Are brave men always friendly and polite? Are strong, clever men always kind? No, not always. Sometimes in a story, it’s difficult to decide who is good and who is bad, who is right and who is wrong. This is a story like that.
Captain William Bligh and Lieutenant Fletcher Christian were officers on the ship HMS Bounty. In 1787 they sailed halfway around the world together – from England to Tahiti. Then they argued. Fletcher was so angry with Bligh that he left him in a small boat, with 19 men, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Perhaps Bligh was a cruel, hard man. But he was also very brave, and a wonderful sailor. He sailed that small boat 7,000 kilometres, in 41 days, and only one man died.
But what about Christian? Well, he sailed the Bounty to a Pacific island, and tried to start a new life there. He and his men were happy there, but they were afraid too. Every night they worried about something. ‘Maybe one day, another English ship will come to this island, and find us. What will happen to us then?’
This book gives you the answer.