It was a long way from the riverbed to the surface of the Thames. The water was black, and it was midnight. Eric couldn’t see a thing, but made sure he held tightly to Sid and Gertrude the whole time.

Eventually, they reached the surface.

“GASP!” gasped the boy as he took in a huge gulp of air. They were alive!

Blinking, Eric could see the Houses of Parliament.

Big Ben chimed midnight.

BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!
BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!
BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!

There on a terrace, the boy spotted the unmistakable figure of Winston Churchill! The old round man was flanked by three men in uniform, who had to be the chiefs of the army, navy and air force. Behind them were assembled notable-looking gentlemen and ladies. The complete British government.

All were pointing and staring at the most peculiar trio bouncing along the river on an air tank.

“TAKE COVER!” shouted the boy. “THERE IS A NAZI U-BOAT DOWN THERE THAT IS GOING TO EXPLODE!”

Churchill was hastily ushered back inside, followed by all the others.

Then…

KABOOM!

Speer must have reached that big red button, as a mountain of water blasted into the air.

WHOOSH!

The Houses of Parliament were drenched. It was as if an entire year’s rain fell in a single second.

SPLOSH!

The explosion deep in the depths of the Thames created a monstrous tidal wave. It crashed across Westminster Bridge, nearly sweeping off the late-night buses and taxis that were crossing.

Eric turned round and looked in horror as he saw the wave, which was as tall as an elephant, chasing them.

The boy spun the valve to make the air tank go faster.

SPIN!

But it was already bouncing along the surface of the water like a torpedo.

ZOOM!

Still the wave kept coming.

WHOOSH!

“GERTRUDE!” shouted Eric. “STAND UP! WE’RE GONNA HAVE TO SURF!”

Keeping his balance, the boy stood up on the air tank.

Once there he mimed for the gorilla to follow. With all her strength she heaved up a legless and still knocked-out Sid. Balancing as best they could, they rode the humongous wave all the way down the River Thames.

The three passed under Blackfriars Bridge, then Southwark Bridge and London Bridge. The wave eventually slowed down to a stop as they approached Tower Bridge. The three heroes found themselves bobbing around in the freezing water, clinging on to each other to stay alive.

Eric spotted a ladder on the side of Tower Bridge that reached all the way down to the river. Holding tightly to Gertrude and Sid, he kicked his legs as hard as he could to reach it.

“THIS WAY!” he shouted.

Gertrude was first to reach the bottom of the ladder. The boy pushed Sid on to her back and wrapped his arms round her. The gorilla knew what to do and clung on to the man’s hands under her chin. She made light work of the ladder, leaping up it with terrific speed. Eric followed on behind, as tired as it was possible to be without actually being asleep.

As the boy clambered up the last step and heaved himself on to the bridge, he saw two pairs of big black boots. Looking up, he saw that these boots belonged to two policemen. Both of them had their mouths open, stunned to see a soaking-wet gorilla standing on Tower Bridge with a legless man on its back.

“Lovely night for a swim!” joked the boy. The policemen didn’t crack a smile.

Gertrude gently laid Sid down on the ground. The gorilla patted the man, to try to wake him up.

“HOO!”

“Uncle Sid? Uncle Sid?” said the boy, joining in. “WAKE UP!”

But there were no signs of life.

“WAH!” wailed the gorilla, devastated to have lost her friend.

“Shall we call an ambulance?” asked one of the policemen.

“I think it’s too late!” spluttered Eric, choking back tears.

At the cinema, the boy had seen the on-screen heroes close the eyes of their comrades who had died. So he ran his fingers over the old man’s eyelids.

“Get your dirty fingers out of my eyes!” protested Sid.

“You’re alive!” exclaimed Eric.

Gertrude let out an excited whoop: “WHOOP!”

They both held on tightly to the old man.

“Did I miss anything?” asked Sid.

“Nothing much!” smiled the boy.

“On no! I lost my chance to be a hero!”

“No, you didn’t, Uncle Sid. Far from it!” lied Eric. “Don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?”

“You took on the captain of the U-boat single-handed.”

“I did?”

“Yes, and you fought off the Braun twins.”

“Oh my!”

“Uncle Sid, you, and you alone, saved Churchill. You are a hero!”

“I am?” spluttered Sid.

“Yes!” fibbed the boy.

“WOOHOO!” rejoiced the old man. “I AM A HERO! DID YOU HEAR THAT, OLD GIRL? YOUR LITTLE OLD ZOOKEEPER! A HERO!”

“HUMMM!” murmured the gorilla, not so convinced.

“We’d better take you to the police station,” announced one of the policemen. “Get you warmed up!”

“Yes,” agreed the boy.

“We’ve got quite a tale to tell.”