Olive of Groves and the Great Slurp of Time by Katrina Nannestad Read Free Book Online Page A

and rampant vines trailing across the display shelves. The floor was covered in large potted specimens of hibiscuses, rhododendrons, ferns, cacti and one large and vigilant Venus flytrap. A variety of water lilies floated inthe sink at the front of the laboratory, and the tables were peppered with beakers and flat-bottomed flasks holding exotic orchids, delicate grasses and sprigs of herbs.
    All spare gaps on the tables and floor were covered in a thin layer of butter . . . but that had nothing to do with botany and everything to do with Reginald’s passion for spreading butter over all available surfaces, large and small. The seven-year-old smiled up at Olive as he buttered the toe of her shoe.
    â€˜Can anyone identify a plant?’ Mrs Groves nodded encouragingly at her pupils.
    Pigg McKenzie raised his trotter. ‘I can see a flower,’ he grunted. ‘A red flower . . . a big red flower.’
    â€˜Marvellous! Wonderful!’ cooed Mrs Groves. ‘Such an intelligent pig! Where did you say you attended school before coming to Groves, dear?’
    Pigg McKenzie stretched and drawled, ‘Oh, just an ordinary little place. You might have heard of Mrs Doncaster’s Boarding School for Astronauts, Opera Singers and Pigs of Extreme Genius.’
    Anastasia and Alfonzo rolled their eyes. Valerie the owl fluffed her feathers in disgust. Peter the graffiti artist wrote PORKY LIAR! PANTS ON FIRE! across his table in thick black permanent marker.
    â€˜A school for pigs of extreme genius!’ gushed Mrs Groves. ‘My word, that’s impressive.’
    â€˜Yes,’ sighed the pig, ‘but I was too smart to stay. Mrs Doncaster said there was simply nothing more that the school could teach me. I had outgrown and outwitted them all.’ He opened his notebook and started to write, as though eager to continue with his studies.
    â€˜Such an inspiration to us, each and every one!’ declared the silly headmistress.
    â€˜Good grief,’ moaned Olive.
    Anxious to show her own brilliance, Elizabeth-Jane the giraffe called out, ‘I can see five different varieties of orchid.’
    â€˜How dreadfully clever of you!’ cried Mrs Groves. ‘Tiny Tim, would you please bring me those orchids from your table? They are the ones in the flat-bottomed flasks.’
    Tiny Tim fell to the floor, where he rolled around, giggling hysterically. ‘Flat-bottomed flasks!’ he gasped. ‘Flasks with flat bottoms !’
    â€˜Bottomy!’ shrieked Blimp, and he rolled around on top of Tiny Tim, laughing until tears ran from his eyes.
    Tommy, who still had Steve and George the hermit crabs stuck up his nose, cried, ‘Never mind, Mrs Groves! I’ll bring you the flowers!’ But on lifting an orchid in eachhand, his eyes began to water, his throat began to tickle and his nose began to itch.

    â€˜Uh-oh,’ he huffed.
    â€˜I think . . .’ he sniffled.
    â€˜I am allergic to . . . A-A-A-ACHOO!!’
    George and Steve blasted out of Tommy’s nostrils, flew across the laboratory and landed on top of a cushiony pile of moss. They scuttled around, naked and exposed, until they found a eucalyptus display and each crawled into a gumnut. Unfortunately, the gumnuts were a little too large. The crabs wobbled clumsily back and forth under the burden of their new homes until they fell off the shelf and down the back of Boffo’s clown suit.
    â€˜Emergency! Emergency!’ cried Boffo, tumbling off his seat. ‘The crabs are biting my bottom!’
    â€˜Emergency! Emergency!’ Bozo laughed. ‘Boffo’s beautiful bottom is being badly bitten by bothersome beasties!’
    Boffo ran around the science laboratory, dashing in and out of rhododendrons, tearing off his clothes, sobbing, ‘Get them off! Get them off!’
    George and Steve were flung across the room, where they hit Anastasia in the head and became entangled in her long blonde hair.