The Wonderground

14 - The Octopus and the Damselfly

They looked upwards between the buildings and saw a beautiful orange hot air balloon floating peacefully two hundred feet above them. A blonde head was peering over the lip of the balloon's basket.

"Is that an octopus?" asked Isla, cocking her head.

"Is that Amelia?" called out Rose, pointing up at the figure.

They noticed one of the tentacles dangling free from the balloon.

"That octopus has got Elliot and Jack!" yelled Isla with dismay. They watched in horror as Jack became separated and began falling towards the ground. Isla could not look and buried her face in Rose's neck. They waited for Jack's agonising scream but instead heard a soft splash.

"Come on," instructed Rose, shaking Isla into action. They scampered across a beautifully manicured garden that led to a crystal blue ornamental pond. Jack's head broke the surface and he spouted water from his mouth like a grotesque fountain. He was thrashing his arms and shouting angrily skywards as they reached out for him. They managed, together, to drag him out from the water before he shrugged them off violently.

"When I get my hands on him," shouted Jack, gesturing up at the hot air balloon, "I'll kill him!"

"Oi, you lot!" barked a voice from the first-floor window of a whitewashed cottage. "Who is going to pay then?" demanded a scarlet-faced, bearded man looking aghast.

"Pay for what?" asked Rose. "We didn't do anything!"

The man's face disappeared from the window. He reappeared through a small, squeaky saloon door, wearing only a yellow fluffy towel around his waist. He waddled towards them leaving wet footprints on the path and cursing as he stood on a loose stone that left him hopping on the spot.

"Sterilisation of my pond after that lump just crash landed in it!" bellowed the portly man. "Those are competition Dancing Fish in there!" he shouted angrily. "I need compensation!"

"He really couldn't help it," pleaded Isla. "We're very sorry."

Jack stood shivering and dripping wet wearing one shoe, fidgeting where he stood. He reached down the back of his neck and removed a flapping orange and blue-striped fish from inside his clothing. He threw it back in the water. "Look mate," he said to the semi-naked fish breeder. "My mum and dad have plenty of money. We'll get your compensation when we get back to London."

"London?" spurted the man, readjusting his towel nervously. "Never mind. We shall say no more of it." He retreated sheepishly towards his door. "Where are my manners?" he said apologetically. "Can I offer the young sir a towel?" he asked.

"As long as it's not that one!" smirked Rose with a wink. The man tottered off back inside in a hurry.

Overhead they heard whooping and hollering. Amelia and Elliot were waving down at them from the basket of the hot air balloon, which swooped low, narrowly missing a row of crowned chimney pots, before landing gently on the grass. Amelia vaulted out of the basket. Elliot struggled to climb out and caught his foot on the lip. He tumbled onto the soft ground.

"That was incredible!" enthused Elliot as he stood. "My calculations were perfect!"

The girls listened as Amelia and Elliot talked excitedly about the rescue mission. Nobody paid any attention to Jack who was seething and shaking in the background, water pooling at his feet as it dripped from every piece of clothing. The man had not returned with a towel. He was standing stock still and staring straight at Elliot.

"You!" he yelled. The others turned at the sound. "You!" he repeated. "Elliot Blake!" he snarled through gritted teeth. Elliot's jaw dropped as Jack started squelching purposefully towards him.