Copyright Amanda Wright, 2024
Granny’s keepsake cabinet was filled with special treasures and souvenirs which she had collected over the years.
On top of the cabinet lived a small spider called Tiberius Mc Leggett the 30,000th.
Tiberius liked to spin webs wherever he went.
so as fast as Tiberius span a new web, Granny would come along with her feather duster and flick them away.
Tiberius decided it was time to find a new home, a place where he would be safe from that
feather duster, and where he could spin plenty of cobwebs.
down down the front of the cabinet.
One evening as darkness fell, he made a trail of silk and travelled down
About halfway down was a perfect spider-sized keyhole, Tiberius squeezed inside.
It was very dark by now, so he decided to rest here for the night and investigate inside the cabinet in the morning.
The next morning Tiberius looked out of the keyhole to the inside of the cabinet, and saw a kind eye, a blue ear and whiskers. He climbed out onto the shelf to see who they belonged to.
“Kon’nichiwa!”
said a soft voice. It came from a white china cat. "I’m Tama a lucky cat from Japan. Welcome.”
“I’m Tiberius McLeggett”
replied the spider, “and I’m looking for a new place to live.”
Hello!
A flat metallic voice came from a robot beside the china cat.
I’m a robot and a pencil sharpener. A robot-pencil-sharpener. " it said in a dry metallic voice.
"I’m Bolt,
“Woah!” exclaimed Tiberius.
“I didn’t know that robots could sharpen pencils! That’s extremely clever.”
“H i i i i i i!”
said a creaky wooden voice from further along the shelf.
“I’m Manny.
This is a good place to be. Granny is kind, she gave me a home here, she painted my face and gave me a heart too.
“
“It suits you”
replied Tiberius.
“H i i i i!”
“I’m looking for a new home”
said Tiberius. "I used to live outside on top of this cabinet, but Granny keeps dusting away my cobwebs. I wonder if this might be a nice place to live instead.”
“Oh yes, this is the place to be” assured Manny smiling.
The small spider investigated further. Next, he met a brightly painted owl with big eyes.
“Hello! I’m Tiberius. ” “Who?” hooted the owl.
“I’m Tiberius, what’s your name?” asked the spider.
“WHO?” hooted the owl once more.
“TI-BER-IUS!!”
repeated the spider as loudly as he could.
“S h h h h h h h h h!”
came a firm voice from a red bearded wizard.
“Oh dear, you’ve upset Baby with all this noise. I’ll do a calming spell.”
The wizard began to mutter a magic spell.
Faster than you can say “cobwebs”, Baby was smiling.
“There, that’s better now Baby, isn’t it?” softly chimed a small shiny brass bell lady.
“The owl is called Who, that’s the only word he can say.”
“Ohhh, I see,” said Tiberius. “Well nice to meet you. I’m...”
chimed the brass bell suddenly. “Granny’s coming with that tickly feather duster. Keep still everyone!”
“Oh dear!” squeaked Tiberius as he scuttled away…
“Goodness me, what a lot of cobwebs!” exclaimed Granny.
Out came the tickly duster and she gently began to flick away all the cobwebs that Tiberius had woven around her special things in the cabinet.
The ornaments tried very hard not to giggle.
The feather duster was extremely tickly.
Meanwhile, Tiberius had crawled inside a little yellow clay house without Granny noticing. He peeked out through the doorway.
The house was cosy and safe, a perfect hew home, out of reach of Granny’s feather duster.
Tiberius decided he would be very happy here surrounded by his new friends.
These are some of my own special ornaments on which I based several of the characters in this book. When I was a small child I used to play with the brass bell which my grandma kept in her keepsake cabinet.
Tiberius McLeggett is a small spider who lives on top of Granny's keepsake cabinet which holds Granny's special treasures.
Tiberius likes to spin cobwebs, but Granny likes to dust them away. The spider looks for a new home inside the cabinet, where he meets some interesting new friends.
