“What are we going to do, Andy?” says Terry.
“Prepare for a crash landing,” I say.
“That sounds painful,” says Terry.
“Got any better ideas?” I say.
“Flap your arms,” calls Albert.
“Yes,” says Alice. “Look, we can fly!”
I look up. It’s true—the kids are flying!
Terry and I start flapping our arms …
and soon we stop falling … and start flying, too!
“Flying is fun!” says Alice. “You can see everything from up here!”
“I can see a whatchamacallit!” says Albert.
“And there’s a thingamabob!” says Terry.
“I can see a whirly thing!” I say. “It’s going round and round and round and it’s heading straight for us!”
“Oh, goody,” says Alice. “Whirly things are fun.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” I say. “Not all whirly things are fun. This looks like one of those dangerous sort of whirly things that knocks down trees, picks up houses, sucks people up, and is called … um … I can’t remember what they’re called, but I think it starts with ‘t.’”
“Tomato?” says Terry.
“Yes!” I say. “A tomato! And it’s headed this way!”
“It’s not a tomato,” says Albert. “It’s a tornado!”
“Phew!” says Terry. “For a moment there I thought we were in trouble.”
“We are in trouble,” I say. “Serious trouble—this is going to get rough!”
The tomato sucks us all up and we are whirled and twirled and spun and then spat out. We fly through the air and land in a soft, springy net.
It’s a bit sticky, which makes it hard to move, but it’s much more relaxing than being whirled around in a tomato.
There’s a big black thing in the net with us. It’s got a lot of legs and is quite hairy. I’m pretty sure I know what this is called. It starts with “s.” It’s a … sss … a … sss …
“Spy cow!” says Terry.
“Where?!” I say.
“Over there!” says Terry, pointing to the big black thing.
“That’s not a spy cow,” says Alice. “That’s a spider!”
“That’s it! Spider!” I say. “We’re stuck in a giant spiderweb!”
“What are we going to do?” says Terry.
“Call Jill,” says Albert. “That’s what you always do when you have problems—especially animal ones.”
“Who’s Jill?” I say.
“She’s your friend,” says Alice. “She lives next door.”
“She does?” I say. “Never heard of her.”
“I can’t believe you don’t remember Jill,” says Albert. “What about you, Terry? You remember her, don’t you?”
“Terry?” says Terry. “Who’s Terry?”
“You are!” says Alice. “You’re Terry. Andy’s friend.”
“Who’s Andy?” I say.
“Uh-oh,” says Alice. “I think I’d better call Jill.”
Alice picks up the toy phone and dials.
“Hello, Jill?” she says. “It’s Alice.”
“Hello, Alice!” says Jill. “How are you?”
“Good, thanks!” says Alice. “Well … except that we’re all stuck in a giant spiderweb.”
“What?! Spiderweb?! What are you doing in a spiderweb?”
“Well, we were playing at the garbage dump and then we went into an old wardrobe and we found a strange land where we could fly and then we were flying around and we got sucked up into a giant tornado and then we ended up here.”
“Are Andy and Terry with you?”
“Yes. But there’s something wrong with them. They’ve forgotten who they are. They’ve even forgotten who you are!”
“Oh dear. What is wrong with those two? They’ve become so forgetful lately!”
“I know! They can’t even remember what things are called. Andy called the tornado a tomato and Terry thought the spider was a spy cow!”
“Don’t worry, Alice. I’m on my way. Can you and Albert look after Andy and Terry and the baby till I get there?”
“Yes, but please hurry. I don’t like spiders.”
“Cool!” says Albert. “Now we’re the babysitters! And they’re the babies.”
