by Henrik Tamm
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Henrik Tamm
Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2013 by Henrik Tamm
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. This English-language work was first published in Sweden as a Swedish translation by Bonnier Carlsen as Ninja Timmy Och De Stulna Skratten, copyright © 2013 by Henrik Tamm. The U.S. publication in the English language is by arrangement with Bonnierforlagen, Stockholm, Sweden.
Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tamm, Henrik.
[Ninja Timmy och de stulna skratten. English]
Ninja Timmy / Henrik Tamm.
pages cm
Originally published in Swedish by Bonnier Carlsen in 2013 under title: Ninja Timmy och de stulna skratten.
Summary: In the city of Elyzandrium, an intrepid cat and his animal friends meet an inventor of magical toys, investigate the case of the stolen laughter, and ultimately become a successful crime fighting gang of ninjas.
ISBN 978-0-385-74451-5 (trade hc) — ISBN 978-0-375-99170-7 (library binding) — ISBN 978-0-385-39021-7 (ebook) [1. Cats—Fiction. 2. Animals—Fiction. 3. Friendship—Fiction. 4. Magic—Fiction. 5. Ninjas—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.1.T36Ni 2015
[Fic]—dc23
2014025073
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v4.1
a
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Acknowledgments
About the Author
For Vilma and Hjalmar
Chapter 1
TIMMY’S BRIGHT YELLOW eyes narrowed as he peered at the brass hinge he was trying to attach to the complex wooden framework. Again he twisted the screwdriver, slowly screwing the hinge into place. There. He could feel the metal grooves of the screw join with the metal grooves of the hinge and sink into the wood.
“Ah yes. Quite nice.”
Pleased, he looked around for another hinge.
Timmy was a cat, not quite fully grown yet, but definitely not a kitten. He liked to think of himself as pretty clever for his age, as well as strong-minded and very inventive.
It was midafternoon. He and his pal Simon the mink were working in the loft above the bakery where they stayed and also where they invented and built things. Once, they had invented a device for spreading the perfect glaze over the baker’s pastries, and as payment the baker had given them the use of the empty room upstairs.
Simon was a year older than Timmy, but they had known each other for as long as they could remember. They’d become friends in an orphanage, back when neither of them had had a real home, and they had looked out for each other ever since. Simon was a handsome mink—at least, he kept pointing that out—and spent an hour or more a day grooming himself. He had an easy time with girls, and there was always some cute mink girl or some big-eyed squirrel girl coming around the loft to visit him. Timmy didn’t know how Simon did it. He himself had always been shy with those puzzling creatures and silently wished some of Simon’s confidence would rub off on him. Timmy was confident in many ways, but girls were simply a mystery to him.
It was a warm afternoon. Through the open window they could see the bustle of the city below. Elyzandrium was its name, and it was sprawled across a valley and enclosed on all sides by high, forested mountains. Fantastical three-hundred-foot bamboo towers soared into the sky, and smoke billowed from ten thousand chimneys on buildings between them. A million vehicles of all kinds clogged the dusty streets, and the sky buzzed with steam-powered balloons and other strange-looking flying machines.
Simon and Timmy were too busy to enjoy the view today, though. Their latest invention, a machine that could automatically peel oranges, was almost finished. It was a big thing, made from pieces of wood they had found around town. All its parts had been recycled. The brass fasteners, for example, had come from some old bicycles they had rescued from a scrap yard.
The machine was so big, in fact, that Timmy was wondering how they would ever get it downstairs. They were planning to sell it to one of the local fruit merchants, who wanted to start selling juice.
Timmy furrowed his brow. “You got an extra hinge over there?” he asked Simon.
Simon looked around, grabbed an extra hinge, and tossed it over to Timmy.
“Don’t fasten it too tight, like last time, or the plugs will come out,” Simon murmured, concentrating on the work in front of him.
Timmy smiled.
“It has to be tight, or the spring-loaded thingamajig won’t engage,” he replied confidently. “And, my mink friend, it’s your job to make sure the wooden plugs stay in place.” He paused and grinned. “Just use lots of glue.”
Simon muttered to himself, but he knew Timmy was right. He filled each hole to the rim with glue and then pushed the plugs into place.
“When are Jasper and Casper gonna show up, anyway?” he asked. “We need their strength to carry this thing downstairs.”
“Should be back any minute. They’re just collecting sap for the varnish.”
And at that very moment, the two brothers clambered up the stairs. Jasper and Casper were piglets and, quite naturally, were a little plump. And, as pigs usually were, they were really good at math. They both carried notepads around so they could quickly come up with answers to tricky questions. Unfortunately, they seldom came up with the same answer and would squabble endlessly about who was right.
Timmy and Simon had known the piglet brothers for a couple of years now, ever since meeting them at a science fair. The brothers had helped them with some of the calculations needed for one of their inventions, and they had all become fast friends. Now Jasper and Casper were an integral part of the team. Because of their weight, they were also useful in other ways.
Timmy grinned as they entered the room.
“Good. There you are. Here, come over and sit on this.”
Both Jasper and Casper wandered over and plunked themselves down on a piece of the machine’s frame. The wood groaned under their weight as Timmy quickly and gingerly twisted in the last screw.
“Done!” he exclaimed happily. “Our automated orange peeler is complete! Looks quite nice, doesn’t it? Just the varnish left.”
Timmy, Simon, and the two piglets stepped back and looked at their creation proudly.
As the sun started to set, the four friends lumbered down the stairs with their contraption. Timmy and Simon carried the front, while Jasper and Casper took the brunt of the weight at the back. They all huffed and puffed, pausing momentarily on a landing to catch their breath.
The baker’s six-year-old daughter, Mathilda, watched them curiously fro
m the back doorway of the bakery.
“Mathilda!” Timmy called. “We haven’t seen you in ages. We were wondering where you’ve been.”
“Yeah, Mathilda,” Simon chimed in. “Where were you?”
Mathilda ignored their questions. “Where are you going with your machine?” she asked simply.
“Just across to the market,” Timmy replied in a strained voice. The machine was getting heavy.
As they made it to the next landing, Timmy smiled disarmingly. “Well, we’re sure glad you’re back, wherever you were. Now you can sneak us pastries when your dad’s not looking.”
Mathilda made as if to giggle, but the strangest thing happened: although her mouth seemed to laugh, not a single sound came out. She just stood there with an odd grin that was most peculiar.
Timmy had never seen anything like it and was a little taken aback. Mathilda skipped away.
When they stepped out onto the busy street, it was already late in the afternoon, and long shadows stretched across the road. It was rush hour in Elyzandrium, and the street was clogged with bicycles and vehicles of all sorts. Some flying machines hovered overhead. Humans and animals alike walked past the boys, gaping in wonder at the wooden apparatus. It had pulleys and levers, and intricate mechanized arms of all shapes and sizes. The boys carefully put their invention down so they could take a quick rest. Timmy eyed his friends.
“Catch your breath, lads. But we better hurry. It’s already late, and the fruit market might close soon.”
“What do you think he’ll pay for it?” Simon asked as he pulled out a hand mirror. He checked himself quickly to make sure his fur was in place.
“I reckon we’ll have all the fruit we want for the rest of the year, as per my latest calculation,” Jasper said with a big smile.
Casper quickly pulled out a notepad and scribbled something.
“Actually, that’s not quite right,” he countered his brother, squinting. “If we manage to haggle a bit, we should be able to get some cashew nuts in the deal.”
Simon smiled a big smile, showing off his perfect teeth. “I do love cashew nuts.”
Jasper eyed Casper spitefully, holding out his own notepad. “That’s incorrect. Look at this algorithm. If anything, it will be almonds. Look.”
“Cashews,” Casper insisted.
“Almonds!” Jasper said angrily.
With that, the two piglet brothers jumped on each other. Notepads flying, they rolled around in the street.
“Guys, guys!” Timmy rolled his eyes. “Stop it! We’re already late!”
After a moment, he managed to break them apart.
“Cashews or almonds, both sound quite nice! C’mon, guys. No time to quarrel.”
They walked on.
Sweaty and tired, the friends slowly lowered the machine onto the dusty cobblestones. Simon, not surprisingly, took the opportunity to polish his fur, making sure it was as shiny as ever. The others caught their breath. They still had a long way to go.
Timmy recognized where they were. He had an idea.
“Guys, I know a shortcut. If we cut through the alleyways, we’ll save quite a bit of time.”
He nodded toward the alley ahead. Its narrow opening looked dark.
“You know as well as I do that that would be risky,” Simon protested. “Let’s face it, I don’t want to turn into anyone’s afternoon snack if we come across the wrong crowd. Didn’t you learn anything on the streets? Predators could be anywhere.”
“Yeah, Timmy. I don’t know…,” Casper said nervously. “It’ll be dark soon, and, well…we’re just a bunch of inventors…geeks, really. Not tough at all.”
They all knew that was pretty much true.
“But it’ll take longer to go back the regular way,” Timmy argued. He knew that taking the alley probably wasn’t a great idea, but he also really, really wanted to sell this machine today. Free fruit for a year! And maybe cashews or almonds too! And there were four of them, quick-minded and inventive. What was the worst that could happen?
Jasper started a quick calculation in his mind.
“Based on current parameters, the risk will be about point four on the Riskman scale.”
“Point three, actually…,” Casper began.
Jasper darkened and was about to pull out his notepad. Timmy sighed.
“That doesn’t sound so bad! C’mon, lads. We’ll be through there in a flash.”
Under Timmy’s guidance, they maneuvered through the winding alleys, stumbling in the darkness under the weight of the orange-peeling machine.
Soon the alleys grew narrower, and the noise of the main street faded. Only a sliver of darkening blue sky could be seen far above them. The houses grew shoddier and shoddier. Still, the boys pushed on. Simon lost track of how many turns they had made; he hoped Timmy knew what he was doing. Then he thought of something.
“Hold on just one second.” Simon peered over at the others. “Isn’t the Riskman scale used to measure radioactivity? You know, the winds and colors and all that? I think I read that in a nature magazine once.”
That was when a large, dark shadow fell over the four friends. They all stopped and looked up.
“You think you’re so smart, eh?” came a gruff voice. “But you’re just a pack of nerds. And you’re a long way from home.”
In front of them, blocking their path, stood one of the Gribble cousins. The Gribbles were wild boars. They were tall, broad, and thick-necked. As far as Timmy had heard, they had always been bad kids, none too intelligent, but what they lacked above the shoulders they made up for in muscle. Nobody knew exactly how many of them there were, because they all looked pretty much alike. Timmy had heard there were anywhere from four to as many as twelve. They were infamous for stealing things. Some even said they had kidnapped little children—humans and animals—although Timmy couldn’t imagine why anyone would do such a monstrous thing.
Two of them now came up from behind the boys, blocking any chance for escape.
“What you got there?” the biggest one said.
“Looks like something we need,” another one said.
“It’s nothing,” Timmy managed to squeak. “Nothing of any value whatsoever.”
“Then you don’t mind if we take it, do you?”
Timmy tried to be brave.
“Actually, we do mind.” He held up a finger. “It wouldn’t be right, you see. We built it, and it’s not for you to take.”
“Hey now, listen to this one.”
The cousins laughed.
“You’ve got guts, little guy. But step aside and let us take what is rightfully yours,” the biggest cousin said in a mocking tone.
More laughter.
The friends knew all was lost. They just stood there for a moment, desperately exchanging glances, not sure what to do. Two more Gribble cousins came from the shadows.
They were surrounded.
Jasper and Casper were the first to buckle. They dropped their end of the machine, and it slammed to the ground. The brothers bolted into a small doorway, too quickly for the big boars to react.
Still holding up the other end, Timmy looked at Simon. Their eyes met in silent agreement. The next second, Simon darted sideways, managing to squeeze by two of the cousins. Timmy tried to follow, but one of the Gribbles stepped forward and blocked his path. He spun back around, his cat reflexes working overtime. Two of the boars flailed their huge arms at him. He was cornered.
“Get him!”
Suddenly Timmy leapt. He managed to grab a hold of a window-sill and hauled himself over the edge, then quickly clawed his way up the house’s façade, finding cracks and holes to grab on to.
The Gribbles scrambled over and swatted at him. “Come down here! We’re not finished with you!” they bellowed.
He climbed higher, looking down at the furious boars trying to scale the wall below him. They immediately slid down again. Being so big and thick-necked, they were horrible climbers.
Finally Timmy reached the r
ooftop and slung himself over the edge. He could hear the Gribble cousins stomping around and yelling as he ran as fast as he could. He skipped across roofs, hopped over chimneys, and jumped over more alleyways. Timmy ran and ran. He didn’t stop until he was absolutely sure the Gribble cousins were far, far away.
Simon, Jasper, and Casper had all run into the same building. Having scrambled up and down stairs, through living rooms and kitchens (one with a very surprised goose family having dinner), back across alleys, and through more doorways, they now stood huddled together on one of the main streets. They were out of breath, and shaking from the adrenaline rush. Simon looked back.
“Where’s Timmy?”
“Thought he was with you,” Casper answered, still catching his breath.
“He was right behind us.” Jasper peered into the darkness of the alley. “He’s not coming.”
All three squinted into the gloom. Nobody wanted to go back in there, not with the Gribbles still running around. Simon knew his best friend, though.
“He’ll be okay. He has to be okay. It’s Timmy. He always finds a way.”
The three friends looked at each other, helpless. Sullenly they started through the streets toward the bakery.
Chapter 2
NIGHT HAD FALLEN, and a giant yellow moon hung over the rooftops. Timmy, still sitting on a shingled roof, peered down at the streets. He was lost, that much he knew. He was also exhausted, and getting cold, and homesick. Carefully, using a fire escape, he made his way down to a side street that didn’t look too dark.
The street was empty. Red lanterns were hung between buildings, and through an unlit window a solemn song was playing on someone’s record player. Timmy picked a direction at random. This was a part of Elyzandrium he had never been to before. The houses seemed older. In fact, they were much more charming than the buildings in his part of town.