Honey Bee Meadow , livre ebook

Austin Macauley Publishers - Phil Carrigan

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34 pages

English

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The May Day Fair had been held on Honey Bee Meadow at the top of Bodmin Hill above Lostwithiel, Cornwall, for centuries. The local animals were horrified when a notice appeared that there was to be a housing estate built on the field, which would put an end to the fair. The animals came up with a plan to ambush the lorries carrying the building materials, with the help of the magic powers of Fairy Godmother Jude and Raspacious the Wicked Witch. There were some strange shops in Lostwithiel. One sold a special magic cream called Factor 21, which used ingredients from the Teardrop Tree in Lerryn Woods. The teardrops were collected by the strange white bunnies who could turn themselves black every time they sang in their choir, which was conducted by Fitbit, who played the organ and mended shoes in his little repair shop in town. Meanwhile, Scrundle, the scruffiest cat in Cornwall, falls in love with the beautiful Demelza and their destiny plays a part in the outcome of the story.

Informations

Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers
Date de parution	01 novembre 2018
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781788480321
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0000€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

About the Author
I was brought up and educated in Lewes, East Sussex, after which I served 30 happy years in ‘Her Majesty’s Royal Marine Band’.
I belong to the Lostwithiel Town Band and also conduct the Polperro Fishermen’s Choir. I now sit in our beautiful three acre garden trying to write new stories.

Copyright Information
Copyright © Phil Carrigan (2018)
The right of Phil Carrigan 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.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781787107113 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781788480321 (E-Book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2018)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ

Dedication
I would like to dedicate this book to my long-suffering wife Judith, whose idea it was for me to put pen to paper. Also, to the Polperro Fishermen’s Choir who feature as the ‘Black Bunny Choir’.
I was privileged to know the singer Peter Skellern who tragically died in 2017. He kindly gave me permission to quote from his famous song ‘You’re A Lady’.

Acknowledgements
My thanks to Lorraine without whose help my original manuscript was changed from a topsy turvy mess to a readable script, and also for the original edit.

Chapter 1
SURPRISE AT HONEY BEE MEADOW
“Are you going to sit on the seesaw or not?” purred Ermitrude, a chubby friendly pussy with a striped tail and pink paws. She can’t stop farting and then blames someone else. She was sitting on the seesaw, waiting impatiently for Hercules the dog to jump on. Hercules is a very fit dog. He is very particular and won’t leave a job until it is finished. He is amusing, and a sociable dog, and loves a cup of ginger tea. They were both there among all the things that were going on in Honey Bee Meadow, just above the mediaeval town of Lostwithiel. Hercules, hearing Ermitrude moaning, gave a big jump and landed on the other end of the seesaw. Unfortunately, Hercules was much heavier than Ermitrude, and when he landed, she went flying up in the air and landed in the duck pond! The ducks all had numbers on their backs ready for the great Duck Race during carnival week.
The pond was one of the many attractions that had been set out in Honey Bee Meadow. Every year, for as far back as anyone could remember, a May Day Fair had been held on the field at the top of Bodmin Hill. It was always held on 1st May, to celebrate the end of the horrible curse that used to cover Lostwithiel. The curse made your nose glow blue in the morning and then change to red after lunch. The local people were so embarrassed they wore knitted covers on their noses. Luckily knitted nose covers could be bought from the Cobblers in town called Uzella Shoe Repair. They come in packs of three, in case someone had a cold, and they could wash them out more often. The sizes were all different, from tiny to monstrous.

All over Honey Bee Meadow there were games, things to eat, music played by the local brass band, conducted by their new musical director Normando. He is really a farmer but loves being in brass bands, playing and conducting. He is a very lively and friendly chap, to most people. There was much merriment going on with all the local animals.
At the top of the field, next to the old oak tree, were the skittles using nine rabbits sitting in formation at the end of the course. At the other end was Keith, the Gnome Chief. It was Keith’s birthday treat to come to the fair every year on his birthday. He loves playing skittles but can be forgetful, he looks fierce but is really a softy. He loves fishing, as do his 13 children. Gently, he rolled one of the three hedgehogs towards the white rabbits to try to knock as many over as possible, but as soon as the hedgehog started rolling towards them the rabbits started to move to one side to avoid being knocked over. “That’s not fair!” shouted Keith. The hedgehog just smiled with relief and rolled gently through the sniggering rabbits. Keith rolled the second hedgehog and again the rabbits hopped to one side and through the gap rolled hedgy number 2. Keith was getting quite upset, so he threw the last hedgy as hard as he could. This time the rabbits stayed where they were, but luckily hedgy rolled between them. Then all the rabbits rolled around, laughing and sniggering to themselves.
Meanwhile, on the big slope, the Mice children, Monty and Jerry, were enjoying the leaf slide. This consisted of large leaves laid on the grass. Monty is a very amusing little boy mouse who plays the violin and loves collecting money in his violin case when busking in town. Monty and Jerry would jump on, holding the reigns attached to the front. Then their father, Mungo, would send them gliding to the bottom of the slope, Mungo is a singer in the pubs, a bit of a ladies’ mouse, and getting on a bit, he wears a lot of rock ‘n roll gold.
All of a sudden, there was a shout from the gate: “Come quickly, everyone! Look at this!” On the gate post there was a piece of paper. It was a notice with a big nail pinning it to the post. It said:
THE COUNCIL HEREBY DECLARES THAT THIS FIELD HAS BEEN DESIGNATED TO BECOME A HOUSING ESTATE
There was a stunned silence until Gertrude the fox said, “This can’t be! Where shall we have our fair every year?” Gertrude is very sly, she will get you into trouble if she can, but is also very intelligent and puts up a good argument. There was another stunned silence for quite a long time. In fact long enough to have another cup of thistle tea. So everyone did.
Then Percival the plump pigeon suggested, “Why don’t we think of something really evil? The most evil of evil things we could do to the field. So evil that not even the most evil of evil people would dare to come here. Percival is a very friendly pigeon but thinks he knows more than he really does. He makes quick decisions, which are often bad ones, but is very good at delivering messages.
Ermitude purred up and said, “I know! We could ask a witch to cast a spell up here. Does anyone know of a bad witch?”
“I do,” said Hercules. There is a really horrible witch. She is known as Raspacious the wicked witch. Raspacious is just a greedy grasping witch. She is the most horrible, ghastly witch in the Kingdom of Witches. I will try to find her and ask her if she might consider making a new curse, so no one would want to build here.”
Everyone agreed. They packed all the games away and trundled home. Ermitrude and Hercules left and went down to St Winnow Church to sit on their favourite seat to admire the view, because when the tide was in it was perfect. But on the way past the old oak tree they heard a shout.
“Hey! You two! Would you like to join us for some dandelion sandwiches and a drop of elder beer?” It was Dinky, daddy of the Piskey family: Dinky seemed to know everything about everything. If you have done something he has done it better. He is very clever at remembering strange things from the past. He works in the Trewether Farm workshops. He constantly gets phrases wrong, such as “Don’t look a gift horse in the ear.”
Ermitrude asked, “Why weren’t you at the May Fair this year?”
Dinky said, “It’s our Little May’s birthday. We decided to stay home and have a party.”
“You missed a lot of excitement,” Ermitrude said. “There is to be a big housing estate built on Honey Bee Field.”
“You’d better come in and tell us all about it,” said Dinky. Ermitrude could only just about fit in their tiny house under the oak tree.
Dinky gave his old friend Hercules a bowl of elder beer. The room under the oak tree was very cosy with rickety chairs and a table made out of a tree stump. There was a grandfather clock in the corner, which would dance around with the chimes. Hercules asked Dinky if he might know where to find Raspacious the wicked witch. Dinky thought for a while, and then he remembered.
“Yes,” he said. “Up near the little church at Necton, there is a road that leads to Lerryn. About five hundred paces along there on the left in the marsh you will find her brewing up something in her cauldron.”
So Ermitrude and Hercules said their goodbyes and trundled off.

Chapter 2
MYSTERY IN THE WOODS
Meanwhile, the white bunny family were returning from a rather extraordinary walk and were just about to go into their little burrow when Ermitrude and Hercules turned up. “Have you been somewhere nice?” asked Ermitrude.
“Yes we have,” said Snowy the white daddy rabbit. “We have just returned from an enchanted walk along the River Lerryn to St. Winnow church.”
“Did you enjoy your walk?” asked Ermitrude.
“Yes,” replied Blanche the white mummy rabbit. “It was one of the best walks we have had.”
“How’s that then?” squeaked Hercules. He had such a sore throat and was sucking an elder cough sweet, which stuck in his throat just as he spoke.
“Well we were all walking along the path enjoying the sunshine, and joking about the cost of carrots, when child number 7 said, ‘What is that golden presence? Can you feel it?’ By the way, all the white rabbit children are named in the order they were born. To save confusion it was easier to number them instead of giving them a name. Anyway I digress. Number 7 said again, ‘Can anyone feel that golden presence and the enchanting sound of mus