The Treasure of Squeaky Toy Island, Chapter 9

The Treasure of Squeaky Toy Island

Chapter 9

The churning grew more violent, and it looked like a big black shape was making its way to the surface. Penny sniffed the air, and said, “For some reason, I'm getting this odd craving for vinegar and olive oil.”

“And I'm getting a craving for lettuce and tomato, hold the onions”, Ruby said. “You know what that means.”

They both said, “Submarine!”

Suddenly , the boat jerked upward, and something seemed to be lifting them up out of the water. The churning gave way to torrents all around them, but only for a moment. Then, everything grew still and quiet.

But not for long. A loud whistle blew, and a booming voice shouted, “Attention all hands! On deck, special sea and anchor detail! Make all preparations for docking! Sea and anchor detail muster topside on the forcastle! Station the maneuvering watch in the control room! Captain's on the bridge!”

High up on the bridge, a voice shouted, “You, on deck, off! Get that gig off my boat, now! Get it off!”

Ruby looked up, and said, “Ranger? I didn't know you were in the Navy.”

“Captain Ranger to you! And now you know! Get that piece of junk off my boat! Now!”

Just then, the forward hatch opened, and a pug in dark blue coveralls stepped out on deck. He stepped back from the hatch, and said, “Okay, get your furry butts up here and start hauling these lines! Move it!”

Penny stared in disbelief. “Angus?”

“Chief Angus.”

“You're in the Navy, too?”

“Reserves. We're coming back from our 12-day tour. If these goldbrickers ever get up here. Hey, what's the holdup down there?”

Several other pugs climbed up on deck. From above, Ranger shouted, “I thought I told you two furmaids to get off my boat!”

“We can't, Captain. Our boat's grounded on your deck.”

“So it is. Chief?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Help the ladies get their boat off our deck.”

Angus smiled, and said, “With pleasure, sir.” He then nodded to the other pugs, who grabbed the boat, and shoved it off into the water so hard it nearly capsized before settling in the upright position. Chief Angus looked down, and said, “And stay off!”

As they throttled up and sped away, Chief Angus turned back to the crew, and said, “Okay, let's get cracking!”

Inside Squeaky Toy Harbour, Ernie and Easy were searching for a place to tie up, and keeping an eye out for the Rawhide. Ernie was sure they had docked by now, but the fog was keeping them from seeing much of anything, except the flashes of the light buoys marking the main ship channel.

If the Rawhide was nearby, Ernie hoped the fog would allow them to board the vessel unseen. The shallow draft of his longship was now working to advantage. The diaphone was sounding again, along with many other fog signals from other ships and buoys, and they even heard four short blasts of the launch whistle, indicating the pilot was going to meet another inbound vessel. Ernie didn't think the inbound marine traffic was an issue. He would be wrong.

They strained to hear the sound of footsteps in the darkness, in hopes that they would lead to their target, but each time Ernie thought he heard a sound, a fog horn would scatter his thoughts. And to make matters worse, the Coast Guard was patroling the harbor in their launches.

Ruby and Penny were now halfway to Blue Platinum Island, and the fog was thinning. Penny looked back for a moment and said, “What was that all about?”

“There's an underwater ledge about a mile from the Squeaky Toy Shore”, Ruby said. “Past there, the water's not deep enough for the submarines to stay under water without grounding.”

“Maybe we should be more careful.”

“Wrecking ships is our business!”

“Oh, yeah. Did you get a look at that ship that came in ahead of us?”

“Yeah. It was kind of long and low, and the sail was square, and had red and white stripes. Why?”

“Did you notice if it had a figuresnoot?”

“Yeah. It looked like a dachshund with its mouth open.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“That's a Wienerking ship. When we get to Blue Platinum Island, we better tell Tasha and Puddles to warn Captain Snoopy when they get back to port.”

“Captain Snoopy won't listen to Furmaids. He hates Furmaids.”

“Then what can we do? Frankie's in danger.”

“I've got an idea.”