Free Lulu Bell and the Pirate Fun by Belinda Murrell Page A

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.
    â€˜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.
    â€˜Pirate captains never get lost,’ insisted Gus.
    â€˜We’ll look after him,’ said Tom.
    â€˜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 thatwhen 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.
    â€˜Oh no!’ cried Lulu. ‘The path’s turned into a waterfall!’
    Everyone stood, staring.
    â€˜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.
    â€˜It’s no good,’ he said. ‘The base of the fort is a big muddy puddle.’
    â€˜So we can’t have Gus’s pirate party up there,’ said Rosie.
    â€˜We’ll just have to have the party at the house,’ 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.

    â€˜Don’t worry, Gussie,’ said Lulu. ‘We’ll think of something. Maybe we can builda 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.
    â€˜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