Treasure Trove (9781743583548)

by Parker, Danny

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  COPYRIGHT PAGE

  Lola was in her bedroom, staring at the wooden blocks scattered all over the floor.

  Before school that morning, she had built a wonderful palace in the middle of her room.

  Now there was no palace. There was just a mess!

  And Lola knew who had made that mess.

  Nick!

  Why couldn’t her brother leave her things alone? Why did he always have to break her stuff?

  She’d spent ages making the palace, and now she’d have to start all over again.

  Just then, Nick appeared at her bedroom door. He was holding the yellow plastic door from her palace.

  ‘This is mine,’ he told her. ‘So I took it back.’

  ‘Did you have to knock the whole thing down?’ asked Lola.

  ‘I didn’t knock it down,’ Nick said in an annoying voice. ‘I just took my door out. It’s not my fault it was right at the bottom.’

  Lola groaned.

  Nick shrugged. ‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘wooden blocks are no good with plastic ones. They don’t match.’

  Then he bounced off down the hallway.

  Lola gritted her teeth.

  She wanted to say, You’re not supposed to come in my room!

  Or, You weren’t even using that door until I needed it!

  But she knew there was no point. Even if she told on him, Mum would just tell her and Nick to sort it out themselves.

  And then she’d tell Lola to tidy up!

  Lola had a better idea.

  She picked up her favourite toy Buddy and went over to the toy box at the end of her bed.

  Lots of kids have toy boxes.

  But this was no ordinary toy box.

  Lola opened the lid and climbed inside. As soon as she shut the lid above her, the toy box filled with light and started to shake.

  Lola closed her eyes as she jiggled around, holding on tight to Buddy.

  Then the flashing lights and shaking stopped, and everything was still.

  Lola took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Then she pushed open the lid and got out.

  Lola had climbed into her toy box, but she had climbed out of …

  She had climbed out of an old steam train!

  Lola wasn’t in her bedroom anymore, that was for sure. She never knew where in the Kingdom her toy box would take her.

  But she had never been anywhere so dark before. She couldn’t see much at all! That’s unusual, thought Lola.

  ‘Blast my buttons!’ said a voice. ‘Who turned off the lights?’

  Lola smiled. That was her toy Buddy, who came to life in the Kingdom.

  Buddy was a learn-to-dress clown. He had buttons and poppers, zippers and buckles.

  Lola loved bringing Buddy along on her toy box adventures. He always made Lola laugh.

  Buddy also knew all about the Kingdom. It was where toys came when they weren’t being played with at home.

  ‘Where in the Kingdom are we?’ Buddy wondered out loud.

  Just then, Lola heard a noise. It was a quiet noise.

  A knock, knock, knocking noise. Almost like someone was tapping something.

  ‘We should explore,’ said Lola, but she felt a bit scared of the dark. She wondered if Buddy was afraid too.

  Then there was a burst of light. Suddenly, all the buttons on Buddy’s clothes were glowing brightly!

  ‘That’s better!’ said Buddy.

  ‘Now we can see what’s what.’

  Lola shook her head. ‘Is there anything buttons can’t do?’

  ‘Clever things, buttons!’ Buddy said proudly.

  Lola grinned. She thought he looked a bit like a Christmas tree, but she kept that to herself.

  Looking about, Lola could now see why it was so dark.

  ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘That is a surprise. We’re underground!’

  Lola gazed around.

  She and Buddy were inside a tunnel made of rock. Their train sat on tracks that disappeared into the darkness ahead.

  There was water dripping from the roof of the tunnel. Big puddles shone in the light of Buddy’s buttons.

  Buddy was looking very worried.

  ‘What’s up?’ asked Lola.

  ‘Could be a problem here!’ he said. ‘By my stuffing there could.’

  He looked nervously at the puddles of water on the ground.

  ‘They don’t look that deep,’ Lola said.

  ‘But I’m not waterproof,’ Buddy reminded her.

  ‘That’s OK,’ Lola said, scooping him up. ‘I’ll carry you! We can’t have a soggy clown now, can we?’

  Lola hopped off the train with Buddy in one arm. She started walking along the tracks.

  Buddy’s shining buttons lit the way like a torch.

  Lola made a special effort to splash in the puddles, because there were no grown-ups there to tell her not to.

  She didn’t care about wet shoes! But she made sure to keep Buddy nice and dry.

  Lola and Buddy had just gone around a bend when they had to stop.

  Huge rocks were scattered across the tracks. It was a dead end!

  ‘We’ve come the wrong way,’ Lola said, and turned to go back.

  ‘Wait!’ said Buddy. ‘Look.’

  Looking down, Lola saw that there were foot prints in the mud.

  Hundreds of foot prints!

  Lola popped Buddy onto a dry rock. Then she bent down.

  Some of them were round. ‘These look like teddy-bear prints to me, Buddy,’ Lola said.

  But some prints were clearly made by boots. And in the middle of each boot print was the letter N.

  Lola studied the boot prints. There was something very odd about them, but she couldn’t quite work out what.

  Buddy leaned over to have a closer look. When he saw the letter N, he shivered.

  ‘N stands for Nevercalm, Lola,’ he said, looking very worried.

  ‘Does this mean the Almost Toys have been here?’ Lola asked.

  ‘Indeed it does,’ said Buddy. ‘By my buttons, it also means we should leave!’

  Lola knew there was a battle going on in the Kingdom.

  On one side was the Great High Bear, the leader of the Kingdom. On the other side was the Plastic Prince from Nevercalm, who wanted to be the leader of the Kingdom.

  The Plastic Prince lived in Nevercalm with his army of Almost Toys. It was the scariest part of the Kingdom.

  Knock, knock, knock!

  There was that knocking sound again! But now it was much louder. It was coming from the other side of the fallen rocks.

  It didn’t sound scary to Lola, though. Instead, it sounded like someone was trying to get their attention.

  But first, Lola and Buddy had to figure out what was going on with these foot prints.

  It didn’t make sense that some of them looked like teddy-bear prints.

  Why would teddies be here with the Almost Toys? They were enemies!

  Lola could tell Buddy was wondering the same thing.

  Then it hit her.

  ‘Maybe there was a battle here!’ she said suddenly.

  ‘Twist my toggle, Lola,’ gasped Buddy. ‘If you’re right, the Plastic Prince and his army might still be near. We should get away!’

  Knock, knock, knock!

  There was that noise again.

  ‘We can’t go yet, Buddy,’ said Lola. ‘I think someone is trapped.
They need our help!’

  Lola paced up and down. That’s what she did when she was thinking.

  Buddy juggled. That’s what he did when he was thinking. He was very, very good at it, too. After all, he was a clown.

  How could Lola and Buddy move all these rocks, and get to whoever was stuck on the other side?

  Knock, knock, knock!

  ‘It’s OK!’ shouted Lola. ‘We’re going to find a way to get you out!’

  She looked around.

  There were no tools to dig with. No other toys to help.

  There was nothing but rocks and train tracks.

  Train tracks? Of course!

  ‘I’ve got it!’ said Lola. ‘We’ll use the train. Come on. It’s perfect for pulling away rocks!’

  Buddy’s buttons seemed to glow brighter. ‘Pop my popper, Lola. You’re super brainy today.’

  Lola grabbed Buddy by his long soft arm and ran back to the train.

  She jumped on board and started pushing buttons and pulling levers.

  Lola had never driven a train before, and wasn’t quite sure what to do. But all of a sudden, the wheels started turning. The train began to move along the tracks.

  Soon they reached the fallen rocks. Lola pulled on the brakes and jumped out of the train.

  Then she grabbed some rope and tied it to the biggest rock.

  ‘If we can pull out one big rock from the bottom, then everything else should fall,’ she called to Buddy. ‘Just like pulling down a palace made of blocks!’ ‘Pulling down a palace?’ asked Buddy. ‘What in the Kingdom are you talking about?’

  ‘Doesn’t matter,’ Lola said with a grin. ‘Can you help?’

  ‘Get out of my way, Super-Brainy Lola,’ Buddy said. ‘If there’s rope to tie, then count this clown in!’

  Buddy jumped over the puddles and started tying the rope. He was very good with knots.

  Lola stood back and watched as he worked his magic. In a matter of moments, they were ready.

  Lola climbed back onto the train.

  She pulled more levers and pushed more buttons. Then the train started to creep back along the track.

  The rope got tighter and tighter as they pulled away.

  ‘Just a little bit more power,’ said Lola, concentrating hard. ‘Just a little bit more …’

  Suddenly, there was a …

  Crack!

  They had pulled the large rock right out from the bottom of the pile.

  The wall of rocks wobbled, then shook, then wobbled some more. And then …

  BOOM!

  Everything fell! Rocks rolled and tumbled with a tremendous bumping and banging.

  Then everything was still.

  But when the dust settled … all Lola and Buddy could see were more rocks!

  They had just made a different pile of rocks.

  Buddy turned to Lola. ‘Hmm. Do we have another plan?’

  ‘No,’ Lola said, as she jumped down from the train. She marched over to have a look. ‘But we’re going to need one!’

  Lola started pacing again. Buddy took out his juggling balls and started juggling.

  You’ve pulled out a great big rock and it didn’t work, Lola said to herself. What next?

  Think, Lola, think!

  Knock, knock, knock!

  ‘It’s OK,’ Lola called out, ‘we’re still here! We’ll rescue you really soon.’

  Then she added very quietly, ‘I hope.’

  She walked slowly back to the train, still deep in thought.

  Instead of trying to pull the rocks down, Lola wondered, maybe we could smash right through them?

  Whenever she had a risky idea, she always felt a sudden burst of energy.

  Lola jumped back onto the train.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ asked Buddy nervously.

  He knew that look in her eyes.

  ‘We can’t go under it,’ said Lola brightly. ‘We can’t go over it. So we’ll have to go through it!’

  If Buddy’s face hadn’t been painted on, he would have gone pale. ‘Lola, this is not a bear hunt!’ he stammered.

  ‘It might be a bear hunt,’ she said. ‘We don’t know who’s trapped behind these rocks.

  It could be the Great High Bear himself!’

  Lola started to drive the train back along the track. They would need a big run up.

  Lola wasn’t sure if this was a good idea. Could she really drive the train straight through the wall of rocks?

  But they absolutely had to do something.

  How else could a little girl and her toy clown rescue someone who was trapped?

  Besides, she’d climbed out of that train – which meant it was also her magical toy box. Her toy box had never let her down before.

  Come on, Lola, she said to herself. Someone needs you.

  They were now quite far away.

  She stopped the train.

  She pushed some buttons and pulled some levers. The train started rolling forwards now.

  Come on, come on!

  They were picking up speed.

  ‘Hold onto your buttons, Buddy,’ Lola cried. ‘We’re going through!’

  Buddy didn’t answer. He was too busy shaking.

  His laces were shaking.

  His toggle was shaking.

  And his zipper was making a ting, ting, ting sound, because that was shaking too!

  There wasn’t much time, but Lola reached over and put her arm around Buddy. She hugged him close.

  The train was heading straight for the solid wall of rock.

  Faster and faster …

  Closer and closer …

  No time to change her mind …

  ‘Hold on, Buddy!’ she called.

  CRASH!

  The train screeched to a stop.

  Lola took a deep breath.

  Phew!

  But then she had three terrible thoughts, all in a row.

  One: What if the toy box is broken and we can’t get home?

  Two: What if we hurt the trapped toy when we crashed?

  Three: What if the knocking sound wasn’t a trapped toy at all?

  Lola slowly opened her eyes.

  There was a great big hole in the rock wall. They had smashed all the way through! The train looked fine, if a little scratched.

  And luckily, she couldn’t see any smashed toys anywhere.

  ‘We did it! We did it, Buddy!’ she cried.

  It was much lighter on this side. Lamps were glowing brightly, and the walls around them were sparkling.

  Buddy was staring around at everything in silence. Lola had to give him a shake.

  ‘What’s the matter, Buddy?’ she said.

  ‘Lola,’ he said in wonder, ‘I’ve heard about this place. But I never thought I would see it for myself!’

  He jumped down from the train and walked towards one of the sparkling walls. Lola followed.

  When they were close enough to touch the wall, she gasped.

  ‘Are these what I think they are?’ she asked.

  Buddy nodded.

  The wall was covered, from top to bottom and from side to side, with a million beautiful, sparkling buttons.

  Lola knew that buttons were really important to the toys in the Kingdom. And not just for keeping their pants up!

  ‘Wow!’ she said, admiring the walls. ‘Is this where all the Kingdom’s buttons come from?’

  Buddy’s hat bounced up and down as he nodded.

  ‘We’re in the Button Mines!’ he cried.

  Buttons were used for many different things in the Kingdom.

  Some were lights. Some flashed when that toy was needed. And some buttons were very valuable indeed.

  It was a real treasure trove!

  If the Plastic Prince got hold of all these buttons, thought Lola, he would be a very rich toy.

  Then she remembered the bear and boot prints from the battle in the tunnel.

  The Plastic Prince was probably trying to rob the Button Mines, she realised. But where was
everyone now?

  Lola looked down. There were more bear and boot prints here, all going the same way. Something must have made them run away, thought Lola.

  She looked at the rocks on the ground, and put two and two together.

  ‘I think the Plastic Prince was robbing the Button Mines,’ said Lola. ‘The miners probably tried to stop his army. But then the wall must have fallen in, and scared everyone off!’

  Just then, Lola heard a humming noise, followed by a click. And then that same sound.

  Knock, knock, knock!

  Lola spun around. In the corner of the mine was a large, shiny plastic toy. It was painted to look like a soldier, and held a broken sword in one hand.

  On the middle of its chest was the letter N, for Nevercalm.

  It was an Almost Toy!

  Lola stood, frozen. She felt Buddy shuffle behind her. She was scared.

  The humming noise started again. The Almost Toy lifted its broken sword up high. Lola and Buddy stepped back. Then there was a click, and the Almost Toy took a wobbly step towards them.

  Lola and Buddy backed away again, but they had reached the wall.

  They couldn’t go any further. Lola could feel Buddy shaking.

  She was just deciding what to do next when the Almost Toy’s arm dropped, and the sword banged against its plastic leg.

  Knock, knock, knock!

  The Almost Toy started to hum again and lifted its arm. It stepped forwards. Then the arm dropped, and knocked on its leg three times.

  Knock, knock, knock!

  Oh! It was just a weird pattern. Lola sighed with relief.

  Of course, it wasn’t what the toy was supposed to do. It was obviously broken.

  The toy looked a little familiar to Lola. She stepped towards the toy, trying to remember where she’d seen it before.

  ‘By my buttons, be careful,’ whispered Buddy.

  But Lola wasn’t worried. Close up, the toy wasn’t scary at all.

  Lola noticed that the toy wasn’t even painted very well. It had smudges on its cheeks, and one ear was bigger than the other.

  Hummmmm, click!

  Knock, knock, knock!

  ‘You poor thing,’ Lola said quietly. ‘You’re broken.’