Keep Out

By Jenny Singleton

First the adventure of a lifetime in "That Magnificent Medallion" and now...

Amanda slammed the door and stomped down the road feeling extremely badly done to.
Her two best friends Sue and Gale were adamant, they certainly wouldn’t go to Abina, the
richest and the most prosperous country in Africa, for their holiday, instead they’d go to,
of all places, Madrid.

Three days went by before Amanda, feeling rather guilty, had the courage to go and make
amends. But what did she find – Sue and Gale grinning and then singing, ‘we’re going, we’re
going, we’re going to Abina. They’d actually changed their minds.

But who did they meet In Abina? A sweet little Indian lady, their old foe Bola Barana,
the 'orrible Ogre and last but not least Price Karna in tatters.
But does anyone know what happened to Passbar?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329646254

Book preview

Keep Out

KEEP OUT!

JENNY SINGLETON

KEEP OUT!

First published 2011

ISBN:  978-1-329-64625-4

Copyright (c) Jenny Singleton 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the published. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

For Bus,

whose help and thoughtfulness

were immeasurable

By Jenny Singleton:

Passbar, Amanda and Friends in:

1 That Magnificent Medallion

2 Keep Out!

3 WOW

4 Quiro’s Map

CHAPTER 1

Where to now!?

I know where we‘ll go – to Abina, the smallest country in Africa and supposedly the richest.  Here, look at this, it says all, said Amanda importantly, reading a portion from a very large and  very old encyclopedia. Abina the smallest country in Africa with an area of roughly nine hundred and eighty nine square miles, is the richest and the most prosperous of all the countries of the third world.  Its wealth comes from the extraction of valuable stones from the earth around Shana, the capital of Abina.  These stones include diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds.  The gems are marketed by people of every nationality and can be found in every country in the world.

Actually, I thought up the last bit, said Amanda grinning, feeling quite proud of herself and then she added, What do you think?  Don’t you think it’s a really good idea?  We haven’t been to Africa before and I think that now is just the right time, what about it you two?

Sue and Gale, try as they might couldn’t conceal their amusement a moment longer.  What, another idea, we’ve had tons of those in the last week, we thought we were going to go to Italy, France, or Russia and now we hear that Africa is the ‘IN PLACE, said Sue doubling up with laughter.  I think we’ll play it safe and have our holiday in Madrid this year. It’s meant to be a beautiful and a very interesting city and anyway, Sue added, It was your idea Amanda, from the start.

Amanda pulled a face,  Madrid, did I really suggest Madrid – it’s rather ordinary don’t you think – Abina is a much better idea.

Sue’s laugh turned suddenly cold,  Look here, we discussed all this last Saturday and the three of us, you included, decided that we’d go to Madrid. But now it looks as though Gale and I will have our holiday in Madrid and you will have yours in Abina, a country that none of us have even heard of.

Amanda looked very hurt but also very annoyed,  If you feel like that Sue, go to Madrid, I’m going to Abina, for the whole summer and by myself, and with that, she grabbed her coat and quickly left, slamming the door behind her.

Amanda stomped down the road feeling extremely badly done to, I had such a good idea, she said to herself,  And they had to go and ruin it.  Why I call them friends I don’t know.  But by the time she reached home she was feeling rather less sure of whether she had had such a good idea, and by the time she went to bed she was feeling quite guilty about the whole episode. I’d better go and apologize,  she told herself,  How could I expect them to be interested in Abina, after all it’s the first time they’ve ever heard of it, and for that matter only my second.  I’ll definitely go over and see them tomorrow morning  she promised herself. 

But it took three days for Amanda to pluck up the courage to go round to see them.  She stood outside the door, gulped, closed her eyes and pressed the bell. When she opened them, she was more than surprised to see Sue and Gale standing at the door grinning at her.  Then Sue, surprisingly, as she always sang out of tune, began to sing, We’re going, we’re going, we’re going to Abina, and with Gale’s help repeated it over a dozen times.  Amanda’s mouth dropped open,  I’m hearing things, I must be.  We’re really going to Abina?  Sue and Gale nodded. Amanda started to smile, which turned into a grin and in a matter of seconds all three of them were laughing together.

We knew you’d come, said Sue, as the three were sitting on the floor around the coffee table, drinking coffee and eating meringues.  We knew you couldn’t manage without us, grinned Gale.  Come on Sue, tell Amanda all about our arrangements or should I say Uncle Ben’s.

Well soon after you left, started Sue, half jokingly,  I began to feel quite guilty and the more guilty I felt, the more I thought what a good idea it would be to go to Abina. Gale, surprisingly had the same idea and, believe it or not, said it would be easy, didn’t I know that she had an Uncle who was a travel agent – Benjamin Bishop.  That was the start and yesterday Uncle Benjamin told the two of us that we’d be on the plane in less than a month.  And you’ll never guess what – It’s Free,  added Sue laughing and patting Gale on the back.  It’s free for all those birthday and Christmas presents he hasn’t given her.

What about me? asked Amanda sounding rather put out.

You’re included. Uncle Benjamin said another one wouldn’t make much difference and, Sue added laughing, It’s a jolly good job as well, it would have cost us a fortune.

CHAPTER 2

Dilapidated it certainly was!

Exactly a month later, after a very comfortable flight to Tunis and an horrendous one into Abina, they landed at Shana airport.

They  waited and waited, there wasn’t a taxi in sight and absolutely no-one to ask. The minutes turned into an hour.  This is ridiculous it’s almost one a.m., said Amanda fuming. First an awful flight and then a filthy airport, she pointed to a pile of rubbish in the far corner, And there isn’t even a taxi.  Ours was a commercial flight, they have a flight at least twice a week. They have to have taxis.

Just at that moment a taxi did race into the airport. It pulled to