Bill slowly got to his feet, each limb aching. He stared down, feeling his bruised knees and bloodied arms; then at his torn tunic, his aching feet and his ripped hands. Wiping the blood away on his trousers, he felt at his face for any cuts and bruises and stared out at the mess on the forest floor. Dodgy Dave's boat was completely broken; a twisted carcass of a galleon that resembled an old dinosaur's skeleton. This would take weeks to fix, if not more, he thought.
Bill looked around for any sign of his friends, he heard a soft murmuring noise from a bush and rushed over to the toppled crow's nest lying awkwardly in between two broad trees; amid the heavy branches and thick foliage Bill saw the tiny hand of Princess Caldora. Immediately he darted over and took hold of it. The princess replied by clasping her fingers around his blood stained and sore hand, Bill winced, but his grip was tight and there was no way he was letting go.
"Come on." Bill's voice was breaking, coarse with pain. "I've got you."
Princess Caldora's knuckles were bruised and raw; small drops of blood on her fingers glistened like little beads of fire.
"Is that you Bill?" came a gentle voice that still sung from within the mess of broken greenery.
"Yes princess, you ok?"
"I think so, just a bit light-headed."
Bill pulled away at the branches covering the princess and as he removed each bit of the heavy foliage he saw her; for a second the sight of the princess made Bill feel so beautiful he wanted to sing.
As he freed her, he stood her up and held the princess in his arms, checking her up and down for any sign of serious injury.
"You look like you're checking if I could make a pirate." The princess chuckled like a delicate bird.
"You look all right, just a few small cuts. Lucky you were in the crow's nest."
"Yes." The princess replied shakily.
Thankful to be alive, she touched Bill's bruised face and leant in to give him a warm embrace. Then they parted and the two of them began to call out frantically for Capden Den and Prince Purplerain.
Bill immediately rummaged and fumbled through the broken bracken and needled leaves like a mad man, he pulled at the knife-like edges of the broken ship, but he could not find either the prince or the captain.
Suddenly the princess called out from a door that led into the hull of the ship.
"Here!" she screamed. "In the captain's quarters!"
A bulky tree trunk blocked the door and had crushed it inwards. Bill groaned as he tried to move it but it would not budge. Finding strength inside him, he pulled again at the weighty wood and gradually moved the thick trunk away from the doorway. Taking hold of the handle, he twisted it and was able to peel open the mangled door. Inside the prince lay on his front, one arm was tucked under his body but with his other he managed to stick a thumb up to indicate he was alive.
"He'll be all right." Bill sighed with relief. He reached in to examine the stricken prince. "Just a few cuts and bruises."
"Thank goodness." The princess whispered.
Bill reached in and got his hands underneath the body of the prince just enough, so that the prince could ease himself up and out of the hole.
"Now then, where's the captain?" Bill said as he looked around the wreckage for any sign of movement.
Bill took in every tiny fracture of the battered hull; surveying carefully for any sign of an arm sticking up, or a boot, or anything. But there was nothing.
"He could be buried anywhere under here," Bill feared. "Or he could have been thrown off before we landed. We may never see him again."
The princess felt tears come to her eyes and looked pleadingly towards her prince.
"We need to face it," Bill mourned. "The captain could be dead."
They all fell silent and looked down mournfully at the deck of the stolen ship.
Suddenly they were startled awake by a clumping coming from the forest. With panic they looked over, only to see Capden Den breezing through the trees carrying an armful of fruit. The captain saw them all looking sadly towards him and smiled.
"Oh. You're awake then?" Capden Den waved.
Bill turned to the fairies and shared a huge grin with Princess Caldora.
"What?" the captain said with a shrug.
None of them could bring themselves to reply.
"What?" Capden Den asked again. He looked down at what he was carrying.
"You never seen fruit before?"
Bill ran over to his captain laughing. "We thought you were buried!" He exclaimed excitedly.
"Well, if I was, you weren't doing a very good job of un-burying me!" The captain replied with a hint of anger.
Bill put his arms around the captain, almost causing him to drop the armful of fruit.
"All right you old softie. I'm ok, are you, is everyone?"
Bill could only nod his answer.
"Go on with you." Capden Den wiped a tear from Bill's eye with his elbow. "Anyone would think you'd missed me."
The prince and princess came over and gave Capden Den a calming pat on the arm. A bemused Capden Den only started to give out the fruit.
"We need to eat." The captain said matter-of-factly. "Before that T-Rex comes we need strength."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared in disbelief at their captain. Prince Purplerain dropped the orange he was just about to tuck into.
Bill stepped forward. "T?T-Rex?" he stuttered.
"Yeah." The captain said as he started to peel a banana.
"Have you heard the T-Rex?" The princess spoke anxiously.
"Yeah." The captain said as he took a bite from the tip of his banana.
"And how far away is he?" the prince came forward with absolute fear in his eyes.
The captain looked up at the six eyes staring back at him with wildness and terror.
"What?" the captain laughed as he finished his banana. "Ok, we need to go he's probably near."
Capden Den ambled lazily across the hulk of the battered galleon kicking away at debris with the air of a man who had no cares in the world. The others just stood still, staring at this mad man in shock.
Realising they weren't following, Capden Den turned to his colleagues and sighed.
"Look, you better come now, because the T-Rex has been following me here and if he gets to us then we're all in for it, he had a hungry look in his eyes, made me go all shivery."
The other three continued to stare hard at their captain, open mouthed. Capden Den shrugged and laughed as he watched Bill and the princess each drop the fruit they were holding, one after the other.
"Come on, it'll be fine, I've got the better of him so far." The captain laughed.
Capden Den waited for his colleagues for a moment; then slapped his thigh with bemusement.
"Fine, stand there like statues if that's what you want. But if you want to be safe then you'd better stick with me."
With that, Capden Den turned to meet the fierce green eyes and ferocious smile of a hungry T-Rex standing directly over him.
Chapter Eighteen of?
The giant T-Rex bent down low and stared into the vacant eyes of a stunned Capden Den; then let out an almighty roar that pierced the air.
The captain could only stand there in shocked silence while his hair was swept back by the force of the stale breath from the dinosaur. Sticky yellow saliva from the throat of the beast flew onto Capden Den's face, plunging into his open mouth. Finally, the dinosaur finished its roar and fell silent with a satisfied glint in its enormous eyes, watching the small figure of the captain and waiting for a reaction; all Capden Den could think to do was wipe his eye of the gooey spit with his sleeve, so he did.
At this apparent lack of respect for the king of the dinosaurs the beast roared again with even more venom and power than before; forcing Capden Den to fall backwards a little, as he struggled to stand upright in the howling gale blowing from the T-Rex's stomach.
As the raging thunder continued, Capden Den peered through sticky eyes deep
into the huge mouth of fierce teeth and spongy tongue ahead of him; he then took his banana peel that he was still holding and threw it into the gaping throat of the reptile.
The roar was silenced instantly as the T-Rex began to gag; it wriggled in discomfort as the banana skin sat uncomfortably on the back of its tongue; it flailed uncontrollably while fighting to breathe.
Capden Den turned to his three pale-faced on-lookers.
"Run!" he cried.
Capden Den took the lead, heading away from the mammoth reptile into the dense forest, with the others instinctively running with him; then Bill started to slow down.
"Where are we going?" he bellowed.
"The beach!" The captain replied while running. "This way!" He pointed.
"The beach? Why the beach?" Bill cried.
"Because dinosaurs hate sand."
Bill stopped dead in his tracks.
"Who told you that?"
The captain skidded to a halt and turned to his first mate, keeping an eye on the writhing body of the suffocating T-Rex in the distance.
"I don't know some expert?on eggs?an egg-expert."
"And he knows about dinosaurs?"
Capden Den sighed. "How do I know?I just presume?assume?accuse?I just guessed that if he knew about eggs he'd know about dinosaurs."
Bill looked at his captain in disbelief, and then shrugged. "Ok."
"Come on then!" the captain barked as he began to run again with the two fairies.
But Bill split off in another direction.
"Where are you going?" Capden Den called.
"The beach! This way!" Bill pointed.
Capden Den stared at his two panic-stricken fairies, waved his hands in the air with exasperation, before running towards Bill.
But before any of them could reach Bill, angry and enormous jaws appeared from a dense hiding place in the trees and swept Bill's body up in an instant.
There was a massive cry from Bill as his body flailed like a doll in the powerful lock of the T-Rex's bite.
"Bill!" Capden Den screamed.
In a second, Prince Purplerain flew up into the air and landed hard on the head of the hungry reptile; he pounded with his fists at the tough leathery skin but it had no effect as the beast's huge teeth tore at Bill's body. As the mighty dinosaur ripped at Bill, he shook the fairy prince off, swatting him away as if he was nothing more than an annoying fly. The prince flew through the air and landed painfully against the trunk of a tree.
Capden Den hurried over to take the beast on and rammed his weight into the thick and heavy leg of the creature, bouncing off it as if he were nothing more than a beach ball.
"Leave my friend alone!" the captain screamed passionately as he used all his strength to grab hold of the massive green stump, in an attempt to make the dinosaur lose balance.
The T-Rex simply flicked his foot up and kicked the captain off, his body flying into the air and landing hard in a nest of bushes.
There was another excruciating cry of pain from Bill before the T-Rex released his grip and sent the stricken pirate soaring high into the air and across the forest canopy, to land with a thud in a small clump of green bracken.
Princess Caldora immediately flew over to where Bill had landed as the T-Rex turned his attention to the captain and the prince.
Suddenly there was a loud crack in the sky and a ball of flame appeared from out of the clouds, the flame shot across the air landing perfectly onto the tip of the T-Rex's head. The monster roared in pain as fire dripped into his eyes and mouth. Without a moments thought, the reptile turned away in surprise and fled into the forest, disappearing as quickly as it had arrived. Princess Caldora watched the reptile go and saw a small figure hiding in the bushes with another, smaller dinosaur leaning over his shoulder behind him.
The princess stared in amazement at the small boy in the bushes.
"Paxtol!" She cried. "It's me!"
The boy watched her and she noticed his eyes glistened with tears.
"Wait!" she screamed towards the hiding figure and leapt forward, but before she could reach him, she saw two wings flutter busily away and vanish into the darkness of the jungle.
All fell quiet; the wind whistled high above them in the canopy of trees. Capden Den, bruised and bloodied, got up and nursed his aching back. Prince Purplerain rubbed his sore knees that were battered by the harsh ground when he landed awkwardly. Princess Caldora emerged from the small clump of foliage and faced Capden Den.
"Captain," she whispered in a sad song. "You'd better come over here quickly."
"Bill!" Capden Den grieved as he ran over to where the princess was standing. The prince quickly ran over to join them.
They all looked down at the stricken body of Bill; He was covered in deep gashes along his stomach and across his arms. The creature's teeth had torn at him ferociously and he laid still, semi-conscious, his body distorted and his lungs struggling for each painful breath.
Bill slowly opened his eyes and looked up at his captain and friend.
"Captain." Bill said weakly.
Capden Den knelt down beside Bill's ruined body and clasped his hand.
"Bill." Den whispered.
Bill smiled and his eyes filled with tears. The princess, standing over Bill's body, moved closer to her prince and wrapped herself in his arms.
Capden Den wiped at Bill's face, feeling the warm water of his tears on his fingertips.
"I wish I could?" but the captain's voice broke as his eyes started to well up.
"There was nothing you could do." Bill coughed as he breathed. "Thank you."
Bill's eyes glistened and softened as he stared hard at his captain, not wanting to take his eyes off him.
Capden Den stroked Bill's blood matted hair. "We had some fun didn't we?"
"We did." Bill smiled. "Make sure you get them home, safely. Forget about that bounty now." Bill said, his eyes motioning towards the two tearful fairies.
"Yes, you're right, I will." Capden Den whispered, trying to hold back his tears.
"You have power captain, you need to know something?" Bill coughed again as his body began to shut down.
"Don't speak, just lie still." The captain whispered as he clasped tighter at Bill's hand.
"No." Bill struggled. "You need to know captain, I found you, here in these woods; I found you and you were not like me?you were like them."
"Like who?" Capden Den muttered.
Bill's eyes turned again towards the two fairies. "You're a fairy, captain, you're not a pirate." Then Bill laughed quietly, as if he had just told the best joke in the world, wincing, as the pain in his chest got steadily worse. "Shouldn't laugh, it hurts. But you made a good pirate." He finished.
Capden Den knelt in silence and smiled at his friend. He squeezed at Bill's hand as tears began to fall from his eyes.
"Stay safe captain?" Bill spoke very quietly. "I will miss us."
And then Bill closed his eyes and his head fell gently to the side.
The three of them watched as Bill took his final breath; then the forest fell silent again.
Capden Den took the hand he was holding tightly and placed it gently over the stricken torso of his former second in command. Then he got up and without looking at anyone or anything, he walked away.
"Where are you going?" the princess called after him.
"The beach." Capden Den mumbled through his tears.
Chapter Nineteen of?.
Capden Den trudged slowly through the forest; kicking his feet through the brown leaves and dead branches on the ground and even though birds sang above him and trees moaned in the breeze, the captain heard nothing inside. Capden Den looked down at his hands, covered in Bill's blood. He still wanted to feel the warm tears on his fingertips. What was he going to do now? He thought. Without Bill, there is no Capden Den.
As he walked he became aware of a presence nearby; looking up, he saw ahead of him two adult fairies; for a moment he thought it was the prince and princess a
nd paid them no attention, wanting to be alone and with his thoughts. Until he noticed that one of the fairies had glittering silver hair and another had a perfect golden light covering her body like a protective shield, matching her flowing gold hair.
For a split second the captain thought he had been walking for years and not realised that the prince and princess had grown so old, so he stopped and stared closer at the two fairies. Ahead of him, Queen Loukatos gasped.
"You!" She cried with shock.
Capden Den looked around to see if they were talking to someone else, but there was no one behind him.
He pointed to himself. "Me?" he asked.
"Him?" Falkirk looked to his queen.
"Who?" Capden Den asked again.
The queen walked towards the grief stricken pirate and touched his arm gently with her sparkling hand.
"I thought that you were dead." She spoke quietly.
"He is?I'm not." The captain mumbled, indicating to where Bill still lay.
The queen smiled warmly, took the captain in both her arms and wrapped them around his body; all the captain could do was sink into the welcoming embrace of the fairy queen as he started to cry.
The queen stroked the captain's hair as if he were her child; she turned to Falkirk and called him over.
"Make sure that the T-Rex has gone then find Prince Purplerain and my daughter; I need to know that they're safe."
Without a word Falkirk flew off in the direction the captain had come from, leaving the queen supporting the crumbling pirate in her arms.
"The fairies never thought you were alive, but here you are and a pirate too; ironic."
Capden Den sniffed and blew his nose on the perfect white linen of the queen's gown.
"Let it all out." She said softly.
"Did you do it?" the captain bawled into the shoulder of the queen.
"Do what?" the queen asked gently.
"Save us."
"No, did someone save you?"
Falkirk hurried towards the two fairies still standing still in the clearing over Bill's body.
"Are you two hurt?" Falkirk bellowed with concern.
"A little, but we're fine." The prince said flatly.
Falkirk saw the half eaten body of Bosun Bill on the ground. He turned his gaze up towards the prince and princess.
"Princess Caldora, your mother is talking to a pirate, I presume part of the same crew as this man." Falkirk said as he indicated towards the body of Bill.