It was foggy.
‘My favourite sort of day,’ said Bellamy Bean. He raced to his room forthe
bubble mix.
‘Don’t upset
the neighbours, Bellamy,’ said his gran as he flashed
by.
‘Okay gran,’ he called.
But not upsetting the neighbours wasn’t easy.
There were only three
houses in Wimble Wood. Bellamy and his gran lived in the middle
house. On one side of them lived Mr. Watt.
Mr Watt had a face like
a question. His eyebrows arched high and his head tilted to
one side. He could just as easily have been Mr. Who, Mr. Where
or Mr. Why but Mr. Watt he was.
Mr Watt-Not Bellamy’s
gran called him because of all the things he wanted Bellamy
NOT to do.
‘Make sure your grandson does NOT leave his bicycle near
my hedge, Mrs Bean!’
‘Make sure your grandson does NOT sing in the mornings,
Mrs Bean.’
‘Make sure your grandson does NOT blow those bubbles
of his anywhere near my new car, Mrs Bean!’
In the garden, Bellamy
dipped the wand into his bubble mix and blew. A bubble grew.
It quivered for a moment and floated away. Bellamy watched
the rainbow colours swirling in the cool morning.
His gran opened a window. ‘You really are very good,’ she said.
Bellamy dipped again and again. Bubbles filled the air. ‘Watch
these,’ he said. A stream of bubbles poured from the
wand and darted and dived like fishes in water. ‘And
how about this one, gran!’ Bellamy shouted. ‘It’s
a special one for you!’ A long line of bubbles snaked
out, slithered around the corner and went creeping up the
side of the house.
Bellamy’s gran clapped her hands and laughed.
A dreadful voice came
from the other side of the fence - a voice like chalk on glass
- it shouted,
‘I don’t want those nasty soapy things in my garden,
Bellamy Bean! They land in my pond, upset my fish and terrify
my darling Poochie-Poo.’
Mrs. Scruggle and her snappy dog Poochie-Poo was the neighbour
on the other side.
‘An Incredibubble Cousin’Bellamy
and his gran sighed.
‘Okay! No bubbles, Mrs. Scruggle,’ said Bellamy.
‘I hope you’re NOT going to blow them over this
way either,’ added Mr Watt from the other side of the
other fence.
Bellamy and his gran sighed again.
‘No. No bubbles, Mr. Watt,’ said Bellamy.
He put the lid on his soap mix and went inside.
‘I’m sorry Bellamy,’ said his gran. If I didn’t
love this house and garden so much we would move away from
these nasty neighbours. But I do love this house and I love
my garden even more.’
‘I know,’ said Bellamy.
‘You can still blow your bubbles down by the lake,’
she said, ‘ and I’ve got some good news. We have
a visitor for the weekend.’
‘Who?’ said Bellamy.
‘Your cousin Milo,’ his gran said.
‘ Milo?’ Bellamy smiled. Milo was a bit of a mystery.
He was only three years older than Bellamy but seemed much
more. He’d travelled the world for years with his parents
and seen strange things and interesting places. This was good
news
Milo arrived. He cheered Bellamy and his gran up right away.
From the minute he dropped his bag in the hall he had them
laughing.
The next morning Milo said. ‘I’ve heard what a good
bubble-blower you are, Bellamy. I love bubbles too. This is
my very own bubble kit. Let’s go outside and try it.’
Bellamy explained about the nasty neighbours but his gran
said with a smile, ‘Mr Watt is working today and Mrs
Scruggle is away for the weekend.’
So Bellamy, his gran and Milo went out into the garden.
What a great day it was.
Milo bent a wire coat hanger into a circle and showed Bellamy
how to make long tunnel bubbles. He could make them dance
and jump and do all sorts of tricks.
They took a picnic down to the lake. Milo blew bubbles. They
bounced on the water kissing their reflections as they went.
When Bellamy was swimming one huge bubble landed like a plastic
dome on top of the lake. Bellamy dived under the water and
came up inside it.
‘This is the best day ever,’ he said looking out
at the world through a rainbow of colours.
When Milo left the next day he gave Bellamy a present. It
was a metal tube.
‘This is a special mix just for you,’ Milo said
with a wink. ‘It may solve some of your problems. You
only need a little drop and please be very, very careful how
you use it.’
