They were so busy looking at all the diamonds that they didn’t notice Rosa and Nutmeg creeping out from behind the trees. Rosa wrinkled her nose as she edged into the crowd. It wasn’t very pleasant being so close to the pirates. They smelt as if they hadn’t washed for a long time. The mouse pirates’ fur was greasy and the human pirates had grubby skin. They were all very loud, shouting over the top of each other and elbowing each other out of the way as they plunged their hands and paws into the diamonds. “We’d better get this chest back to the captain,” said one of the mice. Shutting the lid, they started to heave at the chest. Rosa and Nutmeg joined in. “You, boy!” snapped a voice. Rosa froze and looked round. A mouse pirate with an eye patch was pointing at her. Had he realised that she wasn’t part of the crew? “M … me?” she stammered. “Yes, you! I don’t recognise you.” He frowned at Nutmeg. “Or you!” His frown deepened. Rosa had never thought so fast in her life.
