Jigsaw

by Lynne Roberts

  Chapter Nine

  ‘Room to move,’ sighed Rachel thankfully, as she swung her arms in the air in delight.

  ‘We’d better get Spike into the shed before your Mum sees him,’ advised Toby. ‘He won’t fit into this bag very well and he’s hard to hide.’

  Spike was obviously growing fast and despite the corned beef, insisted he was still hungry. He bolted down four tins of cat food before he would consent to be left in the shed with the mirror and the well-chewed remains of Uncle Neville’s slipper.

  ‘Nothing’s changed at all,’ said Rachel in disappointment as they looked at the jigsaw again. ‘I suppose that smudge might be Ned’s head but otherwise it’s just the same. I hope he’s not drunk again. Perhaps he used his month’s supply of whiskey in three days.’

  ‘More like a year’s supply, if you ask me,’ said Toby. ‘It’s a pity he wasn’t interested in Spike or we could have left him there to keep him company.’

  ‘No we couldn’t!’ Rachel was indignant. ‘He wouldn’t have looked after Spike properly at all. Besides, he didn’t even like him.’

  ‘Well have to do something with him though,’ said Toby wryly. He’s growing unbelievably and at this rate hell be as big as a cow tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh, stop exaggerating,’ said Rachel crossly, but she was worried about it all the same.

  Both children were alarmed at teatime when Uncle Neville announced he was going to buy some rat poison.

  ‘There was a rustling noise coming from the shed, but when I looked inside it was empty. We must have rats.’

  Aunt Phoebe looked appalled at this.

  ‘You two haven’t taken food out there, have you? I know you have been playing escaped prisoners in there. Food will attract rats.’

  ‘I’m sure it’s not rats, Mum. It could have been the cat,’ said Rachel uncomfortably.

  She and Toby had a hasty conference that evening as they took Spike for what was supposed to be a walk but was more like a run, as he galloped along joyfully ahead of them through the orchard. They agreed they would try to leave Spike in the next place they visited.

  ‘Otherwise we could try and go back to the castle,’ said Toby. ‘I’ve been thinking about that. If we take one piece of that jigsaw with us we might be able to get back there.’

  ‘That might work,’ said Rachel in admiration. ‘That’s a brilliant Idea.’

  Toby looked pleased and they went quickly into the sunroom after breakfast the next day to complete the last puzzle.

  ‘This one is really weird,’ said Rachel after a while. ‘There is so much blue and white I thought it must be sea or sky again but it’s not.’

  All the straight edge bits have gold on them. Perhaps it’s some sort of border,’ Toby said brightly.

  ‘It’s taking ages,’ groaned Rachel. ‘I hope it turns out to be somewhere really great. Wouldn’t it be neat if it was a treasure island or an Arabian palace or something?’

  She and Toby were disappointed to find that when they finally assembled the puzzle it was a picture of a willow pattern plate lying on a gold background.

  ‘What a swizz,’ said Toby. ‘It’s not a real picture at all.’ He held up the last piece as he spoke and the sun shone down on it.

  ‘There’s the rainbow,’ said Rachel. ‘We’d better get Spike and get on with it.’

  She was dismayed to find that Spike had obviously been bored on his own and had chewed a corner off the fertilizer sacks to see what was inside them. There were long scratches in the paint on the side of the ride-on mower where he had sharpened his claws and the walls bore several singed and blackened patches from his smoke.

  ‘Oh dear, we’ll have to clean it up when we get back.’

  Rachel spotted Spike and gasped. He had certainly grown. Perhaps he wasn’t as big as a cow but he was certainly the size of a large calf. His head came nearly up to hers and his enormous claws looked long and menacing. It was with relief that Rachel saw Spike was still just as friendly, as he reached across and lovingly breathed smoke into her face. She coughed and spluttered, as she realized he would be far too heavy for her to pick up. She took a biscuit from her pack and coaxed him along with it.

  Toby gave her a horrified look as she arrived at the bridge.

  ‘Spike is monstrous. We’ll have to get rid of him.’

  ‘I know, I know,’ Rachel said tearfully. ‘Help me get him onto the bridge.’ Spike had decided that the bridge looked too frail for his not insignificant weight, and was refusing to move.

  ‘Hurry while the rainbow lasts,’ Rachel said frantically, and between them they pushed and shoved Spike across the bridge. With a final grunt they found themselves sitting on a smooth stretch of grass, so neatly clipped that it looked like green velvet. In front of them a towering pagoda stood, its curved roof decorated with carved faces. Heavily ornamented pillars framed a set of marble steps. A group of ornamental trees fluttered in the breeze at one side while white doves cooed and fluttered down to peck at the ground.

  ‘Wow!’ Rachel was Impressed. ‘It looks like a palace.’ Toby agreed with her. It was very quiet and everything looked too perfect to be real.

  ‘We’re in the plate,’ he said in sudden realization. ‘That’s what the picture looked like on the plate.’

  As the children stood and looked around them, they heard bells ringing in the distance. Two small men in long flowing robes came up to them and bowed. The men had long black moustaches that hung down to their chests and their hair was plaited into one large pigtail that hung down their backs.

  The children bowed back politely. The men bowed again and the children bowed back. As the men bowed again Toby gave a yell and rushed to grab Spike, who had decided that dove was another word for dinner. Fortunately the doves fluttered to a plum tree out of reach while Toby lunged at Spike and held him firmly around the neck. Far from looking annoyed, the two men clapped their hands and giggled. They motioned for the two children to go ahead of them into the palace. Nervously they obeyed, with Toby keeping one hand firmly around Spikes neck as they went.

  The men ushered them into a large room where the children were astonished to see them suddenly cast themselves face down onto the floor. Looking up they saw a very old man, sitting on a platform. He was almost hidden by the shadows of a huge, high backed, highly decorated chair. The old man nodded and the two men, who Rachel assumed must be servants, quickly got up and backed away. She wondered what to do, and nudging Toby to copy her she bowed to the old man. The old man inclined his head graciously.

  ‘Greetings, oh visitors,’ he said, in a thin reedy voice. ‘Have you travelled far to come to me?’

  ‘Yes. A long way. I mean, yes we have travelled far,’ stammered Toby.

  ‘Tell me about your journey,’ commanded the old man, who Rachel decided must be an emperor. His clothes were richly embroidered and he appeared to be both dignified and wise.

  ‘Oh, ah, er,’ Toby looked frantically at Rachel who came to the rescue.

  ‘We have travelled over water to visit you. We have taken many days in the journey,’ she said impressively. The emperor nodded.

  ‘I see you bring me a gift,’ he said softly. ‘An Imperial Dragon. This is a great honour you do me.’ He held out a hand and to the children’s amazement Spike trotted trustingly up and laid his head on the emperor’s lap, glancing up at him shyly through long lashes.

  ‘She is a beautiful dragon,’ continued the emperor.

  ‘She!’ exclaimed Toby.

  ‘I knew it was a girl,’ hissed Rachel.

  ‘I must give you a suitable gift in return. Do you have any requests?’

  Toby’s mind went a complete blank at this. He felt it was grossly unfair. Normally he could have named at least a dozen things at any one time but now that he had the chance of actually getting something, he couldn’t think of anything.

  Rachel was mentally running through a list of all the things she wanted and hoping it wouldn’t sound too greedy when the emperor s
aid, ‘Very well then. I will make the decision.’

  He clapped his hands and rapped out a command to a courtier who had scuttled in for orders. There was a commotion outside the room where high-pitched giggles and screams of excitement were hastily suppressed. With the sound of a gong a door opened and a woman, heavily veiled, was escorted to stand in front of Toby.

  ‘This is my second daughter, Ming Lee,’ said the emperor. ‘I make you a gift of her in exchange for the dragon.’

  He stroked a purring Spike who by this time was curled up by the emperor’s feet, happily accepting sweetmeats from his long delicate fingers. The woman bowed to Toby who bowed back helplessly.

  ‘What are we going to do with her?’ he whispered to Rachel.

  ‘You’re probably supposed to marry her and get half the kingdom,’ said Rachel. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of it. We cannot accept this great gift,’ she said to the emperor. ‘I’m sure she would be happier staying here.’

  At this there was a cry of dismay from Ming Lee and a gasp from the courtiers. The emperor frowned.

  ‘Is this gift not good enough?’ he thundered. Half a dozen large men dressed in black appeared through a doorway and stood beside their ruler. Toby was dismayed to see the long shiny curved blades of swords gleaming in the light. As he tried to explain that he couldn’t accept a person, the emperor clapped his hands twice and a scared looking servant approached Rachel and offered her a box. Rachel took the box and nearly fell over.

  ‘Its heavy,’ she gasped. Toby took one end of it and agreed.

  ‘I have given you gold as well as my daughter. This is all I am prepared to do. You have tried my patience too far. Be gone from my presence.’

  The bewildered children found themselves ushered out of the palace and over to a small carved bridge, which arched across a sparkling stream. Ming Lee followed closely behind as Toby and Rachel stumbled on to the bridge with the box. There was a sudden jolt and they found themselves standing on the path beside the lighthouse.