Swallows and Amazons Read Free Page B

There’s Mr Jackson with his cows.
    TITTY. They don’t even know that we’re in desperate pursuit of a pirate ship.
    JOHN. Stand by, crew. We’re coming round the Peak. Sing out if you spot her!
    They round the Peak in Darien .
    SUSAN. There are too many boats in Rio Bay.
    ROGER. Sail ho!
    SUSAN. Where? ( Takes the telescope .) He’s right. It’s her.
    ROGER. She’s miles away.
    JOHN. She’s going round the headland.
    TITTY. Gone. What shall we do now?
    ROGER. Go after her. And be quicker this time.
    SUSAN. I don’t know… It’s an awfully long way and we haven’t had lunch.
    JOHN. She might be trying to draw us away from the island. If we sail down there and she comes out again, we might have to race her back.
    SUSAN. I think we should go back.
    ROGER. But we’re in a desperate pursuit!
    JOHN. No, Susan’s right. We’ll make camp and have lunch. And then I’ll row to Dickson’s Farm and leave word for Mother that we’re all right.
    TITTY. We said we’d do that every day.
    JOHN. Stand by, crew. Ready about! Gybe-O!
    Scene Nine
    Three hours later. The tents are up . SUSAN is getting a fire going . ROGER and TITTY are in the lake, playing .
    SUSAN ( calling ). No further out than that, Roger!
    TITTY. Are you swimming, Roger?
    ROGER. Yes.
    TITTY ( to ROGER). Let’s be pearl divers.
    ROGER. I can’t go upside down.
    TITTY. Watch.
    She dives down and wiggles her feet in the air. She comes up with a white pebble .
    ROGER. A beauty!
    TITTY. Let’s show Susan.
    They come out of the lake . TITTY is first . ROGER winces as he crosses the shingle in bare feet .
    I found a pearl.
    ROGER. Oo, ah. Oo, ah.
    SUSAN. That’s a very good pearl. Well done, Titty.
    TITTY. No sign of the pirates?
    SUSAN. I’m afraid not.
    TITTY. I don’t suppose we’ll ever see them again.
    SUSAN. Did you swim, Ship’s Boy?
    ROGER. Yes.
    SUSAN. Without a foot on the bottom?
    ROGER. No. But I changed foot quite a lot. Look at that fire!
    SUSAN. I think it’s finally taken.
    TITTY. It looks like a real camp now.
    ROGER. Can we have buttered eggs for tea?
    SUSAN. Yes.
    ROGER. Hurrah!
    SUSAN. As long as the fire stays in. We’ll eat out of the common dish. Egg’s awful stuff for sticking to plates.
    TITTY. Here’s John coming back! Ahoy there!
    TITTY and ROGER help pull Swallow in . JOHN disembarks .
    Did you bring dispatches?
    ROGER. Did you bring cake?
    JOHN. I’m afraid that’ll have to wait. I’m calling a council.
    ROGER. Council! Council, everyone!
    SUSAN. Has something happened?
    ROGER. Sit down, everyone!
    They do so .
    JOHN. It seems we have an enemy.
    TITTY. The pirates?
    ROGER. The harpy?
    SUSAN. Hush.
    JOHN. The man who owns the houseboat has been telling the barbarians that we’ve been meddling with his boat.
    TITTY. What? We’ve never touched it.
    JOHN. He thinks we have. He’s trying to turn the barbarians against us and he says we shouldn’t be allowed to camp on the island. I don’t know why, but he hates us.
    SUSAN. So he was shaking his fist at us.
    TITTY. I knew he was a bad old pirate. He has a secret. They all have.
    SUSAN. Perhaps this is his island. Perhaps he…
    At that moment, something flies through the air and hits the kettle with a loud ping. It is an arrow, with a green feather sticking out of it .
    JOHN. Look out, everyone!
    TITTY. Ah! An arrow!
    ROGER. Indians!
    TITTY. A parrot feather!
    SUSAN. A parrot feather?
    TITTY. It’s him! It must be him!
    ROGER goes to pick it up .
    Don’t touch the point, it might be poisoned!
    JOHN. Hush, all of you. Listen…
    The sharp crack of a dry stick is heard coming from the middle of the island .
    SUSAN ( whispering ). He’s here.
    JOHN. We must scout. Spread out. Titty, you keep Roger with you.
    ROGER. I can go on my own. I’m not a baby. Fat Vicky’s the…
    SUSAN. Be quiet, Roger.
    JOHN. Hoot like an owl if you see