Kingdom of Blong

Kingdom of Blong is the fifth in the Elastic Island Adventures children’s book series for children aged 7 – 12, although note all the books can be read as standalone and in any order. Kiri, Jed, and twins Emma and Ethan, discover an ‘elastic’ island that sends them pinging across the ocean to a variety of destinations. When they arrive at the Kingdom of Blong, they discover that Blong the Cat is the island’s missing king. Blong is greeted with a great deal of fanfare, but it looks like fame might be the ruin of him. Will Blong’s relationship with Emma continue? And why do the bilbies, led by Baxter the Bilby, decide it is a good idea to live on a dangerous island ruled by cats? Will they end up on the dinner menu, or will they survive?

CHAPTER 1
Getting Set to Go to the Kingdom of Blong

Emma was usually a little nervous stepping on to Elastic  Island. It was a risky way to travel at the best of times, with the wind flying in your hair as you hung desperately on to a  palm tree. But this time she was extra worried that something might happen to her cat, Blong. She accidentally clutched  Blong the Cat so firmly she was in danger of strangling him. 

‘Crikey, Emma,’ said her twin brother, Ethan, stepping on to the small island after her, his red hair gleaming in the sun.  ‘You might want to be gentler with Blong. He’s struggling to  breathe!’ 

Emma looked at Blong in alarm and relaxed her grip around his neck. ‘Oh, sorry, Blong! Are you all right?’

‘Yes, I’m fine,’ Blong said, although his voice was now a  little raspy. ‘But Emma, you seem unusually tense. Are YOU  all right?’ 

‘Oh, yes, I’m just fine,’ lied Emma, not wanting to admit to the growing worry that was making her stomach hurt.  They had been given a flyer on their previous adventure that was now in the pocket of her yellow jumpsuit. The Kingdom of Blong was searching for their missing king – who looked precisely like Blong, her cat! 

‘It’s going to be okay, Emma,’ said Ethan, looking at his twin with concern while he adjusted the straps of the backpack he always wore, along with an old-fashioned shirt and long trousers. ‘We are just going for a visit, and we’ll assess the situation.  

Nothing is going to happen.’ 

‘Nothing is going to happen?’ echoed Jed, stepping on to the island, throwing a ball back and forth, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. ‘Surely we are off to have another great  adventure!’ 

‘Oh, you are so insensitive,’ said Kiri, following Jed on to the island with a scowl, flicking her long dark hair out of her face. She was also wearing shorts and a T-shirt. ‘Of course  she’s worried about B-L-O-N-G and what might happen.’ 

‘B-L-O-N-G? Hey, that’s my name. Why are you worried about me?’ said Blong with confusion.

HAVE YOU SEEN  OUR MISSING KING?  

Please contact The Castle, Kingdom of Blong. 

‘I’m not insensitive!’ said Jed, holding the ball still for a  moment and running a hand through his blond hair. ‘You’ve  been ridiculous since our last trip.’ 

‘You’ve been impossible!’ agreed Ethan smugly, turning to look at Kiri and then nodding at Jed in support. 

‘Oh, don’t you start too!’ said Kiri crossly. ‘I’m not talking to either of you. I’m only here to support Emma. And, you  know, him.’ Kiri gestured at Blong. 

‘I don’t understand why everyone’s so upset!’ wailed  Blong. ‘What’s going on?’ 

‘It’s all because of the stupid wedding from our last trip,’  said Ethan, adjusting his glasses. ‘Weddings are trouble, I  tell you.’ 

‘It would have been all right if you hadn’t wrestled me to the floor in front of everyone,’ said Kiri, glaring at Jed. 

‘You were the one who knocked me over!’ said Jed indignantly. 

Emma touched the jewel pendant she wore, the one that usually made her feel peaceful and calm, but it didn’t work this time. She hated when people argued, and she was so worried that if they went to the Kingdom of Blong, and if they found Blong was their missing king, he wouldn’t want to come home with her again. She felt so upset she was about to turn around and walk off the island when a jolly voice interrupted her thoughts and the arguments going on around her. 

‘Welcome to Elastic Island!’ Mr Jollybowler said in a  booming voice, stepping out of a palm tree and closing the door behind him.  

Ethan did a double take at the sight, not for the first time,  the reason being that Mr Jollybowler was much larger than the palm tree. Mr Jollybowler wore shorts, a floral shirt and a large bowler top hat. 

‘It is wonderful to see you all again,’ continued Mr  Jollybowler. ‘And I’m so pleased you will be travelling on our luxury South Pacific service this afternoon. And since you  last travelled with us, we now have more twing than twang  in our elastic-gamma-magnetic ray power, which is a big  improvement.’ 

Ethan opened his mouth to ask Mr Jollybowler about the twing and twang, but before he could say anything he was interrupted. Sitting on Mr Jollybowler’s shoulder, a striking parrot of blue and gold screeched, and then said, ‘Welcome,  welcome! Olá, olá!’ in a loud, friendly voice. 

‘Children, allow me to introduce you to Mackie the  Blue and Gold Macaw, who is my new assistant,’ said Mr  Jollybowler. 

‘What happened to the last parrot?’ asked Ethan, looking at Mackie curiously. Mackie returned his stare and gave  Ethan a friendly wink.

‘Miss Kara Kea?’ said Mr Jollybowler. ‘Well, she had a  habit of going through all the guest luggage, which was highly irregular. After a delicate discussion about her attraction to  all things bright and shiny, we decided she was best to go  back to the circus of keas, her family.’ 

‘So you fired her,’ said Kiri bluntly. 

‘Oh, I didn’t do that!’ said Mr Jollybowler hastily. ‘It was a  mutual decision, and I really do wish her all the best. She has a new venture, you know. The circus of keas has decided to open a jewellery store, so I’m sure that will be a great success for them. They certainly have an eye for bling.’ 

‘That might actually work!’ said Emma, nodding with approval and brushing her blonde hair, which was blowing in the sea breeze, off her face. 

‘Hey, that’s assuming they can part with any of the shiny things they have in their store,’ said Kiri darkly. ‘I can’t see  Miss Kara Kea doing that!’ 

Ethan pulled a set of binoculars out of his backpack and looked through them, laughing to himself when Jed’s face came into view, making his nose look enormous. Ethan then adjusted a lever, and a small set of wipers swept across the lenses and a brolly popped up. 

‘Wow, what is that?’ said Jed.  

‘It’s a binocubrolly,’ said Ethan. 

‘Another ridiculous invention,’ said Kiri, rolling her eyes. 

‘I think it’s cool,’ said Jed, now throwing the ball back and forth. He turned to Mr Jollybowler. ‘Sir, can you let us know  what we need to do to pay for our passage today? I’m happy  to climb a tree or throw a coconut through a hoop.’ 

‘Mackie, you can answer this,’ said Mr Jollybowler,  turning to look at the parrot on his shoulder. 

‘Today is a simple but exciting challenge,’ said Mackie with a grin and a great deal of enthusiasm. ‘You are going to  do a spelling test!’  

‘Oh boy,’ said Kiri. ‘A spelling test – that’s a terrible idea!’ Jed dropped his ball, while Ethan made a face. Emma smiled for the first time since she had stepped on to the island. Blong looked around the children, his face in a small pout. He couldn’t understand why they had been arguing,  and he found it all a bit distressing. 

‘I’ve got this challenge!’  Emma said.  

‘Oh, that’s assuming we can work as a team, that we don’t  individually need to spell a word each.’ 

‘Mackie, what are the rules?’ asked Ethan. ‘It’s imperative  we know what you want us to do.’ 

Mackie laughed and screeched. ‘Oh, so serious! But don’t worry. I’m happy for you to work as a team. You just need to  nominate someone to be your spokesperson –’ 

‘Emma!’ said Kiri quickly. ‘Em’s awesome at English and  spelling.’ 

Emma looked at her best friend with gratitude.

‘Excellent!’ said Mackie before squawking loudly. Mr  Jollybowler winced at the noise. ‘I must share with you that spelling is my passion. It will be so much fun!’ 

Emma nodded happily, while the others looked at each other with perplexed expressions. Spelling was fun? Blong looked confused also and jumped from Emma’s arms to the sand.  

‘I have four words for you to spell,’ said Mackie. ‘Are you  ready for the first one?’ 

‘Yes, please!’ said Emma. 

‘Please spell … bumfuzzle,’  said Mackie. 

Kiri and Ethan giggled and then glared at each other.

‘Is that really a word?’ said Jed, now juggling his ball back and forth once again. 

‘Oh yes, one of my favourite words,’ said Mackie the  Blue and Gold Macaw. ‘It means being confused, perplexed,  flustered, or to cause confusion. Bumfuzzle.’

 ‘B-U-M-F-U-Z-Z-L-E,’ said Emma. ‘Bumfuzzle.’

‘Correct,’ said Mackie. ‘Oh, how wonderful you are good at spelling! See how much fun this is.’ 

‘Great job, Emma,’ said Jed. ‘You aced that!’ 

Emma blushed a little at the compliment. 

‘Next word is … cattywampus,’ said Mackie. ‘It is referring to something that is in disarray or that is askew.  Cattywampus.’

‘C-A-T-T-Y-W-A-M-P-U-S,’ said Emma. ‘Cattywampus.’ 

‘Bravo on your excellent spelling,’ said Mackie with enthusiasm. ‘Oh, I could play this game all day!’ 

Mr Jollybowler cleared his throat. ‘We do want to keep on schedule, Mackie. Remember about the twing and the  twang, our new rule 302.’ 

‘Of course!’ said Mackie with an agreeable nod of his head.  ‘Only two more words to go. Please spell … nincompoop.  This means someone who is silly or foolish. Nincompoop.’ 

Kiri nudged Ethan. ‘See, there is a word named after you!’ 

Ethan scowled at her, and Kiri grinned. 

‘N-I-N-C-O-M-P-O-O-P,’ said Emma. ‘Nincompoop.’ 

‘Excellent!’ said Mackie. ‘I’m in spelling heaven!’ ‘You are on a winning streak, Emma,’ said Jed. ‘Only one  more word to go and we can be on our way.’ 

‘The final word is … collywobbles,’ said Mackie.  

‘Oh, I know what that means,’ said Blong, his eyes widening. ‘That’s what I get when I ride Elastic Island. I get this weird feeling in my stomach. It’s horrible.’ 

‘Oh, poor Blong,’ said Emma, picking him up and cuddling him. ‘C-O-L-L-Y-W-O-B-B-L-E-S. Collywobbles.’ 

‘Correct!’ Mackie the Blue and Gold Macaw screeched and laughed, and was so loud that Mr Jollybowler took earplugs out of his shorts pocket and put them in his ears.  

‘Where do you want to go today?’ shouted Mr Jollybowler.  Now he had earplugs in his ears, he was just as loud as  Mackie.

Kiri looked at Emma with concern, and Emma gave her a wan smile. 

‘Kingdom of Blong,’ said Emma in a whisper, putting her hands over Blong’s ears.  

‘What?’ shouted Mr Jollybowler. ‘I can’t hear you!’ Emma took the flyer she had out of her pocket and thrust it at Mr Jollybowler. 

‘Excellent choice,’ shouted Mr Jollybowler. ‘It’s probably the most unique destination we have on offer currently. I’m sure you’ll enjoy spending a few hours there. I just hope they find their missing king one day. You can’t have a kingdom without a king, can you? 

Emma’s face dropped, and Kiri patted her back. 

‘But that reminds me that I must share our new improvement!’ shouted Mr Jollybowler, as he began to hand out small packages to the children, and a different parcel to  Blong. ‘A complimentary gift from the Elastic Island service  that we hope you will enjoy.’ 

The children looked in their packages curiously.  Unzipping the small bags, they discovered a pair of white socks embroidered in blue with the words ‘Elastic Island’. 

‘Thank you, Mr Jollybowler,’ said Jed politely, although they all looked less than excited at being given a pair of socks each. Jed got socks every Christmas from an elderly aunt, and they were always, annoyingly, either too big or too small, but he always politely put on the face he was wearing now and thanked her anyway. His family had instilled in him that good manners were important.  

Emma unzipped Blong’s small bag, and they discovered a tin of tuna and a small tin opener. Blong managed a  smile, but then, looking around, he frowned again, picking up on the uncomfortable feelings between the children. They weren’t the happy bunch they usually were. Kiri, in particular, seemed very grumpy.  

‘Children and Blong, it’s time for us to depart!’  shouted Mr Jollybowler. 

As Mr Jollybowler spoke, the sand began whooshing past their feet in long furrows. The palm trees began to move into a line, stretching out to the horizon. Everyone grabbed a tree as the island started to move, with Blong draping himself around Emma’s neck, holding on for dear life. Ethan put down the brolly of his invention and put the binocubrolly around his neck and his backpack on his back. The next minute they were all flying through the air, desperately trying to hang on to the palm trees, as the sea-powered  Elastic Island began to move. 

‘Next stop, Kingdooooooom ooooooof –’ shouted Mr  Jollybowler as Elastic Island raced through the ocean,  accompanied by a loud pinging sound and Mackie the Blue and Gold Macaw screeching with excitement. 

CHAPTER 2

Arriving at the Kingdom of Blong 

They could all see it was going to be a messy landing coming into shore, with Mr Jollybowler shouting to Mackie about the twing and twang not working properly. As the Elastic Island came to a skidded halt, Ethan could see a wave of water headed directly towards him. With one hand he quickly popped up the brolly on his binocubrolly as the water surged over him. He turned to see Kiri getting drenched by the wave. 

‘Not so ridiculous after all,’ Ethan said, smirking. 

Kiri scowled at Ethan as the Elastic Island came to a stop. It was now nestled against a white sandy beach, with palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze. Further up the island,  an impressive white stone castle dominated the view, rising from green manicured lawns. The children let go of their palm trees and stepped carefully on to their new destination, looking around curiously. Emma clutched her jewel pendant and Blong, while Kiri tried half-heartedly to wring out her wet hair. Jed put his ball under his arm, while Ethan put down his binocubrolly and put it away in his battered backpack.  

‘Welcome to Kingdom of –’ shouted Mr Jollybowler, who was clearly still wearing his earplugs.  

‘It’s lovely to be here,’ shouted Emma quickly, cuddling  Blong protectively to her chest.  

‘We hope you will enjoy your stay,’ said Mackie the Blue and Gold Macaw.  

‘I’ll look forward to more fun spelling on your return trip.’ Kiri made a face, but Emma nodded in approval as Blong continued to cuddle her, his eyes closed as he still felt a little dizzy. Riding the Elastic Island wasn’t using up any of his nine lives, but it felt almost like he was using one up each time he travelled this way. 

‘We depart at 5pm each day,’ said Mr Jollybowler. ‘So you  only have a couple of hours if you’d like to return today.’ 

‘Thank you for riding our luxury South Pacific service,’  said Mackie the Macaw. ‘We hope you enjoy your stay at one  of our premier locations.’

There was a sudden flash and ping, and Elastic Island disappeared from view, Mackie screeching loudly and excitedly as the island vanished.  

‘Welcome,’ said a friendly voice, and they turned to see a girl of their age with long brunette hair, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt that read ‘The Kingdom’. She wore a curious belt with pockets, like a tradesperson might wear with tools,  but instead of tools, she had brushes, combs, scissors and clippers, a white-grey plant that Ethan recognised as catnip,  and sachets of cat food in her belt.  

‘My name is Tilly, and I’m one of the humans who work here. Welcome to Kingdom of –’ 

‘It is lovely to be here,’ interrupted Emma quickly. 

‘If you’d like to follow me, I can give you a quick tour of the castle,’ said Tilly. ‘Are you planning to stay long? Do you  need me to organise accommodation for you?’ 

‘Oh, we’re just here for a short visit,’ said Kiri, playing with the golden bracelet that she wore. It looked like a regular bracelet, but it was actually a goldenite, a living creature called Bracelet von Weila, who could create illusions. It was smooth on the outside and had special writing on the inside.  Kiri never took it off.  

Jed looked at the unique watch he wore, which had all the destinations and time zones for the Elastic Island service. 

‘We’ll be taking the 5pm Elastic Island service home.’ 

‘Well, you will enjoy a tour of the castle and the grounds,  in that case, and you’ll have time for afternoon tea at the castle café before you return,’ said Tilly cheerfully. 

They followed Tilly up the beach as she chatted, and it wasn’t long before they were on a path leading to the castle,  walking through the manicured lawn.  

‘The kingdom was established three hundred years ago when the original King Blong came to this island with his family,’ said Tilly. 

Blong perked up his ears and opened his eyes, although he continued to snuggle into Emma’s chest. Like any cat,  sometimes it was good to just take messages and notrespond immediately. How interesting that there had been a king with the same name as him, Blong thought to himself.  

‘The cats discovered pots of gold on the four outer islands,  which enabled them to pay to have this unique castle built for the family to live in,’ continued Tilly. 

‘Pots of gold?’ enquired Ethan,  looking at Tilly with surprise.  ‘Is that actually correct?’ 

‘Oh, yes, and that’s how the cats can afford to employ me and the other humans to look after them,’ said Tilly. ‘It’s difficult to get a position here. They have a long waiting list;  everyone wants to work here as they pay well. The job is a lot  of fun.’ 

‘How intriguing,’ said Ethan. ‘So how did you get selected?’

‘Ethan,’ said Kiri irritably, ‘you can’t ask her that! You  really are a nincompoop.’ She whispered to Emma. ‘I think  nincompoop is my new favourite word.’ But Emma didn’t seem to have heard her and was frowning.  

‘Oh, no, that’s fine!’ said Tilly. ‘I plan to be a vet when I  grow up, so I work here in the holidays. Most people who work here want to be vets or to work at zoos or animal shelters, that sort of thing. We all love cats.’ 

They were now closer to the castle and could see more of its detail. The castle itself was built from old white stone, but  South Pacific banners and flags adorned it, and there were various Egyptian-inspired cat statues along the pathway.  

‘Um, I hear that the kingdom is missing its king,’ said Emma tentatively, looking at Tilly with troubled eyes. 

Tilly glanced at Emma and seemed to notice Blong for the first time. ‘Oh, I see you have a ginger cat. We get a lot  of people coming here with their cats, hoping that their pets  will be the missing king.’ She paused. ‘So far, they have all gone away disappointed. It’s a shame, really; the kingdom  isn’t the same without its king.’ 

‘What are the protocols of determining if a cat is the missing king?’ asked Ethan curiously.

‘That’s easy. Bella, the king’s sister, lives here, so she would know him by sight. And the missing king can do two unique things,’ said Tilly. 

Emma felt her heart skip a beat. She had a bad feeling she knew what Tilly was going to say next. 

‘Hey, what are the two things?’ asked Kiri, looking at  Emma in alarm. Jed and Ethan exchanged a worried glance,  picking up on Emma’s growing distress. 

‘King Blong can moonwalk, as in a backward dance move,  and he can create Blong-a-grams, which are –’ said Tilly. 

‘Oh, we know all about Blong-a-grams,’ interrupted  Emma, with a huge sigh, just as Blong decided to jump from her arms.  

‘I can moonwalk!’ Blong announced cheerfully, beginning to demonstrate, looking even more adorably cute as he was still holding his bag with the tuna and the opener. 

‘Goodness!’ said Tilly, looking at Blong with astonishment.  ‘You look just like the image in flyers seeking the missing  king!’ She swallowed. ‘What is your name, pussycat?’ 

‘I am Blong the Cat,’ said Blong proudly. ‘Emma here is  my human.’ 

‘I think you may be Blong the King!’ said Tilly in an excited voice. ‘We must take you to Bella at once!’

Hope you enjoyed this preview. Borrow a copy from your nearest library, treat yourself and buy a copy from your local bookshop or gift it to somebody special.