lighthouse keeper So far he had invented the wheel electricity ice cream and glow-in-the-dark paint and had been very disappointed to discover that somebody had already invented them all He was now working on a top-secret new invention Tat had told Jamie he thought it had something to do with glue The ship had been due to dock in Little Snoring a few days earlier and was already late because of bad weather Jamie was worried they might not arrive in time for the Little Snoring Junior Costume Dance He already had his costume made and had hidden it under his bunk in his cabin He was planning to go as the vengeful ghost of Captain Syd He hoped to scare everyone witless
But before they reached Little Snoring he was hopeful that he might redeem himself with The Good Hope’s crew So when he heard a strange noise coming from somewhere out at sea he tried to forget his queasy belly and be as alert as possible He looked through the telescope and saw a shark zigzagging its way across the ocean toward the ship The shark appeared to be in some distress but the really odd thing was the noises coming from it Jamie listened hard There was no doubt he could hear it clearly
This was no ordinary shark it was a talking shark It was also hiccuping very loudly Talking hiccuping shark ahoy shouted Jamie The captain of the trawler was so surprised that Jamie had spotted anything at all that she put the brakes on a bit too hard and the boat skidded so sharply to the left that everyone fell except Jamie who was clinging to the mast very tightly The whole crew counted to ten because in the hold they had a small cargo of dynamite that they were transporting to the Greater Snoring quarry which was run by the trawler skipper’s brother But there was no explosion and everyone heaved a sigh of relief Jamie clambered down the mast and
joined the captain and the rest of the crew who were rubbing their squashed noses and staring over the side of the boat at the shark There a strange sight met their eyes
