Plastic Palace (9781743583555) (2 page)

‘That was an Almost Toy, wasn't it?' she asked softly, but she already knew the answer.

Buddy nodded so hard his floppy hat bobbed up and down.

‘I thought so,' whispered Lola. ‘It's just like the ones I've seen in other parts of the Kingdom.'

Lola listened as the sound of marching feet faded away. ‘They've gone now,' she said. ‘Let's go and explore!'

‘But it's not safe!' cried Buddy.

‘Oh, Buddy!' said Lola. ‘It's never totally safe in the Kingdom. But it's always fun. Come on!'

And she flung open the door and
bolted
down the corridor.

The corridor was long and straight. And very
yellow
.

Lola raced down it. Buddy chased after her as quickly as his big clompy clown shoes could carry him.

He had just caught up with her when Lola noticed that one of Buddy's buttons was flashing.

She pointed. ‘Look, Buddy!'

‘Well, twist my toggle!' he said. ‘Someone's trying to contact me.'

Lola peered at the button. It looked ordinary, but a red light was
flashing
in the middle.

‘How clever!' said Lola. She didn't know Buddy's buttons could do that.

‘How does it work?' she asked.

‘It's a signal,' Buddy replied. ‘It will lead us to whoever is calling.'

‘Come on, then,' Lola said. ‘You lead the way.'

As they hurried on, Buddy kept checking his button. ‘We're getting closer. I can feel it in my stuffing.'

Lola raised her eyebrows. She knew buttons were really important in the Kingdom. But still, she was surprised.

‘Useful things, buttons,' Buddy said importantly. ‘What did you think they were for?'

Lola nearly said,
For keeping up your pants?
But then she thought better of it.

‘We'd better be quiet,' said Buddy, as they got further down the corridor. ‘We mustn't be seen by the Almost Toys.'

Lola didn't know much about the Almost Toys, but she did know that all the other toys were scared of them.

Was it because they were different? Or because they were plastic, and the other toys were made from soft fabric or fur?

Or maybe the Almost Toys hadn't been played with very much, and so they weren't quite toys at all. Not quite, but
almost?

Buddy stopped and stared at the yellow wall ahead. He took another look at his button.

Lola shivered. She loved the Kingdom, but it could be quite scary sometimes.

‘OK, are you ready?' he asked Lola in a serious voice.

She wasn't.

‘Can you see that doorway?' asked Buddy.

She couldn't see
anything
.

‘The signal is coming from inside,' Buddy said.

It didn't look like a doorway to Lola. It looked like just another shiny plastic panel in the endless plastic corridor.

‘There's nothing here,' said Lola.

‘Nothing is ever as it seems in Nevercalm,' Buddy explained. ‘There'll be a switch somewhere.'

He ran his soft mittens over the plastic wall.

Lola stood beside Buddy and copied him.

‘Oh!' she said suddenly.

To her delight, she felt a
switch
on one of the panels.

‘Lucky Lola with the clever fingers!' said Buddy. ‘Flick the switch. And on the count of three, we push.'

Lola could feel her heart beating as she flicked the switch.

‘One, two …'

But before they got to three, the door
swung open
and Lola and Buddy fell through!

‘Hey! Grand entrance!' said a deep voice.

Lola was staring at a pair of furry, orange paws.

‘Well, don't just lie there,' said the voice.

Buddy leapt up. ‘Felix!' he cried. ‘Son of the Great High Bear himself!'

Lola stood up as Buddy threw his arms around Felix. Then she shook Felix's paw politely.

Felix was one of Lola's old toys. She had left him at her gran's one day. Felix came to the Kingdom because she wasn't playing with him. But then he decided to stay there.

He was needed to help his father run the Kingdom.

Lola was proud of Felix. He was brave and clever, and an important bear in the Kingdom.

‘I'm so glad you could make it,' said Felix. ‘I need your help. Look!'

He took a letter from his bag and passed it to Lola.

She began to read:

‘It took me ages to find the right room,' said Felix. ‘They all look the same, you know. Yellow!'

‘How did you get in here?' asked Lola.

‘I stick to the shadows,' Felix said with a smile. ‘And paws don't make much noise.'

Buddy looked very impressed. ‘Well, pull out my
stuffing
and call me a pillow case!'

Felix and Lola laughed.

‘This place is crawling with Almost Toys,' said Buddy. ‘We just heard a whole army of them!'

‘Can't worry about that sort of thing,' said Felix, shrugging. ‘Not when there are
top-secret
plans to steal back.'

Lola cleared her throat. ‘May I ask a question?'

‘Fire away,' said Felix.

‘If you can slip in and out of dangerous places so easily,' Lola asked, ‘then why did you call for our help?'

‘Good question, Lola,' said Felix. ‘I didn't need help to get in here. And I'll be fine getting out. But I need help to reach that.'

Felix pointed his furry paw to the middle of the room. Set into the floor was a huge safe.

Something was not quite right about it.

‘Umm, Felix?' said Buddy, scratching his woolly hair. ‘That doesn't look very hard to reach.'

Lola crept closer to the safe.

‘But Buddy,' she said slowly, ‘you said
nothing
in Nevercalm is as it seems, remember?'

Lola leaned over to get a better look at the safe.

And what did she see?

Herself
, looking back!

‘It's a mirror!' cried Lola. ‘The real safe is up there.'

She pointed up at the ceiling.

‘Well done, Lola!' said Felix. ‘And the stolen plans are inside.'

Lola smiled at Felix.

Then she thought for a moment. It seemed that they had
two
problems.

‘First, we need to get up there to open the safe,' she said. ‘Then we need to work out the code to get into it.'

Felix nodded. ‘There is a key pad on the safe with letters, not numbers,' he said. ‘So it must be a code
word
.'

Lola thought about that.

‘I've got an idea. Let's see which letters on the key pad have been used the most.'

‘We'll never see from down here,' said Buddy, staring up at the roof.

‘Of course we will,' said Lola, kneeling down. ‘We'll use the mirror.'

They huddled around the mirror on the floor.

Buddy gave a cry when he saw himself in the mirror. ‘Twist my
toggle
! What happened to me?'

‘Oh sorry, Buddy!' groaned Lola. ‘My brother thought glasses and a moustache would suit you.'

Felix smiled at Buddy. ‘I thought it was your new look, friend. I rather like it.' Buddy took another look, then turned to Lola. ‘Hmmmpppphh!' was all he said.