Hello,
My name is Jacqueline and I am a very proud grandma.
I write stories for my grandchildren and I am very happy to share them here with you.
So make yourself comfortable,
Settle back,
Because my next story is about to begin.
Kelty and the treasure chest Kelty enjoyed a good day at school,
Although it had not started well.
Because she had not studied the word list this week,
She had done very badly on her spelling test,
Which the class has every Friday morning.
She didn't worry too much about this,
As some of these words she would never use,
Or so she thought.
The night before Kelty's daddy had tried to encourage her to learn the spelling of each word,
But she had wanted to play with her baby brother Louis instead.
Don't worry about them daddy,
I won't ever use most of these words,
Kelty told him,
As she took a quick look at the word list before throwing it onto the table.
You never know when a word will be useful Kelty,
Your spelling homework is set for a reason,
Her daddy said,
Sounding very concerned.
It is a very important part of your education,
Your test is tomorrow,
So let's go over them one last time.
But Kelty had not listened to her daddy,
And today at school she wished she had.
She didn't like being at the bottom of her class with tests.
That had been first thing this morning,
And by the end of the day she had forgotten all about it,
Because the rest of the day had been very enjoyable.
When Kelty arrived home from school,
Her mummy gave her some biscuits and a glass of milk.
This was Kelty's favourite snack,
And she munched on them hungrily.
Why don't you go and play outside Kelty,
While Louis goes down for a nap,
Her mummy suggested.
It is such a beautiful afternoon,
And I'm sure Duggee will love to play with you.
Kelty thought this was a good idea,
And so,
After finishing her snack,
She grabbed her jacket and ran into the garden,
With her little dog Duggee following behind.
Come on Duggee,
Let's go into the forest,
I'll race you.
And she ran as fast as she could across the lawn and into the forest,
With Duggee yapping at her heels.
Kelty headed straight for the big oak tree.
When she reaches it,
She sat down against the trunk to catch her breath.
Duggee came up beside her,
And sniffing the ground as he went,
He walked around the oak tree.
Kelty waited for him to come around to her from the other side of the oak tree,
But he didn't appear.
She wondered what had happened to him.
She stood up and walked behind the oak tree to take a look.
There,
To her surprise,
Was Duggee sitting beside a tiny wooden door in the trunk of the big oak tree.
That door wasn't there before,
Kelty thought to herself.
I'm sure I would have noticed it if it was.
She looked at the door for a second and then couldn't resist taking a look inside.
She grabbed the tiny handle and opened the door very slowly.
As she stepped forward into the doorway,
A light suddenly turned on.
She peered in and could see some wooden steps leading down into what looked like a cellar.
Come on,
Duggee,
Let's go inside and find out what's at the bottom of these steps.
She started to go down the steps,
And then heard Duggee whimpering behind her.
What's wrong,
Boy?
Come on!
But Duggee stayed at the top of the steps.
Are you scared?
She asked him.
It does look scary down there,
But I'm sure it will be okay.
I know.
I'll put you into the secret pocket in my jacket to keep you safe.
She went back up the steps,
Picked Duggee up and placed him into her secret pocket.
He nestled in and closed his eyes.
With Duggee safe,
Kelty started down the steps again.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
She counted out loud.
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Nine,
Ten,
Nearly there.
Eleven,
Twelve,
Thirteen.
That's my mummy's lucky number,
She whispered to herself.
Something special is going to happen.
I just know it.
She looked around and noticed that the tree cellar was round,
Just like the oak tree.
The walls were covered with green moss,
Which looked so pretty and soft.
In the middle of the tree cellar was a large treasure chest.
It was made from wood with a curved shape lid and was closed with a huge padlock.
Kelty walked over to the treasure chest and grabbed the padlock.
It was as big as her hand and quite heavy.
She pulled it and wiggled it,
But it did not come undone.
Wondering what the noise was,
Duggee peered out of Kelty's jacket pocket.
How am I going to open this,
Duggee?
Kelty asked him.
I think it needs a giant key,
But I can't see one anywhere.
Duggee jumped out of the pocket and ran over to the wall behind them.
He started barking as he looked up at something.
Kelty turned around and could see a giant key hanging from a chain on the wall.
She went over and grabbed the key with both hands.
She pulled it and tugged it,
But the chain just rattled and the key stayed where it was.
Oh,
Look,
Duggee,
The chain is closed by a combination lock,
Which needs three numbers for it to open and release the key.
I wonder what they are.
As she went to try different numbers in the combination lock,
She noticed close by a large red button on the wall with a sign below which read,
Press Me.
She walked over to the large red button and very carefully pressed it.
Hello,
Kelty,
Said a deep,
Loud voice.
I'm the teacher of the oak tree.
To get the key to unlock the treasure chest,
You must answer three questions correctly.
Are you ready?
Feeling a little nervous,
But also very excited,
Kelty looked down at Duggee.
She really wanted to get the questions right so she could look inside the treasure chest.
Taking a deep breath,
She replied,
Yes,
I'm ready.
Right,
Said the teacher of the oak tree.
Here is your first question.
How do you spell the word marble?
Oh,
Wow,
Thought Kelty.
This was one of the words in my spelling test today.
I know this answer.
And she said in her loudest voice,
M-A-R-B-L-E.
Correct,
Said the teacher of the oak tree.
Now question number two.
How do you spell the word tomorrow?
This one is a little tricky,
Kelty thought to herself.
I spelt this word wrong today in my spelling test.
Was there two M's or two R's in it?
Okay,
I'll try two M's.
And she said T-O-M-M-O-R-O-W.
Wrong,
Said the teacher of the oak tree.
Try again.
Kelty realised that there were two R's in the word and said T-O-M-O-R-R-O-W.
Correct,
Responded the teacher of the oak tree.
Now,
If you get this third spelling correct,
I will give you the combination number for the key to the treasure chest.
Are you ready?
Yes,
Kelty said a little hesitantly because she knew it was going to be a difficult word to spell.
How do you spell the word Sphinx?
Oh no,
Exclaimed Kelty.
This word is really hard and I never get it right.
After some thought,
She crossed her fingers and said S-F-I-N-K-S.
Wrong,
Try again,
Boomed the teacher of the oak tree.
Kelty felt disappointed.
I wish I had listened to my daddy and learnt my spellings properly,
She sighed.
Kelty thought a little longer about the word and then said S-F-I-N-K-S.
Wrong again,
She heard the teacher of the oak tree reply.
You have one more try.
If you get it wrong this time,
The key to the treasure chest will disappear.
Kelty really started to worry now.
She wanted the treasure from the treasure chest more than anything she had ever wanted.
She sat down on the ground and Duggee climbed onto her lap and licked her cheek as if to say you can do this if you think really carefully.
Kelty stroked Duggee's head as she thought really hard about all the things her teacher had taught her about how to spell strange sounding words.
Sphinx,
Sphinx,
Sphinx,
She chanted out loud.
There is a strange sounding letter after the S.
It sounds like an F.
But there is something else which sounds like an F.
If only I could remember what it is.
Duggee jumped off Kelty's lap and walked over to the treasure chest.
He lay down on the ground with his head on his paws and looked at Kelty.
Kelty held her head in her hands as she tried really hard to think.
All of a sudden she heard a clock ticking.
Your time is nearly up bellowed the teacher of the oak tree.
You have one minute left.
Oh dear Kelty thought.
What did my teacher tell us?
I must remember.
With the minute nearly over she suddenly jumped up and shouted I remember.
I know how to spell the word Sphinx.
And she said in her loudest voice S P H I N X.
Correct said the teacher of the oak tree.
You have done extremely well Kelty.
Keep learning your spellings because you never know when you may need the words.
I promise I will Kelty replied feeling very happy.
Good.
I am pleased to hear that answered the teacher of the oak tree.
Now the combination number to release the key is 913.
Enjoy the treasure.
Goodbye.
Thank you so much said Kelty excitedly goodbye.
Kelty grabbed the combination lock and twisted each number to its correct position.
The lock came undone and the key fell from the chain.
Using both of her hands and all of her strength Kelty picked up the key and took it over to the treasure chest.
She knelt down placed the key into the padlock and turned it.
The padlock popped open and she removed it from the treasure chest.
Dougie was sitting beside her watching.
Turning to him she said are you ready to see what the treasure is inside Dougie?
He barked at her in response and Kelty said OK here goes.
Slowly she lifted the huge lid and peered inside.
She stared in with disbelief because all she could see were cobwebs.
Cobwebs she exclaimed.
Is that all I get for my hard work?
Dougie jumped up and placed his paws on the edge of the treasure chest so he could look inside.
Kelty stood up feeling very sad and disappointed as she turned and walked away from the treasure chest.
Suddenly Dougie started barking at something inside the treasure chest.
Going back over to him Kelty asked what is it boy what can you see in there?
She looked in.
All she could see were the cobwebs.
Then unexpectedly she saw a tiny sparkle coming from underneath the cobwebs right in the corner of the treasure chest.
Carefully Kelty moved the cobwebs with her fingers and the sparkle grew bigger.
Eventually she could see just what was sparkling.
It was a gold coin.
She took it out of the treasure chest and held it up to the light.
Wow Dougie how amazing is this?
A real piece of treasure.
I am so lucky.
As she looked at her new piece of treasure the light in the tree cellar started to flicker.
Come on Dougie we have to go mummy will be wondering where we are.
She put the gold coin into her secret pocket and started to climb the steps out of the tree cellar with Dougie close behind her.
Thank you big oak tree you are so magical she said reaching the door at the top of the steps.
She pushed it open and went out into the forest and closed the door behind them.
That really was special she said to Dougie.
Looking down at him she said come on boy I will race you home.
Back in her garden they walked across the lawn and Kelty told Dougie I am going to learn my word list every week and be top of my class.
She opened the back door and ran into the lounge where her daddy was playing with her baby brother Louis.
She ran up to her daddy and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.
Hugging him as hard as she could she gave him a big kiss on his cheek.
What's all this for?
Asked her daddy as he hugged his daughter back.
Looking at him Kelty said you are the best daddy in the world and from now on I will do all my homework without complaining.
Thank you for listening to my story.
Before you go I'd like to ask you a question.
If you could lift the lid of a treasure chest what piece of treasure would you like to find inside?
Thanks so much for listening and come back soon to hear another story from Grandma.
Bye for now.
