Free The Island of Destiny by Cameron Stelzer Page A

forever.’
    The Captain shook his head. ‘My crew will come back for us. It’s only a matter of time. Mark my words.’
    The Hermit looked doubtful. ‘What if Pie Rats believe Captain and Whisker are dead?’
    â€˜That won’t stop them searching,’ the Captain said defensively. ‘They’re Pie Rats – loyal to the very end. Why is that so hard for you to see?’
    The Hermit stared into the distance. ‘Hermit sees what Hermit sees. Hermit sees only silver ship. Maybe …?’
    â€˜You can’t be serious,’ the Captain gasped. ‘There’s no way I’m begging for a lift or stowing away on that mobile seafood cannery.’
    â€˜No, no,’ the Hermit exclaimed. ‘Hermit has better idea. Hermit and rats steal ship while cats search mountain.’
    The Captain glared at the Hermit. ‘I’m not leaving the Cat Fish alone on this island – not with the treasure still out there. Who knows what terrible havoc they could wreak with it in their possession?’ He paused and then added, ‘And I’m definitely not leaving without my crew.’
    The Hermit turned to Whisker for support. Whisker was torn between his loyalty to the Captain and his overpowering feeling of guilt. He knew the Hermit had waited years to escape the island. Whisker wondered if he could deny him his one shot at freedom, all for the sake of an unknown treasure they were yet to discover.
    For all his noble intentions, however, Whisker knew that as soon as he left the island he would turn around and sail straight back again. He had no doubt the Captain would do the same. Neither of them could spend a life of freedom on a stolen ship, wondering what could have been.
    He weighed up his options. The Captain believed the Pie Rats would return and rescue them. If he was right, the Hermit would have his freedom. If he was wrong, they still had the treasure to help them.
    Whisker chose to trust his captain.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ he said to the Hermit. ‘I have a duty to the Apple Pie .’
    Whisker expected the Hermit to be angry with him, or at least disappointed. But the old rat simply smiled back.
    â€˜Hermit wishes crew of Princess Pie were as faithful as Whisker,’ he said nostalgically. ‘ Loyalty before all else, even pies … Hermit forgets there is more to life than survival.’ He put one paw on Whisker’s shoulder and the other on the Captain’s arm. ‘Hermit is agreed. We all stay. Mashed potato pies will have to wait.’
    The Captain laughed heartily and Whisker felt proud to be in the presence of two great captains. Both were as stubborn as oxen, but both were willing to sacrifice all they had for the greater good. Whisker hoped that one day he would be a leader like that.
    The three rats crept back into the forest and began their game of cat and mouse ; or, to be more precise, six cats and three invisible rats.
    The Hermit led Whisker and the Captain through the trees to the lower outskirts of the western forest, where they could get a closer view of the lagoon. Silently and stealthily, the three rats climbed the upper branches of a tall pine tree overlooking the beach. From their high vantage point, they watched the small party of cats travel to shore in a heavily laden rowboat.
    Captain Sabre, the black and orange Bengal, sat at the bow of the boat, his head darting from side to side, searching the dunes for signs of life.
    Whisker was well camouflaged in the dense foliage of the tree, but it didn’t stop him freezing to the spot like a petrified pigeon. He’d given Sabre a boat load of reasons to want him in a cooking pot and, without wings, Whisker knew the top of a tree wasn’t the safest place to be discovered.
    The boat landed near the Rock of Hope and Sabre stepped onto the sand. He was followed by Furious Fur, the wild, white Persian, and Master Meow, the glass-eyed silver tabby. All three cats