Davina Dupree's Bizarre Birthday Balloon Ride (2 page)

The inside of the cabin was even more
amazing.com
than the outside. It's a lot more spacious inside than it looks; we walked through the front door into a small entrance hall and goggled at the petite sweeping staircase directly in front of us. Giles showed us the kitchen-diner to the right and the comfy sitting room to the left, which definitely has enough sofas, rocking chairs and chaise longues to seat us all. Upstairs, several doors opened off the corridor revealing small but well-furnished bedrooms. I'm sharing with Arabella (thank goodness), Hattie and Hugo are in one, Mr Duffy and Crackers are sharing, and Amy, Aiden and Giles all have tiny rooms of their own.
Such
fun.

When we'd all had a good look round, Giles led us up a small flight of stairs and out onto the top deck. Arabella and I gasped at the same time as we took in the luscious plants hanging from a safety rail around the edge, a water fountain to the right, benches and tables to the left, but most noticeably in the centre, some strange metal things poking down from the bottom of the balloon.

‘In a minute, when we're all ready, I'll blast up the burners, which will heat the air and build pressure until the balloon lifts off the ground,' Giles grinned round at us, patting the metal contraptions.

‘Cool,' Arabella breathed at the same time as my stomach did a little flip.

Giles went round checking that all our parachutes are attached properly, I absolutely hope mine is, he didn't say it wasn't so surely it must be ok? Then he walked over to a series of panels and screens near the burners.

‘Just checking what the weather's got in store for us,' he explained. ‘If my calculations are correct, we should be ok to take off in a couple of minutes.'

‘Come on, Crackers, jump up next to me and get ready for the adventure of your life,' My Duffy cackled, smacking the chair next to him. The twins are playing chase round the deck, while Amy texts furiously from a chair nearby, completely ignoring them. Amy's been really nice to me and Arabella so far but I do wish she'd look after the twins a bit more, they just bump into everyone and screech all the time. Aiden is sitting, serious faced, at a table, hunched over his laptop. What a strange crew we make.

Right Diary, wish me luck. Giles just motioned to me to put you away, I think we're about to take off!!

What a view, Diary!

Wowzers.com
, that's all I can say. I'm looking down over the side of the balcony and the world below me looks like a patchwork blanket of green fields, roads, groups of houses and the occasional blue lake and river. SO
pretty.com
. I
do
feel a bit dizzy if I stare downwards for too long, so I keep having to sit back up and stare and my feet for a bit, but Arabella's fearless, she's been hanging over the balcony since we started rising up.

Basically, when Giles had finished all the preparations, he asked us all to take a seat.

‘Now it's time to relax, look out and enjoy,' he grinned as he twisted the clasps at the end of the burners.

They BURST into life, which totally made me
jump.com
. Arabella and I grabbed each other as the balloon powered up, lifting our cabin off the grass until we were swinging in mid-air.

Hugo and Hattie screamed REALLY loudly until Amy, who'd actually stopped texting for long enough to watch us take off, yelled,

‘BE QUIET WILL YOU?' at them.

‘Their parents never tell them off or pay any attention to them,' she sighed in my direction. ‘That's why they act like spoiled brats the whole time, because to them any attention is good attention. Quite sad really, they're good kids underneath it all.' Then she grinned because we were going higher and higher, rising away from all the other balloons which were still on the ground, over the trees and up and up until the balloons left in the field looked like colourful far off balls.

I'm going to go now, Diary, because I want to take in every last little detail of our view!

Yawn, Diary!

What a totally
AMAZING.COM
day!

Arabella and I stayed peering over the balcony as the balloon rose upwards, watching the world below disappearing until we wafted through a misty white cloud and burst through to the sunrays above it. Up there, the world below looked like a very far away map, and we could only tell what larger things like lakes and big fields were, everything else looked like multi-coloured dots.

At about six o'clock, when we'd all put our thickest coats on and were rubbing our hands together to keep warm, Giles suggested we retire to our rooms to get ready for dinner. The good thing about being in the cabin of a luxury balloon is that there's central heating, so although the air outside is absolutely
freezing.com
, it's actually rather cosy inside.

Dinner was really fun. At seven o'clock, Giles sounded a gong and we all traipsed down the small spiral staircase to the kitchen diner. Hugo and Hattie pushed us aside and raced down first, but I tried not to mind too much as I know how exciting it is here and they are the youngest on board. Arabella was annoyed though, and stuck her leg - out trying to trip Hugo up as he whooshed past, but he was too quick for her.

Giles made the most
DELISH.COM
lasagne, one of my all-time favourite meals, and the side dish already laid out on the table was a giant salad platter in the shape of a hot air balloon. Green lettuce leaves made the upside down egg shape of the balloon, with slices of red tomato, black olives and small sprigs of spring onion scattered all over them, making rows of yummy decoration. Cucumber sticks stuck downwards beneath the lettuce leaves formed the ropes attaching the balloon to the cabin, which was made from sticks of red, green and yellow peppers, with square pieces of celery forming tiny windows. It looked too beautiful to eat, a true work of art, but we were all so hungry that both the lasagne and balloon shaped salad were demolished in minutes.

Mr Duffy smacked his lips together loudly when he'd finished, raised his glass of fizzy grape juice and said,

‘I'm sure you'll agree that was a triumph of a meal, everybody. Let's toast the chef!'

We all nodded and agreed and toasted Giles with our tall, fluted glasses of fizzy grape juice, and Giles went red and beamed round.

‘I'm glad you all enjoyed it,' he grinned, standing up to collect the plates. ‘I only hope you enjoy the dessert just as much!'

‘Ooh goodie, pudding,' Arabella said, her eyes gleaming. Her eyes followed Giles to the kitchenette and she squealed as he turned back towards our table, holding a giant bowl full of meringues covered in cream, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Honestly, that girl has such a sweet tooth, although I have to say my mouth watered as Giles brought the bowl closer and I saw the brown sugar topping everything. YUMSTERS.

It was even more delicious than it looked, and there was enough for us all to have seconds. Then we all said goodnight to each other, and Arabella and I went back to our tiny room with very full tummies and gazed out of our window. It was pitch black outside now but when we looked down we saw that the ground below was peppered with golden lights from people's houses.

‘I never realised towns could look so beautiful,' Arabella breathed. ‘Like hundreds of pieces of glowing jewellery scattered over black fabric.' I nodded, then jumped on to my bed to write in you, Diary.

Our beds are actually very clever, because they are squashy and comfy with rectangular, sturdy bases, that are held in place by four ropes that go from all four corners up to the ceiling. This is very handy, because if the balloon shudders at all, or tilts slightly, our beds just go with the flow.

Yawn.com
. I'm going to have to go to sleep now, Diary, I don't think I can keep my eyes open for one second longer. Can't wait to see what adventures tomorrow brings! Night night.

You'll never guess what, Diary...

I've just had breakfast on the balcony in the red light of dawn, looking down on to the stunning view of a harbour!

I'm not sure where we are but we've clearly reached the sea because there are such a variety of boats below us. Giles brought the balloon down a bit so we could get a better view, and there are giant oil tankers next to passenger ferries, with all sorts of yachts and rowing boats crammed in between.

Everyone seemed to wake up early this morning, partly the excitement of being on board the balloon and partly the fact that we could smell the freshly baked croissants Giles had made. I wonder when he manages to sleep – he seems to be either flying the balloon or cooking – but he looked cheerful enough so I suppose he must have napped for a few hours.

‘What time is it?' I said, yawning, as I took a big bite of my warm, crumbly croissant.

‘Half past five,' Amy muttered, staring at her phone. She'd managed to stop looking at it long enough to sort Hugo and Hattie out with some croissants and fresh orange juice. ‘Too early, if you ask me.'

‘Nonsense,' old Mr Duffy croaked from the next table. He was sharing his croissant with Crackers, who was sitting up on a chair next to his owner. ‘Wouldn't want to miss a second of this glorious trip would you, young lady?'

‘I'd rather be going to Woodlands Festival,' Amy muttered.

‘Eh? What's that you said?' Mr Duffy leaned closer. ‘You'll have to speak up, my dear. I'm afraid my hearings not what it used to be.'

‘I said,' Amy said loudly, snapping her phone shut and placing it on the table. ‘I'd rather be going to Woodlands Festival.'

‘Oh I see,' Mr Duffy scratched his chin with one hand, and popped the last piece of flaky pastry into Cracker's mouth with the other. ‘What's that all about then?'

‘It's a music festival,' Amy sighed. ‘My cousin's band's playing there and I
really
wanted to go. But my mum said I should be kind and go on this trip with Hugo and Hattie, seeing as their parents had to pull out at the last minute due to work commitments.'

‘Well that was kind of you,' Mr Duffy said. ‘But a shame you had to miss out on your fun. Oh well, I'm sure there'll be other festivals. And those two monkeys need someone to watch over them.' He nodded in the direction of Hugo and Hattie, who were trying to climb up the side of the balcony.

‘Get down this minute,' Amy yelled, standing up. ‘Do you want to fall overboard?'

Hugo and Hattie jumped backwards and shook their heads, giggling.

‘They try and behave with a tiny bit of common sense for the rest of the trip,' Amy said. She sighed. ‘Look, why don't we all go to my cabin; I've brought some art and craft activities with me, let's go and choose one to do for the rest of the morning.'

I leaned back in my chair as the trio traipsed off down the stairs. As I watched the crimson sky magically turn purple then blue, I felt so peaceful and thought I could happily live up here forever.

But seconds after that thought had floated through my mind, Giles, let out a loud yell and the balloon shot upwards!

Arabella and I jumped up and turned round, to see the usually calm and smiling Giles tugging on the clasps at the ends of the burners, his brow furrowed.

‘Can we do anything to help, Giles?' I asked. The poor thing was beginning to sweat.

‘The burners are jammed, I can't turn the fire down,' Giles said through gritted teeth, pulling on one of the clasps with all his might. ‘I just don't understand. This balloon passed five different safety checks before we set off; there's no way this should be happening.'

‘What happens if you can't turn the fire down?' Arabella walked over to where Giles was standing and stared at the clasps.

‘Then I won't be able to control the hot air that takes us up or down,' Giles panted. ‘Basically, the balloon will keep rising up and up.'

‘Oh no,' I said, looking around wildly. ‘Can anybody help?'

‘Eh?' Mr Duffy shouted from his table. He wore his usual toothy grin and was dusting millions of croissant crumbs off his old coat. ‘What's the matter? Speak up girl.'

‘Giles can't turn the burners down,' I shouted, aware that my voice was coming out as a scream. ‘Can you think of anything that might help, Mr Duffy?'

‘Oh yes, I think I might just have something that will help,' Mr Duffy cackled as he held on to the table edge and heaved himself up. ‘Hold on there, I'll be back in a tick.' He tottered off towards the staircase, Crackers close behind him.

‘Where's he going?' Arabella said. She's usually quite calm in a crisis but even her voice sounded strained; the idea of floating up and away into outer space was clearly freaking us both out.

Time seemed to slow down as we watched Giles get a hammer from his tool kit and bash a clasp side-on. I don't think I've ever felt more helpless in my life, Diary. I wondered if Mr Duffy was losing his marbles and had actually gone for a nap. But I shouldn't have doubted him, a few minutes later his white crop of hair appeared at the top of the stairs and before long he was hobbling towards us.

‘Here you are Giles, spray a bit of this on the clasps,' he said, Crackers close at his heels.

‘What? I don't have time for silly ideas at the moment, Mr Duffy,' Giles sounded much more short than usual. ‘This is a real crisis.'

‘Which is exactly why you should spray some of my magic gel on your clasps, you young fool,' Mr Duffy retorted.

‘Fine,' Giles snatched the bottle Mr Duffy was offering in his outstretched hand. He pumped a good amount onto one of the clasps. ‘If we go up much higher we'll start losing oxygen, so I suppose I should try anything at this stage.'

I gulped and looked over the side of the balloon. We were so high up now I the world below just looked browny-green, I couldn't make out any of the features like roads, houses and rivers.