The baby creature has a round, nodding head, a plump body and a lot of stubby little legs. It’s as golden as the egg it hatched from, and its eyes are as green as new leaves.

‘Puh!’ says Tawny.

‘Ickle!’ the baby chirps, taking a few, toddling steps. ‘Ickle, ickle, ickle!’

‘Oh, it’s so cute!’ Bunchy cries. ‘But it’s not a bird!’

Monty shakes his head in amazement. ‘And it’s not a lizard or a turtle or a baby dragon, either. What in the wide sea is it?’

‘Who cares?’ Clink’s edging towards the broken gold eggshell lying on the sand. He’s reaching out for the two shining pieces when the baby suddenly turns round and starts gobbling them up, CRACK, CRUNCH, CRACK!

‘Stop that!’ roars Clink. ‘Spit ’em out!’

He springs at the baby, but Bunchy catches him and holds him back. ‘Leave the poor little thing alone, Clink!’ she scolds. ‘He’s hungry!’

‘Hungry?’ Clink bellows. ‘The thing c’n starve to death for all I care! That’s pure gold it’s eatin’!’ He struggles furiously but Bunchy won’t let him go.

CRUNCH, CRACK, CRUNCH! In seconds, the golden eggshell’s gone. The baby creature hunts around, but can’t find another crumb.

‘Ickle,’ it chirrups sadly. As it straightens up, Monty sees with surprise that it’s grown. The golden eggshell’s worked wonders! He’s about to point this out to the others when the tuft of bristles on the baby’s head twitches, its green eyes brighten, and it takes off across the sand, very fast. It seems to be heading for the sea.

‘Oh, no!’ Bunchy squeals. She turns to chase the baby, but Clink sticks out his wooden leg to trip her. She turns a somersault and lands with a thud.

‘What do you think you’re doing, Clink?’ she screams, struggling to get up. ‘If the baby gets to the water, he’ll drown!’

‘Good!’ snarls Clink. ‘Serve it right, the rotten, gold-guzzlin’ – ’

He breaks off with a squawk. His eyes bulge in horror. The baby wasn’t aiming for the sea at all! It’s stopped at the open treasure chest, and it’s gulping down gold coins as fast as it can. It’s not even bothering to chew.

‘Me gold!’ Clink howls. He rushes at the gobbling baby and tries to pull it away from the chest.

He hasn’t got a chance. Since it started eating his gold, the baby’s grown even more. It’s already twice the size it was when it hatched. Now it’s bigger and heavier than Clink, and he can’t make it budge.

‘It’s your own fault, Clink!’ Bunchy shrieks. ‘If you hadn’t tripped me, on purpose, this would never have happened!’

‘Ickle!’ the baby chirps happily, with its mouth full. ‘Ickle, ickle, ickle!’ It swallows, dips its head back into the treasure chest, and takes another huge mouthful of gold.

‘HELP!’ Clink wails.

‘Puh!’ says Tawny.

Tawny’s right, of course. Clink doesn’t deserve help. Still, Monty feels he should do something before every coin in the treasure chest disappears down the baby’s throat. The trouble is, Bunchy’s the only Islander big enough to handle the creature now, and she’s not in the mood to do Clink any favours.

Then Monty has an idea. ‘The baby’s eating an awful lot, Bunchy,’ he says in a low voice. ‘I hope it doesn’t make itself sick.’

As he’d hoped, Bunchy instantly looks worried. She runs to the treasure chest and picks up the baby.

‘Ickle!’ the baby pipes, struggling to get back to the gold.

‘No, no, little Ickle!’ Bunchy croons. ‘You don’t want a pain in the tummy, do you? You come with Bunchy, and we’ll . . . Oh! What’s that?’

There’s a weird, harsh cry from above. Seagulls squawk and scatter in panic. Everyone looks up, and yells in shock.

Two giant shadows are swooping towards the beach.

Monty sees fierce, glittering eyes as big as dinner plates. He sees sharp, curved pincers snapping the air. He sees a tangle of black, spiny legs and vast, scaly red wings.

He looks wildly around. The trees that line the beach aren’t thick enough to be protection from monsters like this. He knows there’s only one thing to do.

‘The Cafe!’ he yells. ‘Run!’