Page 4 - My FlipBook

Neptune had always been a pirate’s parrot. He’d sailed the high seas ever since he

was a chick.
Captain Snatchit gave him nothing to eat but maggoty ship’s biscuits; and taught

him no words except horrible threats and curses. It wasn’t much of a life for a parrot.
But it was the only life that Neptune had ever known.

Now he watched the distant ship draw nearer and nearer. It was the biggest ship

he’d ever seen.
“Stone the crows!” he squawked. “It’s a blinking, stinking monster!”

“Excellent,” growled Captain Snatchit. “All the more loot for us to snatch!”
“Stone the ravens,” gasped Neptune. “It’s got a thousand blinking, stinking

sailors!”

“Excellent,” roared Captain Snatchit. “All the more men for us to rob!”
Neptune stared at the ship. Beneath his feathers, he turned pale. “Stone the

albatross,” he screeched. “It’s got a hundred blinking, stinking cannons!”
“Shut up, you lily-livered bird-brain!” bellowed Captain Snatchit. “Men – get

ready to attack!”
The pirates grabbed their cutlasses and pistols. They waved them wildly, roaring

dreadful oaths.

“Wait!” screamed Neptune. “Stop! Turn round! It’s a scabby battleship!”
But nobody could hear Neptune.

All of a sudden, there was a BOOM! Cannon-fire roared out like thunder. Smoke
billowed from the cannons on the battleship.

CRUNCH! went the Seaslug. It had been hit by a hundred cannonballs.

BOOM! went the cannons a second time.
SPLOSH! went a dozen pirates into the sea.

“Man the scabby lifeboat!” shouted Captain Snatchit. “Jump to it, you gormless
guppies!”

The remaining pirates barged into each other as they scrambled to the lifeboat.

BOOM! went the cannons for a third time.
SNAP! went the tallest mast. Neptune was nearly thrown into the surging ocean.

The waves leapt up to grasp him. Just in time, he managed to flap upwards and away.
The cannons were still booming. The Seaslug was sinking fast. Captain Snatchit

and his pirates all squeezed into the lifeboat, cursing. They rowed away as swiftly as
they could.