Cave Emu

Merv Lambert

Description

This fantastic addition to the Colin the Librarian series contains four new exciting stories.Colin's Second Chinese AdventureA question by Colin's little daughter Charlotte leads to the phoenix on the magic bookmark transporting the whole family plus Sammy and M back to ancient China to the very palace and time Colin and Sammy experienced an earlier adventure. The story unfolds like a pantomime with the Emperor playing crazy golf and his enemies the Ugly Brothers being defeated by Colin and M aided by Fleddy the dragon.An Emu On SafariColin and M find themselves in two different countries more than 50 years apart, as they foil two attempts by Colonel Chumbley a safari leader to kill an elephant as the final item on his list. First M enables an elephant to shoot and wound Chumbley, but still determined to complete his task, the colonel, due to the actions of an invisible emu, only manages to shoot and wound himself. At the end of the story how did Mrs. Biggle get all those excellent photos of African animals on her digital camera? She was dreaming, wasn't she? The Cave EmuAn adventure set in prehistoric times. Colin as a 5 year old boy is transported by the magic phoenix bookmark with Sammy and M along with a couple called Audrey and Neville to meet a tribe of cave-dwellers. After Colin, M and Sammy capture two marauding dinosaurs and M creates his own cave painting the phoenix takes Colin and his companions back to Neville's home in the 1980s. Eventually Colin realises what is so familiar about Neville. This man is his father! Immediately the phoenix sends Colin back to the present day. There is the hint of a further adventure to explain a mystery concerning Colin's own family.The King's New KnightA middle-aged Colin meets a middle-aged King Arthur at Camelot. Colin's friend Jez Jellysox suddenly appears in the role of Sir Galahad and survives sitting at the Round Table on the lethal Siege Perilous. He single-handedly accomplishes two tasks, including the rescuing of the king's cousin Lady Gwendoline from a high tower. Finally he launches a sole attack against the enemy shield-wall facing the castle, but it is actually M walking invisibly behind him in what looks like an empty suit of armour who panics the besiegers. Then with the aid of the magic phoenix bookmark Colin restores Arthur's hearing. Having arrived safely home again, Colin and Olivia receive a text message from Jellysox informing them that he will be bringing his new lady friend Gwen around to see them tomorrow. Whatever next?

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 03 septembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783339525
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
THE CAVE EMU
By
Merv Lambert



Publisher Information
The Cave Emu
Published in 2014 by Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happening.
Copyright © 2014 Merv Lambert
The right of Merv Lambert to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.



Introduction
Colin the Librarian owns a special, ancient book with a magic bookmark that has a red phoenix on it. His adventures are sometimes begun by him merely starting to read the book and then immediately finding himself taking part in the story, or perhaps the bookmark will give off a red flash, transporting him straight into the action. Often he is accompanied by his computer-generated emu friend M, who is invisible to everyone except Colin and certain members of his family. Sometimes M lives with Colin’s cousins Billy and Jilly, but more often than not he is to be found at Colin’s house.



Colin’s Second Chinese Adventure
“Daddy, you’ve been to China, haven’t you?”
Colin’s little daughter Charlotte, now three years old, was always asking him questions about the adventures the magic phoenix bookmark and his special book had led him through.
“Well, sort of,” he replied.
“And, Daddy, did you play ping pong?”
“Well, at that time it hadn’t been invented.”
“Oh,” said Charlotte’s mother Olivia, who had just come into the kitchen, “why this sudden interest in China and ping pong?”
“Well, I like Daddy’s story about how he met the Emperor. I wish I could meet all those people too. Do you think the phoenix would take me there?”
“Not without us,” Olivia quickly said, “and Daniel would have to come too, and so would Sammy and M.”
At that moment they could see their little dog Sammy in the garden hopping over their unusual, computer-generated emu friend, who was invisible to nearly everyone except certain members of their family. He was lying flat on the lawn, enjoying the sunshine.
“You wouldn’t like Glum Pi though,” said Colin.
“Maybe, if you asked the phoenix nicely, “suggested Olivia, winking at Charlotte.
Colin disagreed. “No, I’ll try and find the right page in the book.”
He opened it on the kitchen table, and ran his finger down the page he had selected, but without warning the magic phoenix bookmark in his pocket gave a bright red flash.
A moment later the whole family, Olivia, Colin, Charlotte and Little Daniel aged 2 plus one small dog and one large emu were standing in a very pleasant garden with cherry trees covered in pink and white blossom. Only Colin and Sammy had been here before, probably 4 years in the present time and also 2,300 years ago.
“This,” said Colin, “is the imperial garden.
“You mean the garden of the Emperor of China?” asked Olivia.
Colin nodded his head. “Of course,” he said.
Sammy was already sniffing round delightedly. He was aware of so many smells ancient and familiar. He gave a little bark, and this was answered by another bark and a sort of questioning growl and a little flare of orange light above one of the flowering shrubs nearby. Suddenly another small dog and a rather larger dragon scampered into sight. The dragon’s face registered pure joy. He recognised his friend Sammy, who woofed, and ran to greet him. Instantly they sniffed each other, exchanging fascinating smells. The other little dog stood looking puzzled.
Then Colin saw some people he knew. On his previous visit he had met Princess Orange Blossom and her husband Si Thru. They were each holding the hand of a little boy about 3 years old.
The princess cried out in delight. “Koh Lin! We did not expect to see you ever again!”
Si-Thru strode forward to embrace him. “Koh Lin, I see you have brought your family with you this time.”
Colin quickly introduced his family to the royal couple. As ever, the magic phoenix bookmark was enabling him and the others to speak and understand this particular version of the Chinese language perfectly. It pulsed encouragingly in his pocket beneath the long white robes he was wearing. Olivia was in similar attire, but her robes were bright red. Their children wore white with a red sash tied around their middle.
Orange Blossom then ushered her little boy forward. “And this is So Hi,” she said.
Her son bowed politely, and then he looked up at his mother before asking, “May I play with Cha Lee and Da Nee?” He meant Charlotte and Daniel.
“Of course,” replied Orange Blossom, and the three children ran off gleefully.
Colin glanced round. He couldn’t see M until he looked up. Ah, there he was! Up there, perched on the curved roof at the very top of a nine-storey pagoda that peeked over the top of some tall trees. The dragon was also looking up. He could see M, who began sliding on his bottom down the curved roof to land on the next curved roof below. He did this again, and was then out of sight behind the trees. It did not take him long to appear from between the flowering bushes at the end of the garden. He strode up to the dragon, and then Sammy woofed to introduce them. For a moment both creatures eyed the strange new acquaintance they had just made. Sammy woofed again, and he and his two friends began a mad game of chasing round the garden. The other little dog looked on, uncertain what to do.
Orange Blossom laughed. “Go on, Poo Chi. They will let you join in.” She waved her hand, and the second little dog scampered off to join in the fun.
The princess turned to one of her attendant ladies, and told her to arrange for servants to bring seats and refreshments for her guests and for herself and Si Thru. Shortly everyone was seated in the garden enjoying some sort of fruit drink. Colin recalled the first drink he had had here offered by the extremely lazy head-gardener Glo Bagg, whom he had renamed Glum Pi. This time there was no dead wasp floating in his bowl.
Then he said,” Where are my friends Fah Flung, Ai Dun Pong, and Hoo Flung Dung?”
“Oh,” replied Si Thru. “They are busy on a project for the Emperor. They are over in the new pavilion. They can’t quite get it right. Come with me. I’ll show you.”
Immediately they all followed him down a path, and the children suddenly appeared behind them together with two small dogs, an emu and a dragon. The pavilion had a red and gold fabric roof supported by bamboo walls with openings on all sides to let in the sunshine and the breezes. It was swaying slightly in the wind. The floor consisted of a square of polished wooden blocks. Colin’s three old friends were busy trying to put the finishing touches to a new game for the Emperor, but they were frustrated because they could not quite make it work. They looked up in surprise, when they saw Colin, and rushed over to greet him.
Once again Colin introduced his family. Then he asked, “What seems to be the problem?”
“Ah,” sighed Fah Flung, “the Emperor wants this new game. You see this floor? Well, we take out a block from it here and there. The idea is to slide that other block, the red one, so that it drops into a hole. You can move it with your hand or your foot or even with a stick, if you like, but the problem is that it is extremely difficult to get the correct angle to get it to drop exactly into the hole. Here. Let me show you.”
He took the red brick in his hand, aimed it at a square hole at the far end of the pavilion floor. It slid along, but ended up resting diagonally on the sides of the hole. Ai Dun tried using his foot, and Hoo Flung used a short pole. All failed.
Olivia asked, “Have you thought of making the holes bigger or the red brick smaller?”
Oh, yes,” said Ai Dun, “but the Emperor did not like either of those ideas.”
“He can be very hard to please,” added Hoo Flung.
Charlotte tugged the sleeves of Olivia’s long red robe.
“Mummy, Mummy,” she said, “Why not use a ball instead of a brick? You know, like golf.”
“Good idea,” said Colin. “A ball will fit easily into a hole of any shape.”
“If the hole is bigger,” added Olivia.
“Oh, yessss!” breathed Fah Flung. “It’s a great idea. I think the Emperor will like it.”
Another little voice piped up. It was Daniel. “You could make him a crazy golf like we played at the seaside.”
“Yes,” agreed Charlotte. It was awesome.”
“What is crazy golf?” asked Si Thru.
“Yes, what is it?” asked Colin’s three friends, who were former guards of the imperial household.
Again Charlotte piped up. “I’ll draw it for you.”
Consequently about thirty minutes later, after Si Thru had sent a servant to find suitable things for Charlotte to make some sketches, she was dipping a fine paint-brush into some black ink. Her sketches were brilliantly clear.
“What have we got so far?” asked Colin.
Olivia replied, “A windmill, a temple, a horse, a pagoda...”
“And what about a lion?” shouted Daniel excitedly.
“O.K. a lion,” said Olivia, “but you know, Daniel, the Chinese have certainly not seen an African lion, so their idea of one is different from ours. The face is rather round and a bit like a man’s with a flat nose.”
“Oh, like those statues at the sides of the entrance to the pagoda,” said Charlotte. “I wondered what they were.”
“But how many things have we got to make?” asked Fah Flung.
“Thirteen,” replied Olivia