The Terrible Tale of Melody Doom Read online

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  The Terrible Tale of Melody Doom

  Tommy Donbavand

  Badger Publishing Limited

  Oldmedow Road,

  Hardwick Industrial Estate,

  King’s Lynn PE30 4JJ

  Telephone: 01438 791037

  www.badgerlearning.co.uk

  The Terrible Tale of Melody Doom ISBN 978-1-78147-473-0

  ISBN: 9781781476765 (Epub)

  ISBN: 9781781477670 (Mobi)

  Text © Tommy Donbavand 2013

  Complete work © Badger Publishing Limited 2013

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

  The right of Tommy Donbavand to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Publisher: Susan Ross

  Senior Editor: Danny Pearson

  Design: Julia King

  Illustrator: Peter Richardson

  2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

  Contents

  Chapter 1 Wednesday 14th of March

  Chapter 2 Friday 29th of March

  Chapter 3 Tuesday 2nd of April

  Chapter 4 Friday 5th of April

  Questions

  Vocabulary:

  adorable

  bank vault

  bypassed

  charades

  devious

  dispensable

  mechanic

  sidekick

  vacant

  volcano

  Main characters:

  Chapter 1

  I stared in horror at the headline in front of me:

  CAPTAIN DOOM AND DAME DREAD SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON

  My mum and dad were going to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. It wasn’t fair! All they’d done was try to take over the world.

  I had wanted to be in court with them, but my new goody-goody foster parents didn’t think it would be good for me.

  “Melody, dear... We don’t read at the dinner table, sweetie.”

  I lowered the newspaper, and there they were. The goody-goody foster parents themselves – smiling. They were always smiling. Nothing ever seemed to upset them – and it drove me mad.

  But what drove me even madder was the person sitting between them: their ‘adorable’ daughter, Rose-Petal (yes, that’s really her name).

  She was the same age as me, but you’d never know it. I’d never seen anyone wear so much pink in one go.

  Just looking at her made my eyes sting.

  I’d been living with the Soper family ever since my parents were arrested a month before for trying to drill into the Earth’s core. Was it only a month? It felt like years.

  “I was reading about my parents,” I said. “Can I visit them on Saturday? They’re being kept in the same prison cell for the time being.”

  “I don’t think so, sweetie,” said Mrs Soper. “Besides, your foster father and I already have an exciting weekend planned.”

  “We do, indeed!” beamed Mr Soper, his moustache bristling. “I thought we could start with a brisk hike over the hills, and then on to the village fair.”

  Rose-Petal squealed with excitement. “Is that the fair with the super pony rides?” she cried.

  “It sure is, Princess Pixie Dust!” said Mr Soper.

  I felt like screaming with frustration, but I managed to hold it in.

  “So, what fun do you two girls have planned for this evening?” asked Mrs Soper.

  “Miss Parker at school gave me some extra maths homework!” said Rose-Petal. “So, I’m going to make her a jolly card to say thank you!”

  It was a few seconds before I realised that everyone was now looking at me.

  “Er... I thought I might finally unpack my Game Station,” I said. “I fancy tackling a few missions on Zombie Brain Blaster.”

  There was a moment of silence, then Mrs Soper said, “We don’t like computer games in this house, sweetie.”

  “But I want to play something,” I said.

  “Then play something, we shall!” exclaimed Mr Soper.

  He shared a delighted smile with his wife and daughter, and then all three of them cried out at once...

  “Family charades night!”

  How I didn’t scream then, I’ll never know.

  Chapter 2

  I’d had a really rotten day at school.

  My mum, Dame Dread, used to teach me herself in our hollowed-out volcano lair – but not boring stuff like history and art.

  I used to have lessons in how to make knock-out gas and break into bank vaults.

  Now, I go to the same school as Rose-Petal, and have to wear a disgusting pink uniform. Of course, she loves it.

  Then, when we got home, I found that Mrs Soper had taken the wheels off my skateboard! “What did you do that for?” I demanded.

  “Well, it was rather dangerous,” she replied. “And we don’t like dangerous things in this house, sweetie.” She handed what was left of my skateboard over. “It’s much safer now.”

  “It’s ruined now!” I cried. “It’s not a skateboard anymore – it’s just a... a board!”

  “Perhaps,” smiled Mrs Soper, “but it is safe.”

  I fought the urge to scream again and stomped upstairs to the room I was forced to share with Rose-Petal. If only I wasn’t here! If only my real mum and dad weren’t in prison.

  That was it! Maybe there was a way out of this nightmare.

  I grabbed a notebook from my school bag and started to write.

  Chapter 3

  I lay on my bed, working on my devious plan. If I could find a way to break my mum and dad out of prison, they could finish their attempt to take over the world. Then, when we were in charge of the whole planet, I wouldn’t have to live with the soppy Sopers, I wouldn’t have to go to school, and I wouldn’t have to put up with Rose-Petal bugging me all the time.

  The problem was, I couldn’t see how I could get my parents out of prison all by myself. I would need help.

  “Dah-da-da-dah! Dah-da-da-dah!”

  Over on her half of the bedroom (the pink half plastered with pictures of unicorns and rainbows), Rose-Petal was playing. She had lined up all of her cuddly toys along the side of her bed and was pretending to march two of her dolls past them. And, yes, she was singing...

  “Dah-da-da-dah-dah-da-dah-da-da-dahhhh!”

  “What are you doing?” I growled.

  “It’s Prince Handsome!” said Rose-Petal happily. “He’s getting married to Susie Floppytop!”

  “Well, can he get married quietly?” I asked. “I’m trying to work.”

  Rose-Petal came over to the barrier I had built along the centre of the room out of books and blankets. She knew to her cost that she wasn’t allowed any further. “Is it homework?” she asked.

  “No,” I said flatly, “it’s not homework.”

  “Then, what is it?”

  I sighed. “It’s... a kind of a game.”

  Rose-Petal’s eyes lit up. “Like charades?” she squealed.

  “No!” I insisted. “Not like charades.”

  “Oh,” said Rose-Petal, sounding disappointed. “Does the game have anything to do with the bag of clothes you have packed and hidden under your bed?”

  I sat up and stared at her. “You’ve been under my bed?”

  Rose-Petal nodded. “One of the wheels came off Susie Floppytop’s wedding car and rolled under there. I had to get it so that Teddy Mechanic could fix it.”

  I stared at her. “Did you tell your mum and dad about the bag?”

  “No,” said Rose-Petal. “But I will if you don’t tell me what that game is you’re writing about...”

  And then it hit me! The perfect way to get help to break my parents out of prison. “Actually, it is a bit like charades,” I said with a smirk. “Everyone involved in the game gets to play a part.”

  Rose-Petal’s cheeks flushed. “Is there a part for me?”

  “Oh yes,” I said. “You have a very special part. You’re the dispensable sidekick!”

  Chapter 4

  I stood in the garden, waiting for Rose-Petal. It had taken a while to explain to her that she had to follow my every command, even if she disagreed with it. But, eventually, we’d got there.

  Finally, it was time to put my plan into action! Tonight was the last night my mum and dad would be in the same prison cell. Tomorrow they were due to be moved to separate jails at opposite ends of the country.

  I had to act now – if my useless sidekick would bother to show up.

  I shifted the heavy bag of clothes from one shoulder to the other and called her name as quietly as I could. Then, suddenly, there she was – dressed in a pink leotard and tutu, ballet slippers and a glitter-coated eye-mask. I stared.

  “What are you wearing?”

/>   “It’s my costume!” came the reply. “I looked up the word ‘sidekick’, and it said they’re a kind of superhero. Superheroes wear costumes.”

  “Rose-Petal...” I began, but my foster sister held up her hand.

  “I’m not Rose-Petal any more!” she proclaimed. “Tonight, I am Princess Pixie Dust!”

  I felt my mouth go dry, so I couldn’t scream even if I’d wanted to. But the plan had to happen tonight, or not at all.

  “Come on!” I hissed.

  We caught a bus to the prison, although the journey wasn’t exactly the top-secret trip I’d been hoping for. The other passengers all stared at Rose-Petal in her ridiculous costume, and she even posed for a couple of pictures! Still, I suppose it meant people weren’t paying attention to me.

  Eventually, we reached the prison and (thanks to my mum’s home-school classes) I bypassed the security system to get inside. We crept along the corridor towards my parents’ cell block.

  Now there was just the guard on duty to get past, and this is where Rose-Petal came in.

  “Go!” I hissed, and pushed her around the corner.

  “Hello!” she said to the rather surprised prison guard. “I’m Princess Pixie Dust!”

  The guard swung his torch in Rose-Petal’s direction, quickly switching it off when the beam reflected off the sequins sewn onto her mask and dazzled him.

  “What on earth are you doing here?” he cried.

  “I’ll tell you,” said Rose-Petal with a smile. “Or, rather, I’ll show you...”

  And then she began to play charades. She mimed the sign for a film, and held up three fingers.

  “Er... three words!” said the guard, still confused.

  I’d told Rose-Petal to act out ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ – my favourite prison-break movie – but, frankly, I didn’t care what she did so long as she distracted the guard while I worked at picking the lock on my parents’ cell door.

  CLICK!

  The lock was open! I was just minutes away from a brand new life with my mum and dad! I pushed open the heavy, metal door...

  ...and my face fell. There were, indeed, two people inside the prison cell, but they weren’t my parents.

  It was Mr and Mrs Soper – and they were both dressed as superheroes!

  “Meet ‘Moustache Man’!” cried Mr Soper, twirling a brown, furry cape around his shoulders.

  “And I’m ‘Super Sweetie’!” crooned Mrs Soper, running her hands over her skin-tight cat suit.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.

  “Rose-Petal told us about your plans,” said Mr Soper, “and they sounded like such super fun, we just had to join in!”

  I felt someone next to me and turned to glare at my annoying foster sister. “You promised you wouldn’t say anything about all this!”

  “No,” said Rose-Petal, “I promised not to say anything about the bag under your bed, and I didn’t.”

  I spun round. I had to get out of there – but the guard was blocking the exit.

  “Your parents have already been moved to their new prisons,” he said, “so this cell is vacant tonight. You lot can stay in here until the police show up in the morning!”

  Then he slammed and locked the cell door.

  Slowly, I turned back to my foster family – the family I would be spending the entire night with, locked in a cramped prison cell.

  “Don’t worry, sweetie,” said Mrs Soper. “We know a way we can pass the time until morning.”

  She exchanged that knowing smile with her husband and daughter.

  “Family charades night!”

  This time, I did scream!

  Questions

  Who are Captain Doom and Dame Dread? Why are they in prison?

  Who are Mr and Mrs Soper?

  Why do Mr and Mrs Soper and Rose-Petal make Melody want to scream?

  What did Melody learn in her mum’s home lessons?

  Why did Mrs Soper take the wheels off the skateboard?

  What is Melody’s ‘devious plan’? How does Rose-Petal blackmail Melody?

  What do you think a ‘dispensable sidekick’ could be?

  How did Melody’s plan go wrong?

 

 

  Tommy Donbavand, The Terrible Tale of Melody Doom

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