Author:  Stewart, Paul, Riddell, Chris 
Interest age: from c 7 years
Published on 7 April 2005 by Penguin Random House Children's UK (Yearling (imprint of Random House Children's Books) in the United States as part of 'the Far-flung Adventures' series.

Paperback | 240 pages
177 x 130 x 16 | 158g
FERGUS CRANE! YOU ARE IN GREAT DANGER! I AM SENDING HELP. Signed T. C., your long-lost Uncle TheoFergus Crane has an almost ordinary life - having lessons taught by rather odd teachers on the school ship Betty Jeanne, helping his mother in the bakery. But then a mysterious flying box appears at the window of his waterfront home - and Fergus is plunged headlong into an exciting adventure! The box is followed by a winged mechanical horse that whisks him off to meet his long-lost uncle and his penguin helpers, Finn, Bill and Jackson. Fergus finds out that his teachers are not quite what they seem - they're actually pirates! Can Fergus and his winged horse save his schoolmates from the far-off Fire Island? And who else will he find there...?