Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Over the Moon by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Author:Frank Cottrell Boyce [Boyce, Frank Cottrell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7038-2
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2014-04-03T16:00:00+00:00

“I’ve heard of spaceships,” said Jemima, “but I never expected them to have masts. Or funnels. Or propellers. Or a deck. Or a bridge. Or an anchor. Or portholes.”

It might have been a spaceship, but its cargo was clearly of earthly origin. Strewn about the deck were the Sphinx, Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, and the Eiffel Tower. Jem and Lucy recognized the ship straightaway.

“Is it aliens?” asked Jemima.

“That’s not aliens,” said Lucy. “That’s Tiny Jack.”

Tiny Jack’s personal yacht — Château Bateau — is so big that when it’s out at sea it’s often mistaken for an island. When it’s tied up in port, passers-by take it for a small town.

“How did it get into space?” asked Jemima. “Do you think he can see us? Is he watching us?”

“What’s protecting it? It’s like a giant soap bubble,” said Dad.

“It is a giant soap bubble,” said Jeremy. “Father was working on a way of making burst-proof bubbles for the Navy. Before he disappeared, that is.”

“Burst-proof bubbles?” said Dad. “What a great idea! Imagine the fun that Little Harry would have in the bath with bubbles that . . .” He trailed off, remembering that Little Harry’s whereabouts were unknown.

“He designed them for underwater exploration. A sailor could get inside one and let it sink to the bottom of the ocean. Hundreds of feet below the surface he would still be able to breathe. This was all top secret, of course. Father would never have given it to anyone without a fight.”

Jeremy and Jemima stared down at Château Bateau, each imagining the terrible fate that must have befallen their father to make him surrender a naval secret.

“Of course, if it burst when you were at the bottom of the ocean,” said Lucy, “you would be crushed to the size of a small pizza box by the incredible pressure of the sea. Every atom of oxygen would be squeezed out of you so that you’d end up looking like a deflated balloon. And your eyeballs —”

“Thank you, Lucy,” said Mum. “We get the idea.”

“If the bubble bursts in space, on the other hand,” said Lucy, “the opposite would happen. Everything that would implode under the incredible pressure of the sea would explode in the vacuum of space. Tiny Jack’s head would pop like popcorn. His fingers —”

“Lucy. Please.”

“So all we need to do,” said Dad, “is pop this bubble and Tiny Jack would be gone forever?”

“Yes,” said Jeremy, “but so would any chance of ever finding our parents.”

“Ah.”

“Or our son,” pointed out Mum.

“But how can we get to him without bursting the bubble? You can’t drive a car through a bubble without bursting it.”

“You can if the bubble is burst-proof. It will just close up around us as we pass through the membrane.”

“Wait,” said Dad. “You’re saying you think we should do that? Land on Château Bateau? On purpose?”

“Of course. It’s time we sorted this Tiny chap out, don’t you think? For all we know, he might be holding our parents prisoner.”

“Of course,” said Dad.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.