Free Colin and the Magic Bookmark by Merv Lambert Page A

he cried. “You caught the kids. Well done! Well done!”
    Diana spoke up in a pleading voice. “Please let Colin go!”
    Colin pleaded equally urgently. “Please let Diana go!”
    Diana spoke even more urgently. “Let us go and we will give you this emerald.”
    She held up her right fist, which was in fact empty.
    â€œWhat emerald?” demanded Arth Kirbi, overcome by a compelling greed. He stepped closer threateningly. “I say, what emerald? Answer me!” He thrust his face at the children, but they were too quick for him. Stepping nimbly aside and avoiding the patches of glue, they shoved him against the broken planks of the barrel, which seemed to be stuck fast to the floor of the pyramid.
    â€œRun!” shouted Diana. She and Colin sprinted away, closely followed by Dimbo-Dimbo.
    â€œCome back! Come back!” roared Arth Kirbi, but they took no notice of him.
    Soon they were out of the pyramid. Diana smiled at little Dimbo-Dimbo. “Tell your friends that they are all free now.”
    â€œFree?” said Dimbo-Dimbo. “Yippee!” Then he leaped in the air and ran off shouting, “Thank you. Thank you. Freeeeeeeeee!”
    â€œWhat do we do now?” asked young Colin.
    â€œWe go this way,” said Diana, and they came out from under the trees into the bright sunlight.
    â€œHey, you kids!” A posh voice seemed to be addressing them from over the hedge on their right. The voice belonged to a man with a cheerful round face surrounded by brown curly hair and a brown curly beard. He was wearing glasses, which had bits of leaves and twigs twined round them. He had allowed the leads of the walkman clipped to his belt to slip down round his neck. They gave out a slight hissing sound. “I’ll have finished weeding Grandma Kirby’s garden in a few minutes. Be ready to come in for lunch. It’s just about ready,” and pointing back behind them at the pointed roof, he continued. “And don’t forget to shut the shed door this time, and, Diana, leave your overactive imagination behind. Don’t go scaring Great Aunt Lizzie again by telling her we are eating snake and chips!”
    He disappeared behind the hedge.
    â€œYes, Dad!”
    â€œYes, Uncle Olly!” chorused Diana and Colin.
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    â€œThey never understand!” sighed Diana. “We can’t both have imagined all that, can we?”
    â€œThat’s because they’re adults. They don’t know what’s out there,” said Colin, touching the emerald from the pyramid with the tips of his fingers to make sure it was still nestling next to the bookmark in his pocket.
    The emerald was still there, when Colin woke up in his armchair. He was wearing the jeans he had changed into after work. Sammy was there too.
    â€œHmm, that was another strange, exciting adventure,” Colin said to the little dog. “I wonder where we’ll go next.”
    But that’s another story.
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Colin Meets the Emperor of China
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    Colin was looking forward to another new adventure and so was Sammy. It was a Friday evening, when, as they settled once more into the armchair, the bookmark seemed to glow more powerfully than usual. Colin did not know what that meant. He knew that he was in for a surprise, but the book’s surprises were always beyond what he could ever expect or imagine. Consequently, when he glanced at his clothes, he was slightly disappointed. He was wearing rough blue trousers, a white smock and a straw hat with a wide brim. Once again he had been transported from a dark winter’s evening to a bright summer’s day. It was very hot outside in the sunshine, but his outfit was very cool and comfortable and so were the sandals on his feet. Sammy was sniffing happily round a bush that was covered in orange flowers. They were in a beautiful garden with tall trees, flowering shrubs and bushes and behind the nearest trees the