Jelly Bean Little And

The Rice Pudding Thieves

BYCAROL DONOCKLEY

ILLUSTRATEDBY

HELEN PARKHILL

Chapter One

“Coo ‘eck” said the midwife as she tried and failed to straighten Jelly Bean out. “You’re going’ to ’ave a right job feedin’ the poor mite if you aint sure where ’ is mouf is!” Mr Little, however, wasn’t concerned. He knew about lots of things and was full of bright ideas.

Mr and Mrs Little were very, very, happy when their son Jelly Bean was born. He had two arms, two legs and they thought that he might have a head. But they couldn’t quite be certain. Jelly Bean you see, was neatly folded up like a concertina.

1

“Don’t worry my dear,” said Mr Little to his wife who was getting a bit anxious. “We’ll soon have him sorted. I’ll just peg him out on the washing line. Mark my words.That’ll do the trick.”

And it did. Jelly Bean blew in the wind and as he wafted backwards and forwards he began to unfold. Soon he was a bit longerthan a long cucumber. Then he was a bit longer than a long baby. Then he was a bit longer than a long car. And still he kept unfolding!“What a shame,” said the midwife. “E’d ’ave made a great door stop.”

2

Of course Jelly Bean wasn’t called Jelly Bean to start with. At

first he was just called Baby. Then Mrs Little suggested calling

her son Margaret, Rose, Nelly, Monkeybundles but Mr Little

wasn’t too sure. He felt that Margaret, Rose, Nelly,

Monkeybundles might be quite a nice name for a girl but it was

a bit boring for a boy.

So the midwife had a think. Maybe they could name the baby

after her old dad?

“Well yes,” said Mrs Little thoughtfully. “I suppose Smelly Feet

Little does have a certain ring to it.”

Then Mr Little came up with the most brilliant idea.

“I think we should call him after something we like.”

So they made a list. It had a heading.

3

Things We Like.

1.Watching The Telly Little.2. Going For A Walk Little.3. Creamy Rice Pudding Little.4. Bubble Bath Little.5. Warm Vest Little.6. Making A Snowman Little.7. Paddling In The Sea Little.8. Egg And Spoon Race Little.9. Black Bottom Cup Cake Little.And the midwife came up with the last one. 10. Anti-Bacterial Bathroom Wipes Little.“Hmm,” said Mrs Little. “Difficult.”Black Bottom cupcakes were Mrs Little’s favourite cupcakes.

4

She made them every second Wednesday. All gooey and chocolatey. The trouble was that bottom was often difficult for a boy to spell and school teachers were always VERY fussy about spelling. What if the new baby missed out a “t” from bottom when he was writing his name? It would be spelled botom.There’d be trouble at school.“No,” said Mr Little firmly. “We can’t risk that.”

All at once the new baby began to cry. His face went redder and redder and redder and REDDER!“Oh dear,” said Mrs Little. “What’s the matter with him?” Mrs Little was a new mother you see and new mothers always panic.“He’s missing the washing line,” said Mr Little.

So they carried him outside and used him as a clothes prop. And Mr Little was right. As soon as they clamped the baby’s gums around the washing line he stopped crying.

“That’s better,” said Mrs Little hanging out a HUGE load of washing. “He must like rocking backwards and forwards. Bless him! His face isn’t as red as a jelly bean anymore!”

5

Then suddenly she stopped hanging out the washing. And Mr Little stopped watching Mrs Little hanging out the washing. And the midwife who wasn’t really doing anything, just stopped. They all looked at each other. They’d forgotten their most favourite thing in the whole wide world. Strawberry flavoured jelly beans! So that’s what the new baby was christened. Strawberry Flavoured Jelly Bean Little but they called him Jelly Bean for short.

Mr and Mrs Little got a book from the library all about babies. It told them all sorts of interesting things like when they should put Jelly Bean in his cot and when they should get him up. But for some strange reason there didn’t seem to be a chapter about where to put your baby for a nap if he was longer than two buses.

Mrs Little tried bending Jelly Bean, refolding Jelly Bean and even squashing him but the cot wasn’t quite big enough. His legs always dangled over the side, spread through the bedroom doorway, wrapped round the banisters and ended up half way down the stairs.

“This won’t do!” exclaimed a fireman one day as he unknotted Jelly Bean’s legs for the seventeenth time. “We’ll just have to drain the local swimming pool.”

6

So they did but not everyone was happy. You see it was difficult to dive in when there was no water in the swimming pool and the bottom was full of baby.

They also had a bit of a problem with Jelly Bean’s pram until Mr Little decided to make one from an old canal barge.

Then he painted it mushy pea green because he’d read that babies liked bright colours.

Every afternoon at three o’clock, Jelly Bean, much refreshed from his nap in the swimming pool, would set off with his parents for a long walk. Pushing the pram uphill was sometimes a teeny weeny bit difficult but hurtling back down again was always enormous fun. Mr and Mrs Little would hold on tight as Jelly Bean’s mushy pea green pram picked up speed then they’d jump on board and whoosh along.

“Weeeeeeeeeeee!” squealed Mrs Little.“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

squealed Mr Little.7

“Goo,goo,goo, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” squealed Jelly Bean.

Jelly Bean absolutely loved his pram. There was a sort of roof which went over his head and this was very useful for three reasons. Firstly, if it was hot and sunny Jelly Bean was in the shade. Secondly, if it was blowy and rainy Jelly Bean was cosy and dry. Thirdly, if he was still hungry after forty two bottles of baby milk and the odd plate of custard creams, Jelly Bean could reach out and help himself to a dozen of the tomatoes and the odd lettuce which Mr Little grew in pots on the pram roof.

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The villagers would often stop what they were doing and wave as Jelly Bean and his mushy pea green pram went by. Sometimes this was because they wanted to say hello. Sometimes this was because they wanted to buy a few of Mr Little’s tomatoes and sometimes they just needed a bit of help from Jelly Bean to clean out the odd gutter. Having Jelly Bean around was much more convenient than using a ladder and of course it saved the villagers an absolute fortune if they had a job which would have needed scaffolding. The village children, however, didn’t come near.

Now you might be wondering how Jelly Bean and his legs fitted into the house. It wasn’t easy but Mr Little had one of his bright ideas.

“We’ll bash a hole in the walls,” explained Mr Little getting out his sledge hammer. Then, because Mr Little was very polite and always considered others he added, “Please go next door dear and have a word with Mrs Gringeful. Ask her if we can bash through her walls as well.”

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So Mrs Little did and Mrs Gringeful was delighted with the idea because Jelly Bean’s legs would be perfect for resting the telly on.

Mr Gringeful, however, was a completely different matter. He was not at all delighted.

“Messing up my living room with a spare pair of legs,” he complained to anyone who’d listen. “I mean they don’t even match the new wallpaper.” Then he wagged his finger at Mrs Gringeful and said in a voice full of doom. “Mark my words. That Jelly Bean boy will bring nothing but trouble!”

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11

Your mother or your Granny has probably told you that you’re a growing boy. This is good because boys are supposed to grow. This is not good of course if you’re a girl. In which case you need to make a sign and hang it round your ears. Make it stand out. Decorate it with glitter or your mother’s favourite lipstick. It should say “I am a girl. So there!”

Jelly Bean, who eventually stopped being a baby, was also a growing boy. To start with he’d learnt how to crawl, which was very useful because his hair dusted the cobwebs from the ceiling. Then he’d learnt how to walk, which was not so useful because his head kept crashing through the ceiling and spoiling the plaster work.

“We might have to move,” said Mr Little one day but Mrs Little didn’t want to. She and Mrs Gringeful had become great friends whilst chomping on cupcakes and watching the telly together on Jelly Bean’s legs. Jelly Bean didn’t want to move either.

Chapter Two

“I like it here,” said Jelly Bean as he shook the pieces of ceiling from his hair.

So Mr Little, who just happened to be good with cement, built an extension onto the house. Jelly Bean’s bedroom was quite large, which was handy if anyone from the airport needed to store the odd plane and if it was raining Mrs Little could ride her bike in it.

One particular Sunday, Jelly Bean, who was now far too big for the washing line, was earning some pocket money blowing Mrs Little’s sheets dry because her tumble drier had broken.

“Oh poosnankers!” shivered Mr Gringeful as one of Jelly Bean’s blows came his way. Mr Gringeful was in his vegetable plot watering his prize winning cabbages.

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“Oy, Jelly Bean!” he shouted. “Stop that right now and come here!”

“O.K.,” Jelly Bean shouted back. Then he checked to see that the sheets were dry and

bending down, handed them to Mrs Little through an upstairs window.

“Can I go next door?” asked Jelly Bean excitedly. “I think Mr Gringeful wants to play!”

“Are you sure dear?” asked Mrs Little doubtfully. “I think so,” replied Jelly Bean although he wasn’t

totally certain. You see everybody except Mrs Gringeful thought that Mr Gringeful was the most boring man in the village and boring people don’t usually like to play. Mrs Gringeful, however, thought her husband was the most boring man in the whole wide world.

“Well then of course,” said Mrs Little. “But don’t forget to say please and thank you if you’re offered rice pudding.”

“I won’t,” said Jelly Bean.

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“And remember,” said Mrs Little who knew a lot about manners. “Eating ninety two tins is fine but eating ninety three would be a teensy bit greedy.”

This was the first time that Jelly Bean had ever been invited anywhere to play so he decided to take his favourite toy with him. Mr and Mrs Little didn’t have a lot of money so the jeep wasn’t new but that didn’t matter to Jelly Bean. He was just glad that the army had wanted to recycle the jeep after they’d finished driving around in it.

14

But then disaster struck. Jelly Bean accidently let go of his jeep and it crashed through the garden hedge, shot across Mr Gringeful’s lawn and just missed the shed.

Mr Gringeful was VERY annoyed.“Sorry,” gulped Jelly Bean and then he stepped over what was left of the

hedge into Mr Gringeful’s garden.“Thank you for inviting me to play,” said Jelly Bean as he carefully tried to

avoid standing on the greenhouse.But Mr Gringeful didn’t want to waste time playing. He wanted Jelly Bean to

pull two huge old apple trees out so that he’d got room to grow more cabbages. “Cabbages are much better than apples. I mean you can cook them in lots of

different ways. You can have lovely boiled cabbage or you can boil your cabbage till it’s lovely or...”

Mr Gringeful suddenly stopped talking about cabbages and squinted between Jelly Bean’s legs. A snarling, barking, black dog was coming slowly towards them and it was frothing at the mouth with anger.

“Keep very still,” whispered Mr Gringeful. “And maybe it’ll go away!”But the black dog had other ideas. Jelly Bean was absolutely terrified and his whole body began to shake with

fear but then he remembered what Mr Little had once said.

15

“It’s fine to be frightened son. Everyone is frightened of something. All you have to do when you’re frightened is concentrate on something else.”

So Jelly Bean concentrated on counting backwards from a hundred. Now Jelly Bean was quite a clever boy. He was good at reading and loved writing stories but he was pretty useless at maths.

“One hundred, ninety nine... Er...”Jelly Bean couldn’t remember what went next. Did you go to ninety eight or

if you were counting backwards did you go back to a hundred? All of a sudden Jelly Bean began to sway backwards and forwards in panic.

The black dog was brushing against his foot!

“L...l...look at those fangs!” gulped Mr Gringeful.Then the black dog gave a blood curdling howl and a wobbly Jelly Bean

crashed to the ground. Fortunately, Jelly Bean missed Mr Gringeful’s cabbages. Unfortunately, however, he didn’t miss Mr Gringeful.

“Mr Gringeful, Mr Gringeful, are you alright?” gasped Jelly Bean who wasn’t in the habit of falling on people.

16

“I think so,” said a shocked Mr Gringeful as he slid out from under Jelly Bean’s left knee. “But I feel a bit peculiar.”

“I’m really, really, sorry,” said Jelly Bean as he checked anxiously around for the black dog.

Thankfully, the garden was deserted, so Jelly Bean picked Mr Gringeful up and posted him through the bathroom window where Mrs Gringeful was busy cleaning the bath.

“Oh Jelly Bean don’t you worry yourself,” said Mrs Gringeful sticking her head through the window. “It’ll make a nice change to have Mr Gringeful shaped like a triangle for a while because he won’t be boring anymore.”

Then Mrs Gringeful hung Mr Gringeful on the taps for a rest and hurried back to the kitchen where she had just finished opening the first tin of rice pudding for Jelly Bean.

“That’s strange,” said Mrs Gringeful scratching her head. “This tin of rice pudding is empty and I’m sure I didn’t eat it. Oh well, never mind. I’ve got plenty more”

But Mrs Gringeful was very wrong because all her other tins of rice pudding had mysteriously disappeared!

17

The next day was a school day. Jelly Bean didn’t have far to go to school. It was nine strides or five

minutes if Mrs Little went in the car. This was useful because it meant that Jelly Bean didn’t have to leave home terribly early. It also meant that he had time for a healthy breakfast of a bath full of porridge, one hundred slices of toast spread with homemade marmalade and thirty six glasses of milk before he cleaned his teeth with two tubes of toothpaste and set off for the day.

Snitchy Pike village school was quite ordinary. On the inside there were classrooms and a hall for assembly and school dinners. On the outside were a playground and a large playing field. At least Jelly Bean thought his school was ordinary. He’d never actually been properly inside. It had been a bit of a squeeze you see trying to get Jelly Bean’s foot and the other children in at the same time.

Miss Trentwood- Dumbody-Tootle-Smith, the Headmistress, had come to see Mr and Mrs Little when it was time for Jelly Bean to start school. She was quite a good Headmistress but like all teachers she was rather bossy. It wasn’t that she always thought she was right, it was just that she knew everyone else was always wrong.

“I’m terribly sorry,” Miss Trentwood Dumbody-Tootle-Smith had apologised in a posh voice. “Jelly Bean cannot possibly come into school. We will have to educate him at home. I will personally set the work and come twice a week to mark it.”

Chapter Three

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19

Jelly Bean had been devastated. He’d heard all about school from the bedtime stories which Mr Little read to him every night. School was fun. Children were supposed to put plastic spiders on their teachers’ desks to frighten the living daylights out of them and Jelly Bean knew all about P.E. He’d been practicing his hopping for months and felt he’d easily be able to hop over the school roof when the teacher asked him.

Mr and Mrs Little hadn’t been happy either.“Jelly Bean needs to be with children of his own age,” Mr Little had said.

“He needs to have friends and to eat rice pudding for school dinner.”“Yes,” Mrs Little had agreed. “With raspberry jam so that he can swirl it

around with his spoon and make it go all lovely and pink!”Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith had looked slightly shocked. She

didn’t approve of pink rice pudding. Pink was her least favourite colour.“We tend not to encourage swirling at Snitchy Pike school. Particularly,”

she’d added, “in rice pudding.”So the grownups had a think and they came up with a plan. Mr Little would

help the teachers to put up a huge marquee for Jelly Bean outside the classroom window. That way he could take part in the lessons and with the classroom window open, the other school children would get plenty of fresh air.

Jelly Bean loved school. His teacher, now he was in year 2 was Miss Murtle. She was half way to a hundred which was nearly ancient but she was very kind.

On this particular Monday morning, Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith strode into the classroom just as Miss Murtle had finished taking the register.

“Tests are very good for you children,” said the Headmistress as she looked around the shivering class and saw everyone wrapped up in their hats, coats, gloves and duvets because the window was wide open. “So I’m going to give you a mental arithmetic test.”

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Then Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith hollered through the open window. “Jelly Bean are you ready? I’m going to start with you first. What are five nines?”

Jelly Bean gulped anxiously. He was pretty certain that he knew what nine fives were but he hadn’t a clue about five nines.

“Come on, come on,” said Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith as she impatiently tapped her foot. “I haven’t all day!”

“Er, is it twenty seven?” asked Jelly Bean hopefully.“No of course it isn’t” said Jelly Bean’s Headmistress turning away

from the open window. “Sidnee, tell Jelly Bean what five nines are.” Sidnee Wink was a bit small for her age and had the desk next to the

window. She was extremely good at maths so of course got the answer right. Five nines were forty five which seemed strange to Jelly Bean because nine fives were forty five as well. Jelly Bean hoped that someone else would be in this mental arithmetic test but Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith seemed to have other ideas.

“Jelly Bean you have seven chocolate cakes and nine ginger cakes and someone takes two of your chocolate cakes and five of your ginger cakes how many cakes will you have left?

21

Jelly Bean beamed. He knew the answer to this one. It was an easy sum but he counted on his fingers just to check.

“Erm seven and nine is erm, let me see, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, SIXTEEN! I’d have sixteen cakes.”

“Yes,” sighed Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith. “You’d have sixteen to start with but what if someone took two of your chocolate cakes and five of your ginger cakes?”

“Oh I wouldn’t let them,” said Jelly Bean confidently. “’I’d soon catch anyone who was rotten enough to be a cake stealer!”

The school children just looked at each other and smirked but Jelly Bean didn’t notice.

“Mrs Gringeful who lives next door to me makes really good ginger cakes,” Jelly Bean continued. “They’re my favourite especially when they go all sticky on the top. I could bring one in for you tomorrow to eat at playtime if you like?”

“Really?” said Jelly Bean’s headmistress who would rather have had sherry trifle.

“Mm and they’re Mr Gringeful’s favourite too although he’ll have to sort of suck his cake now he’s shaped like a triangle.”

Archibald Trumps, the captain of the school football team began to pull faces at Jelly Bean. He was the sneakiest, meanest boy in the school and everyone always did exactly what he told them to do.

“People with ginormous feet,” hissed Archibald Trumps, “are pea brains!”

22

Now you’d think that Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle Smith would have heard this. But she didn’t. She was too busy helping Miss Murtle who unfortunately had got herself wedged upside down behind the bookcase whilst practicing her handstands.

Jelly Bean blushed. Archibald Trumps never, ever, ever said anything nice to anyone except of course when he was talking to his reflection in the mirror.

“Hey I’m speaking to you pea brain!” said Archibald Trumps pointing a sneaky, mean finger at Jelly Bean.

“I know,” said Jelly Bean who was feeling very hurt.The school children began to laugh but Sidnee didn’t. She thought that

laughing at Jelly Bean would be very rude and she was not a rude girl. Anyway she thought he was telling the truth about Mr Gringeful. Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith wasn’t rude either but she was extremely cross.

“Stop laughing everybody or Jelly Bean will continue to lie about his neighbour. A man shaped like a triangle indeed!”

23

“Please miss,” said Jelly Bean quietly because he was sad to think that his headmistress didn’t believe him. “It’s true. I sort of squashed Mr Gringeful. But don’t worry it’s probably not forever. Anyway, Mrs Gringeful likes him being a triangle shaped person because he isn’t boring any more and she can hang him on the coat stand now so he doesn’t get under her feet.

24

“What utter rubbish,” said Miss Trentwood-Dumbody -Tootle –Smith who liked to have the last word. “Triangles are ALWAYS boring and anyway we don’t say triangle shaped we say triangular.”

Then Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith went for a snooze in the staffroom to dream about huge bowls of creamy sherry trifle. Which was a HUGE mistake because she didn’t see a black dog sneak into the playground. And she certainly didn’t see an old dirty purple van lurking in the lane nearby.

25

It was raining at playtime and Archibald Trumps was busy making fun of Jelly Bean.

“Pea brain is a liar and he’s got ginormous feet,” chanted Archibald Trumps at the top of his nasty little voice. “I daren’t go near him cos he’ll think I’m something to eat!”

Then Archibald Trumps told his classmates that they had better join in or else! Sidnee Wink took no notice but as usual, the other children did.

“Pea brain is a liar and he’s got ginormous feet, we daren’t go near him cos he’ll think we’re something to eat.”

Jelly Bean didn’t want to hear the hurtful rhyme so he put his fingers in his ears and passed the time thinking of ways to make his feet shrink.

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Chapter Four

Of course being a bright boy, Jelly Bean knew that feet couldn’t really be shrunk. Not like the yellow and purple jumper which Mr Little had been wearing when he’d discovered and ACCIDENTLY eaten the last Black Bottom cupcake. It was hidden under Mrs Little’s silk blouse in the ironing basket. Poor Mrs Little had been a bit upset when she saw the crumbs around her husband’s mouth which is why she’d ACCIDENTLY put Mr Little’s favourite jumper in the washing machine. And boiled it. The yellow and purple jumper wouldn’t even fit a starving flea after that.

The first thing Jelly Bean tried was walking around on his tiptoes. But that didn’t seem to make his ginormous feet look smaller. Then he took his fingers out of his ears, removed his shoes and socks and curled his toes under.

“That’s better,” said Jelly Bean happily as he looked down at his toeless feet.

27

But then, of course, he had another thought. Archibald Trumps and the other children would probably think that people with toeless feet were lying pea brains as well.

“Oh well,” sighed Jelly Bean as he put his socks and shoes back on, “I might as well practice my hopping.”

But then he looked out of the marquee and changed his mind. Archibald Trumps had all the children lined up by a huge puddle and was having great fun soaking them. Jelly Bean wondered how Archibald Trumps would feel if he and the other children were brave enough to soak him back. But Jelly Bean thought that would never happen.

Now Mrs Little was very sensible for a mother. She thought that growing boys and girls should ALWAYS have a little snack at playtime so Jelly Bean practiced putting as many of the five dozen freshly baked mappull pies in his mouth as he could. In one go. Mappull pies were Jelly Bean’s favourite. Mrs Little had invented them. His record was fifty eight but Jelly Bean was certain he could do better if he tried so he opened his mouth really wide and managed fifty nine. Then he heard a little voice and saw a long mac with a big hood. It was Sidnee Wink.

“Hello,” said Sidnee. “What’re you doing?” “Meating mappull pies,” explained Jelly Bean through a mouthful of

delicious mappully pastry.

28

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Sidnee didn’t know about mappull pies. So Jelly Bean gave her the last one.

“Are you o.k.?” asked Sidnee Wink who was a well brought up girl and never spoke with her mouth full. “You look a bit sad.”

“Mmm, by bam ba bit” said Jelly Bean who had also been taught not to speak with his mouth full. Though sometimes he forgot.

Then Jelly Bean sadly pointed to his feet and explained about being called a liar and pea brains and wishing feet would shrink.

“But I’m sure you were telling the truth,” said Sidnee Wink. “And your feet are the perfect size for you.” Then she giggled. “Imagine if l had your feet on me. They wouldn’t fit!”

“I suppose so,” said Jelly Bean. Then he grinned at his new friend. “And if I had your little feet on me they wouldn’t fit either.”

“Exactly!” said Sidnee who was good at maths but also knew a lot about feet. “Archibald Trumps doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Anyway,” she added. “I bet you’ve forgotten today’s Monday and that means rice pudding for school dinner!”

At twelve o’clock precisely, Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith held a special school assembly.

“I have some terrible news,” she said looking very grave, which means serious, but more so.

“There will be no rice pudding for school dinner!”“Ooh Nooooooooooooooooooooo!” said Miss Murtle who had been prised out

from behind the bookcase and was extremely fond of rice pudding.“In fact,” continued Miss-Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith, “there will be no

rice pudding tomorrow either. Every tin has vanished from the school kitchen!”

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“OohNoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” said Miss Murtle again. Then she fainted.

It had stopped raining by half past three so Jelly Bean and Sidnee Wink played a bouncing game on their way home from school. It was Sidnee’s idea. Jelly Bean had to hold out his jumper and toss Sidnee up and down in it.

“What do you think has happened to the school rice pudding?” asked Sidnee as Jelly Bean tossed her higher than the school roof.

“I don’t know,” said Jelly Bean.

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But then he remembered something. He hadn’t told Sidnee about Mrs Gringeful’s rice pudding. That had disappeared too!

“So first it was Mrs Gringeful’s rice pudding,” said Sidnee as she came down from an extra big bounce. “And now it’s the school’s.”

“Yes,” said Jelly Bean and then he had a thought.Sidnee Wink lived with her Granny Bud at the village store. And the village store

sold tins of rice pudding. “Quick Sidnee,” cried Jelly Bean as he caught Sidnee and put her gently into his

coat pocket. “I think we need to warn Granny Bud or her tins of rice pudding could go missing as well!”

Then they set off at a brisk pace for the village store.

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Everyone loved Granny Bud. She was very kind and helpful. No one had to spend hours deciding which chocolates had hard or soft centres because Granny Bud did it for them. Chocolates with teeth marks had soft centres. Chocolates with a suck mark had hard centres.

And Granny Bud’s teeth were magic because she could take them out and put them back in again. Jelly Bean had asked for magic teeth like Granny Bud’s for Christmas. But he didn’t get them.

In no time at all they arrived at Granny Bud’s store and whilst Sidnee hurried inside, Jelly Bean peered anxiously down the chimney.

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“Granny Bud, Granny Bud! Where are you?” called Sidnee as she went from room to room.

But there was no answer. Then Jelly Bean thought he heard something. It was just a faint sound. Like a

sob. And it seemed to be coming from Granny Bud’s stock room, in the basement. Crouching down, Jelly Bean peered through the stock room window. And

what a shock he got. There were tins of peas and packets of biscuits and bottles of sauce all over the floor. And tied to a chair, in the middle of the mess was Granny Bud!

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“We’ve got to do something,” said Jelly Bean when the police had arrived.

“I know,” said Sidnee Wink. “But what?”Now you’ve probably read books where

the hero or heroine in an adventure easily comes up with a plan to catch some wicked criminals. Throw those books away or give them to your arch enemy. They’re a load of rubbish!

“Lockemup Louie would know what to do,” sighed Jelly Bean.

“He certainly would,” agreed Sidnee.Lockemup Louie was Miss Murtle’s

favourite character in the class story books. Every afternoon at three o’clock precisely, Jelly Bean and the other children would put their things away whilst Miss Murtle put her cowboy hat on. Then they listened to exciting stories about this famous sheriff and his band of cowboy helpers in The Good Guys Gang.

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Chapter Five

Maybe we should have a gang too,” said Jelly Bean thoughtfully.

So the Save Our Rice Pudding Gang met for the first time that evening in Granny Bud’s kitchen. There were two members. Jelly Bean and Sidnee Wink.

“What would Lockemup Louie do first?” asked Sidnee. “He’d ask questions,” replied Jelly Bean. “Like who is the

evil mastermind behind the robberies?”“Ooh yes,” said Sidnee Wink. “Then he’d look for clues.”

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“Mm,” said Jelly Bean. “But before we can look for clues we need to find out EXACTLY what happened.”

So they went to find Granny Bud who was being looked after by Mrs Little and Mrs Gringeful.

“I just fancied a treat,” said Granny Bud who was still very frightened. “So I opened a tin of rice pudding.”

Then Granny Bud described how she’d heard a dog barking outside her back door. But this was a strange bark. A howling bark. A sickening bark. Granny Bud loved dogs so she’d gone to see if anything was the matter.

“The dog rushed past me then two masked men forced me into the stock room and tied me up.”

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Granny Bud shuddered.“Was it an angry black dog with froth round its mouth?” asked Jelly Bean.“Yes,” said Granny Bud. “But how did you know that?”“I didn’t,” said Jelly Bean. “But there was an angry black dog at Mrs

Gringeful’s just before her rice pudding went missing.”“Perhaps that’s a clue,” said Sidnee excitedly. “What if the black dog sniffs

out the rice pudding and then the thieves come and steal it.” “Maybe,” said Detective Cuffem who had arrived to help with the

investigation. “And it’s not just happening in Snitchy Pike.”

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So far the thieves had stolen every tin of rice pudding they could find. Now this was a problem but the rice pudding makers at the rice pudding factory could buy some rice, milk, sugar and butter and make some more.

“And when they make more tins of rice pudding,” said Sidnee, “The Rice Pudding Thieves will probably try to steal them!”

“Yes,” said Jelly Bean. “Which means we’ve got to catch the thieves red handed before they really hurt someone!”

Then Detective Cuffem told Jelly Bean and Sidnee that the stolen tins were often dumped, unopened, at the side of the road.

“Why would anyone steal rice pudding if they weren’t going to eat it?” asked Sidnee.But Detective Cuffem didn’t know the answer to that.“Was there anything strange about the tins?” asked Jelly Bean.“Er...Funny you should say that,” said Detective Cuffem. “There was.”Then he explained and they all thought and thought and thought until Jelly Bean finally came up with a plan.“I’d never have had an idea like that in a month of Sundays!” said Detective Cuffem.“Well it might not work,” said Jelly Bean. “But it’s got to be worth a try.” By the following week everything was ready. Jelly Bean had put a notice in the paper.

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“There will be a rice pudding party in the kitchen at Curlew Cottage, Snitchy Pike Village next Saturday afternoon at three o’clock. Everyone is very welcome.”

The driver of the old dirty purple van was seething with anger when he saw Jelly Bean’s notice.

“A rice pudding party? But that’s impossible!”Then he turned and glared at the black dog.“Stupid animal!” he roared. “This is your fault. You were supposed to find ALL

the tins of rice pudding. Fail me this time,” he said in a very menacing way, “and you’re finished!”

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By two o’clock the following Saturday everything at Curlew Cottage was ready. Mrs Gringeful had disguised Mr Gringeful in his best red track suit so that he

looked like a sign. Then she’d hung him over the gate. Sidnee had written a notice and stuck it on Mr Gringeful’s ear.

“This way for rice pudding,” it said.Outside the kitchen, a tree, which looked remarkably like Jelly Bean in disguise,

was trying not to quake with fear. What if his plan went dreadfully wrong? Someone could get badly hurt and it would be all his fault!

“I think something’s happening,” whispered Sidnee who was on the lookout. And she was right. The angry black dog was coming up the garden path and it

was sniffing the air.

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Moments later, the black dog passed by and as it did so it gave a sickening howl. Then it sniffed the air again and headed towards the open kitchen door.

Jelly Bean held his breath. His plan seemed to be working. Rice pudding didn’t just come in tins from the factory. Mrs Little had made some and the black dog thought it was tinned rice pudding and was leading the thieves right to it.

“Ready everyone?” whispered Jelly Bean who was a bit uncomfortable because his legs were on either side of the roof and the chimney was digging into his bottom.

“Ready!” whispered Sidnee. “Ready!” whispered Detective Cuffem.“Ready!” whispered the others who were hiding in the kitchen.And a few moments later, the two thieves and the driver of the old dirty

purple van crept up the garden path. Then the thieves slunk into the kitchen whilst the driver stayed on guard outside.

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“Oh no!” whispered Detective Cuffem in Jelly Bean’s ear. He’d recognised the driver. It was Cruncher Macreedy and he was very

dangerous! Jelly Bean gulped. He was trying to be brave but it wasn’t easy. But then he

had a thought. Hadn’t he told Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle- Smith in the mental arithmetic test that he would NEVER allow a wicked cake stealer to steal his cakes? And if he was brave enough to face a cake stealer then he had to be brave enough to catch the rice pudding thieves.

Moments later, the black dog ran out of the kitchen followed by the two masked men who were carrying an enormous dish of rice pudding.

Cruncher Macreedy couldn’t believe his eyes. The rice pudding was not in a tin!

“This is useless,” he hissed. “I’ve told you before. Only tins of Rizzler’s rice pudding are any good to me.”

Then he aimed a vicious kick in the direction of the terrified black dog.“Oh no you don’t!” said Jelly Bean as he whizzed Granny Bud’s magic teeth

through the air.

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And then the magic teeth bit Cruncher Macreedy on the bottom. And then Jelly Bean stuck one of his ginormous feet out. And then Cruncher Macreedy and the rice pudding thieves tripped over it. And then Mr Little caught the enormous dish of rice pudding. And then Detective Cuffem arrested the villains. And then the black dog wasn’t frothing at the mouth with anger. He was black. With rice pudding round his mouth. And he’d been howling because he was sick of rice pudding. So Granny Bud kept him.

And whilst Mrs Little made hot chocolate to celebrate, Jelly Bean and Sidnee Wink told everyone about Cruncher Macreedy’s wicked plan.

“Detective Cuffem told us that the rice pudding tins dumped at the side of the road had a bit of their labels missing,” said Jelly Bean. “And all the labels were from tins of Rizzler’s rice pudding.”

“Ah!” said Mr Little. “So if Cruncher Macreedy wanted the labels, there must have been something special on them.”

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“Yes,” said Sidnee. “And Jelly Bean rang the Rizzler’s rice pudding factory to find out what it was.”

Cruncher Macreedy was very, very, rich but he was also very, very, very mean. He didn’t like spending any of his own money and he needed a new van.

“There was a competition to win a van on part of the Rizzler’s rice pudding labels!”said Sidnee.

“Oh I see,” said Mr Gringeful who had been taken off the gate and was drinking hot chocolate through a straw. “He thought that if he had all the labels then no one else could enter the competition and he would win the van.”

“Exactly!” said Jelly Bean.

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Then Granny Bud said well done to Jelly Bean and Sidnee. Though it sounded like “Rell run Relly Reen ran Ridnee” because her magic teeth were still in Cruncher Macreedy’s bottom.

Of course The Save Our Rice Pudding Gang members got a bravery award and their picture in the newspaper. Mrs Little had the photo framed and kept it by her bedside. You couldn’t see much of Jelly Bean but it was a lovely shot of his new red shoes.

And back at school, Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle-Smith apologised to Jelly Bean for not believing in a triangular Mr Gringeful. Then she congratulated him for having such clever feet.

“Pah!” said Archibald Trumps crossly. “My feet are the cleverest in the school!”

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“Oh really?” said Miss Trentwood-Dumbody-Tootle Smith who still liked to have the last word. “Well then kindly ask them to stay in at playtime and work out what eight times eleven, plus ninety, minus three thousand is!”

So whilst Archibald Trumps worked on his difficult sum all the other school children thanked Jelly Bean and Sidnee Wink for saving their rice pudding. Then they formed an orderly queue behind Miss Murtle because she wanted first go at being tossed up and down in Jelly Bean’s jumper.

And did Archibald Trumps change his ways? No... But the next time there were HUGE puddles in the playground he did have to change his trousers because somehow or other they got very, very, very, VERY wet!

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