Read Online Jasper and the Green Marvel by Deirdre Madden - Free Book Online
Authors: Deirdre Madden
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between the folly and the land was much shorter on this side – it was that there was an elegant little humpbacked bridge across the narrow channel of water.
‘Yippee! We don’t have to swim at all!’
Rags and Bags scampered across the bridge and then went around the edge of the lake. In the distance they could see Haverford-Snuffley Hall. It would be a bit of a walk home but that didn’t bother them because they weren’t in a hurry. They took it in turns to carry the note they had found.
‘What do you say we go home via the kitchen garden?’ Bags suggested. ‘Stop off for a little something.’
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Rags replied.
There was a high ivy-covered wall around the kitchen garden, and as the rats drew near, they saw someone they didn’t recognise. It was a young man with fair hair cut in a wide blunt fringe. He was dressed in soft brown work-clothes . ‘Another gardener, by the look of it,’ Bags whispered. ‘Jasper will be delighted. He’ll make him do all the work.’
But as he spoke, something extraordinary happened. The young man walked up to the wall and then he walked straight through it!
‘How did he do that? Where’s he gone?’ The rats ran up and slipped through the gate into the kitchen garden to see where he was, but there was no sign of the young man anywhere.
They might have thought more about this had they not been immediately distracted by all the scrumptious fruit and vegetables thatwere there for the taking. The warm, sun-ripened tomatoes were a big hit, and then they feasted on soft fruit.
‘Do you know what I think, Bags?’ Rags said as he popped a sweet pink hairy gooseberry in his mouth.
‘What?’
‘We should get out more!’
And the two rats fell about laughing.
19 Jasper Starts Searching
Meanwhile, back at the house, Jasper had managed to talk his way out of trouble yet again. After making all kinds of excuses to Mrs Haverford-Snuffley about why he had flicked her on the nose and knocked her off her chair, he suddenly cried, ‘Ooh, I feel dizzy! The whole garden’s going round and round. That must be what happened earlier, that’s why I fell over. Oooh, everything’s spinning!’
‘If you feel unwell, Professor Orchid, then you can’t be blamed for what happened. You should look after yourself. Perhaps you’ve been working too hard. I think you should go backto bed. Take the rest of today off work.’
‘Madam, you are kind; you are too kind,’ he said. But in his heart he was thinking, Missus, you are such a dozy old bat even a toddler would be smarter than you. ‘Thank you! Thank you!’ he cried. ‘Oh, it’s starting again. There goes the greenhouse, flying past my head. Goodness me, I’m so dizzy, it’s horrible.’
‘You poor man. Off you go to your bed and I’ll get Mrs Knuttmegg to send you up something nice to eat.’
Fat chance of that, Jasper thought, as he went into the house and up the stairs, holding on to the walls and pretending to stagger. And sure enough, as he was putting on his pyjamas to go back to bed, he could hear shouting the whole way from the kitchen. ‘DIZZY? TREATS? I’LL GIVE HIM TREATS!’
I bet you will, Jasper thought, as he pulled back the covers and got into bed. When the dumb-waiter comes up, I’m not even going to bother to open it. Who knows what horrorsshe’ll have put into it. A plate of cold cabbage, perhaps. Yuk! Or a pile of tongue sandwiches. Double yuk! Still, he thought as he snuggled down under the blankets, it was great not to have to work.
He slept soundly for a few hours, and had sweet dreams: sweet to Jasper, that is, for to anyone else they would have seemed strange and unpleasant. He dreamt about being nasty and mean, of bossing people about and of everyone being afraid of him.
He awoke feeling relaxed and refreshed, he was cheerful and full of plans. But as he finished getting dressed again, he happened to glance out of the window. ‘Oh no!’ There were Rags and
‘Yippee! We don’t have to swim at all!’
Rags and Bags scampered across the bridge and then went around the edge of the lake. In the distance they could see Haverford-Snuffley Hall. It would be a bit of a walk home but that didn’t bother them because they weren’t in a hurry. They took it in turns to carry the note they had found.
‘What do you say we go home via the kitchen garden?’ Bags suggested. ‘Stop off for a little something.’
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Rags replied.
There was a high ivy-covered wall around the kitchen garden, and as the rats drew near, they saw someone they didn’t recognise. It was a young man with fair hair cut in a wide blunt fringe. He was dressed in soft brown work-clothes . ‘Another gardener, by the look of it,’ Bags whispered. ‘Jasper will be delighted. He’ll make him do all the work.’
But as he spoke, something extraordinary happened. The young man walked up to the wall and then he walked straight through it!
‘How did he do that? Where’s he gone?’ The rats ran up and slipped through the gate into the kitchen garden to see where he was, but there was no sign of the young man anywhere.
They might have thought more about this had they not been immediately distracted by all the scrumptious fruit and vegetables thatwere there for the taking. The warm, sun-ripened tomatoes were a big hit, and then they feasted on soft fruit.
‘Do you know what I think, Bags?’ Rags said as he popped a sweet pink hairy gooseberry in his mouth.
‘What?’
‘We should get out more!’
And the two rats fell about laughing.
19 Jasper Starts Searching
Meanwhile, back at the house, Jasper had managed to talk his way out of trouble yet again. After making all kinds of excuses to Mrs Haverford-Snuffley about why he had flicked her on the nose and knocked her off her chair, he suddenly cried, ‘Ooh, I feel dizzy! The whole garden’s going round and round. That must be what happened earlier, that’s why I fell over. Oooh, everything’s spinning!’
‘If you feel unwell, Professor Orchid, then you can’t be blamed for what happened. You should look after yourself. Perhaps you’ve been working too hard. I think you should go backto bed. Take the rest of today off work.’
‘Madam, you are kind; you are too kind,’ he said. But in his heart he was thinking, Missus, you are such a dozy old bat even a toddler would be smarter than you. ‘Thank you! Thank you!’ he cried. ‘Oh, it’s starting again. There goes the greenhouse, flying past my head. Goodness me, I’m so dizzy, it’s horrible.’
‘You poor man. Off you go to your bed and I’ll get Mrs Knuttmegg to send you up something nice to eat.’
Fat chance of that, Jasper thought, as he went into the house and up the stairs, holding on to the walls and pretending to stagger. And sure enough, as he was putting on his pyjamas to go back to bed, he could hear shouting the whole way from the kitchen. ‘DIZZY? TREATS? I’LL GIVE HIM TREATS!’
I bet you will, Jasper thought, as he pulled back the covers and got into bed. When the dumb-waiter comes up, I’m not even going to bother to open it. Who knows what horrorsshe’ll have put into it. A plate of cold cabbage, perhaps. Yuk! Or a pile of tongue sandwiches. Double yuk! Still, he thought as he snuggled down under the blankets, it was great not to have to work.
He slept soundly for a few hours, and had sweet dreams: sweet to Jasper, that is, for to anyone else they would have seemed strange and unpleasant. He dreamt about being nasty and mean, of bossing people about and of everyone being afraid of him.
He awoke feeling relaxed and refreshed, he was cheerful and full of plans. But as he finished getting dressed again, he happened to glance out of the window. ‘Oh no!’ There were Rags and
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