Contents

Cover

Title Page

Meeting the Penguins!

Chapter One: Bad Chicks

Chapter Two: Chick-napped!

Chapter Three: Penguin Pryamid

Chapter Four: Penguins on the Loose

Chapter Five: Snakes and Sardines

Chapter Six: Hippo-hoppomus

Chapter Seven: The Penguins are Stuffed

Chapter Eight: Go, Muriel

Chapter Nine: A Party of Penguins

Coming Soon

Copyright

About the Publisher

Rory, Eddie & Clive

Looks: Rockhoppers have spiky yellow and black feathers on their heads that look like long eyebrows.

How big? 45 to 58 cm – about half the size of adult Emperor Penguins.

Favourite food: Shrimps.

Penguin party trick: Rockhopper Penguins love to burst from the water and land on the rocks with a belly flop.

Flipper fact: They hop from rock to rock, keeping both feet together and can jump up to one and a half meters.

Little Blue, Muriel, Hatty & Brenda

Looks: Fairy Penguins have blue feathers on their heads and backs but have white bellies.

How big? 30 to 33 cm – the world’s smallest penguin.

Favourite food: Sardines and anchovies.

Penguin party trick: In the wild, Fairy Penguins are nocturnal so they only go on land at night (well past the Rockhoppers’ bedtime).

Flipper fact: The world’s smallest penguin – they are also known as the Little Penguin, or the Little Blue Penguin.

Paulie, Alaskadabra, Oo-Chi & Ku-Chi (chicks)

Looks: Emperor Penguins have black backs, white tummies and bright splashes of yellow and orange on their front and their ears. The chicks are fluffy and grey and their faces are white, not black.

How big?! Up to one meter tall – the world’s tallest and heaviest penguin (over three times as tall as Little Blue!).

Favourite food: Squid.

Penguin party trick: When an egg is laid, the male stands with the egg on his feet to keep it warm until it hatches (this can take up to nine weeks).

Flipper fact: Emperor Penguins can stay under water for nearly twenty minutes!

Waldo, Warren and Wesley

Looks: Chinstrap Penguins get their name from the small black band that runs under their chin.

How big? Up to 68 cm (twice as tall as Fairy Penguins).

Favourite food: Little shrimps called krill.

Penguin party trick: Chinstraps are also known as Stonecracker Penguins because their call is so harsh it sounds like it could break stones.

Flipper fact: Chinstraps are the most common type of penguin – there are about thirteen million of them in the world.

Flighty Almighty

… Ahem, he’s a GOOSE!

It was perfect weather for penguins. It had snowed heavily in the night and the penguin enclosure at City Zoo looked just like the Arctic. The wooden huts where they slept glittered under a frosty duvet like a row of mini igloos and there were icicles hanging off the palace where Big Paulie the emperor penguin lived.

It was so cold, the penguin pool had frozen and to Rory the rockhopper’s delight, the ice was thick enough to stand on. He tested it carefully with one foot, then both feet – it seemed perfectly safe – but the two bears who were watching him had their doubts.

“You’re skating on thin ice, matey!” shouted Orson.

“Don’t come crying to us when it cracks and you freeze your butt,” added Ursie.

Rory looked up at them, but instead of the two brown bears that normally lived in the paddock, there appeared to be two polar bears.

“Dang! I hate the way the flakes stick to my fur when I make a snow angel,” said Orson, brushing himself down and revealing his true colours.

“Some angel,” grunted Ursie. “You’re the Nightbear before Christmas.”

Just then, Blue the little fairy penguin came skidding over.

“Hey, Rory! What are you waiting for?” she laughed, grabbing his flipper and dragging him on to the ice. “I can’t remember the last time the pool froze.”

“Nor can I,” said Rory, spinning her round. “It must have been when we were eggs.”

“It was way before that,” said Ursie. “It was in 2008 on a Tuesday. I remember it well because a tubby old emperor penguin didn’t realise it was thawing – and fell through in a very comical manner.”

“That was Alaskadabra,” said Orson. “He had to be rescued by that boss of yours.”

“Yeah, Big Paulie,” chortled Ursie. “I’ve never seen anything so funny in all my life.”

“Hey, who are you calling funny?” barked a gruff voice from the edge of the pool. “Show some respect or I’ll have my good friend Mister Tiger turn you into a rug.”

It was Paulie. He looked even bigger and even more fierce than usual to Rory. Even the bears backed off, but the two fluffy emperor chicks hanging on to his tail weren’t the slightest bit scared of him.

“Thwing me with your flipperth, Uncky Pooey!” lisped Oo-Chi, poking the mighty emperor in the tummy.

“No, let’th play thkidding!” insisted Ku-Chi, folding his stout relative in half by buckling him behind the knees.

Big Paulie might have been in charge of the grown-up penguins – he’d had years of practice – but taking care of two frisky toddlers was a very different kettle of fish. He cleared his throat and beckoned to Rory.

“I think he wants to talk to you,” said Blue.

“Me?” muttered Rory.

“Yes, you!” boomed Paulie.

Rory skated over to the edge of the pool and hopped out. The boss fixed him with his beady eyes while the twin chicks pulled funny faces and poked out their tiny barbed tongues.

“Listen, Rory. I have some very urgent business to attend to.”

“No, he doethn’t!” giggled Oo-Chi.

Big Paulie took a deep breath and continued.

“Yes, I do and I’m already late for… my… meeting about… stuff.”

“Uncky Pooey, you’re telling fibth!” said Ku-Chi, smacking him hard on the bottom. “Mummy paid you two big fat mackerelth to look after uth and you thaid you wathn’t bithy!”

Paulie threw his flippers in the air.

“Rory, the fact of the matter is, I have to be elsewhere,” he said. Then his voice broke. “And as your boss, I’m begging you to babysit!”

“But I’ve never looked after chicks before,” said Rory, dreading the prospect and looking to Blue for backup.

“He’ll be rubbish at it,” said Blue.

Big Paulie shrugged.

“Oh, please. How hard can it be, Rory? I’m not asking for much – simply that you swear on pain of death to keep my beloved nephew and niece safe from harm. I’m putting all my trust in you.”

Before Rory could answer, Paulie shook the twins off his legs and, leaving them fooling around in the snow, waddled off, calling back over his shoulder.

“And I mustn’t be disturbed until this evening!”

Rory sighed. If Big Paulie said something had to be done, it had to be done, but it wasn’t going to be easy looking after the chicks. In fact they seemed determined to make it as hard as possible and kept toddling off in opposite directions.

“Come back!” he insisted, “I need you in one place to babysit you.”

“No, Wory!” stamped Oo-Chi. “Uth ith too old for you to thit on!”

“You will thquash uth!” said Ku-Chi as Rory ran after him. “Chathe me, Wory!”

Blue smiled to herself. Rory was usually so fast on the ice that he could perform the best stunts, but at the moment he was going cross-eyed trying to get the chicks under control.

“Help me, Blue!” he pleaded as Oo-Chi sat on him and Ku-Chi rubbed snow in his head feathers.

“I thought you’d never ask,” she grinned. “Right, you two! Who wants a story?”

“Oooh, uth wanth a thtory!” they squealed.

Abandoning Rory, they waddled over to Blue and cuddled up.

“Are you sitting comfortably?” she asked.

“No. We want Wory to thit nexth to uth too,” said Oo-Chi. “Group hugth!”

Blue patted the rock next to her, Rory sat down and they all snuggled up.

“Kith me, Wory,” said Ku-Chi. “Mummy alwayth kithith uth before a thtory.”

Rory shifted uncomfortably.

“You can have a kiss at the end, but only if you’re good,” said Blue.

Then she began. “Once upon a time, there were two naughty chicks…”

She had just got their attention when Muriel and her girly gang of fairy penguins arrived. Seeing this cosy scene, Muriel felt it was her solemn duty to embarrass Blue and Rory as much as possible.

“Oh my cod! Bloop and Rory are playing mummies and daddies.”

Blue blushed and screwed up her beak.

“No, we are not! We’re babysitting for Paulie.”

Muriel preened her chest and snorted.

“Yeah, right. Hatty and Brenda, don’t you think Bloop and Rory are so like an old married couple?”

Secretly, Hatty and Brenda were jealous of Blue cuddled up to Rory with the cute chicks, but they didn’t dare admit it in front of their leader.

“So married,” said Hatty.

“So old couple,” added Brenda.

Rory was just going to shout, “So what?” when his best mates Eddie and Clive came roaring by on their new snowboards. Worried that he looked soppy sitting there, he leapt to his feet.

“Snow’s up, dude!” whooped Clive.

Rory jumped on to the back of Eddie’s board.

“I’m on it already. Let’s go!”

Blue’s beak fell open.

“Rory! Don’t you dare leave me with the kids—”

But he was gone. Muriel put her head on one side and blinked at her.

“Bloop, you are so second-best,” she simpered.

Normally, Blue would have stood up to Muriel, but she didn’t like to move because the chicks had just dropped off to sleep. The last thing she wanted to do was wake them, so she put her head in the air and looked the other way.

“What are you doing – looking for a new boyfriend?” persisted Muriel. “Face it, Bloop, Rory doesn’t want to play happy families with you, does he, Hatty and Brenda?”

Hatty and Brenda were so smitten with the chicks they were hardly paying attention.

“Happy,” murmured Hatty.

“Families,” sighed Brenda.

Muriel flicked their beaks.

“Don’t go all mumsy on me! Come along, girls. Let’s go and make a Snow-Muriel. I feel like posing… Bloop, you’d better stay there in case Rory comes back… like… never!!”

But Rory did come back. As soon as he’d gone, he’d had second thoughts about it and managed to persuade his friends to let Blue join in. “Blue’s one of the lads,” he insisted. “We can do better stunts with all four of us.” They’d shaken their heads at first, so he’d come up with another tactic.

“I’ll give you two squid at feeding time,” said Rory reluctantly.

“Four squid,” said Clive. “Half for me, half for Eddie.”

“I’d rather have a whole one,” said Eddie.

The deal was done and Rory went back to fetch Blue, hoping that she would let him have some of her squid later.

“You took your time,” she said.

He held out his flippers apologetically.

“That’s Eddie and Clive for you. They never take no for an answer.”

Oo-Chi and Ku-Chi had gone into a deep sleep and were huddled up so tightly that they looked like one big fat chick with four eyes.

“Come and play while they’re sleeping,” suggested Rory. “We might not get snow as good as this again for years.”

Blue checked on the chicks, who showed no sign of waking.

“OK, but not for long – and not too far away.”

“They’ll be fine,” said Rory.

Blue believed him and they hurried off together to join the boys, filled with excitement at the thought of snowboarding down the black ice.

Blue wasn’t disappointed. The speed she reached as she raced down the slide almost took her breath away. Even Clive and Eddie were impressed.

“World speed record or what, Blue!” cheered Rory. “Right, let’s see if I can beat you.”

“Hadn’t we better get back to the chicks?” she asked.

But this was the best snow ever; it would be a crime to waste it.

“Just one more turn,” said Rory.

But he had two more turns. Then three.

Blue didn’t stop him – she didn’t want him to think she was a spoilsport.

By the time they got back, however, the chicks had gone.

Rory and Blue stared at the spot where they had left Oo-Chi and Ku-Chi sleeping, but all that remained of them was a shallow dip where the warmth of their bodies had melted the ice. If the chicks had left any footprints, they had already been wiped out by the fresh snowfall.

“We should never have left them!” wailed Blue. “Big Paulie is going to kill you.”

“And you,” Rory pointed out.

Blue wagged her flipper at him.

“No, just you. Paulie left you in charge, remember? He put all his trust in you.”

Rory ’s stomach churned as if he’d eaten a bucket of rancid pilchards.

“Arghhhh! Paulie’s going to kill me – he really is. He trusted me… What if the chicks were eaten by a killer whale?”

Blue grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.

“Don’t be silly! How would a killer whale get in here – unless it was dropped by parachute?”

“You never know; they’re very intelligent,” panicked Rory.

Blue made him sit down.

“Rory, shut your beak and do some deep-breathing exercises,” she said, “Breathe in… and out. In… and out. Do you feel calmer now?”

“Erm, let me think about that… Nooooo!” he yelled, pulling his head feathers out. “The chicks can’t have just disappeared into thin air – unless they’ve learnt to fly?”

“Penguins can’t fly,” said Blue. “We don’t have the right sort of wings. Oo-Chi and Ku-chi are probably just playing hide- and-seek behind those rocks.”

They began to search frantically, which immediately drew the attention of the bears.

“What are you looking for?” asked Orson.

“Nothing,” said Rory casually. “Don’t tell them, Blue.”

“Only we might be able to help,” suggested Ursie.

It was most unusual for the bears to be helpful in any way. If anything, they were quite the opposite.

“We’re fine, thank you,” insisted Blue. “Go away, please, bears.”

They looked everywhere – behind every peak on the artificial cliff, behind each penguin hutch and under the slide, but there was no sign of the chicks. Not so much as a piece of fluffy down.

“What if they’re under the snow?” said Rory in alarm. “What if there was an avalanche off Paulie’s roof and they’re buried under it?”

Taking great care not to be seen by the boss, they skidded silently over to the palace to check. Unfortunately, the bears followed and called out to them at the top of their voices.

“Try digging about with a stick!” yelled Orson, throwing an old walking cane into the penguin enclosure.

“Shhhh!” hissed Rory, terrified that Paulie would hear.

He took the stick and prodded miserably at the snowdrift.

“Give it a good poke!” shouted Ursie. “That’s what they do in those murder mystery programmes on TV when they’re looking for a body.”

“Please go away!” begged Blue.

Then Eddie and Clive turned up.

“What have you lost?” asked Clive, sliding down the hill on his bottom.

“She has lost her manners!” said Ursie, pointing his paw at Blue. “She keeps telling us to go away and we’re only trying to help.”

Rory took Clive to one side and told him what had happened.

“Paulie is going to kill you,” said Clive matter-of-factly.

“If he does, can I have your snowboard, Rory?” asked Eddie.

Clive gave Rory a comforting slap on the back.

“It won’t come to that; we’ll help you look. Maybe Oo-Chi and Ku-Chi have gone to see the fairy penguins. Hatty and Brenda sometimes give them prawns.”

“I love prawns,” said Eddie, “Let’s go and see.”

The four of them hurried off and as they wandered into fairy-penguin territory, Eddie bumped into a giant snow-penguin in the shape of Muriel. To everyone’s horror, its head fell off and rolled down the slope.

“Quick, run after it!” said Rory. “Stick it back on.”

Eddie had almost done it when they heard whispering coming from Hatty’s hutch.

“I bet the chicks are in there,” muttered Rory. “I bet Muriel got Brenda and Hatty to grab them to get me into trouble.”

He scraped the snow off the window with his flipper and pressed his face to the glass – and to Blue’s surprise, he started giggling.

“What’s so funny?” she whispered.

He moved aside so she could see. Blue’s beak fell open.

Hatty and Brenda were holding up a life-sized cardboard penguin with a moustache. It was very badly drawn and rather a funny shape, but Muriel made it quite obvious who it was meant to be.

“Kiss me, Warren!” she swooned, wrapping her flippers round its neck and gazing into its wonky eyes.

“Muriel just pecked him on the cheek!” squeaked Blue.

Eddie jostled her out of the way so that he could watch.

“Oooh… Is that Warren she’s kissing? He’s lost weight, hasn’t he, Clive? It’s probably because he’s in love.”

Clive rubbed the steam off the glass and peered inside.

“No, it’s probably because he’s made of cardboard, Eddie,” he said.

This tickled Eddie so much that he hooted out loud.

Hatty heard him first and quickly tapped Muriel on the shoulder.

“Ignore her, Warren,” Muriel sighed. “She’s just jealous of us.”

It was only when Rory banged on the window that Muriel suddenly whipped round and realised that she was being watched.

“What are you all looking at?” she screeched as Brenda let them in. “I wasn’t kissing, if that’s what you thought. I was practising my lifesaving skills, wasn’t I, Hatty and Brenda?”

“You were? Oh, yes,” spluttered Brenda. “In case Warren drowned.”

“In kisses,” giggled Hatty.

As Muriel tried to strangle her friends, Rory stopped laughing and began the serious business of searching around the hutch.

“Where have you hidden the emperor chicks, Muriel?” he demanded.

“And where have you hidden the prawns?” added Eddie.

By now, Blue had joined in the search. Furious at having her hutch invaded, Muriel stopped throttling Brenda and Hatty and stood in Blue’s way.

“How dare you look through my stuff, Bloop!” she shrieked. “Not that I’ve got anything to hide, have I, Hatty?”

“No,” snorted Hatty. “Only your love letter to Warren.”

Blue was losing patience.

“Seriously, Muriel, what have you done with the chicks? They must be here somewhere.”

Seeing how anxious she looked, Muriel guessed what had happened… and her beak stretched into a nasty grin.

“Oh my cod! You’ve lost Oo-Chi and Ku-Chi, haven’t you, Bloop?” she sneered. “Paulie is so going to kill you.”

“No, he’s going to kill me,” said Rory.

“And when he does, I’m having Rory’s snowboard,” announced Eddie cheerfully.

Rory put his head in his flippers.

“I’m a dead penguin walking.”

“It’s not over yet, Rory,” said Blue. “If we all keep looking, we’re bound to find them. You’ll help us, won’t you, Hatty and Brenda?”

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