Evangeline sat up straight and lifted her ears to listen extra hard. This sounded like one of the things Andrew had mentioned. He’d talked about the hope in wishes.
‘Hope is a very powerful thing,’ said Nancy, squaring her shoulders. ‘And what we do here, Upstairs, is harness that power for good purposes, so children can have treats like Easter eggs and Christmas stockings and money from the Tooth Fairy, but also more important things, like passing exams and people coming home safely and getting better from illnesses, like your little boy’s mum, Geraldine.’
Geraldine nodded. ‘She did get better,’ she said, happily.
Nancy smiled. ‘I’m so pleased. But it doesn’t always work out like that. Sometimes wishes go astray and the hope in them falls into the wrong hands. There is something – I don’t even like talking about it, but I have to – there is something called the Kybosh.’
Her voice went very quiet as she said it.
‘The Kybosh doesn’t want children’s wishes to come true. It doesn’t want children to have treats. The Kybosh is what makes the zoo be closed when children have been looking forward to their visit for weeks, or someone gets measles on the day of their birthday party, or the shop be shut when someone was going to get a special present, or it rains on the day of a lovely school fete.
‘And it gets the power to do those things from the hope in wishes which have gone astray. So one of the tasks we have up here is to look after all the wishes that come to us, and watch out for the Kybosh, to stop it getting in Upstairs and spoiling things. We have to be super alert at all times.’
All the toys had gone very quiet. Evangeline glanced over at Robert, who smiled sadly back at her and nodded. He’d heard all this before, she realised, on his first trip Upstairs. Perhaps that was why he hadn’t wanted to tell her more about it when they were still Downstairs.
Senior Bear raised his paw.
‘Yes?’ said Nancy, rather impatiently.
‘I was just wondering why this Kybosh fellow is so unpleasant?’ asked Senior Bear in a very deep and formal voice.
‘I don’t want to go into all that now,’ said Nancy. ‘You’ve got enough to take on board at this stage. It doesn’t happen very often, but just remember to do exactly what I say if you ever hear a loud siren and I say: “Code Red”, okay? You will learn more about it, but that’s enough for the time being. Just remember to stay alert.’
She clapped her hands and looked relieved that the difficult part of things was over.
‘And now we’re going to have some fun,’ she said. ‘I’m going to take you all to meet some very special people – the ones who actually make children’s wishes come true. So follow me. Follow.’
Nancy set off towards the gate on the farthest side of the garden at a surprisingly fast clip on those tiny little feet. The toys had to scramble to get up off the grass to follow her and Evangeline was glad of her long legs, as she knew she would easily be able to catch up.
As she set off, she saw that Robert and Tiny Ted had hitched a ride with Senior Bear and the tiny little doll, Twinkle, was sitting on Geraldine Giraffe’s shoulder. Evangeline glanced back to see if she could help anyone out. Sure enough Derek Doggy was jumping up and down on his short legs.
‘Wait for me!’ he was calling between little doggy yips. ‘Wait for me! I can’t keep up!’
Evangeline quickly ran back and lifted him off the ground, and as she did, she noticed two large round grey ears just visible on the other side of the fountain.
‘Hang on, Derek,’ said Evangeline. ‘I think there’s someone else left here.’
She rushed over and found a fluffy grey koala wearing a pretty pink organza party dress, leaning against the fountain and fast asleep.
‘Oh, yes,’ said Derek. ‘That koala always seems to be asleep.’
He barked sharply and the koala opened one eye.
‘G’day,’ it said slowly, in a voice that was surprisingly deep for someone wearing a pink party dress. ‘What’s happ‘ning?’
‘We’re going to lose Nancy if we don’t hurry,’ said Derek.
‘Would you like me to carry you?’ asked Evangeline. ‘I can run quite fast and I think we do really need to rush.’
‘That would be beaut,’ said the koala, standing up, which didn’t make much difference to its height.
Evangeline scooped it up and, with a toy in each arm, raced towards the gate, getting there just as the last of their group was disappearing through it – and that is exactly what seemed to happen. As each toy walked through the open gate the gap seemed to close over behind them, so one moment they were in the garden and then they just weren‘t.
Evangeline found it rather scary and could feel herself starting to tremble as she walked towards the opening. It had gone all misty and she couldn’t see anything on the other side.
‘It’s okay,’ said Derek. ‘Don’t be afraid. I saw some of the other toys come through a gate like this. In fact, I saw you. I remember thinking, she looks nice, and I was trying to remember if you were an African elephant, or an Indian elephant with your big ears, and then Nancy told us all to be quiet and …’
Evangeline found his chattering quite comforting and she held on tightly to his firm little body and the koala’s soft fur and walked determinedly towards the gate.
AS soon as Evangeline had put one foot over the threshold, they were in a very different place.
‘Struth,’ said the koala, opening its eyes again.
‘Ooh!’ said Derek. For once he was lost for words.
They were standing in a large room panelled with dark wood, where groups of very busy looking toys wearing dark green eye shades were leaning over large tables, studying spread-out papers and making notes.
‘Reckon it’s a map room,’ said the koala in its gravelly voice.
‘What’s that?’ asked Evangeline.
‘A room with maps in it,’ replied the koala, its half-closed eyes twinkling with merriment.
Looking over to the far side, Evangeline saw what the koala meant. There was a raised area, like a kind of stage, with a huge map pinned onto the wall.
Standing in front of it, holding a long wooden pointer, was a fluffy white rabbit. Not a toy rabbit, a real one, but huge, as tall as a teenage boy. As they watched, it jumped off the platform and bounded across the room and out through a door to the side.
‘Hurry up, you three,’ said a familiar voice, and they saw Nancy and the other toys waiting for them by a big table.
‘Now,’ said Nancy, when they had all gathered. ‘Did you all see that rabbit who just ran out of the room?’
Everyone nodded.
‘Well, does anyone know who he is?’
They all shook their heads.
‘He,’ said Nancy, importantly, ‘is the Easter Bunny. This is his section of Upstairs, where they plan the egg drops. The toys here are studying maps of gardens where children will be having Easter egg hunts and helping the Easter Bunny plan the best hiding places for his eggs. It’s very specialised work.’
The new recruits looked around the room shyly. A fluffy sheep bustled past with a piece of paper in her mouth and took it over to the raised area.
‘See that sheep?’ said Nancy. ‘She’s just finished surveying a garden and she’s taking her notes to be marked up on the master map. That camel you can see up on the dais is in charge of that. A very important job.’
Nancy set off again across the room and the new recruits followed.
Evangeline was feeling quite overwhelmed. So many toys with important jobs to do and so many interesting things to think about. She couldn’t believe that she might be part of something like this and wondered again what kind of role she might be given up here.
She was about to ask Derek if he had any ideas, when Nancy came to a sudden stop just outside the door the Easter Bunny had disappeared through.
She was standing on tiptoe, trying to reach a box on a high shelf. Geraldine the Giraffe went to help, handing the cardboar
d box to her.
Nancy opened it and took out something which looked rather like a dish cloth and put it on her head over her bobble hat. It had elastic round the edge, so it stayed there, like a shower cap.
Evangeline heard a funny noise next to her, low down. It was the koala, chuckling.
‘She looks like a pot of jam,’ it said.
Evangeline couldn’t help giggling, too. Then once she started, she found it very hard to stop.
Nancy was busy fussing about with the box of hats, trying to count how many were in it, so Evangeline crouched down, hoping that Nancy wouldn’t see that she was laughing.
The koala was still hooting away and wiping its eyes with a paw, which it then held out to Evangeline.
‘Kylie,’ it said, in its deep voice.
‘Evangeline,’ she replied, shaking the paw and finding it had surprisingly long black claws. ‘I like your dress,’ she added, to make conversation.
‘Thanks,’ said Kylie. ‘I like yours, too. Love a plaid. Nice detail on the collar there, balances the full skirt. My little girl gave me this frock the day she got me. I’m actually a boy koala, but she decided I was a girl and put me in this dress. I’ve worn it ever since and I’ve kind of got used it over the years. I had a few others Downstairs, too, for special occasions. I wouldn’t feel right in just my fur now.’
Evangeline smiled at him and stood up again when she saw Nancy was passing the hats round.
‘Hygiene regulations,’ she said. ‘Everybody put one on. We are about to go into the egg factory.’
Evangeline and Kylie got a bit giggly again as they put the funny hats on.
Evangeline couldn’t fit it over both her ears and had to get Nancy to give her another, so she could wear one on each ear, and then Kylie found he had to do the same thing, which set them off again.
Then Robert joined in, tying his ears in a knot on top of his head, and Derek pulled his hat right down over his face and bumped into them all, pretending he couldn’t see where he was going.
Evangeline was laughing so much her tummy was starting to hurt, but Nancy soon put a stop to it.
‘You four giggling Gerties,’ she said. ‘Stop it. You can’t giggle and listen, and I need listeners.’
They managed to pull themselves together – although every time Evangeline looked at Kylie it nearly set her off again – and after giving the four gigglers a warning look, Nancy led the way into the egg factory.
The first thing Evangeline noticed was the delicious smell. She was breathing deeply to smell as much of it as possible, when she heard Derek start to whimper beside her.
‘Chocolate!’ he was saying. ‘Most delicious, yummy human food, but dogs can’t eat it.
It’s poisonous for us, but oh the smell of it … I once knew a real dog who ate a whole box of Haigh’s chocolates and was terribly unwell, but I do … so … love the smell …’
‘Don’t worry, Derek,’ said Evangeline. ‘The chocolate eggs aren’t for us. Everyone knows toys can’t eat, even if our children like to pretend we can …’
She looked around admiringly at the toys working in the egg factory, all wearing hats like the ones they had on and white coats, and very busy with their jobs.
Nancy showed them how they melted great slabs of chocolate and poured it into egg-shaped moulds of all different sizes. When the eggs were cool, they wrapped them up carefully in beautiful coloured foil, decorating them with ribbons and bows.
And that was just the eggs. There were other parts of the factory dedicated to making chocolate chickens and bunnies. Robert got a bit upset in the bunny wrapping area.
‘I’m not sure how I feel about rabbits being eaten,’ he said, sadly. ‘Even chocolate ones. It encourages the idea in humans.’
Nancy turned to him, looking a bit cross, but before she could say anything, they heard a hearty laugh and something large, white and fluffy appeared among them. It was the Easter Bunny.
‘I couldn’t agree more, old chap,’ he said, patting Robert on the back. ‘We rabbits need to stick together, but chocolate bunnies are all part of the great Easter egg hunt tradition. And you don’t need to worry, because they’re all little statues of me – not just any old rabbit. So it’s only me who gets eaten.’
He laughed again and all the recruits joined in. Even Robert smiled. The Easter Bunny was so jolly and enthusiastic, it was impossible not to go along with him.
‘So,’ he said, hopping from one back leg to the other. ‘You’ve seen my Mapping Room and my egg factory, now I want to show you the really exciting part. Follow me to the observation centre.’
The Easter Bunny bounded off and Nancy and the other recruits hurried to keep up with him. They found him waiting in a smaller room at the end of the factory, which was quite dark and had three walls covered right up to the ceiling with computer monitors. Toys sat in front of them, pressing buttons and tapping on keyboards.
Evangeline blinked at all the screens and then, once her eyes got used to it, she noticed that every one of them showed a different child.
‘So,’ said the Easter Bunny, beaming. ‘What do you think of this? It’s my brand new observation centre. Only been up and running a couple of weeks. Terribly exciting. What do you think, Nancy?’
Nancy had walked over to the bank of screens and was peering round a Scottie dog, trying to see more closely. She didn’t look very impressed.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’ve heard about this. The Wish Keeper told me you’d got yet another new gadget. So what do these things do that’s better than the old system?’
The Easter Bunny was chuckling to himself. ‘Nothing, really,’ he said. ‘But it’s frightfully good fun not doing it.’
He let out such a jolly peal of laughter that Evangeline couldn’t help joining in again and all the other recruits did too.
‘Now,’ the Easter Bunny continued. ‘Let me explain to you new chaps what we’re doing here. The toys looking at the screens are my Observation Monitors. Does anyone know what that might mean?’
The new recruits murmured among themselves, but no one was brave enough to speak up.
‘I thought a monitor was a lizard,’ Kylie whispered to Evangeline. ‘Can’t see any reptiles in here.’
Nancy shot him a stern look and he nudged Evangeline and crossed his eyes. It was very hard not to giggle, but she managed to hold it in.
‘Well,’ said the Easter Bunny after a moment. ‘I’ll tell you, then. Their job is to watch all the children eligible for visits from me this Easter. So every time a child makes an Easter wish, we can record it and make sure no wishes go missing.’
Evangeline looked at the bank of screens. She was concentrating really hard on what the Easter Bunny was saying, but it still didn’t make much sense.
‘Look!’ cried the Easter Bunny, pointing with a big white furry paw. ‘There’s a wish coming along now!’
He bounded to the screen the Scottie dog was monitoring and all the new recruits hurried over to watch.
Evangeline saw a little boy with a mop of untidy red hair, sitting in a big armchair, looking at a book.
‘Home in on the book, Hamish,’ said the Easter Bunny to the Scottie dog.
The Scottie dog tapped a few keys on his computer and the image on the screen changed to show the pages the little boy was reading.
It had pictures of what seemed to be a family of rabbits going on an Easter picnic.
The girl rabbits were all wearing splendid bonnets covered in spring flowers, and as the boy turned the page, they could see the bunnies holding little baskets and having an Easter egg hunt.
‘Oh, what fun!’ exclaimed Robert, clearly delighted to see so many rabbits having a good time, even if they were only pictures in a storybook.
Then the Scottie dog tapped his keyboard again. The screen went back to the little boy, and as Evangeline watched, a small shimmering light seemed to emerge from his forehead and float upwards, until it disappeared out of sight. She gasped with surprise.
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The Easter Bunny chuckled and patted her on the back.
‘You spotted it, didn’t you?’ he said. ‘Excellent elephant. Did anyone else see it?’
‘I saw a kind of, a kind of …’ said Robert, quite red in the face with excitement. ‘I saw a … a kind of … from the little boy … it went up.’
He was waving his little worn paws about in an upward motion, trying to express what he’d seen.
‘Yes,’ said the Easter Bunny delightedly. ‘What you saw was a wish! A wish floating up to me.’
All the new recruits started talking at once, saying they’d seen it too. Then a black cat with a red collar sitting at the other end of the row of computers called out.
‘EB,’ she said, cheerfully. ‘Incoming. Over here.’
The new recruits rushed over to that side of the room, just in time to see another wish float up from the head of a young girl standing with her mother, looking at a shop display of splendid Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies and chickens.
‘Lovely,’ said the Easter Bunny, rubbing his paws together. ‘Oh, I love March because that’s when all the Easter chocolate goes into the shops and the wishes start to come in thick and fast.’
Evangeline turned to look at the other screens and, as she walked along behind the Observation Monitors’ chairs, she saw child after child looking at things that reminded them of Easter and then the pearlescent light of their wishes floating up from their heads.
She still wasn’t quite sure how it all worked, but there was something so lovely about watching those wishes she couldn’t help making a little wish herself – that she might be chosen to work there as an Observation Monitor.
After she finished making her wish, she looked up quickly to see if a strand of pearly light was coming up from her own head, but there wasn’t anything. Maybe it was different for toys, she thought, and went back to watching the screens.
She was standing behind a blue teddy bear, whose screen was showing two little boys with their noses pressed up against the window of a sweet shop, pointing at all the Easter goodies inside, when something strange happened.
Evangeline Wish Keeper's Helper Page 3