|
Chapter 1 – Nicky’s Birthday
Chapter 2 –
The ‘Magic’ Cloak
Chapter 3 –
The Riddle Solved
Chapter 4 – The
Lost Ring
Chapter
5 – Oh! What Have I Done?
Chapter
6 – The Unexpected Reunion
Chapter 7
– Jack Comes to Visit
Chapter 8 – The
Chase
Chapter 9 –
Alive and Well
Chapter 10 – The Final Chapter, Or Is It?
Chapter 11 –
Mum To The Rescue?
Chapter 12 -
The Good Wizard
Chapter 13 –
Nicky’s Dilemma
Chapter 14
– Miracles Do Happen
Chapter 15 –
The Final Chapter
Nicky’s Adventures in the Land of Magic
Chapter 1 –
Nicky’s Birthday
Nicky clearly remembered the first time that he had been
really scared out of his wits. He just couldn’t work out
where he was or what was happening to him. It certainly
was a very strange experience when he’d suddenly
realised that he was actually flying through the air at
high speed. He knew it was impossible but no, here he
was, high above the dark forest and obviously going far
too fast. Hearing a strange noise behind him he looked
round to find that he was being chased by what seemed to
be a huge cloud of large black birds. Trying to go even
more quickly to escape, his cloak was ripped from his
shoulders by the force of the wind and he felt himself
falling faster and faster towards the trees below.
Everything went black and what seemed like an eternity
later Nicky stirred. ‘Rat-tat-tat.’ Someone or something
was knocking at the door. Then it was even louder,
‘knock-knock-knock.’ Now it was ‘Bang-Bang-Bang.’ Gosh!
He clearly remembered every single detail oh so well,
but that was well over a year ago.
This time however, it was entirely different. Nicky was
wide awake and was sure that he knew exactly what he was
doing. However he still couldn’t help wondering if he
had made the right decision, should he really have come
here at all? It had started in the now familiar way,
exactly the same as all the previous times. All he had
felt was that now familiar tingling sensation all
through his body, which once again made him momentarily
close his eyes. In a tiny “puff” of smoke, he had simply
disappeared.
Now, nervously trying to look around himself, Nicky
couldn’t see a single thing except several blurred,
dull, or glowing objects that appeared to surround him.
He could hear strange noises all around and he was sure
that he felt something briefly touch his back. Of course
he had absolutely no idea where he was. He felt a shiver
down his spine and was sure that his hair was standing
on end. He felt so frightened that he was trembling like
a leaf, too scared to move a muscle as he certainly
didn’t want to draw attention to himself.
Gradually he started to make out different shapes as his
eyes grew used to the gloom. The glowing objects were
burning torches, hanging on the walls with black metal
brackets and they seemed to be giving off far more smoke
than light. He remembered seeing something like them
when he’d been to the cinema with Mum to see Robin Hood.
On the walls and roof, he noticed several grotesque
shapes distorted by the flickering torches as they moved
round the huge room. A minute or two later, he began to
notice far more detail. The shapes he saw were the
shadows of some large black birds and bat like creatures
and they were making the strange noises he heard. They
were flying round and round this absolutely huge room,
but every so often one would swoop down to within a
hairs breadth of him, as if to take a closer look. Nicky
still hadn’t moved an inch, it was if he was glued to
the spot.
Once again, he asked himself ‘Have I really done the
right thing? Even now it’s not too late’ he thought.
‘Should I call the whole thing off or am I right to take
such a huge risk?’ He couldn’t help thinking about the
way the whole adventure had started on his birthday……..
Nicky woke up with a start and jumped straight out of
bed. It must have been the noisy seagulls that disturbed
him or was it because today was the day he’d been
waiting for… it seemed forever. He looked out of his
bedroom window towards the castle on the cliff top,
where the sun was just poking its head above the main
tower. There was not a cloud in the sky. In the harbour
below, the boats were gently bobbing up and down with
hardly a wave in sight. It was definitely going to be
the best day of his life. The only regret he had was
that his Dad couldn’t be there with him as tragically he
had gone missing in a fishing boat accident about
eighteen months ago. Nicky would never forget the
headlines in the newspaper “Skipper Missing Feared
Dead.” “There is still no trace of Paul Young, skipper
of the ill fated trawler the ‘Lucky Catch’. Following an
intensive search lasting over 24 hours there is now
little hope of finding him alive…..” Fortunately the
rest of the crew had been rescued safely but Dad had
just disappeared without trace. Mum still believed that
he must have lost his memory or something similar and
that one day he would turn up alive and well.
‘I wonder if the postman has been yet?’ he thought and
glanced at his watch. ‘Half past six. No it’s much too
early. Oh I do hope that I get as many cards as I did
last year.’ Yes, you’ve guessed, it was Nicky’s ninth
birthday.
Nicky quietly crept to his bedroom door and slightly
opened it but not a sound was to be heard. ‘I’d better
not wake Mum up yet’ he thought, and quietly closed it
again. Walking round his bed he picked up his favourite
book from the bedside table, “The Giant Book of Nursery
Rhymes” ‘Yes’ he thought, ‘this was the first book I
ever bought from Mr Carter in his “Antiques and Book
Shop” with my birthday money on my fifth birthday.’
Mr Carter was his Dad’s best friend from school and had
been thrilled when he was asked if he would be Nicky’s
Godfather when he was born. Nicky remembered that
birthday well because it was when Mum had told him that
she was going to give him fifty pence pocket money every
week to save or spend on whatever he liked. Nicky
preferred to save it up to buy something special.
When Nicky read a book it was as if he was really living
in the story. I suppose that’s why he enjoyed reading so
much. He remembered first going to the library with his
Mum when he was very young, about four or five. Since
than he’d gone most weeks, always enjoying browsing
along the long shelves bursting with hundreds of books.
Today of course it was very different. He just couldn’t
settle down with his favourite book at all. ‘Come on
Mum, please get up soon’ he thought, ‘come on Mr postman
please be early today, come on clock please whiz round
to nine o’clock so that we can go shopping.’
He knew that today they were going down to the post
office and on the way they passed Mr Carters Antiques
and Book Shop which was his very favourite shop. He
loved to collect books and old things, and over the last
three or four years had bought a fine album of old
postcards, a small collection of tin soldiers and his
favourite, a box of old books of nursery rhymes and
fairy stories. All out of birthday money and pocket
money he had saved up. Yesterday in the back of the shop
window Nicky had spotted the most wonderful brightly
coloured old cloak and felt he must have a closer look
at it and might even buy it if he could afford it.
‘Is that?’ Sweeeeeeeeeesh ‘yes, it is, Mum’s filling the
kettle in the kitchen. I must have been thinking so much
that I didn’t hear her in the bathroom.’ Nicky ran to
the door and called ‘Hi Mum, I’ll be down in a minute’
as he rushed into the bathroom.
‘That was a bit too quick, but I’ll let you off today’
his Mum said as exactly one minute later Nicky walked
into the kitchen. ‘Happy birthday Nicky’ she said as she
gave him a big hug and the traditional birthday kiss.
‘Guess what? The post was early today and there’s a
whole sack full just for you, but… breakfast first.’
‘Nicky’ his Mum’s voice was quite firm. ‘You’re not in a
race for the world record, don’t rush your breakfast,
you’ll get indigestion and you’re making a mess all over
the table cloth.’ ‘Sorry Mum! but I’ve finished now,
please may I leave the table and open my cards and
presents?’
‘Alright’ Mum said ‘but just make sure you wash your
hands first.’
It was rather obvious that Nicky was in quite a rush to
be out this morning, as barely half an hour later he
said ‘Well that’s the last one,’ with a big grin on his
face ‘twenty nine cards, five presents and altogether
forty eight pounds in money, my very best birthday
ever.’
‘Time to go shopping now isn’t it Mum?’
‘At last’ thought Nicky as they were walking up the hill
towards the shops. ‘There’s Mr Carter’s, I hope the
cloak is still there.’ ‘Thank goodness’ he thought as he
could just see the bright colours of the cloak through
the window as they crossed the road towards the shop.
‘There it is Mum, it’s still there’ Nicky said excitedly
‘can we go in now please?’
‘If you bought it now, we would to have to carry it all
round town so I think we should call on our way back
don’t you?’ said Mum.
‘No Mum, please no, someone else might buy it first, and
if we do buy it I’m sure Mr Carter won’t mind us
collecting it on our way home. Please let’s go in now.’
Finally his Mum agreed, and full of excitement he rushed
in to examine the cloak and see how much it would cost.
As you know, Mr Carter the owner of the shop was Nicky’s
Godfather and had known Nicky all of his life. He was
very pleased that Nicky often popped in to ask his
advice, or to buy something special to add to his
collection. Getting the cloak from out of the window he
walked across the shop floor to Nicky and his Mum.
‘Yes!’ he said ‘it is a very stunning extremely unusual
cloak indeed, just have a look at this label’ and passed
it over to Nicky.
The cloak was even more striking than it had appeared in
the window. The colours were quite brilliant vivid shiny
and clear, every word seemed to describe it accurately
and it was also very smart looking. Looking inside at
the label he could clearly read some strange words:
Put on this cloak for all to see
It’s mystery to unfold
A magic land is where you’ll be
Within the ring of gold
‘It’s a riddle’ said Mr Carter ‘there’s a legend that
the cloak was made by a good wizard in olden times and
that it has magical powers but although many people have
tried to work out what they are and what it can do,
everyone has failed. I think it’s just a clever joke.’
‘I really don’t mind’ said Nicky, ‘I love it so much I
would like to buy it if I can afford it. Please Mr
Carter, how much is it?’
‘Well, let me see. It should be one hundred pounds, but
errrr for such a special customer like you... and as
it’s your birthday, I can let you have it for err… sixty
pounds.’
‘Wow!’ Nicky yelled ‘Mum, please can we get it? I have
all of my birthday money left and I’ve saved a little
pocket money, I’m just two pounds short.’
‘If your Mum agrees’ Mr Carter nodded, ‘I’ll let you pay
the difference with your pocket money the next week.’
Of course Mum agreed and Mr Carter promised to wrap it
up for them to collect later.
After they had finished shopping, and had lunch out at a
little café, they made their way back to Mr Carter’s to
pick up the cloak on their way home. ‘What a very
special birthday this is turning out to be’ thought
Nicky ‘I was right, it’s definitely going to be the best
ever.’
Chapter 2 – The
‘Magic’ Cloak
Nicky couldn’t wait to get home to try his new cloak on.
He ran upstairs and banged his bedroom door shut. He
looked in the mirror and slipped on his new cloak.
‘This is wonderful’ he thought, ‘it fits perfectly and
the colours are superb.’ His Mum had explained to him
that whoever had made it, had used many pieces of
different brightly coloured materials sewn together in a
pattern, just like a patchwork quilt.
While he was trying it on he noticed the tiniest of
little marks where two of the pieces of material were
sewn together. ‘I hope that will come off’ he thought,
slipping off the cloak and reaching out for the clothes
brush on the chest of drawers. ‘That’s strange, it’s not
a mark. It’s a little bulge where something seems to be
caught up in the lining.’
Probably because the cloak was very very old, some of
the stitches had broken and Nicky was able to carefully
move the little bulge to the gap where the lining was
not fixed properly.
‘This is very strange’ he thought ‘it looks like… yes,
I’m sure it is… it looks like a hidden pocket that’s
been stitched up instead of using a button or a zip.’
With extreme care, Nicky was able to loosen some of the
stitches and put his finger inside. The little bulge now
felt like a small coin, no a ring. Yes it was definitely
a ring and Nicky managed to ease the ring out of the
hidden pocket.
Slipping the cloak back on in front of the mirror
‘that’s much better’ thought Nicky, ‘the mark has
disappeared, it was just a tiny little bulge caused by
the ring. Yes, it really is a very nice ring.’ Holding
it up to his eyes to examine it more clearly, he noticed
some characters engraved on the inside, but they were
too small for him to make out. ‘Yes’ he thought ‘I’ll
need my magnifying glass to read that. M’mmm, it’s very
interesting, just like the cloak it looks very old. I
wonder if it will fit me?’
Just as he tried the ring on his finger a bright ray of
sunshine came through the bedroom window as the sun
peeped out from behind a whispy cloud. Nicky noticed it
through the mirror because it shone straight onto Humpty
Dumpty, in the Giant Book Of Nursery Rhymes that he had
left open on his bedside table earlier that morning.
He’d often thought how wonderful it would be if he could
actually meet the people in person but of course they
were only characters in a book. ‘But yes,’ he thought
‘It really would be great to actually meet Humpty
Dumpty, I really wish I could.’ Suddenly without any
warning whatsoever, he disappeared from sight in a tiny
“puff” of smoke.
All Nicky felt was a sudden tingling sensation all
through his body, which made him momentarily close his
eyes. When he opened them again, totally unexpectedly,
he found himself in a very strange but quite
breathtaking place. He was standing by a gurgling stream
in a beautiful land filled with gently rolling hills and
sunshine. Birds were singing in the trees, the bees very
busy collecting honey and the hosts of butterflies
flitting round a carpet of wild flowers. What stood out
more than anything were the bright vivid colours. It was
just as if he was in the middle of a newly painted
picture.
As Nicky walked along the narrow path by the side of the
river he was actually trembling with excitement. He
clearly remembered what Mr Carter had said to him just a
short while ago ‘There’s a legend that the cloak was
made by a good wizard in olden times and that it has
magical powers but although many people have tried to
work out what they are and what it can do, everyone has
failed. I think it’s just a clever joke.’
Clearly there was no other explanation, Nicky had
stumbled on the secret of the “magic cloak” and somehow
he had been whisked away from his bedroom at home to
this wondrous land. Just a few yards away he spotted a
family of baby rabbits chasing each other in and out of
the twisted roots of a great oak tree that grew
perilously on the river bank.
Nicky was bubbling over with excitement. ‘This was
absolutely amazing ” he thought, ‘what a truly wonderful
place this is ‘ as he carried on walking briskly.
Naturally he wanted to explore as much as possible of
this wonderful land he’d unexpectedly found himself in.
As he walked along the path, in the distance he saw a
huge wall and instantly he recognised the person who was
there sitting on top of the wall - Humpty Dumpty.
[Humpty Dumpty]
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses
And all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
‘Hello there’ Nicky said ‘are you Humpty Dumpty?’
‘Yes, but how do you know who I am?’ said Humpty with a
frown on his big round face.
‘Why I’ve read all about you’ said Nicky ‘you’re famous,
everyone where I come from has heard of you. But why do
you always sit on the top of the wall, it’s very
dangerous and you could have a terrible accident?’
‘Famous! That sounds very important… so who are you and
where is it that you come from then?’ asked Humpty.
‘I’m Nicky Young, and I live in Scarborough’ said Nicky
‘it’s in a land far away from here called England.’
‘Scarborough, England, Faraway Land. I’ve never heard of
any such places so you must live a very long way from
here. Faraway Land, yes, Faraway Land, I will remember
that’ said Humpty. ‘But why do I sit on the wall, I
thought that would be quite obvious. Whenever the king,
his family or all the king’s men leave the palace, or
arrive back again, I have the best possible view. I love
all the splendour of every occasion and wouldn’t miss it
for the world.’
‘Wait !, wait !, here they come again. Look, over there’
said Humpty excitedly rocking backwards and forwards
perilously on top of the wall and pointing to the
castle.
Sure enough, Nicky could clearly see what could only be
the king dressed in his finest robes riding in a
beautiful gold coach coming through the gateway closely
followed by a never ending line of the king’s men all
riding on perfectly matched white horses. As the coach
drew level with Humpty, the king turned his head to look
at him, waved his hand and said ‘Good day my old friend.
Oh! Please be careful, we don’t want you falling off
that wall, do we?’
Humpty waved and waved until the king and all his men
were a mere speck in the distance. He turned to Nicky
and said ‘There you are you see. I told you it was worth
while sitting on this wall and because I like you so
much, you are very welcome to join me.’
‘Yes! That was most impressive,’ Nicky said, ‘You really
are a very famous person to have a king for a friend.
Unfortunately I can’t join you today. I’ve been away
from home for quite a long time already and there’s so
much I would like to do. I promise I will come back one
day, I give you my word as I’ve really enjoyed talking
to you and seeing the king and all his men.’
So, having said goodbye to Humpty Dumpty, Nicky
continued along the road. It twisted and turned, uphill
and down dale, seemingly never ending. Probably, as he
was still so excited and had been walking so quickly,
Nicky was feeling quite tired by now. ‘I wonder how long
I’ve been here’ he thought, looking down at his watch.
‘Oh dear it seems to have stopped at half past three so
I’ve no idea but it certainly seems like a really long
time.’ As he felt so tired after his adventures so far
today, Nicky decided that it was time to have a little
rest, so he laid down in the shade of an enormous tree
to protect him from the hot sun, but Nicky just couldn’t
get comfortable. The ground was very uneven and
uncomfortable to lay on, because of the roots of the
tree, so he decided to take his cloak off to use as a
pillow. As he slipped it off his shoulders, in a tiny
“puff” of smoke, he quite unexpectedly found himself
back in his own bedroom with his cloak still grasped in
his hand.
‘Gosh!…’ Nicky instantly realised that his problems were
only just beginning. ‘How on earth do I explain to Mum
where I’ve been for most of the day? But most of all,
what exactly happened? How did I get back to my
bedroom?’ It was extremely confusing.
‘Nicky, Nicky, are you going to let me see what you look
like in your new cloak?’ called Mum from the bottom of
the stairs.
‘Ok Mum I’m coming down, just give me a minute.’
‘This is very puzzling’ he thought, ‘I can only remember
taking off the cloak to rest my head on. Of course! That
must be it. If I take the cloak off I come back home but
how did I get to wherever it was in the first place?
Humpty Dumpty, well it sounds crazy but I’m sure I could
only have been in Nursery Rhyme Land. But how did I get
there? When I first put the cloak on nothing happened.’
Nicky thought very hard about the problem and suddenly
the answer came to him. ‘Yes!...’ In the excitement he
had forgotten about finding the ring. ‘Now I remember,
after I found the ring, I put the cloak back on and
tried the ring on my finger to see if it would fit. That
must be the answer, the cloak has magical powers after
all, but only when you also wear the ring.’
Put on this cloak for all to see
It’s mystery to unfold
A magic land is where you’ll be
Within the ring of gold
Nicky remembered the riddle on the label inside the
cloak quite clearly and was feeling very smug after
working out the answer to such a big problem.
‘No wonder it has never worked for anyone else’ he
thought. ‘The Good Wizard who made it was also very
clever and cunning to hide the ring in such a way. What
a pity I can’t meet him, what an adventure that would
be.’ But that’s another story!
‘Nicky’
‘Oh dear, that’s Mum calling again, I’d better rush down
or I’ll be in big trouble.’ Nicky thought as he skipped
towards the stairs. As he dashed into the lounge he
couldn’t help noticing the clock on the wall over the
fireplace. It said just one minute to four and checking
his watch, it had started working again and was showing
the same time, one minute to four. Nicky was getting
used to working out all of the problems caused by the
magic cloak and it came to him in a flash that the only
logical answer was that when he was in the ‘Land of
Nursery Rhymes’ real time stood still. As he was now
back home again, everything was back to normal.
‘Oh yes, Nicky’ said Mum, ‘I really do like it very much
and I think you could wear it in the school Christmas
pantomime this year.’
Nicky grinned ‘Yes Mum, that’s a good idea’ he said. His
Mum was always coming up with funny ideas.
‘Right’ said Mum, ‘I think you’d better take it off now
and have a wash and change ready to go to aunt Dora’s.’
‘Ok Mum’ Nicky said ‘I’ll only be a few minutes.’
The visit to aunt Dora’s on his birthday was another
special treat. Aunt Dora was very old at least forty and
very fussy. The only thing he didn’t like was again,
that traditional sloppy birthday kiss that always left a
red, wet patch on his cheek. But it was certainly worth
putting up with because the birthday party tea she set
out was a real feast. Cooked meats, sausages, cheeses,
tomatoes, at least three different sorts of pickle, a
huge bowl of salad, cracker biscuits and even chips. For
afters chocolate éclairs, trifle, fruit jellies, and
lashings of ice-cream. Finally a delicious birthday cake
with real candles. As his Mum said on every occasion, he
always finished up “FFTB” - full fit to burst.
At bedtime that night Nicky thought, ‘what a wonderful
exciting day, I wish it never had to end.’ He couldn’t
wait until tomorrow when he would try to go back again
and hopefully have many more adventures. Or could it
even be today?
Chapter 3 – The
Riddle Solved
The next morning, Nicky was sure that he had worked it
all out correctly. Quite simply, unless he put both the
cloak and ring on together, nothing happened. Just to
make sure, he first tried the cloak on, on it’s own.
Just as before, nothing happened. The ring on it’s own
had no effect either so the only conclusion was that to
visit the Land of Nursery Rhymes again, he had to wear
both the cloak and the ring at the same time.
That is just where that first problem started. He looked
into the mirror and put on the cloak, thinking how good
he looked in it, whilst at the same time he slipped the
ring on his finger. Nothing happened. No little puff of
smoke, no Nursery Rhyme Land, just Nicky standing
looking at himself in the mirror.
‘Oh dear’ he thought, ‘what if it only works once?’
Looking in the mirror, he took the cloak off and put it
on again and was sure it was exactly the same as the
first time yesterday. He slipped the ring on and off and
on again, but nothing whatsoever happened!
‘What on earth do I do now?’ he thought, shaking his
head from side to side in desperation. Suddenly out of
the corner of his eye, he noticed the Giant Book of
Nursery Rhymes on his bedside table, just where he had
put it down after reading it yesterday, and still open
at the same page.
‘I wonder if that could be the reason’ he thought,
suddenly remembering that he had been looking at the
nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty” reflected in the mirror
when he had slipped the ring onto his finger yesterday.
He crossed over to the bedside table and picked up the
book. ‘There’s only one way to find out for sure’ he
thought, and randomly selected a page. ‘Georgie Porgie,
yes, that will do, I’ll give it a try.’
So he left the book open on the bedside table and
slipped on the cloak. Looking into the mirror at the
reflection of the “Georgie Porgie” nursery rhyme,
thinking how wonderful it would be if he could be there
in person, he held his breath in anticipation.
‘Oh I wish I could’ he thought as he pushed the ring
firmly onto his finger. Once again, he felt the same
sudden tingling sensation all through his body, which
made him momentarily close his eyes again, and he
disappeared in a tiny “puff” of smoke.
This time when he opened his eyes, Nicky couldn’t
believe where he found himself. Yesterday, the first
person he saw was Humpty Dumpty. Today he was in a
lovely little village, overlooking the school
playground, which seemed to be full of young girls all
crying their eyes out. After congratulating himself on
working out how the magic cloak and ring worked
together, he remembered that his Giant Book of Nursery
Rhymes was left open on the ‘Georgie Porgie’ nursery
rhyme page. ‘It actually looks just like the page in my
book he thought’ as he looked across the road into the
playground.
[Georgie Porgie]
Georgie Porgie, Pudding and Pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play
Georgie Porgie ran away.
Once again, it was quite obvious to him that all the
girls’ crying could well be the fault of that naughty
boy Georgie Porgie.
Nicky walked over to one of the doorways in the main
school building, where he could see a very stern looking
elderly gentleman peering across the playground at the
girls. He couldn’t help noticing above the door, a large
sign “Headmaster”.
‘Good morning sir’ said Nicky, ‘I’m just passing through
the village and noticed that there seems to be a
problem. Is there any way that I can help you?’
‘Not really young man, I’ve already been in contact with
the Grand old Duke of York and his ten thousand men, and
have asked for their help’ said the headmaster, ‘however
if you do happen to see Georgie Porgie on your travels,
please report his whereabouts to me immediately. He must
be severely punished for upsetting all the girls in this
way.’
‘Poor Georgie Porgie’ Nicky thought to himself, as by
now he was starting to feel a little bit sorry for him.
‘I would definitely like to hear his side of the story
first’ he thought. However, he promised the headmaster
that he would keep his eyes open for him.
So after saying goodbye to the headmaster and taking a
final glance back at the girls in the playground, who
still appeared to be crying their eyes out, Nicky
continued on his journey through the village. On over a
hump back bridge that crossed a narrow stream and out
into the countryside, on and on he went. After he’d been
walking for about an hour (he could only guess an hour
as his watch had stopped working again) he suddenly said
to himself ‘it seems a long time since breakfast and I’m
simply starving.’ Can you believe that, after the huge
birthday tea he’d had only yesterday? So when he came to
a crossroads a few minutes later, and down one of the
roads he was sure he could see an inn in the distance,
that made his mind up for him. That was the road he
chose, secretly hoping that he would be able to get
something to eat there.
‘Phew! That was a lot further than it looked’ Nicky
puffed, quite out of breath, as he’d walked as quickly
as he could to get to the inn. However he still went up
the steps two at a time eager to get out of the hot sun.
It always seemed to be warm here in Nursery Rhyme Land.
But that was probably because he was always in a rush to
get somewhere or other.
It was quite gloomy inside the inn. Sitting in the one
small window were a very strange couple. The gentleman
was very slim and quite good looking for an old man, but
his wife was very plump with a contented look on her
chubby face. But what an unusual meal they were eating.
The gentleman was eating a plate full of very lean meat
and what looked like a pile of boiled cabbage. The lady
had a plate full of what could only be meat fat with
another pile of boiled cabbage. Once again Nicky guessed
quite correctly who the odd couple were - Jack Sprat and
his wife.
[Jack Sprat 'could eat no fat']
Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean,
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
‘Ugh! I couldn’t fancy that’ Nicky thought as he looked
round the room now his eyes had adjusted to the gloom.
There in the far corner he saw a boy about his own age
heartily tucking into a huge pie.
Looking up as Nicky approached he called out ‘Hi ! I’m
Jack Horner.’
[Little Jack Horner]
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner,
Eating his Christmas pie.
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum, and said,
“What a good boy am I”
‘This is my absolute favourite pie, I have one every day
but there’s far too much for one. Would you like large
slice?’ The bright red plumbs, thick rich pastry with
lashings of fresh cream looked so delicious that Nicky
simply could not resist the temptation.
‘Oh yes please, I’m starving and when we’re finished
I’ll tell you about the wonderful adventure I’m having.’
After finishing off every single crumb on his plate, and
then having seconds and finally thirds, Nicky noticed
that it was such a huge pie that there was still well
over half left in the dish. ‘That was delicious’ Nicky
said and remembering his promise told Jack about his
exciting journey so far in the land of Nursery Rhymes.
Jack listened intently, nodding his head and
occasionally interrupting the story. I remember Mum and
Dad telling me about the king and all of his soldiers
and men, but I knew nothing about Humpty Dumpty’ he said
obviously totally fascinated by the story. ‘I agree with
you, he is a very lucky person to have a king for a
friend. I would love to meet him one day.’
Nick carried on with the story of his adventure and told
Jack all about Georgie Porgie and what the headmaster
had told him.
‘Have you met Jack and Jill?’ Jack suddenly asked out of
the blue. ‘Their Mum is one of my Mum’s best friends
from her schooldays and I know that Jack is Georgie
Porgie’s twin brother’ he said. ‘Perhaps they would know
where he has run away to, or he might even be safe and
sound at home with them right now. But like you, I would
like to know what Georgie Porgie had to say about the
matter first. Oh ! I’m sorry for interrupting again,
please do go on.’ he said.
‘Well. Actually, that’s about it.’ Nicky said thinking
to himself that it would be best to leave out the
details about his magic cloak because in any case, he
was sure that Jack just wouldn’t understand or believe
him.
‘Well, it must be your lucky day as I think I might be
able to help you’ said Jack. ‘Just hang on here, I won’t
be a minute’ as he disappeared through the door behind
his chair.
Nicky barely had time to take a breath before Jack was
back with a big grin on his face. ‘I thought so, I’m
sure this is just what you need’ he said as he passed
him a old map of the area. ‘This shows you how to get to
an ancient castle in the next valley. I know the Grand
old Duke of York often stays there when he’s in this
part of the land. His men might have even found Georgie
Porgie by now. But whatever, please call and see me
whenever you are in the area, you are welcome to share
my pie anytime.’
‘Of course I will’ said Nicky, ‘I give you my word that
I will most certainly call in to see you next time I’m
passing, and I really do appreciate your kind offer to
share your pie.’
‘I’m sure that we can become very good friends.’
Feeling quite refreshed Nicky decided to carry on
searching for a while. ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I could
find Georgie Porgie.’ he thought. Now he had the old
map, probably his best chance would be to head for the
castle and hope to see the Grand old Duke of York. With
ten thousand men, surely one would be able to help out.
Of course Nicky failed to consider that on the map it
didn’t look very far at all to the castle, in fact it
was quite a long way. Far too far to reach before night
time.
After walking for quite a long time, the road suddenly
came to an abrupt end. There, just ahead of him were two
narrow paths. One to the left through some very dark and
scary woods, or one to the right with open fields on one
side and a quite high wall on the other. On checking the
map, Nicky noticed that both paths eventually led to the
castle, although in different ways. As the second path
with the high wall brought back memories of the
enjoyable time he’d had with Humpty Dumpty, and it was
much too late to turn round to go back to the inn, that
was the path he decided to take.
By now, the sun was quite low in the sky and Nicky
guessed that it would soon be dark, as he could clearly
see the moon rising over the wall. Of course, he knew
that he could simply take off the cloak and be back in
his bedroom at home in an instant. However, whenever he
chose to do that, he was sure that he would arrive back
at exactly the same time as he left, so he decided to
continue with his adventure for the time being.
He had only been walking for a few minutes when he heard
some very strange noises from behind the wall. He
scrambled up to the top of the wall, peeping over
carefully, as he didn’t want to frighten whoever was
there. It was so unexpected. There in front of him was a
huge shoe that seemed to be some kind of house!
‘I know exactly what this is’ Nicky said to himself,
‘It’s the house belonging to the Old Woman Who Lived in
a Shoe.’
[Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe]
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe;
She had so many children she didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread,
She spanked them all soundly and sent them to bed.
All those strange noises seemed to be coming from a
bedroom in the shoe house. Nicky guessed that it must be
the children who were crying because they had been
punished for no reason at all and sent to bed early.
Nicky felt so sorry, not only for all the children, but
also for the old woman. He remembered his Mum explaining
that she was really a very kind old lady, and the
children were orphans who she was looking after as her
own. It was obviously very difficult for her to cope
with having to look after so many children without any
help, and as it was now getting quite dark, he had an
idea.
‘Rat a tat’ he knocked on the door.
‘Hello little boy’ said the old woman ‘What’s your
name?’ as she opened the door ‘Why! It’s quite dark and
getting cold out here, are you on your own?’
‘I’m Nicky, and yes I am on my own today’ said Nicky.
‘Usually I would never be out alone after dark without
Mum but today I seem to have walked too far and wondered
if you would let me stay the night?’
‘Oh you poor thing, of course you can, come in’ said the
old woman. ‘If you’re hungry, there’s some broth in the
pot, you’re very welcome to a bowl.’
‘No, thank you very much’ said Nicky politely as they
walked through into the living room. He was still
feeling quite full after eating those three large
helpings of Jack’s delicious pie.
Just a glass of water would be very nice please,’
thinking to himself how kind the old woman really was,
even to strangers.
‘Yes’ she suddenly said, ‘and you had better stay the
night, it wouldn’t be safe for you out there all on your
own.’
‘I think I really would be very nervous on my own’ Nicky
answered. ‘It’s extremely kind of you to offer, and
perhaps you would let me help you out at the same time?
I heard the children upstairs in the bedroom, and
wondered if you would let me look after them for you
tonight?’
The old woman thought it was a wonderful idea and agreed
straight away. Of course he would have to sleep in the
chair as there was no room in the bed. That suited Nicky
down to the ground as he knew that, whatever happened,
he had to keep his cloak on, otherwise he would be
immediately whisked off back home. Sleeping on the chair
meant that he could keep his cloak on in order to keep
warm during the night. The old woman was extremely
happy. With so many children, it was very hard to keep
them occupied and Nicky’s being there would help to do
just that. At last, she would have some time to herself,
the first for a very long while.
So up to bed he went, snuggling down in the chair with
his cloak fastened tightly round him to keep warm. The
children had suddenly gone so quiet that you could have
heard a pin drop, when a single tiny voice asked ‘will
you tell us a story please?’
‘Of course I will’ said Nicky, only too happy to tell
them about his adventures. So first of all, Nicky told
them about his exciting meeting with Humpty Dumpty and
seeing the King and all his men. He was about to tell
them about Georgie Porgie, but before he uttered a
single word they were so tired out that they had all
fallen off to sleep, including Nicky.
The next morning, they all woke up bright and early. As
usual in this land of magic, the sun was shining
brightly and everything looked... Nicky searched for the
right word but had to give up, ‘I suppose “special or
perfect” will do’ he thought but it wasn’t quite right.
At breakfast, which Nicky thought was not at all
appetising, he watched in amazement as every single one
of the children tucked into the gooey porridge with
relish.
[Pease Porridge Hot]
Pease porridge hot,
Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in a pot
Nine days old.
Some like it hot,
Some like it cold,
Some like it in a pot
Nine days old.
Nicky decided that it was time he went on his way, but
not before he thanked the old woman for her kindness in
allowing him to stay the night and have breakfast with
them. He also had a very good idea, and told her about
the inn where Little Jack Horner had that huge delicious
pie every day. He was sure that there would be plenty
left to feed all of her children, and he knew that Jack
certainly wouldn’t mind sharing it with them. Once
again, the old woman was extremely grateful and told
Nicky that he would always be welcome at their house.
‘This really is a wonderland’ Nicky thought as once
again he walked briskly down the lane. ‘I’ve met so many
very nice people and made such a lot of special friends
already.’ Nicky walked on for about another hour. He
could only guess the time because, as you know, his
watch had stopped working again of course. By now he was
really beginning to miss his Mum as, in nursery rhyme
land time, he’d been away for a whole day and night.
‘Should I go back home now?’ he thought, ‘No, I’ll just
give it a little while longer’ after all, he hadn’t met
anyone since leaving the old woman and her children
after breakfast that morning.
He checked the map again and yes, he was definitely
heading in the right direction, but it really was a long
way. On and on he went and, as it all seemed so very
quiet he was just about to give up and return home to
his bedroom, when suddenly he thought he could see
someone in the distance. As he got closer, he instantly
knew there was something familiar about the people he
could see. ‘Yes I’m sure now. It’s a boy and girl
walking up the hill with a bucket.’ Quite used to being
in Nursery Rhyme land by now, this time Nicky didn’t
have to guess who they were. Of course, he knew it could
only be Jack & Jill. ‘Oh No!’ Suddenly Nicky realized
that there would be a terrible accident if they
continued up the hill, so he started to run quickly up
the hill as fast as his legs would go, calling their
names.
[Jack and Jill]
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up Jack got, and home did trot,
As fast as he could caper,
To old Dame Dob, who patched his nob
With vinegar and brown paper.
Then Jill came in, and she did grin,
To see Jack’s paper plaster;
Her mother whipped her across her knee,
For laughing at Jack’s disaster.
As Nicky got closer, Jack and Jill heard his calls and
turned round, waiting for him to catch up with them.
‘Thank goodness,’ Nicky was thinking very quickly, ‘If I
can get them to help me to look for Georgie Porgie, it
could save Jack from having that dreadful fall.’
‘So there it is’ said Nicky ‘that’s the whole story,’
after telling Jack and Jill all about Georgie Porgie.
‘I’m not having any luck so far searching on my own, so
I’m hoping that you will help me out.’
‘Well of course we’ll help out’ said Jack ‘But first of
all you really need to know the
truth. Georgie Porgie is my twin brother and although
he’s always getting into trouble, it’s not his fault.’
‘No, it’s not’ Jill piped in. ‘It’s really all the
girls’ fault. They always tease him and threaten to
report him to the headmaster if he won’t kiss them again
and again. When they were caught kissing in the
playground, they all pretended to cry and blamed him and
so he ran away frightened. When all the other boys came
after him, he just didn’t stop running and no one has
seen him since.’
‘Oh! and when we do find Georgie, I would like to report
that “Elsie Marley” to the headmaster. I’m sure she’s
the one that started it all off in the first place’ said
Jack.
‘Elsie Marley’ thought Nicky, I wonder who she is? I
can’t remember hearing her name before.’
‘Yes, actually I did know that he was your twin brother’
Nicky said, and he told them briefly about meeting
Little Jack Horner at the inn. ‘Right! that’s settled
then’ Nicky continued. ‘We had better make a start now
if we want to find him before the Grand Old Duke of York
does.’
So Nicky, Jack and Jill set off walking up the hill
together when suddenly they clearly heard the sound of a
bugle. Looking over towards the noise, there in the
distance they saw what could only be the Grand Old Duke
of York and his ten thousand men charging straight
towards them.
[The Duke of York]
Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.
‘Oh my goodness!’ exclaimed Nicky thinking quickly once
again. ‘He must have mistaken Jack for Georgie Porgie
and wants to capture him. Quick let’s run away and hide
before they can catch us.’
Perhaps the right thing to do would have been simply to
wait for the Grand Old Duke to catch up with them and
explain his mistake. But with the ten thousand men
charging towards them, they all just panicked. They spun
round on their heels, running off as fast as they
possibly could, but then the worst thing imaginable
happened. Just a few yards ahead of Nicky, poor Jack
fell down and broke his crown and Jill went tumbling
after him.
‘Oh no!’ Nicky thought, as he ran past them, ‘poor old
Jack, it’s all my fault now, and Jill looks badly shaken
up.’ Whilst he was thinking, Nicky was trying to stop as
quickly as he could. Of course, he should have been
looking where he was going, but he was far too worried
about Jack and Jill. Suddenly, he tripped as his foot
caught in a thick tuft of grass and as he fell, his
cloak slipped off his shoulders. Desperately, Nicky
managed to grab hold of it before it hit the ground, but
without warning, in a tiny “puff” of smoke, he found
himself back in his bedroom, with the cloak grasped
firmly in his hand.
Nicky was extremely upset. This was the second time
that, totally unprepared for it, he had been instantly
whisked back to his bedroom. The one positive result of
it all was that he now knew without any doubt that in
the future, to return home, he simply had to slip the
cloak off his shoulders. Automatically he glanced down
at his watch and then across to the alarm clock on his
bedside table. Yes, they were both now showing exactly
the same time and it was just a few minutes after he had
left his bedroom to visit Georgie Porgie. Nicky was much
happier now, as everything was slipping neatly into
place.
Before he went off to bed that night, Nicky remembered
to check in the Giant Book of Nursery Rhymes and to his
surprise, there it was:
[Elsie Marley]
Elsie Marley is grown so fine,
She won’t get up to feed the swine,
But lies in bed till eight or nine.
Lazy Elsie Marley.
Chapter 4 – The Lost
Ring
Nicky had worked it all out last night, but to be
absolutely sure, this time he went over it all again in
his mind. Now, once again, Nicky was at last absolutely
positive that he had it all worked out. Open the “Giant
Book of Nursery Rhymes” at any page you choose and put
it where you can see it in the mirror. Put on the cloak,
slip on the ring and that’s it. In an instant you will
find yourself in the Land of Nursery Rhymes with the
character you chose in the book.
‘Somehow it just doesn’t seem quite right’ Nicky
thought, turning it over and over in his mind. ‘What if,
yes, what if you didn’t have a mirror?’ he thought. ‘It
just didn’t make sense what possible reason could the
“Good Wizard” have for making a mirror necessary? Surely
he would make it as simple as possible.’
No, he definitely hadn’t got it quite right yet. It was
bound to be easy and yet it was certainly far more
complicated than he’d first thought. After the problem
with Jack and Jill, when the cloak slipped off his
shoulders, Nicky wanted to be completely sure that he’d
got it all worked out properly this time before his next
adventure. ‘When I do work it out, I’ll still have to
put it to the test by trying it out anyway’ he thought.
The one thing that he was still absolutely certain of
was that to return home, he simply had to slip the cloak
off his shoulders.
‘Why didn’t I think of that before?’ said Nicky to
himself after quite a long time. ‘It’s so obvious. The
mirror isn’t important, I just happened to be able to
see the book in the mirror the very first time, so the
book must be the key. Yes, as long as I can see the page
in my book, that’s where I go. So, I open the “Giant
Book of Nursery Rhymes” at any page I choose and put it
somewhere that I can see it put on the cloak, slip on
the ring and that’s it.’ As Nicky was thinking about the
ring, he was looking at his finger and noticed the time
on his watch. ‘Goodness me’ he thought ‘Mum will be
wondering why I’m spending so much time in my bedroom if
I don’t go down soon, it’s almost time to go shopping.’
Of course Nicky failed to consider that all those years
ago, when the good Wizard had made the cloak and ring,
that the “Giant book of Nursery Rhymes” probably didn’t
even exist. So had he really worked it out? Also it
wouldn’t really have mattered if Nicky had gone back to
“Nursery Rhyme Land” before going shopping with Mum as
at the end of that adventure, he would have returned
home at the very instant he left, which of course is
now!
Nicky helped his Mum tidy round the house and peg the
washing out on the line so it was almost midday when
they went out shopping. As it was so late, and Mum had
promised to visit aunt Dora that afternoon, they had
lunch out at Nicky’s favourite fish and chip restaurant
and then off to aunt Dora’s. Once again, Nicky was
greeted with a sloppy kiss and the red wet patch on his
cheek but it was worth it. As there were still loads of
goodies left over in the refrigerator from his birthday,
they stayed over for tea. It was like having a second
birthday party, and as before, Nicky finished up “FFTB”.
As it was well past his usual bedtime when they arrived
back home, it was straight up to the bathroom for Nicky
for a quick wash, clean his teeth and then off to bed.
‘It must be nearly midnight’ Nicky thought as he laid in
bed unable to sleep. So much had happened in such a
short time since his birthday and he just couldn’t get
the cloak and ring out of his mind. He still hadn’t
tried out his new idea of travelling to the Land of
Nursery Rhymes without using the mirror. He’d heard Mum
go to bed at least an hour ago and yet sleep just
wouldn’t come. ‘Perhaps if I read my book it might help’
he thought. Many times he’d heard aunt Dora tell Mum she
always read a book at night as it helped her get off to
sleep. He switched on the lamp on his bedside table and
picked up the “Giant Book of Nursery Rhymes”.
‘I must have read at least thirty pages and it’s not
helped a bit’ Nicky thought sometime later. Suddenly he
sat bolt upright in bed ‘Why not?’ he thought. ‘Yes I
might as well visit my new friend Jack now, that will
kill two birds with one stone as I can try out my new
idea. ’The last thing Nicky wanted at this time of night
was to disturb Mum. As quiet as a mouse, he slipped out
of bed and crossed over to the wardrobe where his cloak
was hanging up.
Thankfully the door didn’t make a sound as he opened it
to take it out. Once back sitting up in bed, he
carefully opened the “Giant Book of Nursery Rhymes” on
the “Little Jack Horner” page. He slipped the cloak over
his shoulders and said ‘see you in a moment Jack and I
wish it could be midday, and not the middle of the night
there’ as he looked at the picture of Jack and pushed
the ring firmly onto his finger. Once again without
warning, he disappeared in a tiny “puff” of smoke.
‘Brilliant’ shouted Nicky almost at the top of his voice
with the excitement, ‘it worked,’ as he found himself
standing at the bottom of the steps outside the inn
where he had first met Jack. ‘It’s just like the last
time’ Nicky thought, ‘the sun is shining brightly in the
sky, the birds are singing in the trees, and the bees
still very busy collecting their honey.’
‘It must be lunch time again, just what I hoped’ he
thought as through the small window he could make out
Jack Sprat and his wife, who were obviously having
another meal. Once again he went up the steps two at a
time eager to find out if Jack was there.
After the bright sunlight outside, it took a minute or
two for Nicky’s eyes to adjust to the gloomy room, but
he still noticed Jack sitting at the same table in the
corner where he had been the first time they met. He
smiled and said ‘hello’ to Jack Sprat and his wife as he
walked past them towards the corner but they were too
busy eating their dinner to notice him. Jack however was
already on his feet almost running towards him with a
big grin on his face. ‘Oh! it’s so good to see you
again’ Jack said, shaking his hand vigorously. ‘I don’t
have many friends and I was hoping that you would come
back one day as you promised. But what a wonderful
surprise to see you here so soon.’ Pointing over to the
table in the corner he said ‘Please come and share this
delicious pie with me and then bring me up to date with
your adventure.’
Obviously there was absolutely no way that Nicky’s new
friend Little Jack Horner could possibly have known that
he had been home since he last saw him. Nicky was still
feeling quite full after his fish and chip lunch in town
with Mum and the second party tea he had eaten at aunt
Dora’s, but he certainly didn’t want to upset Jack by
refusing his generous offer.
‘I would love to’ said Nicky secretly hoping that Jack
wouldn’t be offended if he only had one helping today.
‘I agree with you, it’s without doubt the best pie I
have ever tasted. But yes, I’ve an amazing story to tell
you about what’s happened since I left you the other
day.’
‘Oh! I just can’t wait’ exclaimed Jack ‘Please tell me
all about what happened after you left me, please. We
can have the pie afterwards if you don’t mind.’
‘Yes, that’s fine’ said Nicky, ‘I don’t mind at all.
Thank goodness for that, I’m sure I’ll enjoy the pie so
much more later on’ he thought.
Nicky continued ‘After I left you, I walked on and on
until it was almost dark. Suddenly, I heard some very
strange noises from behind a wall. When I peeped over
the wall, it was a house in the shape of a giant shoe
and the noise turned out to be some children crying in
the bedroom. The old lady who lived there was a very
kind old lady and the children were orphans who she was
taking care of as if they were her own.’
Jack was filled with wonder and delight with Nicky’s
story. ‘Yes! Go on! Go on…’ he kept saying. When he told
him about meeting Jack and Jill, and the truth about
Elsie Marley and Georgie Porgy, he could hardly control
his excitement. ‘I’ve never heard anything like it’ he
said ‘this is so thrilling.’ Then of course came the
part where the Grand Old Duke of York and his ten
thousand men charged towards them after mistaking Jack
for Georgie Porgie.
‘Unbelievable, simply unbelievable. But how on earth did
you manage to escape?’ he asked.
Nicky had to think quickly as he still didn’t want to
tell Jack about the magic cloak and ring just yet.
‘Well’ he said, ‘I was simply very lucky - after Jack
and Jill fell down, I just ran and ran right to the
bottom of the hill and into some woods, where I hid. The
Grand Old Duke of York and his men didn’t follow me as
they seemed only interested in catching Jack who they
thought was Georgie Porgie. I don’t know exactly what
happened as the last thing I saw was Jack and Jill being
taken away by the Grand Old Duke of York and his men.’
Whilst he was talking, Nicky had been absentmindedly
twisting the ring round and round on his finger.
Although he was listening intently to the story, Jack
couldn’t help noticing the ring and suddenly said ‘That
looks like a very unusual ring you have there Nicky,’
and holding out his hand said ‘could I have a look at it
please?’
‘Of course you can’ Nicky said without thinking, and
slipping the ring off his finger, he dropped it into
Jacks outstretched hand.
Once again without warning, Nicky disappeared in a tiny
“puff” of smoke, leaving Little Jack Horner sitting in
the corner clutching the ring tightly in his hand with a
look of sheer bewilderment on his face.
Chapter 5 –
Oh! What Have I Done?
In the Land of Nursery Rhymes, Jack was left thinking
about Nicky’s sudden disappearance. He just couldn’t get
it out of his mind, going through all the details over
and over again. All there was left of his best friend
was the ring that Nicky had passed over to him to look
at. ‘What could possibly have happened to him’ he
thought. Of course there was absolutely no way that Jack
could even imagine in his wildest dreams what had really
happened to Nicky.
Nicky however, found himself sitting upright on his bed
with the cloak around his shoulders.
‘Oh no! Oh no!...’ he groaned ‘I hope this is just a
dream.’ He pinched himself really hard ‘Ouch ! That
hurt’ he said out loud ‘So I am awake and it’s not a
dream.’ His eyes jerked down to his finger ‘Oh no!’ he
said again as he realised that the ring was nowhere to
be seen. ‘Oh ! what have I done now?’
Of course, it was well after midnight again, as Nicky
had arrived back in his bedroom at home at exactly the
same time as he had left. But what a night it was going
to be. It was quite obvious that there was no way that
Nicky was going to get any sleep at all, even though by
this time he felt absolutely worn out.
This was the end. Nicky realized that there was
absolutely no way that he could use the power of the
magic cloak without the ring. He’d only finally worked
out how the cloak and ring worked together earlier that
day. ‘Open the “Giant Book of Nursery Rhymes” at any
page I choose and put it somewhere that I can see it.
Put on the cloak, slip on the ring and that’s it. But I
got it all wrong again’ he thought. Without the ring, it
certainly was the end. Tears welled up in Nicky’s eyes
and he couldn’t stop himself uncontrollably sobbing his
heart out. He fought as hard as he could, forcing
himself to be as quiet as possible as the last thing he
wanted now was to wake Mum up. It was not that he wanted
to keep secrets from her, but he was sure that, even if
she believed him, she wouldn’t understand. It was more
likely that she would think he’d had a bad dream.
Nine months later……….
‘Are you ready Nicky?’ Mum called up the stairs. As it
was Saturday morning, Nicky knew that he was meant to be
going shopping but once again just couldn’t face it.
Thinking quickly, he said ‘I’ve such a lot of school
work to do Mum and we’ve got a test next week. I would
prefer to stay at home and get on with it if you don’t
mind?’
Mum had been very worried lately as for well over six
months Nicky had been behaving in a very strange way.
She noticed that unusually he hadn’t read his favourite
books or even been to the library for a very long time.
At first she thought that Nicky might have had problems
at school. There were always stories in the papers and
on the television about pupils being bullied, but there
were no other obvious signs, and he had assured her that
there he had no problems whatsoever at school. It must
have been about three months ago when she had gone to
the open day at Nicky’s school. His teacher had asked
her if he had been poorly and told her that he seemed
unable to concentrate now, and his work had deteriorated
considerably over recent weeks. Eventually she insisted
that he went to see the doctor with her, but after a
thorough check up he came away with a clean bill of
health. So it was an extremely troubling time.
Even yesterday she had to keep him off school because
he’d looked so poorly. As this was the first time that
Nicky had apparently shown any real interest in his
school work for such a long time, and the weather wasn’t
very good as it had snowed quite heavily in the night,
Mum called up to him ‘of course you can Nicky, I’ll be
back about one for lunch’ and off she went to the shops,
feeling a little happier than of late.
Now Mum had gone out shopping, Nicky all but burst into
tears. He felt so fed up and miserable. Even after all
this time he still couldn’t stop thinking about Jack and
the missing ring.
He got up from his chair and walked across his bedroom
to the window. ‘I wish I could go back to my birthday
and start all over again’ he thought, clearly
remembering every detail of that wonderful day. He
looked out of his bedroom window towards the castle on
the cliff top, but today it was difficult to pick out
the main tower as everything was covered in snow that
the wind had blown into deep drifts along the castle
walls. The harbour below was crowded with small fishing
boats sheltering from the gale force winds blowing
inland from far across the sea. Just like it was the day
of Dad’s accident, now well over two years ago.
One minute he was there in his bedroom all on his own
and the next minute his friend Little Jack Horner was
totally unexpectedly standing there beside him.
Nicky was simply astounded!
Chapter 6 –
The Unexpected Reunion
‘It’s a miracle’ said Jack looking round the room and
then staring at Nicky in total astonishment. ‘I just
can’t believe this. Where am I?’
“’How? Oh! Gosh! Where on earth did you come from?’
Nicky shouted out almost at the top of his voice and
unable to believe his eyes.
‘I don’t know, I mean from home, the inn’ Mumbled Jack,
obviously extremely confused.
‘I was there and now I’m here, wherever here is’ he
said. ‘Oh! I just don’t understand… but thinking about
it, perhaps I’ve disappeared to where you disappeared
to. Oh dear, I can’t work it out’ he said, looking
totally bewildered and unable to think clearly.
Nicky’s mind was working overtime. Jack obviously knew
nothing of the magical powers of the cloak and ring, and
he was now certain that he must have got at least some
of it wrong yet again, otherwise Jack wouldn’t be here
in his room. He knew the magical powers were linked
between the two, but how and why had Jack suddenly
appeared here? There was only one way to find out. ‘Calm
down Jack’ he said in a quiet but firm voice. ‘You’re
quite safe and in my home where I live with my Mum. We
can easily solve this problem but first of all, I need
to know exactly what has happened since I left you so
suddenly when you asked to have a look at my ring.’
Nicky clearly remembered slipping the ring off his
finger and dropping it into Jack’s hand.
Jack was obviously still extremely very nervous and was
anxiously looking all round the room. ‘Well, I just
couldn’t believe my eyes’ he said ‘it was amazing. One
minute we were there talking happily together and in an
instant you had just disappeared. For weeks and weeks I
thought about it but I don’t know what happened, nothing
made any sense to me. Eventually I just gave up any hope
of working it out, hoping that one day you would turn up
again.’
‘For a while there has been a very serious problem in
Nursery Rhyme Land when things started to disappear. The
problem only started two or three months ago and
everyone was under suspicion by the Grand Old Duke of
York. No one could work it out until today, when the
Knave of Hearts was caught stealing the Queens tarts.’
Said Jack.
[The Queen of Hearts]
The Queen of Hearts
She made some tarts,
All on a summer’s day;
The Knave of Hearts
He stole the tarts,
And took them clean away.
The king of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the Knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he’d steal no more.
‘When you suddenly disappeared all those weeks ago I
left your ring in the drawer in my table in the corner.
At first I was sure that you would soon be back, but
time went on and on and I felt that something terrible
must have happened to you. When the Knave of Hearts was
caught stealing the tarts, I decided that it wasn’t a
good idea to leave your ring in the drawer, as anyone
could have taken it. All I wanted to do was to keep it
safe and sound, and at first I couldn’t work out where
to keep it. Suddenly it just came to me that the safest
place would be on my own finger and so that’s exactly
what I did. I put it onto my finger and without any
warning, here I am, in your home.’
‘Anyway, first things first, you must have your ring
back’ said Jack as he got hold of the ring to pull it
off his finger.
‘Wait! Wait!’ shouted Nicky as he suddenly realised that
if Jack took the ring off he would probably instantly
disappear just as he had done and go back home to the
Land of Nursery Rhymes. But he was just a split second
too late. As Jack slipped the ring off his finger, in a
tiny bright “flash” of light, Jack disappeared just as
quickly as he’d arrived only a few minutes ago. The only
sign that he had ever been there was the magic ring,
lying on the edge of the bed.
No one in the whole world could have imagined how Nicky
was feeling at this moment in time. “Sheer elation” only
comes close to the way he felt. The impossible had
happened and once again he had both the cloak and the
precious ring safely in his possession.
Now of course, Nicky was certainly not upset. He was
completely confident that he knew exactly what must have
happened, it was so obvious. He had worked it out a long
time ago that the good Wizard had made them so that the
cloak and ring worked together, remembering that he had
been returned to his bedroom when he took off the cloak
to use it as a pillow, and also when it had slipped off
his shoulders when he was running away from the Grand
Old Duke of York. At the time he had still been wearing
the ring. So he could only stay in the Land of Nursery
Rhymes whilst he was actually wearing both the cloak and
the ring. When Jack had put the ring on his finger, the
magic in the cloak had pulled him back to it with the
ring. Therefore it must be that the ring’s magical power
only worked if it was being worn. As soon as he took it
off, Jack was whisked back home again. ‘I would even bet
that while Jack was away, here with me, time stood still
in the Land of Nursery Rhymes.’ Nicky thought, feeling
very proud and congratulating himself for his ability to
deal so capably with such unusual problems.
It certainly had been extremely complicated to work out,
but that was the only answer. ‘At last I’ve definitely
got it sorted out now,’ he thought. ‘So, I know how to
go back and visit Jack. If I do, and give him the ring
to put on his finger, we should both end up back
together in my bedroom at home. So that’s what I’ll do
and I’ll try it right now.’
Nicky promptly opened the Giant Book of Nursery Rhymes
at the page for Little Jack Horner before he crossed
over to the wardrobe to get his cloak. He slipped it
over his shoulders and was thinking how wonderful
everything had turned out now Jack had unexpectedly
returned the ring to him. He glanced down at his book
thinking ‘I’ll see you in a second Jack’ whilst he
pushed the ring onto his finger.
This was just totally unbelievable. Nothing whatsoever
had happened, and Nicky was just standing there in his
room with his fingers still firmly on the ring, after
pushing it onto his finger. ‘Could it be that now Jack
has used the ring, it’s somehow stopped working for me?’
he thought. ‘No, that didn’t make any sense whatsoever.’
He racked his brain for a reason but nothing came to him
so in desperation he just tried again. Still nothing
happened. ‘There just has got to be a logical reason’ he
thought. ‘Obviously I must be doing something wrong, but
what? What could I have missed out that was absolutely
essential for the magic to work?’ Cleverly, he decided
that the only way to work it out was to carefully think
back on exactly what he had done each time before.
Something must be different and the best way to find out
what was to write down everything that he could
remember.
As you can imagine, it was extremely difficult to
remember exactly what had happened on each occasion, and
of course writing down everything he remembered seeing
and thinking. So it took quite a long time to get it
right with crossings out and alterations all over the
page. Finally Nicky was almost certain that he
remembered it all correctly so now, as it was all
complete, he read through it again.
On his first visit, he remembered noticing the book, it
was through the mirror, because the sun shone straight
onto “Humpty Dumpty” in the “Giant Book Of Nursery
Rhymes” that he had left open on his bedside table
earlier that morning. He’d often thought how wonderful
it would be if he could actually meet the people in
person but of course they were only characters in a
book. ‘But yes’ he thought ‘It really would be great to
actually meet Humpty Dumpty, I really wish I could.’
On the second visit he clearly remembered looking into
the mirror at the reflection of the “Georgie Porgie”
nursery rhyme, thinking how wonderful it would be if he
could be there in person. He remembered thinking ‘Oh I
wish I could’ as he pushed the ring firmly onto his
finger.
He had then worked out that the mirror wasn’t actually
needed for the magic to work. So the last time, he had
been sitting up in bed and he had carefully opened the
“Giant Book of Nursery Rhymes” on the “Little Jack
Horner” page. He slipped the cloak over his shoulders
and said ‘see you in a moment Jack and I wish it could
be midday, and not the middle of the night there’ as he
looked at the picture of Jack and pushed the ring firmly
onto his finger.
Reading it all through for a second time, he suddenly
stopped, trembling with excitement as he instantly
realised that at last he was sure that he had solved the
problem once and for all. One single word stuck out like
a sore thumb “WISH”. It was the only possible
explanation. All Nicky had to do was wish he was with
Jack and it was as simple as that.
Nicky looked over at his book just to confirm that it
was open at the correct page. The ring was still on his
finger from the last attempt to visit Jack, so he
slipped the cloak over his shoulders and said aloud ‘Oh
how I wish I could be back with Jack now.’ Once again,
he felt the same sudden tingling sensation all through
his body, which always made him momentarily close his
eyes, and Nicky disappeared in a tiny “puff” of smoke.
As before, he instantly found himself standing at the
bottom of the steps outside the inn.
Chapter 7 –
Jack Comes to Visit
This time, Nicky only got as far as the door before Jack
was beside him vigorously shaking his hand up and down
again. ‘I knew you would be back soon’ he said ‘I just
knew it. But I still can’t work out what is happening.
Please tell me’ he pleaded.
‘Ok, I agree it’s time that I told you the facts about
what is happening’ said Nicky. ‘But you must first swear
an oath of secrecy. No one, absolutely no one, must find
out what I am about to tell you. ‘He thought about it
for a short while and added ‘also it’s very important
that you trust me implicitly and do exactly what I say.’
‘Of course I agree Nicky’ Jack said vigorously nodding
his head up and down, ‘you are my very best friend and I
do give you my word that I’ll never let you down.
Whatever you tell me will be our secret forever.’
‘Right’ said Nicky ‘In a moment I’m going to take off my
ring and give it to you. You must not be afraid or worry
because exactly the same thing will happen as before. I
will simply disappear from here and go back to my
bedroom at home. When I’ve gone, you must put the ring
on your finger again and you will follow me there. I
promise that I will explain everything and tell you all
about my latest adventures as soon as you get there.’
‘I’m not actually afraid now’ Jack said, as he knew that
just a few minutes ago, when he met Nicky in his
bedroom, there had been no problems at all. Then,
although totally bewildered at what had happened, he had
arrived back home in complete safety. ‘I’ll do exactly
what you’ve asked, but I must admit that I’m very
nervous, even though I’ve just been there with you
before.’
Nicky slipped the ring off his finger and dropped it
into Jacks outstretched hand and once again instantly
disappeared in a tiny “puff” of smoke.
Nicky hardly had time to slip off his cloak before, in
the blink of an eye, Jack was standing there beside him
in his bedroom. ‘Right’ he said, feeling very satisfied
that everything was now working perfectly. ‘Whatever you
do, you must not take my ring off again or you will
immediately return back home.’ Nicky glanced at the
alarm clock on his bedside table, it was almost twelve
o’clock. ‘Gosh’ he said aloud, ‘Mum will be back in
about an hour so we had better work out what we should
tell her about you. She doesn’t know anything about my
visits to Nursery Rhyme Land and I don’t feel it’s the
right time to tell her just yet. In any case, I’m sure
she wouldn’t believe me, she would probably think that I
was playing some sort of game with her. I know,’ he
said, ‘we’ll just tell her that you are a friend from
school and that you phoned me to see how I was, after
being off school yesterday. When I told you that I was
feeling much better and was doing some school work, you
kindly offered to come round to help me with it.’
‘That’s fine by me, whatever you say’ Jack said ‘But I
don’t understand. What do you mean “you phoned me”
what’s phoned?’
Nicky realised that they were going to have to be very
careful as, coming from Nursery Rhyme Land, there were
an awful lot of things that Jack had never seen and
clearly wouldn’t understand. It was also very important
that they didn’t slip up in any way that would cause Mum
to think that something else was wrong. He had caused
her enough problems over the last nine months and the
sooner that was over the better. ‘Right’ he said
suddenly feeling extremely apprehensive as he realised
that this was going to be very difficult for him and
even more so for Jack. ‘For now, I’ll have to
concentrate on explaining about some of the exciting
things we have here in my time, and I’ll start
downstairs with the telephone.’
As Jack followed Nicky round the bed towards the bedroom
door, he glanced out of the window. ‘Goodness me!’ he
exclaimed ‘what a strange land you live in Nicky.
Everything here in your room seems to be quite colourful
and normal, but outside - why! it’s just black and
white! To me it looks very peculiar, even a bit weird.’
‘Oh I can explain all that’ Nicky said laughing.
‘Usually it’s all bright and colourful but it’s winter
time now where we live and in the winter it’s usually
very cold. When it rains, the rain sometimes freezes and
turns into snow which is very cold, I’ll show you that
later on. But although you haven’t seen any, I know you
have some snow in Nursery Rhyme Land,’ clearly
remembering the rhyme:
[The North Wind Doth Blow]
The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then?
Poor thing!
He'll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing.
Poor thing!
As they went through the door, Nicky automatically
switched the light on to go down the stairs. Jack almost
jumped out of his skin. Never in all his life had he
seen anything like it. It was just like a small sun
shining brightly and lighting up the stairway.
‘Please don’t worry about anything you see here’ Nicky
said to Jack. ‘I assure you that there is absolutely
nothing for you to be concerned about and I can explain
everything that you don’t understand. Back home when it
gets dark, you would use a candle to help you to see in
the dark. The light you see is what we use instead. If
you think of a tap in a barrel of ale in your inn, when
a customer wants some you turn it on to fill his glass.
When we want some light, we switch it on or off like
this’ he said pushing the switch up and down at the same
time. ‘It all works with electricity, and we have many
more things in the house that work using the power of
electricity. But first of all, let me show you the
phone.’
They walked downstairs and into the lounge. Jack had
never seen anything like it in all his life, it was so
luxurious. ‘Nicky and his Mum must be very wealthy
people’ he thought.
‘This is the phone’ Nicky said, picking up a strange
object that had been resting in a peculiar stand. ‘These
are buttons, and the green one switches it on like this’
he said pushing it with his finger. ‘Listen’ he said,
holding the phone to Jack’s ear.
All Jack could hear was a strange buzzing sound like a
huge bee. ‘I still don’t understand what you mean by
“you phoned me”’ he said.
‘I’m sorry’ said Nicky, ‘That buzzing means that its
switched on. To speak to someone you first have to
switch it on, a bit like the light on the stairs. You
then connect to the phone in their house; like this’ he
said as he dialled aunt Dora’s number. The buzzing had
changed to another strange noise and Jack jumped as
suddenly a voice said ‘Hello, Dora here.’
‘Oh ! I’m sorry aunt Dora’ Nicky said, ‘I must have
dialled your number by mistake, I really am sorry.’
‘Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter Nicky’ said aunt Dora
‘See you soon, bye for now.’
‘Bye aunt Dora’ Nicky said and then put the phone back
onto it’s stand.
‘That’s it’ Nicky said. ‘Using the phone we can talk to
almost anyone in the whole wide world, as long as they
also have one. But look at this’ he said as he picked op
the remote control and switched the television on.
Jack got the shock of his life. He’d already seen the
most amazing things he could imagine but this beat the
lot. He rushed over to the television and checked the
back and both sides.
‘How, Wow! How did those little people get in there?’ he
said, ‘this is amazing.’
‘Don’t get so excited’ said Nicky, now trying to calm
Jack down, ‘they’re not real people. Look at this’ he
said as he picked the photograph standing on the
mantelpiece. ‘This is a photo of Mum, Dad and me taken
when I was very young. It’s a bit like the painting of
the king that I saw on the wall in the inn where you
live. The television is like that in a way, but the
pictures move just like real life. Look, think of it
this way. If you read a book, it tells you a story. The
television tells you the story in pictures. To tell you
the truth, I don’t even understand how it actually
works, but just like the light, it uses electricity. I
only know how to switch it on and off and change the
channel, like this’ and he changed the channel several
times to show Jack before finally switching it off.
‘Just try to remember what I tell you about electricity.
Most things that we use need it to work. The lights and
television as you know. Mum also uses it to cook our
food. Do you remember me telling you how cold the snow
was that you saw from the bedroom window?’ Jack nodded
his head ‘Well, we even use electricity to keep our
house warm in the winter when it’s very cold outside,
but I don’t really know how that works either. Again, I
just know how to switch it on or off. Mum said I must
never mess around with it at all because it can be very
dangerous and could even kill you, it’s so powerful.’
‘Gosh!’ Nicky said, ‘just look at the time’ as he
glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. ‘Mum will be
home any minute. I can’t possible show you everything,
there isn’t time, but in any case it would be impossible
for you to remember it all. Look, the best thing to do
is if Mum asks you anything you don’t understand, I’ll
answer for you and you just nod your head as if you
understand and agree with what I’ve said. That will have
to do for now.’ Jack simply nodded his head to show that
he agreed with what Nicky had said and hoped that he
wouldn’t let him down.
‘Ok.’ Nicky said as he heard the front door open and
close as Mum came into the hall.
‘Hi Mum, I bet you’re glad to be in out of the cold.’
Nicky said as she came into the room.
‘This is Jack, my best friend from school. He phoned me
just after you left to see how I was and offered to come
round and help me with my schoolwork.’
‘Hello, I’m very pleased to meet you. I’m Jack Horner’
he said.
‘Hello Jack, it’s very nice to meet you as well’ Mum
said. ‘I’m just going to make lunch for us, would you
like to stay and have some with us, or does your Mum
expect you home?’
‘No, that’s great Mum, of course he’ll stay’ Nicky piped
in. ‘Before he left home he asked if he could stay out
until tea time so I’d already asked him to have lunch
with us.’ Nicky had quickly thought it all out. Just
before teatime, Jack could take off the ring and give it
back to him, which would send him back home to the inn.
The next morning, he could go back to Jack’s and they
could decide whether to stay there for the day, or both
return to his bedroom exactly as they had done earlier
today. So they could continue where they left off
whatever they decided.
Nicky’s Mum couldn’t have been more pleased. She had
been worrying about Nicky for such a long time, but
today he seemed more like his usual self. Jack coming
round seemed to have worked wonders and what a nice
polite boy he was she thought.
After lunch they helped Mum with the washing up and once
again Jack was very surprised when hot water came out of
what looked like a kind of tap with a red top. He also
guessed, quite cleverly, that cold water would come out
of the other one with the blue top. It certainly was a
wonderful place that he found himself in with his new
friend. After they had finished, Nicky said ‘do you mind
if we go out for about an hour Mum? Then we’ll come back
and sort out some schoolwork before Jack has to go
home.’
That’s fine Nicky,” Mum said ‘but make sure that you
wrap up nice and warm as it’s bitterly cold outside,
I’ll see you later Bye.’
As soon as they stepped a foot outside, Jack wanted to
examine the snow. It was very strange. When you touched
it, it felt very soft, but where it had been walked on
it went as hard as stone. Nicky told him how they used
to make a snowman, and how to make snowballs that they
threw at each other in a strange game. It really was
extremely cold and after a few minutes his fingers
tingled and turned blue and white.
Nicky almost jumped out of his skin when suddenly Jack
shouted out at him ‘Oh my goodness what are they?’ as
they went through the gate onto the footpath. ‘I’ve
never seen monsters like them before.’ He was pointing
excitedly at the traffic moving slowly up and down the
icy road.
Jack couldn’t help laughing out loudly. ‘You really must
trust me when you’re here,’ he said ‘Do you remember me
telling you about Humpty Dumpty and the King riding in
his beautiful gold coach? Well, here we don’t need
horses to pull our coaches now. Long before I was born,
even before my Dad was born, a very clever man worked
out a way for them to pull themselves. I promise I’ll
take you for a ride in one called a bus when the weather
is better.’
‘Gosh!’ exclaimed Nicky glancing down at his watch,
‘Doesn’t time fly?’
Jack looked up to the sky, wondering what an earth Nicky
meant. ‘How can time possibly fly?’ he Mumbled, ‘I’m
finding it even more confusing than ever now.’
Once again, Nicky couldn’t help bursting out laughing
‘I’m sorry Jack’ he giggled, ‘It’s just a way we have to
say that time seems to be going by faster than normally.
When you are enjoying yourself, it always seems to
“fly-by”. I told Mum that we would only be out for about
an hour and we’ve been much longer than that, so I think
we should go in and sort out that schoolwork we told Mum
about.’
Once back in Nicky’s bedroom, he could see quite clearly
that Jack was starting to get very worried about
something. ‘Come on Jack, there’s obviously something
troubling you. Is it anything I can help with?’
‘I hope so Nicky’ Jack said. ‘I’m really worried that if
I stay here much longer my Mum and Dad will miss me and
what can I possibly tell them when they want to know
where I’ve been all this time?’
‘Please don’t worry about that’ Nicky said as he
remembered that he had faced the same problem when he
had suddenly found himself back in his bedroom, after
meeting Humpty Dumpty on his first visit to Nursery
Rhyme Land. ‘I promise you that you have absolutely
nothing to worry about. I know that it sounds utterly
unbelievable, but when you are here with me, time
actually stands still back in Nursery Rhyme Land. It’s
very strange I know, but exactly the same happens here
when I visit you. When I return home it’s exactly the
same time as when I left, so it’s just as if I’d never
been away. That’s another reason that this must be our
secret. We must never let anyone else know about the
ring and it’s magic powers.’
Although Nicky felt that he could completely trust his
new best friend, he decided that this was not the time
to tell him anything about the magic cloak. For now, it
was best that he alone knew the secret of how the cloak
and ring worked together.
‘Where! How! Nicky, that’s a picture of me’ Jack
exclaimed excitedly pointing to the Giant book of
Nursery Rhymes, which was still lying open on the
bedside table. Once again, Nicky had to think very
quickly, but as usual he managed to come up with a
believable solution. ‘Well’ he said, ‘the magic ring
that brought you here to me, was made by a Good Wizard,
so that he could easily travel wherever he chose to go.
On his travels in the Land of Nursery Rhymes, he must
have written this book to record the wonderful
adventures he had and the people he met.’
Jack was still looking at the book, nodding his head up
and down. ‘Now I understand’ he said, but he must also
have been an extremely clever wizard. But I still can’t
believe that, however powerful he was, he could really
make time stand still. I’m sure that Mum and Dad are
going to be very worried about me by now.’
‘Right, I don’t want you to worry anymore’ said Nicky as
he glanced down at his watch.
‘We told Mum that you had to be home for teatime. So as
it’s getting dark already and its quite late, perhaps
it’s best if you go back home now. I’ll tell Mum that
you’re leaving, and I’m walking to the end of the road
with you and I’ll be back in a few minutes. Then I’ll
meet you back at the inn tomorrow, and possibly we could
try to find out what has happened to Georgie Porgie
since he went missing.’
So that’s exactly what they did. Just round the corner
from Nicky’s house shaded from the streetlight under a
large conifer hedge, Jack slipped off the ring into
Nicky’s outstretched hand. In a tiny bright “flash” of
light, Jack disappeared from sight and Nicky knew that
he was already safely back home with his Mum and Dad at
the inn in “Nursery Rhyme Land”.
Chapter 8 – The Chase
Nicky was quite cross with himself. Yes, it had been
late when he went to bed as he’d stayed up chatting to
Mum when she had asked him about his new friend Jack. Of
course he realised that his Mum was so much happier now,
when so unexpectedly he seemed to be almost back to his
normal self, and of course it was quite natural for her
to want to know all about Jack. Fortunately she had
fully understood when he said that he was very tired and
did she mind if he went off to bed. When he eventually
got to bed, at least an hour later than his normal
bedtime, he had found it very difficult to get off to
sleep. Yesterday had been quite a day to say the least.
So much had happened that he couldn’t stop thinking
about it. He could still hardly believe that now he had
both the cloak and the ring safe and sound. He felt the
ring which was quite secure on his finger and knew that
the cloak was where he always kept it, hanging up in his
wardrobe. It seemed like hours later when he had finally
dropped off to sleep.
So instead of the early start that Nicky had promised
himself, it was almost midday when he finally met Jack
at the inn. Jack was extremely excited as he had lots of
news for him. First of all, the bad news was that
Georgie Porgie was still missing. After all this time no
one had seen neither “hide nor hair” of him. Georgie’s
mother, who was a very good friend of his Mum, had
called in to ask if she could put up a missing persons
poster in the inn, just in case one of their visitors
had happened to see him on their travels. But up to now
no one had come forward with any information and it was
a complete mystery where he could be hiding out.
‘I’m more worried than ever about Georgie Porgie now’
Nicky said. After having to hide from the Grand Old Duke
of York for such a long time he must be quite desperate
by now. Especially as he was blamed for something he
hadn’t done by that Elsie Marley. Look! I know where
Jack and Jill live.’ He remembered seeing them for the
first time going up the hill to fetch a pail of water,
and as a full pail would be very heavy, their home must
be close by. ‘Do you think it would be a good idea if we
went over there and offered to help look for him?’
Jack nodded his head vigorously knowing that it was
quite a challenge to pit their wits against the Grand
Old Duke of York, and of course, it was certain to be
very exciting. ‘Yes, that’s a great idea’ he said ‘but
I’d better ask Mum first as it’s quite a long way and we
may have to stay overnight, but I’m sure she won’t
mind.’
‘But of course I don’t mind’ Jacks Mum said ‘I think
it’s extremely generous of Nicky to offer to try to find
Georgie Porgie. As you know, his mother is one of my
best friends and I know she will be delighted for you to
stay overnight. She is frightfully worried and will be
so grateful for your help.’
So without delay, they set off on their way to see Jack
and Jill. It was quite a long way to their cottage, but
the time seemed to pass very quickly, as Jack couldn’t
stop talking about his visit to Nicky’s home. On and on
he chattered. He just couldn’t get over that wonderful
snow, the electric light, telephone, television and of
course the traffic on the road outside. What a
wonderfully exciting world Nicky lived in.
Suddenly Nicky came to an abrupt stop, grabbing hold of
Jack’s arm as he heard an all too familiar but dreaded
noise. For the second time, he clearly hear the sound of
a bugle and looking over in that direction, once again,
there was the Grand Old Duke of York and his ten
thousand men charging towards them.
Once again, the best thing to do would have been to wait
for the Grand Old Duke to catch up with them, and try to
explain his mistake. But it was quite a frightening
sight to see ten thousand men charging towards you, they
both just panicked. ‘Oh no! not again’ Nicky shouted.
‘You carry on in that direction to Jack and Jill’s and
I’ll go the opposite way and see if I can lead them away
from you.’
Nicky ran as fast as his legs would carry him. Halfway
down the hill, he’d noticed a large wood that stretched
as far as he could see. ‘I’m sure that if I can get into
the wood before they catch up with me, I’ll be safe’ he
thought. He could hear the horses hooves pounding on the
ground, louder and louder as they got nearer and nearer
to him. Someone was shouting at the top of his voice
telling him to stop, but Nicky clearly remembered what
had happened the last time he had been chased by the
Grand old Duke of York and his men. Poor Jack had fallen
down and broken his crown and what a nasty fall Jill had
had as well.
By this time, Nicky was just entering the wood, with the
horsemen only a few yards behind him. ‘Thank goodness
it’s far too thick for the horses to enter’ he thought
‘but there’s no way that I can slow down. ‘He remembered
that the last chase ended when he’d suddenly tripped as
his foot caught in a thick tuft of grass. He’d almost
lost the magic cloak when he’d been unexpectedly whisked
off back home.
The trees and undergrowth got thicker and thicker and
the sky darker and darker until he could hardly see.
Suddenly his cloak got tangled up in some of the bushes
and once again, he had to be quick to pull it back
tightly around his shoulders before it was torn from his
body. By now, he was desperately gasping for breath and
his heart was beating so fast it was a miracle it didn’t
burst. But at last Nicky couldn’t hear any noises from
the chasing Duke of York’s men. Of course with ten
thousand men after him, he was still sure that it wasn’t
safe to stop and rest just yet.
On and on he went until suddenly he realised that it was
getting lighter. Nicky stopped abruptly, listening
intently for any sound of pursuit, but all he could hear
were the birds singing in the trees. ‘What a relief’ he
thought, ‘it certainly looks as if I’ve managed to lose
the Duke’s men but I must be extremely careful from now
on.’ Just ahead of him the trees started to thin out.
Instinctively he headed towards the brightest light and
there it was, a vast clearing in the trees bathed in
bright sunshine. As he left the safety of the trees, he
squinted his eyes automatically in the bright light and
it’s warmth made him feel quite relaxed. There in the
centre was an enormous pile of rocks with thick
overgrown bushes and tall grass growing around the base.
‘Thank goodness’ Nicky thought as he instantly realised
that at last he could stop for a rest and hide here for
the time being. Picking his way very carefully through
the bushes and undergrowth, as he got closer, he spotted
what appeared to be a small cave-like opening at the
bottom which had been hidden from sight by the bushes.
It seemed to be just perfect and so he cautiously
tiptoed inside. ‘Thank goodness for that’ he thought as
his eyes got used to the gloom and he saw that he was
inside quite a large cave where he could safely hide
from the Duke of York’s men. Someone must have been
there before, as on the floor he noticed several old
planks of wood which he carefully propped up to cover
the opening, securing them with some of the large stones
that were lying around. Feeling quite worn out by now,
Nicky laid down on the floor and after making sure that
the cloak was securely fastened, he dropped off into a
sound sleep.
Why Nicky simply didn’t take off the magic ring and
instantly be whisked off back to the safety of his
bedroom back at home, we’ll never know. Perhaps in the
heat of the moment, once again he’d simply panicked and
run away as fast as his legs would carry him. At the
time it seemed the best thing to do. Perhaps this time
in the back of his mind he felt he really must help
Georgie Porgie. Who knows?
Nicky just couldn’t work out where he was or what was
happening to him. It certainly was a very strange
experience and he suddenly realised that he was flying
through the air. He was high above the dark forest and
seemed to be going far too fast. Hearing a strange noise
behind him he looked round to find that he was being
chased by what seemed to be a huge cloud of large black
birds. Trying to go even more quickly to escape, his
cloak was ripped from his shoulders by the force of the
wind and he felt himself falling faster and faster
towards the trees below.
Everything went black and what seemed like an eternity
later Nicky stirred. ‘Rat-tat-tat.’ Someone or something
was knocking at the door. Then it was even louder,
‘knock-knock-knock.’ Now it was ‘Bang-Bang-Bang.’
[Someone Came Knocking]
Someone came knocking
At my wee, small door;
Someone came knocking
I’m sure-sure-sure;
I listened, I opened,
I looked to left and right,
But nought there was a-stirring
In the still dark night;
Only the busy beetle
Tap-tapping in the wall,
Only from the forest
The screech owl’s call,
Only the cricket whistling
While the dewdrops fall,
So I know not who came knocking,
At all, at all, at all.
Nicky woke up with a sudden start and found himself
standing just outside the cave. He was sure he had heard
someone knocking at the door and he’d come out to see
who it was. But of course there was no door, only the
planks of wood now lying on the ground by his feet.
There securely fastened around his shoulders was the
magic cloak, exactly as it was when he’d dropped off to
sleep. “ What a relief ” he thought as he was sure that
somehow he had lost it. ‘Of course!’ he thought, ‘I must
have been dreaming, or more likely it was a nightmare.’
‘I hope Jack made it safely to the cottage yesterday,’
he thought, as he recalled what had happened when they
split up after noticing that they were being chased.
Should I go home?’ he thought, thinking of the safety of
his bedroom. The sun was just starting to peep it’s head
over the trees at the edge of the clearing. He carefully
looked around listening intently for any sound but all
he could hear was the slightest breeze gently rustling
the leaves in the tall trees. ‘No. They must have given
up searching for me by now and after the way they keep
chasing me, it’s even more important than ever that I
help to clear Georgie Porgie’s name.’
And so, with even more determination than ever. Nicky
set off for Jack and Jill’s house. This time cautiously
picking his way back through the trees and undergrowth
with the greatest of care.
Chapter 9 – Alive
and Well
It must have been well over two hours later when Nicky
eventually saw Jack and Jill’s cottage. As he reached
the brow of yet another hill, there it was, down in the
valley by the stream. He had of course been extremely
careful this time, frequently glancing round over his
shoulders as he certainly didn’t want to be caught out
unawares.
He was barely halfway down the hill when suddenly both
Jack and Jill came rushing out of the front door and up
the hill towards him. Normally, they didn’t have many
visitors, but yesterday the Grand Old Duke of York had
arrived with only about five hundred of his ten thousand
men and, of course, Little Jack Horner from the inn.
Jack had told them how Nicky had once again managed to
escape deep into the woods, and that the Duke had
ordered over nine thousand of his men to continue
searching the woods for him. Once they had finished
telling Jack and Jill the complete story about what had
happened that day, and of course how they had eventually
found Georgie Porgie, they left to meet up with the rest
of his men and to take Jack back home to the inn, as he
was far too nervous to travel back on his own.
Naturally, Jack and Jill had half expected Nicky to find
his way there if he had successfully continued to hide
from the Duke. So they had kept peering through the
window and suddenly, there he was. Nicky of course was
also extremely excited after his latest but quite
frightening adventure. He was feeling quite hot and
thirsty after his long walk from deep in the woods, so
he drank three full glasses of lemonade made with cool
fresh water from the well, before they finally sat down
to exchange stories.
‘Well!’ said Jack. ‘It’s extremely complicated and a
very long story. But first of all, I think I’d better
start off when we first met, and Jill and I fell down
the hill. If you remember, we were running away like
mad, when Jill and I had a terrible fall. We had no idea
what had happened to you but were really pleased that
you had managed to escape. I was so dizzy that I
couldn’t stand up properly and Jill wasn’t feeling much
better either, so the Grand Old Duke of York caught us
quite easily. Eventually he finally believed that I
really wasn’t Georgie Porgie and he brought us back home
to Mum. When I was asked about you, I told him that you
were a friend, helping to find my brother.’
Jack continued, and explained that when Nicky saw the
Grand Old Duke of York and his men yesterday, he had
immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion again. Nicky
had thought that they were chasing after him because
they had seen him with Jack and Jill the first time,
when they thought that Jack was Georgie Porgie.
As it happened, the Grand Old Duke of York had some
really good news, and was calling in to see Jack & Jill
with their Mum, on his way home. After such a long
search, they had finally managed to track down Georgie
Porgie and get to the bottom of the problem. When he’d
spotted Nicky and Jack heading in the same direction he
instantly recognised Nicky and Little Jack Horner from
the inn, and guessed that they, too, were probably on
their way to see Jack and Jill and their Mum. Of course
he remembered seeing Jack, Jill and Nicky fall down the
hill. But in the confusion when they were helping Jack
and Jill after their very nasty falls, Nicky had simply
disappeared, and they had been unable to find him.
‘So’ Jack continued, ‘what had happened to Georgie
Porgie and where on earth had he been hiding for such a
long time? Well, when he ran away from school, he was
very frightened. He was absolutely sure that no one
would believe that it was all the fault of that Elsie
Marley. Especially when all the girls had blamed him and
all the boys had even chased after him when he ran away.
”
‘Poor Georgie’ Nicky thought as the tale unfolded. The
Duke had told them that he ran and ran, until he could
hardly take another step. As it was getting dark, he
headed for an old barn that he’d spotted, hidden from a
farmhouse by some tall trees. He cautiously climbed in
through an open window and had dropped off to sleep in a
pile of hay. When he woke up, it was the middle of the
night and Georgie was starving and extremely thirsty.
Very carefully, walking on tiptoe, as he certainly
didn’t want to disturb anyone in the farmhouse, he
walked around the barn. He couldn’t believe his luck,
just round the corner, he found a cattle trough by the
side of a well, where he quenched his thirst. His luck
held, as just behind the barn he discovered a huge
orchard crammed full of fruit trees and so he was able
to satisfy his hunger with several apples and pears.
Being scared stiff of getting caught, Georgie crept back
into the barn and sat down on the pile of hay to make
his plans. He worked out that there would be less chance
of being caught if he travelled during the night and
rested during the day when everyone was about. So that’s
exactly what he did until he was many miles from home
and felt quite safe. As it was almost morning, he stayed
exactly where he was before setting off on his long
journey the next night.
For almost three weeks Georgie stuck to his plan, until
at last he felt that it was safe for him to show himself
during the day. Once again, luck was with him when, a
few days later, he was offered a little job helping out
cleaning and sweeping up in the local inn. This was
really great as he was given his own little room and
meals thrown in.
It must have been about three or four months later,
when, one evening, as Georgie was sitting down warming
himself by the open fire, he just happened to overhear a
group of men who were sitting round the next table,
chatting as they enjoyed their drinks. He noticed from
their clothes that about half of them were soldiers from
the army and the rest obviously sailors in the navy.
‘What a wonderful life it is, full of fun and adventure’
said one of the soldiers. ‘Three good meals a day and
plenty of money to spend. There’s nothing to beat it.’
‘I don’t agree’ said two of the sailors at the same
time. ‘The navy’s simply got to be the best. We get to
see the whole wide world as well’ they said.
‘No! I can’t stand all that bobbing up and down on the
sea’ said the soldiers all together ‘it makes me sick.’
‘Were all lucky’ they chimed in unison ‘I woul |
