The Pirates Next Door

Matilda is way too curious. As she tries to take a look inside the pirates' ship, she sets it loose, and the Black Hole goes all the way down the street… until it crashes into the school. To make matters worse, Grandpa is still inside, and he is furious. He starts bombing the town with his cannons, and makes it impossible for anyone, even Jim, to come close. For Mrs. Bevan, it's the last straw.

Jim and his family seem to have fallen victim to a curse, and decide to go back to sea. If not, they are in danger of being turned into "landlubbers" just like their house, which is magically cleaned and nicely decorated in their absence. Matilda doesn't believe in this so-called curse and sets out with a "scared-but-not-admitting-it" Jim to expose the fraud… For there is a Mrs.

Matilda and Jim discover an old parchment stating that because one of Brent's ancestors saved the life of Jim's great-great-great-grandfather, the Jolley-Rogers can never refuse anything to a Winner and this applies for all eternity. This is a gift for Brent, who seizes the document and tries to make Jim his slave.

Jim sets sail with the VPMs (for "Valiant 'Prentice Mariners"), Ted Winner's little sailors But he is quickly disillusioned: Ted bosses everyone around. This has nothing to do with sailing like pirates do. For her part, Matilda is kept at home, bored stiff… How she wishes she could join Jim on the sea. Until she learns of an approaching storm. She has to warn Jim. But first, she has to escape.

During an assignment on ancestry, Jim discovers that he is not descended from the infamous Rackham Red Blood, but from Francis Flunky, an expert on etiquette. Devastated as he is by the awful news, Jim refuses to become a usurper. He determines to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious forebear by turning into a model boy: he becomes the most insipid little boy, taking lessons from Mrs.

Matilda has to apologize to Grandpa for stepping once again on the Black Hole. She offers him an inkwell and a nice quill to write his memoirs. Alas. Squawk sees the quill and thinks Grandpa is cheating on him with another chick. A huge quarrel happens and the jealous bird leaves the ship in a huff.

Jim has found buried booty… again. Matilda, Max and Alexia are impressed, but also kind of envious. They too would like to find a treasure, like real pirates. "All-righty." It's decided, Jim is going to make them pass their "maiden treasure hunt", and gets a map from Grandpa: the map to Captain Barbarossa's famous booty.

To everyone's surprise, Brent is elected as class rep and makes school a living hell for the children. In Miss Green's absence, he turns into a real tyrant, promotes the twins, gives unfair punishments, and has everyone go through their worst PE class. While Matilda thinks there is not much that can be done (that's democracy after all), Jim is ready to overthrow the dictatorship.

Nugget comes back from school with a drawing of a beautiful mermaid. Jim laughs: mermaids aren't like that at all. He knows, for he has seen plenty of them when the family was sailing the seas. This, of course, terribly vexes Nugget. She doesn't even listen to Matilda who says mermaids do not exist.

The Jolley-Rogers, who seemed to finally be doing so well among the landlubbers, are suddenly talking gibberish. Matilda does not understand Jim anymore. Is that a case of Pirate Black Fever. Mrs. Bevan certainly thinks so, and spreads the rumour of an epidemic.

Mrs. Bevan makes a new rule to banish any ostentatious sign of piracy. Jim's wooden cutlass and jolly-roger are confiscated. He can count on Matilda to fight back, but Bevan is on fire: she extends her rule to every child in town. No more noises, no more playing in the streets, no more rude manners, as those are all deemed "signs of piracy".

Pirate code, landlubber law: in one, you take what you need, and it's yours. In the other… it's a little more complicated. The Jolley-Rogers find this out as all their belongings are seized, to pay for Jim and Matilda's last blunder: destroying Ted Winner's prize ship. The pirate family is left with no roof on their heads.

Miss Green gives the kids an assignment: they'll spend the day with an adult to discover their job. Matilda, of course, jumps at the chance to work with Grandpa, while Jim is excited to be with the bobby. "Police work must be thrilling, right. Like an adventure." But Grandpa is not pleased at all to have an intern (and no you won't set foot on the ship, young lady.

Matilda is dejected. She is going to miss the sea trip because Jim has caught some illness. And the way the pirates treat illness is… let's say it's "colourful". Ground cod viscera, fermented jellyfish… and when nothing works, all that is left is to replace one's leg with a wooden leg. Matilda quickly steps in: how about Jim sees a doctor before it comes to that. "A DOCTOR..

Matilda accidentally sends a cannonball in Mrs. Bevan's garden and scrapes the poor Peterkins. Bevan gets mad at the kids and accuses them of having disfigured her beloved garden gnome. The kids try to calm her down and hypnotise her, not meaning to… and Bevan begins to act as she was an actual pirate.

Matilda is upset: all the books about piracy have mysteriously disappeared from the town and this time, it's not Bevan's fault. Pirate stories then disappear from television. Matilda can't even find books at her neighbors, for pirates have an oral tradition. She is delighted: that's it. She'll write down the Jolley-Rogers' stories… but it's an impossible task.

Jim and his family are commanded by the Brethren of the Coast to offer a booty for the Pirate Communal Fund, or else… they won't be pirates anymore. Jim, Nugget and Matilda decide to take care of it.

Matilda is completely obsessed by her school marks and isn't spending enough time with Jim because of it. The boy tries to show her that you learn just as much at "corsair college" as you do at school: not only is it fun, they also teach you essential things, like looking for treasure or surviving in the wild.

Jim, Matilda and their friends can't stand Mrs. Bevan's rules any longer. But the kids discover that she is hiding a shameful secret… Jim doesn't think twice: he uses it against her, and threatens to expose her, unless… she leaves them in peace. And it works. It works so well that Mrs. Bevan wants to leave Dull-on-Sea forever. Uh-oh, that wasn't the plan.

Dull-on-Sea is ready to greet the tourists who'll fuel it during the holiday season. Jim has no idea what a tourist is, but sure is excited to find out. Only… no one is coming.. This year, the neighbour town of Blues-Beach has a new ride that attracts everyone. It's a hard one on Dull-on-Sea. "But wait." Matilda says. "Isn't there a way to bring the tourists back, with a better attraction.

Jim accidentally saves Mrs. Bevan from being run over. And the news soon spreads through the whole city. From now on, Jim is considered a real hero, while Matilda, who did nothing, is treated as the worst coward ever. After several attempts to reverse the trend, nothing has changed: Matilda is condemned to community service, while Jim, followed by his fans, is going to get a medal. Oh hell no.

Matilda digs and finds a treasure chest before Jim. She opens it despite the fact that the little pirate has a bad feeling about it… and finds a parchment which triggers a curse on whoever reads it. She has to do everything written on the list Grandpa gives her to counter it and quick. Matilda doesn't believe a word of it, and Jim is vexed: pirate curses are not to be trifled with.

When Nugget wants to become Captain of the shack, Jim disagrees: HE is the captain. Besides, she is too young. Furious, Nugget decides to build her own crew, the one condition: this is war. With collateral damages… : Matilda's life becomes hell as she is caught in the feud between brother and sister. Nugget eventually recruits Brent and the twins… to better ruin Jim and his crew's lives.

Matilda would so love to try fencing with Jim's cutlass, Roast-Spit. But he flat out refuses: Roast-Spit is a family heirloom and he can't be separated from it. And that's when Brent steals it from him… Brent becomes the new "pirate" in town, while Jim loses all confidence and is unable to do anything. He becomes a real coward, and Brent is adopted by Grandpa, who decides to raise him a pirate.

Since Jim now lives on land, he doesn't see his father often. When you live on the sea, you're always together, but not here. So his dad comes to hang out with him, to Jim's great delight… but it doesn't really make his friends happy. For landlubbers, hanging out with your dad, is… a bit lame. You don't do that. Especially when that dad is a big, hulking sailor who ruins all your games.