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63 pages

English

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Brothers, Charlie and Freddie White, along with their friends--The Rainbow Gang--find a very unusual ancient looking chest in their dad's garden shed. The chest magically speaks to them and sends them underground to a world inhabited by elves. The elf world is being disturbed by a clumsy young giant from a world below the elf world. The ensuing, sometimes humorous, adventure brings them into contact with lots of unusual creatures and sees The Rainbow Gang set off on a mission to rescue the young giant, whose actions have disrupted the water tables underground. During their adventure, the gang encounters giant hedgehogs, giant moles and large talking fish. Charlie and his friends come into contact with another gang--The Girls--who help them in their adventure and both gangs strike up a lasting friendship.

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Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers
Date de parution	31 mars 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781528984751
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0175€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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The Rainbow Gang
Steve Taylor
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-03-31
The Rainbow Gang About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgment Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20
About the Author
Steve Taylor was born in Southeast London in 1949. He married his wife, Monica, in 1973 and they moved to Surrey in 1979. They have three grown-up children and four grandchildren who live close by.
Steve is semi-retired and in their free time, Steve and Monica like to travel. Steve also enjoys carpentry and reupholstering antique chairs. This is Steve’s first book.
Dedication
For my three amazing grandsons, Edward, Harry and James, and my beautiful granddaughter, Persie.
Copyright Information ©
Steve Taylor (2020)
The right of Steve Taylor to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528984744 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528984751 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgment
With thanks to Monica Taylor, Hannah Rogan, Barry Taylor and Chris Taylor for their continuous encouragement and support throughout the writing of this book. With grateful thanks to Austin Macauley for believing in me and making this dream come true.
Chapter 1
Charlie White woke up early. His younger brother, Freddie, was still asleep in his own bedroom. Downstairs, he could hear his mum and dad chatting, hopefully making breakfast.
Charlie thought about yesterday. It had been his birthday; he was now 10 years old. He had had a really great day with his best friends: Jack, Robbie, Billy, Billy’s twin sister, Sophie and his own brother Freddie.
Together, they were known as the ‘Rainbow Gang’. They’d had this name since they were little. Charlie and Freddie’s surname is White. Jack’s surname is Green, Robbie’s surname is Black and Billy and Sophie’s surname is Jackson, but they both have red hair and so are included in the gang!
They had all been to the leisure centre and had tried the rock-climbing wall. It was fantastic! He was the first to climb all the way to the top; the instructor said he was a natural. Even Freddie managed to get to the top, as did all the others. After the rock wall, they all went back to Charlie and Freddie’s house where they ate pizza and chips, except for Freddie who does not like pizza so he had a sandwich. Charlie opened the presents his friends had bought him: two Lego kits and some DVDs. They then played in the garden.
Charlie thought it was the best birthday ever. Mum and Dad had given him a new bike; he was getting too big for his old one and Freddie was getting too big for his bike so he now had Charlie’s old one. Freddie is really pleased!
“Charlie,” Mum called, “are you up yet?”
“Yes Mum.”
“Do you want breakfast?”
“Yes, please.”
“Wake Freddie up and come downstairs.”
“OK.”
Charlie went in and poked his brother who sat up looking worried. “What’s up?” asked Charlie.
“I was dreaming and, in my dream, someone had stolen my new bike—your old bike. We couldn’t find it anywhere.”
“Don’t worry,” said Charlie, “Both our bikes are locked up in Dad’s shed; they’re safe in there. Come on, get up, Mum’s making breakfast.”
Charlie and a sleepy Freddie went downstairs to the kitchen; Mum and Dad were both there.
“Do you want toast, cereal or something else?” asked Mum.
“Can I have boiled egg and soldiers, please?” asked Freddie.
“Yes, can I have the same please, Mum?”
“OK, sit down; it will be a few minutes.”
“What are you going to do today, boys?” said Dad.
“Can we go to the park on our bikes?” asked Charlie.
Charlie and Freddie are lucky boys: their garden backed onto the park and like a lot of other houses, they had a gate in the garden that led straight into the park.
It is a lovely open space with a playground, a small kids’ splash pool, a five-a-side football pitch, a cricket pitch and two tennis courts and just recently, a set of outdoor exercise machines for the grownups was installed, which of course, all the kids tried out!
There is also a pavilion and a hut. The groundsman is Mr Jackson, a local man who seems to know everyone. He is Billy and Sophie’s dad. It is always quite busy at the park, especially at the weekend.
After breakfast, Charlie and Freddie went into the garden and unlocked the padlock on Dad’s shed. Much to Freddie’s relief, both bikes were still there; both boys found cloths and started to polish their bikes.
Charlie pulled at another pile of rags and stopped when a strange wooden box was revealed.
“Freddie,” said Charlie, “look at this!”
“What is it?” asked Freddie.
“I don’t know, but I’ve never seen it in here before.”
“It must be Dad’s,” Freddie decided.
“But there’s normally just a pile of boxes and tins there and where are they now?”
“Let’s go and ask Dad,” said Freddie.
“Let’s just have a quick look at the box,” said Charlie as he pulled the box to the middle of the shed.
The box was made of wood about the size of a typical pirate’s treasure chest, except with a flat top. It had a lid on and what looked like a handle on the top but it was sunk into the lid. Around the edge of the lid, were buttons with the letters of the alphabet.
The box looked very old; it had carvings all over it—trees, animals, strange creatures and what seemed to be small figures and much bigger ones.
“Go on then, Charlie, open it up and let’s have a look inside,” said Freddie excitedly.
“OK, but what do you think might be inside?”
“Don’t know, open it!”
Charlie grabbed two sides of the lid and lifted. It would not budge; he tried the other two sides, still nothing. Freddie leant over and tried to help. Still no movement.
“What was it that that Ali Baba man said in the story?” asked Freddie.
“Open something,” said Charlie.
“Open sesame seeds.”
“Nearly right.”
“It’s ‘open sesame’,” said Charlie.
“OK, ‘open sesame’.”
The boys waited, taking it in turns to say ‘open sesame’ but it did not open.
Freddie said, “It must be locked.”
“Can you see a keyhole? No! And anyway, we don’t have a key or hadn’t you noticed?” sneered Charlie.
“What about if we spelled out ‘open sesame’ on the letter buttons?” Freddie suggested.
“Freddie, you’re a genius!” Charlie exclaimed.
Charlie pressed ‘O’, Freddie pressed ‘P’, Charlie pressed ‘E’ and Freddie pressed ‘N’.
Charlie was about to press ‘S’ for sesame when there was a quiet click and the handle at the top of the box silently slid up.
“Wow!” said Freddie, “That’s really cool.”
“We only had to spell ‘open’,” laughed Charlie.
The boys sat silently looking at the box.
Chapter 2
Mr and Mrs White were busy in the kitchen; Mrs White was finishing the tidying up.
Mr White had loaded the dishwasher and was making another cup of coffee.
“The boys are quiet down at the shed,” said Mrs White.
“They’re probably cleaning their bikes again. I don’t suppose they will keep that up for long! Still, they’re not under our feet so leave them to it; we’ve got to go shopping soon. I’ll give them a shout when we leave.”
In the shed, Charlie and Freddie still sat staring at the box. “Let’s open it then, Charlie,” Freddie said.
“OK,” said Charlie.
Standing up, he leant over the box and with both hands, gripped the handle and gently eased the lid from the box. It made a noise like someone drawing air between their lips. Charlie put the lid on the floor.
The boys peered into the now open box.
There were several things inside. What appeared to be a wooden mallet? Not like Dad’s one on the bench, it looked as though it was made from a bit of a tree trunk with a bit sticking out of one side, like a handle. It looked very old.
Charlie reached in and picked it up. It was not heavy but very hard and the handle bit was very shiny.
Freddie leant across and took the mallet from his brother. He knocked it on the shed floor; it did not make a noise at all.
The brothers looked at each other in amazement.
Freddie dropped the mallet—no noise again.
Charlie took the mallet and tried hitting it on the floor—nothing! He hit harder, still no noise. He tried hitting it on other things but it still made no sound. He put it down, gently.
“This is very odd,” said Charlie.
“It’s a bit scary,” said Freddie.
“Charlie, Freddie,” Dad called.
Suddenly, the mallet flew into the box and the lid shot up on top and the box slid to one side. It became a pile of small tins and boxes and bits of rags. A strange voice from under the boxes and tins said, “Don’t tell your dad.”
The boys looked at each other with their mouths wide open.
“Are you boys still in the shed?” called Dad.
Quick as a flash, the boys grabbed their bikes and wheeled them outside.
“You’ve been very quiet; what have you been doing?” asked Dad.
“We’ve been polishing our bikes.”
“OK then. Mum and I are going to the supermarket. We’ll only be about half an hour; are you going into the park and is Robbie going with you?”
“Yes, we’ll call for Robbie when we go throug