⚒ STOP 6 OF 11 ⚒
Chapter 7 — End of the Race
📍 Callao, PeruThe Lady Wilma sails into the Bay of Callao, Peru, and Jack counts thirty-one ships at anchor — but the one he’s looking for, the Sea Raven, isn’t there. “Loaded up and skedaddled!” grumbles Captain Swain. The rival ship had already refueled and left.
After months at sea, though, nobody can stay grumpy for long. The sailors look at the sunny little town “as if it were Paris or London” and can’t wait to get ashore.
Fleischman captures the joy of solid ground perfectly. Jack “had almost forgotten the smell of dust in his nostrils.” Praiseworthy “breathed it in like perfume.” They ride mules around the streets, and the whole day feels like a picnic.
In the distance, Fleischman writes, the great Andes rose like painted scenery — the longest mountain range in the world, towering over the port.
The great Andes rose like painted scenery…
— By the Great Horn Spoon!, Chapter 7
Two shipmates — Mr. Azariah Jones the Yankee trader, and Monsieur Gaunt the French farmer — each proudly track down Jack and Praiseworthy to give them a gift: a pick, a shovel, and a washpan. Each man swears HE bought “the last ones left in town.” Then they spot each other and start glaring.
It’s a great gag — but it’s also true history. The Gold Rush had emptied the shelves of mining tools all up and down the Pacific coast. Everyone heading to California needed the same gear, so picks and shovels became precious and pricey. Jack and Praiseworthy now have TWO sets, and Praiseworthy figures they’re “bound to bring us luck.”
Here’s the twist that makes the whole race worthwhile. Earlier in the voyage, the Lady Wilma stopped to help a ship in distress, towing it for days — which seemed to put them hopelessly behind.
But that good deed quietly paid off. When the Lady Wilma finally rounds into open water, the crew spots the Sea Raven — and she’s BEHIND them. They’ve won. Sometimes the longer, kinder road turns out to be the faster one.
Flip the captain’s three big choices and watch the ships move. Can you find the choice that puts the Lady Wilma ahead?
Jack and Praiseworthy have been at sea for MONTHS. Now they’re riding mules through a sunny town with the Andes in the distance. Write a few sentences about the first thing YOU would want to do after months stuck on a ship — and why. (Praiseworthy “breathed in the dust like perfume.” What would you breathe in?)