* * *
The moat did not stop filling up. More and more water poured in through the pipe. As it entered the moat, it turned into thick, gloopy, yellow custard.
“Watchit!” yelled the King.
The Wizard pretended not to hear. He stayed up in his tower, well away from the angry King – and the custard.
For soon the moat began to overflow. The custard crept up to the castle walls. Next it crept up to the castle windows. Then the castle began to flood with custard.
This custard did not pour in. It was too thick. It oozed under doors, and flopped through windows in big yellow dollops. The castle was full of the sound of custard plopping and flopping. The floors were covered in a gloopy, blobby custard carpet.
“This is disgusting!” said the King. He was wearing his gumboots, which were full of custard.
He shouted at the servants. “Bella? Sweep up all this custard!”
Bella tried. But the custard stuck to her broom.
“Jack?” cried the King. “Shovel up this custard!”
Jack tried. Shovelling custard was easier than sweeping it. Jack shovelled up a whole wheelbarrow-full of custard.
“Now what shall I do with it?” he asked. “Shall I tip it back in the moat?”
“No!” howled the King. “Take it across the bridge and dump it on the other side.”
So Jack began to push the heavy barrow full of custard on to the bridge.
All at once, the planks cracked. Then they broke in half and fell into the custard moat. They drifted away slowly on the yellow tide.
Jack jumped back onto shore. “Now what?”
“You can use my boat!” cried Princess Fifi. “Hooray! My purple boat will save the day!”
The purple boat did not save the day. It did not like being full of custard. It did not like trying to float on custard.
It did not like it when Fifi rowed through custard. It turned itself upside down and tipped Fifi, Jack and the wheelbarrow into the custard moat.
“Help!” yelled Jack.
“Help!” yelled Fifi. “We can’t swim in custard!”
Bella ran for her broom, and held it out for Fifi to grab. Then she pulled.
With a loud SLURP, Fifi came out of the custard. With a loud BURP, Jack followed.
“Now what?” he asked. “We’re stuck in the castle with no bridge and no boat, and we’re surrounded by custard!”
Fifi licked her hands. “That’s tasty custard,” she said.
The King dipped his finger in to try it. “Very tasty,” he agreed. Then he smiled. “Why, that’s the answer! Easy peasy! All we need to do is eat the custard up.”
So everyone in the castle began to eat the custard.
They had custard for every meal. They ate custard with pasta and custard with potatoes and custard on toast. They ate fried custard and custard salad and custard stew.
Soon the other food ran out. All that was left to eat was custard. Everyone was getting very tired of it.
And no matter how much of it they ate, the moat made more and more.
And more.
* * *
All this time, Wizard Watchit stayed in his tower, where he had plenty of emergency pies.
Then the pies ran out.
“Bother!” said the Wizard. “There’s nothing left to eat.”
“Woo woo?” suggested the ghost.
“But I don’t like custard! I’ll have to go and find some proper food.”
The Wizard put his fork and spoon in his pocket and ran down from his tower. He waded nervously through the custard-filled corridors of the castle. He was worried about meeting the King.
But he saw nobody at all until he reached the kitchen.
He peered in. Everyone was sitting round the table with bowls of custard.
“More custard, anyone?” the Cook was asking. “Do you want some custard gravy on your custard?”
They all groaned and shook their heads.
The hungry Wizard crept away. He went outside to look at the moat. Water was still pouring in and turning into custard.
Wizard Watchit thought for a while.
“I know!” he said. “When someone comes along, I can shout across the moat and tell them to block the pipe.”
He looked for somebody to shout to, but there was nobody there.
The Wizard thought again. Perhaps he could make up another spell?
But he couldn’t think of anything that would rhyme with custard, apart from mustard; and he certainly did not want to fill the moat with mustard.
“Ear of spider, tail of pig, this custard moat is really big!” he muttered. His stomach was rumbling so much that he couldn’t think properly.
“Listen to my empty belly. What I need is cake and jelly!” moaned the Wizard.
Then his eyes widened. “Oops...” he said.
The custard moat began to gurgle. Clouds of steam rose from it. It fizzled and sizzled.
The King came running out. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, I just thought I’d try a little spell,” said Wizard Watchit casually.
Together they stared at the moat. Slowly the steam cleared.
Now they could see the banks, still piled high with custard. But the moat was full of something else.
Something bright pink and wobbly. On its shuddering surface sat a broken bridge and a boat made out of sponge cake.
“There you are!” said Wizard Watchit. “You now have the most marvellous moat in all the land.”
“But what is it, Watchit?” gasped the King. “What did you turn it into?”
The Wizard took his spoon out of his pocket. “Nothing much,” he said. “Well, just a trifle.”
The End
***
Thank you for reading The King of Custard Castle.
If you enjoyed it, why not look for The Ghost of Custard Castle?
In The Ghost of Custard Castle you will again meet the ghost, Wizard Watchit, Jack, Bella and the others – but this time they are joined by an angry headless knight, a long-lost skeleton living in a cupboard and a very creepy cousin called Count Scapula!
You can read more about The Ghost of Custard Castle on Emma Laybourn’s website, www.megamousebooks.com.
There are lots of other free children’s stories, ebooks and puzzle pages there too. Please take a look!
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