The Musty Old Magical Curiosity Shop

by Dianne Carol Sudron

  He went over to the shop counter and there was suddenly a tray full of toffee apples. Mabble Merlin gave each of the children a toffee apple, and he handed Miss Sums a paper bag with sweets in it to give to the rest of the children in the class when she got back to the school.

  “How can I help you today?” he asked again.

  Miss Sums handed the clock to Mabble Merlin.

  “Oh, I see. It looks as though it’s been in soapy water.”

  “Yes - exactly! That was my mistake. I dropped it into a sink filled with soapy water.”

  “Accidents do happen.”

  Suddenly the owl sitting in the window piped up: “And naughty children do naughty things!”

  The children turned round and the owl started to laugh, which made the children laugh. Even Miss Sums started to laugh.

  “Well,” said the owl, “it looks as though you need a ride on the carousel. Make your way through the archway, and take your places on the carousel.”

  They all walked through the archway, and there in front of them was a very large carousel with gleaming white horses, and they all got on to their own gleaming white horse. The carousel turned round and round, and up and down went the horses, way up into the air. When it eventually came to a full stop, they saw that they were at a fairground.

  They wasted no time. All of them ran over to the ghost train and climbed aboard. They all screamed when the spiders touched their hair.

  After the ghost train, they went on the one-armed bandits and they won lots of money; they also went on ‘hook a duck’, and Miss Sums won so many stuffed toys that she had enough for all the children in her class. After that, they went on the helter-skelter, and after that they all had some candyfloss from the candyfloss stall. Even Miss Sums had candyfloss. They had never had rainbow-coloured candyfloss before.

  They then went inside the Hall of Crazy Mirrors, where the mirrors made them look small, tall, fat and thin. It was hilarious, and they laughed so much!

  Suddenly Jason Jaffa piped up: “Miss Sums, Miss Sums, we haven’t won a goldfish.”

  At that moment a sideshow appeared, and a clown asked them if they wanted to win a goldfish. They had to throw soft balls at a pile of empty tins. They had to knock six tins off the shelf to win three goldfish. All the children took part, and hey presto! six tins came tumbling off the shelf. The clown handed the children a goldfish each.

  “One is named Splish, one is named Splosh, and one is named Splash,” he said.

  “That is perfect,” said Miss Sums.

  “Have a nice day,” said the clown, smiling and waving.

  The children waved back. They then walked back to the carousel and got back on to the gleaming horses, and the horses galloped round and round and up and down and flew into the air.

  Suddenly they were back where they started, and they walked back through the archway into the shop.

  Mabble Merlin asked if they had enjoyed the carousel ride.

  The children shouted excitedly, “YES!”

  It had been the best day ever.

  Miss Sums thanked Mabble Merlin profusely. She said she couldn’t thank him enough. He handed Miss Sums the clock and said Erica was now as good as new; she had just swallowed a bit of soapy water, and no other damage had been done.

  Erica English felt very happy. She was looking forward to going back to the school in Osmotherley, now that she could tick and tock perfectly again.

  The children were looking forward to telling their classmates about their ride on the carousel, and the other rides at the fairground, and about winning the stuffed toys and the goldfish.

  When Miss Sums handed out the stuffed toys to each of the pupils in the class, there were enough for everyone. The paper bag of Liquorice Allsorts that Mabble Merlin had given Miss Sums never seemed to get any emptier - and the three children were never naughty again. Miss Sums was very pleased about that - and so was Erica English, the pretty wall clock.

  Milly Paris Enjoys Herself at Tick-Tock School

  Milly Paris was really enjoying herself at Tick-Tock School, learning to tick and tock to an excellent standard without missing a beat. Some of the other clocks were bold and beautiful, some were old and just didn’t work any more, and some were brand new. The newest clocks at Tick-Tock School learnt to tick-tock and to say their times tables and gained experience of real live numbers.

  Milly really liked her room and her little bed in the clock dormitory. Every day she had to visit the clock hospital to have goose fat applied to her hands.

  One day she visited the beauty salon to have her face painted by a beautician, and as she lay on the treatment couch getting her face powdered and rouge applied she wondered how Claudette de Seconds was getting along. She wondered if Claudette de Seconds was missing the French court and if she had now grown used to applying her own make-up.

  Isaac Newton, a grandfather clock from the British Museum, was at the school to learn Newton’s law of gravity. Other clocks had come from all over the world - Germany, France, Italy, America ... One Italian clock, Leon di Capri, wanted to learn English; a French clock, Jean de Lune, wanted to learn about astrology; a clock from Spain, Gabriella Cadiz, wanted to learn to dance flamenco.... There were so many different clocks that every day was like a social whirlwind - especially at lunchtime, when everyone got a chance to chat.

  A grandfather clock named Arthur Actor had come from a London theatre in Petticoat Lane to learn mime and dance. He wanted to perform on a big stage one day.

  A friendly clock named Piccadilly Moon wanted to learn to sing.

  Percy Pudding was a clock from a bakery in Pudding Lane, and he wanted to learn to sing and dance. Percy was a real charmer. There had been a fire in the bakery (someone named Harold Cook had burnt a walnut cake) and Percy Pudding had inhaled too much smoke and had fallen off the wall. The fire brigade came and put the fire out, but Percy Pudding could no longer tick or tock. The baker had brought him to the Tick-Tock School to be repaired after one of his customers handed him Mabble Merlin’s business card.

  A clock named Shoreditch and a clock named Bow Bells both wanted to learn drama.

  A clock named Angus Fisher was from a fishmonger’s in Montrose in Scotland.

  Tick-Tock School was very difficult, but all the clocks were friendly and polite to Milly when they met during tea breaks and lunchtimes. She felt very at home and comfortable.

  She couldn’t possibly learn the names of all of them, as there were so many, but she got on well with them all.

  One of the new clocks was named Angelica Abracadabra. She came from Aberdeen in Scotland, and a clock named Pauline Skye came from the Isle of Skye. A kitchen clock, Georgette Giles, came from Glencoe in the Highlands. Emma Lou Harris came from the Isle of Lewis, and Matthew Mull was a handsome clock from the Isle of Mull, in Scotland.

  There was also a clock from the Lake District. She was from a log cabin, and her name was Amanda Kendal.

  William Ness, a clock from Loch Ness, had a picture of Nessie painted on him.

  Benjamin Tweed from Berwick-upon-Tweed was a boat clock, and he had fallen into the water when the boat he lived on was being renovated.

  Peter Pateley from Pateley Bridge in North Yorkshire was a farm clock. He’d fallen into a peat bog when the farmer and his wife were painting their kitchen. Their son, Hadley Hawk, had put the clock and some furniture in a tractor trailer to take them to a barn so they would be out of the way whilst they were decorating, and somehow Peter had fallen off the trailer.

  Christopher Moffat had come from Moffat in Scotland to learn to speak Spanish; Patsy Peebles and Thomas Elgin from Elgin in Scotland were learning French and German.

  Diana Dorchester came from Dorchester; Gavin Glossop and Bethany Buxton came from the Peak District; Madison Marple came from a small place near Stockport. The
se clocks were learning to sing and dance.

  Milly was flabbergasted to meet so many clocks. When she went to bed in her little bunk bed in the Tick-Tock School dormitory, she was so tired that she fell fast asleep at once, and she dreamt she could tick-tock perfectly and the Laugherty family were very impressed.

  Birthday Presents

  Back at the Laugherty household, Claudette de Seconds was holding court and enjoying her conversations with George. George wanted to know all about life at the French court. But the more Claudette talked about life at Marie Antoinette’s court the more she missed it, and she dreamt about it when she went to sleep. In fact, she tended to wake up in the night, and then she would wake up George to talk about the French court. Unfortunately, George regularly nodded off, so she had to talk to Omega Horizon instead.

  Omega Horizon missed Milly and was always wondering about her.

  Mog Og had told all of the clocks what had happened to Milly, so Mog Og became their hero - he could do no wrong! This really pleased Mog Og.

  On 31 October it was Halloween. It was also Penelope’s birthday.

  When Penelope came down for breakfast the children were already up, and they wished her a happy birthday. Then they gave her a charm bracelet and the gift voucher for the Magical Mystery Tour. She was over the moon.

  “Oh, the charm bracelet is just so beautiful!” she exclaimed.

  “Oh, and all the charms have special powers so that should be fun,” said Daisy.

  “It certainly will,” said Penelope.

  “How cool is that!” said Oliver.

  “Which lucky charm do you like the best?” asked Daisy.

  “Erm, I think I like the magic fairy the best of all.”

  “So do I,” said Daisy.

  Miles came into the kitchen.

  “Happy birthday, Penelope,” he said. “Here is another gift for you.” It was a bottle of French wine from the 1920s. “That’s definitely going to be strong,” he said.

  He’d bought it from Mabble Merlin’s shop when he bought the silverware. It said on the label ‘Chateau Nouveau Vin, 1923’, and it didn’t cost £500 as it would have done from the local wine shop.

  “Gosh!” said Penelope. “Where did you get this from? The guests will be so impressed with this.”

  “Well, don’t be worried about drinking it, as there is more where this came from, I do believe.”

  Then Patrick came into the kitchen.

  “Happy birthday, darling Penelope,” he said.

  He kissed her on both cheeks and handed her a present. He knew she liked perfume, so he had purchased some brand-new fragrance.

  She opened the gift - a small box wrapped in gold paper with a silver bow. She had a feeling it would be perfume and and she was right. It was called Secret Laughter. Patrick had purchased it from the Musty Old Magical Curiosity Shop when he purchased the picture clock. He had never before seen the fragrance on the market, because it wasn’t available anywhere else.

  Penelope took it out of the box and sprayed some on, and she laughed happily.

  “Hey, I could be attracted to you all over again with that fragrance,” Patrick said, and they both laughed some more.

  No wonder it was called Secret Laughter!

  The Cocktail Party Begins

  On the evening of the cocktail party, Patrick and Penelope went upstairs to get changed. Their outfits were hanging up in their wardrobes.

  Patrick put his 1920s suit on and looked in the mirror. He looked exactly like someone from the 1920s - and for a moment he imagined that he was F. Scott Fitzgerald (a famous writer from the 1920s). He wondered if the suit had once been his. He just didn’t know. Then he put his hands in the pockets of the jacket and he realised there was something in each pocket. From the left pocket he pulled out something in blue wrapping paper. It was oblong, and there was a gift tag which said, ‘To Patrick, with the compliments of Mabble Merlin’. Patrick was speechless. He immediately unwrapped it and revealed a lovely watch, worth about £3,000. The watch was named Karl Kobex, and it was a twin - but Patrick didn’t know that. Karl was from another galaxy - somewhere way past the Crab Nebula and way past the Milky Way. Karl was from somewhere near the Cat’s Eye Nebula, which is 3,000 light years away and looks like a cat’s eye.

  Karl and his twin were able to tell the time in several galaxies, and they had hidden mechanisms which could locate the Musty Old Magical Curiosity Shop. A tiny key was needed to wind up the mechanism, which was hidden in the back of the watch.

  The object in Patrick’s right pocket was oblong and wrapped in pink paper. It too had a little gift tag, and this one read, ‘To Penelope, happy birthday’. Patrick decided to give it to Penelope as a birthday present from himself. He didn’t know for sure, but it was exactly the same size as the box his watch came in so he guessed it was another expensive watch.

  He quickly put Karl Kobex on his wrist and gave himself a splash of aftershave. Now he was ready for the party.

  Penelope was wearing a 1920s flapper-style dress. It was turquoise with a turquoise boa and silver shoes. She also wore the Egyptian necklace, which was of lapis lazuli. With her long blonde hair she looked like someone from the 1920s, and when she looked into the mirror for a fleeting moment she imagined she was Dorothy Parker (a writer from the 1920s).

  Patrick stood in the bedroom doorway.

  “Well, doll, are you ready?” he asked.

  Penelope looked at Patrick. He looked really spiffing in his pinstriped suit with his sage-green velvet bow tie.

  Daisy and Oliver hadn’t seen anyone wearing 1920s clothes before, and when they saw their parents they were very impressed.

  All the guests began to arrive, and they too were dressed elegantly. The ladies wore beautiful 1920s cocktail dresses with long strings of fancy beads, feathers in their hair, long feather boas and fancy high-heeled shoes. Their dresses were decorated with sequins and tassels. Many of the gentlemen wore moustaches, stuck on with plenty of glue. They had cut their hair short and slicked it down with a side parting. They wore spats, black-and-white shoes, bow ties or cravats, and 1920s suits with waistcoats and pocket watches.

  Some arrived in 1920s cars. A black Buick pulled up outside the house, and a 1920 charabanc brought several guests. These cars were hired. They were real vintage cars. Patrick and Penelope had invited forty-eight guests altogether. They were Kitty and Kevin Fishwick, Harriet and Henry Nelson Bollinger, Alice and Karl Bridges, June and Jessie Jakes, Marilyn and Mervin Moor, Henrietta and Herbert Rufus, Belinda and Barry Winters, Charmaine and Charles Sayre, Joyce and Clifford Jones, Beatrice and Brian Brewster, Wanda and Walter Montgomery, Jenny Reach, Abigail Ainsley, Sandra Southern, Michelle Mendip, Carolyn and Andrew Chivers, Cathy Coin, Eric Babbington, Madeleine and Mike Short, Irene and Tom Calvin, John Vermont, Tamara Tolken, Susan Lawrence, Edward Larkin, Bob Fox, Raj Peshwari, Amelia French, Mark Sedgwick, Anthony Pool, Chantelle Chance, Geoffrey Barker and Cherry Scrimshaw.

  Miles the butler showed the guests into the house and offered them drinks.

  Patrick went into the living room and gave Penelope the gift that he’d found in his pocket.

  “Another gift for you, darling,” he said.

  “Oh, thank you,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting another one.”

  He felt like saying, “Neither was I,” but instead he said, “You’re worth it.”

  She opened the gift, and it was Katie Kobex - the female twin of Karl Kobex.

  “Oh, gosh! Oh, gosh!” Penelope gasped. “This must have cost you a fortune, Patrick.”

  “Well, look at this,” he replied, and he showed Penelope his brand-new wristwatch, which was a twin to hers.

  “Oh, my word!” she exclaimed.

  “I thought it would be nice to have both of them,” he said, “because they are twins.”
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  “Oh, twin souls like you and me, Patrick!” said Penelope.

  “Well, something like that,” said Patrick. He wanted to say, “Actually, I just found them in the pocket of the jacket I’m wearing, and for all I know they may once have belonged to the original owner of the suit,” but he kept quiet.

  He thought, ‘What would anyone else do if it was his wife’s birthday and he found an expensive watch gift-wrapped in his pocket with his wife’s name on it, just ready to be opened.’

  Miles showed everyone to their seats to the dining room. Bob Fox, who was a film producer, was sitting with his actor friend Raj Peshwari.

  Bob Fox piped up: “Where did you get my suit? I just love it.”

  Patrick answered, “Miles got them for us. You can keep it - it’s yours.”

  “All the outfits look splendid,” said Cathy Coin. “They’re so elegant!”

  “And I love the pocket watch,” said Raj Peshwari.

  Raj was a handsome man, and he loved the fine things in life, including good-quality clothes. He had real style and people admired him for it.

  Henry Nelson Bollinger drank a few glasses of the potent wine that Penelope had been given for her birthday. He became a bit tipsy.

  Then the food arrived. There was wild goose in port sauce, asparagus, julienned carrots, butternut squash, potato croquettes and artichoke hearts. For those who didn’t want goose there was wild Scottish salmon with mustard sauce and a medley of organic vegetables in ginger-and-apple sauce. Glasses of organic pear wine were served with the meal. For dessert there were strawberry sorbet and wild-strawberry-and-passion-fruit blancmange and chocolate-and-peppermint-chip cookies and wild cherries. Afterwards all the guests were offered pink champagne.

  “The food is fabulous,” said Harriet.

  “There will be a finger buffet later,” said Miles. “There’s cheese, pickled onions, dips, cocktail sausages, cheese biscuits and an assortment of sandwiches.”