Lulu Bell and the Pirate Fun

  About the Book

  Meet Lulu Bell. Where there’s Lulu, there’s family, friends, animals and adventures galore!

  The farm is one of Lulu’s favourite places. It’s perfect for a pirate party to celebrate Gus’s birthday. If only it would stop raining!

  Where can the kids build the pirate ship they’ve promised Gus? Put your gumboots on, everyone, because Lulu has the answer. But where is that naughty dog, Jessie?

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1: Rain

  Chapter 2: The Flood

  Chapter 3: Paddock Pirating

  Chapter 4: Pirate Preparations

  Chapter 5: A Brilliant Idea

  Chapter 6: Happy Birthday

  Chapter 7: Where’s Jessie?

  Chapter 8: The Hunt for Jessie

  Chapter 9: The Rescue

  Chapter 10: The Treasure Map

  Lulu Bell and the Magical Garden

  Read all the Lulu Bell books

  About the Author

  About the Illustrator

  Copyright Notice

  Loved the book?

  For Asha, the wisest and bravest dog in the universe.

  Chapter 1

  Rain

  The rain poured down. It drummed on the tin roof. All Lulu could see through the window was a shower of water gushing from the gutters.

  ‘Will it ever stop raining?’ Lulu grumbled loudly.

  The Bell family was away for a long weekend. It would be Gus’s fourth birthday tomorrow. Dad’s brother Uncle Nick had invited them all to Sugarloaf Farm to celebrate.

  ‘Never complain to a farmer about rain, Lulu,’ said Uncle Nick with a smile. ‘The rain will help the grass grow. Then the cows will get fat on the grass, and fat, healthy cows make me a happy farmer.’

  All six kids were sprawled on the floor in the lounge room of the farmhouse. There was Lulu, her sister Rosie and her brother Gus. Their cousins were Tom, Meg and Lachie. They had been playing Monopoly all morning.

  ‘But we were going to have a pirate party for Gus tomorrow,’ said Lulu, ‘with a treasure hunt and games and horseriding and lots of pirate fun.’

  ‘And a big pirate cake,’ added Gus. ‘A choclit cake.’

  ‘We wanted to eat it up at the cubby fort,’ said Rosie.

  Last year all the cousins had made a fantastic fort that was built into the base of a huge gum tree. It was on a ridge and from the fort they could see out over the farmhouse and the paddocks.

  ‘You mean the pirate ship,’ said Tom. He shaded his eyes with his hand as though he was staring out to sea. ‘Arrr, me hearties.’

  ‘The cubby won’t make a fun pirate ship if it’s raining,’ said Lulu. ‘It’ll be all muddy.’

  Mum and Auntie Tor were sitting on the couch reading. Mum looked up from her book and smiled. ‘A little water won’t hurt you, honey buns,’ she said. ‘Do you think pirates worry about rain?’

  ‘I think the rain’s getting lighter,’ said Tom. ‘Let’s put on gumboots and go for a walk.’

  ‘Great idea,’ said Lulu. ‘We can check out the cubby fort.’

  All the cousins jumped up. Out on the verandah by the front door was a big cane basket full of gumboots. Everyone wore boots at the farm because of the mud and snakes. The six kids rummaged through the basket until they found a pair that fit.

  Lulu pulled on her green rain jacket and a cowboy hat. Uncle Nick and Dad came out too, followed by the dogs.

  Asha and Jessie were the two Bell family dogs. There were also the black farm dogs, Polly and Daisy.

  Everyone stood on the verandah staring out into the rain. The white timber farmhouse was nestled on a slope among old elm trees. The valley was surrounded by misty green hills and patches of bush. The sky overhead was dull with heavy grey clouds.

  ‘Look!’ said Rosie. She stood on tiptoe, peering over the verandah railing. ‘The creek has flooded!’

  Sugarloaf Creek had overflowed. The flat paddock between the creek and the house had disappeared and turned into a wide, shallow lake.

  ‘Let’s hope the water doesn’t rise any further,’ said Uncle Nick.

  He pointed downstream to where a rickety timber bridge crossed the creek, leading towards the front gate. ‘One year the floods washed the bridge away and we couldn’t get out.’

  Tom grinned at the others. ‘It was terrible. We couldn’t go to school for a whole week.’

  Lulu looked up at Dad with shining eyes. ‘Maybe the water will rise that high this time,’ she said. ‘We could stay here instead of going to school on Tuesday. We might even be trapped here for weeks.’

  Lulu couldn’t think of anything more exciting than staying at the farm for weeks and weeks. Lulu loved her home right behind Shelly Beach Vet Hospital, but sometimes she thought it would be fun to live on a farm.

  Dad squeezed Lulu’s shoulder. ‘Good try, sweetie. But that would take many days of heavy rain.’

  Uncle Nick looked serious. ‘It’s okay for you kids to play around the paddock by the house. It’ll be a bit wet but it’s shallow enough. I just don’t want any of you to go further downstream. Past the bridge, the creek can get a bit dangerous when it’s flooded.’

  Everyone nodded to show that they understood.

  ‘Did you hear that, Gus?’ asked Dad. ‘You can’t go wandering off by yourself. You might get lost again.’

  Once Gus had gone missing at the farm. Lulu and Asha had found him curled up asleep under a bed with Griffin and Chook, the chickens.

  ‘Pirate captains never get lost,’ insisted Gus.

  ‘We’ll look after him,’ said Tom.

  ‘Can we go check out the cubby fort?’ asked Rosie.

  Uncle Nick nodded. ‘Sure. But don’t forget you promised to help me feed the animals later.’

  Dad winked at the kids. ‘And we might need to start preparing for a certain special celebration. We don’t want to forget about that.’

  Lulu grinned. ‘What are we celebrating, Dad?’

  Gus jumped up and down with excitement. ‘Me! Tomorrow it’s my birsday!’

  Chapter 2

  The Flood

  The cousins trudged along the muddy driveway in their gumboots. The four dogs ran along beside them. The driveway curled down the slope to meet the road near the creek. To the left, the road led to the cattle yards and back paddocks. To the right, the road led across the wooden bridge to the dairy and the front gate.

  Straight ahead was a steep hill covered in thick scrub. One of the best things about the cubby fort was that it had a secret entrance. Only the cousins knew where it was.

  Meg led the way. The six children turned off the road and tramped through the long, wet grass. Tom pulled back a low-hanging branch. Behind it was a tunnel through the scrub. One by one, the cousins pushed through the opening. Beyond, the hill rose up steeply. It was so steep that when they’d made the fort, the cousins had tied a rope around the gum tree on top of the hill. They used the rope to help haul themselves up the track.

  This time, instead of a path, there was a cascade of water.

  ‘Oh no!’ cried Lulu. ‘The path’s turned into a waterfall!’

  Everyone stood, staring.

  ‘I’ll give it a go,’ said Tom, who was the oldest cousin. He picked up the sodden rope and hauled himself up. The others waited below.

  A few minutes later, Tom slithered down the slope.

  ‘It’s no good,’ he said. ‘The base of the fort is a big muddy puddle.’

  ‘So we can’t have Gus’s pirate party up there,’ said Rosie.

  ‘We’ll just have to have the party at the hou
se,’ said Meg.

  Lachie shook his head. ‘That’s not much fun.’

  The little farmhouse was rather crowded with two families staying there. Often the cousins would camp out in tents. But because of the rain, they were all sleeping on mattresses on the lounge room floor.

  Gus screwed up his face and pouted. ‘But I want my party in a pirate ship.’

  Jessie licked him on the hand.

  ‘Don’t worry, Gussie,’ said Lulu. ‘We’ll think of something. Maybe we can build a pirate ship in the lounge room using mattresses and pillows.’

  Gus looked at Lulu in disgust. ‘Not a pillow ship. A really cool pirate ship.’

  The cousins trudged back towards the house. As they walked, Lulu thought hard. What can we do to make Gus’s pirate party really special?

  Lulu glanced out across the flooded paddock beside the driveway. It seemed so strange to have a lake appear where there was usually a grassy field. Tom picked up a stone and skimmed it across the water. It skipped a couple of times and then sank.

  ‘Let’s splash through the paddock,’ said Meg. ‘Dad said it would be okay.’

  The cousins set off down the bank. Lulu’s gumboots squelched in the mud. The two younger dogs, Jessie and Polly, ran ahead. Polly was always leading Jessie on adventures. Daisy and Asha, who were older and calmer, stayed with the kids. Lulu called and the younger dogs came galloping back.

  The six cousins stood at the edge of the new lake. Bits of green grass popped up in the areas that were particularly shallow.

  ‘Ready, set, GO!’ yelled Gus. He jumped into the water. Droplets spurted up around him in a silvery spray, soaking everyone – including the dogs. Asha ran up the slope, her tail between her legs. She didn’t like getting drenched.

  ‘Gus!’ shouted all the kids.

  Gus didn’t mind. He charged through the water, churning up ripples and waves.

  ‘Come on,’ said Lulu. She stomped into the water after Gus. Raindrops dripped off the brim of her hat. The water lapped halfway up her gumboots, sucking and squelching around them. It was a funny feeling.

  ‘Bombs away!’ yelled Lachie. He launched himself into the shallow water.

  Soon the cousins were chasing and calling, squealing and splashing with delight. Everyone’s clothes were soaked but the water was warm.

  ‘This is fun!’ cried Lulu. ‘Maybe we can still have a great time for Gus’s birthday – even with all this rain.’

  Chapter 3

  Paddock Pirating

  ‘I have an idea,’ said Lachie. He shook the raindrops off his cowboy hat.

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Rosie.

  ‘We need boats,’ said Lachie.

  ‘Boats?’ asked Lulu. She wrinkled her nose. ‘Where would we get boats?’

  Tom and Lachie exchanged glances.

  ‘To the garage!’ cried Tom.

  All the children raced to the garage. Tom pulled the creaky door wide open. The shadowy garage was full of treasure. There were planks of wood, crates, dusty cushions, coils of rope, cracked old bridles, tools and tarpaulins.

  Lachie pointed to a rack against the southern wall. ‘Ahoy there, me hearties.’

  In the rack was a jumble of surfboards and boogie boards, stored away for summer beach holidays.

  ‘Arrr,’ said Tom. ‘A fine flotilla of pirate vessels.’

  Lulu laughed at the boys with their pirate accents. She put one hand on her hip and waved the other. ‘A grand idea, matey,’ she said, in her best pirate voice.

  Everyone dragged a board out of the rack. Rosie and Gus shared an old blowup mattress that was in with the boards. Then they carried their ‘boats’ down to the flooded paddock and launched them from the bank.

  Lulu lay on her tummy. She paddled with her hands and waved her legs up in the air. The board shot out, skimming across the shallow water.

  ‘Woohoo!’ she cried.

  Lachie paddled his foam surfboard straight at the air mattress that Rosie and Gus were sitting on.

  ‘Watch out, you scurvy bilge rats!’ he cried.

  Rosie and Gus giggled. They paddled hard to escape, but Lachie’s craft was faster. He bumped into the mattress, making it jump forward.

  Tom launched his craft at Meg’s and Lulu paddled hard to defend her.

  Jessie ran back and forth on the bank, barking.

  ‘We’re paddock pirates! Shiver me timbers!’ yelled Tom.

  Dad and Uncle Nick drove up in the farm car. Uncle Nick leaned out the window.

  ‘What a racket,’ he said, with a grin. ‘Sounds like you’ve been enjoying the rain.’

  ‘Climb in,’ called Dad. ‘It’s time to feed some animals.’

  The kids dragged their boards and the mattress up onto the grass. Then they piled into the car. It was a big four-wheel drive with three rows of seats. There was a large stack of towels in the back so everyone could rub themselves dry.

  Uncle Nick drove the car along the road, over the rickety bridge and up to the old timber dairy. Many years ago, the dairy had been used for milking cows. Now it was used as a barn to store hay and farm equipment.

  The kids clambered out of the car and ran towards the barn. Lulu slid open the heavy door. Light streamed into the dark barn. Specks of dust danced in the air. It smelt of sweet dried grass. Lulu breathed in deeply.

  The farm tractor was parked in a bay on one side. The rest of the building was half-filled with bales of hay. These were stored to feed to the horses and cattle.

  ‘First we need some hay for Nutmeg and Flirt,’ said Uncle Nick. ‘Then a couple of bales for the cows.’

  The stack was built like a pyramid. At the sides, the bales were arranged like steps, forming a sturdy pile.

  Gus scrambled up onto the row of bales. He ran along and then climbed to the highest point. ‘I’m the king of the castle,’ he crowed.

  ‘Not for long,’ replied Lachie. He raced up the pile. ‘Avast, ye!’ he cried.

  Lulu, Tom, Rosie and Meg followed. They jumped from bale to bale. The six kids sat on the top row and swung their legs. The hay was prickly.

  ‘Come on, little monkeys,’ said Dad. ‘There are hungry horses and cows to be fed.’

  Lulu and the cousins bounced down.

  Dad lifted a rectangular bale of hay from the stack. He took a folding pocket knife from the leather pouch on his belt and cut the twine holding the hay together. The hay bale fell apart, into sections. Dad passed one biscuit of hay to Tom and one to Lulu.

  Outside, the two horses had come over from the paddock and were waiting in the round yard. They hung their heads over the timber posts. Their chestnut coats looked dark brown from the rain. Nutmeg whinnied with impatience. Flirt pawed the ground with her hoof. Lulu rubbed Nutmeg’s damp neck and fed her a handful of hay. Lulu loved the two farm horses.

  The kids spread the hay in two separate piles on the ground. Nutmeg and Flirt dropped their heads to feed.

  ‘It’s too wet to go horseriding today,’ said Dad.

  ‘But it might clear up tomorrow, so we can ride,’ said Lulu.

  Dad looked up at the dark, heavy clouds. ‘It might,’ he said doubtfully.

  Uncle Nick shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. There’s definitely more rain coming. Let’s throw some feed out for the cows before it gets much heavier.’

  Chapter 4

  Pirate Preparations

  Uncle Nick was right. They had only just thrown out the bales of hay for the cows when the rain started again. It poured down in torrents. Everyone raced back to the car, then they drove up to the house.

  The noise of the water hitting the tin roof sounded like hundreds of beating drums. Water bubbled over the top of the water tanks.

  ‘When will it stop?’ moaned Rosie, after lunch. She and Lulu stared out of the window.

  ‘This must be the wettest weekend ever,’ said Lulu.

  ‘Well, luckily we have lots to do,’ said Mum. She popped a cardboard box onto the kitchen table. The box was filled with colo
ured cardboard, paper, scissors, staplers, glue, paint and glitter. ‘We need to make pirate decorations for Gus’s party tomorrow.’

  ‘Like Jolly Roger flags,’ said Lulu.

  ‘Arrr, me hearties,’ said Tom.

  ‘We can make happy-birthday bunting,’ said Rosie.

  ‘And a super-duper pirate ship,’ added Gus.

  The cousins spent the next two hours creating plenty of things for the party. Lulu, Tom and Lachie drew lots of small skull-and-crossbones. They glued them onto toothpicks to make little Jolly Roger flags, which they would use to decorate the food. They also made a few bigger ones to hang up.

  Gus painted sea monsters on brown paper bags for the lolly bags. Mum and Auntie Tor were busy cooking food for the party. Meg and Rosie made some pirate-themed bunting that spelled out ‘Happy Birthday Captain Gus’.

  Lachie made a pirate hat out of black cardboard. He put on his hat and scowled ferociously at everyone. ‘What has eight legs and eight arms?’ he snarled.

  ‘An octopus?’ asked Rosie. ‘No, octopuses don’t have arms…’

  ‘A sea monster?’ guessed Lulu.

  Lachie picked up the ruler he had been using to measure out his hat and waved it like a sword. ‘No. Four pirates!’ he roared.

  Everyone giggled.

  ‘Why are pirates so mean?’ asked Tom.

  ‘They just arrr!’ bellowed Lachie.

  Lulu and Rosie shook their heads.

  ‘Why are pirates called pirates?’ asked Tom.

  Lulu laughed. ‘They just arrr!’ she cried.

  Mum covered her ears and laughed. ‘Well, I hope the rains stops tomorrow so we can have the party outside. It’s way too noisy with six pirates in the kitchen.’