Parrot's Cave in Maltese by Mia Bowen Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved

Jack and Lisa were spending their summer holidays at their Grandma's house by the seaside.

"Go play on the beach," suggested Grandma. "But all we've found are washed up jellyfish, broken shells and smelly old seaweed," grumbled Jack.

"Then go and feed the old parrot in the shed," said Grandma. "He used to belong to the old Maltese fisherman who lived next door. He used to take him everywhere he went." Jack and Lisa walked down to the dark old shed at the back of the yard. They opened the door, not knowing what to expect.

An ear-splitting screech made Jack and Lisa leap back in fright. The big old bird, was perched on the back of a broken chair, slowly flapping his colourful wings back and forth.

Without taking his beady black eyes off them, the parrot slowly settled back onto his wooden perch. In a loud voice, he screeched, "Bonġu!"

"He's speaking Maltese to us!" exclaimed Lisa. Jack and Lisa had just started learning Maltese that year at school with Mrs Camilleri. But Mrs Camilleri hadn't mentioned Maltese-speaking parrots in class before!

"Bonġu! X'jismek?" asked Jack. "Jisimni Piet," replied the parrot.

"Do you want to go for a walk with us," asked Jack, not expecting an answer. "Ejja mmorru! Ejja mmorru!" replied Piet, and flew straight out the open door. "Ejja mmorru ħdejn il-baħar!" "Yes, let's go!" shouted Lisa and ran down towards the beach. Suddenly the day was looking a lot more exciting for Jack and Lisa.

Jack, Lisa and Piet carefully climbed down the crumbling cliff steps onto the beach. "Ħaffef!" squawked Piet.

A few fishermen pointed and waved from their boats. They recognised the old parrot from years before.

"Look at the colourful huts!" exclaimed Lisa, pointing at the old bathing huts. Each hut had a different coloured door.

isfar ........ oranġo ........ roża ......... aħmar .......... vjola ........ aħdar

yellow ... orange ... pink ... red ... purple ... green blue ... brown ... grey ... black ... white

blu ........ kannella ........ griż ....... iswed ........ abjad

Suddenly Piet flew up and past the huts, past the rocks and around the corner to the next beach.

Jack and Lisa chased Piet and saw him fly into a dark cave at the base of a cliff. Jack called out to him, "Fejn int?" He heard Piet call, "Ejjew hawn!" Jack and Lisa hesitated. Perhaps this wasn't such a great idea.

A small stream flowed out of the cave, collecting in a wide rock pool blocking the entrance, before running off into the waves. "Jien hawn," called out Piet's voice as they entered the dark cave. "Hemm teżor," squawked Piet. "Imma ... oqgħodu attenti!" Lisa raised her eyebrows at Jack. "Treasure?" she whispered.

Piet flew towards twelve large rocks sitting in the pool of water. He landed on the closest one and started to count as he hopped from one to another...

"Wieħed, tnejn, tlieta, erbgħa, ħamsa, sitta, sebgħa, tmienja, disgħa, għaxra, ħdax... u ... tnax."

He immediately started splashing in the water around the rock, hopping and squawking in excitement.

"I think Piet wants us to lift up the rock," said Lisa. "Iva, iva!" squawked Piet. Jack and Lisa started to dig under the rock and tried to lift up the rock.

"Le, le!" screeched Piet. "Oqgħod attent!" A large nipper suddenly appeared from underneath the rock and just missed Jack's fingers.

Jack slipped back on the slimy rock and fell into the water, splashing all of them. He chased the crab away and managed to push the rock aside. He dug deeper and deeper.

"Ħarsu hemm, ħarsu hemm!" squawked Piet. "There's something in there!" shouted Lisa in excitement. They both reached down and uncovered a box buried in the sand.

Jack lifted it out of the sand and placed it on a rock ledge. "Tajjeb!" squawked Piet.

"Iftaħ il-kaxxa! Iftaħha!" squawked Piet. Lisa opened the lid of the old wooden box. A soggy leather bag lay inside. When she shook the bag, some gold coins fell out. They glinted and gleamed in the light.

Lisa picked them up in amazement. They were heavy and looked extrememly old. "Let's take them home and show Grandma," said Jack.

"Oh no!" cried Lisa when they turned back towards the entrance of the cave. It was now blocked by the waves of the incoming tide.

"Għad-dar! Għad-dar!" squawked Piet. He flew towards the back of the cave. "Follow Piet home," called out Lisa. He looks like he knows where he's going. Piet called out instructions in the gloom of the cave.

"Ibqgħu sejrin dritt ..." They followed him straight towards the back of the cave. "Duru max-xellug ..." They turned left into a narrow tunnel ... "Duru mal-lemin ..." The cave suddenly twisted to the right and ended in a huge jumble of dry rocks.

"Proset!" squawked Piet from above. They all climbed to safety back on the beach and returned home with the gold pieces.

Grandma couldn't believe her eyes when they arrived with their gleaming gold coins. "This must be the luckiest parrot in the world!" she exclaimed.

"And the smartest!" added Lisa. "I will be so sad when we have to leave." "Saħħa," squawked Piet sadly.

Grandma smiled. "But you can take him with you!" "He'll be much happier living with you two." "I can just imagine the adventures you three will have!"

"Now let's celebrate with some cake!" "Kemm hu tajjeb!" they all cried out together.