Eden and Lucy walked down to the lake in their pirate costumes, Eden carrying their picnic tea in a small basket (pirate booty, as she called it), while Lucy hefted a stoneware jug of lemonade (which of course was pirate grog).

Eden had a black patch over one eye, her big black coat, to which she had attached some gold braid, sea boots, a false beard, and an old blue velvet hat of Nurse Melia's, which had a long feather set at a rakish angle.

Lucy had a red spotted kerchief over her head, patches sewn on her breeches, buckled shoes, a moustache painted on her upper lip with burnt cork, and an old red silk shawl of Nurse May's tied around her waist.

It must be revealed that the two nurses had not been asked permission for their items, since they were in the village, but Eden and Lucy felt sure that they would have given it, had it been requested. It came to much the same thing, they believed.

Also, they had taken brass curtain rings from Eden's sitting room curtains to use as earrings, but had regretted it almost instantly. The curtain rings hurt their ears, and they had put them back with a sense of quiet, unrewarded virtue.

They met King Meriadoc, who took one look at them, and gave an exaggerated leap backwards, shielding his face.

"Neptune's beard, who are these desperate characters that so boldly traverse this domain?" he wondered in dramatic fashion.

"Arr, I be Captain Blackhart, the terror of the high seas!" proclaimed Eden, while Lucy said, "And my name is Don Inigo Malvado, the most ruthless privateer on the Castilian Main."

"Please sirs, I am but a humble skipper," said King Meriadoc . "I have no cargo, and crave safe passage from you so that I may parley with my confederate Togi, on Sheep Island."

"I grant my permission," Eden said loftily, while Lucy said in rather unpiractical fashion, "Go in peace, with our blessing, Senor Skipper."

"Pax, pax," Meriadoc said, holding up his hands in submission. "Now girls, what game are you up to now?"

"Playing pirates," said Eden, and Lucy added, "On the lake."

"What's our watchword?" Meriadoc asked seriously.

"Safety at sea, Captain!" said Eden promptly, with a smart salute.

"That's right," said Meriadoc. "Can you swim, Lucy?"

"I can do about six strokes in a row," Lucy said, "and I can float and tread water."

"That's sounds alright," said Meriadoc, after a moment's thought. "But if you're going to be doing anything risky, please stay in the shallows, or even with the boat tied up to the jetty."

Both girls agreed, and went to the Boudicca, which had been prepared for sailing, although there was as yet no wind. They saw King Meriadoc talking to the boat master before he left for the stables, and they had an idea Lowern might have been told to keep an eye on them.

Lucy and Eden couldn't actually see Lowern anywhere, but there was something about feeling that they may be under supervision while they played that took away a lot of the fun. However, Lucy pretended to be the ship's captain, and Pirate Eden boarded her, upon which they had quite a satisfying battle, using long sticks for swords, which clattered against each other as they parried and lunged.

There was little danger of either of them falling out of the boat, and that is perhaps why the sword fight eventually flagged. It was Eden who came up with the obvious suggestion for enlivening proceedings – walking the plank. They couldn't put a plank over the side of Boudicca that would be safe to walk on, so Eden said they would step over the side of the boat and use the jetty.

Eden went first, transforming herself from the terror of the high seas by removing her coat, beard, boots, and Nurse Melia's hat. Now Eden was just a simple sailor, Don Inigo Malvado forced her to walk the plank by prodding her with the end of a stick.

Eden skipped across, winked at Lucy over her shoulder, then gave a beautiful little header off the side of the jetty, coming up laughing and shaking her wet hair out of her eyes.

"Your turn now!" she called.

Lucy likewise transformed herself by removing her kerchief, shoes, and Nurse May's scarf. Eden (now the terror of the high seas again, if a rather damp one), poked a stick threateningly at Lucy, who shuffled across the jetty, looked searchingly at the water, then crouched down, held her nose, and dropped into the lake like a stone.

Eden jumped in to help her, in the interest of safety at sea, just as Lucy bobbed up again, gasping for air, but able to tread water, and also able to dunk Eden's head under the water. Eden pulled Lucy's legs, and it didn't take long before the girls were wrestling in the lake under the jetty, giving little shrieks and uttering dire threats that were soon cut off with wet splutters.

And then Lucy felt something slide against her ankle, and against her bare calves, and she looked down. And then she screamed – a long, high screech that Togi could surely hear up in the fells – and threw her arms around Eden's neck in supplication.

"Snake!" she screamed.