The Girl with a Parrot

By Bill Webster

In the second thrilling adventure of The Sloping Meadow trilogy, Lucy continues as the storyteller. She with her friends experience a series of adventures. The story's exposition involves the saving of a drowning man. He is Bora, a very special man, keen to help his friend, Professor Mendoza; since he is ill, he will be sending his daughter first. This will be by a nuclear submarine.

The enigmatic daughter arrives and is taken by Lucy and her friends to Box Hill, but on the visit to a London museum, North Kortana has already tracked the submarine and now activates its most ruthless spy, Hye Booh. A drone tries to film them all in Sloping Meadow but they are helped by Helen Scott, an MI6 officer. They are all kidnapped when the professor arrives and are dragged to an abandoned airport, where Helen Scott tries to save them…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: May 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528971263

Bill Webster

Bill Webster was a theatre manager at Epsom Playhouse for five years, as well as a civil servant for almost 39 years, serving the most vulnerable children and adults in the High Court, especially in the Court of Protection. Taught English literature by Peter Dale, the acclaimed modern poet, he enjoys writing and illustrating the novels and painting in oils and drawing in soft pastels. He is a keen gardener and has always been interested in spiritual matters. Bill is married to Bev and they have two children and three grandchildren and live in Carshalton, Surrey.

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About the Author

Bill was a Theatre Manager at Epsom Playhouse, as well as a Civil Servant for almost 39 years, serving the most vulnerable children and adults in the High Court, especially the Court of Protection. Taught English Literature by Peter Dale, the Modern Poet, he enjoys painting in oils and drawing in pastels. He is married with two children and three grandchildren (so far).

About the Book

In the second thrilling adventure of The Sloping Meadow trilogy, Lucy continues as the storyteller. She with her friends experience a series of adventures. The story’s exposition involves the saving of a drowning man. He is Bora, a very special man, keen to help his friend, Professor Mendoza; since he is ill, he will be sending his daughter first. This will be by a nuclear submarine.

The enigmatic daughter arrives and is taken by Lucy and her friends to Box Hill, but on the visit to a London museum, North Kortana has already tracked the submarine and now activates its most ruthless spy, Hye Booh. A drone tries to film them all in Sloping Meadow but they are helped by Helen Scott, an MI6 officer. They are all kidnapped when the professor arrives and are dragged to an abandoned airport, where Helen Scott tries to save them…

Dedication

For Bev, Eliot, Jana and Luka (and the new baby coming), Michelle and Monaie.

Copyright Information

Copyright © Bill Webster (2019)

The right of Bill Webster to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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 prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528942737 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528971263 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2019)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Mr Peter Dale, Mr Holmwood and Mr Dick Stoker who taught me English Language and English Literature at Glastonbury.

Synopsis of the Girl with

a Parrot

In this second book of the Sloping Meadow Trilogy, Lucy, an eight-year-old continues as the storyteller. The summer holidays are here.

Lucy and her friends make huge efforts to save a non-swimming, drowning man and his dog.

They are shocked then to see him the next day as a very proficient swimmer, measuring the depth of the River Mede with a sophisticated instrument.

He is Bora, a very special, chosen man, who is desperate to help his friend, a brilliant Nuclear Scientist, Professor Sebastian Mendoza, who wishes to defect from North Kortana and take both his daughter and his knowledge to London.

Lucy and her friends are gobsmacked to learn that this will first mean that his daughter, a direct descendant from the Royal Peruvian Line and therefore a princess, will test the route from Northern Russia via the Japanese waters before her sick father makes the journey.

Having already left, the Princess and her parrot are on their way but they are being tracked by satellite from North Kortana.

When the Princess disembarks at Sloping Meadow and the Nuclear Submarine returns to collect her father, North Kortana activates one of its most ruthless female spies, Hye Booh.

Princess Beatriz is taken to Box Hill for a picnic but the next day, on a visit to the Sir John Soames Museum, Holborn, Hye Booh confronts Bora and the group of friends and they escape inside the Royal Courts of Justice.

While admiring the beauty of Sloping Meadow, a drone tries to locate and film them, but Bora arrives by helicopter with Helen Scott, an MI6 Officer, and she orders a small red plane to shoot the drone down.

With Professor Mendoza planning now to come out of the returning submarine on the Thames, near Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, they visit ‘The Lion King’ but are intercepted and gassed in the blue horse truck driven by Helen.

They are tied up in Stratford E15 but MI6 agents free them. Later, on a short trip to Whitehall to say farewell to Professor Mendoza and his daughter, they are hit by a massive burst Water Mains, the drivers are switched and they are taken in the two MI6 cars to a disused airport at Croydon, last used in September 1959.

Helen desperately tries to shoot the wheels of the plane to stop it taking off but in the end, only her physical efforts and those of Bora, save Lucy and her friends. Bora heroically lands the damaged plane.

They visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace to watch Helen receive the George Cross for bravery and the Prime Minister of the day arranges a treat for Lucy and her friends on the Thames in a canoe gifted by South Africa. A peaceful day then turns violent.

Later, at huge risk, they now plan a trip to the London Eye to say a final farewell to the Princess, where Hye Booh plans deadly revenge for the massive betrayal of North Kortana…

Bill Webster

16 December 2018

Chapter 1

We’re all at Sea

We are all sitting on the bank of the River Bede, which lies south of Sloping Meadow when Pete, my older brother, comes rushing up to let us know,

"Now it really is summer, officially, because we have no more school!"

Tell us something we don’t know, Giselle says, light-heartedly.

We are all light-hearted and light-headed.

No more school for at least six weeks.

"YOWZA!" shouts Rob, and he sits back down next to Giselle who is combing her long brown hair.

(Just so you know my brother, Pete, assures me that the word YOWZA in a game of scrabble gives a score of twenty and it is an officially accepted word for amazement.)

Rob is now so close to Giselle that he can hear the static caused by the brushing, crackle in her hair. Giselle does have very beautiful hair and today, the first day of the summer break, Rob and Pete seem to be especially mesmerised by its beauty in the sunshine this morning. Giselle is one of those lucky girls who now only has to brush her hair to have our boys’ full attention. She really is not interested in their predicament and certainly has not started brushing her hair for their pleasure but merely because it needs it.

To remind you all of what we look like, here is Giselle on your left and Claire on your right, with me, Lucy, in the middle.

From our exciting time in Sloping Meadow, when Monaie’s dad saved all of our lives by skilfully crash-landing the light aircraft, (a small Lear Jet), to this very day we have all remained in contact with Monaie and her dad and with each other.

Perhaps, more importantly, we have been in constant contact with Sloping Meadow: that sweeping and majestic place we all love to visit where Monaie and her dad live with Benjamin, their donkey.

We have all managed to get through the Spring Term at school and are all very much still friends.

Monaie’s dad appears with Monaie and leaves her with us.

Take good care of my girl, he says.

She’s our girl as well, Claire responds, and she means it. Monaie has become very important to us.

Monaie smiles and there is no doubt that she is also beautiful with her long, dark, wavy hair falling just below her waist. She has dark brown glassy eyes and looks intelligent.

Lucy, Monaie asks me, with her very special eyes, can I please sit next to you?

Of course, you may, I respond, making room for her and stroking her hair as she passes me. I will let you into a secret and tell you that now that I have become firm friends with Monaie, I enjoy pulling her hair gently when she is in front of me and not expecting it. She always turns around and smiles. She is wearing thin black trousers that look like tight jeans and a top that is bright red with a long rose on the side. On her feet she has patented black leather boots that sparkle with their newness. Monaie has confided in me that she wishes to have a career in Fashion Design. I am impressed that she knows what she wants to do at six years of age.

The sun is out and is gently persuading us to feel its warmth. When it is out, it is so welcoming. I think that the sun when it is shining energises us, almost like it does to lizards in the summer. What do you think?

Rob has brought some long rope with him because today we are near the end of Stratton Common and intend on tying it to a branch of a tree and making it into a rope swing. We all climb through a gap in the fence at the end of Stratton Common as the trees near the river are higher and stronger there to make our rope swing a success.

Shall I climb this one? Rob asks Pete; Giselle and he both signal with a thumbs up that the chosen Elm tree looks strong enough and high enough to make a great rope swing that will hold all our weights. Before I continue, I should point out that we intend to have the rope swing not to go anywhere too near the river or it would be dangerous in view of the strong current of the River Bede as well as its depth, but to swing safely above only the ground below the Elm tree.

Monaie is excited and we promise that she may be first on it when it is constructed.

Rob begins his ascent of the tree with the long rope wrapped around his waist freeing up his hands so that he can climb, but events then take a different turn.

Pete, who has just helped Monaie through