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Chapter Four

Neptune was in despair.
He was a prisoner on the Seaslug 2. Captain Snatchit had thrown him down

through a trapdoor and shut him in the hold with a thousand dead fish.

It was very dark in there, and very stinky. The fish smelt even worse than Captain
Snatchit did.

But even more unpleasant than the dead fish were the crabs. They were very much
alive – and in a dreadful temper. Usually the fishermen threw them back into the sea.

They did not like being stuck in the hold. They crawled angrily around and nipped at

Neptune’s toes.
“Get off, you scabby crabbies!” he yelped.

He huddled unhappily on top of the slimy heap of fish, and hid his head under his
wing in sorrow. How could he have thrown away his wonderful life on Parrot Island

for the sake of a maggoty ship’s biscuit?
Meanwhile, back on the island, Liana was dismayed. She had seen Neptune being

captured and carried to the Seaslug 2. Then the pirate ship had sailed away.

“We’ve got to rescue him!” she cried.
But the other parrots were doubtful.

“Do you think he wants to be rescued?” asked the oldest one, Monu.
“What do you mean?”

“Well, Neptune used to be a pirate. He talks pirate language. He loves pirate food.

And he’s always sitting in the treetops gazing out to sea,” Monu pointed out. “Maybe
he’s happier on board the pirate ship! After all, if he wanted to fly back here, he

could.”
They did not know that Neptune was shut in the ship’s hold. With a heavy heart,

Liana decided that Monu might be right.

“Maybe,” she said at last, “and maybe not. What if Neptune’s hurt and can’t fly?
At least we should go there and find out!”

The parrots agreed to this. They took off in a huge, brightly-coloured flock.
As they flew across the beach, Liana spotted the fishing net which the pirates had

left lying on the sand.
“Bring the net!” she cried. “If Neptune’s hurt, we can carry him in it.”