Wanted – urgently- a wife for King Henry VIII

Are you currently seeking a husband? Do you have the expertise to read and write, and do some sport? Do you want to be the richest woman in England?  If so, read on.

We are seeking a foreign beautiful woman, who can be patient and able to have a baby (but it has to be a boy). First, imagine becoming a royal Queen and being as rich as ever.

If you feel like this opportunity is for you. You will be expected to:

• Have a wedding
• Play tennis
• Have manners
• Be kind

In return we will reward you with:

• The fanciest dresses
• The money to be rich
• Jewels
• Palaces
• Holiday to your choice

You are guaranteed the protection of the best soldiers in England.

If you are interested in being the wife of King Henry please apply NOW!!!

YOU MIGHT GET YOUR HEAD CHOPPED OFF!

Captain Storm-Breaker held his niece and nephew in his arms, the sound of his heartbeat to Ruby’s ear. She felt safe, like she was a castle and that he had wrapped a moat around her.

“So, what’s the plan?” Captain Storm-Breaker asked his family.

As night melted to morning, the gang (Bobo, Buddy, Ash, Captain Storm-Breaker, Leo and Ruby) sneaked out of William Scott’s camp and prowled to the vault. Bobo unleashed the covering, revealing the horrible cages. Ruby suddenly remembered how awful it was, but that made her more determined to save them.

Captain Storm-Breaker said, “I didn’t realize how bad this would be. Ruby, you’re right. We must save them.” Leo asked Bobo how to unlock the crates, but he didn’t know himself. A lightbulb pinged in Ruby’s head, as she grabbed one of her hair clips and jabbed it into the pad lock of a crate, rotating it. Click! Ruby had unlocked the first cage, as a golden eagle swept out.

“That’s my girl!” Captain Storm-Breaker said proudly.

“Well, that’s why I did girl scouts!” Ruby laughed. One by one, the gang unlocked each cage, until there was one left, with the most incredible animal they’d ever seen: a banshee. His claws were like coat hangers and his horns stretched to the heavens. His majestic wings were tucked in; there wasn’t enough room to show his true wingspan. His face was painted with sadness and his back was hunched, as he wrestled the chains around his feet. Buddy poked his nose through the gaps in its cage, rubbing its nose and barking joyfully.

“Leo, I think you should do the honours! After all, you are my amazing brother. We couldn’t have done this without you!” Ruby beamed.

Out of nowhere, Leo started crying, tears rushing down his cheeks like a never-ending waterfall.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done what I have. I’m a horrible person!” he sobbed.

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked her brother, her face stone-cold.

“He told me about your pathetic, little plan,” William Scott’s voice said. “He said that you were going to save the animals and stop me.”

“Leo, why would you do that?” Captain Storm-Breaker spoke.

“He said he would help us find a way out of the island, if we let him keep the animals,” Leo replied. William Scott grabbed Bobo by the wrist and dragged him out along the floor, Bobo’s eyes sharing a glimpse with Leo. They were filled with fear, and Leo felt like he was the worst person in the world. The other explorers that worked for William snatched the animals and locked them back up, all of them screeching, and whimpering. “Okay, you’ve got your animals back. Now let us out of this island!”

“I’m afraid I’m not going to do that, Leo. I can’t have anyone in the way of my scientific discoveries. Therefore, I’m going to lock you all up. Your ‘baby phoenix’ will be experimented on!” William Scott cackled evilly.

“You beast!” Ruby screamed at him, as the gang were being taken by the explorers. Whining, Buddy rubbed noses with the banshee for a final time, as Buddy was dragged away by his collar.

“You tricked me!” Leo screamed.

Several hours later, the gang were locked up in their own cage, like a prison cell. Ash had been taken by William and was now in his study, stuck in a chest with many other small creatures. Ruby refused to even look at her twin, disgusted that they were related.

“Ruby, I’m sorry. I never wanted this to happen!” Leo whispered softly.

“Well, it has happened. Because of you!” Ruby snapped in return. Captain Storm-Breaker didn’t say a word; he was too busy reading a book titled: How to Get Out of Sticky Situations! Bobo lay on the ground, lifeless. His body ached in agonizing pain.  He had sores running all the way up his spine. Curled up in a ball, was Buddy, wind whistling through his nose.

They had lost all hope.

“I’m not just going to sit here! We must do something!” Leo said abruptly. “Look, I know that I’ve messed up, but we can’t just do nothing!”

Silence echoed around the room.

“Fine, hate me. But I’m not going to stay in the cell, whilst animals are suffering.” Out of nowhere, Captain Storm-Breaker threw his book and agreed with his nephew, everyone else following, except for Ruby. “Come on, Rubes. We’ve got to do something!”

Ruby admitted, “Okay, I’ll help you. But just so you know…I’m not doing this for you. It’s for the animals.” Buddy’s tail wagged ecstatically, as they all gathered round to capture a plan.

The gang found a way out through the ventilation system and were now outside. Captain Storm-Breaker and Bobo were busy making a plane to get off the island and the rest were fetching the animals. After hours of unlocking, all the creatures were galloping to the plane, which was now ready. It was of titanic size, so that everyone would fit. They were about to sail off, into the tangerine-orange sunset, when Ruby yelled, “Ash! He’s still stuck in there!” Before his sister could, Leo bolted as fast as a cheetah, ripping a hole in the tent, that William Scott’s study was in, with his father’s pocketknife. Crawling on his hands and knees, Leo sneaked inside, praying that William wouldn’t notice him. Leo noticed a smoke bomb under William Scott’s desk and threw it like it was a shotput out the hole he had made in the tent.

“Oh, great!” William yelled, running out as smoke filled the camp, like a killer virus.

“Yes!” Leo whispered to himself, finding a key and unlocking the chest that Ash was trapped in. A single silver tear fell from Ash’s eye, a tear of joy that someone had saved him. Leo didn’t just escape with Ash, but all the tiny baby creatures in the chest, Ruby grinning as she saw Ash prancing back to her.

“Good job, Leo. Now let’s go!” Captain Storm-Breaker said, all the gang reunited and everyone got ready on the plane.

Ruby was stroking a lizard’s head, when she noticed her brother alone in the corner.

“You did a brave thing, you know, Leo,” Ruby whispered to her brother, to not disturb the slumbering animals. “Thank you.”

Leo stood up and said, “Ruby, I’ve been thinking. Why just save the animals on that island, when there are thousands in danger all over the globe?”

“You mean, go all over the world saving endangered creatures? Leo, that’s impossible!”

“Never say never! Come on, Ruby. You in?” Leo said, crossing his fingers.

“Okay, I’m in.”

The thunder-bolt

Chapter 2: Are we safe?

Neither Leo’s nor Ruby’s parachutes were working, and they had no hope left. As they were being dragged to the ground by their new enemy (gravity), they saw a grey mist coming in the distance. They noticed it was turning at a lightning speed; a whirlpool of wind.

“Hurricane!” Ruby screamed, gasping for air. It was like they were magnets, as it spun towards them, getting closer and closer. The twins were panicking, and Ruby snatched Buddy, gripping onto him, her knuckles whitening. Leo faced turned to a daisy-petal-white, as the hurricane swallowed the sky ship in one gulp.

“CAPTAIN STORM-BREAKER!” Leo bellowed, his heart pounding as his uncle was swept up by the hurricane, the sound of his scream blocked out by Ruby’s sobbing. Suddenly, Ruby and Buddy were going around in circles, wind blowing their bodies easily, like they were feathers, the hurricane had devoured them. “NO!” Leo yelled, as he felt himself being sucked in as well. Leo, Ruby and Buddy were being spun endlessly, and they watched as the once-majestic Thunder Bolt vanished into oblivion. With a glance, Leo noticed the eye of the storm, filled with gorgeous pearly-pink clouds. Ruby tried to resist the hurricane’s pull, but Leo told her not to, that they would make it to somewhere safe, if they believed. He told her that the hurricane would take them to the centre of the wind, where it would be safe. Surprising Ruby, she discovered that he was right. The storm that had once been mean and cruel, was now full of kindness and peace. Everything turned quiet. The wind was their shell, protecting them from the outside world.

“You did it! We’re safe!” Ruby said, relieved. Only they weren’t, they began to fall once more, realising that just because they were inside a storm, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t still be affected by gravity. “I thought that we were in the eye, that we were going to be okay!” As they plummeted, they saw that beneath them there was an incredible island, and they were about to fall in its jungle. “An island!”

“What? That’s impossible, we’re literally inside a hurricane. Why is there an island in a hurricane?” Leo said with amazement. They realised they would be okay, they were landing in a rainforest, but they didn’t realise they would become unconscious by the time they landed.

Ruby had awoken from her deep slumber. She stared round, like a lighthouse’s searchlight. Her eyes glistened in the sunlight, which tried to sneak through the army of trees. They were in a jungle that Ruby only thought possible in dreams. She saw that Buddy thought so as well, his head was tilted at the sight.

Ordinary trees were pathetic compared to the ones on the island; they were the colour of the rarest emerald. Vines wrapped around the bumpy bark of the trees, almost suffocating the trunk. Plants of all shapes and sizes worked together to make a mesmerising array of nature. Waving in the gentle breeze, thin, lavender-purple flowers hypnotised Ruby, their petals so soft and silky. One plant was like a chandelier, hanging from branches overhead, and Ruby thought it was her guardian angel, looking down at her. What Ruby loved most, though, was the abundance of peculiar animals that hid in the bushes. They were so beautiful, so free. Many of Ruby’s friends would’ve called them ugly or frightening, but to Ruby they were the most amazing living-things known to the human-mind. Small insects fluttered in the air, twirling like ballerinas, and harmless birds sang a melodious tune. This was a land of dreams for Ruby, but for Leo it was the land of nightmares.

Leo saw three things: A jungle filled with dangerous animals that they’d never seen before, an island that they were stuck on, and a place where there was no one to look after his sister, Buddy and himself.

“Oh, Leo! Isn’t it wonderful? I think that this is the happiest I’ve ever been!” Ruby sighed, her face sore with smiles.

“Wonderful? You’re happy? If anything, this is an absolute disaster! There’s no one to look after us, and we’re in grave danger,” Leo panicked, barely breathing. Ruby had never heard her twin say so much in his life, he was always so shy, like he had been muted.

Ruby said, “I can look after us! After all, I am fifteen minutes older than you and I did girl scouts, making me extremely responsible.”

Leo scoffed and replied, “You, responsible? More likely to be me.”

“No, me. I cooked your food for an entire day once, when Uncle Storm-breaker was on ‘urgent business’. I bet that you have never done anything as brave as that.”

“Ruby, who was the one who looked after you for a month, when Mum and Dad went to Costa Rica?” asked Leo.

“You,” Ruby replied reluctantly.

“And who was the one who paid for a hotel, when Uncle left his wallet in the car?”

“You.”

“And who-”

“Okay you’ve made your point!” Ruby interrupted, realising that her brother had one on the side of maturity. Buddy started yapping at a strange bird that hovered over him, and ran off after it.

“Buddy, no! Come back! Great now, we’ll have to find him as well as the way out of here!” Leo moaned.

“Really? Our dog runs away and all that you care about is getting out of here! Let’s go get him,” Ruby replied. As they walked around, they called Buddy’s name, but no reply. Where had he gone? Leo and Ruby began to argue, until Leo couldn’t take it anymore.

“I just want to know where we are!” Leo huffed. Ruby did agree with him though, they were both confused about what had happened.

Out of nowhere, an unfamiliar squeaky voice said, “You’re in The Wilders, of course.”

“Who said that?” Leo asked, terrified. What did the voice mean by The Wilders?

The Thunder Bolt

Prologue

You have probably heard of a skyship, an incredible piece of engineering, that dominates the sky it flies in. Leo dreamed of flying one with his mother, but when she passed away on an epic expedition, all his wishes and hopes went down the drain. His uncle (Captain Storm-Breaker) took care of him and his twin-sister, Ruby. He was a kind-hearted man, with a bushy beard, the colour of pumpkins. He had a Border Collie named Buddy that always brought a smile to his niece and nephew’s face. One day he decided to take the twins on a skyship, to have the adventure of a lifetime! Until it all went wrong…

Chapter One: Jump!

“Hoist the sails, lads! This ship ain’t gonna fly itself!”  instructed Captain Storm-Breaker, Ruby and Leo’s uncle. Buddy barked happily, running over to Ruby and jumping on her lap. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Ruby grabbed a rope and knotted it around The Thunder Bolt’s lookout pole.  Just like her Mum, Ruby loved the sky-life, waking up in the warm breeze as it flowed through her hair. They were fully compatible, apart from the fact that only one of them were still living. She missed her Mother every second of her life, but Ruby tried to hide it, she didn’t want to seem weak.  Captain Storm-Breaker ruffled his hand in his niece’s auburn hair, a warm feeling spreading from his smile. The loveable Border Collie (Buddy) nudged Captain Storm-Breaker’s arm, encouraging a stroke.

But, far below in the sky-ship’s cabin, there was Leo, snuggled up on the round window’s ledge, gazing into the eternal land that stared at him. His mind was spinning, with feelings that pierced his heart, unbidden. Losing his mum had sucked all the joy out of him with a straw, leaving him with just the scraps. Suddenly, Leo turned to see his uncle standing by his side, his crystal-blue eyes like two lagoons, with Buddy panting next to him.  “How you doing, matey?” Captain Storm-Breaker spoke with a kind voice. Silence echoed around the room. “Leo, are you… come on, Leo, you need to speak.”

“I know, I just… just, it’s hard to explain. I’m sorry.” Leo softly said.  His uncle sighed and told his nephew, “You know, the bravest thing you can do is have a thought, it doesn’t need to come out. As long as it’s in there.” With his uncle holding his hand, Leo felt a wave of happiness run through his bones. Out of the blue, Leo noticed his lip curling, Captain Storm-Breaker tilting his tricorn hat.

Then, there came a thud from up on the deck, and a yell, following a scream.

“The Wind-Howlers!” Captain Storm-Breaker whispered, “Stay here!”

Leo turned to his Captain, “What do you-”

“Those are your orders, and don’t try break them!” his uncle interrupted.  Leo disobeyed his uncle and followed him like a shadow, as they rushed upstairs, Captain Storm-Breaker snatching a sword from a drawer. Even Buddy had a terrified look on his face as he led the way, nose low. The Window-Howlers were evil explorers, who would do anything to get gold.

When they got up to the deck, they found the crew had been tied up with a rope. Ruby’s face had been painted with fear, as she shared a look with her twin-brother. Buddy began yowling, one of the enemy Wind-Howlers grabbing his collar and yanking him.

“Buddy!” Ruby yelled, desperately trying to help him.

Carnage everywhere, Captain Storm-Breaker slashed his sword across one of the Wind-Howler’s faces, but they pulled his arms behind his back. As the Wind-Howlers were distracted, Leo dragged Ruby out the rope, and held her tight by the edge of the ship. Together, they took care of Buddy; probing their fingers through his fur, making sure there were no wounds.  A blanket of goose bumps wrapping around them, their hearts beating in unison, tears fell down their cheeks.

“Jump!” their uncle screamed.

“But what about you?” Ruby cried.

“I said, JUMP! Don’t ignore me! Jump now!!” Ruby was shocked, she’d never seen him like this: afraid. The twins took each other by the hand, Buddy by their side. All three of them plummeted to the ground, falling to what should have been death, but it wasn’t, in fact they lived…