Key-Tick

Chapter 1:

Joanna Mersey had just got herself expelled from Sadie Simians Boarding School for Feral Girls. She was holding a letter while running for her safety. This letter held the information of her brother being caught in an airship crash. On the end of the letter it said the last words he breathed. “Please, make sure you think before you act, Joanna.” She thought about it greatly and deeply, knowing that James was always correct.

Once she took a break after dashing for what seemed like an hour; she lay down and stretched her arms out. Then coming towards her was a spider crawling through the long heather. She soon realised that it was Sater the mechanimal spider, that scuttled through the grass. Joanna felt so much relief to see Sater on her. She wound him up and he finally told her what really happened. Knowing that she had a friend, she set off to fulfil James’ dream.

Right afterwards, they set off on their journey with no time to spare. Trying to find the key to the burger shop was hard work. They looked in every clockmaker and every workshop but none had heard of such a key. They finally found the shop which knew about it- Yo-ting Clock-smiths. They told her of someone already buying the key for a really good price. The son, Jayden, decided to join Joanna and Sater.

For Joanna, this key was  her only memory of her grandpa, who died a peaceful death at 72. This key is more than food or a MacGuffin, it is her sweet memory of her Grandpops- which is now also the memory of her brother. Her dedication to find the key was more fiery than a matchstick in a barrel filled with firewood.

Knowing where the key is, Joanna knew what to do. “We gotta get it as quick as possible; To open the burger shop!” they all exclaimed, raring to go – fire in their eyes. They all sat down around the Yo-Ting dining table, working out how to retrieve the key from the Kay Ef Cies before they got to the burger shop and the sacred chicken nugget machine.

Chapter 2:

The Kay-Ef-Cies’ clubhouse stood nastily in an ominous spit of rain. Joanna stared at the study on the 3rd floor where nothing but evil oozed off of it. Outside, the trees look like skeletal fingers trying to touch the rain-highlighted sun, and the spring showers ate up the courtyard of the clubhouse. As Jayden came up to the towering front door, he felt small in comparison to the rest of the world, he opened the small door and found a massive bar. Inside, this bar smelled, looked and tasted of alcohol. 

Joanna and Jayden ran up the stairs with Sater the spider scouting out anything that could be a trap or hiding spot. They finally made it up to the 3rd floor study. Luckily, nothing was trapped. In the study were maps and drawings of London and towns surrounding it; ideas for new recipes and for their menus; lots and lots of research material that was expensive but fascinating. Joanna found a set of drawers, something just gave her the urge to look inside the fourth drawer up. Inside there was a safe which had a key in it. She turned this key of curiosity- Creeeeaaaaak! It was the key to the burger shop, and there were numbers engraved on it.

“Wow, that looks so amazing. So this is the key to the burger shop,” explained Jayden in an absolute state of awe, “ If your brother found this you could make a fortune with your burger shop, and… what’s that on the back? They look like coordinates to me,” Then, that moment, she realised what this all meant. The Kay-Ef-Cies wanted to utilise the wealth and power of the burger shop to rule the world.

“Ah, so we have new troublesome children trying to spoil our plans,” Colonel Sootpocket, the leader of the Kay-Ef-Cies, spat while eating a bucket of chicken thighs,” There should be more youth clubs around nowadays, aren’t I right Mersey,” A horror glazed Joanna over,  “how did he know my last name?” Joanna thought. Then it dawned over her what this story had been telling. This small, ginger man with a lab coat with the Kay-Ef-Cies symbol grabbed them both. A couple of petrified minutes later, both Joanna Mersey and Jayden Yo-Ting were in the cellar.

A small crack in the basement door stopped as little light as possible from coming in.They tried pushing the door, but this was metal, unlike the rest of the doors, which were wooden. Inside their chamber, the hope and heroism from inside them retreated as soon as they heard the click of the lock. A determination filled inside her. Sater is not in the room, “We might be able to escape and save the burger shop and stop the Kay-Ef-Cies from ruling the world!” she shouted.

Chapter 3:

Jayden snoozed quietly in the cellar, dreaming of freedom and wishing he didn’t feel so claustrophobic. On the other hand, Joanna looked in between every nook and cranny, any place that a secret switch or lever could be. She shouted then squealed as she tried kicking the door over, but Sootpocket kept shushing her saying that resistance is futile. “ Hey, you lazy pup!” said Joanna having a go at Jayden as well as waking him up, “ Help as well, it’s quicker if both of us try looking! At Least make an effort!” The more angry and frustrated Joanna got, all the more hopeless and lifeless Jayden became. Jayden was a void of despair. He was experiencing something worse,giving up.

Outside, When the moon swallowed the sun and the night pushed the day out of the way, there was only the nice soothing sound of crickets. The stars pulsed their ray of light on the hopeless couple. Inside, the boxes were spread out and ripped open, being used as pillows, blankets and beds. The night was silent, the only noise there was the chirping of crickets. Then, a scuttling noise appeared. Joanna looked out the window – it was Sater! He ticked over to Joanna then asked for a wind up and gave her the key.

After waking up Jayden, Joanna clicked the door open. Afterwards, they ran past the road and to a nearby farmyard. Inside the farmyard they made a fire, chatted about what they had found and made a battle plan. While they did this, big questions went around Joanna’s head: How did Colonel get his hands on the key and What really happened to her brother? What is going to happen next?

Chapter 4:

Joanna went and put her head down. She then opened her eyes. There was a man. This man was fairly tall, a bit more than average. He had a toolbelt around his waist lining the end of his navy blue jumper. His goggles imprinting his head as much as he was standing still. Behind him

was an airship. This airship was a small airship, it was lined and bolted with silver, and its mast was pure. On the end was a tongue, tasting the open air. With gold lining, words on the ship said, ‘The Half-Tongue. Then the man started striding towards her; closer, closer, closer. She was almost touched,then she saw Jayden. She was being shaken. He was shouting wake up and all that.

She saw pure sunlight, aromatic animals and Jayden. Joanna was still half asleep-even though Jayden had been shaking her for what had felt like 5 minutes now. Sater was still sleeping in. You could hear his cogs whirring as his sleep mode was on. As soon as he woke, he got ushered out of his spot and out into the pure daylight. Still being dragged along, Sater also tried to dodge the hooves and pecks of chickens and cows. Sater then spotted out the gleaming key, in the distant window of the Kay-Ef-Cies clubhouse. Joanna exclaimed so loud it echoed through the endless sky, “We will get this key no matter what. By all that finds its way through life and death and all that which ticks through hell, we will find that key!” They then got all their equipment together for infiltration, battle and protection.

All three went to sneak to and pounce on the wall. They threw their hooks and the other climbed up. All three of them were led by Sater,who was able to scope out the glint. As soon as they reached the window ledge, they opened it and began step 1 of operation MCDONALDS.They climbed in and started looking for the key. Eventually, they found it, then it was step 2. They all went down to trap  Colonel’s bedroom door. They made a pulley that attaches to the handle. Then, finally, the last step. They just needed to find transport. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” shouted what seemed like Colonel, “You Imbeciles!” This echoed on forever; through space and cosmos. Fortunately, they found a small airship that could fit a small crew on. This was perfect, it also seemed really swift as well. He started chasing them with a musket, trying to shoot them. He was too late. Colonel kept missing as the airship went up and up.Joanna, Jayden and Sater were finally safe again.

This ship was  beautifully quick and had amazing firearms with stunning studs lining the railings- nothing could beat this. Every bit of metal seemed to be pure silver, it had a cloud white mast and golden words on it, saying ‘Half-Tongue’. Then on the end of it was a finely decorated tongue, which looked exactly like a humans. It was licking the air like you would do with an ice cream. Joanna had Deja-Vu. It was from her dream, or should we say vision. She went on to look at the rest of the ship with Jayden and Sater. The countryside they saw was beautiful. They could see the farmyard they had slept in and where the nasty Kay-Ef-Cies clubhouse was- all of the thugs being smaller than ants. As they came out and into London, they saw Sadie Simians boarding school for feral girls, the Yo-Ting residence and her old house. Finally over- sea they went. They had a look at the key and found a perfect slot for it on the ship. The salty sea air clicked the lock open and they found a map of the world. They both thought- while the dolphins sang their tunes.If they use this map they will be able to find the burger shop? As days passed, going over daisy covered fields and leaf covered plateaus, they finally had the first drop of christmas in their hearts.