The Magic Pencil 2

By AW Faber-Castell

Young Andy Ritter von Krumm's incredible madcap adventures with his magic pencil continue at a cracking pace.

Lucifer unleashes a horde of devils on the town of Stone and gives Andy's evil aunt Kunnikunde even greater diabolical powers to use against him. But the magic pencil has given Andy amazing new powers too. And he will need them! Apart from his insane aunt and the Devil himself, Andy also has to fight a crazy collection of fearsome and freaky villains, including brutal gangsters, bloodthirsty terrorists, and murderous secret police.

But it's not all mad violence and mayhem. There are laughs and fun galore too! Magic powers used for good can make fools of even Lucifer and his devils. And Andy's faithful dog, Sassy, never fails to cause hilarious trouble for her beloved master's enemies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Apr 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9780228859185

AW Faber-Castell

For author A.W. Faber-Castell (Count Andreas von Faber-Castell), every pencil holds the promise of magic. From the time he was a young boy he has always regarded pencils as small magic wands that inspire creativity and make the imagination visible.Known as Count Andy to his colleagues, he is the last surviving member of the 8th generation pencil dynasty to have been actively involved in the running of the famous company, which began in Germany in 1761.His deep pride in the company's extraordinary and successful history, and his passion for the power of the pencil over the centuries, has inspired him to pick one up and write The Magic Pencil series of books for younger readers.

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Copyright © 2022 by Castell Trading Pty Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-5917-8 (Hardcover)

978-0-2288-5916-1 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-5918-5 (eBook)

I would like to gratefully acknowledge family, friends and colleagues who have contributed in many ways to bring my writing to fruition.

Author: Count Andreas Wilhelm von Faber-Castell

For author A.W. Faber-Castell (Count Andreas von Faber-Castell), every pencil holds the promise of magic. From the time he was a young boy he has always regarded pencils as small magic wands that inspire creativity and make the imagination visible.

Known as Count Andy to his colleagues, he is the last surviving member of the 8th generation pencil dynasty to have been actively involved in the running of the famous company, which began in Germany in 1761.

Andy was the company’s undisputed champion for developing children’s products – the main contributor to Faber-Castell’s success over recent decades. One of his claims to fame was the launch of his beloved Connector Pen. He was its sole champion initially, but with passion and persistence he ultimately brought the disbelievers in the company on board. The pen became famous worldwide, and it has been the number one colouring product in Australia for the past twenty-five years.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

1

CHAPTER ONE

Time is the thief of memory, and it stole freely from the good people of Stone.

The stupendous, explosive drama of the night they combined forces to drive the evil countess from their village should have been burned vividly in their memories forever. Yet just a little over a year after that spectacular and extraordinary event, they referred to it simply as ‘the incident.’

And they couldn’t agree on what ‘the incident’ was. For some, it could only have been an illusion or hallucination. Others recalled it as just a careless misfiring of a ceremonial cannon. There were even those who described it as an alien encounter of some kind, when a small boy shot down a UFO with his powerful laser gun (a version that every other small boy in the village hoped was true). From there the rumour grew that it had actually been an alien’s gun that the boy had somehow stolen from the aliens …

However, despite the varied memories, one belief the villagers shared was that on the sensational night in question they came together as a powerful, united force to rid their town of the greedy, nasty Countess Kunnikunde Ritter von Krumm, after which, life in Stone returned to normal.

Or, should we say, just about normal. The one big change in the year since that dramatic night was the establishment of Johann Ritter von Krumm’s new pencil factory, right next to the old one which had been taken over and ruined by Countess Kunnikunde and her henchmen. Most of her former workers wanted to join Johann’s new company, knowing full well that he had been the driving force behind much of the success of the old company, especially with his new and exciting product ideas designed for children. Not surprisingly, with Johann at the helm of his own business, developing innovative products and applying astute marketing strategies, the new factory took off like a pencil-sized rocket. Its stratospheric rise surpassed even its owner’s high expectations.

Despite her absence from the old factory, Kunnikunde was still very much in control of it. She had placed another Ritter von Krumm there as a puppet manager to run it on her orders. Her nephew, Farty Ritter von Krumm, was a male version of his horrendous aunt. With Kunnikunde’s continuing influence, the Ritter von Krumm pencil company gradually fell apart, its once great soul slowly eaten away by an obstructive bureaucracy and an incompetent advisory board headed by Mr Broombridge.

Johann’s son, Andy, on the other hand, was unencumbered by any such millstones and his soul was in fine shape! He was a happy ten-year-old and doing well, thanks in part of course to his magic pencil, which had up-loaded vast amounts of knowledge into his brain and given him enhanced physical skills. But these weren’t unconditional gifts from the pencil; it insisted that Andy not use them to draw attention to himself. Andy accepted the pencil’s rules and tried very hard to follow them, which he somehow managed to do … with the occasional lapse, of course.

This morning at school was a good example of such a slip-up, when Andy dared smile during assembly. Now, if he had been at any other school, smiling wouldn’t have been a problem. In fact, it may have been seen as a sign of a happy, pleasant child. But not here at the fearsome Miss Heger’s school.

‘Andy!’ she screeched. ‘What are you grinning at like an idiot? What are you thinking about, you naughty boy? You’re not here for fun—school is serious!’

With that, Miss Heger stormed over to Andy and in the blink of an eye let loose two stinging blows with her large right hand. Slap! Slap! In the same motion, she turned around and stalked off, assuming that she had hit her target.

The hand may be quicker than the eye, but Andy was even faster and ducked just in time to avoid the headmistress’s blows. Instead, the two boys standing closest to Andy, Otto and Franz, copped the full force of Miss Heger’s thumping hand. They stood holding their burning cheeks and glared at Andy.

‘That wasn’t fair,’ the magic pencil whispered.

‘Just a reflex action,’ Andy said. ‘Sorry’. He shrugged apologetically at Otto and Franz who, clutching their stinging cheeks, made fists of their free hands and shook them at Andy before turning and walking away.

But Andy’s relationship with the pencil easily survived such occasional lapses in judgement. The two had developed a trusting friendship and had fun conversing with each other. The whole family enjoyed the pencil’s black humour and were happy to have it around.

Right now, Andy was particularly happy, and it had nothing to do with the pencil. Today was the last day of school for the term and the long summer holiday was ahead of him. No Miss Heger for eight blissful weeks, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time since the final bell rang. And he wasn’t the only one rejoicing; all the children of Stone were in a joyous mood.

Andy even entertained the idea that he might never see Miss Heger again because he’d heard she was getting married to a man named Jim Steel, the former head of Kunnikunde’s guards. It occurred to Andy that she might give up teaching once she was married. He could only hope.

2

CHAPTER TWO

The instant he arrived home, Andy rushed upstairs to his bedroom and flung his school backpack into the darkest corner of his wardrobe. ‘Good riddance!’ he yelled and started dancing wildly around the room.

The sudden appearance of his mother, Anna, in the doorway pulled him up short. ‘Shush, Andy!’ she said in a loud whisper. ‘You must be quiet. Your father is in a meeting downstairs with Mr Broombridge, Rollover von Cracklingen and Farty Ritter von Krumm.’

‘Can I listen in?’ Andy asked cheekily.

‘Absolutely not!’ Anna shot back. ‘Please just stay here in your room for a little while. And keep the noise down. I’ll let you know when they’ve gone.’

Andy waited till his mother left and then slumped on his bed with a disappointed snort. ‘It’s not fair!’ he whined to the pencil. ‘Why can’t I—’

‘Be quiet, Andy!’ the pencil commanded, cutting him off. ‘I’m trying to listen.’

‘You can hear them?’ Andy said excitedly.

‘Yes, of course.’

‘Can you make me hear them too?’

‘Yes,’ the pencil responded with a tone that suggested he would be rolling his eyes if he had any.

‘You never told me you could do that!’ Andy cried.

‘You never asked me.’

Suddenly, Andy could hear the voices of the people downstairs as clearly as if he were sitting right next to them. The first voice he heard was Farty von Krumm’s yelling at Andy’s father, Johann.

‘The crest! My precious crest!’ Farty cried. ‘You are using my brand icon in your advertising material! How dare you!’

‘Was my grandfather not a von Krumm?’ Johann calmly replied.

This was a red rag to a bull. Farty completely exploded. ‘That’s only because he married a lowly von Ritter baroness!’ he screeched. ‘By doing so he lost all rights to use our von Krumm family crest. Do you understand?’

Before Johann could respond, Rollover von Cracklingen interrupted.

‘My dear Johann,’ he said soothingly, ‘we are here to make peace.’

‘Tell that to Farty,’ Johann retorted, glaring at his enraged relative.

‘Farty’s just very passionate about protecting the family crest,’ Rollover said. ‘And that’s the key word, Johann—family. It’s very important that our family remains united. So, you must accept that the only legitimate Ritter von Krumms are Kunnikunde and her daughters, Pink and Rose. The rest of us don’t count. The best thing for everybody, Johann, is for you to retire immediately. Just go quietly and enjoy the rest of your days in peace.’

‘But there are conditions!’ Farty interjected aggressively.

‘Conditions?’ Johann asked. ‘Whose conditions? What conditions?’

‘Our conditions!’ Farty screeched, losing his temper again.

‘Kunnikunde and the family,’ Rollover declared, ‘demand that you never make another pencil in your life and that you immediately stop advertising your products and talking to the media about them.’

‘Rollover! Rollover!’ Johann replied, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘Impossible! Ridiculous! I’ve worked extremely hard to establish the business. It is now very successful and starting to make good profits.’

Rollover von Cracklingen abandoned all pretence of fostering family unity and harmony. ‘Just shut it down, you fool!’ he shouted. ‘That is the command of your sister-in-law, Countess Kunnikunde Ritter