On the Bolly Island
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Hi Pandas,
We bet your dying to know what happens at the end of that pirate story we told you about a few days ago…. Well, here is the second part.
Enjoy!
Simm located his little rowboat tied in the port next to the big pirate ship belonging to Captain Knut. His quietly slipped into his rowboat and paused for a moment. Which way was this strange, hidden, foggy island that the Captain used to hide his loot? He looked around and thanks to the bright stars he could see a faint fog lingering in the distance. There was fog nowhere else on the horizon so Simm thought that that must be the island.
In the distance a clap of thunder broke and Simm wished he were at home in his warm bed with the blanket over his head. But he had started this adventure and he had to finish it! He had to save those poor Bollys!
Simm was glad that the moon was shining bright but he had to be quick before the storm clouds covered it and the night sky got even darker. He started rowing, and sooner than he expected, he could see the shore of the island getting closer. He pulled his little boat onto the beach and looked around. It was still quite dark even though the full moon shone. Simm could just make out the silhouettes of some palm trees and started to head in their direction. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination but he thought he heard some noise coming from the trees.
As he got closer he heard a twittering kind of noise. At first, Simm thought it was pirates on guard of the treasure. His heart skipped a beat at this thought for he knew what his fate would be should pirates catch him near their treasure! But then, the twittering sound was so faint and sweet that Simm thought; “surely such a lovely sound could not be pirates! They only laugh raucously and say, Arrrrrrrrrr!”
So Simm ventured closer. Now he could hear twittering and a cheep, cheep sound. You must remember that at this time, Bollys were very rare, in fact Simm had only seen one Bolly and that was Hark, the Captain’s companion. Simm had no idea what wild Bollys sounded like so he did not realise that what he was hearing could be the trapped Bollys.
As he approached a clearing in the trees Simm saw a most amazing sight, many, many birdcages with beautiful, colourful yet sad little Bollys inside. When Simm got closer the Bollys started flittering nervously and twittering in fright. They thought the pirates were back to sell them off.
Simm reassured them, “Shh, shh, I don’t mean any harm. I am not a pirate. I’m just a panda-boy. I’ve come to free you!”
When the Bollys heard this they became excited and started twittering and cheeping louder. “Shhh! You must be quiet Bollys in case the pirates hear us and we all get put in cages”, whispered Simm as he started to unlock each cage. It took him some time to unlock all 12 or 13 cages. The Bollys scurried out, each one flapping their colourful feathers about.
“Now, we must leave quickly before the pirates realise that I’ve gone. I can take you across on my rowboat and hide you in a safe spot in Panfu where no harm will come to you.” Simm started helping the Bollys into his little rowboat. When he had helped the eighth one in, the boat started to tip!
“Oh no! You won’t all fit in! I will have to take 7 or 8 of you at a time but we must hurry before the storm gets too wild.” The sky had darkened and rain started to pour. Simm rowed harder than he ever had. He rowed until he thought he could row no more and then he rowed even harder.
The sun was coming up and the storm had passed just as he transported the last lot of Bollys to the safe hiding spot behind the Panfu waterfall. It had taken him 8 trips back and forth to save each of the 57 Bollys!
Exhausted, Simm sat down under a tree with all the thankful little Bollys around him. He was so tired but happy that he had managed to get every Bolly across from the island safely into Panfu.
His work was not over yet, Captain Knut and his pirates would soon stumble out of the tavern and realise that the Bollys were gone. They would certainly be angry and search high and low for them. Simm had to think of a plan.
He found an empty water bottle in his rowboat and wrote a note on a piece of paper which read:
Dear Captain Knut,
I know where your Bollys are! Last night on my way home from the tavern, I saw a large sailing ship filled with the colourful Bollys sailing towards Patagonia. If you hurry, I’m sure you can catch up with them. After all, you are a very clever pirate!
Your number one fan,
Simm
Simm rolled the message into the bottle and sealed it with a cork. A blue Bolly who could swim extremely well took the bottle straight to the Old Port and left it bobbing in the water next to the Captain’s great pirate ship.
It wasn’t long before Captain Knut and his pirates discovered the missing Bollys and the message in the bottle.
Captain Knut ordered the anchor to be pulled up as fast as possible and with a mighty “Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!” set sail in the direction of Patagonia after a sailing ship that didn’t exist!
Captain Knut, his Bolly Hark and their rough crew of pirates were never seen again in Panfu. No one knows how long they chased that phantom ship but reports say that they are now breeding bees off an island in Tahiti and have completely abandoned their pirate ways!
The Bollys lived happily on the island where now they are not quite as rare as they used to be but still just as lovable!
We hope you enjoyed this story!
Perhaps you want to read it again?
See you in Panfu!
