Читать книгу Penguin Pandemonium - The Rescue - Жанна Уиллис - Страница 5

It was perfect weather for penguins. It had snowed heavily in the night and the penguin enclosure at City Zoo looked just like the Arctic. The wooden huts where they slept glittered under a frosty duvet like a row of mini igloos and there were icicles hanging off the palace where Big Paulie the emperor penguin lived.

It was so cold, the penguin pool had frozen and to Rory the rockhopper’s delight, the ice was thick enough to stand on. He tested it carefully with one foot, then both feet – it seemed perfectly safe – but the two bears who were watching him had their doubts.

“You’re skating on thin ice, matey!” shouted Orson.

“Don’t come crying to us when it cracks and you freeze your butt,” added Ursie.

Rory looked up at them, but instead of the two brown bears that normally lived in the paddock, there appeared to be two polar bears.

“Dang! I hate the way the flakes stick to my fur when I make a snow angel,” said Orson, brushing himself down and revealing his true colours.

“Some angel,” grunted Ursie. “You’re the Nightbear before Christmas.”

Just then, Blue the little fairy penguin came skidding over.

“Hey, Rory! What are you waiting for?” she laughed, grabbing his flipper and dragging him on to the ice. “I can’t remember the last time the pool froze.”

“Nor can I,” said Rory, spinning her round. “It must have been when we were eggs.”

“It was way before that,” said Ursie. “It was in 2008 on a Tuesday. I remember it well because a tubby old emperor penguin didn’t realise it was thawing – and fell through in a very comical manner.”

“That was Alaskadabra,” said Orson. “He had to be rescued by that boss of yours.”

“Yeah, Big Paulie,” chortled Ursie. “I’ve never seen anything so funny in all my life.”

“Hey, who are you calling funny?” barked a gruff voice from the edge of the pool. “Show some respect or I’ll have my good friend Mister Tiger turn you into a rug.”

It was Paulie. He looked even bigger and even more fierce than usual to Rory. Even the bears backed off, but the two fluffy emperor chicks hanging on to his tail weren’t the slightest bit scared of him.

“Thwing me with your flipperth, Uncky Pooey!” lisped Oo-Chi, poking the mighty emperor in the tummy.

“No, let’th play thkidding!” insisted Ku-Chi, folding his stout relative in half by buckling him behind the knees.

Big Paulie might have been in charge of the grown-up penguins – he’d had years of practice – but taking care of two frisky toddlers was a very different kettle of fish. He cleared his throat and beckoned to Rory.

“I think he wants to talk to you,” said Blue.

“Me?” muttered Rory.

“Yes, you!” boomed Paulie.

Rory skated over to the edge of the pool and hopped out. The boss fixed him with his beady eyes while the twin chicks pulled funny faces and poked out their tiny barbed tongues.

“Listen, Rory. I have some very urgent business to attend to.”

“No, he doethn’t!” giggled Oo-Chi.

Big Paulie took a deep breath and continued.

“Yes, I do and I’m already late for… my… meeting about… stuff.”

“Uncky Pooey, you’re telling fibth!” said Ku-Chi, smacking him hard on the bottom. “Mummy paid you two big fat mackerelth to look after uth and you thaid you wathn’t bithy!”

Paulie threw his flippers in the air.

“Rory, the fact of the matter is, I have to be elsewhere,” he said. Then his voice broke. “And as your boss, I’m begging you to babysit!”

“But I’ve never looked after chicks before,” said Rory, dreading the prospect and looking to Blue for backup.

“He’ll be rubbish at it,” said Blue.

Big Paulie shrugged.

“Oh, please. How hard can it be, Rory? I’m not asking for much – simply that you swear on pain of death to keep my beloved nephew and niece safe from harm. I’m putting all my trust in you.”

Before Rory could answer, Paulie shook the twins off his legs and, leaving them fooling around in the snow, waddled off, calling back over his shoulder.

“And I mustn’t be disturbed until this evening!”

Rory sighed. If Big Paulie said something had to be done, it had to be done, but it wasn’t going to be easy looking after the chicks. In fact they seemed determined to make it as hard as possible and kept toddling off in opposite directions.

“Come back!” he insisted, “I need you in one place to babysit you.”

“No, Wory!” stamped Oo-Chi. “Uth ith too old for you to thit on!”

“You will thquash uth!” said Ku-Chi as Rory ran after him. “Chathe me, Wory!”

Blue smiled to herself. Rory was usually so fast on the ice that he could perform the best stunts, but at the moment he was going cross-eyed trying to get the chicks under control.

“Help me, Blue!” he pleaded as Oo-Chi sat on him and Ku-Chi rubbed snow in his head feathers.

“I thought you’d never ask,” she grinned. “Right, you two! Who wants a story?”

“Oooh, uth wanth a thtory!” they squealed.

Abandoning Rory, they waddled over to Blue and cuddled up.

“Are you sitting comfortably?” she asked.

“No. We want Wory to thit nexth to uth too,” said Oo-Chi. “Group hugth!”

Blue patted the rock next to her, Rory sat down and they all snuggled up.

“Kith me, Wory,” said Ku-Chi. “Mummy alwayth kithith uth before a thtory.”

Rory shifted uncomfortably.

“You can have a kiss at the end, but only if you’re good,” said Blue.

Then she began. “Once upon a time, there were two naughty chicks…”

She had just got their attention when Muriel and her girly gang of fairy penguins arrived. Seeing this cosy scene, Muriel felt it was her solemn duty to embarrass Blue and Rory as much as possible.

“Oh my cod! Bloop and Rory are playing mummies and daddies.”

Blue blushed and screwed up her beak.

“No, we are not! We’re babysitting for Paulie.”

Muriel preened her chest and snorted.

“Yeah, right. Hatty and Brenda, don’t you think Bloop and Rory are so like an old married couple?”

Secretly, Hatty and Brenda were jealous of Blue cuddled up to Rory with the cute chicks, but they didn’t dare admit it in front of their leader.

“So married,” said Hatty.

“So old couple,” added Brenda.

Rory was just going to shout, “So what?” when his best mates Eddie and Clive came roaring by on their new snowboards. Worried that he looked soppy sitting there, he leapt to his feet.

“Snow’s up, dude!” whooped Clive.

Rory jumped on to the back of Eddie’s board.

“I’m on it already. Let’s go!”

Blue’s beak fell open.

“Rory! Don’t you dare leave me with the kids—”

But he was gone. Muriel put her head on one side and blinked at her.

“Bloop, you are so second-best,” she simpered.

Normally, Blue would have stood up to Muriel, but she didn’t like to move because the chicks had just dropped off to sleep. The last thing she wanted to do was wake them, so she put her head in the air and looked the other way.

“What are you doing – looking for a new boyfriend?” persisted Muriel. “Face it, Bloop, Rory doesn’t want to play happy families with you, does he, Hatty and Brenda?”

Hatty and Brenda were so smitten with the chicks they were hardly paying attention.

“Happy,” murmured Hatty.

“Families,” sighed Brenda.

Muriel flicked their beaks.

“Don’t go all mumsy on me! Come along, girls. Let’s go and make a Snow-Muriel. I feel like posing… Bloop, you’d better stay there in case Rory comes back… like… never!!”

But Rory did come back. As soon as he’d gone, he’d had second thoughts about it and managed to persuade his friends to let Blue join in. “Blue’s one of the lads,” he insisted. “We can do better stunts with all four of us.” They’d shaken their heads at first, so he’d come up with another tactic.

“I’ll give you two squid at feeding time,” said Rory reluctantly.

“Four squid,” said Clive. “Half for me, half for Eddie.”

“I’d rather have a whole one,” said Eddie.

The deal was done and Rory went back to fetch Blue, hoping that she would let him have some of her squid later.

“You took your time,” she said.

He held out his flippers apologetically.

“That’s Eddie and Clive for you. They never take no for an answer.”

Oo-Chi and Ku-Chi had gone into a deep sleep and were huddled up so tightly that they looked like one big fat chick with four eyes.

“Come and play while they’re sleeping,” suggested Rory. “We might not get snow as good as this again for years.”

Blue checked on the chicks, who showed no sign of waking.

“OK, but not for long – and not too far away.”

“They’ll be fine,” said Rory.

Blue believed him and they hurried off together to join the boys, filled with excitement at the thought of snowboarding down the black ice.

Blue wasn’t disappointed. The speed she reached as she raced down the slide almost took her breath away. Even Clive and Eddie were impressed.

“World speed record or what, Blue!” cheered Rory. “Right, let’s see if I can beat you.”

“Hadn’t we better get back to the chicks?” she asked.

But this was the best snow ever; it would be a crime to waste it.

“Just one more turn,” said Rory.

But he had two more turns. Then three.

Blue didn’t stop him – she didn’t want him to think she was a spoilsport.

By the time they got back, however, the chicks had gone.