I roll out of my hammock and rush onto the deck. Cold air hits my face, and I see that we’re much closer to the End. The mountains rise up on the horizon. Dark shadows stretch down their sides and their snowy peaks look like the icing on a Christmas cake. It won’t be long until we reach them.

The Bowt lurches to one side and I grab hold of a rope to stop myself from falling. Rose and Win are at the helm fighting over who gets to steer. Eric is watching them. He shakes his striped head and scowls.

“You’re making it bumpy,” says Rose. “Let me steer!” She’s wearing her hat and has a wide leather belt tied around her onesie. Tucked into the belt is what looks like a wooden cutlass.

“But it’s been your turn for ages,” complains Win.

I go over to join them. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“We didn’t need to,” says Rose. “Eric and Danny did the whole watch. It turns out honey badgers are tough.”

“Yeah, but they’re rubbish at climbing,” says Win. “They’ve already sent me up and down the rigging about twenty times.”

I think back to my pirate ships that were briefly in Roar. My crews were always made up of monkeys and apes, and lots of them. I mention this to Rose, but she insists that honey badgers make “the perfect crewmates.” She seems to have forgotten that she chose them randomly and that Eric and Danny could just have easily been gerbils or seagulls.

“What can I do?” I say, rubbing my hands, eager to get involved. “Shall I climb up to the crow’s nest and be lookout?” I glance at the basket perched at the top of a mast. I’m determined not to let my fear of heights stop me from getting up there.

“No,” says Rose. “You can go and clean up the galley. There’s porridge all over the place.”

“That was me,” says Win with a grin. “I hit a wave head on. Bang! Porridge and badgers everywhere!”

It turns out porridge dries hard and it takes me ages to tidy up. When I go back on deck the badgers get me climbing the rope ladders. At first I’m slow, but I soon learn that if I hold on tight and move with the swaying of the ship, I’m not going to fall. It’s not long before I’m scampering around with Win, and eventually Rose sends us up to the crow’s nest.

It’s brilliant. We’re so high up and we have a perfect view of the mountains. We take it in turns to look through Win’s telescope, eat rocky road, and try out our best piratical words.

“Arthur, you scabby old sea bass, I’ve got a terrible thirst on me,” says Win.