So I decided that it was time to get back to my comfort zone of Swallows and Amazons, the 1930s series of adolescents messing around in boats and parents blithely telling them to have a good time but be sure to be back in time for the school term. English, of course, if you couldn’t have guessed.
But this, the third in the series, was something quite different, although the characters are mostly the same. Peter Duck appears in the second story, but as am imaginary character who Able Seaman Titty (yes, that is her name – no sniggering, you!) uses to guard their possessions when they are left behind. But in this tale, Peter Duck is an actual character, a grizzled old seaman wishing to have one last go at it, and strangely enough having a tale of buried treasure left on a deserted island. Captain Flint (the Amazon’s Uncle Jim) has a seaworthy sailing ship, the Wild Cat, and even though he only intended to take the children on a short cruse through the Channel, before we know it, Peter Duck is aboard, and we are off to said deserted island.
Well, there are typhoons, and earthquakes, and vicious pirates after our heroes. I was thinking that this was a child’s version of a pirate tales, but I gotta tell you, these pirates were not messing around. A right nasty lot. So I don’t know. But of course, all’s well that ends well, and our crew is back in England once again. With the pirate booty, of course. And apparently, no parent is any the wiser.
Well now! We will see what installment four has to show us.
