said Bart with a grin. “Two whole days and two whole nights!” Jez beamed. Together, the young pirates cried, “Shore leave!” before high-fiving each other, low-fiving each other, and whooping. Their friend Connor Tempest shook his head with a grin. At fourteen years old, he was one of the youngest pirates on board their ship, The Diablo—but that didn’t stop his friends from wanting to lead him astray at every opportunity. He knew how excited they were to have shore leave, in spite of being dedicated members of Molucco Wrathe’s crew. “There’s only one thing better than being a pirate on a pirate ship,” Jez had declared as they’d sailed away from The Diablo a few hours earlier, “and that’s being a pirate on shore leave with time on his hands and gold in his purse!” Neither Jez nor Bart had stopped grinning since they’d set off from The Diablo in the small boat. Now Connor calmly steered them into a cove crowded with ships, while Bart and Jez jumped up and down like excited kids, causing their craft to rock dangerously.
