Peta the Plane was on the runway and the Pilot was giving him his last polish before take off. The smoother his wings, the faster he could fly.
‘I’m ready to go,’ said Peta to the Pilot.
‘Hang on Peta - I’ll just go and see where we are going for our next trip,’ replied the Pilot.
As the pilot walked towards the control tower, Peta started up the engine. It was running nicely when the Pilot came rushing out.
‘Peta! Peta!’ he shouted excitedly.
‘A little girl has been very silly and has taken her inflatable boat out alone. Now she is lost. Her Mum and Dad are very worried.'
'We’ve been asked to go and see if we can find her.’ added the Pilot.
‘Let’s go then,’ cried Peta.
Taking off as quickly as he could, Peta, zoomed into the air. He flew over the beach and towards Seal Island.
Going at top speed, it wasn’t long before the Island came into view.
Peta zoomed down to the beach.
It was high tide, so there was no sand to be seen. On top of the high cliffs, a few sheep wandered about and screeching seagulls circled in the air.
There was no sign of the girl on the bare cliff tops or beyond, where only short, scrubby grass grew.
We’ll have to try the mountains,’ said the Pilot.
‘OK,’ replied Peta.
Peta zoomed down towards the mountains. They soon reached the highest mountain and circled around it.
‘Can you get any lower Peta?’ asked the Pilot.
‘I’ll try,’ said Peta. ‘These mountains are very high and if I go too low the winds might blow me onto them.’
‘Well, do your best.’
Peta flew nearer and nearer the tall mountain peaks.
They circled around three peaks, as low as they dared but there was no sign of the girl. All they saw were some wild horses on the lower slopes and what looked like a big, brown bear among some trees.
‘Oh!’ exclaimed Peta, 'I can’t imagine the little girl getting up here. Can you?’
‘You never know,’ replied the Pilot. ‘If she was exploring she might not have realised how far she had gone. We’d better try the lake area now.’
So Peta flew down to the bottom of the mountains. There was the big lake - very deep - very dark and looking very, very mysterious. In the middle of the lake was a small island and as Peta flew nearer to it, the Pilot called out excitedly;
‘Look! Peta look! There’s something down there.’
Peta flew lower and skimmed over the lake towards the island. Sure enough, as they went nearer, they could see some sort of shelter made with branches. Just in front of the shelter, they could see a little white face and a hand waving. A small Inflatable boat lay nearby.
Peta circled lower and lower. They could see the girl now. She was only nine years old they had been told and she looked as though she was hurt.
She was lying down, resting on one arm, waving weakly.
‘I bet she’s starving hungry,’ said Peta. ‘What are we going to do?’
‘We’ve got a problem haven’t we?’ replied the Pilot. ‘You’ve got wheels so you can’t land on the lake. But I have an idea. First we’ll drop some emergency supplies.’
The Pilot took the emergency pack out. It contained first aid equipment, food and water. When it was dropped from a plane a little parachute opened out, floating the package down safely.
The pilot tied a little note to the package telling the girl not to worry and they would be back soon.
‘Fly down the far side of the Island so I can drop the package,’ ordered the Pilot.
Peta zoomed down. He went in as low as he dared.
The Pilot then leaned out of the cockpit window and dropped the package, pulling a string as he did so. The parachute opened out and fortunately landed a few metres from the girl.
They saw her crawl to the package and give a wave. The Pilot waved back.
‘Let’s get back to the airport as quickly as we can,’ instructed the Pilot.
Peta flew off at top speed. As he did so, the Pilot radioed the airport and gave certain instructions to the control tower.
‘What did you say?’ asked Peta.
’You’ll soon find out,’ replied the Pilot with a smile.
As soon as they got close to the airport, Peta noticed quite a lot of activity. There was a lorry parked next to where he was going to land and certain objects lay on the ground next to the it.
‘What’s going on?’ asked Peta curiously.
‘We’re going to try to put floats on your wheels so you can land in the water,’ replied the Pilot.
Peta was very excited. Not long after he landed, workmen brought some pieces of wood along with some plastic tubing and began fixing them to his wheels. They were like skis to start with - the plastic tubing would keep him float.
The floats were strapped and screwed on, just high enough for Peta to use his wheels as well.
Soon Peta was ready and took off for Seal Island at top speed. Once more the island came into view.
‘Now, remember you’re not used to landing on water,’ the Pilot reminded Peta.
Peta waggled his wings, he knew he had to be very careful and he circled once, then went towards one end of the lake and touched down on the water.
Splash!
Water sprayed out all over Peta.
‘It might stop my engine!’ cried Peta in an alarmed voice.
‘Just carry on Peta. It’ll be alright,’ replied the Pilot calmly.
Peta turned the engine speed down and they slowly floated to the edge of the island where the girl’s camp was. The girl was lying in her shelter. They could hear her faint cries of, ‘Help! Over here!’
The Pilot took out a rope and attached it to Peta’s wheel-strut and waded through the shallow water to tie the other end to a nearby tree. Then he went quickly up to the girl.
‘Oh! I’m so glad you’ve come,’ said the girl in a weak little voice.
The girl had hurt her leg, so the Pilot picked her up very carefully.
‘Oh! Oh! OH! OOOHHH!’ cried the little girl.
‘I’m sorry’ said the Pilot, ‘but I’ve got to get you to the plane.’
The little girl was very brave as the Pilot waded through the water, opened Peta’s door and placed her carefully in the back seat, before buckling her in securely. He then untied the rope attached to the tree and the wheel and got into the cabin.
‘Now be careful taking off,’ warned the Pilot to Peta. ‘Remember you’re not a real sea plane.’
Peta started the engine and began the longest run he could make - from one end of the lake to the other.
Spray splashed everywhere - even over the windscreen. The Pilot could hardly see.
Peta almost panicked. ‘The engine’s going to flood! The engine’s going to flood!’ he wailed.
‘Just keep going,’ shouted the Pilot over the noise of the whirring engine and the crashing spray. ‘You’ll be OK.’
The end of the lake came into view and Peta just managed to take off, water dripping onto the trees below.
They heard the little girl moaning quietly, so Peta went at top speed and they soon arrived back at the airport, where a large crowd was waiting.
The ambulance had already arrived and the ambulance men placed the little girl carefully onto a stretcher.
The little girl’s mum and Dad were also waiting by the Control Tower.
They were going to the hospital too of course but they wanted to thank Peta and the Pilot first.
With it’s siren blaring and lights flashing the ambulance rushed the little girl away to hospital.
‘Well done Peta,’ said the Pilot a little while later, as he patted his wing.
‘Just glad I could help,’ replied Peta with a huge smile, as everyone clapped.
***
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As Brian Leo Lee
(Children’s st
ories)
Just Bouncey
Bouncey the Elf and Friends Meet Again
Bouncey the Elf and Friends Together Again
Mr Tripsy’s Trip
Mr Tripsy’s Boat Trip
As Brian Leon Lee
Trimefirst
Domain of the Netherworld
All available as eBooks
https://www.bounceytheelf.co.uk
The Author
Watercolour painting
Rita Clements Lee
https://ritaclementslee-artist.co.uk/Public_html_Home.html/Home.html
The author was born in Manchester. On leaving school, a period in accountancy was followed by a teaching career in Primary Education.
Several years of telling his own stories to his two, then young children, when on camping holidays, led to the development of his many story characters.
Now retired, living in South Yorkshire.
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