Captain Limbray and the Cursed Treasure
5J
In the dead of night, Captain Limbray was preparing to set sail to return home after a long, tiresome journey from Spain . His ship, The Black Diamond, rocked on the waves like a baby in it’s crib. “Sails up men!” he commanded.
“Aye aye captain,” replied the sailors. Limbray smiled as he watched his men climb the rafters under the shimmering moonlight. They were a good crew and he was lucky to have them onboard his vessel. He just wished he could pay them more for their hard work.
6S
Rigging the ropes, wires and chains, the men continued to hoist the sail and prepared to set off for their return home. Limbray stood tall and proud, in front of the wooden helm, ready to take control. Raising the anchor, the tides took over, and the ship was finally at one with the sea.
***
As the men travelled further away from land, the clouds darkened and the wind began to pick up. Limbray gripped tighter to the helm and firmly placed his feet shoulder width apart, preparing to guide his men to safety.
6R
The large vessel rocked violently as the waves crashed against it. Limbray’s crew worked tirelessly; reefing the rain-soaked sails, lowering the uppermost masts and stowing away any rigging to stabilise the ship. Stricken sailors slipped and slid along the deck, many unfortunately being tossed overboard into the ruthless waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
“HOLD ON TIGHT MEN!” Limbray shouted, frantically steering the helm but to little avail.
Just then, a towering, menacing wave struck mercilessly onto The Black Diamond, tipping it over.
4P
Frantically, the men began scurrying towards the safety rafts. But they were too late. As the vessel furiously hit the angry sea, Captain Limbray heard the horrific, piercing screams of horror as his men were thrown overboard. Fortunately, Captain Limbray and his men spotted barrels and wooden debris from the ship floating by and desperately pulled themselves on top of these unlikely life rafts. Whilst Captain Limbray clung to a barrel for his life, he noticed a mysterious, ancient scroll peeking out between two planks.
Without thinking, he snatched the scroll and scanned the piece of paper. It was a map showing a mysterious island with a red cross on it. What could be there he wondered, maybe treasure! However, before he could study it anymore, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a flickering light. Distressed, he crumpled the map, shoved it into his pocket and slowly turned towards the light. Coming over the horizon, he saw an armada of unknown ships. He knew he had little time to save his men.
4C
In the distance, Limbray heard a faint rumble. Suddenly, the sky darkened as a swarm of cannonballs hurtled towards the silent sailors and a horrified Captain Limbray.
BOOM!
The remaining parts of the hull of the boat blasted into tiny pieces as one gigantic cannonball smashed into them. The crew were tossed into the air like ragdolls and crashed into the furious ocean.
Gulp.
In one mouthful, a whale, lying in wait in the darkness of the seabed, swallowed them whole. Only the Captain, clinging to his lonely barrel, survived!
2R
“AHHH!” The Captain heard muffled screams disturb the silent night. The Captain realised the helpless sailors were still alive but inside the whale! He wished he could help them but it was up to the sailors now to save themselves!
The clever sailors tried to tickle the whale’s huge, slippery and slimy tongue so he could open his mouth and let them out but that didn’t work. Next, the brave sailors began jumping inside the whale so he could let them out but that didn’t work either.
2A
The brave sailors made one last attempt at freeing themselves from the mouth of the huge whale. They clambered to the top of the whale’s head and, using their bodies, blocked the whale’s blowhole from the inside. Gasping for air, the whale leapt out of the water and exhaled!
WOOSH! All the trapped sailors shot out of the whale’s blowhole and up into the sky.
SPLASH! They came crashing down into the ocean. Exhausted, the poor sailors were beginning to lose hope as they floated aimlessly in the middle of the ocean with no idea where to swim to next.
3B
Suddenly, a group of swift, blue dolphins swam through the ocean towards them. Sitting atop the front dolphin was Captain Limbray! The soldiers cheered at the sight of their Captain coming to save them. The drained soldiers clambered onto the dolphins’ backs and followed Captain Limbray towards dry land.
Soon, the crew arrived safely on a deserted island. They scanned the hot sandy beach and saw a group of palm trees standing tall on the edge of a wooded area. They were dripping with big, brown coconuts and sweet, ripe bananas. The crews’ stomachs rumbled! “Mmm. Look at all that juicy fruit!” Captain Limbray shouted excitedly. “Let’s eat!”
3O
All the men, except Captain Limbray, frantically stuffed bananas into their mouths, sighing contentedly. The captain gathered some coconuts for his men to drink but, when he pulled a knife from his pocket to cut them open, the strange map he had crumpled into his pocket earlier in the day fell out. Peering at it closely, he recognised the group of palm trees on the edge of the beach and a large cave in the distance! This was the island in the map! They could find the treasure!
However after eating so many bananas, the mens’ stomachs had begun to bubble. One by one, they began to feel nauseous. Perhaps they had overindulged in the juicy fruits that the island had to offer? Their exhausted bodies could barely stand as they became weaker by the minute.
1H
Captain Limbray decided he needed to save his crew (again!) before he looked for the treasure. He remembered when he was a child his dad used to make medicine for him from the leaves of palm trees. Quickly, he gathered as many as he could, washed them and cooked them. After he cooked the leaves, he gave the special medicine to his crew and they instantly felt better. Now it was time to find the treasure! Unfortunately, Captain Limbray did not realise how deadly the island could be…
As they set off deeper into the island in search of the treasure, one of the sailors got caught in a puddle of quicksand. The crew worked quickly and tied their belts together to form a long rope and pulled the sailor out.
Relieved, they thought they were safe, but then, as they turned around, a huge terrifying creature emerged from the ground. It was a monster made out of quicksand! Its eyes were blood red, its teeth were jagged and its sandy skin absorbed everything it touched. The crew froze in fear and stared in horror as the monstrous creature crawled towards them.
1S
Brave Captain Limbray quickly grabbed handfuls of sand and threw it in the monster’s beady, red eyes. The monster screeched as loud as a monkey and lost its balance. It fell into the quicksand and slowly started disappearing. The sailors were scared about what else may be lurking in wait for them in the forest and begged their captain to let them go back to the beach but Captain Limbray wanted the treasure.
He looked at his map and guided the sailors further into the island. It was getting dark so they had to be quick. Finally, they found the dark, gloomy cave and Captain Limbray led the way in. Inside, they saw bats flying above their heads, cobwebs filled with spiders and mice scurrying into cracks in the walls. As they crept further inside, they spotted a giant, brown bear who had the treasure box under its arm.
Captain Limbray took out the soft feather from his cap and tickled the bear. The bear laughed and turned to his side and the treasure box slipped out of his arm. Captain Limbray grabbed it and they all ran as fast as they could.
When they got back to the beach, they opened the shiny treasure box expecting to see gold, silver and diamonds but it was empty except for a scrap of paper! Smiling, Captain Limbray read aloud “Friendship is the greatest treasure of all.”
