The Curse of Snake Island Read Online Free Page A

sword. He leaped around and pretended to fight dangerous foes.
    Vicky and Gary joined him. The three of them took off down the path. They swatted at bugs and leaves and yelled like real pirates.
    Then, all of a sudden, something swatted back!
    BOMP!
    It swatted Gary right on the forehead. He tumbled backward into a mud puddle.
    I rushed toward him with the torch. I came face-to-face with a brown, slimy, dripping mess of a monster!
    I almost screamed, but it was only Gary.
    â€œSomething hit me,” he said, rubbing his forehead.
    â€œWhat is it? I don’t want to look,” Inna said, peeking through her fingers, which were covering her eyes.
    I shined the torch in front of me. I saw what had struck Gary. It was a huge rock.
    â€œLooks like Gary got attacked by a wall!” Aaron joked.
    I looked closer. There was a snake carved on the wall. It pointed to the side. I took a few steps.
    â€œAVAST!” I shouted. “It’s not just any rock. It’s the entrance to the giant snake’s cave . . . and to the treasure.”

    I jumped up and down.
    â€œGreat job, Gary!” I patted him on the back.
    â€œI did a great job?” Gary asked.
    â€œAye, you found the cave,” I told him.
    â€œI did?” he asked. Then he looked up. “I guess I did!” he said with a big smile.
    â€œWhat do we do now?” Vicky asked.
    Inna looked at the map. “ ‘Follow the cave if you dare; beware the snake’s deadly stare!’ ” she read.
    The words made us shiver.
    â€œWe either go forward like pirates, or go back like scallywags,” I said. Then I took a step forward.
    Everyone followed.
    â€œStick together,” I whispered as we all headed into the cave. I couldn’t be certain, but I thought I heard a slithering sound echoing in front of us.

Chapter 8
    X Marks the Spot
    â€œArrr! I told you that curse was silly,” Aaron said as we made our way deeper into the cave.
    So far, we hadn’t seen any giant snakes. We did see little snakes. Okay, we saw lots of little snakes. But we saw exactly zero giant ones. And I had to let Inna hold onto the back of my shirt and guide her. She absolutely, positively refused to open her eyes.
    â€œWe must be getting close,” I said.
    The X on the map was only two hundred paces from the start of the cave. That meant it would be double for us, since our paces were kid paces. I tried to keep count, but pirates aren’t too good at counting. Most pirates can only count to ten. Still, I knew we had to be close.
    I walked faster.
    There was no sign of the giant snake. So there was no reason to go slowly and carefully. “Come on, mateys! Let’s make sure we beat Rotten Tooth there so we can see the look on his face.”
    I hurried as fast as I could with Inna tugging my shirt behind me. There was a turn ahead. I had a good feeling about it. I dashed around the corner. “There it is!”
    I couldn’t even believe my eyes!
    I gulped.
    In front of me was the biggest, tallest, most giant . . . pile of treasure I’d ever seen in my whole life!
    â€œBLIMEY!” I shouted. I was so happy that I danced around. I didn’t even care that pirates aren’t supposed to dance.
    Aaron ran at the mountain of gold coins and dove in just like he was diving into the ocean. Vicky tossed the coins around like she was splashing in the waves.

    Inna still had her eyes covered.
    â€œLook, Inna! We found the treasure. There’s even jewelry,” I told her. Inna loved jewelry!
    â€œAre you sure it’s safe to look?” she asked.
    â€œSure I’m sure,” I told her.
    Then Inna took her hands away from her face and opened her eyes. Her eyes got real wide and her mouth fell open. I couldn’t blame her; it sure was quite a treasure.
    But then it was my turn to bring my hands up to cover something. Only I was covering my ears, because Inna started screaming at the top of her lungs.
    Then