Under the Sea Read online

  Under the Sea

  with Googol and Googolplex

  Nelly Kazenbroot

  Text copyright © 2005 Nelly Kazenbroot

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2005 Nelly Kazenbroot

  Cover Illustration copyright © 2005 Laura Watson

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication:

  Kazenbroot, Nelly, 1960-

  Under the sea with Googol and Googolplex / Nelly Kazenbroot.

  (Orca echoes)

  ISBN 1-55143-366-4

  1. Human-alien encounters--Juvenile fiction. 2. Robots--Juvenile fiction.

  I. Title. II. Series.

  PS8571.A965U53 2005 jC813’.54 C2004-907239-0

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2004117321

  Summary: Alien robots Googol and Googolplex are back to continue their scavenger hunt in this sequel to Down the Chimney with Googol and Googolplex.

  Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP), the Canada Council for the Arts, and the British Columbia Arts Council.

  Design and typesetting: Lynn O'Rourke

  Orca Book Publishers Orca Book Publishers

  Box 5626 Stn. B PO Box 468

  Victoria, BC Canada Custer, WA USA

  V8R 6S4 98240-0468

  Printed and bound in Canada

  08 07 06 05 • 4 3 2 1

  To Marvin the Martian,

  an old friend of Googol and Googolplex.

  —N.K.

  Chapter One

  Old Friends

  The round Earth is a confusing place for a couple of square-headed robots from outer space. But Googol and Googolplex have been here once before. This time, they know where they are going. They have come to visit their friends, Troy and Pippa Sinclair.

  Googol points down at a nice red house with lots of square windows and a triangular roof.

  “There it is!” Googolplex says. His head spins around three times.

  “Perfect!” Googol says.

  They bring their spaceship down out of the blue summer sky.

  Pippa and Troy are in the backyard.

  They are standing beside a large inflatable pool. They are having trouble deciding who gets to jump in first. Troy pumped up the pool, but Pippa filled it with water.

  “Why don’t we jump in at the same time?” Troy says.

  “All right,” Pippa says.

  She stands on one side of the pool, and Troy stands on the other. Pippa is six years old, and Troy is eight, and the pool is just the right size for both of them.

  “One, two, three, go!” Troy calls out.

  There is a big splash as they both jump in. When they finally stop laughing and splashing about, they look up into the air.

  Googol and Googolplex’s spaceship makes a soft, buzzing noise and it is invisible to humans. Pippa thinks a bee is flying around them. She waves her hands to shoo it away.

  Troy stands up in the pool. The buzzing stops. He smiles.

  “It’s not a bee, silly. Look!” he says.

  Pippa turns her head just in time to see Googol and Googolplex roll down the ramp out of their spaceship. Their square yellow toes slide into the green grass of the lawn. They are like identical twins, except that Googol has red wrist blocks and Googolplex has blue ones. So it is easy to tell them apart.

  “Googol! Googolplex!”

  Troy and Pippa jump out of the pool and run toward their friends. Googol and Googolplex bleep and blurp happily when they each get a hug.

  “Hello, wet humans. How are you doing?”

  Pippa laughs. “I guess we’re a bit soggy.”

  “Never mind us,” Troy says. “How are you guys? You’ve been gone for ages.”

  Googol bleeps sadly. “Yes, we were given another job to do. We have to count all the moons in your solar system before we can continue our scavenger hunt here on Earth.”

  “Now that we’ve counted your moon, we have to fly from planet to planet and count all the others,” Googolplex explains.

  “No you don’t,” Pippa says. “I can tell you how many moons there are in our solar system.”

  “You can?” Googolplex asks.

  Pippa nods. “Sure. There are one hundred and forty-one. Our astronomers have counted them all.”

  Googol’s head spins around three times.

  “Smart humans!” he says.

  “Yes, very smart humans,” Googolplex agrees. “Now we can send the answer to our Sunship and continue on our scavenger hunt!”

  There are many Sunships moving around the universe like shooting stars. The robots who live on them go on scavenger hunts to study the planets around them.

  “That is, if the father-who-is-not-king doesn’t mind you helping us,” Googol says.

  Troy and Pippa smile. The robots used to think that all humans had kings. But all Troy and Pippa have is a father. And right now their father is inside the house trying to find their swimming masks and snorkels. A lot of crashing of drawers and closet doors is going on inside the Sinclair’s house.

  “I don’t think he’ll mind,” Troy says.

  Mr. Sinclair thinks the robots are just pretend. Only Troy and Pippa have seen them. They think that it is safer for Googol and Googolplex to stay a secret.

  “Let’s tell him we’re going to Madame Myfanwy’s. She needs some help putting in a new light bulb, and I left something there that I need,” Pippa says.

  Googolplex’s head spins around three times. “Isn’t Madame Myfanwy one of those adults who is scared of talking robots and spaceships from outer space?”

  “Yes, won’t she scream and lock us in her basement?” Googol asks.

  Troy laughs. “Nothing scares Madame Myfanwy. I think it’s because she’s so old.”

  Pippa nods. “She talks to ghosts!”

  “You’ll see,” Troy says.

  Troy and Pippa rush into their house to put on dry clothes.

  Mr. Sinclair is happy to let them go over to see Madame Myfanwy.

  “Look both ways before you cross the road,” he tells them as he settles down in an armchair with a good book.

  “Yes, Dad,” Pippa and Troy say.

  Then they fly across the road in Googol and Googolplex’s spaceship.

  Chapter Two

  Madame Myfanwy

  Madame Myfanwy’s house is right across from Troy and Pippa’s house. There are lots of trees around it, and her backyard goes all the way out to meet the Pacific Ocean.

  Googol and Googolplex land their invisible spaceship on Madame Myfanwy’s back lawn. Their eyes brighten. The poppies around the house are as red as their square heads. The glimmer of ocean through the trees is as blue as their square shoulders.

  “This is a very nice place,” Googol says.

  “A very nice place,” Googolplex says.

  Pippa nods. “We’re lucky. Madame Myfanwy lets us come over to play here whenever we want to.”

  Troy rummages through his pockets.

  “Oh, no,” Troy says. “I forgot the scavenger list you gave us last time!”

  There is a whirring sound inside of Googol. A bunch of lights flash on his stomach, and a long piece of paper slides out of his mouth.

  Pippa grabs the list and begins to read.

  “Six snowballs, four sand dollars, a tutu, the song of a blackbird, two pea
cock feathers, a chocolate bar, all the colors of a rainbow…”

  “Well, you’ve already got the snowballs, the song of the blackbird and the chocolate bar,” Troy says.

  “And soon they’ll have a tutu,” Pippa says.

  She runs out of the spaceship and into a small playhouse next to Madame Myfanwy’s house. When she comes back she is wearing a frilly pink tutu.

  Troy and the robots join Pippa on the lawn as she does a pirouette.

  “It’s too tight for me now,” Pippa tells them. “You can have it if you want.”

  Pippa slips the tutu over Googolplex’s head and down to his middle.

  “Go on. Try it out,” Pippa says.

  Troy laughs as Googolplex puts up his arms and tries to stand on tiptoe. The robot’s square toes stick in the lawn.

  They hear a tap, tap, tap behind them. Madame Myfanwy comes out through the back door of her house. Her back is as straight as the silver-tipped walking stick in her hand. She was once a great ballerina.

  “Not like that! Not like that! You must master the basics. Let me see you put your feet in first position.”

  Madame Myfanwy walks over to them and points at Googolplex’s feet with her stick.

  Googolplex stands up straight with his feet wide open like he usually does.

  Madame Myfanwy squints at Googolplex’s feet. Then she smiles. “Wonderful turn-out, my dear. Just wonderful. You must join my ballet school.”

  All the lights on Googolplex’s body flash in alarm.

  “I think I’d be better at a square dance than a round one,” Googolplex squeaks.

  Madame Myfanwy looks at Pippa and Troy.

  “Have you come to help me with my light bulb, children?” she asks. “I can’t quite manage it with these fingers of mine.”

  Madame Myfanwy holds up her knobby fingers. She has arthritis. “You can bring your friends along if you like.”

  Madame Myfanwy leads them into her house.

  Troy stops to whisper to the robots. “See. What did I tell you? She hasn’t even noticed that you’re robots.”

  “Come along,” Madame Myfanwy calls back to them. “No lollygagging. I have things to do!”

  Madame Myfanwy leads them through her dark and dusty house into the kitchen. This room is clean and cozy.

  Madame Myfanwy stops beneath the ceiling lamp.

  “Do you think that you could reach it from a kitchen chair?” Madame Myfanwy asks Troy.

  Troy looks up and frowns. He thinks this might be a job for his father.

  Googol rolls forward. “Let me do it for you, Madame.”

  He picks up the screwdriver that is sitting on the kitchen table. The coiled springs in his legs stretch way out to make him ten feet tall. He unscrews the light cover, puts in the light bulb and replaces the light cover.

  Mrs. Myfanwy looks over her shoulder. “Did you see that, Frederick? One of your inventions couldn’t have done better, my dear.”

  Pippa leans over and whispers to Googolplex, “Frederick was her husband. He died five years ago.”

  Mrs. Myfanwy smiles at Googol when he collapses to his regular size. “Are there many like you two around?”

  “Uh, not around here,” Troy answers quickly. “They come from far away.”

  “Pity,” Madame Myfanwy says. “You’d be very useful. This house has so many dusty, hard to reach corners.”

  Madame Myfanwy switches on the overhead light and smiles.

  “Never mind. Off you go,” she tells them. “I can see that you all want to be on your way. We’ll save the tea and cookies for next time, shall we?”

  “Yes, please, Madame,” Pippa says. “We have to help Googol and Googolplex with their scavenger hunt this morning.”

  “Oooh, a scavenger hunt,” Madame Myfanwy exclaims. She rubs her hands together. “Those are loads of fun! What is the next item on the list?”

  “Four sand dollars, I think,” Troy says as he pulls out the list.

  Madame Myfanwy laughs. “Well, you won’t have far to go for those, will you?”

  She pushes the curtains aside on the kitchen window. The ocean sparkles in the distance. “Just watch out for that Martin Kelly boy, will you? He was down on the beach earlier. He’s always up to no good.”

  Chapter Three

  Peacock Feathers

  Martin Kelly lives right next door to Troy and Pippa. He is two years older than Troy, and he is a nuisance. The first time Googol and Googolplex came to earth, Martin accidentally saw one of them. They had some real adventures hiding from Martin after that.

  “Maybe we should get the peacock feathers first,” Pippa says. “We don’t want to bump into Martin Kelly.”

  They all think this is a good idea.

  “But where can we find peacock feathers?” Googolplex asks.

  “On the Island of Palawan in the Philippines,” Troy tells them. “I studied Palawan peacocks at school last year.”

  They look up the Philippines in an atlas they borrow from Madame Myfanwy. Then they go into Googol and Googolplex’s spaceship and look at a wall-sized picture of Earth. Troy points at a clump of islands in the South China Sea.

  “That’s it!” he says. “And there is the Island of Palawan.”

  Googol’s head spins around three times when he sees it.

  “Perfect!” he says.

  “Oh, I like this thing called an atlas,” Googolplex says. “We’ll have to make one for ourselves.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Googol says. “But first we must find peacock feathers.”

  The Island of Palawan is on the other side of Earth, but the robots’ spaceship gets them there in only a few minutes.

  “Look!” Googol says as they fly over a small group of islands.

  “That’s them,” Troy says. “And the long, skinny one on the left is the Island of Palawan.”

  They drop down closer to have a look. It is a green, forested island with few houses on it. They land on a grassy hill in the middle of the forest. When they step out of the spaceship, they can hear a lot of different bird songs, but they don’t hear a peacock’s loud cry.

  “I think it might be very hard to find a peacock on an island this big,” Pippa says.

  “Whew! And it’s so hot!” Troy wipes his forehead. “We’d better get out of the sun before we get sunburned.”

  The robots roll along behind them toward the trees.

  “Poor humans,” Googolplex says. “Your soft pink bodies don’t do well at hot or cold temperatures.”

  “No,” Pippa grumbles as she smacks a buzzing insect off of her arm. “And they don’t do well against insect bites either!”

  “Or snake bites!” Troy says.

  He points to a small green and yellow snake hanging from a tree branch.

  “Oooh! I think I want to go home now!” Pippa says.

  Googol rolls right up to the snake. The snake flicks its pink tongue at him. Googol’s head spins around three times.

  “It’s really very nice,” Googol says.

  “Yes,” Troy says. He likes snakes. “But tropical snake bites can be poisonous to humans.”

  “Oh dear,” says Googolplex. “Then we shouldn’t stay here. The father-who-is-not-king will be very unhappy if we let you get hurt.”

  As they step back into the hot sun, they hear a loud bird call.

  Troy looks at Pippa and Pippa looks at Troy.

  “That sounded just like the peacocks at the petting zoo,” Pippa says.

  In the middle of the long grass, a couple of dark heads are bobbing along. They are heading toward the forest edge.

  A peahen and a peacock step out of the grass. One of them looks like a small, dark chicken. The other one has a big tail that opens like a Chinese fan. Many beautiful shiny blue circles, like eyes, decorate his tail.

  All the lights on the robots’ bodies flash with excitement.

  “Oh! Peacocks are beautiful!” Googolplex says.

  “Very beautiful!” Googol says.

&nbs
p; “That’s why people collect their feathers,” Pippa says. “Let’s hope he’s dropped some.”

  The peacock and the peahen disappear into the forest. Pippa and Troy run up to where the birds were standing. Pippa thinks she can see

  something blue and sparkling in the long grass. But she also thinks she can hear voices in the forest.

  Googolplex’s head spins around three times. “People!”

  They stand still and listen. The voices get louder.

  “Hurry!” Troy says. “Back to the spaceship!”

  Googol and Googolplex lead the way. The spaceship door snaps shut behind Troy and Pippa just as six people hike out of the forest.

  “Whew! That was lucky!” Troy says, as the spaceship lifts off. The hikers pass right below them.

  But Pippa doesn’t think it was lucky at all. The hikers’ big feet have trampled right over the peacocks’ trail. Pippa can no longer see any sign of sparkly blue feathers lying in the long grass.

  Chapter Four

  Spring Cleaning

  Madame Myfanwy is standing on her back porch when they get back. Pippa and Troy jump out the back of the invisible spaceship and run up toward her.

  “Oh, there you are,” she exclaims. She squints hard at the spot on her lawn where they magically appeared. “Your father called and asked me to send you home. So, off you go.”

  “We’ll be back tomorrow, Madame,” Pippa tells her.

  As soon as they finish brushing their teeth and making their beds the next morning, Pippa and Troy rush across to Madame Myfanwy’s.

  “That’s strange,” Troy says when he sees Madame Myfanwy’s back door standing open.

  “Hello?” Pippa calls into the house. Nobody answers.

  They peek into the dark, dusty rooms on either side of the hallway. But the rooms are no longer dark and dusty. All the lights are on, and every room is bright and clean.

  “Where are all of Madame’s paintings?” Pippa asks.

  The walls in each room are bare. Rectangles of dark paint show where paintings used to hang.

  Troy frowns. “I don’t know, Pippa, but I’ve never heard of a thief who cleans the house while he steals the paintings.”