The Smallest Pirate of the Sea Cucumber

The Sea Cucumber was the smallest pirate ship in the world. It had three barrels for cargo and four pirates for crew, and Pip was the smallest pirate on it.

The big pirates were called Hatch, Skel, and Bramble. Pip was just called Pip.

When there was a heavy rope to pull, Hatch pulled it. When there was a sail to mend, Skel mended it. When there was a barrel to roll, Bramble rolled it.

Pip wanted to help. Pip was too small to pull the rope, too short to reach the sail, and not strong enough to roll the barrel. Pip felt useless.

"You are the lookout," said Skel kindly. "That's a real job."

But Pip wanted to do a captainly thing.

One morning, the Sea Cucumber started to slow down. It got slower. And slower. The crew checked the sails. The crew checked the rudder. Nothing was wrong.

Bramble dived under the boat to look. He came up spluttering.

"Barnacles," he said. "All over. The hull is full of them. We need to scrape them off."

But the gap under the boat was a thin, narrow gap. Hatch could not fit. Skel could not fit. Bramble could not fit. They were all too big.

Everyone looked at Pip.

Pip's heart did a little jig.

"Get me the long scraper," said Pip. "And tie a rope round me. And someone hold a lantern."

The crew did. Pip squeezed under the boat with the scraper. The water was dark and cold and full of stripy fish. The barnacles were rude and sharp.

Scrape,scrape, scrape, went Pip. The barnacles fell into the sea and were carried away.

After a long time, Pip surfaced. The crew pulled him up.

The boat was clean. The boat sailed beautifully again, faster than before.

"Pip the Barnacle Hunter," said Hatch, with great respect.

That night they had three biscuits each. Pip got an extra one.

"You're the right size," said Bramble. "We're the wrong size for that job. Funny how that works."

Pip had not thought of it that way. From now on he tried to.