Fintan Fedora Explores Again by Clive Goddard

Author:Clive Goddard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2014-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

Luckily the rest of their journey was a lot easier. They didn’t get lost much and Fintan only dropped the map once and fell off the bike twice so, all in all, it was pretty uneventful. After four hours of bumping along narrow dirt tracks they finally reached their destination: the little town of Len Ding.

“We have arrived, sir,” announced Gribley as they climbed painfully off the bike and leant it against a wall.

Their poor, battered moped didn’t look very well. Its engine had been coughing like a sick seal and several bits had fallen off.

“Good,” said Fintan, stretching himself. “My bum was really starting to ache!”

Len Ding turned out to be a very beautiful, very old and surprisingly busy town. It was a maze of narrow streets lined with ancient dark wooden houses and bustling with hundreds of people. The air smelt of woodsmoke, incense and exotic food.

The old library, when they found it, was fabulous too. A traditional brightly painted building with a broad curving roof. The inside was, of course, full of books. Lots of them. Fintan had never seen so many books. Many looked and smelt ancient. Gribley breathed in the atmosphere and smiled. This was his kind of place!

Sitting silently reading a book was an incredibly fragile-looking old man with a deeply lined, leathery face ending in a wispy white beard. He was presumably the librarian.

“Nee how,” said Gribley, opening his phrase book. “Nee kay bang wo ma?” which he hoped meant hello can you help me?

The old man continued reading. He looked almost as ancient as some of the books.

“Maybe he’s a bit deaf?” whispered Fintan. “Or stuffed or something?”

Gribley tried again as loudly as he thought decent in a public library.

“Nee kay bang wo ma?” he repeated.

The librarian looked up. He still didn’t seem to understand but at least it proved he wasn’t stuffed.

“D’you want me to have a go, Gribs?” asked Fintan. “Maybe your pronunciation isn’t very good.”

Gribley frowned. There was nothing wrong with his pronunciation.

“Why don’t you just tell him we’re looking for the lost village of Yin?” continued Fintan.

The elderly librarian’s face lit up. “Yin?” he said, suddenly looking interested. “You want to find Yin?”

He put on a different pair of glasses and studied the odd pair standing in front of him. A refined-looking Englishman in a dark suit and a scruffy-haired boy wearing shorts that were too big for him. They didn’t look like the usual adventurers that passed through.

“So … you’re looking for the hidden clue, are you?” he said, sounding as if he had been through this many times before. “No one’s ever found it, you know.”

Gribley nodded meekly and tried to look modest and humble.

“Ah, but I bet we will!” grinned Fintan, giving a double thumbs-up. “We’re proper explorers, we are!”

The old librarian sighed, hauled himself upright and began shuffling away.

“Follow me then. The book’s this way.”

Fintan and Gribley followed him down a flight of wooden stairs into a cavernous basement. It smelt damp and centuries old.

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