Her mind raced forward – she was landing, she was running home across the fields with Stephen and Poppy, they were hugging Mum and Dad, they were telling everyone about their adventures.
‘It won’t happen unless I jump,’ she said to her pounding heart. And she jumped.
She plummeted through the clouds. The wind roaring in her ears was almost deafening. Such speed, such noise! She had never felt anything like this before.
And then there was a terrific jerk, and the roaring noise stopped.
The mist had cleared. Colette looked up. The handkerchief, full of air, billowed above her. She looked down. Two tiny figures drifted below her.
She was floating. She was free.
31
Three years later
‘BEESH, BEESH, BEESH, Jumbeelia!’ the girl giant pleaded. She was sitting up in bed and gazing at her big sister.
Their mother pottered about the room, tidying up and half-listening to the story she had heard her older daughter tell so many times before. It was a ridiculous story, she thought, but anything was better than the awful books she used to have to read to Jumbeelia. Thank goodness she didn’t have to go through all that with Woozly.
Jumbeelia sat on Woozly’s bed. Both pairs of eyes were alight as Jumbeelia told the story she never tired of telling and Woozly never tired of hearing. This story didn’t come out of a book. It was the story of Jumbeelia and the iggly plops.
English/Groilish Dictionary
again – tweeko
fill – whedderwhay
all – ootle
funny – heehuckerly
and – da
Giant Land – Groil
are – oor
giant language – Groilish
around – arump
give – niffle
away – awook
go – glay
baby – bobbaleely
goodbye – yahaw
back – abreg
grandfather – grishpij
bad – pecky
grandmother – grishmij
bean – bimple
grass – strimp
beanstalk – bimplestonk
grow – eep
button – whackleclack
have – ev
cat – spratch
heart – jarn
chip – snishsnosh
hello – wahoy
cuddly – woozly
help – aheesh
cushions – squodgies
home – jum
down – boff
horrible – frikely
drink – gloosh
how – heek
father – pij
I – ee
I’ll – eel
other – ithry
our – woor
joy – sprubbin
peace – zab
kill – kraggle
person – plop
killer – kraggler
phone – frangle
kind – jin
pillar box – pobo
kitten – spratchkin
please – beesh
land – chay
poor – roopy
lawn mower – strimpchogger
pound – poddum
little – iggly
pull – haroof
look – oggle
quickly – flisterflay
lovely – beely
right – rootle
many – munchly
see – oggle
mine – mubbin
sheep – blebber
mother – mij
sorry – yimp
my – mub
splash – glishglursh
naughty – pecky
stop – askorp
no – nug
swap – sweefswoof
not – nug
thank you – oidle oy
old – floopy
that – osh
one – wunk
the – o
them – uth
warning – throg
they – uth
washing line – swisheroo
this – ish
where – queesh
three – thrink
white – lolshly
tomorrow – chingulay
with – fa
two – twunk
worm – squerple
you – oy
weedkiller – veep kraggler
Groilish/English Dictionary
abreg – back
ev – have
aheesh – help
ez – is
arump – around
fa – with
askorp – stop
flisterflay – quickly
awook – away
floopy – old
beely – lovely
frangle – phone
beesh – please
frikely – horrible
bimple – bean
frimmot – carrot
bimplestonk – beanstalk
glay – go
blebber – sheep
glishglursh – splash
bobbaleely – baby
gloosh – drink
boff – down
grishmij – grandmother
chay – land
grishpij – grandfather
chingulay – tomorrow
Groil – Giant Land
da – and
Groilish – giant language
ee – I
haroof – pull
eel – I’ll
heehuckerly – funny
eep – grow
heek – how
eeped – grown
iggly – little
ish – this
pecky – bad, naughty
ithry – other
pij – father
jarn – heart
plop – person
jin – kind
pobo – pillar box
jum – home
poddum – pound
queesh – where
kraggler – killer
roopy – poor
lolshly – white
rootle – right
mij – mother
snishsnosh – chip
mub – my
spratch – cat
mubbin – mine
spratchkin – kitten
munchly – many
sprubbin – joy
niffle – give
squerple – worm
nug – no, not
squodgies – cushions
o – the
strimp – grass
oggle – look, see
strimpchogger – lawn
oggled – seen
mower
oidle oy – thank you
sweefswoof – swap
oor – are
swisheroo – washing line
ootle – all
thrink – three
osh – that
throg – warning
oy – you
tweeko – again
twunk – two
woor – our
uth – they, them
woozly – cuddly
veep – weed
wunk – one
veep kraggler – weedkiller
yahaw – goodbye
wahoy – hello
yimp – sorry
whackleclack – button
zab – peace
whedderwhay – fill
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