Colin and the Gladiators , livre ebook

Andrews UK - Merv Lambert

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32 pages

English

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Another fantastic book of stories about M, the invisible computer-generated emu. In this collection, we meet M's emu girl-friend from Australia, rescue Kylie, the baby kangaroo, have a custard-pie fight in Hollywood, wing-walk on a biplane and witness a gladiatorial battle in ancient Rome. As expected, in every story in which he appears M never misses a chance to produce his own brand of comical antics.

Informations

Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	15 janvier 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781782345794
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Title Page
COLIN AND THE GLADIATORS
By
Merv Lambert

Publisher Information
Colin and the Gladiators
Published in 2013 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happening.
Copyright © 2013 Merv Lambert
The right of Merv Lambert to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.

High Expectations
It all started very slowly, and then became more and more frantic.
For once it was not Colin’s magic phoenix bookmark that caused the following events. Auntie Flo was the culprit. Perhaps she should not have told M that she was bringing his emu girl-friend Emma over from Oztralia, as the two emus called it. For several days he had, even for him, been hyperactive, dashing around Olivia and Colin’s house and also the house not far away, where Colin’s cousins Billy and Jilly lived with their parents. He had also been swinging around in the trees in the park both in the daytime and at night. Yes, he was definitely over-excited. Not only was he looking forward to seeing Emma again, but he was wondering what the surprise was that Auntie Flo had mentioned.
Jilly was feeling a little alarmed by the state M was now in, and asked Auntie Flo if she could bring Emma’s visit forward, but Auntie Flo said no, she had her reasons. M would just have to wait, but she had thought of something that might take his mind off things and give him a new interest.
Consequently the next day Mrs. Burton, Billy and Jilly’s Mum was surprised, when a van pulled up outside her house, and two men carried an extremely large package up the path, and asked her to sign for it.
“What is it?” she asked. “And who is it from? I haven’t ordered anything, and I don’t think my husband has, although he doesn’t always tell me.”
“Well, there’s a label on it here,” said one of the men.
Mrs. Burton read it, and said, “Oh, it’s from my sister, and it’s for my son and daughter. They’re at school at the moment, and my husband is at work.”
“We’ve been asked to assemble it for you,” said the second man. “Where do you want it set up? At the bottom of the garden?”
“Er, yes, I suppose so, although this is the first I’ve heard about it.”
Half an hour later the job was done, and, having enjoyed a nice cup of tea, the men said goodbye, and departed in their van.
The phone rang, and Mrs. Burton half expected it was her sister calling. She was right. It was Auntie Flo.
“Flo, why didn’t you tell me?” she complained.
Auntie Flo laughed. “Sorry, dear. I wanted it to be a complete surprise for Billy and Jilly. I’m sure they’ll like it.”
“I know,” sighed Mrs. Burton. “It’ll give Billy another excuse to try and put off doing his homework.”
Of course Auntie Flo did not tell her sister the real reason she had sent it, as Mrs. Burton would never accept that an invisible emu lived at her house, and that she and her husband were the ones, who could not see it. Yes, Billy and Jilly would be delighted. Auntie Flo said she would pop round in the afternoon to see them, when they arrived home from school. She did not say that the present was really for M, and that he would be there too.
The first thing Billy and Jilly did, when they arrived home from school, was to change into jeans and T-shirts. Then they made their way out into the garden.
“Hello, Auntie Flo,” said Jilly.
“Hello, M,” murmured Billy.
“Hello, darlings,” beamed Auntie Flo. “There’s something for you at the bottom of the garden. You’d better go and show him how to use it.” She indicated a puzzled-looking emu, who kept fidgeting from foot to foot.
Billy ran off past the high bushes and the two silver birch trees, and shouted, “Wow! Come and look at this, Jilly!”
M had got there before them, and was looking even more puzzled.
Jilly’s eyes lit up, and she grinned. “We’ve always wanted one.”
“Bags I go first!” shouted Billy.
Jilly was impatient to try it out too. After a minute she cried, “My turn,” and hopped onto the trampoline.
M was getting excited again, but he waited patiently for his turn. He had just hopped up onto this intriguing new device, when Auntie Flo appeared from around the side of the bushes. The emu’s first, trial spring was quite gentle, but soon he was propelling himself straight upwards to amazing heights. When he straightened his legs at the top of each jump, he was more than twenty feet above the ground.
“Wow!” said Jilly.
“Wow!” echoed Billy.
“Wow indeed!” said Auntie Flo. “Come down here for a moment, M. I’ve something to tell you.” As the emu hopped down from the trampoline, she continued, “You three are coming to tea at my new house on Sunday.”
“Billy was about to say something, but Auntie Flo got in first. “And your Mum and Dad will be there too. Your Dad is always happy, if there’s a can or two of beer for him, and your Mum will be happy playing with Charlotte and Daniel. Yes, Colin and Olivia are coming too with her father Carlo, and Colin’s granddad and his Grandma Fi will be there. It’s a sort of family house-warming party.”
M seemed to nod his head, and then he hopped back up onto the trampoline to propel himself upward in his most gigantic, joyful leap yet.
Auntie Flo laughed. “Come on M. Don’t hog it all to yourself! Let Billy and Jilly have a go. Their Mum’s coming now to see them using it. Here she is.”
“Oh, lovely!” said Mrs. Burton, as she watched her children enjoying themselves on the trampoline. Jilly was just as skilled as Billy, for they sometimes did this at school in P.E. lessons, and knew how to do tucks and somersaults.
“Do you want to have a go on it, Mum?” asked Billy.
His Mum laughed, and shook her head.
“What about you, Auntie Flo?” asked Jilly.
“My trampolining days are long gone,” said Auntie Flo. “Believe it or not, I used to be quite good at it once.”
Billy and Jilly both believed her. To them she was the most mysterious person in the world.
She proved this the following Sunday afternoon.
“Come in, darlings,” she gushed, as Mr. and Mrs. Burton got out of their car with Billy and Jilly. She winked at M, who had spent much of the night practising tricks on the trampoline, and who had loped along tirelessly next to the Burtons’ car to arrive at the same time. “The others are in the garden,” she added.
Soon Mr. Burton had settled into a comfortable garden chair, and had contentedly started on his first can of beer. His wife had a cup of tea next to her on a table but at a safe distance from Olivia and Colin’s four month old (or possibly 475 years 4 months old) Baby Daniel she was holding in her arms. The baby, having a very wise head on his young shoulders, had decided not to converse with this relative, except in the usual baby noises. He could see that already Mr. Burton was dozing off in the sun and his sister Charlotte was chasing happily round the garden with their little dog Sammy and that large emu everyone called M.
Auntie Flo said, “You two stay here with Daniel. The rest of us are going to get tea ready inside. Come on, everyone.”
Everyone else, including Charlotte, Sammy, and M, hurried inside the house.
In the spacious lounge with its large picture windows and comfortable leather sofas and armchairs the family sat, as Auntie Flo tapped the keys of her laptop. For once M was quite still. He waited expectantly. Suddenly his heart leapt in delight, for no longer was there just one emu in the room.
Rather elegantly Emma glided out of the monitor screen. She stood tall next to Auntie Flo, looking calmly at everyone.
M’s heart leapt again. In a flurry of movement a ball of brown feathers erupted from the screen. A baby emu with a brown body and a white face twirled round M’s legs and then launched herself across the room to squat on the carpet next to Charlotte, who had been drawing in her sketch-book.
“This is Emily,” said Auntie Flo. “Congratulations, M. This is your daughter.”
No one had seen the emu blush before. His chest seemed to swell with pride. So this was the surprise he had been promised, but, no, it did not end there.
Auntie Flo tapped another key on her laptop, and an even more energetic bundle of feathers exploded from the screen. This little emu had a white body and a brown face.
“And this is Emmerson,” added Auntie Flo. “More congratulations, M. This is your son.”
Emily ignored her brother. Already she had picked up one of Charlotte’s crayons in her small beak, and was drawing something on the pad.
M now seemed to have gathered his wits. A smile appeared on his face, as he bent his head down, and gently lifted Emmerson onto his back before trotting round the room to stand proudly next to Emma.
Charlotte and Emily were already firm friends, drawing happily on the sketch-pad.
“Come on, everyone,” urged Auntie Flo. “We’d better get that buffet tea set out in the kitchen.”
So that is what they did. Olivia spotted M pinching a salmon sandwich and passing it to Emmerson. The little emu was unsure what to do, so M showed him by pinching another one and swallowing it with one gulp. The baby emu was not slow to copy his father.
Jilly went into the garden to fetch Daniel, and Billy woke his Dad, who predictably had dozed off in his chair in the warm sunshine.
Mr. and