The Polar Bear Explorers' Club by Alex Bell (books for 8th graders TXT) 📕

‘I don’t like the look of it either,’ Stella told her.

‘This must be what Captain Ajax was talking about before,’ Shay said, peering into one of the cabinets. ‘He said the convict ship took the thieves to the prisoner colonies, and then sailed around returning all the stolen loot.’

‘I guess he decided to just leave it all here when the ship got trapped in the ice,’ Stella said. ‘Most of this stuff doesn’t look like it would be much use in the Icelands. It’s no wonder this ship was doomed – I’ve never seen so many cursed objects in one place before.’ There was even a tiny mummy wrapped in dirty bandages inside a broken sarcophagus. It was far too small to be human – only a few inches long.

‘Hey, look at this!’ Shay exclaimed.

Stella turned and joined the others. They were bending over what appeared to be the smallest volcano Stella had ever seen.

‘It’s a baby volcano from Volcano Island!’ Shay said. ‘We should take this with us – it’ll be far easier than trying to make a fire out of wet logs. All you do is shake it.’

It looked extremely heavy, but Shay just about managed to pick up the mini volcano with both hands, and then gave it a good shake. He set it back down on the floor and it instantly glowed red-hot, little trickles of lava spilling out over the top and tiny red sparks shooting out like miniature fireworks.

‘But do you think we ought to take anything?’ Beanie said. ‘Isn’t it stealing?’

‘Not really,’ Ethan replied. ‘This stuff has been abandoned. It can’t be returned to its owners now anyway. I say if there’s anything that might come in handy on the expedition, we nab it.’

‘But no cursed objects,’ Stella said. She didn’t like the snarling expression on that hyena and wouldn’t trust it not to bite her in her sleep.

‘No, definitely no cursed objects,’ Shay agreed. ‘Nobody wants to wake up to find a stuffed hyena trying to gnaw through their boots.’

They had a poke around the rest of the room and found a single book chained to a table, a gigantic diamond, and even a trunk filled with teeth.

‘Why would anyone steal teeth?’ Beanie peered into the trunk, bemused.

‘Perhaps they stole money from the tooth fairy and it all turned back into teeth?’ Stella said.

Ethan half-heartedly suggested that they take the diamond with them, since it really was massive, and would make a fine addition to either of their clubs. But Shay pointed out that it would be impossible for the two clubs to share the diamond and, more importantly, it was housed in the Cursed Objects cabinet, which probably meant that they shouldn’t even so much as look at it. Everyone knew that precious jewels like diamonds were amongst the most deadly of cursed objects, so they left the sparkling thing where it was. It was time to be on their way.

‘Come on, Beanie,’ Stella called to her friend who, for some reason, was rummaging around in a chest of clothes over in the corner. ‘We’re leaving.’

Beanie straightened up and turned around with a dress in his hands. It was the most fiendishly ugly garment Stella had ever seen in her life – a weird shade of brown with awful-looking giant flowers printed all over it. ‘Do you think Moira would like this?’ he asked.

‘Your cousin?’ Stella pulled a face. ‘Who cares?’

‘Mum says it’s nice to bring family members back presents when you go adventuring,’ Beanie said. ‘I thought if I picked a nice party dress for Moira then she might change her mind about coming to my next birthday party?’

‘Beanie, forget about Moira. She’s really mean, and you’re better off not having her at your party anyway.’

‘Oh.’ Beanie frowned but put the dress back. Then he grabbed something else up from the chest and tapped Ethan on the shoulder. He held up a pair of pink satin ballet slippers. ‘Would you like these?’ he asked.

The magician stared at him. ‘What would I want with a pair of ballet slippers?’

‘I just thought you might like to practise your pirouettes and things,’ Beanie said. ‘That’s what ballerinas do, isn’t it?’

Ethan groaned. ‘For the last time,’ he said, ‘I am not a ballerina.’

‘Why did you say you were, then?’ Beanie asked, genuinely puzzled. ‘Back in the tunnel you said—’

‘I was being sarcastic!’

‘Oh. I don’t really understand sarcasm. Mum says it’s something people do when they’re not as clever as they think they are.’ He looked from Ethan to the slippers and back again. ‘So do you want these or not?’ he asked.

‘No!’ Ethan snatched the slippers from Beanie’s hand and tossed them into the corner. Unfortunately, this upset a teetering pile of jewellery boxes, which went tumbling to the floor where they burst open. There was quite a din as precious rings, bracelets, tiaras and trinkets rolled across the floor, sending white sparkles of light shooting out all over the place. One of the boxes was also a music box and began playing a tinkling, highly irritating tune the moment it opened. A tiny princess spun round and round inside until Stella shut the lid with a snap. Everyone looked at Ethan.

‘What?’ he said defensively.

‘Come on,’ Shay turned away, Koa at his heels. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

They set off towards the door. And then froze. There had been nothing there just a moment before, but now a long, strange, stringy sort of plant sat there in a pot, blocking the way.

‘What the heck is that?’ Ethan said.

‘It wasn’t there before, was it?’ Beanie asked.

‘It must have been,’ Stella replied. ‘Potted plants can’t move around on their own, can they?’

They cautiously took a few steps closer to it. A low growl started in the back of Koa’s throat.

‘I’ve just remembered something Dad told me about once,’ Shay said slowly. ‘Has anyone ever heard of the Valley of Carnivorous Plants? The carnivorous plants there, they, um … they’re supposed to be