Cherry Meets the Wild Thornberrys

chapter 12

Meanwhile...

That night at the Thornberry camp, Debbie was trying to put Donnie, Akito, and Vincent to sleep by telling them a bedtime story.

"So, this cute dude named Jack plants these magic beans, cuz he's like, you know, hungry," Debbie narrated. "Then a mondo beanstalk grows overnight way up into the clouds!"

"Cool." Akito said.

Donnie jumped up and down with a giggle.

"Bush babies, how annoying..." Debbie scoffed, then pulled her hair up into a ponytail after she finished brushing it. "So, Jack, who's totally buff by the way, climbs up the beanstalk and finds a golden goose, a golden harp--"

"I thought the goose laid golden eggs?" Vincent interrupted.

"Who's telling the story here?" Debbie glared to him before continuing. "And a big, scary..."

There was suddenly a loud thud that shook the whole Comvee.

"Giant?" Akito said, confused.

Donnie ran around and started to climb out of the Comvee. Debbie was very scared and worried for her adoptive younger brother and started to try to look for him before he would get himself hurt. Mo, Akito, and Vincent all then joined her to find Donnie.

"What's going on in there!?" Cherry's voice snapped as a flashlight shined through the Comvee window.

"Uh, nothing, go back to sleep, Mrs. Forte!" Debbie chuckled nervously.

Cherry hummed sharply, then turned out the light.

"Let's find your little brother and quick." Akito whispered.

"Where could he be?" Vincent sounded concerned.

Debbie crawled through first, gently calling for her brother's name. However, Donnie surprised them all, wearing a pasta drainer on his head, wielding a ladle and a pot top, looking like a kitchenware warrior and even did a battle cry. He rushed out the door, going to protect the others.

"Donnie, would you get back in here already?" Akito asked.

A giant bag was dropped down in the middle of the ground, halting them.

"Radcliffe!" Cordelia called to her husband as she was parachuting down. "You never told me how to land!"

"Grandmumsy?" Debbie asked in surprise.

"It's all in the knees, Cordie!" Colonel Thornberry called to his wife.

"Colonel?" Debbie asked, confused.

"You have weird names for your grandparents." Akito whispered.

"You and your friends are looking well, Deborah..." Colonel chuckled as he accidentally crashed into a tree, dangling high above them now before letting himself down and approaching his eldest grandchild. "Do we have a kiss for Grandpapa?"

"Um, where did Cordelia land?" Mo asked.

"There she is." Vincent pointed.

Cordelia ended up in the ground, having trouble with her parachute. "I knew I shouldn't have brought the good china..."

"So, um, Colonel, Cordelia, what brings you both here?" Mo asked the elderly couple with a polite smile for them.

"Yeah, why are you two here?" Vincent asked.

Cordelia went inside the Comvee and put tea on the kettle, pouring cups. "Dreadful news," she informed all of them. "Your sisters and niece have run away from Lady Beatrice's," she informed strictly.

"Under cover of night with Darwin and that little devil, Simon." Colonel added.

"Excuse me?" Debbie glanced at her grandfather in confusion. "Did you say that monkey and the bratty half-pint got to go to London?"

'Debbie, Mo, are you and the others there?' Marianne asked from the radio. 'Over.'

Debbie excitedly rushed over. "Mom, guess who's here?" she asked, very giddy and excited.

Cordelia took away the calling system. "There's no need to alarm your parents," she told her granddaughter.

"What Deb's grandmama means is, there's no need to have Marianne blame her a minute earlier than necessary..." Colonel whispered to Akito, Vincent, and Mo with a chuckle. He then took a spoon off Donnie's 'helmet' and used it to stir his tea.

"So, why else are you two here?" Akito whispered.

"Eliza, Estelle, and Felicity were last seen boarding a train, heading to Congo," Cordelia informed. "We'll take them back to London the minute they arrive."

'Debbie, who's there?' Marianne asked.

"Uh... Some really cute bush babies..." Debbie lied because her grandmother told her to.

'Debbie, did I just hear you call a wild animal cute?' Marianne sounded concerned.

'That's called sarcasm, dearest.' Nigel said before chuckling.

'Oh, sure, now he gets the word sarcasm.' Vincent thought to himself while groaning.

Debbie groaned about her nuisance of a father.