A MOUSE OF COMMONS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: THE DAY CHARLIE GRRR ATE CHRISTMAS!!!
To keep you all going until we return on 2nd January with the final 3 parts of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA we have a special Christmas story to be posted here and now ; we hope you enjoy it.THE DAY CHARLIE GRRR ATE CHRISTMAS...(A story by Paul Chandler for Christmas 2007)
Well, what a very strange Christmas it was that year...The first I knew of any trouble that December day was when I heard my trusty woodlouse assistant, Oliver, pounding on my bedroom door early on Christmas Eve morning.
"Boss! Boss!" he cried. "Charlie's done something terrible..."
This was hardly news; it was really just a fact of life..."What's he done now?!" I sighed, presuming that he'd probably accidentally wrapped himself up by mistake whilst wrapping his son Junior's presents up. "Don't tell me he's used all our supplies of sticky tape up again!?"
The bear had stuck himself to the ceiling earlier in the year as a birthday surprise. In the end the surprise had been on him as Ollie had arranged me a trip to see Shy Yeti performing in concert on the Isle of Wight and we'd not come home for two whole days and Charlie had been stuck to the ceiling for the whole weekend; eating nothing more than cobwebs and the dead toenails of untidy spiders.
But this time it wasn't anything to do with sticky tape..."It's worse than that, boss..." replied Ollie and I was about to offer another guess when he came out with it all at once. "Charlie's only gone and EATEN Christmas..." he blurted.
There was silence after he'd said this - for, at least, thirty seconds whilst I tried to take it all in.
"He's done WHAT? Eaten Christmas? What on earth do you mean by that? Eaten all the food for Christmas dinner; do you mean?"
"Umm..." Ollie thought for a moment before replying. "Worse than that; really. Sure, he's eaten some of the food for tonight's banquet - but what's more he's eaten the tree - the tinsel - the fairy from the top of the tree and about 90% of the baubles too..." I was speechless and so Oliver continued after a quick pause. "He SAYS he did it all in his sleep..." he concluded.
"Of course he did..." I sighed. "...And I suppose now he expects us all to sort it out..."
There was more silence at this point and then Ollie finally gave his reluctant reply. "Well, erm - not exactly..." he explained. "He actually said that we weren't to worry and that he'd sort it all out..."
"Charlie said NOT to worry!?" I exclaimed, jumping up and pulling on my dressing gown in a hurry.
"That's right; he said not to worry..."
Now if anything was a cause for worry; Charlie telling us NOT to worry was a definitely an alarm call!!
We both recalled how he'd told everyone not to worry when he'd taken over the organisation of a mutual friend's Halloween party a year or so ago. Along the way he'd turned everyone into monsters with his cursed (and slightly over-baked) zompies.
The idea of him taking over the Westminster Christmas Eve Party was something that sent shivers of fear down my spine.
I began to wish that we hadn't volunteered to remain in Parliament care-takering the building for the holiday period. We'd been invited to spend Christmas in all sort of pleasant places; places where Charlie Grrr would have been too large to fit through the door, for instance.
"Ah!! Gladstone!! Oliver!!" beamed Charlie some minutes later. He was a portly old bear with pepper and salt brown light brown fur; a friendly growl and a belly almost twice the size of his head. What's more he far too large to have been clambering up and down Christmas trees after the decorations. "Hello! Hello!" he chorused jovially. "How are you!?" he continued, trying to look as calm about the whole matter as possible, as he plucked a bit of tinsel from his teeth.
"Not so good, to be honest..." I snapped. "What's all this mess? What have you done? What got into you?"
Charlie stared about the debris of the Great Hall. "Do you know what, I don't understand it either..." he replied and shrugged. "I did have the most curious dream where I had entered an eating competition; which I won, of course!! But well, I imagine I must have been sleep eating..." I was about to lecture him about how irresponsible he was and how much trouble it would take to sort everything out; when he suddenly made a surprise announcement. "Anyway - it'll all be sorted by the big meal tonight; I have it all in hand!"
"All in paw; ah yes - very good Ollie; very amusing..."
But I still wasn't amused by the idea of Charlie getting involved. "Charlie - you're not to cook for the people; last time you cooked you turned everyone into zompies and reverted yourself back into a cub in nappies..."
Charlie was obviously upset to have this matter brought up again; but he tried not to show it. "I shall not be cooking anything, I'll have you know, Gladstone..." he insisted as he led us both through into the kitchens when I was surprised to recognise the leading badger chef Jamie Cauliflower busying himself around the kitchen with several of his badger cub assistants. "Jamie is helping replace all the food I snaffled; although to be fair I didn't eat all of the food - it was actually the decorations that I took a fancy too in my sleep-walking state..." he explained, looking a bit dreamy as he thought back to what he had done. "Mmmm. Those baubles were ever so crunchy..." he sighed and before I had time to berate him he added. "I've bought new decorations; they were just delivered - so if you would like to come and tell me where to put them back up, then I'd be very much obliged..." he growled.
"Yes... Yes... Very well..." I agreed grumpily; I'd been hoping for an early night and a chance to curl up in my tail and eat cheese - but that didn't look like happening now.
I was about to suggest that Ollie came along to help out only to see that he had been put in charge of stirring something and looking after the pound coin that was to go in the Christmas pudding.
It was a relief to see that Charlie hadn't actually eaten the whole Christmas tree - although he was right that he had demolished all the decorations and I was concerned when he began to give the new box of baubles the eye as I passed them up to the bear.
"Can't I just try one!?" he growled sadly at one point. "You know - just to see if they taste okay - I mean, it wouldn't be very good if they'd gone off, now would it?"
"NO!!" I exclaimed. "Baubles don't go off and they don't need to taste good to be good at their job; which is basically to hang on the ends of the branches of Christmas trees and just sparkle!!" I explained, sounding quite cross again.
"Oh..." Charlie replied. "Oh, I see... Is that so... What a pity..."
I couldn't help feeling a little bit sorry for the bear; but in the end I went well beyond the course of duty in helping him put the room back into shape. At one point I was swinging dangerously up in the rafters putting the tinsel up because Charlie was too heavy; and so he just stood on the floor below and applauded every few minutes and promised to catch me should I fall. In the end we ran out of sticky tap and some dustmites; including my good friend's Laura and Paola had to be asked to come and hold the last of the decorations up by hand. It was quite a scary task because any breeze occasionally caused some of them to lose their grips and then their other friends had to waft them back in the right direction.
Quite quickly the hall began to look quite festive once again and I found myself stranded up on top of the tree. Charlie seemed quite distracted because his son; Charlie Junior had arrived and they appeared to be comparing fancy dress outfits; one of santa and the other that of a Christmas fairy. Junior was the spitting image of his father; although his fur was a darker brown and his belly was only just beginning to develop. It had to be said; that out of the two of them it was Junior who was the more responsible.
"Hello Uncle Gladstone!!" he called, waving to me where I perched at the top of the tree; I attempted to wave back, but almost fell off so remained still until help came.
"You're not getting me wearing that..." I insisted; indicating the fairy costume as a couple of fire-flies brought me safely down to earth; but Charlie Senior didn't appear to be paying very much attention to me.
"Sorry Gladstone, old thing..." he apologised. "We have to go and get ready. Don't worry; the fairy costume isn't for you..."
I was concerned about Charlie getting his son to dress as the fairy and sit at the top of the tree in case he fell off; or worse still - in case he decided that he might take a fancy to eating baubles like his father. However, in the end I didn't get much chance to say so.
"The hall looks very nice, Uncle Gladstone..." Junior assured me as they both hurried passed, but I was almost too exhausted to reply.
It was then that I suddenly realised that it had been a while since I'd last seen Oliver and so once the bears were gone I hurried back through into the kitchen. However, when I asked Jamie Cauliflower where Ollie was he seemed a trifle vacant and unsure of how to answer. They were almost done with preparing the food now and the first guests were arriving; very soon they would be serving up the starters and it wasn't the best time to be discussing with me the whereabouts of my lost louse assistant.
"The last time I saw him he was over there..." was his only (and very vague) reply.
On the table where I'd last seen him there sat a steaming Christmas pudding and several trays of cooling mince pies.
Desparately I shot up the table leg and began to call out Ollie's name. Could it be that he had somehow ended up in the mince pies? Maybe he had taken a nap under one of the uncooked pastry lids or what if he'd fallen into the Christmas pudding still holding the one pound coin; it wouldn't be the first time that the louse had fallen into food; he'd nearly drowned in a gravy boat in Barcelona not so very long ago...
The only trouble was that this time the pies and pudding had been cooked; which could only mean that had poor Ollie fallen asleep in the unbaked pastry then...
"Hi boss!!" exclaimed a cheerful voice in my ear. "So, what are we looking for?"
"YOU, OLLIE!!" I exclaimed, too pleased to see him to sound cross. "I thought you'd fallen into the dessert and got cooked!"
"Ooooops..." replied the louse, who appeared to be holding a new roll of sticky tape. "I just nipped down to the shops to get more of this; sounded like you needed it - I used the coin that was supposed to go in the pudding. I've got 27 pence changes and I was just going to chuck that in when I got back; but it took me slightly lnger than I expected because I a bunch of carol singing weevils demanded that I listened to them sing "Once in Royal David's City..." before I came back inside.
"Never mind..." I sighed, simply glad that he was all in one piece.
"Ho... Ho... Ho..." boomed a voice, out in the festive hall and it sounded as if the guests were now starting to arrive.
"Shall we go and see Charlie do his santa impression!?" I grinned, rather relishing the idea of seeing the plump bear dress up in such a manner.
"I think he'll rather suit a big white bushy beard..." agreed Oliver.
But as it happened we were both surprised; because it was little Charlie Junior as Santa out in the hall; busily handing out presents to the new arrivals.
"But where's big Charlie, boss!?" Ollie enquired and I was about to presume that he'd simply wandered off somewhere to find food when all of a sudden I saw him...
There he was; up on top of the newly decorated Christmas tree - dressed as a fairy with a face full of candy cane and mistletoe; causing the top of the tree to loll sideways rather worryingly as he snored his way through the songs that the carol singing weevils were singing down on the hall floor below.
Perhaps I should have been cross again; but quite honestly I just didn't have the energy.
"Charlie looks lovely up there dressed like a little fairy, doesn't he boss!?" Ollie giggled. "He looks absolutely beautiful!!"
"You're right..." I agreed. "One might almost say he looked bear-utiful..." I added with a laugh. "Yes, absolutely bearutiful indeed, Ollie..."
It really had to be said; that despite Charlie Grrr's worrying appetite - in the end we really did have a most pleasant Christmas that year...This story was written between Saturday 22nd and Monday 24th December 2007.The photos that follow are part of my own Christmas experience in 2007 + a little bit of Charlie! Charlie is currently vacationing in Mexico with Mr Neph so apologises for not being able to pose for any new Christmas photos.
We return on Wednesday the 2nd of January 2008 with part 13 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA.Labels: Charlie Grrr, Gladstone McWhiskers, Mouse of Commons, Oliver Louse
CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR BREAK!!!
Wah. Due to cold and flu-eyness and also due to the fact that I've left my note book back in the office the final three parts of
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA will be posted between
Tuesday 2nd and Friday 5th January 2008.
HAVE A LOVELY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND A VERY HAPPY 2008!!!
There are loads of exciting new things coming along in the new year for Mr McWhiskers and his associates...
PART 12 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 12The 12th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.
Majorca, Late Autumn.To be honest, Gladstone wasn't sure whether it was more alarming that Kob had simply gone back to being silent once he'd ushered him back inside the taxi. He'd expected further fuss - but there had been none and so now he was wondering whether there was worse to come or whether simply he was more distracted by trying to catch up with Charlie and Augustus Grrr.
"Don't be offended, mouse chum..." he had beamed sarcastically, once they were all safely back inside the taxi. "It's just that I've grown accustomed and attached to your company and don't want to lose my favourite travelling companions..."
With that he had closed the side door; plugged up the hole in the metal work; chucked the dangerous looking oranges on the passenger seat and driven off in the direction of Valdemossa; after Charlie, Augustus and Ollie.
"I thought you were a goner there, Gladstone..." Claud had hissed once Gladstone was returned to him and Glad was relieved that, at least so far, the cub had not resorted to any violence. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine..." nodded Gladstone, although he was a little shaken up and slightly sore from trying to squeeze through the small hole in the side of the car.
After this the journey seemed to take an age and in the bad weather progress was slow. In fact their decision to take the mountain route up to Valdemossa caused a bit of a stir as police were just about to cordon off the road; but they saw Kob driving the taxi and knowing the trouble that Charlie and Augustus's arrival had caused they simply dragged back the road block and let them through; relieved that the curious bear tourists were now someone elses problem.
The last thing they wanted, despite being petrified by them, was trouble from offended bears; especially offended bears who were part of the dwindled tourist trade who could potentially boost the economy in some positive way during the island's winter months.
"They don't look used to bears..." Claud pointed out to Glad, in a whispered tone. "Perhaps they think Charlie will eat all the village children if they try and stop them driving about..."
"Only if they're pies..." Gladstone observed. "...or unless they're in pies already, perhaps. I don't think Charlie's ever been known to eat a child or even an adult for that matter - too many of his friends in the record business are people - and that's also why he'll never eat mouse or cat pie..."
"People are very chewy..." Claud added and then quickly explained himself. "Not that I've ever tried - I just read about it in a pie magazine once... I'm vegan, anyway..." he continued, blushing under his fur. "So, I won't be eating any of my friends either..."
It was a rather odd thing to have said; but Gladstone smiled - the poor cat was getting himself in quite a fluster about the whole traditional cat/mouse relationship; but just so that the cat wouldn't feel stupid for too much longer; Gladstone curled up on his head and decided that it was time for them both to take a quick nap.
They fell asleep pretty quickly and must have dozed for quite some time; for when next they woke they were high up in the mountains and the snow was much thicker; it was also beginning to get light.
"CRAZY CUCUMBERS!!" exclaimed Kob suddenly, startling both Gladstone and Claud awake in a moment. "WHAT ON EARTH!?"
The two friend both sat up and saw exactly what it was that the cub had been so shocked about; for coming speeding down the hill towards them at a rapid pace was Augustus Grrr; stood upright in the back of the cart and coming right at them...
Gladstone threw himself at Claud's collar for balance and Claud clung to the door handle - as Kob tried to swerve the taxi out of the way of the speeding cart.
But he wasn't quick enough...The taxi clipped the edge of the cart and stopped it dead in its tracks; tumbling sideways. Meanwhile the taxi ploughed off the road and into a ditch; but thankfully at quite a reduced speed; but it was still a surprise as it all happened so quickly.
Kob didn't even wait to see if Gladstone and Claud were okay, but jumped from the car and hurried across the snowy road to where Augustus and the cart lay silently.
The side door had shot open during the crash and so Gladstone and Claud were able to scramble out; but there was no doubt that any chance of them getting the car back on the road without help from a tow-truck seemed very small.
"This wasn't something I was expecting..." Gladstone gasped - only just catching his breath at this moment. "It rather looks like Charlie and his father have had a bit f falling out..."
What neither Gladstone nor Claud had noticed was what was happening to Kob at that very moment; as he peered into the up-turned trailer at the silent figure of Augustus Grrr.
Suddenly the preserved bear's eyes flicked open and a large paw grabbed Kob by the neck. "Now you're mine..." he growled menacingly. "NOW YOU'RE MINE..."Next episode Gladstone and Claud witness the revival of an old nemesis and Charlie and Ollie finally reach their goal...
TUNE IN AGAIN, TOMORROW FOR PART 13 OF THIS ADVENTURE...This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in London on Tuesday 4th December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...As promised - more photos from the lovely Valdemossa...
Photos and text - copyright Paul Chandler, 2007.Labels: Charlie Grrr, Gladstone McWhiskers, Mouse of Commons, Oliver Louse
PART 11 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 11The 11th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.Majorca, Late Autumn.It wasn't so much that the snow was getting deeper as they dragged Augustus's trailer on up the hill; but that it was by now almost totally dark and that inbetween shouting at Ollie to brush the snow off his father's head Charlie seemed more interested in eating the remains of his paella.
"You know what, Ollie - I had no idea that it snowed in Majorca, although my father tells me that it does from time to time; however I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't just used some of his magic to make the weather worsen; partly to stop the competition - and partly because he always was a bit of a sucker for traditional Christmas card scenes..."
"The competition!?" exclaimed Ollie in some confusion. "What competition are we talking about?"
"Oh come on - I'm sure I must have told you! They're right behind us - that's why we really had to ger a bit of a move on back in Soller..."
"But who? Gladstone and Claud, do you mean - I thought you said that they were safe back in Palma..."
"Well them, yes..." Charlie agreed, nearly overturning the whole van as he took a particularly tight corner at too great a speed. "But those two don't really count as the competition... It's that bear from back in Barcelona who's the biggest danger, now..." he explained, although Ollie was obviously still quite unsure of who he meant. "You know - the one who was digging for the map under the pie factory... He used to work for my father - but then when dad became incapacitated he went rogue - but without father's help he couldn't make head not tail of the map..."
"But now he's back in action things have changed!?" Ollie suggested warily and Charlie nodded with a smile on his face.
"I'm sure he's convinced that he's searching for the lost city in my father's name - but dear papa has no interest in anyone else assisting him now that he has me on board..." he chuckled. "Bless; it's one layer of treachery on top of another at the moment; it really is..."
To be honest Ollie wasn't sure what he meant and had given up trying to removed the snow from Augustus's head and come back to sit next to Charlie. "I don't understand - what do you mean? Your father using you like he has; hardly counts as treachery! You made a pact with him, didn't you? Sorry - but you got all you deserved..."
Charlie gave the louse a rather disparaging look. "I don't mean what he's done to me, Oliver Louse - I mean what I'm about to do to him..."
Ollie wasn't sure what he meant, but was certain that it wasn't good news. "What Charlie?" he enquired dubiously. "What have you go planned, exactly!?"
"Well, we don't need him anymore... Augustus thought he was using me to physically get him to the entrance portal at Valdemossa - but all along I was usuing him! Now I know all I need to know i can press eject..."
Ollie stared at the bear and was shocked at what he saw; not the usual friendly Charlie that he had come to know over the years; nor was it the one that he'd seen possessed by Augustus somewhile earlier. This Charlie had the look of a bear full of genuine anger - of bitterness for all the years that his father had haunted his family; resentment for things done, which Ollie knew precious little about.
"You're going to abandon Augustus out here on the mountains? Just jettison him without further thought?"
Charlie looked quite hurt. "Oh, I beg to disagree - I've been thinking about doing this for hours now - I've thought of nothing else - I've just had to hide it from dear papa's prying mind..."
"But surely you won't just leave out in the snow..."
"Oh, come on now, Ollie..." Charlie insisted grumpily. "None of you have approved of me hanging around him from the start; but I've got all I need from our renewed contact now; thank you very much... I've also got myself a helmet that will protect me from his invasive thoughts, too..." he added and placed what appeared to be a bucket with eye and mouth holes carved into it rather poorly. "I made it myself on the boat on the way over using just an old toothbrush and a pomegranite..." he beamed proudly.
"But Charlie..."
"No buts Ollie... He's holding us back - it hard enough driving up these hills in this weather, let alone having him hold us back. Without his weight to slow us down we'll make it to Valdemossa by sunrise..."
Ollie was about to protest once again, but it did no good, at all...
"Au revoir, dear papa..." exclaimed the bear melodramatically; stabbing a button on the dashboard and Ollie turned to watch in dismay as the trailer suddenly disconnected from the van and with a roar of rage from Augustus the little trolley sped away from them back down the hill.
"Now that's what I CALL a fond farewell..." chuckled Charlie as Oliver watched Augustus's trailer disappear amongst the snowy whiteness behind them.
Very soon they had turned a corner and the little white van continued on its way... Next episode Gladstone and Claud have to face up to Kob and Augustus makes an unexpected come-back...TUNE IN AGAIN, TOMORROW FOR PART 12 OF THIS ADVENTURE...This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in Majorca and London from Sunday 2nd - Monday 3rd December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...This week's photos are of the town of Valdemossa where the last part of this story is set. The photos were taken on the 1st December 2007 on a very sunny saturday indeed.
Photos and text - copyright Paul Chandler, 2007.Labels: Charlie Grrr, Gladstone McWhiskers, Mouse of Commons, Oliver Louse
PART 10 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...
GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA... - PART 10The 10th part of our new internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Spain and the Islands, which is a sequel to GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL.Majorca, Late Autumn.For a moment the cub simply couldn't believe his eyes. "I have to protect Mr Augustus; his son is not one of us and his friend's are trouble..." he muttered to himself under his breath.
Kob blinked and realised that the restaurant owner was standing there before him and that the man was talking to him and sounded quite dismayed about something. "No more paellas for bears, senor!!" he implored and then pointed to the sky. "No more paella - it is snowing now; the sea creatures are tucked up in their beds - too cold..."
It certainly was snowing; but Kob wasn't really that interested in paellas; well, not today, at least - he just wanted to get hold of Augustus Grrr; his one ticket to reaching the lost city of Bearcelona...
Meanwhile, back in the van - Charlie was driving, once again - whilst Oliver had been given the rather unattractive task of waving spoonfuls of piping hot paella under the nose of Augustus Grrr from the back of the moving van. The spoon itself was almost too heavy for him to lift and it was even worse with chunks of steaming rice piled onto it.
"Flick it at him, Ollie - if you have to..." advised Charlie. "Just as long as some of it gets in his box and he can snuffle it; the very smell of it seems to be reviving him..."
"He's giving you new directions?" Ollie enquired, trying not to let go of the spoon.
"Yes... Yes..." nodded Charlie, sounding a little distracted. "He wants us to go up into the mountains towards Valdemossa..." he declared, after a moment or two's silence and then filled his mouth with another pawful of paella. "What a shame we had to have take-out..." he sighed. "I'd have liked to have kept on eating in that Square; snow or no snow - it looked nice..."
"You just liked the fact our arrival caused so much attention..." Ollie replied, still having not quite gotten over the embarrassment, yet.
"Oh no!" Charlie disputed, but he was grinning through a mouthful of rice. "It never even occurred to me that our arrival would cause such a stir..."
"Perhaps it was you growling furiously at the manager of that restaurant..." Ollie suggested, but Charlie didn't seem to be listening again.
"Any chance you can blow some of the snow off father..." he muttered instead. "It's causing a few problems..."
"With his telepathy!?" Ollie enquired, as he attempted to poke the newly fallen snow off the bears head with the end of the paella spoon.
"No - it's just making him growlly and his noggin's getting a little chilly..." he chuckled and then mouthed. "He's gone a bit bald on top in his old age..." he added and then corrected himself. "Actually - that shouldn't be a problem now he's half the age that he used to be a this time last year..."
Ollie really wasn't sure quite how to reply to that; so he didn't and just kept on trying to poke the snow off Augustus's head as they drove on up into the snowy hills towards Valdemossa...
Back in Soller, meanwhile - Gladstone was hurriedly trying to find a way out of the taxi and had just learnt that he had good news AND bad news to impart to Claud.
"I've found a way out..." he said, but didn't look at all enthusiastic. "But there's a problem... It's a mouse-sized exit - not a cat-sized one..."
Claud didn't hestitate for a moment. "Just take it, Gladstone... You've got no choice... You've got to get out of here and try and catch up with Oliver... I'll be okay - when he opens the door I'll spring out on him; he won't see me coming..."
But Gladstone shook his head. "I'm not leaving you, Claud - that's the end of the matter; either we both go or we both stay..."
"Well, what if you get out and then find a way of getting me out or something..."
"That's not going to work..."
Claud sighed. "Throw a rock through the window or something. Look - just get out of here whilst you can, Glad - PLEASE..." he insisted and Gladstone had a sudden guilty change of heart.
"Okay..." he agreed. "But I'll be back for you - so be ready to go, alright!?"
Claud nodded, eagerly - pleased that he'd been able to convince Gladstone to go. "I'll be ready..." he confirmed and with that Gladstone turned and began to burrow down the side of the back seat where he'd been exploring before.
As he delved deeper he soon spotted the hole in the side of the car, just up ahead of him. He could feel light and the chill of the air outside from the snow. It took a little struggling to get himself through the hole, but he managed it and dropped to the snowy tarmac below...
"Stop right there; you're not going anywhere..." snapped a familiar voice and reluctantly Gladstone looked up into the face of Kob who was pointing what appeared to be a bunch of oranges at him. It was only when he looked closer that he realised that they were merely being used to conceal a deadly looking gun which the cub held in his left paw. "Don't you move - this fruit is loaded and dangerous and I'm not afraid to use it..." he threatened, looking like he really meant it too.
Gladstone didn't doubt him for a moment - he wasn't going anywhere...Next episode family problems between Charlie and Augustus cause Oliver much concern...TUNE IN AGAIN, ON MONDAY FOR PART 11 OF THIS ADVENTURE...This instalment of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA was originally written in Majorca on Sunday 2nd December 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA...Next week the story heads to the snowy town of Valdemossa; although when I visited there was only lots of sun. That said; I did see a few postcards of the town in snowy weather - so I presume that it's not inaccurate to have set a story in the town in such wintry weather. Anyway - here's a preview of the location of the last 5 chapters of our story...
Photos and text - copyright Paul Chandler, 2007.Labels: Charlie Grrr, Gladstone McWhiskers, Mouse of Commons, Oliver Louse
To keep you all going until we return on 2nd January with the final 3 parts of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA we have a special Christmas story to be posted here and now ; we hope you enjoy it.
We return on Wednesday the 2nd of January 2008 with part 13 of GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE LOST CITY OF BEARCELONA.
