Treasure Trove (9781743583548) (3 page)

‘We did it! We did it, Buddy!' she cried.

It was much lighter on this side. Lamps were glowing brightly, and the walls around them were
sparkling
.

Buddy was staring around at everything in silence. Lola had to give him a shake.

‘What's the matter, Buddy?' she said.

‘Lola,' he said in wonder, ‘I've heard about this place. But I
never
thought I would see it for myself!'

He jumped down from the train and walked towards one of the sparkling walls. Lola followed.

When they were close enough to touch the wall, she gasped.

‘Are these what I think they are?' she asked.

Buddy nodded.

The wall was covered, from top to bottom and from side to side, with a million beautiful, sparkling
buttons
.

Lola knew that buttons were really important to the toys in the Kingdom. And not just for keeping their pants up!

‘Wow!' she said, admiring the walls. ‘Is this where all the Kingdom's buttons come from?'

Buddy's hat bounced up and down as he nodded.

‘We're in the Button Mines!' he cried.

Buttons were used for many different things in the Kingdom.

Some were lights. Some flashed when that toy was needed. And some buttons were very valuable indeed.

It was a real treasure trove!

If the Plastic Prince got hold of all these buttons,
thought Lola,
he would be a very rich toy.

Then she remembered the bear and boot prints from the battle in the tunnel.

The Plastic Prince was probably trying to
rob
the Button Mines
, she realised. But where was everyone now?

Lola looked down. There were more bear and boot prints here, all going the same way.
Something must have made them run away
, thought Lola.

She looked at the rocks on the ground, and put two and two together.

‘I think the Plastic Prince was robbing the Button Mines,' said Lola. ‘The miners probably tried to stop his army. But then the wall must have fallen in, and scared everyone off!'

Just then, Lola heard a humming noise, followed by a
click
. And then that same sound.

Knock, knock, knock!

Lola spun around. In the corner of the mine was a large, shiny plastic toy. It was painted to look like a soldier, and held a broken sword in one hand.

On the middle of its chest was the letter
N
, for Nevercalm.

It was an
Almost Toy!

Lola stood, frozen. She felt Buddy shuffle behind her. She was scared.

The humming noise started again. The Almost Toy lifted its broken sword up high. Lola and Buddy stepped back. Then there was a
click
, and the Almost Toy took a wobbly step towards them.

Lola and Buddy backed away again, but they had reached the wall.

They couldn't go any further. Lola could feel Buddy shaking.

She was just deciding what to do next when the Almost Toy's arm dropped, and the sword banged against its plastic leg.

Knock, knock, knock!

The Almost Toy started to hum again and lifted its arm. It stepped forwards. Then the arm dropped, and knocked on its leg three times.

Knock, knock, knock!

Oh!
It was just a weird pattern. Lola sighed with relief.

Of course, it wasn't what the toy was
supposed
to do. It was obviously broken.

The toy looked a little familiar to Lola. She stepped towards the toy, trying to remember where she'd seen it before.

‘By my buttons, be careful,' whispered Buddy.

But Lola wasn't worried. Close up, the toy wasn't scary at all.

Lola noticed that the toy wasn't even painted very well. It had smudges on its cheeks, and one ear was bigger than the other.

Hummmmm, click!

Knock, knock, knock!

‘You poor thing,' Lola said quietly. ‘You're broken.'

The toy's arm obviously needed fixing.

Lola couldn't do it there, though. All her craft things were at home.

If there
had
been a battle, and the other soldiers had left this one all by itself just because it was broken …

Well, that made Lola feel sad.

And
cross
.

Then she remembered where she had seen the toy before.

She turned to Buddy. ‘Come on, my soft little friend,' she said. ‘We need to go home. And we're taking this guy with us!'

‘I don't understand,' said Buddy. ‘Why are we taking it home?'

Lola carefully picked up the Almost Toy and started walking back to the train.

‘Because it needs rescuing,' she said simply.

‘But it was in the Button Mines, Lola!' Buddy cried. ‘It must have been here to steal buttons!'

‘It doesn't matter why he was in the mines,' said Lola firmly. ‘We can't just leave him here forever, can we?'

Buddy thought about this for a long time. Then, finally, he nodded.

‘I'm glad you agree, Buddy,' Lola said with a smile. ‘Shall we go home?'

Lola knew
exactly
what she was going to do with the Almost Toy when they got back.

She was just putting the broken toy onto the train when she heard a big …

SPLASH!

‘Oh, bother my buttons!'

Buddy was standing up to his knees in water, looking miserable.

‘Toys!' said Lola, rolling her eyes.

A few minutes later, Lola was sitting on a rock with Buddy on her knee.

‘Now, don't be scared,' she said, ‘but this might hurt a bit. I'm going to have to wring you out.'

‘Can't you just leave me to
dry
out?' Buddy said, worried.

‘No,' said Lola gently. ‘You'll stain, and start smelling funny. Come here. Be brave.'

She started by giving each leg a squeeze. A little water came out. But Buddy was still soaked through to his stuffing.

Lola had no choice. There was no easy way to do this!

She took one leg and twisted it between her hands.

The water poured out. And so did Buddy's cries.

‘By my
zipper
, I'll never walk again!' Buddy wailed. ‘You'll twist my
toggle
right off!'

Lola couldn't help but giggle.

‘You'll be fine, Buddy,' she said gently. ‘You'll be fine, and you'll be dry.'