‘Don’t panic,’ whispered Lila. ‘Snakes don’t attack – remember?’ Fred backed away. It came up over the trunk, its neck still a stalk, heading towards him. It didn’t seem to like him staring. ‘I think the snake might not know that,’ whispered Fred.

Look after the things you love, or else you don’t deserve to love anything,’

‘You never split up in unfamiliar territory,’ she said. ‘We’re coming with you.’

The field they landed in was a large one, used for grazing cattle. It was long and as green as the Amazon. They bumped painfully, rose, and thumped down again. The cows bellowed in terror and scattered. The front wheels shook; the back wheel bucked. There was a moment where it felt as if they would flip wing over tip, but the plane shuddered,

If it’s too late then there’s no point in fighting.

‘It would be a good idea to open your eyes,’ said the explorer. ‘It makes piloting easier.’ Fred opened his eyes. They were in the sky. ‘How did you know they were closed?’ ‘Mine were, when I first launched a plane,’

‘Are eels dangerous?’ asked Con. ‘I don’t know, but if you call someone an eel –’ gasped Fred, coughing. His heart was trying to break out from his chest. He swallowed: ‘It’s not a compliment. So maybe.’

The raft took more time, and involved more blisters, than Fred had expected. But it quietened the roar of fear behind his ribs, to be doing something.

‘Blue macaws!’ said Lila. ‘I tried so hard to persuade Mama to let me have one of those as a pet; but she said Max was loud enough on his own without a parrot.’ ‘It’s funny,’ said Con, ‘I never really thought much about birds before. The birds here make the birds in England look like they’re dressed for a job interview.’