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Chapter Two

“We’ll have to get rid of them!” said Neptune.
The parrots were holding a meeting in the trees. Down on the beach, the pirates

were busy sawing and hammering as they mended the Seaslug.

Captain Snatchit was yelling as usual.
“Hurry up and chop more wood, you rotten radishes! Build me a cabin! Cook me

a monkey!”
Half a dozen pirates dashed into the forest and began to chop down trees. Luckily,

the monkeys had already vanished to the far end of the island.

So the Captain had to eat pilchards and ship’s biscuit for his tea. It did not
improve his temper. Even Neptune blushed to hear his curses.

“We’ve got to drive away these awful pirates!” he squawked.
“Don’t worry. We’ll do the same as we did last time,” said Monu, the oldest

parrot. “We’ll shriek and swear at them until we frighten them away.”
“That won’t work!” groaned Neptune. “Captain Snatchit knows it was me who

taught you how to swear. He won’t fall for it a second time.”

“Then we’ll scupper the pirates’ boat,” said Monu. “We’ll fill it with holes so it’ll
never sail again.”

“That won’t work either!” squealed Neptune unhappily. “If we do that, they’ll
never leave! We’ll be stuck with them for ever!”

“Anyway, we can’t peck holes in a boat,” Liana added. “It took cannonballs to

sink it last time. We don’t have any cannons – but they do!”
Monu shrugged. “Then we’ll let the pirates mend their boat, and sail away.”

“Don’t you understand?” shrieked Neptune. “They’ll keep coming back! This is
their pirate base now! Shiver me timbers and swallow a squid. We’re really stuck!”

He began to jump up and down on his perch and flap his wings in his dismay.

“Calm down, Neptune,” Liana said. “You solved the pirate problem for us last
time. You can do it again.”

“How?”
“Well, let me see...You must have met lots of human women and children on your

travels,” she said.