Nanny Piggins and the Rival Ringmaster Read Online Free PDF Page A

when they returned home after dropping Hans at his flat over the bakery.
    ‘Buy Hans a nice card and perhaps some flowers,’ suggested Samantha.
    ‘Yes, of course we’ll do that,’ said Nanny Piggins. ‘But I meant what are we going to do for cake – I’m starving!’
    ‘You could make a cake yourself,’ said Derrick.
    ‘No, no, no, that will not do,’ said Nanny Piggins. ‘I need cake now! If I tried to make cake myself I would just be overcome with hunger and eat all the mixture before I put it in the oven.’
    ‘We could drive into town and find another cake shop,’ suggested Samantha.
    ‘No,’ sighed Nanny Piggins. ‘Their cakes wouldn’t be as good as Hans’. It would only remind me of how much I miss him.’
    ‘He’s only been out of action for an hour and a half,’ said Michael.
    Nanny Piggins began to sob. ‘Has it been that long already? What am I going to do? Will I ever eat cake again?!’
    ‘I know!’ said Derrick. ‘Let’s drive over to the cake factory in Slimbridge.’
    ‘But it’s closed on Saturdays,’ said Nanny Piggins.
    ‘We could break in,’ suggested Michael.
    ‘No, they’ve installed new heat-sensing technology and retina eye scanners on all the doors, ever since the last time I let myself in for a little snack,’ sighed Nanny Piggins.
    ‘But if we’re never going to eat cake again,’ said Boris, his lower lip beginning to tremble, ‘what are we going to do on my birthday?!’ He burst into loud wailing sobs and collapsed on Samantha’s shoulder (causing her to collapse and pinning her to the floor).
    ‘There must be somewhere we can go wherethere’s cake,’ said Michael.
    Nanny Piggins instantly snapped out of her depression and leapt up from the table, ‘You’re a genius!!!’ she exclaimed.
    ‘I am?’ asked Michael.
    ‘Oh yes,’ said Nanny Piggins, a big smile on her face. ‘Where is the very finest cake always served on a Saturday afternoon?’
    The children looked at each other in confusion. They had no idea. And Boris was still weeping too hard to contribute to the conversation.
    ‘At weddings!’ declared Nanny Piggins. ‘People are always getting married on Saturdays and where there is a wedding there has to be a cake! Usually a great big delicious cake with lots of marzipan icing and sugar decorations!’
    ‘But we haven’t been invited to any weddings,’ said Samantha.
    Nanny Piggins looked down at her (Samantha was still pinned to the floor) and smiled fondly. ‘The only reason we haven’t been invited to any weddings is because the brides and grooms have never had the opportunity to meet us. I’m sure if they had we would have been the first people on their list. We’re a lot more fun than a bunch of boring old aunts and cousins.’
    ‘But isn’t wedding crashing wrong?’ said Derrick.
    ‘It’s only wrong if you just eat the cake and leave,’ said Nanny Piggins. ‘I’m fully prepared to dance with everyone and tell them some of my very best stories. Trust me, by the time we leave they will be pressing extra cake into our pockets.’

    And so Nanny Piggins, Boris and the children got into Mr Green’s car. (They had to throw Mr Green out to do so, because it was Saturday so naturally Mr Green was trying to drive to work. But Nanny Piggins told Mr Green he had to walk because his doctor had rung up saying ‘his legs would wither away if he didn’t use them at least once a fortnight’.) Then they got Boris to stop crying long enough to get into the car, by reminding him that his birthday was eleven months away and chances were that Hans’ stress fracture would be healed by then.
    After the initial excitement of heading off to eat cake at a wedding, it soon occurred to them that they had no idea when or where any weddings were occurring.
    ‘Couldn’t you use your extraordinary sense of smell to find one?’ asked Samantha.
    Nanny Piggins leaned out the window and sniffed the air. ‘You would think so, but unfortunately the