Anna was excited, because today was the day her magazine arrived. It wasn’t one you could get in Horsmarlonerpool normally, in fact you could normally get it the whole country, because it came from far, far overseas.
It was a magazine about ancient temples, and the jewels and wall paintings that explorers would sometimes find in them. The magazine was made by the adventurers themselves, all the way down in the deep jungles and high mountains of Peru. It was called ‘Inca Invisibles’ and it was the most exciting magazine in the whole world.
On the second Tuesday of every month, it would arrive at Mr. Bibbins' shop especially for Anna, and she’s rush it home and read it under the covers. There were stories of huge snakes that guarded dark rooms, and scary statues that would turn bad people into jelly monsters.
So when Anna woke up this morning, she couldn’t eat her breakfast quick enough, and it was out the door, onto her bike, and up the street to Mr. Bibbins’ shop.
The bell rang, and Mr. Bibbin turned to see Anna rush in. But his face dropped.
“I’m sorry, Anna,” he said. “But it’s not arrived yet. It must be late.”
Anna’s heart sank. She’d been looking forward to Inca Invincibles for a WHOLE MONTH! But she couldn’t really be cross, it wasn’t Mr. Bibbin’s fault. And besides, Mr. Bibbin was a nice, kind man. No, she’d just have to wait.
“Although…” said Mr. Bibbin, thinking. “You could always go to the harbour. I’m sure the boat will have arrived, they’ll just not have got everything off it yet.”
Well Anna barely had time to thank Mr. Bibbin before she was out the shop, back on her bike, and peddling like madness out of Horsmarlonerpool and on the track that led to the harbour.
It took over twenty minutes of very fast cycling, but then she could see the big grey cranes, and the steam funnels on top of ships. The harbour was a big and wonderful place.
“Excuse me,” said Anna. “Which is the boat from Peru?”
The harbour master looked down at her.
“Are you a Captain?” he said, reaching for his glasses.
“Oh. No! Not yet,” said Anna. “I was looking for the boat from Peru because it has a parcel for me.”
“Oh! Exciting!” Said the harbour master. “Well, it’s the little red one. Pier 3.”
Anna walked past Pier 1 where there was a huge grey ship bigger than a school, having huge metal crates unloaded and put onto lorries.
She walked past Pier 2 where there were two big, blue ships, with wood being unloaded onto a waiting train.
And then, at Pier 3, she couldn’t see anything. Until she looked harder. There, was a very small, and very unhappy looking ship. Well, it was hardly a ship, just a little red boat.
“Excuse me,” said Anna. “But why are you crying?”
The little boat looked at her. “Because I’m scared, I’m scared because… oh, it’s too embarrassing.”
Anna walked closer. “Go on,” she said.
“I’m scared of the water,” said the little red boat.
“But you’re a boat!” said Anna.
“I KNOW! And I have to go all over the world, and with every wave, and every splash, I get more and more scared.”
“My name is Anna,” said Anna. “What’s yours?”
“Lima,” said Lima. “Lima Loner. Lima because that’s where I’m from. And loner because… because I don’t have any friends.”
“But I’ll be your friend,” said Anna. Lima looked at her, and was about to reply, when Anna looked at two crew people - a gruff looking man and a tough looking woman - gasping in shock on Lima’s deck. They were both reading a magazine, turning the pages, and pointing and “oohing” and “aaarhing” in wonder and amazement.
“Hey!” said Anna. “That’s my magazine! That’s my Inca Invincibles!”
The woman and man on Lima’s deck were called Gina and Luis. They both looked a little embarrassed. They weren’t supposed to be looking at the goods they were bringing over. It might spoil them.
“Oh, we’re sorry,” said Luis. “But we went through a storm -“
“Oh, the storm!” cried Lima.
“And some of the parcels were going to get wet,” continued Luis. “And so we picked them up to put them higher, and… This fell out. We’re so sorry for reading it, but it’s the most exciting magazine we’ve ever seen.”
Anna had an idea. She asked Gina and Luis to come down onto the dockside, right up close to Lima’s eyes. And there, Anna and the crew sat down and read Inca Invincibles from cover from cover, from start to finish. Anna loved the adventures inside. Luis loved the adventures inside. Gina loved the adventures inside. But someone loved the adventures inside more than anyone. Lima did!
“Come on!” said the little boat. “Let’s go back out to sea and find as many adventures as we can!”
And from that day forth, the little red boat stopped being called Lima Loner, because she made friends wherever she went. And she LOVED the waves and the splashes. She was just called Lima. And every month, on the second Tuesday, she would steam into Horsmarlonerpool harbour and visit her best friend Anna. And they’d read the latest adventures together.
In fact, her, Anna, Gina and Luis even formed their own club.
They were called ‘The Inca Invincibles’.
