Wilf paused for a moment. He peered at the curved row of houses heading away from the docks towards the smoke-billowing factory. The arches of the crumbling bridge cast a shadow over the bustling market below. Aromas of oil, sea-water and smoke penetrated the air. However, the sudden chime of bells brought him back to reality. He had a job to do! He turned away from his window and ran downstairs, picking up his bag of tools and his coat as he left the house.

Arriving at the docks, a little out of breath, Wilf stared at the beautiful, blue, calm sea. He started to imagine what this mysterious journey would be like – what was going to happen, could he survive? He gazed at the huge old ship which was made from the finest wood in the land. He was tingling with excitement but also he had frightened butterflies in the pit of his stomach. A quick shiver ran down his spine!

Slowly he climbed aboard the majestic ship…….

As the wooden planks creaked beneath his feet, Wilf thought about the chain of events that had brought him here. He was working as a carpenter for Roberts & Co Ltd, who owned and built the Victorious, the beautiful ship that was now sailing slowly away from the shore. Imagine his surprise when Mr Roberts had approached him and shown him the plans for a voyage of discovery to the New World. Mr Roberts was a very rich man, with an interest in natural history. It was his ambition to lead an expedition to search for new species of exotic animals. Wilf had felt honoured and excited to be chosen.

It wasn’t at all how Wilf had expected it to be. The food was plain and simple, but not to his taste. He found it terribly hard to get used to the pitch and roll of the ship. He slept in the dark bowels of the old creaky ship, with about fifty other men and boys, on his uncomfortable, mouldy hammock that he had to string up himself every night. The noise of the ship and the other men snoring prevented him from sleeping and irritated him.

However, there were good points. In the evenings he enjoyed spending time with his crewmates on the deck, watching the dolphins splashing in the crystal clear water as the sun set over the hazy, pink horizon.

Life went on like this for a few months, until one day a monstrous, and somehow sinister, ship loomed into view …

Dark, gloomy clouds enveloped the sinister ship like a circle of vicious sharks. As the ship got closer, the clouds got even darker and slowly concealed the sun from view. The wind began to cry. The waves began to fight. The lightening lit the sky like a beacon. Silently crying for help, Wilf’s heart mirrored the chaotic rocking of the boat. With every clap of thunder the ship crawled closer, Wilf stared open eyed at the horror before him. A decrepit pirate ship. Wilf’s life flashed before his eyes.

The boat got closer still. Canons as black as coal glistened in the moonlight. Suddenly, a small, round ball shot out of the canon like a meteor. The ship juddered; Wilf hugged the mast pole like his life depended on it while watching his crewmates being carried away by death. It was over. Slowly the ship started to sink. The pirates had won. A disorderly pirate, grinning from ear to ear, threw a lifeline to the remaining crew. Reluctantly, they all climbed aboard to await their fate.

Looking around him, Wilf could sense the ghosts of previous victims. The so called ship was wrecked, cracks everywhere in the creaking planks. Wilf had goosebumps as he contemplated what his future might hold. With that, he was shoved forwards into a line with his former crewmates. A pirate with a wooden leg inspected them all, dragging his dead leg behind him. Each of them was intensely questioned about why they were aboard their ship, what they were doing and who did they write to back home. Once the interrogation was over, the pirates huddled together deep in conversation. Eventually one of them shot off inside…what was he doing? Imagine Wilf’s shock and surprise when the door reopened and there stood Mr Robertson with an evil grin on his face…

Wilf had a very bad feeling about this.

Slowly, Mr Roberts edged towards him. His beautiful daughter, Elsa, crept behind him, quietly whispering in his ear. Anxiously, Wilf wondered if they would all walk the creaking wooden plank and plunge into the darkest, deepest bottomless depths. Would they come out alive? Would their story ever be passed on?

“Father,” Wilf heard her say softly. “These boys would be good for slaves.”

“Mm, they could help me with my plan to collect unusual animals,” he murmured maliciously.

Elsa’s blue eyes glittered in the sunlight as her father stroked his chin thoughtfully. Mr Roberts looked even meaner than before.

It went silent.

Nobody said anything for the next five minutes.

Only the sea and the howling wind could be heard on the creaking boat.

Elsa put an end to this quietness. “You must help my father!” she shouted at the top of her voice. “Then you will survive,” she added more calmly.

“Hey, you lot. What are you doing?” came a booming voice from the stern. The grumpy pirate came stomping back to the deck.

“These people are my slaves,” Mr Roberts informed him.

Good news. They weren’t going to walk the plank. Bad news. They were going to be slaves. Wilf couldn’t decide which was worse. Suddenly, Mr Roberts grabbed hold of the waistcoat of the nearest pirate and threw him down into the rat-infested hold below. Once gone, Wilf heard shouts from Mr Roberts and whimpers from the pirate. Evil and sad at the same time.

A shadow appeared out of nowhere. What was it? Where did it come from? More importantly, why was it on the ship?

The murky, mysterious shadow loomed closer to Wilf and the other newly-employed, terrified slaves. Wilf opened his mouth wide in horror as the shape of the shadow became clearer. What looked like a twisted, decaying mermaid crept dangerously towards Mr Roberts and Elsa.

Elsa gasped, “What is that mysterious creature?” as it slithered towards them.

Mr Roberts gazed at the ghastly, sickening creature with revolting ivory teeth, eyes like the devil, a velvety tail and a trail of slime following behind. This was not part of his wicked plan.

The remaining pirates inched closer towards the rails of the ship. Ready for any opportunity to escape. Mr Roberts shot them a ‘Don’t move another muscle’ look. The obnoxious wimps of pirates froze with terror in their hearts.

Furiously, the slimy creature crept around the rusty, creaky ship. It was as if it was looking for something. Wilf wondered what the intent of this creature was. Did it want to hurt us? Did it want to help us? He hoped it was the latter. A shiver went down Wilf’s spine. There were feelings of dread in the pit of his stomach.

The miserable creature smelled terribly of mouldy seaweed and was as ghastly as anything you’ve ever smelled. Wilf looked at the other slaves. They all had the same look on their faces – disgust.

A creaky voice started quietly, “There will be no slaves on this sea…this is the sea of Freedom.” Everyone on the ship turned – where was the voice coming from? Mr Roberts and Elsa sped to the side of the ship and peered over the edge. There, swimming before their eyes was a beautiful mermaid. “What are you?” they screamed.

“My name is Glinda, Queen of the Sea” the mermaid replied. “On land I become a terrifying, slimy creature, under the sea I am mesmerising. You have entered my ocean with ill-intent and evilness in your heart.”

Mr Roberts looked shocked. “Wh-wh-what do you mean?” he shuddered.

Deliberately, the mermaid spoke, “Free these people and you can continue your journey to the wild-lands. Keep these people enslaved and FEEL MY WRATH!”

Mr Roberts fell back at the shock from the screaming mermaid. Elsa just stood still and spoke softly, “Let them go father. We should return them home.”

Wilf and the other slaves looked at each other in hope – could this terrible nightmare be coming to an end?

He swallowed the lump in his throat and took a big breath.

With a sudden start, Wilf awoke with a fright. He rapidly looked around the gutters of the ship. There was no mermaid. There was no Mr Roberts and there were certainly no pirates.

Wilf heard a bell overhead.

“BREAKFAST!” cried the ship’s captain. “Let’s go, you hungry goats”.

by Year 4 pupils from Lowther, Sheen Mount, Stanley and Darell primary schools

“WXO… Repeat, Agent WXO…. Do it NOW!”

As the city slept, bathed in the soft glow of moonlight, a number of Parliament’s most influential minds were gathered in a secret meeting room, huddled together like a tribe of penguins pecking at a single fish. They were locked in intense discussion, having all received the same devastating information earlier that day. Consequently, they were unaware of the figure lurking in the shadows, eavesdropping on their hushed conversation.

“If word were to get out about this, rumours would spread like wild fire and an immediate press conference would need to be arranged,” stated one of the government officials urgently, mopping his brow. “Although time is limited, we need to tread carefully.” There was much nodding and murmuring of agreement from the others.

Unexpectedly, there was a sudden creak of loose floorboard, and all eyes darted to where the sound had come from, only to see a black clad figure emerge from its hiding place. Before anyone could utter a word, the lights went out. Darkness lingered.

Without warning, there was a bang, a shriek and once again the city lay silent.

In a matter of seconds, but what seemed like an eternity, they stood frozen, staring at one another. Suddenly, it dawned on them that they had to evacuate the building quickly, as they were clueless to what the bang was. Frantically, they gathered up as many of their secret documents as they could and dashed to the door. Whilst running for the exit, one of the members of parliament yelled at the black clad figure, “Hey you come with us!” Surprisingly, he followed. Sprinting for the door, coughing and spluttering, due to the room filling with smoke, one of the men without knowing dropped some of the secret documents.

Once outside, under the glow of the street lamps all eyes turned to the black clad figure, who was trying to escape. After grabbing him by the wrist, one of the members of parliament de-masked him to find it was Robert, an ex- member of their team. Everyone gasped.

” W..w..why are you here? What do you want? What did you hear?” demanded, yet whispered the Head of Parliament. “I have just arrived so I didn’t hear a thing,” muttered Robert. Suddenly, sirens were heard and got louder and louder as they came closer. Panic reigned, until the Head of Parliament addressed the rest of the team and suggested that as they did not believe Robert, the black clad figure, that they should stay put, blaming him for the bang.

Skidding to a halt, the police arrived and quickly got out of the car. Sprinting, Robert once again tried to escape. The police shouted freeze but he did not stop. Huffing and puffing, he ran as fast as a cheetah but the policemen still caught him. They placed him in hand cuffs and shoved the struggling man into the car. Some moments later, they then turned their attention to the members of parliament and began to question them. The men anxiously explained to the police that they heard the bang so came out of their homes to investigate and saw Robert running from the scene. The police decided to arrest Robert and take him to the police station for further information.

“Now he is out of the way, we can continue with our plan to kidnap the Prime Minister,” exclaimed the Head of Parliament. However, unknown to the parliament members and police, Robert’s accomplices were inside the smoky room urgently gathering the secret and important documents that were dropped in the hurry to get out.

While being driven rapidly to the police cell, Robert began to think about his plan to escape. Unknown to the police, he had a secret tracking device in the sole of his shoe. He activated it! In a blink of an eye, his team received the crucial information about Robert’s location. As soon as the bright red dots stopped moving across the map of London shown on their smartphone screens, his team knew that he had been taken to a high security police station.

Robert’s accomplices had been scanning the documents. They were shocked at the evil plot in front of them. How could the politicians plan to commit such a terrible crime? The group were going to kidnap the Prime Minister from 10 Downing Street and take him directly to the Bank of England through a network of secret tunnels. They were then planning to scan his fingerprints to allow them to enter the vault which held the entire gold resources of the United Kingdom. How evil!

“Operation Jailbreak everyone!” exclaimed one of the team.

As the team’s car shot through the packed streets of London, one of the team put on his disguise: glasses, wig, suit, tie and moustache. Now he looked just like a lawyer.

Skidding round a corner, the car came to a halt outside the police station and the ‘lawyer’ quickly made his way to Robert’s cell; Cell 101 in the highest security corridor.

“I’m the lawyer for the prisoner in Cell 101. I want to discuss with him what he should say in court,” he explained politely to the policemen on duty. The officer in charge led him to the cell where Robert was being held prisoner and then as the law forced him to, left them alone to talk.

The ‘lawyer’ slowly walked into the cell, making sure that no policemen were watching. He handed over to the prisoner his special business card which Robert recognised immediately. It was one of his team! He put his fingers to his lips as a signal for Robert to be quiet and then took out a red pen, opened the lid and pressed the pen against the wall. Instead of ink squirting out, a strange blue, gooey substance appeared on the wall. Robert recognised it as a tiny explosive charge.

The two men silently backed up against the wall furthest from the explosives. The ‘lawyer’ pressed the button on top of the pen to detonate the explosives that were attached to the wall.

The explosion punched a hole in the wall, just big enough for the two men to slot through.

“Stay here,” exclaimed the ‘lawyer’, but a policeman suddenly burst in and started to attack them, throwing punches and shouting for help. The policeman was quickly disabled and they made their escape through the hole in the wall.

“Phew! That was close. I thought we weren’t going to make it,” shouted Robert as they slipped through the gap made by the explosion.

On reaching the street the first thing they saw was a bright light shining at them. A police searchlight had found them, but quick as a flash they darted back into the shadows and melted into the darkness. They had to get back to the others before it was too late and their plan foiled.

Where were the others? The plan had been to kidnap the Prime Minister and use him to get the gold from the Bank of England. They had to find them. As they walked down the street, they saw two people approaching.

“Mummy look – that’s the man I saw on the news before we came out. He’s the one the police are looking for!” said Lola, looking frightened and anxious.

As the two men started to run, a large black Mercedes pulled alongside them and a voice from within sent shivers down their spines. Before they knew it they were bundled into the car – there waiting for them was … Joyce Granger, the Deputy Prime Minister – the real power in Parliament.

“Good evening, gentlemen. I have been expecting you.” said Joyce Granger, “Shall we get on with it?”

Both men were too stunned to speak. What was she doing here? What did she know? Whose side was she on? These, and hundreds of other questions flashed through their mind as they headed for…the Bank of England…

Driving through the familiar streets of London, Joyce Granger began to talk.

“Don’t worry, I know all about the plan to kidnap the Prime Minister” she stated. The two men remained silent. “You don’t know whether I’m on your side do you?” The two men glanced at each other, nervously.

Before long they screeched to an abrupt halt outside the Bank of England.

Fearfully, the two men leapt from the car. “Follow me”, demanded the Deputy Prime Minister. Reluctantly, they followed her into the monumental building. As they walked through the grand entrance both men were grabbed viciously from behind. “You trusted me, how silly”, sneered Joyce Granger.

For the second time that day, Robert experienced a loud bang and all the lights went out. The men froze in fear. A different voice spoke from the shadows.

“No, silly you Ms Granger, thinking you could take power from me”, the lights flickered back on and there stood the Prime Minister with a crowd of security guards and police.

“You fool”, cried the Deputy Prime Minister, “this place is about to blow!”

Right on cue a huge explosion ripped through the Bank of England.

by Year 4 pupils from Buckingham, St. Osmund’s, Chase Bridge, Holy Trinity, Lowther, Stanley and Darell primary schools

The imposing, jagged cliffs, which led to MI5’s secret lair, were sliced by a smooth, black tarmac road.  As Kirstie zoomed down the road, as fast as a bullet, she could feel the petrol tank vibrating on her black, shiny motorbike.  With the visor up on her glossy, black helmet, decorated with bright orange and red flames, she could hear the wind whistling past her ears.  In her mirrors, Kirstie could see a trail of thick, white smoke blasting from the exhaust behind her. Kirstie was wearing a dark, smooth leather all in one and heavy leather gloves.  When on the road with her trusted bike – Kirstie could achieve anything, as she was the top MI5 agent on the force!

Kirstie’s bike was no ordinary bike – it was a completely unique, one-off model of Honda Fire Blade 900cc. It had been adapted and customised to suit the work of an MI5 agent. The motorbike had many hidden gadgets that made it unique. These included a Taser, to electrify the enemy, concealed in the headlight of the bike, specific voice activated software to control the bike with no hands, on the rear of the bike an oil spray/stinger/smoke screen to prevent people pursuing you and finally in a secret compartment on the petrol tank, a gravelling hook to help you ascend tall buildings or terrain.

As Kirstie approached the entrance of the familiar tunnel, she could see the dimly lit, orange glow from the lights.  After travelling one kilometre – halfway through the tunnel – Kirstie swerved to take the camouflaged, sharp left turn that led to MI5’s Headquarters.  She was on her way back to Headquarters, to share the great news with all her fellow agents, after successfully completing her last mission.  As Kirstie walked away from her parked motorbike, two figures emerged from out of nowhere and hurled a gas bomb at Kirstie’s feet. She heard glass shattering and a slow hiss. A putrid pumpkin and stale socks stench ascended into the air around her. Before she knew what was happening, she blacked out and plummeted to the floor.

It was many hours until Kirstie finally woke up. She slowly opened up her bleary eyes, blinking as they adjusted to the darkness. Kirstie felt sleepy and groggy, her head was pounding like a drum. Soon her eyes got used to the dark and she began to make out some shapes around her. At first she thought they were boulders but then…one of them moved!

Kirstie quickly realised she was not alone but was unsure about who her fellow captive was. However, before too long she saw a familiar shape glinting in the low light.

She recognised the shape immediately, it was a special commendation medal she had given out only last month to her friend and fellow agent Bella.

Kirstie felt a huge sense of relief, she and Bella had been on many dangerous missions together and had saved each other’s lives more times than they could remember.

“Bella, Bella is that you?”

Kirstie did not get the reply she expected. Instead there came a series of muffled grunts. Kirstie moved closer to where the sound was coming from. To her horror she realised that her friend had been gagged!

Kirstie edged over to Bella. She couldn’t reach her because their cage was separated by a row of solid metal bars.

Kirstie scanned across the rest of the dull, wet cave. She could hear the dripping of water, but apart from this there was no noise. She was pretty sure they were now alone.

On the far side of the cave she saw a terrible sight; the wreckage of her beautiful bike sat sadly in a heap still smoking and smouldering. However she quickly noticed something that could be useful, positioned on the floor directly under it…

Under the black, crushed, smoking motorbike lay a small circular gas bomb.  Kirstie had an idea.  She thought she could use her Tazer 2000 to burn the bars and fetch the gas bomb.  Just then, she heard the sound of loud, firm footsteps getting closer and closer.  It was an ominous thud! thud! thud! thud!

“Bella, can you hear me? Are you ok?” Kirstie muttered to her trusty agent.  There was no response- just a grunting.

The Tazer 2000 was like no other invention.  It was small yet deadly.  This device had the potential to electrocute anything, produce any weapon or identify objects.  If it fell into the wrong hands it would self-destruct.

The agents could still hear the pounding footsteps edging closer and closer.  Carefully, Kirstie lifted the Tazer 2000 out of her left back pocket and pressed the button to release the laser.  She pointed the device at the bars and burnt through the metal in a circular motion.  The bars dropped, crashing to the rock-hard, solid ground leaving the fume of toxic steel.  Kirstie squeezed through the gap, leapt to grab the gas bomb and suddenly froze!  She spotted in the corner of her right eye, the haunting silhouette of two men.  Everything stopped.  There was dead silence in the cave apart from the distant rumble of a steam engine overhead.  Kirstie snatched the gas bomb whilst Bella produced two gas-masks from the Tazer 2000.

“Stop right there!” came a booming voice from the shadows of the cave.  “You’re not going to get away that easily.”  The voice was very familiar to the two secret agents.  It was the deep, serious voice of Mr Evans- the deputy head of MI5!

Without warning, Kirstie launched the gas bomb into the air.  It flew through the atmosphere like an arrow and landed at the feet of the two men.  BANG!! Everybody’s heart skipped a beat.  The two men fell to the ground, as Kirstie and Bella placed their gas masks over their bruised and battered faces.  They could not believe their eyes.  Lying helplessly on the floor was Sir John Hicks who had recently been promoted to the head of the organisation.  They were gobsmacked!

“Is this a dream?” Bella asked nervously.

“How can our bosses be responsible for this terrible crime?” replied Kirstie.  “They have betrayed us.”

The two agents did not have a moment to spare.  Without a thought they dragged the men out of the cave and up the jagged cliff face.  The wind was blowing a gale but this did not stop them in their tracks.  Out of the Tazer 2000, Kirstie produced a length of rope.  Bella quickly tied it around the wrists of the two evil men before they could stir from their daze.  Within seconds, they had pulled the men onto the track and tied them securely to the rails.

“Is this the right thing to do Kirstie?” asked Bella cautiously.  Kirstie did not reply.  All they could hear was the distant echo of the train, pounding towards them.  The men’s eyelids started to flicker open…

At once, Sir John spotted a tiny, metallic glint of light that caught his attention for a moment and realised it was a sharp, reliable, shiny pen-knife hidden under a small, yellow, glittering rock. He wondered why it was there but had no time to think. He wriggled free but did not have time to free Mr Evans because the powerful, echoing of the train was getting louder as time was ticking. He ran away, without a thought.

Kirstie and Bella turned around and all they could see was a faint shadow zooming towards a deserted island not far from where they were. They assumed it was Sir John… but, it was too late.

They slowly walked away, heads hung in shame, until they stumbled upon a great, large building made of big glass panes and long, skinny, metal poles. They both glared at it in confusion.

The girls zoomed inside and they could not believe their eyes. There were many new weapons and materials. Soon after, they began making an underground base to start tracking Sir John. It took days of hard work to finish but they were now ready to set a mission to stop Sir John.

However, they did not know what was waiting for them…

Little did they know, deep underground Sir John was scheming. He was concocting a maniacal plan in order to blow up the entire base of MI5 with the help of his specially designed Destructor Ray. This Ray was designed to have the power of a nuclear bomb and would destroy anything in its path. Sir John laughed an evil laugh, he knew he was invincible and nothing could stop him. In fact, he was so confident in his scheme he thought there would be no harm in calling Kirstie and Bella in order to gloat.

Brrrrrrrr. Brrrrrrrrr.

There was a vibration in Kirstie’s pocket. She gulped. She knew whoever was calling did not just want a friendly chat. Nervously she lifted the phone out of her pocket and stared at it. Should she answer it? She knew whoever was on the other end of the line was bad news.

“H.. h.. hello,” Kirstie stuttered.

“Hello Kirstie,” a familiar voice replied. “Listen girl, and listen good. I’m going to blow up the MI5 headquarters and there is nothing you can do about it.” Sir John let out an evil chuckle.

“But why? So many innocent lives will be lost,” Kirstie pleaded.

Sir John stopped laughing, “My friend was innocent too! That didn’t stop you trying to kill us.”

“But you kidnapped us! Why would you do such a thing?”

“That was a training exercise you stupid girl!” snapped Sir John – and you took it upon yourself to kill my friend. In fact, he was more than just a friend. Mr Evans was my…he was my…he was my brother.” A small sob escaped from Sir John’s lips. He slammed the phone down, consumed in anger.

He knew he would have to get on with it, no more time to think and no going back.

He returned to the control panel, his steely eyes fixed straight ahead as he began to press buttons and turn dials in order to engage the ray. He moved like a robot, mechanical and determined.

After 5 minutes it was ready. There was just one final thing to do in order to exact his revenge. He knew it was the right thing to do. Those girls had killed his brother. No going back now he thought. His hand reached for the red button when suddenly he heard a noise behind him…

by Year 4 pupils from Buckingham, Heathfield Junior, East Sheen, St. Edmund’s and St Mary’s primary schools

Sitting on gran’s tatty sofa, Lucy and Ben were bored again – no surprise there. Every summer, at the beginning of August, the nine year old twins were removed from their house in London forced by their parents to spend the holiday with their gran somewhere near Cambridge. She seemed to live in the middle of nowhere but always said she was from ‘somewhere near Cambridge’. Gran was a fragile but charming old woman who loved to knit. Every time the twins arrived to visit, gran had made another pair of woollen slippers for them. Even though it was always too warm to wear them, the twins smiled politely and thanked gran. Leaving gran’s house was always difficult because she couldn’t go too far without taking a break. Besides, she had a decent sized garden and mum and dad loved just relaxing and talking. So the twins usually played in the confined space of the garden. At least they were able to mess about with Winston (the hairy cocker spaniel with floppy ears) that gran seemed to have had for years.

On the second day of their visit, Lucy asked, “Can we please go out for a short walk? Ben and I are both nine years old now so we can look after ourselves.”

Their mother looked at her father with a strange glint in her eye. Then their father looked strangely at gran. Gran smirked and replied in her slightly shaky, fragile voice, “Why don’t you go out for an hour or so. There isn’t much trouble to get into around here. There are only a few forested areas and not much else for miles. I don’t have any neighbours either so there’s nobody you can disturb.”

Mum and dad both agreed, “Don’t go too far though” explained dad.

“Make sure you’re both back for lunch in an hour!” shouted mum.

However Lucy and Ben barely caught the end of mum’s words because they were too anxious to get out and play. Winston rushed out of the house with them. They were off! Winston was jumping around and barking as if he’d never been out of gran’s sight.

Then Winston ran further and further away. Ben and Lucy worried and that worry began to grow into fear that they might lose the dog. They raced after him into the woods. Running deeper and deeper into the woods, the twins finally caught up to Winston. He was in a tiny clearing in the woods. Standing completely still, Winston was growling and staring at something. What was it?

Just in front of them was a small, ginger cat. Quick as a flash it darted up one of the enormous trees surrounding them. Clink, clink. There was a faint sound above them. As the breeze rustled through the ivy they heard it again.

“What’s that?” asked Lucy.

Craning their necks, they took a closer look. Suddenly the sunlight reflected off something. What was it? Carefully, Ben climbed up, focused and unaware of the rough edges of the ivy leaves as they scratched him. Something sparkled for a second and then just as quickly it was gone again. A moment later he caught sight of it again and reached up and grabbed it before tumbling to the ground.

“It’s a key!” exclaimed Ben.

“But what’s it for?” wondered Lucy out loud. “What a strange place to keep a key, there must be a door here somewhere.”

Within minutes they were searching, using their hands to pull back the thick, dense curtain of ivy, the long, dark vines draping from the tall trees. It was so overgrown it was as if no one had been there for one hundred years. All of a sudden Lucy felt something hard and rough. She gave one last tug and saw it.

“Over here. Quick. I found it!” yelled Lucy.

In front of them was a solid, old oak door. As the trees creaked in the gentle breeze, they edged closer and closer. Bravely, Ben extended his arm and gingerly put the key into the rusty, old keyhole.

“It won’t turn,” he cried in dismay.

Together they used all their strength and suddenly the door gave way with a loud groan. A bright flash of light blinded them as they tumbled through to the other side.

“Bzzz,” buzzed a lone bee on a nearby rose bush as the sweet scent wafted over whilst the sound of birds chirping filled the air. The smell of fresh country air filled their nostrils. There was something very familiar about it. Quietly they crawled to the edge of the bush and peered out.

Silently, they crept through the door, closer and closer towards the bright light that seemed to come from nowhere. The light suddenly dimmed and Ben and Lucy found themselves in a room, off which led three passages. BANG, the secret door slammed closed behind them and vanished from sight! Lucy was mortified, her heart pumping like an angry bull,

“We’re trapped, now what are we going to do?” screamed Lucy. Ben, however, was trying to hold himself together and be brave – he was a boy after all!

“Don’t worry Lucy, I’ll get us out of here.”

Suddenly the lights flashed on again and in front of them they saw, engraved on the wall in blood, a riddle. It read:

‘How many legs do you have in the morning, the afternoon and the evening? This will determine which passage you take.’

“What does that mean?” questioned Lucy in a panicked voice.

“Be quiet, I’m trying to think,” replied Ben sternly.

Out of the shadows, a man unexpectedly appeared before them. He had old, musty hair with a battered top hat perched on top, his eye sockets looked so empty it felt as if nothing was there. Despite the fact he held a walking stick, he was surprisingly nimble on his feet. He had a grizzly leather jacket slung over his right shoulder and when he opened his mouth, his teeth were all missing. The hair rose on the backs of Ben and Lucy’s necks like static electricity, Ben tried to scream but nothing came out of his mouth. Lucy grabbed hold of what she thought was Ben’s arm but when she looked down she was horrified to find she was holding onto the old man’s wrinkled arm. He held up the two fingers that were remained on his hand and then disappeared back into the shadows. The children were left paralysed with confusion and fear. A voice then spoke from the shadows saying,

“Ben, I am your future self, if you fail to solve the riddle, you’ll end up trapped in the shadows like me. Your future will depend on how you answer this riddle. You have two minutes before your destiny is altered forever. Those two minutes start now!”

“I’ve got it, the riddle is linked to our ages. In the morning we are a baby so we have four legs when we crawl, the afternoon we have two legs and are standing up, and in the evening we have three legs as we have a walking stick. Which passage shall we choose to retain our life?” shouted Ben excitedly.

Lucy turned to look at Ben, bewildered by what he had just said, she couldn’t understand how he had solved the riddle so quickly. Before she had time to question him, they heard Winston bark from the depths of the middle passage. They dived into the passage without thinking about their choice and heard a reassuring voice echoing behind them,

“Good luck, be happy with your choice. I hope your life is better than mine.”

The passage was damp and murky, running was hard-going as it was boggy and sticky. Ben and Lucy began to feel very unsure as to whether they had made the right choice or not. They couldn’t see anything in front of them but were reassured by the cries of Winston that they heard echoing around them. After a few minutes, an outline of Winston appeared. Lucy tried to pick him up but her arms passed straight through him. A barking could still be heard far off so they continued to follow the sound. The noise seemed to be attracting them like a magnet towards a glimmering light. As they reached the light, the barking stopped. Where was Winston? More importantly where were they?

As Lucy and Ben exploded from the passage they found themselves back in Gran’s garden but something was different and they were about to find out how their lives would turn out if they didn’t act quickly…

Around them was not a garden they were familiar with, it looked a bit like gran’s but it was muddy, overgrown and choked with weeds. Ben started to move slowly and cautiously around the garden, inspecting every leaf, with a confused Lucy trailing behind him.

After wandering around, for what seemed like forever, Ben caught sight of the door to the house. It was not its usual red, but, instead, a rusty brown. Ben and Lucy started sprinting towards it, when they plummeted down a hole that had magically appeared. The hole was dark and murky, just like the passage in the room…

Suddenly, Ben and Lucy hit a pile of soft leaves. Wobbling, Ben looked up and saw his future self.

“Ben” he croaked, his voice echoing all around the room. “I’m putting a spell on you; it will make you look like me, because you picked the wrong passage.”

Lucy screamed. As the man was raising his arm, he stopped, looked at his hands and whispered “M…my powers, they’re gone.”

The man smiled at them and turned to start messing with his glass jar. Lucy then nudged Ben and nodded at the door, it looked locked.

“Shall we see what’s out there?” asked Ben. “It might be dangerous.”

“Anywhere but in here feels like paradise to me.” whispered Lucy.

Ben and Lucy quietly stumbled to their feet and ran out of the rust door. As soon as they got out sunrays beamed onto their faces. Great, they were back in gran’s garden.

The sunlight was blocked by a dark, black shadow and in front of them they could make out that the figure was gran.

“Where were you my children?” Gran muttered in a trembling voice.

Ben looked down at the floor and started to speak with an anxious tone. As a bead of sweat formed on his forehead, he replied, “We were just exploring in the woods.”

Gran frowned, tilted her head and looked them straight in the eyes.

“I know what you have been up to. You have found the door haven’t you?”

Ben was curious about how Gran knew about the door. If she knew about the door, she knew about the passageway.

Gran revealed a mystical book which she pulled out from under her shawl. The book appeared to be ancient, covered in golden zig zags with letters they did not recognise. Ben and Lucy gasped as they saw the ginger cat reappear. The cat displayed his claws and his sharp teeth, he made a vicious hissing sound. Suddenly the cat started to change his form. As Ben looked closely he saw that the cat was turning into him! He was turning into the Ben of the future! Ben and Lucy’s blood ran cold as they witnessed Ben’s future form.

Gran acted quickly and turned to face the being. She strongly raised the book into the air. The book flashed as if lightening was filtering out of it. Ben and Lucy were astonished and their jaws dropped with fear. Gran stood her ground. Bold. Triumphant. Fearless.

Whilst Gran held the magical book out the being was blinded and disintegrated in front of their eyes. The children could not understand what had just happened.

Gran informed them that as a child the door would often appear and she would step through it and enjoy the alternate world. One day she had come across the book and knew it was powerful. She had vowed never to return because once the book was returned the door would be no more. Gran handed Ben the book and whispered, “Keep it safe my dear, this is not the end!”

by Year 4 pupils from St Edmund’s, Heathfield Junior, Holy Trinity, East Sheen, Chase Bridge and St Mary’s primary schools

Chapter 1

The dark and unfriendly tunnel seemed to go on forever. Max and Emily suddenly realised that two blinding headlamps were rushing towards them, their flashing beams cutting through the darkness. The inseparable pair looked at each other with sheer horror and immediately zoomed as fast as a lightning bolt trying to outrun the train which was now fast approaching. Nowhere to hide, there was nowhere to hide…

The rumble grew to a roar. At the moment of impact, the noise stopped abruptly. Although the silence was complete, there was a new, different sound, softly at first ‘bang, bang, boom!’ It was increasing as time went by. Max was trapped yelling for Emily because all of a sudden he found himself striking the side of the train. He was pinned down as his rucksack was viciously dragged under the train.

“So this is death, then,” he thought.

“Where are you?” shouted Emily in a frantic and desperate voice.

Max could not believe his eyes: he had been magically teleported to a field during World War 1. While he was trying to figure out where that time-travelling train had transported him to, a man in a smart and impressive uniform was giving out some instructions in a different language. He then heard a loud roar of an engine over his head.

Given that it was early morning, in March, before his eyes, some snowdrops…

Chapter 2

…drifted slowly down towards the battlefield.

Dark smoke clouds filled the air. People were shouting madly, pushing each other to move through the sticky mud. Max could see their grey helmets moving slowly towards him like turtles moving towards the sea. Soldiers dying and falling to the ground. Bodies everywhere! He rubbed his eyes because he thought it was a dream but it wasn’t. Suddenly Max heard an explosion and saw a plane dancing through the air. Machine guns began to fire hundreds of bullets. The pounding of the bullets sounded like the pounding of his heart. Max was terrified! He grabbed a gun and held it in a tight grip. Somehow it reassured him.
All of a sudden a plane swooped down towards Max, he could see that the pilot was dead. Quickly he tried to move but his legs were stuck in the hideous mud. Max knew that there was no escape so he covered his eyes and waited for death. Out of nowhere he saw a lightning bolt and felt himself being transported to another time and place.

Chapter 3

Max gasped as he realised he was no longer pinned by the plane. He was alive. Looking up from the ground Max eyed his surroundings. The jungle was thick. Vines hung from tree trunks and shrubbery covered the jungle floor. Max wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He was already overheating from the humidity.  An unfamiliar squawk filled Max’s ears. He looked into the sky and saw a bird like creature. Its wings looked like those belonging to a bat and its head was pointy like a lizard. Distracted by the bird like creature, Max did not notice the two legged animals scurrying at his feet, until one nipped at his big toe.

“Ouch” screamed Max as he automatically kicked the creature off his foot. The other creatures hissed and ran to safety in a bush close by.

“When did I lose my shoe” he thought. Then Max realised where he was. He had been teleported to prehistoric times. In the distance Max heard a scream. A human scream, a dinosaur? He ran towards the sound. The screams continued and got louder as Max kept running. Finally, he saw what was making the sound. It was Emily but she wasn’t alone.

Emily’s pace slowed as the two legged dinosaur continued to chase her through the jungle. Her legs ached from running. From the corner of her eye she saw him, Max. Relief filled Emily’s heart as she saw Max safe in a tree.

Grabbing a vine, Max flew into the air. With all his might he flung himself at the dinosaur. He stretched out his leg, tensed his muscles and imagined he was Wayne Rooney shooting the winning goal. He connected with the two- legged dinosaur’s head. Pain jolted through his leg as the unknown dinosaur roared with disgust. It fell, with a thud. Emily ran towards Max and hugged him, thanking him for saving her life.

“No need to thank me now” breathed Max, adrenalin still pumping through his veins. “We need to get out of here before it wakes up”.

Suddenly the ground began to shake, the trees began to rustle and then through the darkness of the jungle appeared….

Chapter 4

….a herd of animals including 20 huge horses, roaring lions and snapping salt water crocodiles! A mighty cloud of dust rose up around them and Emily could not see Max.

“Help! Max, where are you?!” screamed Emily. Suddenly, a sparkling strike of lightning came down from the sky, Emily knew it was too late – Max had been teleported to the vicious Tudor times. Would she ever see her friend again?

Max found himself in a dark, gloomy dungeon, all around him were cobwebs and skeletons hundreds of years old.

“I hope I don’t die here, will Emily ever find me and be able to save my life?” he thought.

Before he could answer his own question, he heard heavy footsteps on the dungeon stairs…a huge shadow emerged through the door and it looked as though the shadow held an axe in his hand.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” boomed the shadow.

“I am Max and I have been teleported here from the jungle, please d…d….d…don’t hurt me,” he trembled.

“I am Henry, the richest Tudor in the whole of England and I seek to find my despised, disgusting wife Anne Boleyn, she needs to be beheaded, she has too many other boyfriends!” replied Henry horridly.

“If you befriend me Henry, then I will help you to find your wife,” said Max.

“Alright then, you have until sunset to help me,” said Henry nodding his head.

“Perhaps you could help me find my friend Emily too? She was left behind in the jungle,” asked Max hesitantly.

“A fair deal,” replied Henry and they began to walk up the stairs.

Around him, Max could see golden statues and enormous walls rising up to an elegant ceiling. On the walls hung portraits of all the Kings and Queens that had lived at Henry’s palace in the past. Max darted his eyes around the room hoping to see either Anne Boleyn or a way of finding Emily. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the eyes of one of the statues move to look at him. He walked towards this statue and caught a glimpse of a shiny button on the back of its head. Max wondered if Henry had seen him but when he turned around he realised Henry was too distracted by a pile of precious gold that he was counting slowly and happily. He reached for the button, wondering what it might do…would it take him to his friend and grant his wish or place him in the face of danger yet again?

Chapter 5

He pressed the sparkling, ruby red button quickly and suddenly a passage came up.  Max followed the dark, gloomy passage with dirty, dusty cobwebs that looked very old.  He felt a massive force pulling him towards a castle.  Max walked around feeling confused and scared.  The castle was like a spooky pool of haunted creatures.  Looking around he saw his parents as ghosts.  Worried and scared, he ran into a huge wooden door pushing it open.  He looked into the huge bedroom and feeling tired, wanted to go sleep but there was no bed!  So he slept on the cold but shiny, marble floor.  As his head touched the floor he drifted off and had a nightmare about being turned into a ghost too.

When he woke up, he was in a different place yet again.  “Where am I?” shouted Max.  Max heard a scream…it was Emily.

“Help, help, help!” she bellowed.

“I’m coming for you,” answered Max. In his sleep Max had been teleported back to ancient Egypt.

Following Emily’s cries he stumbled across a grand staircase leading to the palace doors.  He pushed them open and rushed into the middle of the room.  It was full of shiny, precious sculptures.  At that moment he discovered a passageway which he thought would lead him to the dungeon.  As he made his way down the steep passageway Emily’s cries got louder.  At the end of the passage he could see that Emily was handcuffed to a skeleton.  Quickly, Max ran to Emily and tried to free her.  He pulled and he tugged but he still could not free her.  As he was moving he felt a metal key in the skeleton’s hand.  He tried it on Emily, and it worked!

As they paused to plan their escape, two blinding headlamps suddenly came rushing towards them from the far end of the dungeon.  Feeling frightened, they jumped onto the time travelling train, hoping that it would take them home.

With a whistle the train sped off and through the window they could see all the places they had been teleported to…the beautiful Egyptian palace, Henry’s Tudor castle, the thick green dinosaur jungle and the dark, muddy World War One battlefields.

Max and Emily wondered where the train would take them to next.

by Year 3 pupils from  Stanley, Heathfield Junior, Lowther, Holy Trinity and Bishop Perrin primary schools

It was a peaceful day in the Dorset countryside but as the breeze blew softly through the trees and the sun shone as brightly as a light bulb, something strange was happening. A telephone in the Dorset police station was ringing non-stop, another person had disappeared…

That very same day two families were just settling down for breakfast. Charlie and Rachel had come to stay with their Aunt Susan, Uncle Mark and their cousins Beth and Ted. They lived in a pretty, little cottage outside a village near the sea in Dorset. They were looking forward to a day on the beach collecting shells and fossils, splashing in the crystal clear sea and building sand castles. Speedily they cycled down the narrow, dusty lane to the seaside. Charlie and Rachel were arguing as usual, they were twins but did not get on at all! Suddenly their Aunt exclaimed,

“Stop fighting you two and look over there!”

“Wow! What’s that big beam of light?” gasped Uncle Mark.

“Maybe it’s an alien spaceship” laughed Charlie.

“I hope it comes and zaps you up.” teased Rachel.

“Come on lets get to the beach” shouted Ted impatiently, “I want an Ice cream!”

“You go on ahead, I might just go and check what’s making that light over there” replied Uncle Mark. “I’ll meet you at the beach later.”

Uncle Mark cycled quickly towards the mysterious light. The children all waved him off; little did they know they would not see him again for a very long time!

As Uncle Mark cycled carefully towards the blinding light he heard a bizarre sound. It was a sound he had never heard before. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a gigantic crater by the roadside. It was a least three times the size of a football pitch and it was SO deep you couldn’t even see where it ended.

“What’s that?” thought Uncle Mark to himself, as he slowed down to a virtual stop to take a peek.

Now Uncle Mark was an extremely inquisitive man, or as Aunt Susan would say, he was an extremely nosey man, so he got off his bike to take a closer look.

Cautiously, he approached the crater, making sure he didn’t disturb anything that was lurking inside. The strange sound he heard before was now getting louder and louder, and he could also smell an aroma of rotten eggs. “What a revolting stench!” Uncle Mark whispered to himself. “What on Earth could be inside?”.

Eventually, he reached the edge of the crater and slowly bent down. But before he could do anything else, a hand with skin as green as the leaves of a tree and claws as sharp as a pirate’s knife, grabbed his leg.

“AHHH, help me, save me!” hollered Uncle Mark in agony. However, unfortunately for Uncle Mark, there was no one there to hear his screams. As quick as a bolt of lightning, Uncle Mark had disappeared into the abyss.

Meanwhile, down on the beach, Charlie, Rachel, Ted and Beth were busily tucking into their delicious ice-creams and making sand castles, with the twins bickering as usual. “No, that’s not what I said!” argued Rachel. Charlie turned to roll his eyes and noticed that Aunt Susan seemed distracted. She looked worried and was clutching her phone tightly while looking into the distance. “Something’s wrong,” Charlie whispered, “Where’s Uncle Mark?”

“Don’t be so ridiculous!” snapped Rachel, although doubts began to fill her mind. The low sun was illuminating the evening sky, like a paint box of colour and the summer air that had once warmed their faces had now turned into a distinctive chilly breeze. ”Can we go home now?” begged Beth, rubbing her arms.

“Are you ok?” asked Charlie worried. Aunt Susan didn’t answer; she was still staring into the distance.

“Mum, it’s cold” whimpered Ted. Aunt Susan turned around and said “Let’s go home.” Oblivious to their questions, it was as if a light bulb had gone on.

They walked back through the sand, Charlie looked up at the beautiful evening sky. With heavy and hopeful hearts, they trudged through the dusty road and back to the cottage. Not wanting them to know, Aunt Susan gave them a quick supper and roared “Chop chop, up you go to your room!” But, none of them could sleep and instead chatted.

Intrigued, Charlie led them down the stairs followed by Beth, Ted and a reluctant Rachel.

“There’s been a lot of disappearance recently, a beam of light you say!” coughed the policeman.

“That’s it! A beam of light,” gasped Charlie and he remembered Uncle Mark going to see the beam of light. He hushed the gang upstairs. Cautiously, Charlie packed their bags with strong torches while the rest of the gang conjured up ideas. Beth whispered “When she’s washing up.”

“No” said Ted in a hushed voice, “We could pretend we’re going to the playground.” Then Charlie, who had overheard them all commanded “We’ll have to do it when she’s asleep.” With their plan agreed they waited.

When Aunt Susan fell asleep they tiptoed outside, not wanting to make a sound. They unlocked their bikes and set off to where the light had been.

“Follow me!” commanded Charlie, wanting to be head. Quickly, they cycled down the dusty, narrow road where they last saw Uncle Mark. “We are going to get in so much trouble because of you” nagged Rachel, scared.

“Look here!” roared Ted, tired of Rachel and Charlie’s constant bickering.

“What is that hole?” whispered Beth,

They locked their bikes and walked to the crater, there was Uncle Mark’s bike. They were so busy arguing that they did not notice a slim creature lurking behind them. It was green as lush grass and claws as sharp as knives. Just then, they heard a twig snap, their bodies froze. Charlie slowly turned his head to see the creature “Run!” screamed Charlie. They ran as fast as they could, but the creature threw a rope and caught them. “What do you want us for?” shouted Charlie, but the creature was too busy looking at the pitch black night sky.

The creature ignored them, slyly he dragged them to the crater and roughly shoved them to the bottom of the dirty, damp pit. The children felt petrified, lost and lonesome. Suddenly, they all shouted “leave us alone, you ugly, disgusting monster!”. The children wondered, what is this creature?

“How are we going to get out of here?” moaned Charlie.

“And where are we going to find Uncle Mark?” whispered Rachel, hoping the creature would not hear.

Out of nowhere an electric beam of light shone right into the children’s eyes. The creature jumped … the sun was coming up! Whilst this was happening, the children heard a quiet coughing noise coming from the corner of the pit. Ted and Beth recognised the sound … it was their father coughing out the dust of the pit from his echoing throat. Rachel had an idea, “maybe we could cough back, to let Uncle Mark know we are here?” she suggested. Charlie never liked his sister’s ideas, but Ted and Beth agreed with Rachel. Ted let out a little squeak, just loud enough for his dad to hear.

Uncle Mark turned around anxiously to face the children, “is that you Ted?” he croaked. Silently, he tiptoed across the broken bark of the crater, over to the children. The family were reunited, however they still didn’t know how to get out. There was also still the problem of the creature.

Meanwhile the creature was keeping an eye on the sun, for if he stayed in the light too long he would crumble into dust – that was his only weakness. The children noticed the green, slimy hand of the creature was beginning to disappear and break up in the sunlight.

“Wow, look at his hand, he mustn’t like the light, let’s keep him there, it might be our chance to escape …” murmured Ted in a low voice. As the creature started crumbling as the sun began to rise, Rachel was feeling tired and nervous, would they ever get out? And how long would it take for the creature to turn to dust?

At that moment, Beth suddenly remembered, “We have our house keys with us …. Why don’t we cut the ropes?” she suggested. Shaking with fear still, Uncle Mark reached deep into Ted’s pocket and found the sharp, shiny keys. Slowly, he cut and cut all the way through the tough rope so as to free the children.

Just then, the sun shone brighter than ever and the creature let out a cry of agony! The children watched in horror as the creature faded away.

“That was a terrifying experience …. Let’s get out of here as quick as we can!” the twins exclaimed. The children scrambled frantically and, whilst breathing heavily, made their way across the crater in an attempt to crawl out. Just then, the children were startled … “Did you hear that?” asked Charlie …. A clatter of sticks was heard above them … and then a claw appeared at the top of the crater …

by Year 3 pupils from Stanley, Heathfield Junior, Sheen Mount and Holy Trinity primary schools

Chapter 1

One blazing sunny day the blinding bright sun shone into Mr Maker’s cold, rickety workshop. As he was rocking in his cosy chair dreaming up his next invention, the floorboards creaked like a mouse squeaking loudly. The workshop looked like it had been shaken viciously by an earthquake as slabs of rotten wood had fallen from the roof and laid carelessly around. Everyone thought the unloved, lonely building had been abandoned, but this was where Mr Maker spent all of his precious time.

Although Mr Maker was no ordinary old man, he was magical. He made the impossible happen, but no one would ever have thought that to look at him. Mr Maker was easily recognisable from the way his eyes flashed out from his double thick lensed glasses making his eyes appear the size of a 2 pound coin. Also, his white hair stood up tall in a bunch at each side of his head, while a large circular shiny bald patch filled the middle. It looked like he had been electrocuted over and over again.

Suddenly he yelled excitedly, “At last I’ve got the best idea ever! I’m going to make a time travelling machine.” Mr Maker catapulted out of his chair as his heart pounded like a bouncing ball. But little did he know that two children were lurking suspiciously outside…

Chapter 2

Charlie and Ellie were curious 10 years old and always sought adventure and mystery, so when they happened upon the crazy inventor and the trashed, dusty and derelict abode, their bodies tingled with delight. They were on cloud nine!

Maturely, they decide to wait for the mad inventor to create his interesting invention before they reveal themselves, which would be too risky if they wanted to find out about his creation.

From outside the door, they watched intently as his creation grew and grew.

Sparks were flying like fireworks on bonfire night and the children’s ears were filled with bangs and clangs, whizzes and whooshes, which were as loud as a fierce lion’s roar. Smouldering metal filled the air which choked the curious kids who could not cough for fear of being exposed.

At that moment, wise and normally obedient Ellie, checked her watch and to her surprise, she was ten minutes late for her curfew. She nudged Charlie to signal to him it was time to go so that they would not get in trouble. Stubborn Charlie was reluctant to leave this powerful, creepy and brilliant find! But he knew, he would return tomorrow to spy on the creation that was unfolding before him.

So they returned the following day and more of the same happened.

After 4 days of the same routine, which seemed like an eternity, the children could not believe what lay before their eyes. When they opened the creaky door that led to the amazing inventing room, they were astonished and dumbfounded.

Chapter 3

Charlie and Ellie cautiously tiptoed though the slightly open door but they did not see what they expected to see. Mr Maker was not there. Before them lay a wonderful machine with green sparks flying from the back and lots of buttons that had been placed carefully on the front control panel. On closer inspection they saw that there appeared to be dates painted onto the buttons. It was at that point that they realised it was a time machine!

 Ellie’s heart was beating very quickly. It was the best and most magical machine she ever saw. Charlie felt his heart beating too, but even faster than Ellie’s. Their curious nature drove them to start pressing as many buttons as they could. Suddenly, they felt themselves shaking and being pulled towards the pod inside the machine. It was at that point that Mr Maker, who was having a nap, awoke to the commotion and rushed towards the machine to stop what was happening, but it was too late. Events were in motion and there was no way to stop them. There was no time for Mr Maker to explain why. He grabbed Ellie and Charlie and pulled them into the pod. The pod began to shake and shudder. Ellie was scared.

As they were transporting, My Maker seemed angry.

“What were you doing in my workshop?” he said angrily.

“We just wanted to take a look,” whimpered Ellie. Charlie was too petrified to speak.

“The machine wasn’t finished!” yelled Mr Maker. “Do you realise what you kids have done? The machine needs one last part in order for the time controls to work. I was having difficulty finding it as it’s not so easy to buy a ruby in the shops these days! What did you press on the control panel?”

“We don’t know,” said Charlie as he began to cry.

This was bad. They had no way of knowing where they would arrive and they would not be able to get back to the right time unless they found a ruby. Suddenly, there was a jolt and everything went silent.

As they opened the door to the time machine they were hit with a tremendous heat. They were in the desert. Carefully they stepped through the door and out into the hot sand. Things didn’t look right. The buildings looked different and people were walking around in strange clothes. Some of the people were wearing strange makeup and, by the looks of their clothes, they seemed rich. Ellie was deep in thought as if she was trying to work something out. All of a sudden, something that Ellie had learnt at school just came to mind.

“I think we are in Ancient Egypt,” she whispered…

Chapter 4

In the distance they saw lots of sandy coloured pyramids.  At first, Charlie thought it looked like a poor country.  However, Ellie hoped there would be riches in Egypt, then they might find the ruby they so desperately needed.   This got her thinking.  They needed help. 

Immediately they found the nearest person so they could ask for information.  Mr Maker politely enquired, “Excuse me, do you know where we can find a ruby?”

“Oh yes.  You will find it in the tallest pyramid.  Follow me,” the wise, wrinkled man replied.  As it was so far to travel, they borrowed some fat, short tempered, old camels to ride on.  While they were riding, time zoomed by.

Eventually, they arrived at the colossal pyramid.  Unfortunately, the camel collapsed because he was so exhausted.  Cautiously they entered the pyramid.  The door slammed shut!  Thankfully, they had some matches and lit them.  Carefully they tiptoed through the dark creepy pyramid.  It was as dark as the night sky.  Despite being scared, they took a step forward but Ellie shouted, “Stop! I think I see a booby trap here!” Mr Maker halted so quickly that he lost his balance and dropped into a snake infested pit.  Hiss! He was bitten! He squealed in pain, “Help me!”  Ellie and Charlie were so shocked that they fell back onto a secret button that catapulted Mr Maker to safety.

Ahead of them, they spotted two tunnels with hieroglyphics above the entrances.  While they were deciding which way to go, Charlie caught a glimpse of a shiny, sparkling red light coming from the left tunnel.  “Let’s go this way,” he whispered excitedly.  Nervously, they crawled to the end of the miniscule tunnel and entered a giant treasure chamber.  Instantly they went silent because they saw two terrifying mummies guarding the precious ruby.  Bravely, they pushed the mummies aside, grabbed the ruby and sprinted towards the exit.

As soon as they reached the final tunnel, the pyramid started to shake.  “This ruby must be cursed,” bellowed Mr Maker.   Trembling he fell to the ground.  “Oh no! The snakes poison must be starting to take effect,” cried Ellie nervously.    Just at that moment, the wise, wrinkled man appeared and helped to drag Mr Maker back onto one of the remaining camels.  In a flash they were back to where the time machine had been.

However, it had disappeared…

Chapter 5

Charlie suddenly felt the ruby vibrating in his hand, when he looked down it was glowing. “Look the ruby. It’s glowing!” whispered Ellie.

Suddenly they felt the sand moving beneath their feet. Small whirlwinds whisked the sand around uncovering some mysterious stone steps in front of them. Scarab beetles scuttled out from cracks everywhere. The wise old man stepped back and shivered. Slowly he said “Don’t go down there, it might be a trap.”

But the ruby was drawing them down and before they realised it they were helping Mr Maker down the sandy steps towards a huge carved doorway. Scared but strong they crept down the stairs whilst the scarab beetles chased each other around. “Yikes, this place gives me the creeps!” shivered Ellie “What do you think we’ll find in here?”

“Don’t worry, the ruby will guide us,” said Charlie trying to sound brave.

In front of them they saw a dusty door covered in hieroglyphics, a huge Horus eye was in the middle with a dark hole in the centre. Charlie lifted the ruby and placed it gently into the eye. With a loud creak the door slowly opened revealing a tomb full of treasure. As they looked around they saw wooden chariots, golden statues and a huge sarcophagus. “Wow, this is amazing!” cried Ellie.

“Fantastic!” admired Mr Maker “But we need to find the time machine, it could be in here.”

Beneath the dusty wood was a faint light that was flickering on and off. Charlie cautiously bent down and blew the sand away. It was one of the buttons from the time machine. Ellie gasped “The time machine, it must be nearby! Hang on Mr Maker we’ll be going home soon”

As they started to carefully move the Egyptian relics to one side they heard a scrapping sound, someone let out a long, low sigh and behind them they saw the lid of the sarcophagus move!

They all turned and gasped  “Quick work together now! We’ve woken the mummies!”

They moved faster until the great time machine stood before them. It looked so modern amongst the old objects.

“Everyone inside!” urged Charlie as he pulled open the door and started fumbling for the ruby. One look at the mummy who was beginning to creak his way towards them and they all ran into the time machine and shut the door behind them.

Leaning on Ellie’s shoulder Mr Maker pressed the ruby into the machine and carefully put in the date to return home. As they were being transported the children held on tight to one another crossing both their fingers. The machine shuddered and spun as it whisked them back home.

“What an adventure Ellie, I can’t wait to tell my teacher about it!”

by Year 3 pupils from Stanley, Heathfield Junior, Lowther, St Edmund’s and The Russell primary schools

Chapter 1

The grey clouds glided peacefully across the setting sky revealing the golden glow of the sunset, silhouetting the town in the distance. Meanwhile in the houses below people were settling down in front of their fires.  Suddenly Josh caught sight of his watch glistening in the fading light.

“Quickly Grace we need to get home. Mum will have our tea ready!”

Adding the final touches to the snowmans’s face, Grace turned to Josh, “I can’t believe the last two hours have gone so quickly. At least our snowman is finished.”

Reluctantly, Grace grabbed her brother’s hand and the two children began their walk home. They had raced to the snow covered field after school with only one thing on their minds. Grace glanced longingly at their magnificent snowman standing proudly on the horizon and felt sad to be leaving him all alone. The crunching sound of their young footsteps filled the air as the children continued on their journey.

“What was that?” whispered Josh stopping dead in his tracks. A blanket of fear and panic swept over his face. Grace too became aware of an eerie sound hanging in the night sky. It sounded like sobbing. It surely couldn’t be the snowman?

Chapter 2

Josh and Grace decided to continue walking because the air had turned cold and they feared what their mum might say if they returned any later for their tea. The wind was whipping their faces, making their cheeks glow bright red and causing their eyes to stream uncontrollably.

Once again, a noise stopped them in their tracks. It was impossible, but the children were sure that the noise was coming from the snowman. It sounded like a harrowing howl echoing through the air swirling above them. As the snow began to fall, they decided that they could no longer resist the temptation so they turned around to investigate the mysterious noise. The snow was not a glistening snow but rather a thick cruel snow that fell heavily from the grey sky. They began to walk back towards the snowman in the shivering cold. The blizzard got worse and worse as they trudged through the snow covered field.

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea!” shouted Grace.

But Josh simply said, “We are going to see what that sound is,”

Grace vanished into the frozen snow. Josh fell to his knees and his face hit the snow. He tried to get up but the snow was too deep!

“Help!” he wailed. By that stage Grace was too far away to hear him. Josh pulled himself away from the grip of the snow but hit something icy and hard in front of him. Josh recognised the feeling on his hands and it sent a shiver down his spine.  “The snowman!” he shrieked.

 Chapter 3

 Josh stopped suddenly.  “What are you doing here?” he asked quietly. His legs were shaking like leaves spinning round in the wind.

“I’m your snowman and I’m ALIVE!!!” explained the icicle-fingered snowman shivering like a vibrating rattlesnake. Josh turned to run home to find Grace to tell her what was happening. He slipped.  The icy ground was as slippery as a shiny wet glass mirror that somebody has spilt water over. He ran as fast as he could. The snowman ran speeding after him. Josh ran faster. So did the snowman! He could hear him behind, his feet splodging in the sloshy snow, his panting breath like a lion chasing his prey. He felt the snowman’s cold breath shimmering on his neck.

What was he going to do? How could he get away?  Suddenly he tripped over a piece of sharp ice in the centre of the wet, icy path.

He called  “Help!”.  The snowman calmly picked him up. He wanted to show Josh that he wasn’t going to hurt him. Josh was making a funny noise…a rumbling sound.

“Please help me” he said. “I’m caught in a magical spell. I come from the Land of Giant Snowmen. An evil wizard with a snow white beard has been stalking us. When he saw you building your snowman he shrank me smaller and put me inside it by sending me through a portal in space. I can never be free on myown.”

The snowman cried sadly with drops of ice falling from his eyes.

“Will you help me get home? I miss my friends so much and they’ll be wondering where I’m gone!”

Suddenly a whirlwind of snow appeared in the middle of the bumpy, white field.

“Watch out” shouted the snowman in haunted voice. “It’s him!”

Chapter 4

“It’s the wizard!” yelled the snowman. Josh’s face went white with fear, as white as the snow that had been falling heavily all day. The wizard was like nothing Josh had ever seen. He had bony, twisted fingers and a pale ghostly face which sent shivers down Josh’s spine. His face was cruel and evil, with a sly clown-like smile plastered across it. As Josh looked at the wizard’s beard it seemed to be wriggling as if it was made of sickly green snakes.

The wizard looked up at Josh and hissed, “Give me that snowman! I am trying to capture all of the Giant Snowmen so that I can finally be the king of Giant Snowman Land”.

Just then, as quick as lightning, the wizard waved his magical wand at Josh and the snowman and began to chant a deathly spell.

“Ziggedy Zaggedy, Zoggedy, Zoom. Now prepare to meet your doom”.

Suddenly, a huge flash of light shot out of his wand but before it could hit them, Josh, who was feeling heroic, pulled a mirror out of his pocket and reflected the spell back at the cunning wizard.

“RUN!” screamed Josh “QUICK!” And they ran as fast as cheetahs through the crunchy, freezing snow.

“Where are we going?” asked Josh.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan”, whispered the snowman as he smiled quietly. “In here” he muttered and his voice echoed through a dark, gloomy cave. Slowly, they crept in.

“What are we doing in here?” asked Josh.

“It’s the only safe place I could think of to show you this” said the snowman as he took off his tatty, battered hat and produced a glittering snow-globe, glowing eerily in the dark cave.

“I stole this from that cunning wizard earlier today” he said proudly.

“What on earth do we do with that? How can it possibly help us?” Josh replied breathlessly.

The snowman explained that the snow-globe was a magical object and would transport you anywhere you wanted to go.

“We need to go to where that ghastly wizard lives and stop him once and for all” the snowman said determinedly.

Josh and the snowman held hands and began shaking the magical snow-globe.

Chapter 5

“Go to the cruel wizard’s frozen castle!” the Snowman commanded.

In a flash they appeared at a gloomy, icy castle. As they looked at it they began to dread going inside but they knew they had no choice. “C-c-c-come on Josh, let’s g-g-g-g-go” the snowman stuttered nervously. “I know you’re scared but we have t-t-t-to.”

They crept silently towards the castle knowing that there was a chance they would never escape this forbidden place. When they eventually looked up they spotted long, sharp icicles dangling from the high ceiling and just at that moment they heard a huge booming voice calling “Who dares trespass in my lair?” A ghostly figure emerged from the creepy darkness; Josh screamed “It’s a ghost, help!” But the Snowman just walked calmly on as he was determined to stop the wizard once and for all.

Suddenly the wizard swept in and Josh felt an icy shiver run down his spine as the wizard began to chant a ghastly spell. Josh was sure that this was his end!

“Rusty, rusty something rusty. I order my spell to make you frosty!” Another yellow blinding flash of light shot speedily from the wizard’s wand but as before Josh cleverly whipped out his trusty mirror and the spell flew back into the wizard’s glaring, black eyes! It froze him immediately, but not all of him, his wand lay wriggling on the icy floor.

The snowman quickly grabbed the dangerous wand which nobody dared touch when in the evil grip of the wizard. Nervously, the snowman demanded

“Frosty spell, please make this wizard freeze for all his life so everyone can be cheerful again.”

The spell reached out and wrapped the wizard in a case of never melting ice. Josh felt exhausted, they had won and he couldn’t believe his eyes as the Snowman lifted him high into the vast sky in celebration! The Snowman turned to Josh and whispered “I could not have done it without you; the Snowmen owe you their lives in return!”

Josh felt so proud of himself but he could not help to begin to think of Grace and his home. The Snowman interrupted his thoughts, asking him “Come join us Josh, there will be the most amazing celebration in honour of you and your quick thinking!” Josh thought carefully as he gazed around the mesmerising ice world. The Snowman looked at Josh and realised that Josh had to go home. The kind Snowman gently clasped Josh’s trembling hand and he quietly said “Take Josh home,” as he shook the magic snow globe.

Josh landed on the soft snowy ground in his garden with a bump. In a hazy blur Josh could see the silhouette of the Snowman disappear. Excitedly, Josh raced inside and hugged his mother tightly and thought “Oh, such a day I have had!”

by Year 2 pupils from Collis, Sheen Mount, Trafalgar Infant, Stanley and Lowther primary schools

Once there was a spooky house that stood on its own in the middle of a sunflower field. It was easy to spot because you could see a light flashing from the window that was always open. Nobody lived there, but people that passed felt a shiver of fear when they looked at the house. Everybody wondered what had happened in that house and why the window was always open…

The farmer’s children were curious about why the light flashed from the window. Some evenings just before they turned off their light to go to sleep, Rebecca and Bob would stare at the mysterious light and imagine what could possibly be causing it to flash. More and more the two children thought about the house and the light. They DESPERATELY needed to find out about the house. One night, brother and sister crept down the stairs. Never having been out in the dark on their own before, they were feeling both scared and courageous at the same time. As Rebecca quietly opened the door, Bob signalled to Jasper the dog to follow them outside. They scampered along the path through the sunflower field until they reached the house. Rebecca stopped and started to approach the house cautiously. Suddenly Bob pointed.

‘A face!’ he cried. ‘A face, there at the window!’

Then, Bob and Rebecca realised that the face was not a scary monster, it was actually a young girl with long blond hair screaming for help.

“We need to help her,” shouted Rebecca.

“Let’s find a way in,” exclaimed Bob. So Bob and Rebecca rushed up to the large creaky door at the front of the house.

“It’s locked,” said Rebecca frantically. They tried banging on the door but nobody answered. “Let’s find another way in,” exclaimed Rebecca.

“WINDOWS!” said Bob with wide eyes. So the pair tried all the windows but none of them were opened.

“What are we going to do NOW?” cried Rebecca.

Then suddenly they heard Jasper the dog scratching and barking at something on the side of the house. They scurried over to see what Jasper was scratching at.

“It’s a small dusty door,” whispered Bob. So Rebecca and Bob both grabbed the door handle and pulled the dusty door open…

The door lead to a dark, gloomy corridor thick with hanging cobwebs.  A girl’s cries floated down a dusty staircase at the end of the corridor.  Rebecca, Bob and Jasper crept towards the sound.  At the top of the stairs, they saw the young girl, laid flat on the floor with her foot stuck between some flaky, rotten floorboards.  She wore a muddy, purple top and black riding boots and she was clutching a bright yellow torch.  She sobbed with relief when she saw them.

“Are you alright?” they asked.

“No, I think I’ve broken my leg!” she wailed.

“What’s your name and how did you get into this mess?” Rebecca comforted.

The girl explained.  She had been riding past the mysterious house when she noticed the open window and decided to investigate.  As she entered the seemingly deserted house, the door suddenly slammed shut behind her. Just then, from upstairs, she could hear crying and wailing so she tip-toed nervously upstairs into the filthy bedroom. Inside the girl found the torch. As the wailing got louder, the floorboards fell through, trapping her leg.

For two days she had flashed the torch through the window to try and get someone’s attention but no one had come.  At that moment, all three children heard the same crying and wailing sound drifting from the attic room above them…

Rebecca, Bob and Jasper decided to investigate the noise. They slowly tip-toed up the stairs towards the attic whilst the wailing got LOUDER and LOUDER! They opened the door but, again, the door slammed behind them. On the floor, in front of them, was an enormous egg with cracks all over it. Suddenly there was a flicker of light from inside and the children watched as the egg slowly cracked open!

Out crawled a small dinosaur with sharp teeth. It had hair all over its body and a small pair of wings. When it saw the little girl it stopped wailing. The children gasped in fear as it waddled towards them. Putting one wing behind its back, it bowed politely and asked, “Are you my family?”

“No, but you can come and live with us on our farm if you like!” chorused the children.

Suddenly the dinosaur flapped its wings and swooped up the chimney out of sight!

The children shivered and rushed to the open window only to see a tiny little dot high up in the sky.

Was it returning to its real home?

by pupils in Year 2 from Bishop Perrin, East Sheen, Stanley, Lowther and The Russell primary schools

Crowds gathered in the busy school field. It was a bright, sunny day and the fluffy, white clouds looked like cotton wool against the pastel blue sky. Excited chatter filled the air! Something COLOSSAL was about to happen …

The Great Balloon Race was about to begin. All the schools in Teddington had been asked to enter the race to raise money for the children in Syria. Nervously, two children were waiting next to a beautiful, rainbow coloured hot air balloon. They had both been chosen to represent Sacred Unicorn Primary School.

Ricky and Rosie were in Year Two. Ricky was a sensible, intelligent boy with hair as yellow as the sun and kind, sapphire blue eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. There was something extraordinary about Ricky… he could do MAGIC! Rosie (on the other hand) was a sneaky, crafty character. She loved to make mischief wherever she went! She had flame red hair, a cheeky glint in her turquoise eyes and a scattering of freckles on her nose. Perched on her shoulder was a little, tabby kitten called Ginger. Ginger (who was hiding timidly behind Rosie’s hair) was Rosie’s loyal companion and went everywhere with her. “It’s alright Ginger, we’ll be safe. I promise!” whispered Rosie reassuringly. The truth was Rosie didn’t know that for sure. Nobody did…

Suddenly, the first whistle blew. That was the signal for them to step into their balloons. Rosie’s tummy rumbled and her breathing began to get quicker. Ricky held on to Rosie’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t be scared Rosie, look how beautiful the twinkling blue sky is,” whispered Ricky with a cheeky grin on his face…

The second whistle blew and the race began! A cheerful, loud noise filled the sky as the crowds beneath them roared for their school to win the race. They couldn’t waste another second and Ricky was so excited he started singing “Up, up and away we go”. The balloon jerked and started to rise slowly up into the air.

Rosie froze in fear and couldn’t keep hold of Ginger. She wasn’t helping Ricky to steer the balloon either and it was moving faster and higher up in the air. “Rosie, help me, I can’t manage it on my own,” ordered Ricky. Rosie couldn’t find the words to speak. She started shivering and shaking her head. Ginger started to purr as they passed some fluffy, candyfloss like clouds. Beneath them, everything seemed so out of reach.

Rosie began to feel a little calmer but just as she turned to pick Ginger up, she screamed because there was Ginger on the edge of the basket. “Ginger!” Rosie screeched but it was too late…Ginger had leapt out of the balloon. “Oh no,” wailed Rosie as tears dripped down her pale cheeks. “What are we going to do?” Ricky turned and looked at Rosie. “Don’t worry Rosie, I think I can help…”

As quick as a flash, he magicked up a basket, a rope and mini-air balloon. He attached the balloon to the basket, and cast another spell. Incredibly, it began to drop down to Ginger.

Below, the crowd looked up in amazement, thinking, “How on earth are they going to rescue Ginger?” A child and a teacher fainted because of the dangerous and terrible sight. The balloon race was turning into a nightmare.

Ricky screamed as loud as he could, “Get into the basket.” Ginger felt sick and scared, but managed to stab his claws into the basket and pulled himself in to it. Ginger was safe. Slowly the cat began to rise up and return to safety. The amazed crowds below began to cheer and clap.

But suddenly there was a loud bang and a clap of thunder. An incredibly rough storm descended from the sky and the balloon started to wobble. The rope slipped in Ricky’s hands and Ginger fell in to a very deep hole in the ground. Rosie and Ricky looked on in horror as their beloved cat disappeared. What could they do next to save him?

Ricky thought very quickly. He had to do something, however Rosie’s desperate sobs were not helping. Suddenly he remembered the broomstick spell from his secret spell book. “Abracadabra, turn this balloon into a broom. Alcazaam!” whispered Ricky secretly.

In a flash Ricky and Rosie were sitting on a very speedy broomstick. “What a good idea!” shouted Rosie followed by, “Don’t worry Ginger, we are coming!”

Ricky, who was an expert at broom driving, zoomed through the air and did a somersault in the air to the cheers of the crowd below. “Stop showing off Ricky, we have to rescue Ginger,” urged Rosie and as quick a flash Ricky pointed the broom in the direction of the hole.

As soon as they entered the dark spooky caves the sunlight disappeared. Ricky slowed the broom to get his bearing but unfortunately disturbed a bats’ nest, to Rosie’s horror. “We need a light Ricky. I don’t want that happening again,” exclaimed Rosie and straight away Ricky muttered some strange words and a lantern appeared on the front of the broom.

The cave was gigantic, they did not know where to start the search. The silence of the eerie caves was suddenly disturbed by a loud bang. Rickie looked around for a second. However this meant he could not see the huge boulder in front him. Boom! The broom crashed and fell. The next thing Rosie remembered was waking up with her head on something soft. Suddenly the soft patch wiggled and meowed. “Ginger” Rosie shouted with delight.

“I’ve the broom and it still works” exclaimed Ricky, “Come on, lets get out of here quick.” Rosie did not need to be asked twice and got on the broom as quick as a flash.

After a few short minutes the brave team emerged into the bright sunlight surrounding the school field. As soon as the worried crowd spotted them they cheered. Ricky, to celebrate, lit up the sky with fireworks from the back of the broom. He then flew gently to the landing spot and jumped off to further cheers.

Suddenly the Headteacher of Sacred Unicorn appeared through the crowd with a huge grin on his face. “Well done team. I think we can have a day off tomorrow to congratulate you.” When the rest of the pupils heard this they jumped for joy and lifted Ricky and Rosie onto their shoulders. Ricky smiled, looked at Rosie, and said “What an exciting day we have had.” With that, both them burst out laughing and continued enjoying being firmly back on the ground.

by Year 2 pupils from Collis, East Sheen, Stanley and St. Edmund’s primary schools