12. All Aboard the Brolly
"It's an umbrella!" Boysie exclaims. "Is it safe?"
"My brolly is safer than a helicopter," Midge chuckles. "There's no engine to go wrong."
"Just as long as your magic doesn't go wrong," Curly laughs.
"Don't worry. My magic is very reliable. Let's go."
When everyone has climbed into the umbrella, it soars into the sky and follows the river.
"There's another pump," Curly announces.
"And another one," Boysie calls out.
"Do you know where the river starts?" Curly asks.
"According to my map, the source of the river is in the mountains. Perhaps we will have to go there."
"I wish I'd brought my scarf," says Curly. "I set out for a walk on the beach not a trip to the mountains."
For some time the umbrella flies on in silence while the three sit back and watch the mountains growing larger. The silence is broken when Midge announces, "We'll soon be at the mountains. I've counted ten water pumps so far."
"Look!" says Curly. "I think the water disappears down there. Shall we take a closer look?"
The umbrella swoops down and hovers over a huge pipe which is sucking up the water from the river.
"I think we're nearly there," proclaims Midge. "The water is being sucked up to the top of the mountain."
"I wonder what happens when it reaches the top," says Curly. "It can't just disappear."
"Perhaps it runs down the other side of the mountains," suggests Boysie.
"I don't think so, Boysie, or else the land there would be flooded and we would have heard about it," says Curly.
"And it can't flow down another river because it would just pour back into the sea," says Midge. "This really is puzzling!"
"I suppose we have to go to the top of mountain now," says Curly.
"There's no other way of finding out what's going on," responds Midge. "Let's go and see."
The umbrella zooms upwards towards the top of the mountain and everyone wonders what they will find there.