Casper Candlewacks in the Time Travelling Toaster (15 page)

Chrys scratched her spiky-haired head. “Thanks.”

“Think you could steer your brother’s company into something more worthwhile than spit-water?”

“I’ve picked up enough from Briar to give it a go. But I’d need an assistant. Flanella, want a job?”

Flanella replied with a geeky snort. “Do I get a name badge?”

“We can discuss that tomorrow.”

“Because I love name badges. Malcolm wants one too.”

Casper hopped down from the hands of the villagers carrying him when he saw the four Cuddleses and Julius with his sharpened spatula.

“I did it, Dad! I saved the village.”

Julius ruffled Casper’s messy blond hair. “Again. You’re making quite a habit of it.”

The crowds encircled Casper, reaching in to ruffle his hair as well.

“You saved us!” an old lady cheered.

“You healed my foot!” claimed a man who’d just thrown away his pair of crutches.

“You found my goat!” shouted Sandy Landscape, a braying goat slung over his shoulders.

Lamp lolloped over to Casper, coal-smeared, but happy. “Hey, Casper. I worked it out. We’re in the future, aren’t we?”

“Yes, you genius, but not for long. We’ve got to return all these people to their normal times before this whole thing gets very complicated. Ready to help me pilot that Time Toaster of yours?”

“Cor, d’you fix it?” Lamp looked impressed.

“Not quite,” admitted Casper. “Betty Woons had a spare. No idea where she got that one from, though.”

Lamp shrugged. “Time Toaster shop?”

“Maybe,” Casper clapped his hands together. “Anyway, who’s first?”

A couple dressed in black and white from the twenties shuffled forward silently.

“All right, you’re as good as any.” He called to the rest of the crowd. “If you’d all come this way, we’ve got a bus to catch.”

“There’s nothing else for it,” said Lamp. “
Let’s TIME!
”

THE END

“Well, I think you’re the last of them.”

Casper and Lamp led Betty and Pigge out of the smoking bus stop, with Goss strutting behind.

“This ain’t my Corne-onna-Kobb,” cackled Betty. “Too many ’ouses. Not ’nuff peace ’n’ quiet.”

“You don’t understand,” said Casper. “This isn’t where you get off. It’s
our
stop.”

Goss frowned. “I don’t understand. How do we get home?”

“Easy, just pull that lever. I’ve already set it to the right coordinates.”

Betty hopped from foot to foot with unease. “Fanks, but… issa bit ugly to have hangin’ around. D’you wanna hang on ter it?”

“We can’t,” said Casper. “I’ve seen me and Lamp in the future, and we’ve got some serious wrinkles. We take the long way round. No more short cuts for us. But you… Betty, you’ve been there at every single point in Corne-on-the-Kobb history I’ve visited with this Time Toaster! I didn’t know why at first, but now I think I’ve got it.”

“’Av yer?” Betty did a clueless face.

“Looks to me like you’re going to have an awful lot of use for that machine in your life. Perhaps you could pop back and forth to all the Corne-on-the-Kobbs through time. Make sure everything’s in order. You can give it back to me when you’re a little older.”

Betty nodded. “I’ll keep it safe, lad. Dontcher worry.”

“And Sir Gossamer?”

Goss stepped forward. “Yes, my lord?”

“Keep the village safe. It’s special to me.”

“Which village is that?”

“The one you’re about to build. For all your children.”

“Ah,” said Goss. “That one.”

THE END

Three days later, a little stall appeared on the Corne-on-the-Kobb village square, run by the charming Anemonie Blight. She was selling bottles of purified Kobb river water, with a secret ingredient that promised to deliver a drop of nobility in every bottle.
Essence of Nobility
, she called it, and it sold like hot cakes. It sold better than hot cakes, in fact, until Audrey Snugglepuss’s hot cakes stall across the square went out of business.

“Have you seen what Anemonie’s up to?” sighed Casper, plonking himself down on a greasy cushion in Lamp’s garage.

“I know!” chortled Lamp. “Wish I’d thought of it first. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about all those gadgets we saw in the future.”

“What, you mean like the bread guns?”

“Yeah, and the Tickle Tags.”

Casper shivered. “Me too. Glad to be free of them, I’ll say.”

“Oh, me too. Anyway, I wondered how they worked, so I thought I’d

knock up a couple myself.

Look!” With his left hand,

Lamp held up a black hairdryer with a battery pack and a pouch filled with breadcrumbs. In his right, a small ankle bracelet from his mum’s jewellery drawer bleeped its red winking eye. “Want to try them out?”

THE END

NO, REALLY, I’M SERIOUS.

THE END

More adventures with

Casper Candlewacks in Death by Pigeon!

Casper Candlewacks in the Claws of Crime!

Casper Candlewacks in the Attack of the Brainiacs!

Copyright

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins
Children’s Books
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Ltd, 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

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1

CASPER CANDLEWACKS IN THE TIME TRAVELLING TOASTER
Text copyright © Ivan Brett 2013
Illustrations © Hannah Shaw 2013

Ivan Brett asserts the moral right to be identified
as the author of this work.

ISBN 978-0-00-741161-0

EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780007411610

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