Tawny follows Monty. He still has a bad feeling, but he always follows Monty and, anyway, he’s hungry. Ahead, he can see Clink the Shipwrecked Pirate stumping towards the Cafe path from his cave in the cliffs. Clink’s almost reached the sand and he’s moving fast. Breakfast must be ready.

Tawny peers over the treetops, towards the Cafe. Sure enough, something’s fluttering on the Signal Tree that grows through the Cafe roof. It’s the yellow shirt sleeve, which means Marigold the Clever Cook has made sweet-potato cakes for breakfast.

Tawny likes sweet-potato cakes. But even thinking about them doesn’t make the bad feeling go away.

‘Avast, ye scurvy thief!’ roars a voice. ‘Take that! An’ that!’

Tawny looks round. Monty looks up. They’ve almost reached the end of the beach. And there’s Clink, stamping in rage beside his treasure chest, pelting Bunchy the Magician with seaweed. Bunchy’s gabbling magic spells to try to protect herself, but her spells hardly ever work and they aren’t working now.

‘Stop it, Clink!’ Monty yells, and starts to run.

Bounding ahead, Tawny hears a low buzzing sound drifting from the trees that line the sand. He should find out what it is, but first he’s got to help Monty deal with Clink. So he keeps running, with the bad feeling growing stronger than ever.

Clink stops throwing seaweed when Tawny gets between him and Bunchy. Clink knows it wouldn’t be a good idea to hit Tawny with anything. But he doesn’t stop shouting.

‘Let me at her!’ he bawls as Monty pants up to him. ‘She were after me treasure, the rotten, thieving – ’

‘I didn’t touch your stupid treasure!’ Bunchy shouts. ‘I’ve only just got here! I came down to get Monty and Tawny! The sweet-potato cakes are getting cold.’

‘Ye don’t fool me, Magician!’ Clink sneers. ‘Me treasure chest were buried, an’ now it ain’t! If ye didn’t dig it up, who did, eh?’

Monty sighs. ‘No one dug it up, Clink. The big waves uncovered it last night. Can’t you see? There are no footprints anywhere near it!’

Clink looks down at the treasure chest lying wedged in smooth, wet sand. He realises Monty’s right.

‘Rotten little island, what can’t even keep ahold of its own rotten sand!’ he mutters. ‘Sooner I get away from it, the better! Arr, now I got to bury me treasure all over again! Where’s me spade?’ He turns and stomps away, heading back to his cave.

‘Aren’t you even going to say you’re sorry?’ Bunchy screams after him. But Clink just keeps going.

‘Ooh!’ Bunchy squeals in fury. She runs to the treasure chest and throws open the lid. Gold and jewels gleam inside. ‘I’ll teach that Clink to be rude to a magician!’ she shouts. ‘I’ll turn his precious treasure into Scatterworms!’

The nearby seagulls look up with interest.

Bunchy glares at the treasure. ‘Transi wockle bally umtum!’ she chants, waving her arms. ‘Um . . . oozie – no, that’s not right, um – moozie, yes! – moozie goozie odgie-podgie. . . HEY PRESTO!’

Nothing happens, of course. Jeering, the seagulls wander away.

‘Leave it, Bunchy!’ Monty begs. ‘Clink’s coming back!’ And at the same moment, he hears a scratching sound and feels the egg in his Handy Bag move.

In all the excitement, he’s forgotten about the egg! He grabs the Sled and runs with it to the Cafe path, but then realises that Tawny isn’t behind him. Tawny’s a little way off, disappearing through a gap in the trees beside the beach.

What next? Monty thinks crossly. He puts the brake on the Sled and goes to see what’s wrong. Bunchy hurries after him. She doesn’t want to be around when Clink sees her footprints near the treasure chest.

Monty reaches the gap in the trees. He hears an echoing, buzzing sound and feels a little tingle of alarm.

‘What’s happening?’ Bunchy hisses in his ear, making him jump.

‘There’s something in here,’ Monty whispers back. He creeps forward, pushing dripping leaves aside. Huffing excitedly on the back of his neck, Bunchy tiptoes after him.