BURLY & GRUM AND THE BIRTHDAY SURPRISE
A Burly and Grum Tale
(Book 3)
by Kate Tenbeth
Copyright 2011 Kathryn E L Tenbeth
All rights reserved by the author
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CHAPTER 1
Burly’s eyes snapped open as a large ball rolled noisily past his nose, swiftly followed by Grum who was trying to stop it from falling off the ledge into the Great Forest below. Burly stretched, arching his back. He flexed his huge paws and then each of his claws one by one before sitting upright and looking around. The sky above appeared to be blue. It was morning. He yawned widely and sniffed the air.
Grum ran past him again, this time clutching the ball to his chest.
“Where did you get that?” Burly asked.
Grum nodded in the direction of the cave. “Mike bought it,” he replied. “He’s got loads of great stuff - footballs, buckets, towels, weird hats - I don’t know what half of it’s for but it looks cool, come and have a look!” He dropped the ball and pulled one of Burly’s paws leading him towards a mound of strange objects.
Burly’s full name was Burlington Bear and he was probably the largest animal in the Great Forest. His dark brown fur gleamed with health and his eyes sparkled with intelligence. Even though he had the wisest head and the safest paws in the forest Burly was very inquisitive, and since he’d met Grum he’d managed to find himself in some unusual situations.
Before I go any further I think I should also tell you a little more about Grum. Grum is a groblin and, apart from being pea green in colour and having large tufty ears and red eyebrows, groblins have a different way of looking at the world. A good example of this is their taste in food - they love fungus, grubs and insects but hate things like sandwiches, ice cream and cake.
Burly and Grum had met when Grum had been thrown out of groblin land by his two brothers, Gripe and Grimly, who told him he couldn’t return until he’d proved himself a worthy groblin. Burly had taken Grum under his paw and together they’d gone to a town to see if they could find a way to prove that Grum was brave. They’d been friends ever since.
“Good morning Burly,” said Mike brightly. “Did you sleep well?” As well as being Burly’s good friend, Mike was an angel who loved baking and at that moment was building a little camp fire so he could cook some pancakes for breakfast. Mike lived in the Great Forest but had arrived early at Burly’s cave because it was Burly’s birthday and he wanted to treat him to a special breakfast. Afterwards he was taking both Burly and Grum for a day at the beach because Burly had said he’d never been to the beach and wanted to see what it was like.
Burly sat down heavily, scratched one of his hindquarters sleepily and nodded. “Like a log it would seem - I didn’t hear you arrive, sorry Mike.”
“Oh don’t worry. I thought I’d let you sleep as it’s your birthday - I hope you’re looking forward to the beach. I brought along some bits and pieces but I’m afraid Grum got a bit excited and unpacked everything.”
“What’s this?” asked Grum holding up a bottle.
He unscrewed it and before they could stop him he’d squirted it in his mouth like cream.
“No!” shouted Mike. “That’s sun tan lotion!” It was too late, Grum had emptied the entire bottle.
“What?” said Grum smacking his lips.
“You’ll be sick!” said Mike.
“Tastes fine to me - bit like my mum’s fungus pudding, nothing wrong with it,” replied Grum. Groblins are very plain speaking.
Mike took the bottle from Grum’s hand. “No more Grum,” he said firmly. “It really isn’t good for you and it’s probably best that you ask what something is before you eat it.”
“Why?” asked Grum rubbing his stomach. “Us groblins can eat anything.”
“He has a point, he did eat those rubber washing-up gloves that time and nothing happened,” observed Burly.
“Talking of food, I’m starving,” said Grum. “Mum got me up ages ago so I wouldn’t be late getting here - how long is breakfast going to be?”
Burly sighed. “As long as it takes and mind your manners, Mike doesn’t have to come and cook us breakfast - why don’t you go and get the stock of berries from the back of the cave, they’ll go with the pancakes.”
Mike poured some pancake mixture into a frying pan, swirling it around the bottom, and set it down on the fire. “Maple syrup?” he asked.
Burly grinned. “Always,” he replied, “and something tells me that with Grum around I’m going to need a lot of it to keep me on my toes.”
“Oh don’t worry,” said Mike trying to sound convincing. “He’ll run about at the beach and get so tired he won’t get into any trouble and you can sit back and relax.”
“Can’t find the berries!” yelled a voice from somewhere in the cave.
“In the container at the back marked ‘berries’!” shouted back Burly. There was the sound of rummaging.
Mike quickly flipped the pancake. “You’ll be fine,” he said.
A sweet smell filled the air and Burly’s mouth watered. “We’ll see,” he commented. “Grum does seem to attract trouble.”
Mike laughed out loud and slid the pancake smoothly onto a plate. “I’ll drop you off, make sure you’re settled and then if anything should happen and you need me, just shout and I’ll come back. I’ll be back mid-afternoon anyway and I’ll bring Max - his mum said he could come along after school.” Max was Burly and Grum’s human friend who they’d met when they’d visited the town. He’d shown them around and tried (without success) to keep them out of trouble. “I also thought that Grum’s brothers and a few others could come along – maybe we could have a party as it’s your birthday?”
“It sounds like a lot of work for you Mike, are you sure?”
“It’ll be fun,” said Mike. “No trouble at all.”
“Found them!” With both hands Grum heaved and pushed a huge container out of the cave, scraping it along the ground until it stood next to Mike. He mopped his brow. “Why d’you need so many berries?” he asked.
“Hibernation,” said Burly standing on tip toe to peel the lid off. “A bear can never have too many berries.”
“Now Grum,” said Mike, “if you look in that basket there, there are some old mushrooms that are nice and leathery, some snails and, of course, your crispy fried earwigs with dip-in sauce - do you want me to warm anything up?”
“Nah, I’m fine,” said Grum who was already chomping on a snail, shell and all.
They had a wonderful breakfast, sitting outside Burly’s cave looking out over the Great Forest.
Burly and Mike ate as many pancakes as they could while Grum polished off the mushrooms and snails. They tidied up and then it was time to leave.
“I’ve chosen a nice quiet island,” said Mike. “It’s got lovely white beaches with soft sand and palm trees for shade. There’s a small forest inland if you feel like exploring but I think you’ll like the beach and won’t want to move.”
“The ice cream van?” asked Burly hopefully. Mike had promised there would be plenty of ice cream (he was particularly fond of cookie dough ice cream).
“Already there,” said Mike.
“Grum?” Burly looked around. Grum seemed to have disappeared. “Grum? Where are you? Are you ready to go?”
“I was born ready!” shouted Grum and he stepped out from the cave wearing a bright turquoise shirt decorated with pictures of lime green parrots.
Mike whipped his hand to his mouth, his eyes round as saucers, and Burly’s jaw dropped.
“What do you think?” asked Grum. “My great uncle Grindle gave it to me to wear on the beach - he used to live by the sea so he knows his stuff.” He turned around so they could see and admire the full effect.
Burly and Mike were suddenly very busy. “Did you pack the sun cream?” asked Mike. “What about the towels? And where’s that second basket?”
Grum looked down at his outfit. “What?” he asked. “I look cool.”
Burly narrowed his eyes - if he squinted the outfit wasn’t so bad. “It’s just a little... bright... yes, bright for so early in the morning.”
“It’s certainly eye catching,” said Mike diplomatically. “I’m sure it’ll be just right for the beach, talking of which, we should be on our way, are you ready?”
Burly and Grum nodded.
“Then put your hands and paws out.” They stood in a circle. Burly held out one of his front paws, which was then covered by one of Grum’s large green hands. Mike laid both his hands on top of the pile, closed his eyes and concentrated. Angels don’t use magic, they use the natural energy that comes from the earth. All around them the bright morning light grew pale and washed out, and the cave and surrounding area faded away. The land seemed to shimmer, ripple for a moment and in the next instant they were blasted by hot, tropical sun and from far above came the loud cry of seagulls.
Burly opened his eyes and looked around. “Oh my goodness,” he said. “Oh my goodness.”
Burly had never seen the sea, let alone a clear, turquoise sea that sparkled and glittered and seemed to go on forever until it met the blue sky above. He was in a beautiful little cove. White sand stretched out either side of him, soft and warm beneath his paws, while behind him tall palm trees with huge emerald green leaves swayed gently. He sat down so he could take it all in and huge clouds of sand billowed up and around him.
“Mike,” he finally said, “it’s so lovely....”
Mike looked pleased with himself. “It is nice isn’t it?” he said.
“The light’s really bright here isn’t it?” Grum commented screwing up his eyes as he peered around.
“Not as bright as your shirt,” commented Burly.
“Ah,” said Mike, searching in one of the bags that had come with them. “I thought you may need something to help with the light - here.” He handed Burly and Grum a pair of sunglasses each.
Burly took them politely and examined them carefully unsure what to do. Grum’s sunglasses were immediately en route for his mouth but Mike snatched them from him just in time. “They’re not to eat Grum,” he said sternly. “Look, this is what you do.” He put them on. “See, they cut out the glare of the sun. Now you try - hook them over your ears, they should fit.”
Grum put them on and looked about. “Wow, they’re cool - things look really different.”
He took them off and squinted dramatically. “Bright!”
He put the glasses on and smiled widely. “Not bright.”
He took them off and squinted dramatically. “Bright!”
“Okay,” said Burly, “we get the point.” Burly’s glasses rested neatly on the bridge of his snout and he looked very cool.
“Right!” said Mike. “Listen up you two - I’ll leave you to unpack, you should have everything you need. Burly, the ice cream van is parked behind that large tree over there - just go and help yourself to whatever you want. I’ve put all the food and drink in there because the van is refrigerated and the food will stay fresh but you have to make sure the door is closed. Now, neither of you are used to such hot weather so I suggest you make camp in the shade of the palm trees. Grum, you put sun lotion on your skin to stop you burning up - you do not eat it. Burly you’ve got a heavy fur coat so it’s probably best you stay in the shade. If either of you have any problems - anything at all, shout for me and I’ll come back.”
Burly nodded thoughtfully but Grum barely took in what Mike was saying he was so excited. “Bye Mike, now come on Burly, let’s take the stuff out of the bags!”
Burly raised his eyebrows. “Just wait a moment. Mike thank you, this is a wonderful birthday present, it’s so calm and peaceful here and I’m sure we’ll have a good time.”
Mike smiled, waved his hand, shimmered and then vanished.
“C’mon,” Grum tugged at Burly’s fur.
Burly lifted his snout, breathed in the warm sea air and smiled contentedly, he was feeling chilled already. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s make ourselves a camp by the truck.” Grum ran excitedly ahead with Burly following more sedately behind, both of them feeling that they were going to have a great day ahead of them.
On one side of the little cove was a headland covered with shrubs and palm trees which reached out like a finger into the sea. On the other side of the headland was another, slightly larger, cove. The top part of the beach had the same fine white sand but along the shore line itself there were definitely more pebbles and shingle that made walking uncomfortable.
A groblin by the name of Gruel was pulling a rowing boat over the pebbles onto the beach. He was much larger than most of his kind, with shoulders that were as broad as he was tall and arms that were thick and knotted with muscles. His green face was weathered and cruel, marked by scars and one of his ears had been lost in a fight, giving him a lopsided look. Despite his great strength he was finding it hard to pull the rowing boat over the shingle onto the sand and this made him angry.
“Darn it!” he kicked the side of the boat and then rested for a moment. “Not so young as I used to be for sure,” he muttered to himself. He shook an angry fist at the boat before making one final effort and hauling it far enough up the beach so the tide would not pull it back into the sea. He wiped his brow and jumped in, pulling back a dirty sack to reveal a large wooden box, which he lifted up and held close to his chest.
Inside the box was a fortune in gold coins. Gruel had stolen the gold coins not once, but twice. The first time he and his gang, The Toolkit Gang, had stolen them from a bank. The Toolkits had four members - Gruel, who was the leader and the only groblin, Anvil, big, solid, nasty Anvil, who could smash down any door; Crowbar, a thin, sneaky and greasy man who could break into anything and, last but not least, Nails. Nails was thin with a mass of dyed blond hair that she held in place with several cans of hairspray each day. Her cold blue eyes were sharp with intelligence and cunning and as hard as her glossy nail varnish. No one ever crossed Nails.
The Toolkits had planned the robbery for months and each member of the gang had trained hard and knew what they had to do to make sure nothing went wrong. They had broken into the bank at the dead of night and stolen the gold coins without any problem at all. Once they were sure they hadn’t been followed they went back to their base, whooped and yelled with excitement and had a big party to celebrate.
It was while they were sleeping after the party that Gruel stole the gold coins for the second time. He wanted the gold all to himself and had been planning this all along. He disappeared into the night and went on the run.
Both the police and The Toolkit Gang were now trying to find him. In many ways he was more worried about The Toolkits finding him, he’d double crossed them and they were a mean and nasty bunch, and he’d almost forgotten about the police until a few days ago when a large detective caught up with him. He had managed to escape by the skin of his teeth but the incident both surprised and frightened him, up until then he thought he’d covered his tracks so well that no one could find him. He decided it was best to hide the gold and then to lie low for a few months, which was why he was on the island - he was going to hide the gold the old fashioned way - by burying it.
Gruel was now very nervous and he looked up and around furtively. All was quiet, only the gentle swoosh of the waves crashing on the beach broke the silence. He clambered out of the boat taking the box with him and made his way up the beach, disappearing into the line of trees.
On the headland that separated the coves, two people stood together watching his movements, a tall man with broad shoulders and a young girl. Despite the tropical heat the man wore a long, black leather coat and leather boots. He watched Gruel’s movements carefully through high powered binoculars.
The girl was small and slight with clouds of soft black hair, and wore pink shorts and a t-shirt. She had sparkling brown eyes and a determined nature. “Has he got the gold dad?” she asked, reaching up to grab the binoculars.
“Oh yes, he’s got it all right,” he replied. “We’d better get going Tara, or he’ll hide it and then we’ll never find it. Come on!” He tucked the binoculars into an inside pocket of his coat and walked purposefully down the hill in the direction of Gruel the groblin with Tara just a hop and a step behind him.
CHAPTER 2
Rummaging amongst the pile of goodies Mike had brought along, Burly found a hammock and hung it up between two palm trees. The trees bowed slightly under his weight as he clambered in but then they stood firm and now he was swinging gently and licking a double vanilla ice cream with a chocolate flake and fudge sauce on top, feeling very at peace with the world.
Grum had donned a wide brimmed straw hat and was striding along the beach swinging a bucket and spade. Everything was new and exciting and although he wasn’t sure where to start or what to do he was determined not to miss anything. He turned and waved to Burly. Burly raised a paw in acknowledgement. He’d join Grum later, when he’d finished his ice cream and had a little nap.