Hotel Flamingo, page 4
As time rolled on whispers drifted around the growing crowd that the king and queen were due to arrive.
The guests fell silent as T. Bear walked on to the terrace with a stony face. ‘Mr Ronald Ruffian,’ he growled.
‘What’s he doing here?’ said Anna, racing to Ms Chinstrap.
‘He’s a friend of the queen,’ she said curtly.
The lion swaggered in as if he owned the place, a pompous smile on his face. He was followed by a group of his own staff pulling a huge trolley topped with a towering ice sculpture of the King and Queen Penguin. They parked it in the middle of the terrace for everyone to see.
‘What’s he up to?’ said Eva.
‘He’s trying to show us up,’ said Anna. ‘What a cheek!’
But before Anna could give him a piece of her mind, a trumpet fanfare erupted.
‘Their Royal Majesties, King Valentin and Queen Julieta Penguin!’ announced T. Bear.
The two royal penguins waddled into view dressed in splendid evening dress, followed by their three young chicks. Queen Julieta’s face lit up at the sight of everyone.
‘A surprise party?!’ she cried, jumping into the air with happiness.
‘Good evening,’ said the king, ‘and thank you for joining us on this absolute whizz-popper of an occasion. Please join me in a toast: to my sweet diddums, the queen!’
Everyone raised their glasses and clinked them together before a chorus of ‘hurrahs’ shook the terrace. As the cheers turned to chatter, Ms Fragranti’s string quartet burst into life, directed by the flamboyant flamingo herself. But they only managed four notes before the strings on the instruments twinged, twanged and snapped. The music fell silent. All eyes were on Ms Fragranti, and for all the wrong reasons.
‘Oh no,’ said Anna. ‘What now?’
17
Party Poopers
‘It must have been the heat!’ explained Ms Fragranti to Anna as her flamingos hurriedly tried to restring their instruments. ‘I will sing a verse or two until we’re ready again.’
Ms Fragranti belted out an old show tune as Anna took a closer look at the broken strings. There were tiny little cuts along their lengths. ‘Someone’s been at work here again,’ she said.
The queen caught sight of Anna and held up her wing to get her attention. ‘Ms Dupont, thank you so much for all this!’ she cried. ‘And the ice sculpture is PERFECT!’
Anna cringed. It was her worse nightmare come true. And to make things even worse Mr Ruffian was gloating at her from behind the queen.
‘I think you’ll find that was my gift, Your Majesty,’ he said, leaning forward.
‘Ronald!’ declared the queen. ‘So wonderful to see you here.’
‘I do like visiting other hotels, ma’am,’ he replied, ‘though the Glitz really is the best at throwing parties.’
Anna had never felt more angry. ‘I think we should let the guests decide that,’ she said, smiling through gritted teeth. She made her apologies for leaving, and then strode away into the hotel.
A crowd of noisy monkeys had gathered in the lobby to watch the royal party through the windows. The warthogs were grumbling to T. Bear about not being invited, while the hoglets ran free, unwatched.
‘Someone tampered with the instruments,’ said Anna to T. Bear, taking deep breaths to calm herself.
‘I’ve let you down,’ said T. Bear, looking at his paws. ‘I thought I knew who’d been up to no good, but I haven’t been able to find her.’
‘Her?’ said Anna.
‘The rat, Ms Rathbone,’ he said.
‘Ronnie? But she seemed so nice!’ said Anna.
‘All of the clues lead to her,’ said T. Bear. ‘We knew that it had to be someone who arrived after that letter. The rat fits the bill perfectly.’
Madame Le Pig appeared, pushing a trolley of platters loaded with squid scones and sea slug meringues.
‘Absolute perfection!’ said Anna. ‘Shall we take them outside?’
‘Of course! Before they freeze in this icebox of an hotel!’ snorted Le Pig.
‘Thank you, chef,’ said Anna, and she and T. Bear pushed the trolley out to the terrace.
‘Squid scones, ma’am?’ T. Bear asked the queen, moving the trolley forward with gusto.
At that very moment the trolley wobbled uncontrollably. One leg fell apart, and everything tipped sideways. A dozen freshly baked squid scones – dripping in seaweed jam and gloopy clotted cream – went flying through the air. They splattered at full force on to the queen.
The crowd gasped in horror.
18
Pointing the Finger
‘Good gracious!’ squawked the queen as seaweed jam dripped down her face.
Anna raced to help. When she saw the mess she wanted to cry.
‘What happened?!’ she asked.
‘That bear just threw scones over the queen!’ spat Ms Chinstrap. She began wiping jam off the queen’s face with her wing tip.
‘It was the trolley!’ said T. Bear, picking up a screw.
‘Don’t worry!’ said Mr Ruffian, helping the queen. He passed her his pocket handkerchief. ‘We have brought our own squid scones. We have this covered.’
He called out to his staff, and within seconds they were wheeling out trolley loads of scones.
‘Honestly, ma’am,’ he said, ‘small hotels like this one just aren’t cut out for hosting guests such as yourself. These won’t fall over on you.’
‘But someone must have fiddled with the trolley!’ said T. Bear.
‘Don’t be so ridiculous,’ said Mr Ruffian. ‘It’s badly made, just like everything else at Hotel Flamingo.’
Anna picked up the wheel and more screws and examined them. ‘He’s not lying. Someone’s unscrewed them!’
The terrace door slammed and the crowd gasped. Madame Le Pig had marched outside with Lemmy trying to pull her back.
‘WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!’ she cried, scooping up a handful of the scones that had been delivered from the Glitz. ‘I will not have this rubbish served to the queen!’ spat Le Pig. ‘Who brought this horrid food into my hotel?’
‘I did,’ said Mr Ruffian, who started laughing. ‘You are a funny and rather sad excuse for a chef.’
Madame Le Pig rolled up her sleeves in anger, then removed her chef’s hat and threw it to the floor. ‘I will fight you here and now!’ she exclaimed, scraping her trotters across the floor like a raging bull.
‘STOP THIS NOW!’ Anna cried, blocking the path between Mr Ruffian and the chef. ‘You are embarrassing all of us, Madame Le Pig.’
The queen took the king’s wing. ‘This has taken a rather sour turn,’ she said. ‘I think we should maybe retire to our suite.’
‘No! Please! No!’ said Anna. ‘King Valentin and Queen Julieta, ever since you cancelled your holiday at the Glitz Mr Ruffian has been trying to ruin everything for us.’
‘Goodness, Ms Dupont,’ said the queen. ‘Mr Ruffian is a very good friend of ours. Where is your proof?’
‘He brought his hotel food to our party!’ said Anna. ‘Who does that?’
‘I know your food is not up to royal standards,’ said Mr Ruffian.
Madame Le Pig could stand it no more. She charged at the lion, hitting him square in the chest with her snout and knocking him to the floor.
Squeals and gasps of horror echoed around the terrace.
‘Wowsers! What a jolly smasher of an uppercut!’ said the king.
The queen was appalled. ‘No more of this!’ she pleaded.
T. Bear snatched Madame Le Pig up into the air before she could charge again. The pig dangled helplessly and furiously as Mr Ruffian picked up his wallet and keys. The chef had packed such a wallop that all the lion’s belongings had flown across the floor.
‘Stop this now!’ ordered Anna.
Mr Ruffian laughed and brushed himself down. Madame Le Pig snorted in disgust.
‘I’ll put you out of business for this,’ he growled.
‘What more could you do?’ said Anna. ‘You’ve already ruined everything!’
‘A very unlikely story,’ said Mr Ruffian. ‘The king and queen really ought to transfer their belongings to the Glitz. This is quite out of order.’
‘I agree,’ said Ms Chinstrap. ‘We will settle our bill and leave. I’ve had enough of this.’
‘As have I,’ said the king sadly. ‘And this was such a jolly wobbler of a hotel.’
‘Please don’t leave,’ pleaded Anna. ‘This wasn’t our fault!’
‘I’m sorry, Ms Dupont,’ said the queen. ‘I can see you’ve tried very hard to make us welcome, but your hotel is sadly not fit for a king or queen.’
‘Quite right,’ said Mr Ruffian. ‘Collect up their things, Ms Chinstrap. I shall arrange everything else.’
Ms Chinstrap sniffed and looked to Anna. ‘Front desk in five minutes,’ she said, before leaving the terrace. Mr Ruffian followed, gloating as only he could.
Anna slumped to the floor in tears as the party guests slowly drifted away. ‘We’re finished,’ she said, crestfallen.
‘No,’ said T. Bear, stamping. ‘There has to be something we can do!’
Lemmy walked towards them. ‘We’ve got one last throw of the dice,’ he said. ‘I really don’t want to do this, but I think I have to.’
19
A Big Mistake
‘Please give us one chance to explain,’ said Anna, her teeth chattering as she stood in the freezing-cold lobby. ‘One chance.’
‘You’d better have the perfect excuse,’ said Ms Chinstrap. ‘I want facts. Cold hard facts and nothing less.’
The lift bell chimed, the doors opened and Lemmy appeared, carrying a large, heavy bag. He threw it down at Ms Chinstrap’s feet. ‘I took this from Ronnie Rathbone’s room,’ he said. ‘She’s been sabotaging everything. What’s inside will prove it!’
Anna rallied herself and unzipped it. A pile of clothes and trinkets, and a lifetime’s worth of keepsakes rolled out. Lemmy stared at them in surprise.
‘What has this to do with anything?’ said Ms Chinstrap, pushing her glasses up her beak.
‘It wasn’t her,’ said Lemmy, realising he’d made a terrible mistake.
‘Then who was it?’ said Anna.
‘Oh, this is too much,’ said Ms Chinstrap. ‘Goodbye, Ms Dupont. I do not hope to see you again.’
The tension was broken by Eva walking into the lobby carrying a phone. ‘Is this anyone’s?’ she asked, passing it to Anna. ‘I found it on the terrace.’
The phone was gold-plated and looked very expensive. There is only one creature who would own a phone like that, thought Anna.
As she flipped it over in her hand it started to ring. She immediately recognised the caller’s name on the display.
‘I don’t believe it,’ said Anna.
‘What now?’ said Ms Chinstrap, losing her patience.
Anna looked at T. Bear. ‘You suspected the wrong guest!’
Anna worked through everything in her mind. ‘It’s crystal clear to me now,’ she said. ‘The creature causing us all these problems just called this phone. And I am pretty sure I know who owns it.’
‘Don’t tease us,’ said T. Bear. ‘Who is it?’
Suddenly Ronnie Rathbone came through the front door. She looked down and saw her belongings lying everywhere.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she Ruffi Ruffi said sharply.
‘I’m so, so sorry,’ said Anna, ‘but please hear us out. I can make all of this right.’
‘You’d better have a good explanation, kid,’ said Ronnie.
Anna was set to explain everything when the lift doors chimed, and the King and Queen Penguin appeared, followed by Mr Ruffian and their three chicks. The young penguins looked desperately sad to be leaving.
‘We’re ready,’ said the king to Ms Chinstrap.
‘And I see you’ve found my phone,’ said Mr Ruffian, attempting to snatch it out of Anna’s hand.
Anna was too quick for the lion, whipping the phone behind her back. Ruffi Ruffi ‘Good grief,’ she said. ‘So it really was you!’
Ms Chinstrap lowered her glasses. ‘What is going on?’ she ordered.
Anna redialled the number that had just rung Mr Ruffian’s phone. ‘Listen,’ she said, raising her hand.
They waited in silence for a few seconds, before hearing another phone ringing in the Piano Lounge. The ringing quickly stopped.
‘Come with me,’ said Anna.
‘I’m not taking part in this charade!’ said Mr Ruffian. ‘Give me my phone back.’
But Anna wouldn’t. She marched into the Piano Lounge, followed by everyone, and found the room occupied only by warthogs. They were playing board games and chuckling to themselves.
‘Can you see anything?’ asked Anna.
‘Yes!’ said Ms Chinstrap angrily. ‘Warthogs.’
‘No, no. Look at the curtains,’ said Anna, smiling. ‘The game’s up, Mr Camou.’
20
Caught in the Act
The patterned curtains shimmered, then started to move, and as if by magic Mr Camou suddenly became visible. He looked incredibly awkward, as he was completely nude, except for his mobile phone and a screwdriver.
The King Penguin covered his eyes to preserve his dignity, while T. Bear rushed to get a tablecloth from the restaurant.
He wrapped this round Mr Camou, then took hold of his wrist with a very strong paw.
‘I thought he was just a lizard,’ explained Anna, ‘but Mr Camou is much more than that. He is a chameleon. He can change his skin colour to match his surroundings and pretty much become invisible.’
‘That’s like magic!’ said Lemmy.
‘Isn’t it?’ said Anna. ‘And he’s also a friend of Mr Ruffian. They’ve planned all of this together.’ She then described all the problems they’d faced during the royal stay.
‘Is this true, Ronald?’ asked the queen quietly.
‘This is all nonsense!’ said the lion. ‘I would never embarrass you like this.’
‘Did you do these things?’ Ms Chinstrap asked the lizard. ‘Did Mr Ruffian have a hand in it?’
Mr Camou’s skin turned a shade of custard yellow. ‘Espionage is what I am good at, and Mr Ruffian pays so well,’ he said. ‘As my beautiful skin allows me to hide in plain sight I can do all kinds of things without anyone noticing.’
‘You changed the labels on the carpet cleaner!’ said T. Bear. ‘So I didn’t get it wrong!’
‘No, you didn’t,’ said Mr Camou shamefully. His whole body turned bright pink with embarrassment.
‘I will sue this horrible hotel for all it has!’ roared Mr Ruffian. ‘These are lies! All lies. It is a setup!’
‘I’m not so sure,’ said the queen.
Mr Ruffian bumped Lemmy out of the way and stormed out of the hotel.
‘Wait for me!’ cried Mr Camou, scuttling after him.
He left everyone in a stunned silence.
‘I hope that’s the last we see of them!’ said Anna.
‘How would we ever know?’ said the king, laughing. ‘What an absolute cad!’
‘I think we owe you a very big apology,’ said the queen. ‘I didn’t think Ronald would mind us changing our plans to stay at Hotel Flamingo instead of the Glitz. How wrong I was.’
Anna turned to Ronnie, who was enjoying the show. ‘Ms Rathbone,’ said Anna, ‘I’m truly sorry we suspected you. How can we make it up to you?’
Ronnie flashed her gold teeth with a smile.
‘You’re not unusual for thinking a rat’s up to no good,’ she said. ‘I’ve had worse.’
‘That doesn’t make it OK, Ms Rathbone,’ said Anna. ‘We won’t be charging you for your stay.’
‘Does this mean we’re staying too?’ asked one of the penguin chicks.
‘Yes, my cheeky chicklet. I think it does,’ said the king. ‘And that’s the best whizz-popping news I’ve heard all week!’
The three chicks leapt on to T. Bear and cheered.
‘I’m pleased too,’ said the queen, smiling. ‘I do love this little hotel. And Madame Le Pig’s squid scones truly were the best I’ve ever tasted, even if I did have to lick them off my gown.’
T. Bear laughed a very deep laugh.
‘I wonder,’ said the king, taking Anna to one side, ‘would you mind if we got the party started again? Such a crashing bore to miss out on a good dance!’
‘There is nothing I would like more!’ said Anna. ‘But Hotel Flamingo is open to all guests – warthogs, penguins and especially rats. This time, everyone’s invited.’
‘What a jolly good idea,’ replied the king. ‘Now where are those flamingos? They play a mighty good tune.’
21
Muddy End
Without Mr Camou to cause trouble the hotel was soon running smoothly again as was the air conditioning. The King and Queen Penguin had taken to eating their meals with the other guests and their chicks had made firm friends with Mrs Bamba’s young hoglets.
Anna was thrilled to see every creature getting along. Her dream of making Hotel Flamingo the most welcoming hotel on Animal Boulevard was coming true. Even the royal envoy was enjoying herself.
‘I must say,’ said Ms Chinstrap, while relaxing on the terrace, ‘I think I can now see the appeal of your hotel.’
‘Thank you,’ said Anna proudly.
‘Perhaps perfection doesn’t always rest in things being perfectly tidy, or perfectly clean, or perfectly presented,’ she said. ‘Perhaps perfection is also about a feeling of happiness.’
Anna watched the three penguin chicks race past, followed by the hoglets. They bundled through a hedgerow, running out of sight, before making a huge splash. Dollops of mud flew through the air, hitting Anna in the face.
Anna went to investigate. Where once there had been a huge flower bed behind the storage shed, now sat a very messy, muddy watering hole filled with very happy warthogs.
