Elliot regretted suggesting that he and Amelia take a walk through the Emporium gardens. They were full of lovestruck couples, skipping hand in hand, or laying out together on the soft grass.
"Look over there," Amelia cried, sprinting in the direction of a lonely tree in the middle of an open expanse of meadow. She looked up through the branches. "Race you to the top?" she giggled, leaping for the lowest branch and hoisting herself up effortlessly.
"I'm not much of a climber," admitted Elliot, watching her with awe. "I suffer from vertigo."
That was a stupid thing to say, he thought. Why could he not be more charming like Charlie? He watched Amelia disappear up through the branches and sat down against the trunk.
"It is a great view from up here," she called out.
"Take a photo on your phone," answered Elliot, trying to engage her. "And come back down please before you hurt yourself."
"On my way," shouted Amelia.
Elliot saw her twist and spin down impossibly through the branches before landing perfectly on both feet next to him.
"That was quite...good," he stuttered, failing miserably to find the words to adequately describe her mesmerising gymnastics. "What was the view like?"
"Funny thing," Amelia replied. "My phone is not working. Even though it has plenty of battery."
Elliot pulled his old-model phone from his back pocket and flipped open the clamshell lid. Nothing. "Mine's not working either. Maybe it's this place?" he pondered.
Amelia was already striding out in the direction of a line of poplar trees. "I saw something from the treetop," she called back to him. "You have got to come and look at this!" she said eagerly.
Elliot jogged to catch up to her and found her staring excitedly towards the middle of a clearing. At a hot air balloon.
"I have never been in one of these," she squealed with anticipation. "Have you?"
Of course not. He already told her he suffered from vertigo. And he had a fear of confined spaces. And a wicker allergy. He could feel a knot tightening in his belly and the skin at the back of his neck started to itch.
As they approached the basket, which was bobbing gently on the spot beneath the balloon's envelope, they saw a garish sign fastened to a fencepost:
BALLOON RIDES
VIEW THE EMPORIUM FROM ABOVE!
A smaller note had been strung on a nail to the outside of the basket. It read:
Gone for afternoon tea
Back in 30 or 60 minutes, depending on the number of sandwiches
Elliot looked on in horror as Amelia removed the note, tossed it over her shoulder and clambered over the side of the basket! The balloon was a radiant, spherical orb, the colour of a ripe pumpkin. The canopy had thick orange ropes attached to each corner of the loaf-shaped basket. There were a further four ropes looped around four long wooden stakes that were driven into the overgrown ground. Neither of them noticed that there was no burner unit or fuel tanks suspended above the basket.
"What are you doing?" he said, fear stricken. "Get out of there. Someone will see!"
"Untie the ropes," she suggested provocatively.
"No!" he protested. "I don't know how to drive one of these," Elliot pointed out. "And I'm sure you don't either!"
"I have three horses and it cannot be more difficult than riding one of those," said Amelia. "Maybe you just shout 'giddy-up'!" she joked.
YOU ARE READING
The Wonderground
AdventureOn a school trip to an abandoned London Underground station, six friends stumble across The Wonderground, a mysterious subway system that transports them to a world of floating octopuses, giant elephants and sky pirates. But their arrival is no acci...
