Professor Yish Kabibble in the Curse of the Scruttles

By Jacqueline Delaney and Nathaniel Delaney

Upon arriving home from work one day, Professor Yish Kabibble receives a rather mysterious letter, requesting he attend an appointment in Kookaburra Woods the following day at ten oclock. Despite the puzzling nature of the note, the professor cant help but show up, wondering who on earth would send him a royal invitation.

Soon, Professor Kabibble finds himself the unwilling recruit of an ancient army sergeanta representative of the underworld society known as the Scruttles. The Scruttles have fallen under a curse that threatens the survival of their secret race, and the professor is their only hope. To save them, however, Yish will risk more than just his scientific reputation

In the subterranean world of the Scruttles, Professor Yish Kabibble must face a host of strange underworld creatures and life-threatening hazards to lift the curse. Only he can deliver their world into harmony and its former glory. Only he can bring the Scruttles back from annihilation. But will he fulfill his destiny, or will he too be swallowed by the curse of the Scruttles?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Nov 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466981799

Jacqueline Delaney

Jacqueline Delaney is a university graduate of social science and psychology. During her career, she has worked extensively with special needs children. Her work also extended to the facilitation of Australian government programs, relating to the protection and education of abused and neglected children. She resides in Australia with her husband.

Book preview

PROFESSOR YISH KABIBBLE

IN THE

CURSE OF THE SCRUTTLES

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Jacqueline Delaney

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© Copyright 2011 Jacqueline Delaney.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4669-8179-9 (ebook)

ISBN: 978-1-4269-5025-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4269-5026-1 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010917775

Trafford rev. 08/03/2011

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Contents

CHAPTER 1      A MYSTERIOUS INVITATION

CHAPTER 2      MEETING A SCRUTTLE

CHAPTER 3      GOING DOWN UNDER

CHAPTER 4      SNOTTLE HISTORY

CHAPTER 5      SNOTTLE HISTORY

CHAPTER 6      BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

CHAPTER 7      THE INCREDIBLE EXPERIMENT

CHAPTER 8      A GAME OF LIFE AND DEATH

CHAPTER 9      THE GRAND ENTRANCE

CHAPTER 10      THE WARRIORS BATTLE CRY

CHAPTER 11      LIFE BE LOW

CHAPTER 12      THE CLEANING CEREMONY

CHAPTER 13      ANOTHER WORLD

CHAPTER 14      A RIGHT ROYAL AUDIENCE

CHAPTER 15      DOWN TO BUSINESS

CHAPTER 16      WHAT LERKS BE HIND THE DOOR

CHAPTER 17      THE SCRUTTLES BOOTY COVE

CHAPTER 18      NATURAL GAS!

CHAPTER 19      THE EVIL CURSE

CHAPTER 20      VISITING THE DARK WING

CHAPTER 21      WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT

CHAPTER 22      JUST ONE PROBLEM

CHAPTER 23      IT ALL MAKES SENSE

CHAPTER 24      THE TRAP

CHAPTER 25      GOING HOME

CHAPTER 26      WHAT NOW?

For my son Nathaniel, my inspiration, the light of my life and his two beautiful boys Oliver and William.

‘The Will of Hashem will never take you where the Grace of Hashem will not Protect you’

To Lachlan, Max, Sienna and Roy

Nothing is impossible

Acknowledgement

I would like to say thank you to Nathaniel, who was fundamental in the editing process, the designing of the Cover and the finishing

touches.

Also thank you to Sue who amazingly found Kimi the Illustrator and to Kimi who had the imagination to capture the characters.

Further I would like to say a special thank you to Jenny who encouraged me in my pursuit of writing the story and allowed me the privilege of reading it to her.

Ken without your support, patience and encouragement when I doubted myself, none of this would have been possible.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

ILLUSTRATIONS

By

KIMI

Homeland, Bellingen, NSW Australia

CHAPTER 1

A MYSTERIOUS INVITATION

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Professor Yish Kabibble arrived home on Friday afternoon where he found a brown envelope sticking out of his bright red-letter box. The Professor examined the envelope. It was covered in a series of tiny dirty marks. Inside the dirty looking envelope Professor Yish Kabibble found a slip of rather thick green paper that looked like it had been hand made.

The Professor ran his fingers over the paper and could feel a fine criss-crossing weave and a roughness not found in normal writing paper. This was more like a slip of parchment he thought. Professor Yish Kabibble could just make out some very small scribbles scrawled on the parchment but he could not make out what they were. He needed a magnifying glass.

Unlocking the front door, he quickly shuffled to his desk and opened the top draw. Blast. Where had he put the magnifying glass? Screwing his face up he thought very hard about when he had last used it. A light bulb went off in his head when he remembered. He opened his fridge and there it was lying on the bottom shelf next to his telephone book, which was lying next to some very limp lettuce. The problem was he could not remember why he had put either of the items in the fridge. Taking the magnifying glass out of the fridge, he wiped it with a soft cloth and then started to read the letter.

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The letter appeared at first to be unsigned but as Professor Yish Kabibble looked closer, he could see a little gold mark on the right hand corner at the very bottom of the page. Unfortunately, the mark was so small that there was no way for the Professor to identify who had sent the Royal Invitation. Tomorrow was Tuesday and he was free all day.

The alarm clock, which sat on top of the purple bedside table screamed Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP! Professor Yish Kabibble sat bolt upright in his small but very comfortable bed. He tried to collect his thoughts and remember why he had set the alarm clock to wake him so early. Professor Yish Kabibble loved to invent things and his clock was one of those things. It could talk. Not ring but talk and the clock would not stop yelling; Wake up until you actually told the clock you were awake. The longer it took to wake the louder the clock shouted. Finally, the professor shouted I am awake I am awake shouted the Professor regretting that he had set the volume to very loud. Suddenly the clock stopped.

Now Think! Think! said Professor Yish Kabibble aloud as he stretched his arms and yawned. He always talked to himself because he lived alone and because he liked the sound of his own voice.

What could be important on such a dreary day? he thought after seeing grey clouds racing across his bedroom window and trees swaying violently in the wind. This was a day to snuggle up under his fluffy doona and read his favourite book ‘Farts and Other Disgusting Noises’. However, this was not going to happen. Think! Yish Kabibble Think! He could feel something stirring at the back of his mind; something important but what No matter how hard he tried he could not catch the thought. "Maybe, if I get up and have a cup of tea and some baked beans the old brain will kick into gear.

Finally, Professor Yish Kabibble grumpily slipped out of his warm cosy bed and put on his favourite black and white Scotty Dog slippers. He then waddled off to the kitchen and filled his old yellow kettle Polly with water. He always filled his kettle to the one pot level because he had become concerned about the lack of rain lately and there had been talk of drought.

Ms Persnickerty had told him that some of the village people called him a ‘Greenie’ because of his obsession with water conservation. However, that did not bother Professor Yish Kabibble. He just reminded himself and anyone else who would listen that ‘Water is the Essence of Life and Without it Nothing would Survive.’ Well maybe cockroaches but that was a whole other story. It is a known fact that humans can only last three days without water before they die.

He really could not understand why people would leave their taps dripping. He remembered the time one of his neighbours’, Mr. Slak, had forgotten to turn off his garden hose; it had been going all night. To help stop it happening again Professor Yish Kabibble invented a H20 Alert Gadget, which was solar powered. He gave it to Mr. Slak. He explained to Mr Slak that the gadget would let off a loud ringing sound if the garden hose was not turned off after half an hour. It was amazing how many times it would go off to the embarrassment of Mr Slak. It took him awhile but he soon learned to turn it off and even thanked the Professor because his water bill had reduced dramatically.

Professor Yish Kabibble named his kettle Polly after his favourite nursery rhyme. He had found Polly at an antique stall at one of the town’s markets. He loved going to the markets especially when he could rummage through other peoples things. He always found some item that he could use, like the kettle. There was always a bargain to find at the markets. Of course, he could afford to buy any thing he wanted at the shops but he felt that it just was not the same as looking for treasure. His mother had always told him ‘Yish Kabibble someone else’s rubbish is someone else’s treasure and she was right.

But, that was not the only reason he loved to go to the markets. No, Professor Yish Kabibble also loved going to them to buy the delicious fairy floss. He liked the pink and blue fairy floss because it looked like a cloud at sunset floating on a stick. He loved what happened when he put it in his mouth; it would slowly dissolve no matter how hard he tried to keep it in his mouth. Just like magic, it would disappear with a sugary burst of flavour.

The rides were fun too although Professor Yish Kabibble only ever watched because he had a fear of anything that was fast or went too high. He watched the brave children and adults scream with delight as they went round and round on the Merry Go Round or crashed and bumped each other on the Dodgem Cars. The Professor was always surprised that no one got hurt. Even the operator of the Dodgem Cars could jump on the back of the cars as they whizzed around the circuit without getting hurt.

The Ferris Wheel was also a favourite. Professor Yish Kabibble would look up in awe at the children and adults sitting in the chairs as they went up, up, up into the air. When they reached the top, he could just make out their dangling legs moving in space. The Ferris wheel operator would stop the ride every now and then to let people off and on. When this happened, there were always screams of delight or fear. Especially those who were suspended high up in the sky like stars far above the world.

When the Professor noticed some of the riders going green around the gills he moved a short distance away. He knew what was going to happen. Warm lumpy vomit (also known as a techno coloured yawn) would suddenly come hurling down and splatter the people standing below. He had learned the hard way. A few months earlier, he had been puked on.

He had been standing closer to the ride, watching the passengers ascend towards the heavens. Suddenly, he heard a soft whooshing sound and then felt something warm and smelly hit his head. After a few seconds the thick, lumpy slop slipped down over his face at a snails pace. Professor Yish Kabibble had started to gag and small chunky bits of vomit dropped into his open mouth. He shuddered at the memory but he had learned his lesson the hard way. It was definitely not his idea of fun. It took him days to get over and copious amounts of mouth wash.

Professor Yish Kabibble’s idea of fun was being aboard his yacht Triumph. He loved the thrill and exhilaration of sailing. He was happy when he was sitting comfortably in his captain’s chair, his hands upon his magnificent steering wheel. His mind would always turn to thoughts of adventure as the gentle breezes filled the sail and pushed him silently through the cool blue water.

The Professor had built Triumph himself. It had been a labour of love and had taken him a few years. Triumph was the motivation for going to the markets where he was able to find all sorts of things in which to build his boat. At the last one, he had found some old planks of wood that had come from the local steam train station. He also brought two old carved doors that he had found. One had a tiger carved into the timber and the other one had carved dolphins jumping waves. The tiger door he cut down to size so it could be used as the cabin door that led down into the yacht.

One of the dolphin doors was used to give privacy to the Head, the yacht’s toilet. The other dolphin door was used for the main cabin door where he slept. Professor Yish Kabibble had painted them with a special paint he had invented. At night, the doors would glow in the dark making the tiger and the dolphins look as if they were real. The Professor would lie on his bed looking at them cross-eyed and after a while they would appear to come alive.

Triumph’s mast had been made from a huge pole which had been taken off an old fishing trawler. Professor Yish Kabibble brought it from an old sailor nicknamed ‘Pongo the Pirate’. . Pongo had used the huge poll to pull in his large fishing nets up from the bottom of the ocean. Everyone new why his called Pongo because he always stunk of old fish. The Pirate part was because he wore a black patch over one eye. Pongo had told the Professor that when he was a young boy he was stunk in the eye by a bee. The result of the sting was he lost his eye sight Professor loved spending time with Pongo, even if he did stink, because he always had some fishy tale to tell.

One story Professor Yish Kabibble loved hearing was how Pongo had come eye to eye with a huge whale. It had been swimming along side his boat while he was trawling. Arrhh… Lad Pongo would say in a pirate voice, the whale had just come up for air when old Pongo’s boat lurched sideways. The fishnets were so full of fish, laddie that I was knocked fair and square overboard right onto the monsters back. Arrhhh laddie what do you think that slippery whale did next? Well I’ll tell yaw cos you would never guess not in a million years. That whale snorted a huge burst of air out of his air hole, near frightened me to death laddie, cross my bones, and spit in the wind, which he did. I swear the noise that whale made sounded just like Darth Vader.

Anyway Professor, before it flicked its tail up into the air and disappeared into the cold dark water with me still on its back holding on for grim death Arrhhh….it looked me straight in the eye and winked. Laddie can you believe that? I was looking into a big wet glistening ball the likes I’ve never seen before and probably will never see again.

Pongo would take a deep breath at this point of the story and swallow the spit that gathered at the sides of his mouth. "But that’s not the end laddie not by a long shot. You won’t believe this bit laddie Arrhh…ha harr…. the whale flipped its body and threw me off it’s back and then pushed me to the side of the boat. And then with one big monstrous flick of its huge tail the Moby Dick of the sea threw me straight up into the air! This was one smart whale cos I landed on my fat butt with a thud on the deck of me boat just as the monster disappeared into the dark deep depths of the ocean.

Arrhhh…laddie I wouldn’t have believed it me self if he hadn’t happened to me. Believe me Laddie when I was air born I thought I saw Davey Jones’s Locker waiting for me in the depths below with it’s jaws wide open ready to receive me dying body into it’s fold. Ahaaa, Arrhhh but that was not to be my fate laddie oh no Not for Pongo!" Then they would both laugh.

Pongo was great at helping the Professor build his Yacht. He was good at building giving advice and when time allowed he would tell Yish more fishy stories. Some of them, defying belief. Over the years, the yacht started to take shape. They launched her, by smashing a bottle of cheap champagne over her bow and after hoisting the sail they both agreed that the sail was one of the best they had ever seen, ever!

The beautiful white sail was a gift from Ms Persnickerty. She was tall with curly red hair. Her eyes were sea green like glistening emeralds and she had a beautiful smile with red ruby lips and perfect white teeth. She was a very gentle, kind person and a very close friend of Professor Yish Kabibble. She had grown up in the village and everyone liked her. She was what people called ‘Community minded’ becuase she was very involved with what was going on within the community.

Mrs. Persnickerty had watched the Professor taking hammers, paint tins, saws and other building materials from his garage on a regular basis and over many months. Curious, she decided to ask him what he was doing. When he told her, he was building a yacht she was very excited for him. Every day she asked about his progress and if he needed anything. One day he told her that he was having difficulty finding a big enough sail for his yacht and without it he would not be able to go sailing. She had been waiting for this opportunity. Ever since hearing about the yacht she had wanted to give her friend a present.

One day she invited the Professor to afternoon tea. It was a lovely spring day. Over scones, jam and cream they talked about the treasures the Professor had found for his yacht. They were just finishing their third cup of tea when Ms Persnickerty with a big smile on her face presented Professor Yish Kabibble with one of her much-loved white sheets. She had inherited it from her grandmother. It was very white, thick, very strong and large. Ms Persnickerty had also embroidered in big blue letters the Professors initials, P.F. so when the sail was full of wind they stood out for all to see.

Professor Yish Kabibble smiled and laughed with joy at the gift. He thanked Ms Persnickerty and told her that anytime she wanted to go sailing she was more than welcome on his Yacht Triumph. It did not take her long to take him up on the offer. They spent many times on Triumph and had fun fishing, swimming, sailing and exploring many of the caves and coves near their village. Other times he enjoyed sailing alone. Occasionally a bird would fly up and plonk itself on top of the mast but as long as it was quite and did not poop on the deck, Professor Yish Kabibble did not mind having the company.

CHAPTER 2

MEETING A SCRUTTLE

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Suddenly Professor Yish Kabibble was jolted from his day dreaming by a high pitch whistle blowing in his ear. What on earth is that noise he wondered frustrated at being back in the present. Polly was whistling and steaming loudly. All right all right I’m coming. Professor Yish Kabibble lifted Polly up and carefully poured the hot water into his teapot.

He popped some bread into the toaster, opened his can of baked beans, and put them in a saucepan to cook on the stove. Oh, how he loved baked beans so healthy and good for your heart the only thing is they made you fart! He chuckled to himself as he remembered the song. It was true; he would be farting like a trooper for the rest of the day. He mixed grated cheese and sour cream into his beans just when they were beginning to boil. Once the toast had popped, he buttered it and carefully spread it with jam. He then poured his baked bean mixture on top. Yum! He then poured his tea, sat in his comfortable chair and ate his breakfast.

As Professor Yish Kabibble slowly sipped his tea and crunched on his toast he suddenly remembered why today was sooooo important. Oh my! Oh my! he gasped Oh my! The LETTER, the LETTER! I have to be in the woods by 10 am. Professor Yish Kabibble quickly jumped up of his chair and ran to the wall clock. 9 AM Oh No I’m going to be late. There is no time to dilly-dally this morning. How could I be so stupid to forget an appointment of such Royal Proportions?"

This appointment requires me to arrive on time and the appointment was in one hour! He rushed around the house this way and that trying to work out what he needed to do to be ready on time. I need to shower, brush my teeth, comb my hair, dress in my Sunday best and Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

Finally, after what seemed like ages he looked in the mirror, which stood in the corner of his bedroom and smiled with satisfaction at his reflection. He had dressed in his finest green and pink striped suit with a cream shirt and a tie that had green and pink clouds on it. The shoes he was wearing were his pride and joy. Another delight he had found at the markets.

They were purple and very shiny, so shiny in fact that you could see your face in them. Each shoe had a large silver buckle on the top, which hid the laces. Each buckle was in the shape of a knight’s shield. The buckle on the right shoe had a lion’s head engraved on it. The left shoe had a sword engraved on the buckle. The Professor who was always getting his left and right sides mixed up never got his sides mixed up again unless he wasn’t wearing his shoes. He was clever at so many things but when it came to knowing his left foot from his right well frankly, he was stumped.

One more look in the mirror and Professor Yish Kabibble was ready for his Royal Appointment. Oh! He nearly forgot his walking stick. It was one of Professor Yish kabibble most prized processions. The walking