When a pair of unruly fictional pirates escape out of their book into Victorian London 11-year-old Odelia Hardluck-Smythe's lonely life is turned upside down. Captain Blunderfuss and Cook are rude dangerous and obsessed with marzipan fruits but they could be the answer to all her prayers. Pirates mean treasure and poor fatherless Odelia could really do with some of that. Unfortunately there's more to treasure than buried chests of rubies and diamonds as Odelia's about to discover the hard way . . .