Canyon Chaos by Axel Lewis Read Free Book Online Page B

and Grandpa packed a suitcase of clothes and Grandpa’s toolbag safely into Cabbie’s boot before climbing into the front seats. Jimmy looked around Cabbie’s cockpit. There were even more buttons and levers and switches than he remembered. Grandpa had spent half the night underneath Cabbie, making modifications and saying all the time, “Things are only going to get tougher from here on in, my boy. So I want Cabbie to be prepared for any situation. Who knows what that scoundrel, Leadpipe, will have planned for you?”
    Before Jimmy could investigate the dials and knobs any further, there was a boom! which shook the earth as a huge platform was lowered from the airship on thick, metal chains.
    “Amazing!” said Jimmy.
    “Incredible!” Cabbie added.
    “Show-off,” Grandpa muttered under his breath.
    The platform reached the ground and Jimmy drove Cabbie up onto it.
    Grinding and creaking, the chains were winched up again and Jimmy peered over the edge of the platform as they rose higher and higher into the sky. The platform climbed above the trees, above the tops of the houses and kept on going until it was high into the clouds.
    Grandpa had his eyes squeezed shut, and his skin had turned a nasty green colour, as though he might be sick at any moment. But for Jimmy, this was one of the most exciting moments of his life.
    I can’t wait to tell Max about this. I’m actually going to get to see inside Lord Leadpipe’s private airship!
    Finally they heard a loud clunk as the winch ground to a halt. Jimmy looked around at his new surroundings in amazement.
    It wasn’t like any airship Jimmy had ever seen before. Usually, an airship or zeppelin had just a small box for passengers slung under a huge balloon filled with gas. But in Lord Leadpipe’s craft, the gigantic balloon was a completely solid structure – and it bustled with more activity than a shopping mall.
    Everywhere Jimmy looked he could see people rushing around carrying equipment or shouting orders over the sound of engines firing. There were electronic signs pointing to places like the “Swimming Pool”, “Cinema” and “Restaurant”. And the room they had been lifted into was actually the most enormous workshop Jimmy had ever seen. It was bigger than a cathedral. Under brilliant white spotlights the mechanics and pit crews for each of the racers worked on their robots, sending showers of sparks and jets of steam and billows of smoke up to the roof. None of them even seemed to have noticed Jimmy, Grandpa and Cabbie make their entrance.
    As they opened Cabbie’s doors and climbed out, Jimmy saw that the platform had lifted them directly into their own workstation, with shelves, cupboards and tool chests full to the brim with state-of-the-art gadgetry that made Grandpa’s battered old toolkit look prehistoric. But before he could say a word, Jimmy felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He spun round to see a tall man with huge eyebrows grinning at him. The man wore a dark blazer with a gold ‘L’ for Leadpipe on the breast pocket, a huge red cravat tucked under his pointed chin, and two tufts of cotton wool were poking out of his ears. Jimmy guessed this was to help block out the worst of the noise coming from the mechanics.
    “Joshua Johnson,” said the tall man in a loud voice. “Robot Co-ordinator. I’m in charge of looking after the teams during the competition, so if you have any problems, you see me, OK?” He grinned at Jimmy and Grandpa, his eyebrows doing an excited little dance as he offered his hand.
    Jimmy shook it.
    “And you must be...” Joshua Johnson pulled a clipboard from somewhere behind his back and stared at it for a moment. “Jimmy Roberts. Delighted!”
    “This is my grandfather,” said Jimmy, nodding at Grandpa. Joshua Johnson moved along to Grandpa and held out his hand.
    “Joshua Johnson, Robot Co-ordinator,” said Joshua Johnson again. Grandpa shook his hand and grinned.
    “And this must be Ca—” said Joshua