BETWEEN FOUR JUNCTIONS ANNABEL EDEY Belmann

THE PALE MINT DRAGON roared with delight as Ben stroked his nose in an ever-so gentle way. They had been best friends ever since Ben had gone into the woods to explore his new home. His parents had needed a little persuading to keep him, but eventually it had all worked out well. Now Ben lived in his little grey house with his two lovely parents and his big pet dragon. Actually Rory, (that is what Ben called the dragon) did not really like being called a pet. He preferred the term favourite best friend in the whole entire world!

On this particular day, Ben and Rory had been walking through the woods looking for interesting things – looking for interesting things was something that Ben and Rory did lots as it almost always ended up in an adventure. One of the most successful trips into the woods had been when Ben and Rory had found Belmann. Belmann was a hunchbacked old goblin who carried a knobbly old cane. Belmann was a very nice old goblin, and they often went down into his underground home for tea and buttered crumpets. Whenever Belmann did invite them down for those such treats, he had to shrink Rory down to the size of a baby dragon, so he did not make his house go, as Ben put it, ‘KABOOM’.

Rory and Ben always enjoyed going down to Belmann’s home, not just because of the food, but because it was such a quaint little place. It was split into four rooms: the kitchen, which was made of polished wood had a little cooker in one corner and a table with four chairs around it, the bedroom, the sitting room, and the bathroom. But that had been last month, and it was now today, so, Ben and Rory were walking down the well-trodden down path, the red and orange leaves falling around them.

Suddenly, something caught Ben’s eye. It was a door in the trunk of a tree, rather like Bellman’s but painted a lovely shade of dark navy blue with white stars immaculately drawn over it. There was even a little stained-glass window extremely well hidden in between the branches of the tree. A little head with long black-brown hair and pointed ears stuck itself out of the window. Taking in the stunned faces, it shouted “WELL DON’T JUST STAND THERE GAWPING, COME UP!” And flashing them a grin, the head disappeared.

Two seconds later the door was flung open. “Hi! My name is Killa, Killa Snartlesnop. Come inside!” Ben and Rory looked at each other and followed their new friend through the door.

As soon as Ben and Rory stepped inside the door they stopped walking, mouths open in shock. The room had amazingly high ceilings, higher than should have been possible in a small tree. The ceilings where so high that Killa did not even need to shrink Rory down! Littered in every corner were shiny metal things with various lumpy shapes sticking out on all sides. Seeing them staring at the lumpy shapes, Killa announced proudly “They, are my inventions. This one is the Thingamabob 2000 and this one is the Choupalouper 6500! But my personal all-time favourite is this one – drumroll, please.

FRIZZERMABOB-CINCAKO-CHICKEN SIMULATOR!”

Ben and Rory looked puzzled.

“Frizzyiymabchooky whatsit?” Ben asked.

“Frichianookymalala?” Rory inquired.

Killa looked deeply offended. “If you can’t remember the name of my favourite invention, then I think you will have to go.”

“No, please, we think that your, um ..., invention is brilliant!”

“Fantastic, amazing, superb?” Rory added, his voice trailing off at the end of the sentence. You see both Ben and Rory thought Killa was a very interesting person and definitely did not want her to be angry with them. But all was OK because Killa’s face broke into a wide smile. “Thank you, I think it’s rather brilliant myself. Now enough standing about, let’s grab some grub!”

So Killa led Ben and Rory to an oak-tiled room with stained-glass windows and made them the fluffiest pancakes they had ever tasted, the softest eggs their tastebuds had ever seen and the crispiest, crunchiest bacon in the world. Between mouthfuls of mouth-watering food, Ben and Rory told Killa about their life and Killa told them about hers.

She had been a student at Elvenstrop High and had graduated from Elfbridge in England. When she told them tales of how on the last day everyone dressed up as their favourite people and had a big paint fight, Ben and Rory chuckled and exchanged glances. When she told them how one of the most boring professors, Professor Homeworkheap (yes that was his real name!) got his just desserts they gasped in all the right places and when she told them how she, Killa Snartlesnop, had met a certain goblin called Belmann, Ben almost choked. When Ben finally managed to splutter out that they knew Bellman, Killa almost had a coughing fit herself.

Then Rory had an idea. They told Killa Bellman’s postcode (3 Woodhollow Drive SNE 4DE), and Killa turned bright pink and muttered something to herself. Rory suggested it was time to leave but not before thanking their host for letting them into her home.

On the walk back Rory and Ben where unusually quiet all the way, until they got to their little grey house and leaped (well Ben leaped, Rory did not otherwise he would have squashed Ben’s mum and dad flat, which would not have been a good ending to the story) into mum and dad’s arms. They had their tea and went to bed, but they did not once stop thinking of Killa and Bellman.