They hear a couple of loud thumps above them. Troy looks at Pippa.
“Come on,” Troy says.
They follow the bumps and thumps to a narrow staircase on the second floor.
When they climb these, they find themselves in a large attic.
Googolplex is rolling around upside down. His super-retractable, self-adhesive wheels keep him attached to the sloped ceiling. He is vacuuming up all the cobwebs in hard to reach places with a tiny dust-buster.
Googol is helping Madame Myfanwy stack some paintings against a wall.
“Oh, children!” Madame Myfanwy exclaims as Troy and Pippa’s heads pop up into the attic. “You did give me a fright!”
Troy and Pippa roll their eyes.
“That makes us even,” Troy says. “What are you all up to?”
“Spring cleaning!” Madame Myfanwy says with a smile.
“We’ve been helping Madame get rid of all her cobwebs,” Googol says.
Googolplex rolls down from the ceiling.
“I can see that,” Pippa says with a smile. She pulls a cobweb off of Googolplex’s nose.
“And I’m doing a little scavenger hunting too,” Madame Myfanwy says.
She steps between all the boxes on the floor and stops in front of a large trunk. When she opens the lid, a puff of satin, tissue and silk spills out.
“I’ve given away a great many of my old ballet costumes,” she says. “But a few of them have remained here, in the attic.”
Madame Myfanwy pulls out a silver crown decorated with three peacock feathers. The crown is bent and the silver peeling, but the peacock feathers are perfect.
Madame Myfanwy takes the feathers off the crown and hands them to the robots. “I hope these will do.”
The robots’ heads spin around three times.
“Perfect!” Googol says, his pale blue eyes glowing warmly.
“Perfect,” Googolplex says.
Pippa hugs Madame Myfanwy. “Thank-you, Madame!”
“Now, now. Don’t fuss. It’s only a few feathers,” Madame Myfanwy says.
Troy laughs. “You wouldn’t happen to have some sand dollars in there too?”
Madame Myfanwy sniffs. “Don’t get lazy, my boy. You only have to walk as far as the beach to find those. Just pick up those young feet of yours and get on with it.”
Chapter Five
Sand Dollars and Sand Castles
Troy and Pippa lead the way down to the beach. They look from side to side. The little bay in front of Madame Myfanwy’s house is usually quiet. The public beach is just around the corner. There are lots of people on that beach.
Troy shakes his head. “I can’t see anyone. Can you, Pippa?”
Pippa shakes her head. “No one.”
“It’s all clear,” they call to the robots.
Googol and Googolplex roll out from between the trees. When they reach the soft sand, their wheels spin around and around, and the robots stop moving.
“Oh, dear,” Googol says. His head spins around three times.
“Dear, me,” Googolplex says. “I think we’ll have to retract our super-retractable, self-adhesive wheels.”
Pippa laughs. “Yes, but not for long. The sand out by the ocean is nice and hard.”
“And great for making sand castles!” Troy adds. “We’re lucky the tide is out.”
“Tide? What is this tide?” Googolplex asks.
“It’s how high or how low the sea is,” Troy tells them.
“When the tide is high,” Pippa says, “the ocean comes all the way up to where we are standing now.”
“When the tide is low, the edge of the ocean is somewhere out there,” Troy says, pointing to the beach. “And we get sandbars. That’s where sand dollars live.”
Googol and Googolplex beep excitedly.
“Then that is where we will go!” Googolplex says.
The robots retract their wheels. They take small robot steps through the soft sand onto the sandbars. Their feet leave lovely square footprints in the wet sand. They are almost sorry to put their wheels back down again.
Pippa points out the sand dollars in the sand as they near the ocean.
“The black ones are alive. They have to stay here. But these gray and white ones are the skeletons of dead ones.”
Pippa picks up a lovely gray and white sand dollar. It is sort of round and there are lines on it that look like a flower. It fits perfectly into Pippa’s hand.
“They are very nice,” Googol says. He picks one up out of the sand, and Googolplex finds a couple more.
“I’ll go get our buckets to carry them in,” Troy says.
He runs back to the bottom of Madame Myfanwy’s yard. When he comes back, he is carrying two
shovels and two buckets. One of the buckets is round and yellow and the other one is square and red.
Googol and Googolplex put their sand dollars in the round bucket.
“Perfect,” says Googolplex.
“Perfect,” says Googol. “Now, what can we put in this red bucket?”
“Sand,” Pippa says.
She points along the sandbar to a castle someone else has built.
“That’s an ordinary sand castle,” Pippa says. “I think we should make something a little different.”
Googol and Googolplex help Troy and Pippa fill the bucket many times. Each time, Pippa empties it carefully onto the sandbar. After a while they can all see a square-headed robot lying on the sand. They use rocks and shells to make eyes and lights. Then they are done.
Troy grins. “A sand robot!”
Googolplex’s head spins around. “Can we make another one?”
Pippa laughs. “I don’t think me have time. Look. The tide’s coming in.”
And sure enough, the ocean is creeping in around them. Their sandbar is getting smaller and smaller.
Googolplex gives a series of alarmed beeps and squeaks. “The sand robot will be washed away!”
“I’m afraid so,” Troy says. “But we have bigger problems than that.”
He points to the trail that leads to the beach beside Mrs. Myfanwy’s house. Martin Kelly is heading toward them.
“Quick, hide!” Troy tells the robots.
A couple of huge rocks are halfburied in the sandbar. Googol and Googolplex crouch behind these.
Pippa and Troy gather up their shovels and pails and head up the beach.
“Hi, Martin,” Troy says, when they reach him.
“You better not have wrecked my castle or I’ll stomp on yours!” Martin Kelly tells them.
Troy rolls his eyes. “It’s too late, Martin. The ocean is wrecking both of them.”
Sure enough, the ocean has closed in over the sandbar. Their sand robot and Martin’s castle are collapsing under the waves.
“Darn! I was going to catch a couple of fish to put in the moat,” Martin says. “Maybe I’ll just go swimming instead.”
Just then, Mr. Sinclair appears at the bottom of Madame Myfanwy’s property. “Troy! Pippa!” he calls. “Lunch is ready!”
Martin laughs. “Hurry along, now, kiddies. Your daddy’s calling.”
Pippa and Troy run up the beach to their father.
“Oooh! That Martin Kelly!” Pippa says as she runs. “We have to get him away from here before he finds Googol and Googolplex.”
“Don’t worry, Pippa,” Troy says. “He’ll head to the public beach to swim. He only hangs around here to bother us. But we better eat our lunch as fast as we can. Googol and Googolplex must be knee-deep in water by now, and I doubt they can swim.”
Chapter Six
Fish-Robots
Googol and Googolplex lean on the big rocks in front of them. They bleep and blurp in alarm as Troy and Pippa leave the beach with their father.
“Oh, dear! They are leaving us alone with Martin Kelly!” Googolplex says.
“And in all this deep water!” Googol says.
But Martin Kelly doesn’t stay. He heads around the corner of the bay to the pub
lic beach, just like Troy said he would. By that time, the ocean has reached the top of the robots’ legs.
A big wave wobbles them from side to side.
“Oh, dear!” Googol says. “I wish we’d asked Troy and Pippa what humans do when the tide comes in.”
The next big wave tips Googol face-first into the water. But he doesn’t sink. The air in his body makes him float.
Googol turns his face to the sky. “Look, Googolplex! I’m a fish-robot!”
Googol turns his wheels forward and backward. He moves in the water like a small motor boat.
Soon, Googol is heading out to sea.
“Come back, come back!” Googolplex calls.
Googolplex’s head spins around three times. Then a wave knocks him into the ocean and he floats too.
“Oh, dear!” Googolplex cries. Then he starts chugging through the water just like Googol. “This is fun!”
Googol and Googolplex go up and down the beach. They stare down at the fish swimming under them. They stare up at the sea birds flying above them.
“Look!” Googol says, his square red head bobbing up and down in the water.
Googol points at all the people swimming at the public beach.
“Humans can move in the water too!” Googolplex says.
Martin Kelly is one of the people in the water. He is playing with two little boys. The boys have an air mattress to lie on. Martin keeps flipping the little boys into the water. Then he steals their mattress and heads into deep water. “That Martin Kelly!” Googol says.
“He is causing trouble again,” Googolplex says.
“We better not let him see us,” Googol says.
Googol and Googolplex spin their wheels really fast and dive to the floor of the ocean. Soon they are motoring along underneath Martin Kelly.
Googol and Googolplex avoid the kelp that grows like slippery brown ribbons beneath the surface of the ocean. But Martin does not see the kelp. The brown ribbons turn and twist around his kicking feet.
“Ahhhh!” Martin yells. “Sharks!”
Googol and Googolplex pull the kelp away from Martin’s feet.
Martin tucks his feet under him on the air mattress and paddles furiously toward shore with his hands. Soon he reaches the little boys. They take back their air mattress, and Martin runs for shore.
“Sharks, sharks!” Martin yells. “Run for it!”
But the only one running is Martin. The other people on the beach shake their heads and go back to swimming and sunbathing.
“Perfect!” Googol says as his head bobs above the surface of the ocean.
“Perfect!” Googolplex says. “Now maybe that Martin Kelly will go home.”
The robots follow along in the sea as Martin runs along the shore. Soon they are all back in front of Madame Myfanwy’s house.
Martin slows down and kicks at rocks and sea-shells. When he sees Pippa and Troy’s red and yellow buckets sitting on a log, he walks over and kicks them too. Their sand dollars go flying.
“Our beautiful sand dollars!” Googol says.
“Troy and Pippa’s beautiful buckets!” Googolplex says.
Googol and Googolplex wait until Martin is gone. Then they roll up the beach and rescue Troy and Pippa’s buckets. Googol’s eyes brighten. “The buckets are unharmed.”
Googolplex bleeps sadly. “The sand dollars are not.”
Their sand dollars are lying in pieces between the logs.
“What are we going to do?” Googolplex asks.
Googol’s head spins around three times.
“We are going to find more sand dollars!” Googol says. “And we’re going to do it before Pippa and Troy get back! Come on.”
Googolplex follows Googol back down to the ocean. They roll into the water and in a few moments they disappear from sight.
Chapter Seven
Under the Sea
The first thing Pippa and Troy see when they come back to the beach is their red and yellow buckets bobbing up and down in the water.
“What are our buckets doing way out there?” Troy asks. Pippa shakes her head. “I don’t know, Troy. But it’s a good thing we changed into our bathing suits.”
They look around for Googol and Googolplex.
Pippa bites her bottom lip.
“Do you think they sank to the bottom of the ocean?” she asks.
Troy shakes his head. “I don’t know, but I’m glad we found our masks and snorkels. Come on!”
Pippa and Troy put on their masks and snorkels and jump into the ocean. They swim out and stand on the rocks where Googol and Googolplex were hiding. They cannot see the robots anywhere.
Troy walks over to the floating buckets. “Look at this, Pippa,” he says.
They both look down into the round, yellow bucket. There are two nice white sand dollars inside.
“I wonder what happened to the other two,” Pippa says.
Just then, Googol and Googolplex’s square red heads burst through the surface of the ocean.
Pippa and Troy jump back in surprise.
Googol and Googolplex beep in alarm. They don’t recognize Pippa and Troy with their masks and snorkels on.
“Googol!” Pippa cries out happily.
“Googolplex!” Troy says. He laughs. “You can swim!”
Pippa and Troy push up their masks. The robots stop beeping.
“We are fish-robots,” Googolplex says. “Watch.”
He lies on his back on top of the water and makes himself go forward and then back again.
Troy laughs. “Actually, I think you are ro-boats.”
Googol lifts his hand out of the water. He is holding another nice sand dollar. So is Googolplex.
“But what happened to the ones we collected earlier?” Pippa asks.
Googol and Googolplex drop their sand dollars into the square, red bucket. Then they look at Pippa and Troy.
“That is a long story,” they say.
Troy frowns. “It doesn’t involve Martin Kelly, does it?”
“I am afraid it does,” Googol says.
“You are a very smart human,” Googolplex says. “But Martin Kelly is not.”
The robots explain what happened. Troy and Pippa laugh when they hear about Martin and the sharks. They stop laughing when the robots tell them about Martin kicking their buckets.
“He could have broken them!” Troy says angrily.
“Yes, but he did not,” Googol says. “And we have found four new sand dollars.”
“So, now you can show us what swimming is,” Googolplex says.
Pippa and Troy show them the breaststroke and the crawl. Then they all do somersaults and handstands. Pippa and Troy keep popping back to the surface for air. But the robots stay under the water the whole time.
Finally, they swim into shallow water. Pippa and Troy sit on the sand with their knees up. They are tired.
“You are lucky humans,” Googolplex tells them. “You swim like fish. You are very flexible.”
“But we can’t stay underwater forever, like you can,” Troy says. “And we get tired.”
Pippa sighs. “I bet you could swim to China if you wanted.”
Googolplex’s head spins around three times. “I do not think we would want to. I think we would run out of energy.”
“And then we would be stuck in the middle of the ocean,” Googol says.
“Human bodies may not be perfect,” Googolplex says. “But robot bodies can’t make their own energy.”
“Tomorrow we will have to go back to our Sunship to recharge our solar-powered spaceship,” Googol says.
“Already?” Pippa asks.
“Yes,” Googol answers. “We have used up a lot of energy swimming. But we have one more day to spend on Earth. You must help us use it well.”
Chapter Eight
A Good Last Day
“You two are very quiet this evening,” Mr. Sinclair tells his children.
Pippa and Troy have hardly spoken during dinner. They are thinking o
f the next item on Googol and Googolplex’s scavenger list. They are wondering how they can help them find it. And they are sad because the robots will be leaving soon.
“You didn’t have any trouble down on the beach, did you?” Mr. Sinclair asks. “I was cleaning the front windows when Martin came back from having a swim. He was telling his mother a story about sharks nibbling at his toes.”
Pippa and Troy giggle into their hands.
Mr. Sinclair sighs. “Yes, I know. That boy does come up with the most incredible stories. Last month it was robots, now it’s sharks. He must drive his parents crazy.”
Mr. Sinclair begins clearing the table. Pippa and Troy get up to put their own plates and cutlery into the dishwasher.
“Madame Myfanwy is trying to find someone to do some painting in her house,” Mr. Sinclair says. “Why don’t we all go over and help her tomorrow? You can take a break from being beach bums.”
“Oh, not tomorrow!” Pippa says.
“There aren’t any sharks in our ocean, Dad! Honest!” Troy says.
Mr. Sinclair smiles and ruffles his children’s hair. “I know, I know. But Madame Myfanwy is like a grandmother to you guys. And if she needs our help, I think we have to make sure to offer it to her.”
Of course, Mr. Sinclair is right. But Pippa and Troy have trouble remembering that when they are knocking on Madame Myfanwy’s back door the next morning. All they can think about is Googol and Googolplex.
They look back at the spot where the robots have been parking their spaceship.
“They’re probably sitting in their spaceship watching us right now,” Troy whispers in Pippa’s ear.
“Good morning,” Madame Myfanwy says. “Well, you three certainly look dressed for the job.”
They are wearing old blue jeans and big messy paint shirts.
Madame Myfanwy motions toward a large parlor just past the back door. “I thought you and I could start in here, Mr. Sinclair. I have two other painters working upstairs in the guest bedrooms. The children can go and help them if they like.”
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