Danger Dan Spooks the Peculiar Peranakan Pirate Page 3

  Danger Dan is a fearsome shark hunter! The predators in the ocean tremble before him! He savagely takes a huge bite of shark meat. Let this be a lesson to all who dare cross Danger Dan!

  After the meal, the villagers retreated to their huts and Danny went in search of Melody. He found her by a sandy patch crudely enclosed by a wire fence. She was looking crosser than ever.

  “Hello, Melody!” Danny chirped. “Have you had lunch? I had shark meat!”

  “Well, aren’t you special! And you didn’t think of saving me some, of course!” Melody flared up. “I had boiled vegetables. And now I’m supposed to feed the chickens!”

  Danny noticed a few chickens in the enclosure. He also noticed that Melody was standing as far away from them as possible. “How are you going to feed them if you’re afraid of them?” Danny grinned. “Let’s see you manage that!”

  “Aren’t you going to help me?” asked Melody.

  “Of course not!” replied Danny airily. “I’m the Boy Hero! I don’t feed chickens.”

  “Gggnnnnnnhhhhh! You qwirklehead! Fine! I’ll do this by myself.” Melody fiddled with her belt and removed a gadget that Danny had not seen before. It was a silver tube that looked like it was made out of coiled metal wires. It had ‘Whirlwind 2.1’ written on it in neon blue letters. Melody switched it on.

  The gadget came to life and vibrated energetically. “What’s that?” asked Danny, perking up.

  “It’s the Whirlwind 2.1,” replied Melody. “It’s like a mini air cannon. The intensity of the wind can be adjusted. You can use it as a hairdryer, a leaf blower or even to instantly dry puddles on the ground after a storm.”

  Melody put some chicken feed into the Whirlwind 2.1’s mouth, aimed it at the chickens and pressed a button marked ‘Light Breeze’.

  The Whirlwind 2.1 emitted a rush of wind, scattering the feed in the chickens’ direction. Job done, Melody switched the gadget off and the whirring stopped.

  “Why must they flaff so much?” Melody shuddered. As the chickens greedily ate the feed, Danny asked Melody, “Before I left 1947, you said you wanted to find out more about the Sinister Spyder. Did you?”

  “Who?” asked Melody puzzled.

  “The Sinister Spyder!” said Danny. “You know, that John or Johnny guy with the moustache who kept appearing whenever we time-travelled?”

  “Oh! The one with the spider watch? I didn’t manage to find out much from my computer,” said Melody, patting her hair clip. Danny knew her M-shaped hair clip was actually a very powerful computer. “But I suspect he’s not just time-travelling. He’s somehow involved in the mistakes in history too. That’s why he was trying to steal Alec Fraser-Brunner’s drawings and trying to stop Zubir Said from becoming a musician.”

  “What?” asked Danny troubled. “The Sinister Spyder is the one creating all the trouble by changing history? Are you sure?”

  “Well, it can’t be a coincidence that he’s present whenever some part of history goes wrong.”

  “I bet he’s thinking the same thing about us,” said Danny. He looked around nervously. “Does that mean he’s here too, then? How do you think he’s involved this time?”

  “I don’t know,” admitted Melody. “But if it’s true, then we don’t just have to correct the mistakes. We have to catch him and find out why he’s doing this. Otherwise, the chaos will never end!”

  Danny and Melody exchanged gloomy looks. Both of them were thinking the same thing: it was challenging enough trying to right the mistakes in history. Catching an elusive, time-travelling villain and stopping him sounded next to impossible.

  “Well, we better get a move on then,” said Melody finally. “You better ask the Temenggong—”

  “How can I ask him if he’s gone?” asked Danny quizzically.

  “Who’s gone?”

  “The man!”

  “What man??”

  Danny started to get irritated. “The one you said is gone!”

  “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”

  “You said to ask ‘the man gone’!”

  Tension filled the air. There was an awkward silence as Melody gaped at Danny. “Not ‘THE MAN GONE’! It’s TE-MEN-GGONG!!”

  Danny looked bewildered. “Huh? So ten of them are gone? Who are they?”

  “AARRGGHHHH!” Melody screeched so loudly that a few chickens scampered away in alarm. “It’s not TEN MEN! The Temenggong is ONE PERSON!”

  “Oh come now, Melody!” said Danny disbelievingly. “How can ten men be one person? You’re the one who got the story mixed up!”

  “OHHHH! The Temenggong is the village chief! Why don’t you ever listen properly?”

  “Well, you didn’t say it clearly!” Danny retorted.

  “Boys!”

  “Girls!”

  Melody rubbed the sides of her head as if she had a headache. After a while, she turned to Danny and said slowly, “The Temenggong is your friend, the village chief. Can you please, please ask him if he knows where the pirates are? He likes you better than me.”

  “Oh, I forgot!” Danny piped up. “I already did. He said there’s a pirate who often hangs out at the tea house by the Singapore River. He also said the pirate sometimes gets drunk and starts talking about his adventures at sea. So maybe he’ll tell us what we need to know.”

  Melody stared at Danny. He thought her usually bright eyes looked tired. Maybe being afraid of chickens did that to you. Finally, she sighed and said wearily, “Alright then, let’s go to the tea house.”

  “Maybe he’ll get drunk,” said Melody as she and Danny left the village and walked towards the Singapore River. “Then we can make him spill the beans.”

  “What beans? Baked beans? I thought we’re trying to get him to tell us about the pirate ship?”

  “No! Yes! I mean…never mind, forget it!” snapped Melody. Danny decided it was safer to just walk in silence. Melody didn’t seem to be in a very good mood.

  The scene at the Singapore River was quite a busy one. On the waters were numerous sampans and fishing boats. The children walked past a dark and dingy coffeeshop. It had a big sign at the entrance: ‘Tea House’.

  “This must be it,” said Melody. Cautiously, they stepped in and looked around. Several men were sitting at wooden tables, drinking. “Let’s be careful,” whispered Melody to Danny. “We don’t know if they’re friendly or not. Any one of them could be the pirate.”

  “Well, it can’t be him!” said Danny, pointing to a man sitting alone in a corner. “He looks friendly.”

  Before Melody could stop him, Danny marched over to the man and asked loudly, “Hello! Do you know any pirates?”

  The man looked up, startled. “Why, I’m a pirate! What do you want?”

  The children stared at him in stunned silence. Without thinking, Danny blurted out, “We’re looking for the pirates who are going to attack Sultan Hussein’s ship tomorrow!”

  The man’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know about the attack?”

  “Danny, Danny,” whispered Melody nervously. “I think we should go now.” As the two children backed away slowly, the pirate stood up. Then to their horror, a dozen other men in the tea house also rose to their feet.

  Pirates! They were all pirates!

  “RUN!” Melody and Danny turned on their heels and tried to flee. Unfortunately, another pirate blocked the way out. They were soon completely surrounded.

  Thinking fast, Melody pulled a pellet out of her little black pouch and threw it onto the floor. Danny recognised it as a spectacular party trinket called a Rainbow Riot.

  A puff of gold smoke erupted from the Rainbow Riot. The smoke swirled to form an image of a grand phoenix. The phoenix seemed to take flight and the small tea house was lit up by its wide, shimmering wings. The pirates stared with open mouths, awed by the magnificent spectacle. As the majestic phoenix faded away, a few wisps of glittery gold smoke lingered in the air like pixie dust.

  The situation changed in an instant. Before Danny and Melody knew what was happening, the pirates were on their knees, bowing to the children fearfully.

  “Oh, Phoenix Princess, Empress of the Birds!” said one of the pirates. “Forgive us, we didn’t realise you were a goddess! Please don’t kill us!”

  Melody and Danny looked at each other in astonishment. “Empress of the Birds?” giggled Danny.

  “Shush!” warned Melody. She quickly realised that she could turn the pirates’ superstition to her advantage.

  “Yes, I am the er…Phoenix Princess!” she announced, putting her hands on her hips. Danny was rather impressed by Melody’s acting skills.

  “Are you planning to attack Sultan Hussein’s ship tomorrow?” she asked authoritatively.

  “Yeah, the Phoenix Princess wants to know!” chipped in Danny.

  The pirate Danny first spoke to came forward, his head still bowed. “Oh, Phoenix Princess, my name is Poh. Yes, we are planning to attack Sultan Hussein’s ship tomorrow.”

  “Well, Poh,” said Melody grandly. “I would like you to NOT attack!”

  “Er…” Poh stammered nervously. “We want to…that is we would like to…but…”

  “But what?” asked Melody in a stern voice. “You dare to disobey the Empress of the Birds? Do you want me to turn all of you into ducks?”

  The pirates wailed and quaked in fear. “No!” exclaimed Poh. “Please, Your Mercifulness! We want to obey you but the attack is ordered by our pirate leader, Jong. We can take you to see him—he’s on the pirate ship now. It’s docked by the coast because we needed to stock up on supplies.”

  “Alright then,” said Melody. “Take me to your leader!”

  The pirates led the children away from the river and back towards the beach. Melody and Danny were brought to a tongkang by the shore. “That’s it?” said Danny disappointedly. He had imagined the pirate ship to be grand and majestic, with billowing black sails, several decks and large black cannons.

  The tongkang looked nothing like that. It was just a plain wooden ship with two dirty grey sails, one deck and no cannons. It didn’t even have a pirate flag.

  Danny and Melody climbed on board the ship. They were brought to a lone man standing on the deck. He was dressed in a black shirt and loose-fitting pants. He had his back to them.

  “Jong,” said Poh, tapping the man’s shoulder. “I’ve brought the Phoenix Princess to see you. She wants you to cease the attack on Sultan Hussein’s ship tomorrow.”

  The man swung around. Melody and Danny gasped. Jong was the Sinister Spyder!

  “YOU!” chorused Danny, Melody and Jong.

  Danger Dan and Gadget Girl finally come face to face with the Sinister Spyder! He has a lean face with a mean look about him. Instead of the cap that he last wore, he sports a red bandana, knotted at the side. Danger Dan stares at the futuristic spider watch on the Sinister Spyder’s right wrist. It is made of well-polished steel, with glowing blue digital numbers displayed on its face. Eight metal talons extend from the watch face, making the watch look like a huge, silver spider.

  Danger Dan is on his guard. He clenches his fist and watches the crafty villain very closely. He waits for the Sinister Spyder to make the first move. The Sinister Spyder’s impressive moustache twitches as he starts to speak.

  “Those two are spies!” yelled Jong, wagging his finger at Danny and Melody. “Tie them up!”

  “But, Jong!” cried Poh. “She’s the Empress of the Birds! A powerful sorceress! She conjured up a phoenix and it disappeared in smoke!”

  “That’s just a trick!” screamed Jong. His moustache wiggled ferociously. “She’s not a sorceress! She’s just a girl!”

  The pirates looked unconvinced. “But Jong, look at her clothes!” said Poh, gesturing at Melody’s pink air-con jacket and purple skirt. “Only a goddess would wear something so out of this world! She really is the Phoenix Princess!”

  Jong’s face turned purple with fury. “You bunch of superstitious nitwits!” He continued with a mocking voice, “If she’s the Phoenix Princess, then I must be the Incredible Hulk!”

  The pirates looked blankly at each other. “Who’s the Incredible Hulk?” one of them asked his friend who shrugged.

  “But you’re not green!” said Danny.

  “You fools!” shouted the Sinister Spyder. “I am greater than your phony Phoenix Princess! Have you forgotten who I am? I am the most cunning, most brilliant and most bloodthirsty pirate in the South China Sea! I can destroy a fleet of ships with a flourish of my hand! I can command the seas with a lift of my finger! I can—”

  “Excuse me, Jong,” interrupted Danny, waving his hand in the air.

  “WHAT?”

  “Where’s your eye patch?” asked Danny. “And your peg leg?”

  Jong stared at Danny, floored. “I’m a CHINESE pirate! Not some swashbuckling buccaneer from the Caribbean! I am so much better than some ordinary pirate. I’m a superior being! I am Commander of the Pirates! Captain of the Seas! Only I could have single-handedly hijacked this magnificent vessel! I—”

  “But where’s the ship’s pirate flag with the skull and crossbones?” asked Danny doggedly. Even though he was scared of Jong, his brain couldn’t quite process why Jong was so different from the pirates he’d read about in books.

  “AIYEEEEEE!” screeched Jong. Danny shrank back, terrified by the outburst. Jong was so furious he looked like he was about to leap out of his skin. “POH!” he squawked. “Tie the two of them up! Then get some pirates to prepare the ship. The rest of you, finish getting the supplies! I want to set sail before dawn. I’m going to get myself a drink.” He left the ship in a huff, muttering indignantly as he stormed off, “Eye patch! Peg leg! Dimwits!”

  Most of the pirates disembarked to get supplies, leaving behind Poh and four other pirates. Poh pushed Melody and Danny towards the area where supplies were stored. Thick wooden poles held up an old grey canvas that sheltered the barrels and sacks.

  “Don’t do this, Poh!” begged Melody. “You don’t really want to be responsible for the deaths of two innocent people, do you?”

  “You can’t do this to the Phoenix Princess!” cried Danny frantically. “If you do, you’ll be sorry! She will call on her cousin, the Great God of…of Chickens! He will peck off all your noses and turn you into…er…eggs! Giant fried eggs! How would you like to be an omelette?”

  Melody groaned. Danny’s nonsensical rambling was making the pirates snigger. One of them jeered, “Fried eggs! Sounds delicious!”

  Poh picked up a long, thick rope, preparing to tie the two children around a barrel. Danny started to babble. “You will feel her wrath! She has control over the sky and the sun! She’ll make the sun shine so brightly you’ll all be burnt to a crisp! She’ll call up an enormous storm so this cursed ship will sink at sea!”

  There was a moment of silence as Melody stared at Danny uncomfortably. Control the sky and sun? Call up a storm? Did Danny really think she was a goddess? The pirates waited, amused. They clearly didn’t believe Danny’s tall tales.

  Danny continued urgently, “She can command the wind! With just a flap of her Phoenix wings, she can create a huge, mega-terrifying typhoon!”

  Typhoon! A light bulb turned on in Melody’s head. She whipped out her Whirlwind 2.1, aimed it at the pirates and turned it on at full blast.

  Poh was knocked off his feet and fell to the floor. The thick rope slipped out of his hands and spiralled through the air like a flying snake. The other pirates were flung against the side of the ship. They shielded their faces and clung on tightly to the edge, their smug smiles wiped off their faces. The grey sails flapped vigorously.

  Barrels fell onto their sides and rolled across the deck. The ship rocked precariously.

  The blistering wind swirled around the ship like a hurricane. Melody turned the Whirlwind 2.1 towards the canvas shelter above her. The canvas sheet puffed up with air as the wooden poles shook. Danny’s eyes watered from the strong wind and he had to squint to watch the spectacle.

  The canvas sheet broke free from the poles and flew upwards. It hovered in the air like a parachute. Dust and dirt filled the air. Bits of wood and rope were tossed about violently.

  Finally, Melody switched off the Whirlwind 2.1. The canvas sheet tumbled down and rested on the water’s surface. The dust settled and the sails fluttered gently once more in the mild sea breeze.

  Everything became eerily calm.

  The stunned pirates slowly released their grip on the side of the ship. They all turned towards Melody and stared. Danny held his breath. Did it work? Would the pirates believe Melody was the Phoenix Princess?

  To Danny’s relief, the pirates threw themselves at Melody’s feet. One of them shivered intensely. “Ohhh! She even controls the wind! She really is a sorceress!”

  Another pirate shook uncontrollably. “Forgive us, Phoenix Princess! We were fools!”

  Poh shuddered fearfully. “Please don’t turn us into fried eggs!”

  “Hah!” crowed Danny in delight. “Told you so!”

  “You’ve seen what I can do,” said Melody proudly. “Now let us go. The Phoenix Princess demands it.”

  “Yes, of course!” said the pirates. “You’re free to go, Your Magnificence!”

  Melody saw the opportunity to gain the upper hand. “Why don’t all of you join us in stopping the attack on Sultan Hussein’s ship? You can be part of my crew!”

  “But Jong has a terrible temper!” said a pirate nervously. “If he finds out that we’re helping you, he might throw us overboard!”

  “Oh, what are we going to do?” lamented Poh. “This pirate business is so messed up. I never even wanted to be a pirate in the first place!”