It was three minutes to sunrise.
Polly and Padlock sat shivering upon a wooden plank no bigger than a mattress as it bobbed gently upon the waves. Far above on the deck of the Nantucket Tickler, Captain Brazil and his men stood gazing down at them. Some of the men were shaking their heads sadly. Nimpy Windowmash was crying. Brendan Jawsnapper was leaning over the rail, making rude faces and trying to gob phlegm on to Padlock’s head.
‘Harry Edwards and Purrface Mulligan,’ said Captain Brazil gravely. ‘You thought you could make a fool of me, but you yourselves are the fools, you fools. Three minutes from now the sun will rise, and I will cut the rope which tethers your plank to this ship. Actually I can’t be bothered to wait, I’ll just do it now.’
SCHWICK!
With one firm swipe of his cutlass, Captain Brazil slashed through the rope.
‘NO!’ shouted Polly.
‘MMPH!’ said Padlock.
A great wave bore down, sweeping up the plank and carrying it far from the ship in a single watery heartbeat. Salt water stung Polly’s eyes and mingled with the tears rolling down Padlock’s face.
The two of them clung on for dear life as the plank began to toss and turn upon the waves, spinning dizzily in every direction . . .
‘NOOOOOO!’ yelled Polly. ‘You can’t do this to us, Cap’n!’
But it had already been done.
Gradually the plank was carried further and further away from the ship.
Soon the Nantucket Tickler was only a pinprick on the horizon.
And then it was lost from view entirely.
SHHHHHWWWWWOOOOOSSSSSH.
SWWWWWOOOOOOSSSSH.
SWWWSSSSShhhhhhhh.
Adrift on the ocean wave, with only a bear for company.
There was nothing to do.
There was nothing to see.
Just the big blue sea.
And the big blue sky.
Stretching out as far as the eye could see . . .
Just the big blue sea.
Big blue sky.
Big blue nothing.
And poor little Polly and Padlock caught in the middle of it all, floating through the Universe on a plank no bigger than a mattress.
Swwwwwshshssh.
‘HELP!’ called Polly. But who was listening?
‘GRRRMPH!’ wailed Padlock. But who would answer?
Not the sky.
Not the sea.
Not the clouds.
Adrift, adrift on the big fat blue.
SWWWSSSSShhhhhhhh.
‘Blimey, I’m getting thin,’ said Padlock, running his paws over his ribcage.
Thirst and hunger.
Thirst and hunger.
Polly was starting to lose her mind.
Was Padlock really talking or had she only imagined it?
SWWWSSSSShhhhhhhh.
Hundreds of Crunchy little Leopards floated by in a postman’s hat, laughing and splashing each other for fun.
‘Look at me,’ said Padlock, taking off his head and playing football with it. ‘Ha ha ha, hee
hee hee!’
SWWWSSSSShhhhhhhh.
SWWWSSSSShhhhhhhh.
A fish zoomed straight up out of the water and went soaring into the sky where it exploded into a shower of cackling seahorses that all looked like Billy William the Third. A mackerel with the face of Mr Gum swam by, watching ‘Bag of Sticks’ on a waterproof TV set.
‘Shabba me dorsal fin,’ muttered the mackerel. ‘Who’d’ve thought bein’ a mackerel would be such a bother?’
SWWWWWOOOOOOSSSSH.
The world was turning upside down.
Polly tasted salt water, saw the sky tumbling around her. Padlock kept turning into Captain Brazil’s nose and back again.
Was Polly dreaming? Was she awake? Was she asleep? Was she somewhere in between?
She looked down and saw her hands had turned into bear’s paws.
She was losing her mind.
Ssssswwwwwshhhhh.
Ssswwhsssh.
The big blue sea.
Ssswwhsssh.
Pictures drifted through Polly’s head. Padlock was holding a toy balloon. Holding a funny red balloon on a funny yellow string, la la la!
‘Can I have a go?’ said Polly, but Padlock had gone.
Where was he?
He was climbing up the string, la la la!
Climbing up the string and disappearing up through the air like a furry dream . . .
Look up, Polly, look up!
‘UP HERE, POLLY!’ called a voice from above. ‘LOOK UP!’
‘What? What you on about, mysterious voice?’ said Polly sleepily.
‘LOOK UP IN THE SKY!’
‘Oh, the sky!’ laughed Polly. ‘Padlock disappeared up there, you know,’ she giggled.
‘Grab hold of the ROPE, Polly!’ shouted the voice.
Slowly Polly looked around. She was still all alone.
Blue sea.
Blue sky.
A yellow rope.
Blue sky –
Hold on.
A yellow rope?
Polly’s eyes followed the rope upwards into the air and there it was. Not a toy balloon after all! But a splendid red hot-air balloon with
FLAVOURS OF DISCOVERY
painted on the side in letters of green and gold.
‘Mr Ripples, sir!’ croaked Polly in disbelief. ‘What on earth are you doin’ here?’
‘Come on, Polly!’ yelled Jonathan Ripples. ‘Padlock’s already made it,’ he said, gesturing towards the bear standing at his side in the basket. ‘Now it’s your turn. Climb up!’
‘I don’t thinks I can!’ called Polly, ‘I’m too weak!’
But already she had taken hold of the rope and already – slowly, slowly – she was hauling herself up, Jonathan Ripples urging her on every step of the way.
‘That’s it, that’s it! You’re doing ever so well!’
Every muscle in Polly’s body ached agonisingly as she climbed, and once she glanced down and saw a family of sharks laying out a dinner table with knives and forks, waiting for her to fall –
But was Polly the type of girl to give up? Yes, she was, I mean, no, she wasn’t. Up she pulled herself, up, up through the sky like a dinosaur fighting its way back from extinction.
Up, up she went. Until, eventually, she was at the top of the rope and Jonathan Ripples was helping her into the crowded basket. What a tight squeeze it was! But she was safe.
‘Oh, Mr Ripples, sir,’ said Polly, half-collapsing against Padlock’s furry legs. ‘I can’t . . . I can’t thanks you enough . . .’
‘Shh,’ said Jonathan Ripples kindly. ‘Eat first, then we’ll talk. Try some sushi,’ he suggested, offering Polly a tray of raw fish and rice. ‘It’s the latest snack I discovered, over in Japan.’
‘But . . . but . . . however did you done find us, Mr Ripples, sir?’ said Polly, nibbling at the horrid delicacy.
‘Well, it’s the strangest thing,’ said Jonathan Ripples as he bit into a vegetable samosa he’d found on a park bench in India. ‘I was flying north in search of my latest snack, but last night I had the most peculiar dream. There was a little boy, laughing in a sea of colours, and he said, “Hello, Jonathan Ripples. I like your hot-air balloon. Now, finding snacks is very important, but I have an even more important job for you to do. Tomorrow you must turn your balloon all the way around and find some friends of mine who are in trouble. Bye for now!”
‘So this morning I turned the balloon around and there you were,’ said Jonathan Ripples. ‘It’s probably just a coincidence,’ he laughed, ‘after all, it was only a dream.’
But Polly knew better.
‘No, large sir,’ she said solemnly, ‘you was destined to finds us. For last night you was a- visited in your sleeps by none other than the Spirit of the Rainbow.’
‘The Spirit of the Rainbow?’ chuckled Jonathan Ripples, crunching into a burrito he’d discovered down Mexico way. ‘Never heard of him. Sorry, Polly, but I think you’ve gone a little bit crazy in the head from too long at sea!’