TEDDY MAC AND THE MOON MARBLE

 “That’s it!” said Humphrey. “That’s the Great Marble of Beer!” Teddy Mac stared at the enormous Golden Marble in the middle of the Sun Garden. “But it’s so BIG” he said. “How does it fit inside the mole tunnels?” “It doesn’t,” said Humphrey, “That’s just the one for visitors. Our Moon Marble is much smaller.”

   Teddy Mac watched the water streaming over the shiny Golden Marble. “Why does it have all that water spraying over it?” he asked. “Well,” said Humphrey, “I expect the Gardeners think it needs to be kept cool. You remember how hot the Star marbles were when we made them in the Engine Shed.

While they were talking Teddy Mac noticed something odd. “Humphrey,“ he said, “The water has stopped running. Does that mean the Great Marble is cool now?” “No!” shouted Humphrey. “It means that the Moon Marble has gone missing! Quickly, come this way!”

   Teddy Mac trotted behind Humphrey to the nearest Mole Hill. Jumping down into the tunnel they were surrounded by hundreds of marbles. Loose ones bounced off the tunnel walls. Fast running trucks scattered them as they rumbled along the tracks. Humphrey picked up a gold one. “We’ll take this with us,” he said.

Trotting along behind a fast moving truck, they reached the Mole Lift  which looked exactly like a string of soup ladles hooked together. “Going up!“ said Humphrey. Hanging on, as the lift spiralled upwards, they hopped off again at a platform behind the Grotto. “Maybe it’s here somewhere?” said Humphrey giving his gold marble a gentle push. But the marble refused to roll. Humphrey shook his head. “Can’t be here, “he said. Setting off up the Snake Path they stopped to ask Ambrose, the Snake on the Path if he‘d seen anything, but he only blinked at them. Finally, they arrived at the Moon Garden. “It can’t be here!” said Teddy Mac as he made faces at himself in the mirror behind the Moon Pond. 

“Why not?” asked Humphrey pointing through the railings.

Teddy Mac peered across the Pond. It was quite dry, but stuck to the bottom of it were dozens of silver and gold marbles.

“They look exactly like the stars in the sky!” said Teddy Mac as his eyes widened. “Could the Moon Marble be one of those?” Humphrey dropped the golden marble again. Teddy Mac’s mouth fell open as the little gold marble wobbled , then began to roll before speeding up towards the Moon Pond.     

  Slipping between the railings, it hurtled across the floor of the Pond until it bumped into a shiny Golden Marble almost hidden at the other side . “That’s it!” shouted Humphrey. “That’s the Moon Marble, we’ve found it!”

   And then something very strange happened. As Teddy Mac watched, coloured marbles appeared from all over the Moon Garden. They gathered speed, clunking and clicking, pushing and shoving until the Moon Pond was floating in a sea of colour.

   “Quickly!” shouted Humphrey. Squeezing through the railings, he pushed his way through the crowds of marbles to find the Moon Marble. Handing it to Teddy Mac they set off for the nearest Mole Hill with hordes of marbles trailing behind.

   Pushing the Moon Marble back into its hole-in-the-wall, they watched the happy moles separating the rest of the marbles into different coloured piles.

 “Where do they all come from?” asked Teddy Mac. “You MUST know that,” said Humphrey. “Everyone knows that all the lost marbles in the world come here!” Above them they heard a whooshing of water. “Ah!” said Humphrey. “The gardeners must have remembered to turn on the tap in the Sun Garden. The Great Marble of Beer is saved. Hurrah!” An Engine whistled in the distance. “Ooh!” I must get back to Grandad,” said Teddy Mac. Waving to Humphrey, he trotted off along the tunnels towards the Engine Shed for another day on the railway.

© Margaret Edmonds 2009