Free Plastic Palace (9781743583555) by Danny Parker Page A

the Almost Toys, but she did know that all the other toys were scared of them.
    Was it because they were different? Or because they were plastic, and the other toys were made from soft fabric or fur?
    Or maybe the Almost Toys hadn’t been played with very much, and so they weren’t quite toys at all. Not quite, but almost?
    Buddy stopped and stared at the yellow wall ahead. He took another look at his button.
    Lola shivered. She loved the Kingdom, but it could be quite scary sometimes.
    â€˜OK, are you ready?’ he asked Lola in a serious voice.
    She wasn’t.
    â€˜Can you see that doorway?’ asked Buddy.
    She couldn’t see anything .
    â€˜The signal is coming from inside,’ Buddy said.
    It didn’t look like a doorway to Lola. It looked like just another shiny plastic panel in the endless plastic corridor.
    â€˜There’s nothing here,’ said Lola.
    â€˜Nothing is ever as it seems in Nevercalm,’ Buddy explained. ‘There’ll be a switch somewhere.’
    He ran his soft mittens over the plastic wall.
    Lola stood beside Buddy and copied him.
    â€˜Oh!’ she said suddenly.
    To her delight, she felt a switch on one of the panels.
    â€˜Lucky Lola with the clever fingers!’ said Buddy. ‘Flick the switch. And on the count of three, we push.’
    Lola could feel her heart beating as she flicked the switch.
    â€˜One, two …’
    But before they got to three, the door swung open and Lola and Buddy fell through!

‘Hey! Grand entrance!’ said a deep voice.
    Lola was staring at a pair of furry, orange paws.
    â€˜Well, don’t just lie there,’ said the voice.
    Buddy leapt up. ‘Felix!’ he cried. ‘Son of the Great High Bear himself!’
    Lola stood up as Buddy threw his arms around Felix. Then she shook Felix’s paw politely.
    Felix was one of Lola’s old toys. She had left him at her gran’s one day. Felix came to the Kingdom because she wasn’t playing with him. But then he decided to stay there.
    He was needed to help his father run the Kingdom.
    Lola was proud of Felix. He was brave and clever, and an important bear in the Kingdom.
    â€˜I’m so glad you could make it,’ said Felix. ‘I need your help. Look!’
    He took a letter from his bag and passed it to Lola.
    She began to read:

    â€˜It took me ages to find the right room,’ said Felix. ‘They all look the same, you know. Yellow!’
    â€˜How did you get in here?’ asked Lola.
    â€˜I stick to the shadows,’ Felix said with a smile. ‘And paws don’t make much noise.’
    Buddy looked very impressed. ‘Well, pull out my stuffing and call me a pillow case!’
    Felix and Lola laughed.
    â€˜This place is crawling with Almost Toys,’ said Buddy. ‘We just heard a whole army of them!’
    â€˜Can’t worry about that sort of thing,’ said Felix, shrugging. ‘Not when there are top-secret plans to steal back.’
    Lola cleared her throat. ‘May I ask a question?’
    â€˜Fire away,’ said Felix.
    â€˜If you can slip in and out of dangerous places so easily,’ Lola asked, ‘then why did you call for our help?’
    â€˜Good question, Lola,’ said Felix. ‘I didn’t need help to get in here. And I’ll be fine getting out. But I need help to reach that.’
    Felix pointed his furry paw to the middle of the room. Set into the floor was a huge safe.
    Something was not quite right about it.
    â€˜Umm, Felix?’ said Buddy, scratching his woolly hair. ‘That doesn’t look very hard to reach.’
    Lola crept closer to the safe.
    â€˜But Buddy,’ she said slowly, ‘you said nothing in Nevercalm is as it seems, remember?’
    Lola leaned over to get a better look at the safe.
    And what did she see?
    Herself , looking back!

‘It’s a mirror!’ cried Lola. ‘The real safe is up there.’
    She