"It's gone."
Then they both heard a strange noise outside. It was a humming, roaring, whirling sound, and it was getting louder and louder.
They peered out of the window. The storm was escaping from the bottom of the drainpipe. It began to whirl round and round in the open air. It was growing bigger every second.
"Help!" screamed the King. "We've got a hurricane!"
"I think it's a tornado, actually," said the Queen.
"I don't care what it is," the King wailed. "I don't want it in my castle. Wizard!"
But the Wizard could not hear him call. The storm was too loud. The wind no longer sounded like a bunch of busy bees. It growled and howled like a pack of restless wolves.
The storm set out to explore Custard Castle. It whirled round every wall. It roared round every tower. It ripped the flags from the turrets and spun the weather-vane round so hard that it broke off.
When Jack and Bella heard the storm, they ran to shelter in the kitchen.
When Wizard Watchit heard the storm, he dived into the King's treasure room. He sat there with the Thing, listening to the wind rage and roar outside.
When Princess Fifi heard the storm, she looked out of her window and saw flags whirling past.
"Good weather for kite-flying!" she said. She ran to her cupboard to get her kites.
But as soon as she took them outside, the storm decided to play with them. It grabbed the kites from Fifi's hands and threw them high into the sky.
Fifi ran back inside and shut herself in her cupboard, before the wind could throw her high into the sky as well.
Up in the Wizard's tower, the ghost heard the storm. It looked out of the door just as the storm came rushing in.
The storm snatched up the ghost and tried to make it play. The ghost went tumbling round the tower like a handkerchief in a washing machine. At last it managed to escape into the wizard's cauldron.
The storm was disappointed because the ghost would not play. Yowling and howling, it tugged at the roof of the Wizard's tower. It pulled the roof right off and flung it high into the sky.
Then it rushed off to find something else to play with.
It swept under arches and over walls, until it found the courtyard where the King's red gown was hanging. It began to play with the gown.
Bella and Jack watched through the kitchen window as the gown flapped on the washing line.
"This wind will dry the gown!" said Jack.
"If it doesn't blow it away first," groaned Bella.
By now, however, the storm was tired of whirling through the castle. It was ready for a change. The wind stopped roaring quite so loudly.
A moment later, it began to rain.
But this was no ordinary rain. The raindrops were as big as marbles, and they fell in thousands. Soon the courtyard was ankle-deep in water. The red gown was no longer dripping: it was streaming.
The rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. The next minute, it began to hail. Huge hailstones battered at the castle roofs and clattered on the cobbles.
At last the hail stopped. Then there was just time for a little snow, before the thunderstorm began.
"This has gone too far!" said Bella between booms of thunder and flashes of lightning. "Where's the Wizard? Can't he stop this dreadful storm?"
The Wizard was still in the treasure room with the Thing. They sat and listened to the thunder. After a while, it went quiet.
"GRARRK," said the Thing.
"Do you think so?" said the Wizard.
"BLOOGRURP," said the Thing.
"Maybe you're right," said the Wizard. Cautiously he opened the door.
By now the storm was very tired indeed. It had played all the games that it could think of. It whirled half-heartedly a few more times around the castle: then it stopped altogether.
It dropped all the kites and flags and weathervanes that it had thrown into the sky. The roof fell down from the clouds, and landed with a crash back on top of the Wizard's tower. The exhausted storm blew itself away for a nice lie-down in a distant field.
The Wizard went to find the others. The King and Queen were in the courtyard, looking very glum.
"We need new drains," the Queen said, gazing at the puddles.
"Never mind the drains. I need a new red gown!" wailed the King, staring at the washing line. He looked as if he might be going to cry.
"At least it's clean," said Wizard Watchit.
This was true. The King's best red velvet gown had been washed, spun, scoured and dried by the surprising storm. It was now very clean indeed.
It was also full of little neat holes left by lightning bolts, and big ragged holes left by hailstones. The rain had shrunk it to half the size it had been; and the dye had run.
The gown was no longer grand and rich and red. It was small and tattered and a rather pretty shade of pink.
"I can't wear that to King Ludo's party!" howled the King.
"Hurrah!" cried Fifi. "That means I can have it as a roller-skating gown. It's my favourite colour - and now it fits me perfectly!"
"But what about the party?" wailed the King.
"Just wear your purple gown," said Bella.
"It's all that dreadful storm's fault!" groaned the King. "Where on earth did it come from?"
"Can't imagine," said the Wizard. "Never mind! Now you've got something to boast about that will really impress the other Kings."
"What's that?" the King whimpered.
The Wizard pointed to the tower roof. It was crooked where the storm had dropped it.
"You may not have the newest gown, or the most gold, or the biggest dragon," he told the King, "but you had the highest tower by far - for at least ten minutes!"
Dragon Dilemma
Bella woke up in a panic.
"Oh, no! I'm late!" she thought. "I need to light all the fires before the King and Queen wake up!" She jumped out of bed.
Bella was the maid at Custard Castle. Every morning, she lit the fires in all the rooms. She used a small dragon to start the fires. It was small enough to carry around with her, under one arm.
The little dragon slept in the cupboard under the stairs. Bella hurried there as fast as she could, and flung open the door.
"Dragon!" she cried. "Wake up!"
But there was no dragon in the cupboard. She put her head inside to make sure. It was empty.
"Bother!" said Bella. "Where's that dragon gone?"
She hurried off to find Jack the servant boy. He was busy polishing the King's boots.
"Jack? Have you got the dragon?" she asked.
"No," said Jack. "Why?"
"It's run off! We've got to find it!" said Bella. "Where can it be?"
"I expect it's gone looking for something to eat," said Jack. "It's a hungry little dragon. Let's go and check in the kitchen."
They ran to the kitchen. The Cook was in there, making dough.
"We've lost the dragon! Have you seen it?" asked Jack.
"Certainly not," said the Cook. "You'd better find it quickly, though. I need it to light the oven before I can make the royal breakfast."
"Oh, dear," groaned Bella. "It could be anywhere in the castle!"
"I'll help you hunt for it," said Jack.
So together they began to hunt through the three hundred dusty rooms of Custard Castle.
Bella called out, "Dragon! Where are you?" Jack whistled, but the dragon did not appear.
They had searched seventeen rooms when suddenly Jack stopped.
"What's that noise?" he said.
Bella listened. She could hear something flapping and thumping.
"It's coming from upstairs," she said. "But it sounds big - far too big to be our little dragon."
As well as being the servant boy, Jack was also the guard. He sighed, and said, "I'd better go and investigate, and find out what it is. I wish I had my sword and helmet."
"Where are they?" asked Bella.
"They're in my room, on the top floor - and that's in th
e way," said Jack, pointing at the ceiling. There was another loud thump, and a crash.
"I'll investigate with you," said Bella.
They both crept up the stairs. The noise grew even louder. They tiptoed along the corridor, and put their heads around the corner.
They saw the doors of all the royal bedrooms, tightly closed. But something was thumping and flapping in the corridor. Something big and green and scaly, with wide, wide wings and a long, long tail.
"It can't be!" gasped Bella.
"It is," said Jack. "That's our dragon."
"But it's enormous!" whispered Bella. "Whatever can have happened?"
The dragon began to rampage up and down the corridor, thumping its huge scaly feet and flapping its wings.
It was in a very bad temper. It whisked its tail, and shattered a vase. It had already broken a window and a mirror, and knocked four pictures off the wall.
Just then the King came charging out of his bedroom. He was wearing a nightshirt embroidered with little gold crowns. He looked almost as angry as the dragon.
"What's all this noise? I'm trying to sleep!" he shouted.
Then he saw the dragon - and the dragon saw him. It opened its mouth and huffed red flames.
The King leapt backwards. "Help!" he screamed.
The Queen came dashing out of the bathroom. She was wearing pyjamas patterned with tiny hammers.
"What's all-" she began, and then she saw the dragon.
She leapt backwards too. "Help!" she screamed.
Bella and Jack ran towards her. At the same time, Princess Fifi came rushing out of her bedroom. She was wearing a fluffy dressing-gown covered in ribbons and bows.
"What's- help!" she screamed. "A dragon! Save me!"
The dragon swished its tail furiously. It opened its mouth wide, ready to huff more red flames.
The Queen and the King and Princess Fifi ran. So did Bella and Jack. They all jumped through the nearest door and
Chaos at Custard Castle Page 2
