**PIRATE TAILS REVISITED** The Extraordinary Voyages of Cap'n Basil Blackheart & His Motley Crew ~ Part V

Welcome to 

Featuring a rerun of our bonkers time travelling pirate adventure

The Extraordinary Voyages of  Cap'n Basil Blackheart and his Motley Crew 

aboard

The Crimson Revenge

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr and greetings wunderpurr pals

Welcome to the 5th episode of our fabulous pirate adventure rerun, and just in case mew missed anything, here are the links to the last 4 epically epic episodes:

Part I  ~  Part II  ~  Part III ~ Part IV

>^.^<

A quick recap from last time...

"Well, I'll be damned!" Horice exclaimed. 

"Let's hope that feast keeps 'em occupied o'while," I said with acute alleviation.

"Aye, that should assuage thee bloodthirsty beasties," Horice agreed relaxing a little now the danger had seemed to pass. "That was a mightily cunning plan Cap'n Basil, arrrrrrr!"

"I couldn't 'av done without ye and ye seafaring matey's," I said rather emotionally. "Ye be the bestest fur sure, thank ye again."

Horice shifted awkwardly beneath me as he cleared his throat, and I felt he was a little embarrassed, but good deeds deserved praise and thanks, and I was so thankful Smooch had been saved from the jaws of death, literally.  Turning I glanced towards the rowboat and saw Smooch waving, albeit a little limply but neffurtheless waving at me and I gave him my bestest salute, my heart squeezed in all the right places, and I smiled widely.  

A short while later, after all that excitement and I'd finally settled my acutely crisped nerves with several swigs of some mighty potent nip rum, I decided to check on the tor-tye army.  Pulling out my telescope I zoomed in on their camp down the beach and was surprised to see they'd made it back in good time, the pot was bubbling at full speed with huge flames licking up the sides, and to my complete amazement I could see that sharks fin soup was already cooking, 'Tasty!' I thought but definitely not wurth the risk.

"Horice?" I asked suddenly.

"Arrrrrrr Cap'n Basil?"

"What year be this?"

Horice thought about it for a moment, and then he replied. "It be the year 1683 and a bit if me calculations be right, why ye ask?"

I let this new information sink in before I answered. "Arrrrrrr... that be a fine year!" was all I could say while my inner turmoil began to erupt again.

Jumping jeepers I was right, we'd travelled back in time through the whirlpool, how the flip were we effur going to get back now?

"AND CUT!"

>^.^<

So hold ye fast matey's, as we're in fur another wild ride today

Aharr

>^.^<

Part V 

 A Case of Crabs & The Secret Pagoda

"And Action!"

I sat for a while and pondered our predicament. We were in fact in 1683 & a bit, just as I had suspected from the journals of  'The Secret World'  by Dr H. P. Sawce.

I looked down the beach to see the rowboat and its three occupants spilling out onto the soft, golden sand. Smooch looked a little worse for wear, but all things considered, it could have been a true tragedy. I watched him amble parallel with the softly lapping waves for a few minutes. He was almost skipping at times, but then out of the blue, he leapt into the air with a shriek. I jumped to my feet faster than mew could say 'who drank my niptini?' and careened towards him.

"Smooch," I cried, waiting for another drama to rear its ugly head. "What's the matter?"

He spun around and beamed at me, a most toothy display for sure. "I found my bandana!" he squealed with delight, waving it wildly in the air. "I thought it was gone forever, but I found it."

My heart which, after all that had happened thus far in a single day, had been running constantly in nitrous mode, suddenly relaxed as if all the air in my sails had just gone poof, and I plonked down on the sand with a heavy whumph. My mind whirling with all manner of thoughts 'How were we going to get home? The P.A. will be panicking as we are missing! Would we ever see Mewton-Clawson again? etc... etc...'  The responsibility of our predicament weighed on me more heavily than The Great Pyramids of Giza.

"That's pawesome," I said suddenly taking a breath. "It'll be dry in no time if mew put on the rocks over there," I pointed up the beach.

Smooch pootled off up the beach towards the trees and Horice.

Parsley and Snowie followed him, and a few minutes later I joined them, to find they were drinking coconut milk supplied very kindly by our new Heffle-lump furiend. Parsley was lapping it up in fact, guzzling would be a better description.

"Would ye like a banana Cap'n Basil?" Horice asked as I sharpened my claws on a lovely rock.

"That be very kind of ye Horice, but I'll just be sampling the coconut milk.... arrrrrr," I replied.

Just then, Smooch rolled over and yacked. "Puh! Puh! Puh!" he spat out.

"What on earth's the matter?" Snowie asked.

"Bad nuts," he spluttered. "Bad nuts! Puh! Puh! Puh!"

"Mine's delish," Parsley said as he took another slurp. 

"Horice could ye be making Smoochie a banana coconut milk, purrlease?" I asked.

"Aye, it'd be me pleasure Cap'n Basil," Horice said as he beckoned Smooch with his trunk. "Come here little one, I be making ye a tasty treat... arrrrr,"

I sighed heavily and cast my gaze towards The Crimson Revenge as I sipped my refreshing beverage, and waited for an escape plan to formulate in my mind.

*    *    * 

Meanwhile, back on the ship, Posie and Amber were in full swing of tidying the deck and salvaging whatever could be saved, while Humphrey in his usual capacity was reclining in his hammock, which was now strung up on the main deck.

"Humphrey, mew are soooo lazy," Amber chided as she tossed a crab overboard. 

Humphrey took a swig from a rather dirty-looking bottle, belched and replied. "Arrrrrrrrrr!"

Amber was bristling. "I wish I'd been part of the landing pawty," she muttered to Posie.

"Me too," agreed Posie as she brushed a pile of sand off the deck. "I bet they're having a whale of a time, exploring and having fun, no stress, no work."

"Instead, we're here with Mr Good-fur-nothing-lazy-pants, and we're stuck doing all the graft while that furry lump is reclining in his hammock," Amber sniffed with annoyance as she threw a lobster back into the sea.

"Humphrey, your crabs are everywhere, for fluff's sake do something with them," Posie sniggered.

"Well, that's what happens when mew frequent taverns of ill repute with very low hygiene levels," Amber roared with laughter.

Humphrey snorted with irritation. "Cats can't get crabs."

"Well, either my eyes deceive me, or I'm hallucinating that we've got a whole bunch of them on board," Amber shrieked with hysterical laughter and fell off the beam she was sitting on.

"And it's much worse for mew,"  Posie added. "Because mew've got a real bad case of lobsters too!"

Humphrey clambered out of the hammock and landed rather inelegantly with a dull thud on deck.

"Right mew two, I've had enough of this," he growled marching across the debris-strewn deck. "I was having a supurr relaxing time, and mew two just ruined it."

At that moment his expression froze, and then he froze as he stared out to sea with a look of abject horror on his face.

Amber and Posie stopped laughing rather abruptly, followed his gaze and then screamed in unison.

*    *    *

"Cap'n Basil," Horice said. "Did ye and ye crew want to join me at the pagoda?"

I glanced at the others, who were nodding most eagerly at the unexpected invitation.

"Aye, that be a most hospitable offer of hospitality," I answered. "What about Humphrey, Posie and Amber?"

Parsley who had been watching The Crimson Revenge through my telescope spoke. "They'll be having a great time, no stress, just a bit of cleaning up... if fact they're all just standing on the deck staring out to sea right now probably just enjoying the view, they've no idea how good they've got it."

I took the telescope and checked for myself, not that I didn't believe Parsley, it's just that I like to always get a second opinion. I lowered the telescope, collapsing it and placing it in the secret pocket in my hat. "Everything looks pawsitively shipshape on board, so let's go crew." 

We set off, and the jungle was dense, and rather sweaty as we traversed it sat o'top Horice's back. His gait was rather lurching and jerky, but nevertheless, we could cover more ground this way, and it was safer, as who knew what could be lurking in the vegetation.

It was quite some time before we reached our destination and to be honest, the local scenery was rather breathtaking from our vantage point, it was most refreshing; much akin to a full recharge for the soul.

Horice lumbered between two stone pillars, and we emerged into the most delightful tropical oasis.

There were plenty of oooooh's and aaaaaah's from my crew as we progressed further into the beautiful gardens following a winding stone path.

We rounded a particularly leafy corner, and the strange glittering orb appeared in front of us in a bright halo of sparkling light.

"Whoa," I breathed. "Horice, what be thee twinkly ball o'er yonder?"

Horice chuckled, and we all had to grip on extra hard so we didn't fall off. "Cap'n Basil that be the enchanted orb of the pagoda."

I was just about to begin my barrage of questions when a mighty roar sounded.

Smooch tapped me on the shoulder. "Basil, Basil, Basil?" he began. 

I turned around. "Yes Smooch, what is it?"

"What's making that hideous wailing sound? Are we safe? They aren't going to eat us are they?" he gulped.

I understood his apprehension after nearly being shark bait or a bucket of fluffy chump earlier in the day.

"What be that blood-curdling cry, Horice?" I enquired trying to pinpoint its location.

Everypawdy moved closer to me, and I could feel them trembling, their breathing fast and hard.

I lifted my head and opened my mouth to taste the scents in the air. "Guys purrlease give me some room," I asked and then realised the Heffle-lump hadn't answered my question, so I tried again. "Horice what be that dreadful noise?"

Horice seemed to be in a trance-like state, and the glittering jewel in his forehead was glowing again. Then as abruptly as he'd stopped, he began his forward motion.

"Cap'n Basil, that be Amsted, worry ye not," Horice answered. "He just be upset, as... well ye'll see for ye-selves soon enough."

A few minutes later we came upon a small clearing with a pool and an orangutan sitting beside it.

The orangutan looked up. "Horice ye great, big lump, where 'av ye been all these hours?" he asked rather curtly, then noticed us on the Heffle-lumps back. "And who be these furry creatures?"

"Amsted, this be Cap'n Basil and his crew," Horice said and then relayed the subsequent events since our furst meeting.

Amsted sat and listened intently, then said. "Well that be enough of that drama, I 'av a splinter in me finger still, can ye get it out?"

Snowie nudged me. "That's what all the wailing is about then."

Parsley jumped down and landed with a soft thwump on the springy grass, he sidled towards Amsted and lifted up his paw flicking out his pantherene claws, one by one. 

The orangutan's eyes bulged, and he stared in horror at the lethal talons on display. "What be this devilish magic?" he gasped.

Smooch snickered, and I elbowed him to be quiet.

"Greetings Amsted," I said from my perch. "That young panther be Parsley, one of me fine crew and if ye let him, he be able to alleviate ye of ye splinter troubles."

Amsted stared wide-eyed at me, then at the claws and then at Horice, and gulped loudly.

Horice nudged him with his trunk. "Amsted, let young Parsley assist ye, ye know me trunks no good for intricate work."

Amsted paused and then gingerly proffered his trembling hand. Parsley leaned in, pinpointed the offending, pain-inducing slither, gave Amsted his most charming and reassuring panther smile and then in one fell swoop his paw moved at lightning speed.

If mew blinked, mew would have missed it. But in slow motion, his claw caught the edge of the splinter and removed it cleanly without any distress whatsoever.

The orangutan stared at his finger, then at Parsley and grinned in a way that would have made mew want to run for the hills and hide for a furry long time, it was that scary.

Amsted roared, but this time it was with sheer delight. "Thank ye kindly little black, furry creature," he smiled. "That tiny thing has been the source of much grief for so many moons, and ye just whipped it out in a thrice."

"My purrleasure!" Parsley grinned sheathing his lethal claws.

Horice seemed very purrleased that his furiend was feeling better. "Amsted, we should go to thee pagoda as there be something that Cap'n Basil needs to see post-haste."

I jumped down quickly followed by Smooch and Snowie who were keen to explore this beautiful place. Smooch hurtled off one way and Parsley the other while Snowie sat with me and perused all the pretties.

"They are such heathens," Snowie murmured.

I nodded in agreement. "But they're young, it's what they do."

Amsted stood up and then swung up on Horice's back still holding onto his pineapple. "Ye can follow us Cap'n Basil!" 

Horice picked up a bunch of bananas, and we set off again. There was no sight of the two heathens, so I whistled them loudly and seconds later they tumbled out of the bushes in a rolling pile of black and white fur.

"Children," chided Snowie. "Behave, we're in someone else's house now."

Parsley and Smooch gave us a sheepish look and then grinned wildly at one another.  

"Later dude," Parsley smirked.

"Oh mew can betcha black fur on it mate," Smooch replied.

We approached the temple, and I must say it was very impressive. There was a huge glittering sapphire on the front of the main tower, and I made a mental note to ask Horice about it later.

Smooch had reverted back to his heathen child mode and kept popping up behind all manner of things, much to Snowie's acute irritation.

"Cap'n Basil, ye need to see inside the temple," Horice said as we climbed the stone steps towards the entrance. 

 I took my sword off and propped it up against the wall as we entered through a tall, carved archway and emerged into the darker inner sanctum with a beautiful lily pool at the centre. It was decorated with lions, so this met with my approval straight away, but what caught my eye was the orb.

As we moved towards the back of the temple all of a sudden, there was a ginormous splash behind us, and Amsted laughed loudly.

"It be Horice's bath time, he hates saltwater."

Horice's trunk broke the surface of the cool, azure pool and blew a spray of water playfully into the air. 

"Arrrrrrrr," was all I said in response as we headed towards an alter and the glittering orb from earlier.

The orb seemed to be bluer now, and it pulsed softly.  Amsted beckoned me closer.

"Cap'n Basil, we 'av a secret to share with thee," he whispered conspiratorially. "Are ye ready for such enlightenment?"

I pondered this for just a moment before I replied, "Aye Amsted I be ready... arrrrr."

*    *    *

Meanwhile, back on The Crimson Revenge; Humphrey, Posie and Amber were riveted to the deck, like three furry statues as they watched in total, pant-wetting terror the water frothing and boiling.  

And just when they thought it couldn't get any worse, several colossal green tentacles breached the surface, whipping and whirling, then thrashing back down into the water with huge splashing thwacks.

Humphrey screamed. Posie Screamed. Amber screamed.

The entire deck resonated with one giant scream.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Humphrey, what do we do?" Amber cried in panic.

"I second that, what do we do Humphrey?" Posie choked the words out.

Humphrey stared at the monstrous tentacles and then at Amber and Posie. "This is soooo, sooooo, sooooooo bad," his voice was low and trembling. He took a deep breath before answering. "Abandon ship! Abandon Ship!"

"AND CUT!"

Jeez and we thought we'd got offur all the stress in episode 4 and were about to relax a moment or two,  now we've got a whole host of other purroblems... and still so many questions, such as:

Does Humphrey actually frequent such places, with rather inadequate hygiene practices?

What on earth is that tentacled thing rising out of the deep?

How will Posie, Humphrey and Amber get away from it?

What will become of The Crimson Revenge if they abandon ship?

OMC Basil, that sounds like some really big secret, are mew really ready fur that kind of commitment?

And what's the name of that fancy resort mew're staying at?

Does it have a 7 or 8 star rating?

And what's the room service like? 

And here's some from our fab buddies:

The Tabbies of Trout Towne asked us at the end of Part 4:

Was one oh de dolphinz named Flipper?  We asked, and the one that saved Smoochie was called Flapper.

Why did de tor tye pick blue & gold inn sted of camo flague? This is quite amusing as I asked Horice the very same thing.  Appurrently, where the tor-tye sleep is underneath a tree where some squawking parakeets roost. The berries on this tree are blue, and they fall on the tor-tye, hence the blue splats, and the yellow and white is actually burd poop! MOL [Sh***y pygmy tor-tye]

Did ya find smooches bandana?  Yes, it was washed ashore, and he is furry happy about that.  It was a little bit crunchy/crispy salty stiff, but after a little bit of bashing on a rock, it seemed to soften it up.

Will ya bring Horice with ya when ya come bak two de few chure?  Not sure yet, but we'll ask him when we're closer to figuring a way back.

Kitties Blue also wanted to know:

If we could purrhaps go to eBay or Craig's List for a used time machine that we could use to get home again?  If there was eBay in 1693 & a bit we'd be there in a flash!  Do mew think they'd take Apple Pay? MOL

Does Horice's crystal have some additional powers?  This is still an unknown at this point, but we're sure that it does a lot more than just look purretty, shiny and supurr glowy! 

If mew have any questions feel free to ask!

*    *    *

To find out what happens next, we'll be back on Caturday continuing epic suspense and tension, and mew get to find out what on earth is going to happen, as mew'll never believe your eyes!  

ARRRRRRRR ME HEARTIES

This be

Cap'n Basil & the Crew of The Crimson Revenge

Signing out until the next time... ARRRRRRR

Click here to go to Part 6 

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