Now, I know what you’re thinking: Eric can’t die now because we are only halfway through the book! There are loads and loads more pages! If he dies now, then there can’t be any more story!

Well, you are, of course, RIGHT!

Eric doesn’t die now.

He may have been tumbling through the sky without a parachute, but he is the hero of the book, so he is going to stay alive.

For now.

But how?

SPLASH!

Eric landed in the Serpentine. The huge lake in Hyde Park.

“OW!” shouted the boy as he hit the surface with a THWACK!

It was as if his entire body had been slapped all at once.

Then he plunged deep into the black water.

BLUB! BLUB! BLUB!

The parachute on his back finally opened, no doubt because of the impact. Now, instead of saving his life, the parachute looked as if it were going to end it. The weight of the huge silk chute, all tangled up in the water, was pulling him

down,
down,
down

into the dark depths of the lake.

Fighting for his life, Eric tore himself free from the parachute. Pushing his feet down against the bottom of the lake, he propelled himself up to the surface.

“AAAHHH!!!” gasped Eric. He had never been so grateful to take a breath in his life. He was alive!

But it was December – the water was absolutely FREEZING! If Eric didn’t get out of the lake fast, then the cold would kill him. Unless, of course, the swans didn’t peck him to death first.

“SQUAWK! SQUAWK!“

went the fearsome birds, attacking this intruder with their beaks.

“GET OFF!” he shouted, splashing them with water. The swans backed away and circled, buying the boy some time. Wiping water from his eyes, he spotted the truck hurtling towards him, trailing the flaming balloon in its wake.

WHOOSH!

If Eric didn’t lunge out of the way, the truck was going to smash him to pieces.

The boy powered through the water as…

SPLASH!

…it crashed into the lake, missing him by an inch.

As the vehicle and the balloon sank, the boy looked up. An almighty battle was raging in the sky. Luftwaffe bombers were dropping their deadly loads all over London.

Nazi fighter planes were protecting them from British Spitfires, which were trying to shoot the bombers out of the sky.

RAT-TAT-TAT!

Meanwhile, shell after shell was being fired from the ground.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Bombs hurtled to the earth as flaming planes twisted down like fireworks.

In amongst all this, Eric spotted two white circles in the sky.

Parachutes!

Gertrude and Sid were alive!

Eric swam towards the shore of the lake, splashing the swans and now a gang of ducks, which also seemed intent on attacking him…

“QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!”

…and he saw Gertrude land safely on the grass ahead.

“GERTRUDE!” he called out, though the gorilla didn’t hear with the deafening noise of all the blasts.

The animal had clearly loved her flight, as she was leaping up and down on the spot, the parachute still flapping behind her. It was as if she were trying to propel herself back up into the air.

“WHOOP! WHOOP!” she whooped as she ran across the park, trying to fill the parachute with air again so she could lift herself off the ground.

Meanwhile, Sid landed, not so luckily, up a tall tree.

“OOF!” he moaned. “A branch is poking into my bottom!”

Eric heaved his soaking-wet and freezing body out of the lake, and rushed towards the tree.

“HELP!” cried Sid. “If I fall, I could break me legs!”

The boy paused at the bottom of the tree for a moment. “I hate to be the one to have to tell you, but your legs are made of tin!”

“Oh yes!” remembered the old man. “Still, they could get badly crumpled!”

“Can you climb down?” called up the boy.

“I would rather you climbed up,” called down the man.

“Let me just help Gertrude!”

“Oh, now I get second place to an ape!”

“She might run off!”

“Yes, yes! You go and help Gertrude! Don’t you mind about your poor old Uncle Sid!”

The boy sighed and shook his head, before racing off in the direction of the gorilla. She had attracted the attentions of the Serpentine’s swans, who were circling her menacingly and hissing. “HISS!”

There was every chance that just as the swans had never seen a gorilla before, so the gorilla had never seen a swan before.

At first, Gertrude was her usual playful self, but when one of the swans pecked her bottom…

PECK! PECK! PECK!

…the gorilla was not amused. The mighty ape turned round and snarled at the bird, baring her fangs.

Instantly, the swans scattered.

“Gertrude!” exclaimed Eric, flinging his arms round her. “Thank goodness you’re alive!”

The gorilla was clearly delighted to see him, as she planted another big slobbery kiss on his cheek.

“MWAH!”

“HA! HA!” the boy laughed, his face tickled by her fur. “All right! All right! I get it! You are pleased to see me, and I am pleased to see you! But we need to rescue Uncle Sid. Well, just Sid to you!”

Eric took the parachute pack off his friend. Then he led her by the hand over to the tree in which the old man was still stuck.

Bombs were exploding all over London, and Eric could feel his friend gripping his hand tighter with every KABOOM!

“I’ve got you!” reassured the boy as the battle raged above them.

“Get a move on!” shouted Sid from the top of the tree.

“Hold your horses!” said Eric. “I’m coming to get you! Now wait here!” he said to Gertrude as he began shimmying up the tree.

Of course, Eric didn’t speak gorilla, just as the gorilla didn’t speak human.

Gertrude began shimmying up the tree too. Being an ape, she was awfully good at it, and made it to the top in no time. Despite not sharing a common language, the gorilla gestured to her back.

“What does she mean?” asked Sid.

“Hop on?” guessed the boy.

The old man did just that, and the pair were down on the ground in no time.

“Well, that was a first!” exclaimed Sid, still on her back. “I have never travelled by gorilla before. I wonder if she’ll carry me all the way home!”

At that, Gertrude shook her head and let the old man slide to the ground.

“No is the answer to that!” said Eric.

The boy took the gorilla by one hand, and Sid by the other.

“Did you go for another swim?” asked Sid, feeling that Eric’s hand was wet.

“Sort of,” replied the boy. “Now come on, please, let’s get home. I am absolutely f-f-freezing!”

Seeing Eric shiver, the gorilla wrapped her huge, hairy arms round him to keep him warm.

“Thank you, Gertrude.”

The ape just nodded and smiled, and together they began the long walk home. Eric was praying no one would stop them. How would they explain away a great big gorilla?