen did not look amused. "Well. I'll get us some food then."
"I can do that!" Another fairy called from where he stood at the tip of the forest entrance.
"Oh." The queen called back with disappointment in her voice. "Ok."
As Falkirk disappeared into the dense forest and the other fairies went about preparing this trial run of the 'car', the queen sullenly went off to the beach front and stared up at the sun hanging lazily over the sea; her wide blue eyes drifted across the sparkling waters and caught sight of birds soaring up into the clear sky as some flying fish danced on the ocean's steady waves.
She sat and allowed herself to be lost in thought while excited chatter continued around her. The heat of the day began to take its toll and she could feel her eyes slowly drooping.
After a couple of hours, the 'car' was ready for its maiden test; all they had to do now was wait for Falkirk to return with a dinosaur.
While they waited Otto stroked his wild hair back away from his eyes with dirty hands, leaving a smear of grime going up his face like a scar. He noticed the queen lying back on the beach and went over to her, the tide had started to come in and her bare toes were gently being splashed by the waves.
"No sign of Falkirk your highness."
"No." the queen replied without opening her eyes.
"I must invent a device that can communicate at distance, a walking talking box; a walkie-talkie if you like." Otto said dreamily.
"Sounds good." The queen replied with little excitement in her voice.
"Are you feeling alright your majesty?" Otto enquired, much like a doctor would in a matter-of-fact kind of way.
"No." The queen spoke with fear in her voice. "I sometimes wonder what it is I'm doing, what I'm waiting for. I wish we could find him"
"Of course, your son, I'm sorry your majesty. In all this excitement we seemed to have forgotten that dreadful news." Otto replied.
He sat down next to his queen and stared out at the bejewelled ocean ahead of him.
"Beautiful isn't it?" the queen said as she raised her body up onto her elbows.
"Yes." Otto agreed.
"It was once ours, it once belonged to all fairy-kind, then terrible greed gently allowed it to slip through our wings."
"Yes." Otto lowered his head and stared at the sand glistening between his bare knees.
"The pterodactyl that brought me the message, it didn't fear me; it just stood there and allowed me to stroke its beak. There is a way for this world to once again come together."
"I hope so your majesty." Otto whispered.
As he replied, they were interrupted by a manic rustling in the trees, followed by the screeching cry of a dinosaur. All of the fairies froze, not daring to move in case of sudden attack, they stared in the direction of the noise. With a flash, a large green shape fell out of the trees and onto the sand, it wriggled itself back up onto its feet
and standing on its hind legs the creature was about eight feet tall; on the dinosaurs back, Falkirk clung on desperately, his arms and legs wrapped tightly around the neck and belly of the reptile.
"I did it!" Falkirk sang with joy.
The captured oviraptor barked in a kind of reply.
All the fairies stopped and watched, half in fear and half in admiration. The queen rushed over with Otto following her and was the first to come up close to Falkirk and his catch.
The dinosaur stopped wriggling its neck and its eyes fell on the queen, he snorted, sending a brief gust of air powerfully from his nostril, then he stood majestically still and bowed his head to the queen.
"Magic." She whispered.
"Perfect Falkirk. Is he ready to go?" Otto said as he ran his hand over the leathery skin of the dinosaur.
"Sooner the better." Falkirk struggled and forced a smile as he hung on.
Otto turned to his helpers up on the deck of the car. "Fire her up!" he bellowed.
An enormous bang flew into the air as the huge galleon became a glorious cloud of smoke. The engine purred as fire leapt from its stern and the huge ship on wheels began to move steadily towards the top edge of the clearing on the beach.
"Turn her around and face her southward down the beach, there's a good distance there to run!" Otto instructed.
The large bulk manoeuvred awkwardly in the sand and turned to face south, its bow facing an enormous stretch of seafront that seemed to stretch for miles.
Otto turned to his queen. "If you would excuse me your majesty, I'd like to ride this one."
"Of course, go and have your fun." The queen smiled.
Otto galloped off like an excited boy who had been allowed to play with his best ever birthday present.
The queen turned to Falkirk and his dinosaur.
"Is he ok?" she asked Falkirk.
"I think so, I explained it to him and I think he understood me."
The dinosaur nodded slowly and winked one eye at the queen.
"Thank you." She nodded to the dinosaur before turning her gaze to Falkirk. "Are you going to ride him too?"
Falkirk grinned. "Wouldn't miss it for the world!"
As they lined up, the engines of the 'car' purred like a happy cat; Falkirk and his steed lowered their heads into racing positions, if Falkirk were wearing goggles this is the point he would have lowered them.
Otto was wearing his however and he stood at the wheel with a look of steely determination on his face.
"On my mark!" Otto cried from the deck of his creation. "Three - two - one - away we go!"
As the crowd of on-looking fairies all stepped back in unison, sand flew up into the air as the dinosaur was the first one to kick itself away and took an instant commanding lead.
The 'car', once it had got its huge wheels moving forwards in the soft sand, soon started to get good speed in an effort to catch up with Falkirk.
On deck, Otto steered the wheel and his wide eyes stared purposefully through his round goggles like a racing driver.
He shrieked as the speed got faster and faster. "This is fantastic!"
Otto threw his 'car' into another gear and before long the bough of the galleon was at the tip of the oviraptor's tail.
With another blow of smoke from the windows of the captain's quarters where the engine was housed, the car and the dinosaur were level; Falkirk yelped with joy as the wind tore through his wispy hair. Otto waved manically down at his competition then kicked the 'car' into another gear as the wheels gripped the beach and it raced ahead.
This only spurred the dinosaur on more and it somehow found more speed in those powerful legs, spraying sand up behind him; before long they were back to being on equal terms.
Suddenly, while at top speed, Otto noticed that the beach was running out.
"Oh beach!" he said before turning to his crew. "Hold on tight, we're going to hit the?"
Before he could finish, the 'car', made up of bits of wood, an engine from metals found in Grouch Mountain and an old pirate's galleon, hit the waves with a loud splash; water flew up into the sky and trickled down like rain onto the backs of Falkirk and his oviraptor. They skidded to a stop and watched as the ship bobbed about precariously, before finally finding its balance to settle calmly in the ocean.
Then they heard a loud cheer from high up on the deck of the 'car'.
"We did it!" Came the roar from a very hoarse Otto.
From a small rock, neatly tucked away and out of sight from everyone, a small fairy boy sat and watched the race with a huge grin on his face. He watched with triumph as his dinosaur friend, Jim, roared into the air with pride at winning this race against the fairies. The fairy boy punched the air with delight, being careful not to cry out and then disappeared into the trees, safely out of sight.
Chapter Sixteen of?
High in the sky, drifting through the soft white clouds and keeping pace with wild herds of pterodactyls, Dodgy Dave's jagged galleon soared through the air; held up by 200 balloons tethered to all the crooked bits of splintered wood from the dark vessel.
The boat creaked as the wind pushed it along; the strings of the balloons stretched and moaned with the weight of the vessel.
Capden Den sat with his back leaning into the ship's spiky wood and kept his knees up tight to his chest; he looked up nervously at the collection of brightly coloured balls of rubber holding them up.
"Are they going to hold?" he cried.
Prince Purplerain leaned on the ship's wheel deep in thought. "Yes." His words sparkled like sunbeams.
"Good idea, it would've taken weeks to get to the retreat, this cuts it down by?" Capden Den started to count on his fingers but soon realised he had no chance of doing the sums.
"We'll be there soon." The prince cut in and smiled as he saved the captain from working it out. "It was either balloons or a powered rudder to speed us along, but it's easier to make magic in thin air than it is in thick water."
The prince fluttered his wings and shot upwards towards the tip of the black sails where Princess Caldora sat in the crow's nest.
He smiled, beating his wings to stay level with her. "Still on course?" he asked.
"Yes. Making good time, I can see the tip of the third isle just beyond the 156th balloon." She confirmed as her words sprinkled into the air.
The prince looked out at the rainbow of colour ahead of him and to the 156th balloon.
"Oh yes." He smiled nervously.
"Are you worried?" the princess looked up at her love with a calming look of re-assurance.
"Not really, it's just?"
"I know." Caldora cut in. "Dinosaurs."
"Yes, the T-Rex is the one dinosaur who won't forgive fairies."
"But times are changing." Princess Caldora reassured him and she gave her prince a warm kiss on the cheek.
Grand Hippo Raz rolled around in the golden sand making thick spirals with her heavy hooves; she stared up at the intense glow of the sun as it beat down on her large grey belly. The sea just beyond her feet eased in slowly and gracefully, before falling back as the tide of the waves breathed with a soft tinkling. She listened to its music, to the sound of the sea gently going about its routine.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a small pop in the sky, as if a cloud had released a tiny burp. She looked up and squinted. She was sure that she could see a small boat blowing across the blue sky with hundreds of balloons. There was another small pop and she saw one of the balloons completely disappear.
Grand Hippo Raz slowly arched her large bulk up onto her feet and called out to her other holistic hippos.
"Girls!" she bellowed. "Did you hear that pop? They're coming."
On the far side of the Third Isle of Solitude, Queen Loukatos stood in the middle of her band of fairies congratulating Fairies Otto and Falkirk on a very successful race; the two brave racers waved back in recognition with breathless excitement.
All of a sudden the queen's attention was div
erted to the sky; she looked up as she heard a popping sound from above and the queen saw a boat flying in the sky with a flock of balloons all around it. There was another pop, then another, until suddenly the small ship began to gently fall, its large bulk becoming bigger and bigger to the fairies on the ground.
"Oh my!" she exclaimed and pointed up. "What's that?"
Otto raised his head from where he stood on the deck of his 'car'; Falkirk looked up at the bright sky while gently patting his new dinosaur friend. All of them glanced upwards into the bright sun and shielded their eyes to see a flying boat coming steadily down towards them. Otto snorted with a hint of jealousy and looked away. Falkirk though saw things differently and his wise stare instantly knew the problem.
"Your majesty." Falkirk calmly spoke. "I think that may be your daughter."
As soon as those words left Falkirk's lips the cacophony of popping got louder and more frequent and the fairies watched helplessly as tens of balloons disappeared from the sky all at once, vanishing into thin air as if by magic. The ship lurched awkwardly in the sky, swaying dangerously from side to side and increasingly out of control. Then it fell sharply as another set of balloons from the rear of the boat disappeared. Without being able to do anything, the fairies watched with shock as all of the balloons popped in one huge bang and the jagged galleon suddenly started to descend with fury towards the trees below. The fairies could only look on in helpless awe as the large pirate galleon plummeted down and disappeared at great speed into the dense woods just beyond the beach.
All fell silent, even the sea seemed to stop for a second. Queen Loukatos waited, her heart pounding in her chest until the calm was destroyed by an almighty and painful crash that sent tiny birds soaring with panic into the air.
"Come on!" the queen ordered with steely purpose.
But just as the fairies began to run into the trees they were stopped in their tracks by an enormous roar that sent a chill down the spine of every fairy.
The queen held up her hand to steady everyone then slowly started to tread forward into the forest.
Chapter Seventeen of?
Bill woke with a start and the first thing he tried to do was remember.
The forest he found himself in was deathly quiet; not a sound or a stir.