Cassy & The Bathroom People

Inaaya Mahek

Description

Cassy is an ordinary eight year old girl living an ordinary life in Cancun with her ordinary parents and older brother James. Ordinary, yes, to the outside world, but Cassy has a secret... One night, after a fight with James, Cassy wakes up to discover her toy warrior, Len, has come alive! Like many other girls her age, eventhough she is scared, Cassy follows Len into her bathroom where she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime in an amazing new world!Entering this quirky, fun and exciting place, she meets Len's fabulous family, explores the friendly Memonia and plays an unusual game ofQualla. But, just when she thinks the fun is over, Cassy encounters her greatest challenge yet: she cannot go home! And strangest of all, whois the mysterious old man they encounter on their adventure? Will Cassy and Len discover the answers to their questions - and moreimportantly, will she manage to find her way back home?

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 30 juillet 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781838599706
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2019 Inaaya Mahek
Cover and map illustration by Lucy Stapylton-Smith
The moral right of the author has been asserted.


Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.


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ISBN 978 1838599 706

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.


Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

To my mum, dad and sister for being my pillars of support
and in loving memory of ‘mamma’ (my grandmother)
for always staying close to my heart.
Contents
Part One
My Family
The Night It Happened
Following Len
Meeting Len
Journey to Meet Len’s Family
Len’s Family
Len’s Home
Fun and Games
Qualla
Going Home

Part Two
How to Get Home?
Off, Off and Away
The Imis
The Little House
Mr Riplex
Choco Chunk
Romanicotta
Saving Romanicotta
Leviano Trianche
Back Again
Ardon
The Sticky Situation
The Desert
Back, Back Again
Walkington
The Dahsslers
The Swamp
Back, Back, Back Again
Meeting M
Sarkine
Crasturbe
The Music Challenge
Music Grotto
The Shape Palace
Home, Sweet Home
A Dream or Reality?

Words You May Not Find in the Dictionary
Part One


My Family
Are you good at keeping secrets? I mean, really, really good?
Before we start the story, you have to promise something. And if you break this promise you will regret it. You must promise that you will NEVER EVER TELL ANYONE THIS STORY.
Right now, you must be saying, “Ha! That’s an easy promise to keep,” but as you will soon learn, it isn’t, because my story is very different to all the other stories you might have heard.
And it is true.
Now that the promise has been made and UNDER ABSOLUTELY NO circumstances will you EVER break it, we shall start the story.
The first thing you need to know about me is that my name is Cassandra Sudurix, although most people call me Cassy. I am eight years old, live in Cancun, Mexico, and have a very annoying older brother called James.
Even though we are brother and sister, we are exactly the opposite. I have black, long, straight hair, but he has short, curly blonde hair. My eyes are dark brown, yet he has bright blue eyes. I am shy, whereas he is popular. I have a high, squeaky voice, but he has a confident, comforting voice. My skin is as pale as a porcelain doll, but his has a ruddy glow. Did I mention that I am eight and he is ten?
We only have three things in common. We are both average height, we both love being healthy and we have to share a room with each other.
Our room is very simple. Wardrobes at either end, with a single bed each in front of them. We have a bedside table in between both beds and a bearskin rug in the middle with slippers on it. Oh, and of course, just in front of the door on the left-hand side is a chest of drawers. On top are my two fools jewels mushrooms, James’s ice skating award and my dancing award.
The room is painted like a city. The ceiling is the sky and James’s side has cars, roads, shops, aeroplanes and all that boys’ stuff. Whilst on my side, there is a calm field with lots of lovely flowers: lilies, roses, bluebells, tulips, daffodils, daisies, pansies, marigolds, snowdrops and orchids. You name it, I’ve got it.
I love to read and spend all my pocket money on the latest books. Once, I was forced to give one of my prized possessions away for a copy of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night . I considered trading Len but couldn’t bear the thought of it. In the end, I gave up one of my stone mushrooms embedded with fool’s jewels.
Len is my plastic doll hunter. He has a plastic belt to put plastic daggers in, a tiny feather headdress and a REAL war paint palette. He has been passed down through each female generation on their fifth birthday.
When my mum gave him to me, we were playing ‘pass the parcel’ at my birthday party. Purposely, she stopped the music at me on the last layer of wrapping and inside was Len. Mum has the knack of finding the right thing to do, at the right place, at the right time.
Even though we live in Cancun, most of the time we are out on holidays. In fact, the only time when there was a school break and we didn’t go on holiday was two years ago in winter half-term. And that was because Dad and James both had the flu.
As we’re so busy travelling the world, we never go and explore Mexico. For instance, last year we could have visited Chichen Itza, but instead we went to the Taj Mahal. And who could forget the time we spent in the Amazon?
As you may have guessed, we don’t see our friends very often, and soon we just drifted apart. Then I became shy. But James never loses his spirit, and every week he comes back with news of a new friend. Then the next Friday, they go and play football by the emerald-green palm trees a couple of streets away.
When he’s done, he walks through the cornfields on the baked rocky path, takes a left turn at the end, and staring straight at him is our house.
I would absolutely love to say that it is a cosy little cottage with a wooden gate leading into a neat and tidy garden. And the house itself has roses and honeysuckle creeping up the walls with gold and silver embroidery on ruby-red curtains. In spring and in summer, the fans would always be on. Inside the house would be plush pillows, creative paintings and decorative arts. But no. Our house is the exact opposite. I’ll leave you to imagine it.
Well, that’s basically all you need to know about me, Cassy.
Oh, in all this excitement, I forgot to tell you my secret…
But first remember your promise…
I AM AFRAID OF THE DARK.
Well, I was. I am not any more.
How, you ask? Well, that’s my SECRET. Turn the pages to find out what it is…
The Night It Happened
The day when it all started. I remember that day vividly.
It was a warm day, so we were kind of bored. The 8 th of July was the hottest day of the year. It was hot and humid. In short, it was unbearable.
It started off as any normal day. I got out of bed, slid into my fluffy lilac dressing gown and skipped downstairs for breakfast. It was a Saturday, so there was no real rush to get dressed.
Then for the seven-million-thousandth time in forever, I looked around the beauty of our lime green air-conditioned kitchen. As always, it was spotless, and everything was in its usual place. Mum kept it spick and span . Any grain of dust, speck of dirt or microscopic germ that dared to enter our house would either be swept out or killed in an instant.
I wonder how she does it? Juggling all these things! Her job, us, Dad, the house and, on top of that, the garden! How does she handle it all?
Since September, Mum has had to manage the garden as well, because Dad was once given the job of watering the plants in the garden and he totally blew it!
Our garden has a gorgeous pond with purple, peach, pink and blue waterlilies sprinkled across its surface. An arched wooden bridge carries you over smoothly from one side of the pond to the other.
Angelfish, clownfish and rainbowfish live in the waters, and every spring, frogs migrate from the south to breed in our pond. Around the pond, roses and tulips blossom in a variety of subtle and radiant shades. Lilac orchid bushes rise from the ground, creating little spots of beauty. Having such a house means that people don’t guess what is hiding behind it.
Anyway, back to the point.
As you may remember, Dad was just given the job of watering the plants. Mum had left the house for a yoga session and Dad started to go about setting it up. James and I watched as he took out the polished watering can and started to fill it up. Then, lugging the can behind him, he walked towards the glass door.
Cautiously, he opened it and lifted the can up out of reach of getting caught on the hooks of our rickety stairs (we have these hooks because if we want to pin something down to the ground, these are there). As he approached the entrance of our garden, he hesitated for a second, as if not sure where to go, then made his way towards the pond. Absentmindedly, he started to water the WATERLILIES. Yes, the waterlilies!
James and I exchanged mischievous grins but didn’t make a single sound. As you can imagine, he was done in five minutes. The plants were dry and as for the pond, well, let’s just say it looked like it had been raining all day. Mum never trusted him with the garden after that.
Personally, I think mums are miracles! But as usual, I digress.
As I approached the sparkling black kitchen counter, I looked around for Mum and James. Dad would have gone to work already because he had some big project going on. There they are , I thought, as I spotted them on the pristine patio.
After I called them inside, we had a quick breakfast of Choco Chip Crispies (my favourite cereal), I got the hiccups and James suggested we go to the pool. We thought it was a great idea, so I quickly tidied up, helped Mum to wash the dishes and whizzed