A bit later King Harry yelled, ‘OK, you dirty pirates, came and get us!’
The three pirates rushed out from behind the rock.
They ran across the drawbridge. The doors opened.
The pirates stopped. There in front of them was a cleaning lady. She was armed only with a duster.
‘This is going to be easy,’ said the first pirate.
The pirates raced forward. The cleaning lady was really Captain Smith and he pulled his duster to one side.
Beneath it was the royal shield.
It was so shiny that the pirates were dazzled. They hid their eyes.
They did not see the floor that Captain Jones had polished.
‘Help!’ yelled the pirates as they skidded on the slippery floor.
They slid down the hall, straight into the bathroom.
The three pirates landed in a lovely hot, soapy bath.
Before they had time to say, ‘Ahoy there,’ they were being scrubbed and soaped.
‘OW!’
‘Hold still!’
The pirates wiped the soap out of their eyes. They saw King Harry, Captain Smith and Captain Jones dressed as cleaning ladies and holding up mirrors.
‘Oh no,’ said the first pirate.
‘We’re clean.’
King Harry was holding a camera.
‘Please don’t take our picture,’ said the pirates.
‘It’s would be terrible if other pirates found out. Please we’d do anything.’
‘You have wasted a lot of our time,’ said King Harry.
‘Now, put these aprons on. You can help with the cleaning.’
‘Cleaning?’ said the pirates.
‘Yes,’ said King Harry, ‘Or I’ll take your picture.’
Soon, the King and his captains and the three pirates were all scrubbing away at the castle wall.
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