The Bake-Off

by Adele K. Thomas

  About the Book

  Grab your favourite booth at the Turtleville Tearooms and join Chloe Coral, Sophia Seashell, Willow Wave, and Olivia Ocean for another splashing adventure in MERMAID HOLIDAYS …

  Chloe’s holidays have started with a BANG – and not a good one! With the Tearooms closed and an unexpected rival back in town, the besties need a MERMAZING PLAN to save the day.

  Prepare for an underwater bake-off like no other!

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Mermaid Holidays: The Reef Rescue

  Mermaid Holidays Series

  Imprint

  Read more at Penguin Books Australia

  This story starts where the sea meets the shore, where the waves crash down with an almighty roar.

  There is an underwater world full of magic and fun, where the rays ride the tides and bask in the sun.

  But this isn’t a story about the sea and the stingrays, it’s about four special mermaids who are home for the holidays …

  It was a busy and bustling Saturday morning in Turtleville. Chloe Coral and her starfish pal, Pam, had been up since the crack of dawn preparing delicious MER-MUFFINS for the family cafe, Turtleville Tearooms.

  During school holidays Chloe and Pam helped Grandmer Coral with the running of the Tearooms. Chloe was an absolute WHIZ in the kitchen!

  ‘Chloeeeeeeeee! Some VIPs on table fifteen need more SEA FOAMUCCINOS,’ yelled Grandmer Coral. ‘Be a DEAR LITTLE DORY and float some over.’

  ‘NOW?!’ spluttered Pam. ‘Can’t you see we’ve got our FINS FULL here, Carol?’

  ‘Relax, Pam,’ chuckled Chloe. ‘Coming right up, Grandmer. Who are the VERY IMPORTANT PRAWNS?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know, but they need their drinks so CHOP CHOP,’ Carol said with a wink.

  ‘Very Important Prawns,’ grumbled Pam. ‘What NONSENSE! They should wait their turn like all the other customers.’

  As they hurried through the kitchen door, and before Pam could GRUMBLE and GRIPE anymore, Chloe gasped. ‘PIPPING PIPIS!’

  ‘SURPRISE!’ cheered the mermaids.

  Chloe attended the local school in Turtleville, but her friends – Willow, Sophia and Olivia – went to different schools across the reef. It had been weeks since they had seen each other. Chloe was THRILLED to have the gang back together.

  ‘What are you all doing here?!’ giggled Chloe as she hugged her mermates. ‘I didn’t think you’d be back in Turtleville till this afternoon.’

  ‘We couldn’t resist surprising you,’ gushed Sophia.

  ‘And Bruce was desperate for Grandmer Coral’s SEAWEED SCROLLS,’ giggled Olivia.

  ‘Would you mind leaving some scrolls for the rest of us, please?’ snapped Smedley, disapprovingly.

  ‘Don’t start, you two,’ tutted Willow. ‘Now we’re all together we can make some MERMAZING plans for the holidays!’

  Chloe and Pam settled down at the table with their mermates, ready to discuss their upcoming adventures.

  ‘As long as this holiday doesn’t involve MAGIC PEARLS or TALENT SHOWS, I’ll be happy,’ grumbled Smedley.

  ‘Oh, Smeds! You’re such a STICK IN THE MUDSKIPPER,’ chuckled Sophia. ‘The talent show was great fun.’

  ‘Oooh, I know what we can do,’ said Olivia. ‘Let’s have a TAIL TENNIS TOURNAMENT.’

  ‘I’m in,’ squealed Willow. ‘What about you, Chloe?’

  ‘Sounds MERMAZING!’

  ‘Now, now, what sounds MERMAZING?’ Grandmer Coral floated over to the mermaids. ‘I am so happy to see you girls back in town. I still remember when you were tiny merbies. It brings a tear to my eye.’

  ‘Grandmer, you’re such a SOPPY SQUID,’ said Chloe, blushing.

  ‘Thank you for all the delicious food, Mrs Coral,’ said Smedley.

  Grandmer Coral chuckled. ‘You’re quite welcome. Oh and that reminds me, Chloe and I have been working on a delicious new cake for our holiday menu and I want you to be the first to try it.’

  PING!

  ‘Oooh, that’s the oven,’ said Grandmer Coral, excitedly. ‘It must be ready!’

  As Grandmer Coral floated off into the kitchen, a humungous BOOM filled the tearooms.

  ‘OH. MY. POSEIDON!’ cried Olivia. ‘What on earth was that?!’

  Grandmer Coral emerged from the kitchen in a cloud of smoke.

  ‘Erm, Chloe dear,’ coughed Grandmer Coral. ‘I’m not quite sure what happened, but I think the oven may have BLOWN UP!’

  Grandmer Coral had proudly run the Turtleville Tearooms for as long as Chloe could remember. It was Chloe’s home and she loved it with all her heart. Every morning the Tearooms would be filled with CHATTER and CHEER as townsfolk enjoyed yummy SEA FOAMUCCINOS.

  But the morning after the EXPLOSION, there was no CHATTER and no CHEER. Turtleville Tearooms were CLOSED for business.

  The explosion had DESTROYED the kitchen. Grandmer Coral knew she couldn’t fix this mess on her own so she called Doug, Turtleville’s trusty builder, to inspect the damage.

  ‘What do you think, Doug?’ asked Grandmer Coral.

  Doug paused and scratched his chin. ‘What would you like to hear first? The GOOD news or the BAD news?’

  ‘GOOD news, please!’ replied Pam.

  ‘Good news is, I can fix it.’

  ‘And the B-B-BAD news?’ stammered Chloe.

  ‘Well, that WOBBLY wall over there needs sorting otherwise the whole place will come CRASHING down. And that’s just the start.’ Doug sighed. ‘You’ll need the entire kitchen replaced, not to mention a new oven.’

  ‘That sounds …’ Grandmer Coral gulped nervously, ‘… EXPENSIVE.’

  Doug totted up the numbers. ‘All in all, this will cost TWO THOUSAND SAND DOLLARS.’

  ‘PIPPING PIPIS!’ gasped Grandmer Coral.

  ‘Sorry, Mrs Coral,’ said Doug. ‘I don’t like to be a BIG DEPRESSING DUGONG, but your only options are to make the repairs or close the doors to the Tearooms … FOR GOOD.’

  As Doug left, Grandmer Coral slumped onto one of the upside-down pots on the kitchen floor.

  Chloe was worried. Surely they wouldn’t have to close the Tearooms. Would they?

  ‘It’s okay, Grandmer,’ said Chloe. ‘We can get Doug to fix everything and we’ll be back in business in no time.’

  ‘Oh, my PRETTY LITTLE PUFFERFISH,’ said Grandmer Coral as she hugged Chloe. ‘I’m afraid it’s not that easy. I used the emergency savings to go on that baking course in Stingray Sands. I don’t have enough money.’

  ‘What are you saying, Grandmer?’

  Carol pulled a hanky from her sleeve and dabbed her eyes. ‘It’s the last thing I want to do,’ she said between snivels, ‘but I think we will have to CLOSE TURTLEVILLE TEAROOMS.’

  ‘CLOSE THE TEAROOMS!’ gasped Chloe and Pam.

  ‘I’m so sorry, my DARLING DORY,’ Carol sobbed as she blew her nose loudly. ‘We’ve got no choice.’

  With more SNIFFLES and SOBS, Grandmer Coral swam upstairs for a lie down, leaving Chloe and Pam in the WRECKED and RUINED kitchen.

  ‘Okay, Pam,’ said Chloe. ‘Grandmer needs our help. We have to find a way to fix this!’

  ‘But what can we do?’ Pam sighed, defeated. ‘You heard Doug, TWO THOUSAND SAND DOLLARS! We don’t have that kind of money floating about the place.’

  ‘We don’t,’ said Chloe. ‘But all we need is a MERMAZING PLAN, and I know exactly who can help us.’

  If there was one thing Chloe and her mermates were good at, it was coming up with
MERMAZING PLANS. Chloe knew she could rely on them to help think of a way to save Turtleville Tearooms from closing down.

  All it took was an urgent mermail asking them to meet at Turtleville Lagoon and the mermaids were there in a JELLYFISH JIFFY.

  ‘YOU CAN’T CLOSE TURTLEVILLE TEAROOMS!’ cried the mermaids.

  This was exactly the reaction Chloe had expected. Turtleville Tearooms wasn’t just her home, it was special to all of them. Ever since they were tiny merbies, they had spent the holidays there and made lots of happy memories.

  A Turtleville without the Tearooms wasn’t Turtleville at all.

  ‘I know,’ said Chloe. ‘But my grandmer can’t afford to make the repairs.’

  ‘Which is why we sent you all the urgent mermail,’ added Pam as she revealed a big board to brainstorm ideas. ‘We need a MERMAZING PLAN and we need it NOW if we want to save the Tearooms.’

  Sophia sighed. ‘I wish we had some of Grandmer Coral’s delicious MER-MUFFINS to help us think.’

  ‘Oooh and a SEA JELLY SLICE!’ said Willow.

  ‘Talking about tasty treats from Turtleville Tearooms is not getting us any closer to working out how to save it,’ snapped Smedley. ‘It’s just making me hungry!’

  ‘Okay, so Grandmer needs money to pay Doug,’ Chloe said as she wrote on the board. ‘So we have to think of a way to RAISE TWO THOUSAND SAND DOLLARS.’

  Everyone nodded in agreement, but still no one had a plan.

  The lagoon was silent as the mermaids UMMMED and AHHHED. They’d never had to think up a plan like THIS before.

  ‘Anyone?’ prompted Chloe.

  Suddenly, Bruce broke the silence. ‘That Doug is a SNEAKY SEA SLUG,’ he grumbled. ‘He should do the work for free!’

  Pam gave Bruce a disapproving nudge. ‘It’s not Doug’s fault the oven exploded.’

  ‘All I’m saying is, the amount of SEA FOAMUCCINOS he’s GUZZLED and SEAWEED SCROLLS he’s SCOFFED over the years, he probably owes Mrs Coral money!’ huffed Bruce.

  ‘It doesn’t quite work like that, old boy,’ said Smedley. ‘Instead of playing the BLAME GAME, we’ve got to put our TAILS TOGETHER and work out HOW we can raise the money.’

  ‘What about a BAKE SALE?’ suggested Frida. ‘Seeing as we’re raising money for the Tearooms, it makes sense that YUMMY cakes should be involved.’

  ‘I like your thinking, Frida,’ chirped Chloe.

  ‘OH. MY. POSEIDON! I’ve got it!’ shrieked Sophia. ‘A FUNDRAISER BAKE-OFF COMPETITION!’

  The mermaids stared at her like a bunch of MUDDLE-HEADED HERRINGS.

  ‘A fundraiser what-off?’ replied Pam.

  ‘Miss Sophia, you CLEVER CLAM!’ cheered Smedley.

  ‘Thanks, Smeds.’ Sophia winked at her seahorse pal. ‘So, I’m thinking out loud right now, but we could make it a TOWN EVENT!’

  ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold your SEAHORSES,’ said Chloe. ‘Just HOW exactly will we raise money?’

  ‘SIMPLE!’ said Sophia. ‘We can get some of the sizzling cooks in town to show off their BAKING SKILLS, then we will sell tickets to everyone who wants to come along to watch and eat all the delicious cakes. The crowd can even help judge the competition! Each ticket will be a donation of TEN SAND DOLLARS for the SAVE THE TURTLEVILLE TEAROOMS FUND.’

  ‘I LOVE IT!’ cheered Willow.

  ‘MERMAZING!’ added Olivia.

  ‘I can’t wait to tell Grandmer Coral!’ sang Chloe.

  ‘But just one thing …’ Chloe said with a sigh, ‘how will we get the whole town to come along?’

  ‘Why don’t we announce it at the TOWN MEETING tomorrow night?’ said Pam. ‘I bet everyone will be so excited!’

  ‘I hope so,’ said Chloe, sadly.

  ‘Of course they will,’ said Willow. ‘No one wants Turtleville Tearooms to close.’

  ‘Right then, now we’ve got our MERMAZING PLAN,’ said Olivia, ‘we better work out what we’re going to say at the town meeting!’

  The Turtleville Town Meeting was held every Monday evening, and without fail the whole town was there at six o’clock on the dot. The mermaids couldn’t wait to tell everyone about the BAKE-OFF. But Chloe was also VERY nervous because Turtleville’s mayor, Herb, was a HUFFY OLD HERMIT CRAB. If he didn’t like her plan, there would be NO bake-off.

  Unfortunately, the meeting was already off to a BAD start. Kirk, the town’s cranky krill, was having his weekly grumble about law and order in Turtleville. Every week Kirk told Constable Crabigail Crick that she should hire him as her deputy.

  ‘KIRK! We go over this every meeting. Constable Crabigail does not need a deputy constable. Please stop bothering her for the job,’ Herb said finally as he looked at the meeting list. ‘Moving on. Are there any other town matters to discuss?’

  Sophia nudged a nervous Chloe before shouting out, ‘YES! We have a very important matter to raise.’

  Herb looked down at the crowd. ‘Is that little Sophia Seashell?’

  ‘Yes, Herb. But it’s Chloe Coral who would like to talk.’ Sophia nudged Chloe again.

  ‘Well, Miss Coral, we haven’t got all night,’ barked Herb. ‘WHAT IS IT?’

  Chloe slowly made her way to the front of the hall.

  ‘Well, as you k-k-know. The T-Tearooms had a l-l-little e-explosion and, well …’

  ‘Spit it out!’ heckled Kirk. ‘You’re not a STUTTERING STICKLEBACK!’

  Pam glared at the cranky krill and swam on stage to help Chloe.

  ‘After the AWFUL OVEN EXPLOSION, our beloved Turtleville Tearooms has been DESTROYED,’ Pam said as she perched on Chloe’s shoulder. ‘The place is a MESS and if we don’t raise the TWO THOUSAND SAND DOLLARS to fix it, Carol Coral will have to close the Tearooms … FOR GOOD!’

  Gasps of dismay filled the hall and Grandmer Coral could be heard SNIFFING and SOBBING from the front row.

  ‘B-b-but we have a MERMAZING PLAN,’ said Chloe, feeling a little braver, ‘and with your help we can save the Tearooms.’

  ‘Okay, Miss Coral. You’ve got my attention,’ grumbled Herb. ‘I can speak for the whole town when I say none of us want to see the Turtleville Tearooms close.’

  ‘Agreed! I’ve been SO CRANKY the last few days without my morning SEA FOAMUCCINO,’ said Kirk. ‘Let’s hear this MERMAZING PLAN then.’

  ‘We need to raise money for the repairs so my grandmer can get back to doing what she loves.’ Chloe took a deep breath and continued, ‘So, my mermates and I thought we could put on a FUNDRAISER BAKE-OFF!’

  Excited murmurs filled the room.

  ‘How’s this fundraiser bake-off going to work then?’ Kirk called out.

  ‘One thing at a time, Kirk,’ snapped Herb. ‘Let Miss Coral explain.’

  Chloe and Pam excitedly told the town all about the bake-off. With the mention of delicious cake everyone seemed keen to hear more. Even HUFFY OLD HERB was listening intently.

  ‘It’s going to be a full day of FISHTASTIC FUNDRAISING FUN!’ sang Chloe.

  ‘If everyone buys a ticket, we can get the Tearooms up and running again!’ added Pam.

  The hall ERUPTED into happy CHEERS. This had gone far better than Chloe had expected.

  ‘The bake-off will be held in the Town Square on Saturday,’ said Herb. ‘All in favour, say “AYE”.’

  But before anyone could say a word, a sickly sweet voice from the back of the hall called out, ‘I have something to say, if you don’t mind?’

  Everyone turned around and an elegant mermaid SWISHED her way to the stage.

  ‘BARBARA BARNACLE!’ Grandmer Coral groaned. ‘What in FLAPPING FLOUNDERS are YOU doing here?’

  Barbara Barnacle used to be Grandmer Coral’s BESTEST MERMATE in the whole wide waters. Until one day Barbara stole all of Carol’s secret family recipes and opened her own cafe, BAB’S BISTRO, in the town across the reef. For years the RUMOUR ON THE RIPTIDE was that Barbara wanted to take over the Tearooms and turn it into another Bab’s Bistro!

  Chloe knew this was the reason Barbara was back
in Turtleville. She was trying to get her hands on the Tearooms.

  ‘What are you doing here, Barbara?’ asked Chloe, suspiciously.

  Barbara chuckled as she shooed Chloe and Pam to the side of the stage. ‘Townsfolk of Turtleville, as a fellow business owner, I am here to offer support to my friend Carol Coral.’

  ‘You are NOT Carol’s friend,’ snorted Pam.

  Barbara ignored Pam and Chloe and continued, ‘I heard about the TERRIBLE EXPLOSION at the Tearooms and the, AHEM, money troubles you’ve been having. So I said to myself, “Barbara, you should help this old dear out and take the shop off her hands”.’

  ‘My grandmer doesn’t need YOUR help,’ snapped Chloe. ‘We already have a MERMAZING PLAN to save the Tearooms.’

  ‘Yeah, Barbara!’ yelled Sophia. ‘We’ve planned a FISHTASTIC BAKE-OFF to raise lots of sand dollars for Mrs Coral.’

  ‘BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!’ Barbara cackled loudly. When she finally caught her breath, she said, ‘Oh, you SWEET LITTLE SCALLOP. Your bake-off is a DARLING idea, but you’ll NEVER raise enough sand dollars.’

  ‘You don’t know that!’ blurted Smedley.

  ‘Oh, but I do,’ replied Barbara as she turned to Grandmer Coral with a smug smile. ‘Carol, I’m here to SAVE YOUR TAIL SCALES, can’t you see that? Selling the Tearooms to me so I can turn it into another BAB’S BISTRO is your ONLY option.’