Treasure Trouble by Brian James

GROSSET & DUNLAP
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    Text copyright © 2008 by Brian James. Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Jennifer Zivoin.
All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young
Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP
is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Printed in the U.S.A.
    Library of Congress Control Number: 2007018785
    ISBN: 978-1-101-65061-5             10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Chapter 1
Splish! Splash!
    “Arrr! Row! Row! Row!” Rotten Tooth shouted as the little dinghy made its way over the waves. Each time he shouted, the rest of us pirates on board the little boat had to pull back on the oars as hard as we could.
    “Blimey, being a pirate kid sure is hard work sometimes,” I said.
    “Aye, Pete, and splashy work,” Gary added.
    Gary was my best mate at Pirate School. We both had light-colored hair. And we both wore pirate hats. But unlike me, Gary was a little clumsy. So every time he pulled on the oar, he got splashed in the face. And since we were sharing an oar withour friend Inna, it meant she got a little splashed, too.
    “Arrr! Maybe if you weren’t such a blunder head, it wouldn’t be so splashy!” Inna shouted. She was the only pirate kid I knew who didn’t like to get splashed. She was also the only pirate kid I ever met who brushed her hair and wore pretty dresses. She said splashing ruined both.
    Some of the splashing even reached our friends Aaron and Vicky. They were sharing an oar behind us.
    “I don’t mind the splashing,” Vicky said.
    I didn’t mind it, either. It was hot in the morning sun and the splashing felt good.
    We were part of our ship’s landing party. That meant we had to row the little boat all the way to the beach. But it also meant that once we made it to the beach, we got to help look for treasure.
    “ROW! ROW! ROW!” Rotten Tooth shouted again. He was standing right behind us and didn’t have to row at all. That’s because he was in charge of thedinghy and the landing party. The pirate in charge never has to row. It’s in the pirate code. In my nine and three-quarters years, I’ve learned all about the pirate code.
    “ROW! ROW! Row with all your might, mateys!” Rotten Tooth yelled. I wished I didn’t have to hold both hands on the oar. Rotten Tooth’s breath was so stinky, I wanted to cover my nose.
    “One day, I’m going to be the pirate in charge. Then I won’t