Read Online Akiko in the Sprubly Islands by Mark Crilley - Free Book Online Page B

civilized as you, I’m afraid.” She pulled out an ornate silvery key and used it to open a lock at the very bottom of the gate. Spuckler pulled the gate open with a loud squeak.
    “We certainly understand, Your Majesty,” Mr. Beeba replied with a smile as he and Spuckler stepped out of their place of confinement. “I’m sure we’d have done the same thing had the circumstances been reversed.”
    “And I owe
you
an apology as well, Akiko,” Queen Pwip said with an embarrassed smile. “When Mr. Beeba told me about you and your friends still out there in the forest, Admiral Frutz
insisted
that I let him capture you with his army. I felt rather sure that it wasn’t necessary, but old Frutzy does so
love
to capture things. I hope he didn’t frighten you.”
    “No, he didn’t,” I answered, grinning. “Well, not very
much
, anyway.”
    “You must let me make it up to you, Akiko,” Queen Pwip announced decisively. “Please join me for tea.”
    “We would be
delighted
to, Your Majesty,’ Mr. Beeba answered excitedly. “Your generosity is most appreciated!”
    “I wasn’t inviting
you
, Mr. Beeba,” Queen Pwip explained bluntly. Mr. Beeba’s jaw dropped a little.
    “If you don’t mind,” she continued, “I’d like to speak with Akiko and Poog in private.” A weird feeling came over me. It was like being sent to the principal’s office at school, except I was pretty sure I wasn’t in trouble.
    “B-but of course,” Mr. Beeba stammered.
    “In the meantime, perhaps you and Spuckler and Gax could do a bit of housecleaning for me.”
    “Housecleanin’?” Spuckler asked, rubbing his jaw doubtfully.
    “Do you see those domes on the palace wall?” she asked, indicating dozens and dozens of golden structures all along the wall that surrounded the grounds.“They’re terribly hard for my men to reach. By the time they’ve cleaned them from one end of the wall to the other, they have to start all over again from the beginning.”
    I followed the entire wall with my eyes, trying to imagine the hundreds of little men it would take to polish all those domes. Queen Pwip was right. Spuckler and Mr. Beeba would be able to do the job a lot faster, especially if Gax helped out.
    “But, Your Majesty . . . ,” Mr. Beeba began.
    “No problem, Queen Pwip!” Spuckler announced cheerfully. “Jus’ give us a handful of cleanin’ rags and we’ll go t’ town on them suckers!”
    “
Thank
you, Spuckler,” Queen Pwip said with a smile, followed by a disapproving glance at Mr. Beeba. “I’ll have Admiral Frutz supply you with everything you’ll need.” She clapped her hands and Jorrah jumped to her feet.
    “Come along, then,” Queen Pwip said to me and Poog. “The three of us have got quite a lot to talk about.”

After ordering Admiral Frutz to give Mr. Beeba and the others a large supply of cleaning materials, Queen Pwip led Poog and me to a different section of the grounds. After passing through a big decorative arch, we came to a small circular building with a wide stained-glass dome on top and a little round door in front. It stood in the center of a large circle of grass that had been allowed to grow high and uncut. The whole structure looked much older and more weather-beaten than the rest of the palace. There were lots of cracks in the walls, and the pale gold surface of the door looked like it would probably never shine again no matter how much anyone polished it.
    “This is the oldest building in the Sprubly Islands,” Queen Pwip said to me in a reverent tone. “It stood here long before this palace was built. It’s called the Seeing Room. This is where I go to find out about all manner of things kept secret from me by time and space.” She looked me up and down from head to toe, as if measuring me with her eyes.
    “It’s going to be a tight squeeze, but I think you’ll
just
manage to fit inside.”
    She reached into her robes, pulled out a very old, rusty-looking key, and unlocked