pg. 1 Up , Up, and Away! Written with Season ’ s Greetings by J inx C ur i © 2020 Commissioned by As ten Christmas morn ing! What a wond erful time to be a l i fe - long fan of balloons – and of Basil B rush. P inky grinne d N o sooner ha d she opened her eyes did she see the fox - faced ba lloon quietly and most stealthily tied to one bedpost at the end of her b e d by a certain thoughtful f ella. The orange, helium - filled balloon bobbed quietl y in the air , d ecorated wi t h the face of a particularly famous fox , sta r of stage and scre en. “ Aww, thank you, Ba sil , ” Pinky mu rmured, smiling happ ily and st retching She yawned, torn be tween snuggling back under the bed sheets f or a l ie - in and hurry ing down to B rush Hall ’ s cozy l iving room. W h o knows what other wonders might await her! In the end , excitement and curiosity won over , and she wriggled out of bed and into the fuzzy fox - slippers waiting for he r and padded into the up s tairs hallway, calling for her friend. “ Basil! Oh, Basil! ” Where was Basil? Pinky ’ s brow furro wed as she pondered wh ere he might be. She even peeked into his bedro om to find the bed empty and the sheets already attended to by Fox ington, the estat e ’ s H ead But ler. She caught sight of the elderly, snooty fox but ler making his way up the stair s and waved cheerily to him “ G ood morning, Madam e , ” Foxington wheezed “ Good morni ng to you too, Foxington ! ” Pi nk y responded brightly. A s always, she had to stifle a giggle a t the sig ht of Fo xington ’ s up turned nose and stiff, snooty demeanour. “ Have you hav e seen Basil about this morni ng? ” Foxington nodded gr av ely. “ Y ahs, I have He departed early this morning on ‘ u rgent b usin ess ’ ” P i nky b linked , surprised. “ Urgent Business? Did he , um, di d he say what kind of business ? ” Fo xi n gton shook his head, then checked the pocket watch dang ling from the chain at his waist. “ He d id not, madame, but he did inform me that at this time, ten ‘ o ’ clock , that should present yourself out side of the Hall and wait for him ” Pinky looked even more con fused, though intrigued by the instructions B asil had left for her. “ H - He did? How strange ... ” “ It is al most ten ‘ o ’ clock no w, Madame. ” “ Right! Thank y ou, Foxington! And mm, Merry Christmas! ” Pinky quickly darted in, ki ssing the p rissy fox butler on the side of his foxy nose , and grinned. “ M - Mer ry Chr istmas to you too, Madam e. ” It was f un to f l uster Foxington and wat c h hi m blush ! pg. 2 The grand gra ndfather clock in the ground floor hallway leading to the front doors had just stru ck ten when P inky breathlessly reached them and pulled them open ; w hat on Earth had Basil go t planned for her? Cold winter air greeted her, as did a w i nter wonderland of crisp, soft snowfall and t winkling , decorated pine trees. The ground s s urround i ng B rush Hall stretched out ahead of her , buried ben eath a layer of pristine whi teness. And again , there was no immediate sign of Basil “ Um ... ” Pinky stood there in the doorway, looking a round for any clue of where B a sil might be or what he migh t be up to . But then, a minute or so later, her ears prick ed as she hear d a very faint sound of mus i c coming from ... wait ... above? And what was ... that? At first, it was just a speck on the horizon; the music g etting just that little louder each time The speck becam e a blo b, a roundish blob , and the music was a song ... “ ... and away in my ... ” Wait, was that Basil ’ s voice ? And was that? No ... it couldn ’ t be! Pinky watched, marveling a t what she was seeing and hearing as the f uzzy blo b t ransformed into the un mist akable and lovely silhouette of a hot - air b al loon “ ... glide in my beautiful ... ” She caught snatches of so ng, abl e t o pick out the words and determine that yes, that was Basil ’ s voice she was hearing amid the melody. She clappe d gleefully, giggling with delight as the hot - air b alloon did indeed glide most gra cefully through the air She could even se e Basil himself now leaning over the edge of the bas ket; there was no mistaking those ears and the tip of that mighty brush! “ What ho, Pinky! Hello - Hel lo - Hel l o - H el loo o ... ” “ Basil! What on Ea rth ... ” Pinky clapped her hand over her mouth as she lo oked up , still a stonished at the hu ge, festive balloon that had come to a rest a bove her, puffs of stati on - keeping steam bursting from the little thrusters that had slowed and then stopped the balloon, keeping it in place. “ Merry Christmas, Pinky! ” Basil ’ s greeting and well - wishes, ampli fi ed by the speaker into which he spoke, washed over her. Pi nky grinned, waving up at her foxy frien d. “ Merry Christmas to you too, Basil ! ” “ I have something to ask you, Pinky! ” Basil boomed, though not a boo m , boom — not yet. “ What ’ s that? ” “ Would you like to ride , ” Basil once again broke out into song , singing in t ime with the upb eat mel ody she had heard from afar “ In my beautiful balloon ? ” “ Um ... ” Embarrassed , Pinky looked down and away, face going as red as a tomato! It was such a wonderf ul surprise and b all oon! “ Would you like to glide in my beautiful bal loon ... ” pg. 3 Pinky giggled, blushing. “ Yes please ! ” The balloon began to descend, slowly and carefully , all th e while Basi l sang and danced in the basket. “ Cau se we can fly ... ” Pinky grinned, clapping her hands w ith glee as she hopped back , giving the balloon ’ s basket plenty of room. “ C - Can we? Oh , y es , please ! ” B ump! The ba sket gently came to a stop . Basil s tood on tip - to e atop the pic nic boxes full of delicious sandwiches and Xmas tre ats the pair of firm fri ends would later feast upon together and which he used to see over the edge of the basket! He beckoned to Pinky, nose twitching and eyes glittering with mischievous delight. “ All aboard the Basi l Balloo n Express! ” A little a wkwardly and after first changing ou t of her PJ ’ s and grabbing a wa rm coat, Pinky clam bered aboard the b ig wh icker bas ket. I t was cozily snug and quit e warm , wi th hot air washing do wn from the balloon above. Basil , now wearing a pair of flying goog les, gave her a thumbs up and a cheeky smile “ Ready, dear girl ? ” “ A bsolutely! ” “ Up - Up and away ... ” Basil ch orused as the music once again kicked in “ In my b eaut iful balloon ! ” “ Whee ! ” Wi th a mighty roa r of flame , the balloon be g an to once again ascend. Up, up, u p it went, and Brush Hall shrank as th e d uo rose high into the sky, gracefully gliding with the greatest o f ease. “ Well , what do you thin k, Pinky! ” “ It ’ s abs olutely wonderf ul, Basil! ” Pinky gasped, looking around her at the picturesque vi ew. They glided past Brush Hal l and over the village o f Brus hin gton , now spread out around them a s pretty as a post card and a veritable winter wonderland “ I say, I say , I s ay, ” Basil said jovi ally, “ D id you hear about the police officer who arrested a man for stealing a heli u m balloon ? ” “ I didn ’ t! ” Pinky gasp ed , shocked at the thought of someone stealing a lovely balloon , e ve n though she knew it wa s just the p unch line to a gag. “ They held onto it for a while and then let him go! BO OM BOOM! ” “ Oh Basil, you silly thing! ” Pink y giggled, shaking her head at her f riend ’ s an tics. The bal loon d rifted maj estically through the air . Be low them, Pinky could just about mak e out people waving up at them as they passed through the village and over neighbouring farms. “ BOOM BOOM! ” Basil raucously broa dca s t through the spea kers, leaving th ose below in no doubt whose balloon it was above them. Then he turned to Pinky an d engaged the t uneful melo dy. “ Join in with me, dear girl! Y ou know the wor ds! Would you like to ride ... ” Pinky grinned, leaning in to the microphone. “ ... in my beautiful balloon! ” pg. 4 What a wonder ful Christmas morni ng it had a lready been , Pinky thought to herself Her favourite fox and a l ovely balloon ride! They came to a n eventual rest in a nearby nature reserve , sno wy and pretty. A pavilion had been ass embled in readiness for their arriva l , with a table and chair and a portable hea ter to keep them warm as they d ined. Pinky hel ped Basil lift out the pic nic hampers and her eyes went wide as she laid out t he yummy things they would eat , tu rkey and stuffing sandwiche s for one . And it was there they spen t thei r morning and half the afternoon . A highlight of th eir time there was blowing up b alloons to decorat e the ir pavilion with (an d give a cheeky hug to!) and releasing the ne tted helium balloons that had also been wai ti ng for them into the air to d rift as they might over the village and nei ghbouring fa rms , each on e ha ving a tag with Christmas greetings from both she and Basil “ Merry C hristmas, Pinky , ” Basil said with a smile, once the y were ready to begin the journey home again. “ I ’ m gl ad y ou enjoyed my surprise and going Up , Up and Away in my bea utiful balloon. ” “ I certainl y did, Basil, ” Pinky replied, kneeling down to give her favourite fox a big , loving hug “ And M erry Chr istmas. ”