The empty mollusk shell said no more, leaving Chloe to wonder. What would she learn if she visited Buckingham Blue? Was there a secret weapon that would allow her to bring Fienmond's evil reign to an end?

She could not know, so she resolved to go to bed for the rest of the hours of the morning, sleeping off the dire straits she had been in last night.

That afternoon, when everyone awoke, Captain Abacab served the Whaleboat special!

"Flapjacks get yer flapjacks here!" he cried in his pink apron. He carried a stack of the delightfully syrupy morsels to the table where everyone (including Laura and John Lion sat at the table.)

Chloe was delighted to scarf down some good grub after so much fighting last night. But she was even more excited to hear what Ramone said. "According to the map, my Queen," he said in a prompt manner. "We are headed straight to the serpent's eye underpass where your village of *ahem* rapscallions is!"

Chloe, with her natural eye as bright as a yellow star, began to grin mischeviously. "At long last, my dream to crown myself queen of the pirates is in sight!"

"I hate to be the voice of reason," Rosemary muttered, her demon eye swiveling in Chloe's head. "Since I love nothing more than sheer chaos, but I believe we should get these scurvy dogs to help us in our fight against Fienmond. There's no other people who can help us now."

"Right!" Chloe grinned. "That too. But first, they will know who their leader truly is. I haven't read all those books on the golden age of piracy for nothing!"

"Ya know," Vinnie said, snacking on a flapjack. "Shouldn't we give one of these 'jacks to the big buff lady in the brig. She may be our enemy, but I can't stand to imagine a fine lady not havin' somethin to eat!"

Monica raised her eyebrows. "Wow, I did not know you were into those kind of women, senor."

Vinnie grinned and put his hands behind his head. "How now toots, a true gentleman is a gentleman to all kinds of ladies. Not just the ones he prefers!"

"Right," Chloe answered. "I'll go take one to her. After all, if she wasn't trying to kill us. Valcom would be my kinda lady!"

Chloe speared a flapjack and headed out to the brig. Much to her relief, it was a sunny day with skies as blue as the hue of heaven itself. Chloe walked herself over to the brig and looked down. Beneath a metal gate, Valcom sat as still as a marble statue. "Hey uh...big strong lady," Chloe said. "You may be a baddy, but I brought you something to eat!"

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"Save it..." Valcom said coldly. "I'm not accepting food from sea swine."

Chloe grimaced. "Do you know who I am? I was the queen of your country!"

"The former queen," Valcom responded. "Who vacated the throne to be among the lowest men on the ocean...pirates."

Chloe shook her head. "You got it wrong, big buff lady. Pirates are the best! You get unlimited freedom whereas when I was a stuffy queen, I could barely leave the palace."

"Unlimited freedom?" Valcom asked mockingly. "That's why you keep me locked up...I guess that's why you scoundrels keep me locked up."

Chloe was silent, but she slipped the flapjack through the bars. It landed with a plop at the bottom of the brig. "Eat it," she said. "Or not. I don't care, lady."

Valcom did not respond. Instead she was interupted by a loud "thar she blows!"

Chloe was shaken hard by Abacab. "Arrr! Lassy!" the crazy pirate captain cried. "Look over yonder!"

When Chloe craned her eyes, she indeed spotted the green and pink polka dotted tail of Captain Abacab's legendary whale. "Arrr mateys! Tis be a fateful day!" he cried and quickly grabbed a rope. With the talent of a sea horse cowboy he lassoed it hard and through it around the whale's tail.

"Wait a minute!" Chloe cried. But it was too late! The polka dotted whale began to swim away pulling the whole boat with it. Chloe and Abacab both fell to the floor of the boat as it began to zoom off.

"Gadzooks!" Ramone said running out to the deck. "What's going on? Why are we going so fast all of a sudden?"

"The captain found his whale!" Chloe shouted.

"Great!" Ramone said with a whimper as he clutched his head. "and I found my vertigo!"

There was madness in the Captain's eyes as he intently watched the whale. "At long last!" he shouted. "I will have my whale!"

Everyone held on for dear life as the whale traveled at top speeds across the ocean. Chloe was amazed a whale could even travel as fast as this one. They seemed to be traveling miles, but without warning, the whale started to buck with its tail. The whole boat began to bounce.

"Monicaaaa!" Vinnie cried as he held onto the railing. "Hold me!"

"What for?!" the beautiful swordswoman said. "You're already holding onto the railing."

Vinnie sighed. "Oh, I just wanted you to hold me!"

"Wheeee!" Laura cried, holding onto the rail beside them. "This is a really whale-o-coaster."

"At least, you're having fun!" Vinnie muttered.

The rope around the whale's polka dot tail began to loosen and suddenly, it slipped off, allowing the sea beast to escape beneath the waves.

"What tha..." Abacab cried as the boat finally came to a rest. "Wait...where are you going my whaley friend?!"

But the whale was gone and something Chloe never expected to see from the captain dripped from his eyes--tears. The captain dropped to his knees, raised up his hands and cried, "Noooooooo!"

Ramone turned to Chloe. "I know people call me a drama queen sometimes, but uh, isn't Abacab being a bit melodramatic about a whale?"

Abacab sniffed. "I made a promise to me grand daughter that'd I'd find that whale. I promised on me life. And I love her more than flapjacks themselves."

"But why do you need to find one?" Chloe asked.

"Arr..." Abacab growled, brushing the tears from his eyes. He turned around. "That be a story for another time. Because...we're here."

Chloe turned her head. At long last, they had arrived at the underpass. Her eyes glinted brightly. She was so close to being pirate queen she could taste it.