The Fifteenth Character by Rosemary Border

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CHAPTER ONE
Jobs for Today
Every day lots of different people come to Happy Hills
because there are lots of exciting things to do.
Sally Brown works at Happy Hills in her holiday. She
is a student and she wants to be a teacher.
'I need the money,' she tells her family, 'and it's an
interesting job.' But she is always very tired in the evening.
The workers at Happy Hills arrive early in the morning.
They all wear clean green trousers and yellow shirts. They
must smile a lot and be nice to all the visitors.
Every morning Mr Parry puts a list of Jobs for Today in
the workers' canteen. Mr Parry wears different clothes. His
shirt is green and his trousers are white, and he wears a red
coat with I'm Ken Parry. Can I help you? on his pocket. The
visitors call him Ken, but all the workers call him Mr Parry.
Today Sally arrives at Happy Hills at eight o'clock. On
her shirt there is a picture of a smiling face and Have a
Happy Day in black and red writing. She goes to the canteen
and looks for Mr Parry's list.
'What job am I doing today?' Sally thinks. 'Am I
making tea, or helping in the children's play house?'
But Sally is wrong. The list says, 'Sally Brown - Connie
Cat. Break: eleven o'clock.'
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'Oh no!' thinks Sally. Nobody likes wearing the

costumes. But at Happy Hills the characters are very
important. The visitors like to take photos of their children
with Cowboy Joe, Charlie Clown, Baby Blue Eyes, Photo
Phil, Big John, Connie Cat, Big Apple, Miss Flower, Edward
Elephant and all their friends.
Everybody always asks the same questions, 'Are you
very hot in your costume?' and 'How do you eat and drink?'
Edward Elephant has the best job. He has a bag of
water under his costume. He can spray the visitors with
water. And Photo Phil and Charlie Clown make everybody
laugh. But Connie Cat cannot do that. She can only say
miaow to the children all day.
Sally looks for her costume. A tall man in a cowboy
costume is standing beside her.
'Hullo, Sally,' says the cowboy. 'It's me - William.'
William is a student too. He is Sally's friend. 'Which costume
are you looking for?'
'Connie Cat. When's your break?'
'Eleven o'clock.'
'Me too.'
CHAPTER TWO
Here Comes Zapp!
It is nine o'clock. The doors open, but there are not
many visitors today. They all have invitations and they show
them to Mr Parry. A very famous man is coming to Happy
Hills, so Mr Parry is very excited.
'Zapp's coming today. He's opening the new Zapp-o-
copter,' says William to Sally.
'Stop talking and do some work!' says Mr Parry.
Zapp is a singer. Sally loves listening to his songs and
she has all his CDs. There is a picture of him in her room
too.
The Zapp-o-copter is very exciting. People can sit in
little helicopters and go up and down very fast. The visitors
stand behind a blue rope and wait for Zapp.
'Please stay behind the rope,' says Mr Parry.
Suddenly there is a noise in the sky. Everybody looks
up. 'It's Zapp's helicopter!' says William.The helicopter
comes down and Zapp gets out. He smiles at the visitors.
'Oh - he's wonderful!' says a young girl. She gives Zapp
a flower. He gives her a big smile and says, 'Thank you'.
Sally is hot and thirsty in her costume. She wants to
talk too, but Mr Parry is watching.
CHAPTER THREE
Zapp's New Song
Mr Parry takes the singer to the Zapp-o-copter. Zapp
cuts the rope.
'Thank you, Zapp. Now please can you sing for us?'
says Mr Parry.
'OK! But the people must help me!' he says. He begins
to sing. Everybody knows the song and sings it with him.
'Thank you,' says Zapp. You're all wonderful singers.
Now look at this.' He takes a CD out of his pocket. 'This is
my new song,' he says.
'Please sing it for us!' say the TV men. But Zapp
smiles. 'No, no - you must come to my big concert next
Saturday.' He puts the CD in his pocket again.
'Now let's go on the Zapp-o-copter!' says Zapp. He sees
a teacher with some children. 'Would they like to come too?'
he asks her. 'Of course,' says the teacher. They help the
children into the helicopters.
Zapp smiles and smiles. The photographers take lots of
pictures. Photo Phil arrives too. He is one of the Happy Hills
characters. He takes a photo of the children - and sprays
them with water! Everybody laughs.
Zapp is having a wonderful day. He speaks to the TV
people. The photographers take photos of him with all the
characters. Zapp meets Charlie Clown. Charlie gives him a
flower - and the flower sprays him with water. Everybody

laughs.
Sally meets Zapp too, and she is very excited. But she
cannot talk to him because she is wearing her cat costume
and Mr Parry is watching.
CHAPTER FOUR
Where's Zapp's Cd?
'Come on, it's eleven o'clock,' says William. 'Let's go to
the canteen for our break. We've got ten minutes.'
They sit down in the canteen and take off their heads.
Sally is thirsty. Her face is hot and red. William is hot and
thirsty too. They have a long drink of cold water. 'That's
good!' William says. Then he looks at his watch. 'Ten past
eleven,' he says. 'Come on, Sally. Back to work!'
They finish their drinks and put their heads on again.
Suddenly a lot of people come into the canteen.
'What's the matter?' says William.
'Zapp's CD!' says Mr Parry. 'He can't find it!'
Everybody is unhappy, but Zapp is angry too.
'That CD's important, Parry,' he says. 'You must find it.'
'I'm doing my best, Zapp,' says Mr Parry. 'Don't hit me,
please - I'm doing my best!'
A lot of things happen very quickly. The visitors want
to go home, but suddenly Mr Parry closes all the doors.
'Nobody can leave,' he says. 'I'm sorry, but Zapp's CD's
very important and we must find it.'
Mr Parry makes a telephone call. Very soon four police
arrive in a big white police car. They ask a lot of questions.
The police look everywhere for the CD. They read Mr

Parry's list of visitors. They count the visitors carefully and
look in all their pockets and bags.
There is a lot of noise. People are angry and tired. They
want to go home now. And Zapp is speaking very quietly
into a little black telephone. Photo Phil goes to him and says,
'Smile, please!'
'Go away!' says Zapp angrily.
Now the police want to talk to the workers. One stays
with the visitors and three police speak to the workers in the
canteen. Zapp comes with the police.
'You must find that CD!' says Zapp.
'We're doing our best, Zapp,' say the police.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Fifteenth Character
Sally waits quietly with the other workers. She looks at
Mr Parry's Jobs for Today list and counts the names.
There are twenty-nine names on the list today. Fifteen
people are helpers. They wear green trousers and yellow
shirts and help the visitors. Fourteen people are characters
and wear costumes.
'Wait a minute,' thinks Sally. 'There are fourteen
characters on the list. But there are fifteen characters here!'
She reads the list again, very, very carefully. 'Edward
Elephant - yes, he's here. Connie Cat - that's me. Cowboy Joe
- that's William. Photo Phil - yes, he's here. Big Apple - yes.
Sir Laugh-a-Lot and Lady Love-a-Little... Wait a minute,
Charlie Clown isn't on the list - but Charlie's here in this
room!'
'Excuse me, Mr Parry,' says Sally. 'There are fourteen
characters on your list, but there are fifteen in the room now.
Charlie Clown isn't on the list, but he's here.'
Mr Parry reads the list and counts the characters.
'You're right, Sally,' he says.
'Take off your heads!' Mr Parry says to the characters.
They take off their heads.
Charlie Clown is a woman.
'Why are you wearing that costume?' asks Mr Parry.
The woman begins to run away, but William stops her.

The police take off her costume - and find a big pocket.
In it they find Zapp's CD. The singer smiles again.
It is Saturday night. Sally and William are in London
because they are going to Zapp's concert. There are lots of
excited people and TV photographers outside the hall.
Everybody wants to hear Zapp's new song.
'Where are your tickets?' says the man at the door to
Sally.
'We haven't got any tickets,' says Sally. The man begins
to look angry. Sally smiles and takes something out of her
pocket. 'Is this invitation OK? It's from Zapp.'
- THE END -
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The Fifteenth Character by Rosemary Border

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The Fifteenth Character by Rosemary Border

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'Oh no!' thinks Sally. Nobody likes wearing the

flower - and the flower sprays him with water. Everybody

The police look everywhere for the CD. They read Mr

The woman begins to run away, but William stops her.

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