“Only five?!” shouted Capt. Cookie through the megaphone to Siberia McCluskey in the grocery blimp.
“Yes,” said McCluskey.
“Well, all right, can we have them, please?” said the captain.
The five small tins of anchovies in oil were lowered down to the airship in the net. There was also a bundle of mint.
“Free sample!” shouted McCluskey.
“Thank you very much!” shouted the captain. “Oh, and by the way,” he dropped his voice to a whisper again, “Which way is it to the Kola Nut Hotel? Do you know?”
“Yes, it’s that way,” said McCluskey, leaning out of the blimp’s gondola and pointing across the lake. “Turn left when you get to the thistle forest and go straight untill you come to a big swamp, which you’d better go around, and then keep going straight and then you’ll see the hotel on your left, just after the kiosk.”
“.... on your left, just after the kiosk,” mumbled Captain Cookie, making a mental note. “Right, thanks!”
Capt. Cookie took the tins into the cockpit and opened them all, pouring the fishy oil into a hole in the airship’s engine, which he had accessed by opening a little door in the floor. He drained every last drop of oil into the hole and then handed the tins to the steward.
“Share the anchovies out, would you, Winterbottom? One fillet per passenger. Just enough to go round by the look of it.”
“Aye-aye, skipper!” said the steward.
The captain took a deep breath and turned the key in the ignition. Uhch-uhh-uhh-uhh-uhh-uh-uh-h-h-hhh... No good. Uhch-uhh-uhh-uhh-uhh-uh-uh-RRM-rm-rm-rm-mh-mh-mmmmmmmmm. The engine started!
Right! Not a moment to lose! thought the captain. He opened the window and shouted up to McCluskey in the blimp, ”Thank you very much!”
“You’re welcome!” shouted McCluskey, starting to manoeuvre out ot the way.
Ron went to the airship’s door and shouted, “When you go to the Chilly Peaks, please drop in at the Soup Shack and tell Benny we’re all o.k.!”
“Righto!” said McCluskey.
The blimp floated away and Capt. Cookie opened the throttle as gently as he could and lifted the airship off the surface of the lake. However, having considered the small amount of oil thay now had, Capt. Cookie decided to fly at low altitude, just above the ground in fact. This way he would not waste any fuel climbing into the air or pushing against winds.
“We are very sorry for the delay, birdladies and gentlebirdmen, but we will now be on our way,” he announced.
There was a loud cheer in the cabin: Hoooray!
Then the steward, who was serving the anchovies, suddenly ran to the cockpit.
“Skipper! We’ve forgotten something!” he blurted.
© David Severn 2012
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