Andy Stanton

Mr. Gum and the Goblins


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       For Tom Ralis and his class at Cherry Orchard Primary

      Mr Gum and the Goblins First published 2007 by Egmont UK Limited This edition published 2019 by Egmont UK Limited, The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road London W11 4AN

      Text copyright © 2007 Andy Stanton

       Illustration copyright © 2007 David Tazzyman

      The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted

      First e-book edition 2019

      ISBN 978 1 4052 9371 6

       Ebook ISBN 978 1 4052 5929 3

      mrgum.co.uk www.egmont.co.uk

      A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

      Egmont takes its responsibility to the planet and its inhabitants very seriously. We aim to use papers from well-managed forests run by responsible suppliers.

       Read all of Andy Stanton’s books!

       You’re a Bad Man, MR GUM!

       MR GUM and the Biscuit Billionaire

       MR GUM and the Goblins

       MR GUM and the Power Crystals

       MR GUM and the Dancing Bear

       What’s for Dinner, MR GUM?

       MR GUM and the Cherry Tree

       MR GUM and the Secret Hideout

       Meet some of the townsfolk of Lamonic Bibber

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       Contents

       Title page

       Copyright page

       Dedication

       1 In the Dead Of Winter

       2 Talk of the Devil

       3 In the Court of the Goblin King

       4 You’re A Bad Man, Mr Launderette!

       5 The Meeting at the Stone Table

       6 The Great Gifts

       7 The Three Impossible Challenges

       8 Night on Goblin Mountain

       9 Polly and Friday in the Cave

       10 The Tunnel Song

       11 Heroes in the Snow

       12 The Fruit Chew of Babylon

       13 The Truth About It All

       About the Author

       Also By

       Praise

       Chapter 1

       In The Dead Of Winter

      IT was the Dead Of Winter and the little town of Lamonic Bibber lay under a blanket of snow and ice. Everywhere you looked, there was snow and ice. On the trees – snow and ice. On the ground – snow and ice. Inside the Museum of Snow and Ice – snow and ice. It was the coldest winter anyone could remember.

      Inside the inns and taverns the men folk sat around blazing log fires, drinking their ale and telling stories of never-to-be-forgotten heroes like Whatsisname and That Tall Man In The Shirt Who Killed All Those Dragons. In the houses, mothers put their young ones to bed, soothing them with gentle lullabies about fierce lions and crocodiles. In a little cottage by the meadow, a hobbit sat reading The Lord of the Rings and microwaving his feet to keep warm. ’Twas the Dead Of Winter, all right.

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      The streets of Lamonic Bibber were quiet at that late hour but presently there came the sound of footsteps as three shadowy figures turned into the high street. And now I will tell you who they were, for I have seen them before – and perhaps you know them too.

      The leader was Friday O’Leary, a wise old man who knew the secrets of Time and Space. He carried a lantern which cast a ghostly yellow light on the icy cobblestones. Next came a nine-year-old girl called Polly. She too carried a lantern and it shone brave and true, just like her pure strong heart. And last of all came little Alan Taylor, the Headmaster of Saint Pterodactyl’s School For The Poor. He was a gingerbread man with electric muscles and he was only 15.24 centimetres tall. Alan Taylor was far too small to carry a lantern, but he had coated an acorn in glow-in-the-dark paint and that was