33 We Have Lift Off

Chapter 33 We Have Lift Off As they began to fall, Peanut, Rockwell and Little- Bit pressed their buttons simultaneously, and immediately the rockets at the base of their backpacks roared into action. Hot, powerful bursts of yellow and orange pastel dust shot vertically downwards from the jets, slowing the three children's descent and filling their bodies with a strange feeling of weightlessness. 'YEEEEEE-HAAAAWWWWW!' cried Little-Bit as she hovered in mid-air. 'JET-PACKS! THESE ARE THE BEST DRAWINGS YOU'VE EVER DONE, PEANUT!' 'MY TUMMY FEELS FUNNY,' said a rather green- looking Rockwell. Peanut looked back up at the ledge they'd been standing

on only a moment before. They were, by now, a good ten metres below Mr White and Alan, who were both looking down in astonishment from the top of the building. 'OK! JUST TIP YOURSELF FORWARDS TO GO DOWN, LEAN LEFT TO TURN LEFT, AND RIGHT TO TURN RIGHT,' shouted Peanut as she began to descend in a smooth, zigzag pattern through the sky 'FOLLOW ME!' Little-Bit did as she was told, and slotted nicely into Peanut's slipstream, following her every turn like a duckling trailing her mother. Meanwhile, Rockwell, who had now added a somewhat startled expression to his green-tinged face, tipped too far forwards and did a full somersault, before shooting straight up at about seventy miles an hour and disappearing into a cloud. ' ER, PEANUT!' shouted Little-Bit looking heavenward. 'I DON'T THINK ROCKY'S GOT THE HANG OF THIS.' A few seconds later, a loud cry of 'WHOA!'

preceded Rockwell's re-entry. He came flying out of the cloud, thrashing around like he was riding a bucking bronco at the funfair. Following a series of inelegant, jerky movements, he managed to gain a semblance of control over his jet-pack and fall into line behind the other two. They continued their long descent without further incident until they were about fifteen metres above the sidewalk, at which point all three pencil-drawn jet-packs slowly started to disintegrate. First, the rockets themselves began spluttering, then the shoulder straps started to crumble. 'I think it's because we had to press the buttons at the top, said Peanut. 'Only a slight touch, but it started the process. Hang in there, guys. We're nearly down now. By the time they were a couple of metres from the ground, the straps had disappeared entirely, closely followed by the rest of the packs. Fortunately, their forward momentum meant that they could safely jump the last metre, and make a reasonably dignified, if speedy, running landing. 'Thank the Maker!' said Rockwell, as he knelt down and kissed the concrete. 'Never have I been so glad to be on the ground. Although,' he added, grabbing his shoeless foot, 'I think I've taken some skin off! Ouch!' 'Give me a second,' said Peanut, pulling Little Tail from her bandolier, 'and I'll draw you another shoe.' As Peanut sketched, Little-Bit and Rockwell took a

moment to take in their surroundings. They were standing on a wide pavement next to a busy road, in front of the very grand entrance to the huge building they'd just visited. Despite being enveloped by a large plume of steam coming from a manhole cover in front of them, Little-Bit could just about make out the words embossed in gold on the art deco facade twenty metres above their heads. 'Peanut,' said Little-Bit. 'I think we've just jumped from the top of the Empire State Building.'