CHAPTER 18

HIGH FIVES!!!!

‘Never mind, “Eh? Eh? Eh?”’ said Doctor Roop the Doop (who knew exactly what ‘Eh? Eh? Eh?’ meant). ‘I’ve told you: WE CAN’T JUST GET RID OF THEM!!! We’ll end up in PRISON!!!! What we have to do is …’

But Uncle Gobb wasn’t listening. You see, Uncle Gobb not only knew all the questions, he also knew all the answers. Someone who knows all the answers thinks he doesn’t have to listen to some old wrinkly Genie with glasses rattling on about his own plans.

‘… And I’m telling you,’ said Uncle Gobb, ‘this Tower is the place where we can get rid of the boys, I mean really, really get them out of my life. Then I get my powers back. This is my moment. This is going to be …

THE GOBB TOWER OF POWER!!!’

Uncle Gobb started puffing himself up, his eyes were gleaming and his mouth was wiggling about like two snakes having a fight.

roared Uncle Gobb triumphantly.

This made Doctor Roop the Doop even more annoyed. Not just annoyed; angry. In fact, it made him so angry, he walked out in a big, big, sulk.

INFORMATION ABOUT GENIES

Genies don’t do that sort of thing. It’s not allowed. It’s against the Genies ’ Rules.

END OF INFORMATION ABOUT GENIES

But Doctor Roop the Doop did it anyway! He got into his helicopter and off he went.

Unbelievable, but true.

Uncle Gobb was left on his own.

No matter, he thought, I’m getting my old powers back … I can feel it. I can handle this on my own. And he strode back into the room, thinking about a little room at the top the tower with a great big door and loads of locks and bolts and Malcolm and Crackersnacker locked up inside …

A HORRIBLE LOOK CROSSED UNCLE GOBB’S FACE.

If the dog had been there, he wouldn’t have liked that look.

Meanwhile, Malcolm and Crackersnacker were still climbing. As they climbed, Crackersnacker chanted, ‘Far and few, far and few …’ like it was a marching song, to help them keep going.

They got to another landing and went into the next room. At one end of the room was a screen with a picture on it of some strange creatures with green heads and blue hands.

A sign said, ‘Help. We don’t know who we are. We don’t know what we’re doing and we don’t know why we’re doing it. If you can tell us, maybe you will become the Camp Octopus.’

Next to the screen there was a microphone with a message on it saying, ‘Tell us.’

So Malcolm spoke into the microphone, ‘You’re Jumblies.’

Crackersnacker leaned in and said, ‘Yeah, Ponkyboy is right.’

‘And you’ve gone to sea in a sieve,’ Malcolm said.

‘And me and Ponkyboy don’t know why you’ve done that because a sieve lets in water,’ said Crackersnacker.

‘But you got there and back OK,’ Malcolm said.

‘Yeah,’ said Crackersnacker.

‘We thought that was good,’ Malcolm said. ‘To get there and back in a sieve was brave.’

‘We liked that,’ Crackersnacker said.

‘And you’re a bit like us,’ Malcolm said. ‘We’ve gone away …’

‘And we’re going back,’ said Crackersnacker looking at Malcolm.

Malcolm reckoned that this could it be just the kind of puzzle solving that could bring back his Genie.

But was it?