Chapter Three

by Dursley C E Primary School

Suddenly they were hurtled into a transporting beam and there was a huge flash. The time clock started going forwards lots of centuries and they were thrown into an unknown galaxy. They seemed to be thrown on to the ground of an unknown planet. They looked around. They found that they were on a strange orange planet. Suddenly they heard a squelch and turned…

"Oh no!" exclaimed Pazaz. They were staring straight into the eyes of Captain Slug.

"Well, well! Fancy seeing you in a place like this," he slurped. "Take them away!"

Two orange, spiky-shelled snails appeared out of the gloom.

"Oh no you don't," Proddle pulled out his freezomatic and started shooting rocks with it. The snails froze and their shells cracked as Proddle had shot them too.

"You won't get away with that!" croaked Captain Slug, and he zapped the rocks with his laser.

They were surrounded. About a thousand new armoured snails came from the orange mist.

Daisy felt something touch her arm, she saw another Pinkerellian.

"Who are you?" she asked. The Pinkerellian seemed to transform.

"I am Captain Slug!" and with that he grabbed her and took her away.

Captain Pinash was the first to realise Daisy was missing. "Where is Daisy?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," replied Proddle.

"I think we should go and look for her," suggested Pazaz.

So they went looking for her with the scanomatic.

"She's 1394 steps North," Pazaz told them.

"OK, let's go," replied Captain Pinash.

Later they came to the opening of a tunnel.

"Still 256 more steps," heaved Pazaz.

Meanwhile, Daisy had been put into a stronghold. Armed snails guarded Daisy. She looked around. She seemed to be alone, apart from Captain Slug staring in at her. She felt something touch her arm…

She turned around, she saw a creature -- something orange, something small. The creature was crying.

"Help," it wept. "I am a prisoner of Captain Slug and I used to be a Pinkerellian. My name is Petunia. Please help."

So when Daisy saw those weeping, teary eyes she had to give in.

"We must find a way out of here, and fast," Daisy whispered (because Captain Slug was watching over them).

At the end of the tunnel Captain Pinash, Pazaz and Proddle saw a gigantic snail shell ahead of them. It was surrounded by hordes of orange snails and there were huge laser cannons parked nearby. Pazaz realised that this must be where Daisy was kept because the number on the scanomatic was a single digit.

"Now what?" asked Proddle angrily. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I know," replied Captain Pinash. "Why don't we use our trusty freezomatic, Pazaz?"

"Good idea, why didn't I think of that earlier?"

Pazaz loaded the freezomatic and was about to fire when he let out a loud yelp as he stepped on a sharp stone. The snails noticed them and started charging. Pazaz fired and froze three snails, the three Pinkerellians started running and firing.

In the meantime Daisy and Petunia had worked out that the snail's shell that they were imprisoned in had weak walls. They started kicking the sides until they had broken through.

By that time Captain Pinash, Pazaz and Proddle had frozen all of the snails. They started to run, but Captain Slug appeared.

Daisy had a good idea: "Salt!" she cried excitedly…

© Cheltenham Festival of Literature 1999
last amended 6th October 1999