Twink's Lucky
Escape
by Beryl Johnston
One
sunny day, Rainbow Brite was busy in a clover field, making sure all
the clover leaves were a really deep green.
"Look
at that poor butterfly. One of its wings has faded," said Twink,
Rainbow's special sprite.
"I'll
soon fix that," said Rainbow. She scattered some bright Star
Sprinkles on the butterfly's faded wing and made the colors gleam
again. The butterfly flew up to kiss Rainbow's cheek.
"She's
happy again," laughed Rainbow, blowing a kiss to the butterfly
as it flew high into the air. Then she saw a bee struggling through
the air with a heavy load of pollen. Rainbow touched her magic
power-belt and a rainbow beamed out towards the bee. Gratefully, the
bee rested on the color beam while Rainbow swung it across the
field, lowering it carefully until the bee was at the entrance to
its hive.
The
bee turned and waved before disappearing into its hive.
"Come
along," called Rainbow to Twink and Starlite. "I've
finished here and we've still got a lot more color work to do
today."
None
of the three friends spotted Murky Dismal and his assistant, Lurky,
hiding behind the bushes. Murky hated color and couldn't bear to see
anyone really happy. "I've got an idea," he told Lurky.
"The Rainbow brat's always helping everyone, but she wouldn't
be so cheerful without that Twink sprite to help her. I'll kidnap
Twink and hold him for ransom, then offer to do a swap. Rainbow can
have him back if she gives me her magic power-belt. Then she won't
be able to stop me spreading gloom, heh! heh!"
"How
are you going to kidnap Twink?" asked Lurky.
"I've
got a very good plan," cackled Murky. "Let's get back to
The Pits."
Murky
worked secretly in his laboratory for a long time and all Lurky
could hear were some very strange noises. Then he suddenly heard
Rainbow Brite calling: "Come here, Lurky!"
Lurky
dashed into the laboratory in astonishment. "Where's Rainbow
Brite?" he gasped.
Murky
grinned when he saw Lurky's look of surprise. He was holding his new
invention. "This machine will change my voice to sound like
anyone I choose," he explained.
"Now
all we have to do is find that sprite on his own," cackled
Murky. "Then we'll trap him with this voice-box."
They
set off in the Grunge Buggy.
"Not
so fast, Porridge-head," Murky shouted as the buggy bounced along.
"You'll upset the works in this machine."
"There's Twink," whispered Lurky. "He's coming this way."
"Stop
the buggy and get behind that bush," ordered Murky.
"Oh,
Twink! Will you come here a minute?" cooed Murky in the voice-box.
Even Lurky couldn't believe the sound that came out. It was just
like Rainbow's voice.
"Coming, Rainbow," answered Twink, cheerfully. "I thought she'd gone
back to the Colour Castle," he said to himself.
"Get
ready to catch him," Murky hissed to Lurky.
"This
is going to be fun," chuckled Lurky. He crept up on Twink with his
sprite-catching net.
"Got
you!" cried Lurky, bringing the net down over Twink.
"Put
him in the Grunge Buggy - fast," snarled Murky, as Twink struggled
in vain to escape. "We've no time to lose."
Twink
was tied up, gagged, and slung on to the Grunge Buggy, and they
headed for the Colour Castle.
A few
minutes later, Lurky crept towards the door of the Castle to deliver
a ransom note. As he crept away, Rainbow Brite looked out of the
window and saw him.
Snatching up the ransom note from under the door, Rainbow read
Murky's message. 'BRING YOUR POWER-BELT TO THE PITS OR YOU WILL
NEVER SEE TWINK AGAIN.'
"Twink's
been kidnapped!" she gasped, and throwing open the Castle door,
Rainbow saw the Grunge Buggy driving away, with Twink a prisoner on
the back. Swiftly, she touched her power-belt and sent a rainbow arc
over the Grunge Buggy to block the road right in front of it.
"Look
out! It's the Rainbow brat," yelled Murky.
Lurky
twisted the steering wheel, and the Grunge Buggy zoomed on to a side
road. As the buggy jolted down the narrow road, the gag loosened
round Twink's mouth. "You'll never beat Rainbow Brite," he shouted
at Murky.
"Keep
quiet, sprite," Murky yelled at him. "We'll just have to go a longer
way round to The Pits," he said to Lurky.
Back
inside the Colour Castle, Rainbow Brite rushed to the alarm machine
to send out a signal to all the Colour Kids. Quickly, she pressed
all the colour buttons on the panel. Red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, indigo and violet beams flashed out over Rainbow Land to call
the Colour Kids back to the Castle.
Rainbow frowned as she watched the panel for an answering signal. "I
hope they get here in time," she thought.
The
Kids picked up the colour signals and raced to the Castle in their
cars. They gathered round Rainbow while she showed them Murky's
note.
"Where are they now?" asked Buddy Blue.
"They're taking the long way round to The Pits. I sealed off the
main road with a rainbow road-block."
"Good
thinking," said Red. "I've thought of a plan to rescue Twink now,"
he said," but we'll have to move fast."
Starlite sped along the road with Rainbow on his back, followed by
Red and Buddy.
"We've got to stop them reaching The Pits," cried Rainbow. "If Murky
takes Twink into The Pits we may never see him again!"
"Don't worry. I can go faster than the wind," said Starlite.
"We
mustn't be seen by Murky Dismal, or the plan won't work," muttered
Red, anxiously.
At
last they reached a part of the road where big trees grew on both
sides.
"Quick! Get out of sight and lie low," ordered Red Butler. He and
Buddy Blue dived for cover while Rainbow watched the road. Suddenly
she heard the Grunge Buggy.
Murky
was feeling pleased with himself. "Once I've got hold of Rainbow's
power-belt I'll get rid of all this colour and make everything a
nice, dismal grey," he cackled.
Rainbow waited until the Grunge Buggy got closer.
"There's not a thing Rainbow can do to stop me now," Murky was
telling Lurky.
Just
then, Rainbow Brite touched her power-belt. A rainbow-coloured
barrier filled the road, between the trees.
"Look
out, it's the Rainbow brat again!" snarled Murky. With a screech of
tyres, Lurky turned the buggy off the road and went crashing through
the hedge, into a field of clover.
"They're getting away," gasped Rainbow. "After them!"
Hearing the noise, the bee that Rainbow had helped that morning came
out of its hive.
It
took one look at the awful smoke coming from the Grunge Buggy and
raised the alarm. Soon, swarms of bees were buzzing angrily across
the field towards the unwelcome visitors.
"Get
going, Porridge-head," snarled Murky, but the buggy stopped.
"The
engine's broken down," Lurky groaned.
Then
Lurky saw the bees. "Run for it," he yelled. They both leapt out of
the buggy and raced off as fast as their legs would carry them.
Rainbow Brite and the boys rushed to rescue Twink.
"Thank goodness you got here in time," gasped Twink.
"How
did they manage to catch you?" asked Rainbow.
Twink
told her how Murky had tricked him with the voice-box. "I thought it
was you calling me," he said.
Red
pulled what was left of the voice-box out of Murky's dustbin
side-car. "It looks as thought it fell to pieces when the Grunge
Buggy crashed through the hedge," he chuckled. "Murky won't be able
to use that again."
"Let's get back to the Colour Castle and show everyone you're safe,"
said Rainbow, helping Twink on to Starlite's back.
"Thanks, Rainbow," said Twink. "I knew you'd save me."
"I
couldn't have done it without help," said Rainbow.
The
bees chased Murky and Lurky far away from the clover field before
returning to the hive. As darkness fell, Murky and Lurky were still
trying to find their way back to The Pits. At last they reached a
signpost and Murky stood on Lurky's back to read it. "The Pits are
miles away," he wailed. "It'll take us hours to get home."
At
the Colour Castle, the Kids were giving a special party to celebrate
Twink's rescue.
"I
had a real scare, but this party's making up for it all," Twink
chuckled.
"We
must thank the bees when we visit the clover field again," Rainbow
reminded him. "They made the rescue a whole lot easier."
"Yes,
it's great to have friends when you need them," beamed Twink,
bouncing around happily. "Thanks to all of them I've had a very
lucky escape!" |
