Extraordinary Ernie & Marvellous Maud Read online

  ‘There were these three bullies …’ Maud began.

  ‘Pascal’s Rascals,’ panted Ernie. ‘They pushed me over, and then they were throwing Emma’s book around!’

  ‘But Ernie gave one of them a big shove,’ said Maud, heaving her body to one side in demonstration.

  ‘Maud stared one down like a ferocious bull,’ Ernie broke in, ‘then charged him …’

  ‘And the dog, Ernie, don’t forget the enormous, vicious dog that had me cornered!’ Maud reminded him.

  ‘Just a minute, just a minute,’ said Super Whiz, holding up both hands to silence them. ‘Slow down and start at the beginning.’

  ‘Yes, it sounds like quite a story,’ said Valiant Vera.

  ‘Be quiet, you two,’ said Amazing Desmond. ‘Let them speak.’

  Even Housecat Woman sat up to listen as Ernie and Maud related the day’s adventures.

  The superheroes were full of admiration, and Ernie and Maud found that their storytelling was punctuated with praise.

  ‘A shopping trolleys, eh? Good thinking, Ernie!’ said Super Whiz heartily. ‘That’s brains for you.’

  ‘Charged him like a bull, did you, Maud?’ said Valiant Vera. ‘You see, it certainly pays to be daring and fleet of foot.’

  At the end of their recital, Amazing Desmond beamed proudly. ‘What did I tell you?’ he said. ‘I knew these two had what it takes as soon as I set eyes on them!’

  ‘This calls for a celebration,’ Valiant Vera announced. Bustling over to the kitchen area at the far side of the room, she pulled a bottle of lemonade from the fridge. She shared it out evenly between six old, chipped coffee mugs and Desmond passed them around.

  ‘To Extraordinary Ernie and Marvellous Maud,’ said Amazing Desmond, holding his cup aloft.

  ‘Hear, hear!’ the other three cried as Ernie and Maud tried to look humble.

  ‘A speech might be in order, I think,’ said Super Whiz, clearing his throat.

  ‘If you must,’ said Desmond. ‘But please make it a short one, Whiz.’

  Super Whiz shot him an icy glare.

  ‘Ahem. Rarely has such courage …’

  The speech promised to be a little longer than Desmond was hoping for.

  ‘… and it goes to show that teamwork, as these two fine youngsters have demonstrated …’

  But Ernie didn’t mind. No one had ever made a speech about him before.

  ‘… facing challenges head on, overcoming obstacles …’

  He let the sun’s rays wash over him. Next to him, he could see Maud smiling softly as the golden light glowed on her fleecy curls.

  ‘… So I am pleased to say with confidence that the future of the Baxter Branch of the Superheroes Society is assured!’

  Ernie turned to Maud. ‘Being a superhero is marvellous,’ he whispered.

  ‘It’s extraordinary,’ she replied.

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to thank Brilliant Belinda Bolliger and Magnificent Jeanmarie Morosin of the Superheroes Society (ABC Branch), Wonderful Judy Watson and Extraordinary David Francis—all of whom would be right at home in Baxter.

  FW

  About the Author

  Fearless Frances Watts is the author of Kisses for Daddy and Parsley Rabbit’s Book about Books. She also works as an editor, and as the servant of a lazy cat. Frances likes travelling, cheese and ducks, and dislikes ferocious dogs and having cold feet. Although her natural superpower has not yet emerged, she did once rescue a horse from a fire.

  About the Illustrator

  Jittery Judy Watson has been a chicken all her life. She has illustrated several books for children, some of them quite terrifying. Her most frightening project so far was drawing the fearsome tiger for the Aussie Nibble Tim & Tig. Drawing the pictures for Extraordinary Ernie & Marvellous Maud sometimes caused her hand to tremble. This may explain many of the wobbles in her illustrations.

  By the way, she is very impressed that Fearless Frances has rescued a horse.

  Copyright

  The ABC ‘Wave’ device is a trademark of the

  Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is used

  under licence by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia

  First published in Australia in 2008

  This edition published in 2011

  by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited

  Copyright © Frances Watts 2008

  Copyright illustrations © Judy Watson 2008

  The right of Frances Watts to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  HarperCollinsPublishers

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  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

  Watts, Frances.

  Extraordinary Ernie & Marvellous Maud /

  author, Frances Watts; illustrator, Judy Watson.

  1st ed.

  Sydney: ABC Books for the Australian

  Broadcasting Corporation, 2008.

  ISBN: 978-0-7333-2192-4 (pbk.)

  ISBN: 978-0-7304-9571-0 (ePub)

  Series: Watts, Frances. Extraordinary Ernie &

  Marvellous Maud; 1. Other Authors/Contributors:

  Watson, Judy. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

  A823.4