The Secret of Cannonball Cove
By Andrew Campbell and Steve Pattrick
Illustrations by Gray Undercuffler
0201
“Look! There’s Uncle Charles!” cried Carrie
excitedly as the bus stopped in the old town
square.
0202
1. _______________
It was vacation, and she and her twin
brother, Simon, were off to spend two weeks
by the sea with their favorite uncle.
0203
2. _______________
Uncle Charles owned an old stone inn called
the Treasure Chest, overlooking the harbor
at Cannonball Cove.
0204
3. _______________
He was full of stories, and the twins would
stay up late at night listening to tales of
pirates and sea battles, buried treasure and
ghosts.
4. _______________
0205
It was the ghost stories the twins liked best,
especially the one about Captain Redbeard,
who was said to haunt the very inn they were
0206
staying in. (Not that Carrie and Simon had
5. _______________
ever seen or heard him during the four
summers they had spent there.)
6. _______________
________________________________________
0401
This vacation, Uncle Charles was very busy.
0402
The inn had become so popular that he was
7. _______________
converting the old stable into extra bedrooms
0403
for guests. He told the twins they would
8. _______________
0404
have to amuse themselves this year. That
9. _______________
meant no stories or no fun.
10._______________
0405
“We’ll be bored,” said Simon, as they
unpacked their bags.
11._______________
“No way,” said Carrie. “We’ll find something
12._______________
cool to do.”
13._______________
0408
And they did.
14._______________
0409
They met Toby, the new cook’s son, and he
0406/0407
knew some interesting things about the inn
their uncle hadn’t told them.
0410
15._______________
“It has a secret passage, and they say
Captain Redbeard hid his gold in one of the
rooms,” he told them.
16._______________
_______________________________________
0601
0602/0603
0604
On the second night of their vacation, the
twins waited until Uncle Charles had gone to
17._______________
bed. Then they met Toby in the hall. He
18._______________
was carrying a flashlight.
19._______________
“Where are we going?” asked Carrie.
20._______________
0605/0606
“To the secret passage. But we’ll have to be
21._______________
0607
really quite,” said Toby. “If my mom finds
22._______________
out I’m not in my room, I’ll be in big
0608/0609
trouble.”
23._______________
The three of them crept down the hall. Toby
24._______________
moved an old wall hanging aside and opened
0610
a small door hidden behind it. He climbed
25._______________
into the secret passage, and the other two
0611
followed him. When the door was closed,
26._______________
Toby turned his flashlight on.
27._______________
0612
“This passage goes along the back of the
0613
guest rooms. Pirates used it to hide from
28._______________
soldiers in the old days.”
29._______________
________________________________________
0801
The passage was dusty and full of matted old
0802
cobwebs. It was too low for the children to
30._______________
stand up, so they had to crawl along on their
hands and knees.
31._______________
0803
Halfway along the passage, Toby stopped
32._______________
0804
suddenly. “Listen!”
33._______________
0805
Strange voices were coming from one of the
0806
rooms. They were high-pitched and seemed to be
34._______________
0807
in a funny language. Toby slid back a
35._______________
0808
loose panel in the wall. The children peered
36._______________
inside.
37._______________
________________________________________
0901/0902
Carrie shivered. “What sort of thing makes
38._______________
0903
noises like that?” she said. “I want to go
39._______________
back!”
40._______________
0904
Toby shone his light into the dark room, and all
three followed its beam with their eyes.
41_______________
0905
Suddenly something flew at them-something
0906
white and screeching! Toby jumped back,
42._______________
knocking Carrie and Simon over.
43._______________
0907/0908/0909 “It’s a ghost. Uncle Charles was right. The
44._______________
inn is haunted!” whispered Simon. “Let’s get
45._______________
out of here!”
46._______________
_______________________________________
47._______________
1001/1002
“Don’t be silly. It’s not a ghost,” said Toby.
48._______________
1003
“I’m going in for a closer look.”
49._______________
1004
“But what if the guests catch us?” asked
50._______________
1005
Carrie. “We’ll get into trouble.”
51._______________
1006/1007
“It’s OK,” said Toby. “I saw them go out
52._______________
earlier-two men in an old van.”
53._______________
The children climbed through the opening. In
54._______________
0910
1008/1009
the corner of the room was a big metal thing
55._______________
glinting in the moonlight.
56._______________
1010/1011
“It’s a cage!” whispered Carrie. “And it’s full
57._______________
1012
of birds. They look like parrots.”
58._______________
1013/1014
Something fluttered by the window. Simon
59._______________
went to investigate.
60._______________
1015/1016
“Look! One of them must have escaped. And
61._______________
1017
it’s tangled up with a piece of cloth. They
62._______________
must have put it over the cage to keep the
63._______________
birds quiet. Come here, little fella.”
64._______________
________________________________________
65._______________
1018
1201
Simon untangled the parrot, who jumped up
onto his shoulder and squawked gratefully:
1202/1203
“! Buenos dias!! Buenos dias!”
66._______________
“Hey, did you hear that! It’s speaking
67._______________
1204
1205
Spanish! That’s what we heard inside the
68._______________
tunnel.”
69._______________
The other parrots joined in, and soon there
was a chorus of Spanish squawking.
70._______________
_______________________________________
1301
“I bet those men are bird smugglers,” said
1302
Toby. “I knew something wasn’t right about
71._______________
1303
them. They must be bringing the birds in
72._______________
1304
from South America. That’s why the parrots
73._______________
speak Spanish.”
74._______________
1305/1306
“How cruel!” said Carrie. “I saw a program
75._______________
1307
on TV about that once. A lot of birds die
76._______________
1308
when smugglers take them. They squash
77._______________
them into tiny boxes and don’t take
1309
care of them. We can’t let those men get
78._______________
away with it.”
79._______________
_________________________________________
1401
Just then, they heard footsteps outside the
1402
door and the rattling of keys. Toby pointed
80._______________
to the sliding panel to tell the other two to
climb through, and he followed behind.
1403
They had just slipped through when the door
was flung open and the light came on.
1404
82._______________
The trio stayed crouched in the secret
passage, listening to the men in the room.
1405
81._______________
83._______________
They were talking quietly, but every now and
then the children heard a few words:
“…tomorrow…seven o’clock…main
1406
wharf…” After a while, the door opened
84._______________
and closed again, and all was quiet.
85._______________
1407
The children crawled out of the passage and
sneaked back to Simon’s room in the attic to
make a plan.
86._______________
________________________________________
1601/1602
“We have to do something,” said Toby. “A
87._______________
boat must be bringing some more parrots in
1603/1604
tomorrow night.”
88._______________
“You’re right, Toby,” said Carrie. “But how
89._______________
can we stop them?”
90._______________
1605
“I know-we’ll keep a lookout for any
1606
suspicious-looking boats from up here. And
91._______________
we’ll follow the men to the harbor if they
1607
1608/1609
leave the inn. As soon as we see them with
92._______________
the parrots, we’ll call the police.”
93._______________
“Good idea,” said Simon. “They’ll be sorry
94._______________
they ever tangled with the Treasure Chest
Trio!”
95._______________
_________________________________________
1701
After dinner the next day, Simon, Carrie, and
1702
Toby met in the attic room. Toby had
96._______________
borrowed a pair of binoculars, and they
1703
scanned the harbor for signs of activity. Sure
97._______________
enough, at six-thirty, a rusty fishing boat
appeared in the distance, and by seven
1704
o’clock it was tied up at a wharf. Soon
98._______________
afterward, the two men left the inn and drove
toward the harbor in their old van.
99._______________
_________________________________________
1801
“OK, team, action stations!” said Toby, and
the three of them raced downstairs.
100.______________
1802
Uncle Charles was busy in the cellar, but
Carrie couldn’t leave without writing a note
1803
for him. She scrawled a few lines about going
101.______________
down to the harbor to “catch some crooks”
and left it under a magnet on the fridge.
1804
102.______________
Behind the inn were some winding steps
leading to the harbor.
103.______________
1805/1806
“It’s much longer by road,” said Toby. “This
104.______________
1807
is a short cut. We should be there before
105.______________
the van.”
106.______________
_________________________________________
1901/1902
Toby was right. When they reached the
107.______________
wharf, they had just enough time to hide
behind a pile of packing crates before the van
1903
arrived and the two men jumped out. At the
108.______________
same moment, a gangway was lowered from
the old fishing boat, and another two men
appeared with a large box.
109.______________
_________________________________________
2001
“Look, there are the smugglers!” said Carrie.
110.______________
2002
“What are we going to do now?”
111.______________
2003/2004
“Get the police, Carrie. We’ll keep them busy
112.______________
here, won’t we, Simon?”
113.______________
2005
“You bet, Toby!”
114.______________
2006
Carrie crept out from behind the crates.
115.______________
2007
Suddenly there was a yell from the smugglers.
116.______________
2008
“Hey! What are you doing?”
117.______________
2009
Carrie started to run.
118.______________
2010
“Stop that girl!” shouted one of the men.
119._______________
2011/2012
Carrie froze. Toby jumped up and stood in
120._______________
2013
front of her. Simon jumped up and stood in
121._______________
2014
front of Toby. The two men from the inn
122._______________
2015
were running toward them. The others were
123._______________
carrying the box back onto the boat.
124._______________
_________________________________________
2201
2202/2203
2204
Suddenly there was a siren and a flashing
light as the police car raced down the wharf.
125._______________
“Run!” yelled one of the men. He and his
126._______________
friend turned and headed for their van.
127._______________
Toby and Simon ran after them, and the
police car pulled up in front of the van,
2205
trapping it. Within seconds, Uncle Charles
and three police officers had leaped out of
the car and grabbed the men, while a police
launch came alongside the boat to stop it
128._______________
from leaving.
129._______________
2206
“Good work, kids,” said the police officer in
2207
charge. “We’ve been trying to catch these
130._______________
2208
smugglers for some time. You’ve saved a lot
131._______________
of birds from suffering at their hands.”
132._______________
2209
“But it’s lucky you left me a note-or there
would have been big trouble! added Uncle
Charles with a grin.
133._______________
________________________________________
2401
Visits to Uncle Charles are even more fun
2402
now. The police gave the parrots to the local
134._______________
zoo, and the children visit them every year.
135._______________
2403
The parrots seem to remember the trio.
136._______________
2404
Whenever Carrie, Simon, and Toby go inside
the big aviary, the birds fly up to them,
perch on their shoulders, and say, “!Muchas
gracias! !Muchas gracias!”
137._______________