### 163

‘We’ve a full sail and a sharp prow. There’s not a warship on the northern seas that’ll catch the Green Sceptre,’ says the captain.

He is proved right, for the pirate ship soon disappears over the horizon. ‘Twenty-five years at sea and I’ve never known the Lakuri pirates to venture this far north to raid,’ he says, stroking his beard thoughtfully. ‘They must be after a valuable cargo to sail so far from their tropical islands.’

As the captain descends below deck to his cabin, you get an uneasy feeling that the valuable cargo may be you.

Turn to 240.