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| 22. Maud's whacky new Ice Cream Van to the rescue of Gadget-Man Floydy! |
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It was an important day on Magee's Island.
Ben Madigan and the professor had just arrived at Pinkerton Farm to put the finishing touches to Mauds new ice cream van - fixing huge pieces of plastic fruit to the roof.
Ben wasn't fond of heights at the best of times, and the strong breeze today didn't help. But he'd promised Maud it would be finished this morning, so he had no choice but to get on with it.
***
Five miles away, across the lough and high up on Sally's Brae, Jay McFloyd ('Floydy' to his friends) was strapping himself on to his latest gadget: a pink and green hang glider.
He'd tried sailing, he'd tried fishing and he'd tried cycling, but none of them gave him the buzz he was sure he'd get from being in the sky without an engine.
However, not only was this Floydy's first solo flight, but what was a strong breeze down below on Magee's Island, was almost a gale force wind up in the hills; far from ideal weather conditions for hang gliding.
Not that Floydy ever listened to anyone of course!
***
Back at Stepminder Castle, the swirling wind was playing havoc with the dead leaves.
Professor Dunlambert had asked Fergus to brush them all up by the time she got back, but he'd just about given up trying. Instead he sat back and giggled as Uncle Sid chased them round and round the courtyard like a flock of sheep.
***
Things were going a lot better at Pinkerton Farm.
'A little more to the left,' said Maud, pointing up at the two-metre long plastic banana. It was the very last piece to be fixed in place. And just in time too, as Professor Dunlambert came out of the kitchen wheeling lunch on a huge trolley.
The professor guessed that after a morning of carrying heavy plastic fruit up and down ladders, Ben Madigan's blood sugar level might be a bit lower than usual for this time of day. It was vital that it got checked BEFORE eating, so they could decide just how much (or how little) lunch he should actually have.
'Do you want to check it yourself up there Ben?' she asked. 'Or would you rather wait til you come down?'
'I'll do it down there Prof,' he quickly replied, eager not to spend any more time than necessary so high up.
The final screw went through the banana bracket and into the ice cream van's roof with a short WHIZZZZZ!
But Ben wasn't paying attention. Instead he was looking upwards, to the sky in fact, wondering where the WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! sound was coming from.
Oh dear...the pink and green hang glider was obviously out of Floydy's control.
And worse still, he was headed straight for the electricity pylon on the hill opposite.
Ben Madigan slid down the ladder and jumped into the Beetle. Quickly followed by the professor and Maud. But where were the keys?
'I haven't got them,' snapped the professor. 'YOU drove us here!'
'Well I haven't got them NOW replied Ben.'
'Don't look at ME added Maud.'
There was nothing else for it...they piled into the ice cream van and sped off after Floydy; so fast that the ladder was left spinning, and eventually smashing into the lunch trolley.
***
They weren't the only ones chasing Floydy though, for as Uncle Sid took a break from barking at the castle's leaves, siren after siren got closer; police, fire and ambulance crews.
And as they were all rushing north towards Magee's island, the whacky ice cream van headed south, AWAY from the island, because Floydy had managed to avoid the pylon...JUST!
But instead, he was now on a collision course with the huge war monument which looked down from Knockagh Hill over the whole of Rockfergus.
The ice cream van and the emergency crews suddenly stopped just outside the castle. Everyone looked east. They held their breaths.
And then...WOLLOP! Straight into the monument he crashed.
The emergency crews turned and made for the hill. The ice cream van revved up and headed off after them.
There was a thud sound on the roof and the whole van shook. The professor reckoned the banana had come loose.
Maud reckoned the huge strawberry had fallen off.
Ben however, recognised that thud right away: he'd felt the luggage box of his trike shake so many times as Fergus landed in it. He was pretty sure now that his little goose friend had just jumped from the castle wall and was probably on the roof, hiding in BETWEEN the banana and the strawberry.
***
Floydy was unconscious when the emergency crews first arrived. Even the sounds of sirens and shouting didn't waken him.
What DID bring him round though, was the strange Magic Roundabout tune from the ice cream van that turned up ten minutes later, after Ben Madigan had unusually taken several wrong turns.
Professor Dunlambert jumped out and looked upwards, to the pink and green hang glider tangled at the top of the monument. And to Floydy and his obviously broken leg. And then she realised that the Fire and Rescue Service ladders were never going to reach him. He needed their specialist turntable ladder engine.
But behind her, IT was stuck - too wide to get up the lane.
And then she looked back to the ice cream van, where Ben Madigan had fallen forward against the steering wheel.
Oops!...they never DID check his blood sugar level at the farm.
So what should she do?
Well at that moment, neither she nor anyone else could reach Floydy. And besides, at least HE was conscious.
She grabbed the nearest paramedic and raced to help Ben, who WASN'T conscious. He was the priority.
And while they gave Ben the vital injection that would help him waken, there was a small BANG above them, followed by a familiar sweet smell. And through the windows of the ice cream van, they could see three firefighters and a policeman rubbing fruit from their faces.
'What on earth...?' Maud Pinkerton enquired.
'That's my boy,' the professor laughed, though she still had no idea that Fergus had been on the roof the whole time.
Within five minutes, Floydy's broken leg was tied to his GOOD leg as a splint, and a special collar was keeping his neck safe...all thanks to Fergus' first aid kit. And the clever goose was even able to use some of the hang glider's own ropes to lower him to the ground.
The paramedics wasted no time whisking him off to hospital on a spinal board, sucking a special type of gas that took away almost all of his pain for the journey.
By now Ben was almost fully recovered and he DIDN'T need to go to hospital. He couldn't drive though, so Maud and the professor would take him straight back to the castle and look after him.
But there was the small problem of a little green goose at the top of a war monument. And rather a lot of police officers and firefighters just waiting for him to come down.
And then something amazing happened...
One of the firefighters had left the gate to the next field open, and suddenly a black and white border collie dog was whizzing round the foot of the monument, chasing a flock of sheep like they were loose leaves. And as the dog and the sheep got in among the emergency crews, causing total pandemonium, a gust of wind set the pink and green hang glider free above them all.
And off it floated - it AND Fergus.
There was a mad scramble to get to fire engines and police jeeps, which was a bit silly really, because none of them were ever going to get past the ice cream van, especially since Maud Pinkerton was busy serving ice cream to the crew of the turntable ladder appliance...the turntable ladder appliance that was stuck half-way up the lane and pointing in the wrong direction, blocking everyone else's exit.
And as Fergus circled above a few times before heading off in the direction of the castle, Ben Madigan took a lick of his own ice cream cone and wondered if what he was seeing was actually happening.
And then SPLAT...a set of car keys fell out of the goose's beak and right into Ben's ice cream; the set of Beetle keys Fergus had found screwed onto a plastic banana when he was hiding on the roof of the van.
Ben rubbed the splashes of ice cream from his eyes and smoothed out his beard. He reckoned his blood sugars must still be pretty low, because this was all just TOO weird to be true.
'Can we get back to the castle please Prof?' he suggested. 'I think I need to have a lie-down.'
'Of course we can,' Professor Dunlambert replied, 'as soon as the police find a tractor to pull that big ladder thingy out of the way, by which time our little goose friend should be safely back there too.'
Maud Pinkerton laughed, 'here you go Ben, have some lovely Raspberry sauce with that!'
Watch out for the next BLOG...Coming soon!
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