Read Online Jasper and the Green Marvel by Deirdre Madden - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Deirdre Madden
Ads: Link
a voice that wasn’t quite steady:
‘“Seek where your heart’s love lies.”’
‘Gosh, that’s a tricky one, isn’t it?’ Nelly said. ‘I suppose everybody’s got a different heart’s love, and so they would all seek in different places.’
‘Well, I wrote the note, so I know the answerto this one,’ Georgiana replied briskly. ‘Now listen carefully, please,’ she said to the rats, who noticed that she had gone quite pink. ‘Do you know that old ivy-covered wall, around the kitchen garden?’ Rags and Bags nodded. ‘And the wooden door in it that opens into the garden? Just to the right of that, there’s a little letterbox, sunk in the wall. It’s not very easy to see because of all the ivy, but according to this note, that’s where the next clue must be hidden. Will you go and find it? You are good boys!’ she said, as the rats nodded again.
‘So your heart’s love …’ the bat began, but Georgiana quickly interrupted her, saying rather sharply, ‘That’s quite enough for now, Nelly, thank you very much.’
‘We’ll go tomorrow,’ Rags said, ‘we promise.’
‘And we’ll bring whatever we find to you tomorrow night,’ Bags added.
‘Thank you so much, my dears. I’ll see you then, same place, same time. Goodnight!’
And it was only when she stood up, walkedstraight through the wall and disappeared, that the rats realised that they had completely forgotten to tell her about the young man they had seen in the garden, who had the same strange and rather alarming habit.
21 An Invitation from Nelly
‘So what are you going to do now?’ Rags asked the bat.
‘Go home, I suppose.’
‘What do you mean? Aren’t you already there? Isn’t Haverford-Snuffley Hall your home?’
‘Yes,’ said Nelly, ‘but I mean really home. You know, home-home.’
The rats didn’t know. As I have already told you, Rags and Bags had been born and grown up in a prison, and they’d got out of it as soon as they’d had the chance, even though it meant being stuck with a scoundrel like Jasper.This meant that they found it hard to know what home was, let alone what the bat called a home-home. And then Nelly said, quite unexpectedly, ‘Do you want to come with me?’
‘That might be nice. But is it far from here?’
‘Not at all. And now’s a good time to go, because we’ll be just in time for dinner.’
And that, of course, settled the matter.
Off they went, with the two rats scampering up the stairs and the bat flying ahead of them, to perch on a picture frame or a chair until such time as they caught up, and then leading the way again. Up and up they went, taking particular care to be quiet when they came to the door of Jasper’s room, where they were relieved to hear him snoring. They kept on going until the stairs were narrow and the ceilings low and they were right up in the attics of Haverford-Snuffley Hall. I suppose it wasn’t really a great distance from Georgiana’s room, but scampering can be tiring, and the rats had already covered a lot of ground that day. Theyhad even been swimming for the first time. They were worn out and hungry now, and it was a great relief when they came to a door and Nelly finally said, ‘Here we are.’ And then she called, ‘Yoo-hoo! Hello! It’s only me! Me and two friends.’
The door swung open and … what a sight met their eyes!
Bats! More bats than you could ever imagine gathered together in the one place. Old bats and baby bats. Plump bats and skinny bats. Cheerful bats, dozy bats, smart bats and silly bats. Bats! Bats! Bats! Dozens and dozens of them hanging in rows from racks on the ceiling.
And as if this wasn’t a weird enough sight in itself, every single one of them was wearing some kind of hat. There was an old grey bat in a cloth cap, a very small bat in a knitted bonnet, a natty-looking bat in a top hat and another smart creature in a straw boater. And yes, Rags and Bags realised with dismay, there was an enormous,
‘“Seek where your heart’s love lies.”’
‘Gosh, that’s a tricky one, isn’t it?’ Nelly said. ‘I suppose everybody’s got a different heart’s love, and so they would all seek in different places.’
‘Well, I wrote the note, so I know the answerto this one,’ Georgiana replied briskly. ‘Now listen carefully, please,’ she said to the rats, who noticed that she had gone quite pink. ‘Do you know that old ivy-covered wall, around the kitchen garden?’ Rags and Bags nodded. ‘And the wooden door in it that opens into the garden? Just to the right of that, there’s a little letterbox, sunk in the wall. It’s not very easy to see because of all the ivy, but according to this note, that’s where the next clue must be hidden. Will you go and find it? You are good boys!’ she said, as the rats nodded again.
‘So your heart’s love …’ the bat began, but Georgiana quickly interrupted her, saying rather sharply, ‘That’s quite enough for now, Nelly, thank you very much.’
‘We’ll go tomorrow,’ Rags said, ‘we promise.’
‘And we’ll bring whatever we find to you tomorrow night,’ Bags added.
‘Thank you so much, my dears. I’ll see you then, same place, same time. Goodnight!’
And it was only when she stood up, walkedstraight through the wall and disappeared, that the rats realised that they had completely forgotten to tell her about the young man they had seen in the garden, who had the same strange and rather alarming habit.
21 An Invitation from Nelly
‘So what are you going to do now?’ Rags asked the bat.
‘Go home, I suppose.’
‘What do you mean? Aren’t you already there? Isn’t Haverford-Snuffley Hall your home?’
‘Yes,’ said Nelly, ‘but I mean really home. You know, home-home.’
The rats didn’t know. As I have already told you, Rags and Bags had been born and grown up in a prison, and they’d got out of it as soon as they’d had the chance, even though it meant being stuck with a scoundrel like Jasper.This meant that they found it hard to know what home was, let alone what the bat called a home-home. And then Nelly said, quite unexpectedly, ‘Do you want to come with me?’
‘That might be nice. But is it far from here?’
‘Not at all. And now’s a good time to go, because we’ll be just in time for dinner.’
And that, of course, settled the matter.
Off they went, with the two rats scampering up the stairs and the bat flying ahead of them, to perch on a picture frame or a chair until such time as they caught up, and then leading the way again. Up and up they went, taking particular care to be quiet when they came to the door of Jasper’s room, where they were relieved to hear him snoring. They kept on going until the stairs were narrow and the ceilings low and they were right up in the attics of Haverford-Snuffley Hall. I suppose it wasn’t really a great distance from Georgiana’s room, but scampering can be tiring, and the rats had already covered a lot of ground that day. Theyhad even been swimming for the first time. They were worn out and hungry now, and it was a great relief when they came to a door and Nelly finally said, ‘Here we are.’ And then she called, ‘Yoo-hoo! Hello! It’s only me! Me and two friends.’
The door swung open and … what a sight met their eyes!
Bats! More bats than you could ever imagine gathered together in the one place. Old bats and baby bats. Plump bats and skinny bats. Cheerful bats, dozy bats, smart bats and silly bats. Bats! Bats! Bats! Dozens and dozens of them hanging in rows from racks on the ceiling.
And as if this wasn’t a weird enough sight in itself, every single one of them was wearing some kind of hat. There was an old grey bat in a cloth cap, a very small bat in a knitted bonnet, a natty-looking bat in a top hat and another smart creature in a straw boater. And yes, Rags and Bags realised with dismay, there was an enormous,
Similar Books
