On the Story Sea (9781743583531) (2 page)

‘OK, you're right,' Lola said with a grin. ‘I didn't understand a
word
of that.'

‘Not to worry,' said Sal, speaking normally again. ‘I speak Land-Talk too. I was just saying,
Follow me before another gust of wind blows you overboard
.'

‘Bust my buttons, Lola,' said Buddy, beaming with joy. ‘Pirate Sal is the finest pirate on the Story Sea!'

Lola couldn't believe her luck.

A pirate ship! This could be her best adventure yet.

Pirate Sal led them to the front of the ship. Lola and Buddy held onto the rail as another huge gust of wind started to blow.

‘Welcome aboard the
Eye Spy
!' shouted Pirate Sal. ‘Fastest ship on the Story Sea.'

Lola couldn't believe how quickly the ship was sailing. It was very exciting, and it was also a teensy bit
scary
.

Buddy clung to her leg, so she picked up his soft little body for a cuddle.

Pirate Sal shouted at them to look ahead. Lola saw a large yellow shape
burst up
out of the water in front of them.

Then the shape was gone.

‘Twist my toggle!' cried Buddy. ‘What in the Kingdom was
that
?'

Pirate Sal looked worried. ‘We don't know. We've been chasing it for hours. I've never seen anything like it before, and I know these seas better than any toy in the Kingdom.'

Moments later the giant yellow thing jumped up out of the water again, and then dived down.

This time, Lola got a good look. It was like a huge plastic whale. It had a big open mouth, but there were windows along the sides.

Lola had seen something like it before. Just last night, in fact, when she was having her bath!

Lola turned to Pirate Sal and said, ‘I know what it is!'

Pirate Sal led them down to her cabin so they could talk where it was much quieter.

Lola, Buddy and Pirate Sal huddled together as Lola explained what they had seen.

‘It's called a
submarine
,' said Lola. ‘It travels under the water.'

Pirate Sal looked worried. ‘A ship that goes under the water, eh?' she said. ‘I've never seen one of those.'

Lola thought about the big open mouth on the submarine.

‘Sometimes they're used to catch other boats. Or to attack them,' she said. ‘And sometimes they secretly
scoop
things up from underwater!'

Pirate Sal was quiet for a moment, thinking.

‘Come with me,' she said finally. ‘I have something to show you.'

Pirate Sal opened a trap door in the floor.

Lola and Buddy followed her down the ladder and into the darkness below.

Lola looked around. Huge fishing nets hung from the walls. And she could see wooden treasure chests everywhere, lined up next to each other.

Pirate Sal opened a few of the treasure chests. Some were full to the top with paper. But many of the chests were empty.

‘Usually these chests are all full,' Pirate Sal said. ‘But someone has been stealing from me!'

Pirate Sal pointed to the fishing nets hanging from the walls. ‘When we go fishing on the Story Sea, we don't fish for
fish
. We fish for
stories
.'

‘How do you catch a story?' Lola asked.

‘You put a blank page into the water, and wait,' said Sal. ‘After a while you pull the paper back out, and if you are lucky it has a story on it. Easy!'

Lola giggled. It sounded very magical, and much easier than trying to write a story all by yourself. Or going to the book shop to buy one!

‘Usually we catch hundreds of stories. Old stories, new stories, funny stories. Look.'

Pirate Sal picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Lola. It said:

And he sailed off through night and day, and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are.

Lola smiled. It was one of her favourite stories from when she was little.

‘You can keep it,' said Pirate Sal, grinning.

Lola popped the piece of paper into her pocket.

‘The last few days, we've been fishing more than ever,' said Pirate Sal, ‘but guess what?'

Buddy shrugged his floppy shoulders.

‘No stories?' guessed Lola.

‘That's right. So half our treasure chests are still empty,' said Sal.

What a mystery!
thought Lola.

‘Imagine a world without stories!' cried Buddy.

Lola thought about all her favourite books. The ones that made her feel good. And the scary ones, as well as the funny ones.

She even loved the sad ones.

Lola knew she had to do whatever she could to help Pirate Sal.

Whenever she needed to think, she paced around the room. This was one of those times.

Buddy took out his juggling balls. Whenever he needed to think, he started to juggle. It was a clown thing.

A mysterious submarine is seen in the Story Sea,
thought Lola.

And stories are going missing …

Lola stopped pacing and looked across at Buddy and Sal.

‘The submarine and the missing stories must be linked,' she said slowly. ‘The submarine must be stealing the stories. But
why
?'

Buddy stopped juggling. ‘Stories are very powerful, Lola,' he said. ‘They are full of ideas. Often very clever ideas. That's why we treasure them.'

‘Buddy's right,' said Pirate Sal. ‘That's why we put the stories into books for everyone in the Kingdom to read.'

But who would want to steal the stories?
wondered Lola.
Who in the entire Kingdom needs new ideas?

She threw up her hands. It was so obvious.

‘The Plastic Prince!' she cried.

The Plastic Prince was the ruler of Nevercalm. He ruled over the Almost Toys and was always up to no good.

What he wanted more than anything was control of the whole Kingdom.

‘He is always after more power,' Lola reminded the others. ‘And that's why it's a
plastic
submarine. It's from Nevercalm!'

‘Well, tangle my laces, Lola,' said Buddy. ‘The Plastic Prince stealing stories for more power? It makes perfect sense! And a plastic
subma-thingy
would definitely be from Nevercalm.'

Lola looked thoughtful again. ‘Have you seen any paper in the sea that shouldn't be there?' she asked Pirate Sal.

‘Indeed we have!' replied Sal.

‘The submarine must be fishing for stories!' said Lola. ‘It's dropping paper into the sea, and then coming back to collect it all.'

‘If this is the work of the Plastic Prince, we must stop that
subma-thingy
!' cried Pirate Sal.

They all went quiet, and Lola started pacing again.

Buddy started juggling again.

Lola tried to think of a plan. She knew that submarines were much faster than pirate ships. Ships needed the wind to sail, but submarines had powerful engines.

Lola suddenly felt nervous. What if the submarine captured all the stories?

If there were none left, then Pirate Sal and her puppet crew wouldn't be able to make books for the Kingdom's toys.

Come on, Lola,
she told herself.
Think hard.

She looked arounnd. Treasure chests … fishing nets …

All at once, an
idea
popped into Lola's head. She looked up, her eyes sparkling.