A whole week went by.
Vinnie and Mandy could not go to the attic.
Mom and Dad kept them busy all the time.
On Saturday morning, Vinnie and Mandy got their chance.
Vinnie woke his sister up.
It was still dark.
“What time is it?”
Mandy asked, rubbing her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter.
Come on,” Vinnie whispered.
The children crept up the stairs.
Mandy opened the photo album.
“Look at the Aztec photo,” she said.
Vinnie looked.
“Yeah, that’s us!” he said.
He shivered as he remembered their Aztec travels.
“Where will we go next?” he wondered aloud.
Mandy turned the page.
This time the old man stood in front of a very long ship.
The ship had a huge sail.
It glowed brightly.
Along the side of the ship were 16 large round plates.
They were glowing too.
“What is this?” Vinnie pulled the picture out.
He stared at the glowing photo.
“It looks like . . .” Mandy began.
She couldn’t finish her sentence.
The children fell into the dark tunnel.
“Ow!” grunted Vinnie as he landed on a wooden floor.
“Ugh!” groaned Mandy. “That hurt.
Where are we?”
The children sat up and looked around.
They were surrounded by wooden chests.
A chilly breeze brushed their faces.
They were rocking gently.
“I think we’re on a ship,” whispered Vinnie.
The ship suddenly moved up and down.
Vinnie lost his balance.
“Whoa!” he cried.
He fell backward, flinging his arms wildly.
“Ouch! You hit me,” said a voice.
A boy slowly sat up, rubbing his arm.
Startled, the children stared at him.
The boy’s fair hair and skin were dirty.
He wore a pair of dark pants, fur boots, and a wool cloak.
“Where did you come from?” the boy asked.
“We . . . " Vinnie struggled to answer.
Mandy got up and looked around.
They were on a large open boat.
There were many wooden benches along both sides of the ship.
About ten men were rowing gently with big oars.
Other men were sleeping on the benches, snoring loudly.
One very large man was snoring louder than all of them.
“Hey—you’re a girl!”
the boy suddenly said, staring at Mandy.
“So what?” Mandy replied loudly.
“Shh, be quiet,” said the boy.
“You’ll wake him up.”
“Who?” asked Mandy, turning quickly.
As she turned, she knocked over a bag.
It was on top of a barrel and full of iron nails.
The nails scattered loudly all over the wooden deck.
“Him?” Vinnie asked, pointing to the large man.
“Uh-oh, too late.
He’s already awake.”
The man stood up and pulled out a long sword.
“Who dares to board the Sleeping Dragon?” he growled.