Believing Is Seeing

The three heroes stared at the bowl of stewed apple.

“Pale yellow slush,” said Spike, “with a sour smell. Dragon sick?”

“It could be some kind of gold mulch,” Marlene said doubtfully. She looked carefully across the tray, searching for some clue. Her eyes went on, up the hill of A

Spike looked. He turned quietly to E

E

“Now look here—” A

But the three heroes took her voice for thunder, just as they always did. E

A

To give them time to smother, or vanish, or something, A

They were still there. Spike was up on her pillow, whirling his spike around his head on the end of a rope. He let it fly just as A

“No, stop!” A

One end of the tray came down into the bed. Down slid the macaroni cheese, and down slid the stewed apple after it. The heroes saw it coming. They leaped expertly for safety up on the pillows. They were used to this kind of thing. While A

E

They started scrambling up the sloping tray. A

Even before they were halfway up to the bedside cupboard, A

“We’re in the giant’s house now,” she said confidently.

“And he’ll be a mountain of cat food before long,” said Spike. Marlene laughed with pleasure.

A

Then she went back upstairs to see if the prayer had worked. Her bedroom door was still shut, but there was some kind of purple tube sticking out from under the door. As A

“A huge passage,” Marlene’s voice replied. The tube was the mauve felt tip with its inside taken out. It swung sideways as A

“Great!” said E

A

There was a hole like a mousehole in the bottom of her bedroom door. The heroes were on their way downstairs. A

“Ooh! It’s so high!” she said.

“Don’t be so feeble!” said E

Spike was keeping guard. “There’s a giant on the stairs above us,” he said quietly.

E

A

That made A

As she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, quaking but determined, there was a ringing SMASH! from the living room and the sound of smithereens pattering on the carpet. A

The heroes came scampering around the living room door into the hall. “Too many hazards in there,” E

“The kitchen,” said Spike. “They’ll want to eat.”

“Us, probably,” Marlene quavered.

“Don’t moan, Marlene,” said E