On the way up, the children saw that Fifo had huge rags on his dirty body, which they realised must be his clothes, and they hadn't been washed for ages!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY CAVE," he bellowed. "WHAT EVER IT IS, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GET OUT!" he laughed in a way that neither of the terrified children liked.
"Please let us out," squeaked the poor children, all completely terrified. "Please!"
But Fifo didn't hear. Oh, no! A bit of fattening up and he would have a Sunday Dinner, and his parrot, Torrap, would have one too!
"GOOD FOR ME!" Fifo was thinking aloud now. "1,2,3,4. FOUR LITTLE CHILDREN!"
He put the frightened children in a lonely hole in the steep wall of the cave and it would be an enormous surprise if the children escaped on their own! Alan, Jane, Sophie, and Chris all got food at meal times: one pea (the size of a football), half a sausage (the size of a computer) and one spoonful (well, it was more like a tubfull) of mashed potato on Sundays. They were quite full by the time they finished!
Soon, they met for a meeting on how they would escape. First, Alan's idea:
"Right," started Alan. "Next time Fifo comes with our dinner, we will run down his arm and jump onto the floor. Then we'll run to the exit. Simple!"
"B . . . b . . . b . . . but . . .!" stammered Chris.
However, no-one noticed.
So, that night, when Fifo came with their food, they ran up his arm. Suddenly, Jane, who was at the front, stopped.
"Jump, silly! Jump for your life!" shrieked Alan impatiently.
"I can't! It's too far!" blubbered Jane.
And with that, they heard a big, mocking laugh and a large, hairy hand came down and put them in their 'room', but only this time, Fifo put a piece of wood over the hole leaving only a tiny hole for them to breathe!
"Sorry," admitted Alan. "That just made things worse, instead of better."
"Don't worry, I've got another idea. Listen," declared Jane. "We'd better wait a while, for the next few days, 'cause Fifo will be on the look out, but when we can, we'll wait until midnight, when Torrap is let out of his cage, we'll push the plank, jump up onto Torrap's back, and when he lands on the floor, we're freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed excitedly!
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" snickered every one else apart from Chris, who was trying hard to be listened to.
"B . . . b . . . b . . . but . . .!" stammered Chris.
Again, no-one noticed. GO BACK TO THE STORIES GALORE HOMEPAGE!
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