The Treasure Chest Old Jack's Boat

Hello, there. How are you today?

Salty and I have a tale or two

to tell you about this beach and the rockpools,

and all the magical things that have happened here.

# Come with me, we're off to the sea

# To where I used to play

# Looking back when I was a boy and the fun we had each day

# Over the cobbles and through the streets

# Playing in the sun

# Friends to meet with games and treats

# Adventures just begun

# Stories from a magical world washed in by the sea

# Meet the rockpool creatures there

#It's amazing what you see

# Looking back when I was a boy

# Shrimps and starfish Crabs and snails

# In twinkly Rockpool Tales... #

Ha-ha!

# Those lovely Rockpool Tales. #

Now, then. Now, what's that, eh?

Eh? What is it? It's a feather.

It's my feather and it must have fallen down from the shelf.

It's an unusual colour, that, isn't it?

Don't you think?

Now, if I remember rightly, this feather came from a parrot

and parrots normally live in the jungle,

but this one lived right here in Staithes.

Yeah, that reminds me of a story.

Are you going to listen, as well? Good girl.

It all happened when I was a boy

in a twinkly time, long, long ago.

Ha-ha! I used to run down to the beach

as often as I could,

meeting up with my best friends, Little Ernie and Little Sailor Sue.

We were all digging in the sand one day, making sand castles,

when out of the sky,

something landed on my shoulder.

What's this?

It's a pretty feather.

Little Sailor Sue had a look at it

and it didn't look like a seagull feather.

Just then, we heard a squawk above our heads

and when we looked up, what did we see?

Yes, that's right, it was a parrot

and it was flying above us.

I think it's a feather from a pirate's parrot!

Quick, follow it!

We followed the parrot as it flew towards the rockpool,

and, with a squawk, it disappeared over the clifftop.

Sue said, "It'll come back soon."

So we waited by the rockpool,

and as we gazed deep down into the glittery waters,

a magical world appeared before our eyes.

One morning, Sally the Starfish and Andrew the Anemone

were playing together.

They were looking for surprises

washed into the rockpool by the tide.

"What's that?" asked Sally,

and up ahead, they saw something big and dark.

"I think it's some sort of a box," said Andrew.

And it was indeed a great wooden box with brass handles

and written on the side were the words,

"Property of Captain Kitty, the pirate."

"Isn't Captain Kitty

"the naughtiest pirate on the seven seas?" Sally whispered.

"Oh, a pirate's chest," said Andrew,

"there'll be treasure inside."

"Well, it's here now,

"we might as well open it," said Andrew.

Sally wasn't sure.

"You can't go around opening other people's property, can you?"

Just then, they heard a squeak.

They looked at each other in surprise.

And then another squeeaak.

It was coming from the treasure chest.

Now, dogs are very interested in squeaks,

and Salty's golden rule is

if you hear a squeak, you should investigate it

because you never know who or what is doing the squeaking.

Isn't that right, girl? WOOF!

Yes, so Sally and Andrew agreed they should investigate.

With a huge push,

the lid of the treasure chest slowly started to open

and the squeaks got squeakier...

SQUEAK!

..until a large yellow shape pushed its way out of the treasure chest.

It was round, floaty,

and had a long string attached to it.

"Ha! It's a balloon!" laughs Sally.

"This treasure chest must be full of balloons.

"That's what all the squeaking is."

"Well, close it quickly or they'll escape," said Andrew.

The two little friends looked at each other.

Uh-oh, they didn't want to be blamed

for opening Captain Kitty's treasure chest

and losing all her balloons.

Oh, no.

Sally sat down hard on the lid,

and the chest closed with a squeaky, bubbly thlump.

"There," she said, proudly,

"the balloons are all safe."

"All except one. The yellow balloon is getting away!" Andrew shouted.

"You hold the lid down, I'll rescue the balloon,"

and he raced off.

Well, by now, the yellow balloon had floated up into the sky,

and down below, Andrew grabbed the balloon's floaty string

and tried to pull it back.

Oh! But a gust of seaside wind caught the yellow balloon

and wafted it up, up and away.

Clinging tightly to the string,

Andrew was pulled out of the rockpool with a splash.

"Whee-hee!"

Andrew was flying higher and higher into the sky

on the end of the yellow balloon.

"Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha. Ooh, not again!" he laughed.

Andrew loves flying adventures, doesn't he, Salty? Oh, yeah.

Anyway, he looked down at the rockpool

getting smaller and smaller and further and further away.

And then he saw a ship.

It was the Hurly Burly,

Captain Kitty's pirate ship,

and there she was, pacing up and down on the deck

and she looked pretty cross.

"Hello, Andrew. What are you doing up here?"

said a voice.

Flapping along beside him was Brenda the Stork.

"Hello, Brenda," said Andrew,

"I was trying to rescue one of Captain Kitty's balloons

"that floated away."

"Captain Kitty will want it back," said Brenda.

"It's her birthday today and she's having a party.

"She's blown up all her party balloons

"and put them in her treasure chest."

Well, that solved the mystery, didn't it, Salty?

WOOF!

The treasure chest full of balloons

must have fallen off Captain Kitty's pirate ship

and washed up in the rockpool.

"Brenda," said Andrew, "you're great at delivering things.

"Could you drop me off at the rockpool

"and then deliver this balloon to Captain Kitty?"

So Brenda took the balloon string in her beak

and guided it back to the rockpool

until she was low enough for Andrew to jump off.

"Wee-hee!"

And then she flapped away to deliver the balloon to Captain Kitty.

Andrew floated down to Sally,

who was still sitting on the treasure chest,

keeping it closed.

"Open the treasure chest," called Andrew.

"What? What?" Sally looked a little confused,

but Andrew seemed to know what he was doing,

so she jumped off,

and the lid of the treasure chest yawned open.

The balloons inside all squeaked and jostled to get out.

"Way-ah-woo-hee-woo-ha!"

Then they floated up and up and up through the water,

out of the rockpool, into the sky.

Then Brenda caught them one by one in her beak

and carried the whole bunch over to Captain Kitty.

Now she could have her birthday party,

and later, the sea would wash into the rockpool again

and carry the treasure chest back to its owner.

Sally and Andrew giggled,

watching the balloons bobbing and squeaking

from the tall masts of the pirate ship.

Captain Kitty and her parrot cheered and squawked happily

and just then, we all heard a squawk above us.

The parrot's back.

Come on, follow it!

It soared over the beach and landed far away outside the sweet shop.

Oh, dear! It was Polly, the sweet shop lady's pet parrot!

They said that she used to feed Polly

Yorkshire pudding and gravy on Sundays.

So, if ever we had a bit of money to spend, as a special treat,

we would visit the sweet shop...

-Hello, Polly.

-Hello, Polly.

All right, Polly.

Come on, let's go!

..and then we'd dash back on to the beach...

I love Sherbet Lemons.

..and share our sweets until the tide came in

and covered the rockpool,

like a great seaweedy blanket.

Polly's not here in Staithes any more,

but there is a sweet shop, and I still have my feather.

Lovely, isn't it? Ha-ha!

Maybe one day, another parrot will come to stay here.

SQUAWK!

Oh, listen.

SQUAWK!

I was right. It's a parrot.

So why don't you join us for some more Rockpool Tales next time?

Goodbye.

SQUAWKS: Goodbye! Goodbye!

Ha-ha-ha-ha!