Jasper and the Green Marvel by Deirdre Madden Page A

folded paper. What’s all this about? he wondered.
    Carefully, very, very carefully so as not to waken them, with the tips of his fingers he gently removed the paper from the rat nearest to him, unfolded it and read it. ‘What piffle!’ he muttered to himself and he frowned. Hedidn’t understand what the note was all about, but as far as he was concerned it was a pile of sentimental twaddle. With remarkable skill, he tucked the note back into the grip of the sleeping animal.
    Was it even worth looking at the other one? It was probably more of the same codswallop. But Jasper was a born nosy-parker, and couldn’t resist taking the second note too. As he did so, Rags – or was it Bags? He still found it hard to tell them apart and he wasn’t interested enough in them to care which was which – as he did so, the rat yawned and stretched. For a moment he thought it was going to wake up, but it seemed instead to sink back into a deeper sleep, as he deftly removed the note from its little paws.
    He unfolded it and glanced over it … and then he gasped. He read it again and then again. For a moment he thought he was going to faint, so astonished was he by what was written in the note. Jasper’s hand was shakingwith excitement when he put the piece of paper back in the rat’s paws, and gently slid the drawer shut again.

25 Georgiana Is Upset
    ‘Two notes? That’s odd,’ Georgiana said.
    ‘One was lying in the bottom of the letterbox,’ Rags replied, ‘and the other was up at the top, stuck in between the wood of the box and the wall itself. It was as if someone had posted it but instead of it dropping down as normal, it got stuck at the top.’
    ‘That’s odd,’ Georgiana said again.
    They had all gathered in her room once more. Tonight it was quite brightly lit, because of the full moon shining and because of Georgiana’s own natural luminosity. She took the first note and unfolded it very carefully because thepaper was so old and fragile. ‘Read it aloud please,’ said Nelly.
    ‘My darl—’ Georgiana began, and then a look of surprise crossed her face. She said no more, but read the note silently to herself. The three animals watched her closely and saw her surprise change to dismay. ‘Oh no!’ she said at last. ‘This is terrible! Terrible!’ Tears welled up in her big green eyes and she started to cry.
    What a racket she made! ‘BOO HOO HOO! WAAAAHH!’ Her wailing echoed around the room and grew louder as it bounced off the walls. Rags and Bags put their paws over their ears to block out the frightful noise. ‘WOOOOH! WAAAAHHH! BOO HOO HOO!’
    ‘Don’t, please, poor Georgiana,’ Nelly cried, fluttering around her head and trying to console her. ‘What’s the matter? Why are you upset?’
    ‘It’s this,’ said Georgiana, picking up the note and shaking it. ‘It’s terrible.’
    ‘What does it say?’ Nelly asked.
    ‘I don’t know if I can read it to you, it’s too upsetting.’
    ‘Oh go on! You have to tell us!’
    The rats had sometimes thought that, although they liked the bat, it could be a nosy little creature, and they thought so now.
    ‘If I must, then,’ Georgiana said and she sighed, wiping the tears away from her extraordinary green eyes, and she smoothed out the note on her knee.
    ‘“My darling Georgiana,
    ‘“Be in the folly at midnight tonight. I will be there with two horses. I am more happy and excited than I can ever tell you. Soon we will be together forever. I love you with all my heart.” And then there are three kisses. BOO HOO HOO!’
    Her voice had gone all strange and weepy the more she read, and by the time she got to the end of the message she was wailing again. But the animals were still mystified. Whyshould such an affectionate note make her so unhappy? And what had horses got to do with anything? What did it all mean?
    Bags pointed at the clock. ‘If you’re to be at the folly by midnight, you should leave now,’ he said, ‘or else you’re