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Authors: Alexander McCall Smith
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they’re your trees!” he exclaimed. “You’ve always looked after them!”
Mr Bhalla sighed. “We think they’re our trees, but these men say otherwise. We’ve tried to stop them, but they’ve just run after us with their axes and chased us away. There’s nothing we can do. Maybe it would be different if we were different people, but Bubblegummies don’t like fighting – we never have.”
Mr Bhalla returned to his chair and sank his head in his hands. “So that’s why you haven’t been getting your gum,” he said. “And if things go on as they are, in a few months the men will have cut all the treesdown and that will be the end of the bubblegum tree – forever.”
Nobody said anything. Billy thought that he had never heard such a sad story before. Surely somebody could think of something? Surely somebody could do something to save the bubblegum trees before it was too late.
Mr Bhalla invited them all to stay, and showed them to their rooms in his tree house. Then, since they had a few hours before dinner, Billy and Nicola set off to explore the Bubblegummie village.
It was a marvellous, exciting place.Everybody was very friendly, and when they met some children coming out of the school, their new friends quickly agreed to show them round. They took them along all the walkways and swinging bridges, and even showed them up thelookout ladders that led to the very tops of the trees.
“Why do you live in tree houses?” asked Billy.
“Why not?” said one of the Bubblegummie boys. “Wouldn’t you prefer to live in a tree house?”
“I suppose I would,” said Billy. “You get a much better view. And it’s cooler. And your house would never get flooded in the rain.”
“That’s it,” said the boy. “That’s why we live up here.”
Most exciting of all, though, was the emergency exit. This was right in the middle of the village, at the top of one ofthe tallest trees, and it was shown to Billy and Nicola by the Bubblegummie boy.
“We have to have a way of getting down to the ground in a hurry,” he said. “Like if somebody fell, or if there were a fire. This is what we do.”
He showed them to a platform to which a thick pink rope was tied. “You hold the end of this rope,” he said, “and then you jump.”
Billy inspected the rope. It had a very strange feel to it.
“This feels like bubblegum,” he said.
“And that’s just what it is,” said the boy. “We use bubblegum for all sorts of things.”
He took the end of the rope from Billy’s hand. “Let me show you,” he said. “Please stand back.”
Billy and Nicola watched as the boy tucked the end of the rope into his belt. Then, without any further warning, he leapt over the edge of the platform.
The two children gave a gasp as they saw the boy plummet down.
“He’s going to hit the ground!” screamed Nicola. “Oh, look out!”
But Nicola was wrong. The long bubblegum rope unravelled swiftly, but then stopped, and began to stretch. It was just like a great piece of elastic, and itbrought the boy to a stop just before he hit the ground. Then, with a loud twanging noise, the rope jerked him back up, shooting through the air, to land on his feet on the platform.
“There you are,” said the boy. “It’s quite simple. If I had wanted to get off at the bottom, I would just have slipped the rope out of my belt. But it’s just as easy to come back up again.”
Billy laughed. “It’s just like bungee jumping!” he exclaimed.
“Of course it is,” said the boy. “We invented bungee jumping, you see. The Bubblegummies were the first to do it – not that anybody knows about that!”
He passed the end of the rope to Billy. “Would you like to try?” he asked. “It’s very simple.”
Billy’s heart gave a leap. The ground was a very long way away. What if the bubblegum rope broke?
“I’m not sure,” he stammered. “Maybe tomorrow …”
“I’ll go,” said Nicola, reaching for the rope. “It looks
Mr Bhalla sighed. “We think they’re our trees, but these men say otherwise. We’ve tried to stop them, but they’ve just run after us with their axes and chased us away. There’s nothing we can do. Maybe it would be different if we were different people, but Bubblegummies don’t like fighting – we never have.”
Mr Bhalla returned to his chair and sank his head in his hands. “So that’s why you haven’t been getting your gum,” he said. “And if things go on as they are, in a few months the men will have cut all the treesdown and that will be the end of the bubblegum tree – forever.”
Nobody said anything. Billy thought that he had never heard such a sad story before. Surely somebody could think of something? Surely somebody could do something to save the bubblegum trees before it was too late.
Mr Bhalla invited them all to stay, and showed them to their rooms in his tree house. Then, since they had a few hours before dinner, Billy and Nicola set off to explore the Bubblegummie village.
It was a marvellous, exciting place.Everybody was very friendly, and when they met some children coming out of the school, their new friends quickly agreed to show them round. They took them along all the walkways and swinging bridges, and even showed them up thelookout ladders that led to the very tops of the trees.
“Why do you live in tree houses?” asked Billy.
“Why not?” said one of the Bubblegummie boys. “Wouldn’t you prefer to live in a tree house?”
“I suppose I would,” said Billy. “You get a much better view. And it’s cooler. And your house would never get flooded in the rain.”
“That’s it,” said the boy. “That’s why we live up here.”
Most exciting of all, though, was the emergency exit. This was right in the middle of the village, at the top of one ofthe tallest trees, and it was shown to Billy and Nicola by the Bubblegummie boy.
“We have to have a way of getting down to the ground in a hurry,” he said. “Like if somebody fell, or if there were a fire. This is what we do.”
He showed them to a platform to which a thick pink rope was tied. “You hold the end of this rope,” he said, “and then you jump.”
Billy inspected the rope. It had a very strange feel to it.
“This feels like bubblegum,” he said.
“And that’s just what it is,” said the boy. “We use bubblegum for all sorts of things.”
He took the end of the rope from Billy’s hand. “Let me show you,” he said. “Please stand back.”
Billy and Nicola watched as the boy tucked the end of the rope into his belt. Then, without any further warning, he leapt over the edge of the platform.
The two children gave a gasp as they saw the boy plummet down.
“He’s going to hit the ground!” screamed Nicola. “Oh, look out!”
But Nicola was wrong. The long bubblegum rope unravelled swiftly, but then stopped, and began to stretch. It was just like a great piece of elastic, and itbrought the boy to a stop just before he hit the ground. Then, with a loud twanging noise, the rope jerked him back up, shooting through the air, to land on his feet on the platform.
“There you are,” said the boy. “It’s quite simple. If I had wanted to get off at the bottom, I would just have slipped the rope out of my belt. But it’s just as easy to come back up again.”
Billy laughed. “It’s just like bungee jumping!” he exclaimed.
“Of course it is,” said the boy. “We invented bungee jumping, you see. The Bubblegummies were the first to do it – not that anybody knows about that!”
He passed the end of the rope to Billy. “Would you like to try?” he asked. “It’s very simple.”
Billy’s heart gave a leap. The ground was a very long way away. What if the bubblegum rope broke?
“I’m not sure,” he stammered. “Maybe tomorrow …”
“I’ll go,” said Nicola, reaching for the rope. “It looks
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