Lizards of Skull Island: The Daring Adventures of Captain Lucy Smokeheart, #4

By Andrea Phillips

Lizard-people! Monkey spiders (not spider monkeys)! Legal proceedings! Lucy and her rival, Diego, race to be the first to uncover all the clues to her brother's treasure.

This is the fourth installment of The Daring Adventures of Captain Lucy Smokeheart, a year-long monthly pirate adventure serial. Read the ebooks to start the voyage -- then visit lucysmokeheart.com to solve the puzzle and start the treasure hunt!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andrea Phillips
• Release date: Aug 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781498917162

Book preview

Episode 4: Lizards of Skull Island

Bald-Chinned Bill was near the end of his watch in the crow's nest, thinking longing thoughts about grog. He could already taste it. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped down to be lost in the thickets of his muttonchops. From his vantage point high up the mainmast, the ocean rippled away beneath him like a wrinkled-up blue curtain. Bill spared no attention for the blue of sea and sky, however. He just stared through his spyglass at the black dot on the horizon.

The Relentless had been following the Wisp for a full week. The Relentless was a faster, lighter ship, but the Wisp had a cool breeze in her sails that always seemed to blow exactly the right way. As the days passed by, the Relentless had fallen further and further behind. Now the Wisp had all but vanished over the horizon. The crew was in agreement: in one more day, they'd lose sight of the other ship entirely.

Bill tutted under his breath and did a token scan of the rest of the visible ocean. Aside from the ever-receding Wisp, the view had been empty for days.

It wasn't empty anymore. Toward the south, there was a new presence. A fat Spanish galleon, from the look of it. She was low to the water, meaning she was heavy with cargo — probably pillaged gold. Bill slid down a ratline, whooping. We've got a live one! he shouted.

What is it? Lia Feng glided toward him.

Spaniards, Bill crowed. He waved toward the galleon and tossed Lia Feng his spyglass. Hold full of doubloons and Inca treasures, I reckon. And they're all alone! We can outmaneuver and take her easy as pie. We'll live like kings!

Lia Feng scanned the seas and found the ship in question. She smiled a fearsome smile. Excellent news, she said. Pudding, plot a course and tell Mordecai to get the cannon ready.

No, said Captain Lucy Smokeheart.

Pudding looked nervously between Lia Feng and Lucy. Um, he said. He took a cautious step backwards.

We stay on course to catch the Wisp, said Lucy. We know her heading, it hasn't changed yet so far. We'll catch up before long.

Lia Feng folded her arms neatly. Your brother is dead, she said. Her voice was flat. "He is dead, and we cannot know what his treasure is, or what it is worth. Perhaps it is worth nothing at all! Meanwhile, riches