The Plastic Snowman appeared to completely accept his fate.
He began to shovel up the coal and throw it into the fire. He seemed to be quite strong, being able to hurl the coal into the furnace at a distance. Also on the positive side he was avoiding the worst of the heat and did not appear to be melting.
The other monsters also collected their shovels and joined in, each performing their tasks in their own particular way depending on the number of limbs, shovels, how big their mouths were for holding coal, or however their bodies were designed. Meanwhile, the Rarrgh Monster had loosened her grip enough on Peter to make him feel more comfortable, but nevertheless there was still no way that he could escape.
For another ten minutes they continued with their duties. Then suddenly –
“Okay, hold it there, everyone! We’re here on behalf of the Cloudland Health and Safety Inspection Unit!”
A tall, thin plastic snowman with purple cardigan buttons, a large pink hat, and wearing a striped orange tie around its neck, had appeared from another passageway. He appeared to have an eye missing. There was some dampness on the floor where he had been standing, but a puddle was not forming. He had clearly been melting, but this process had stopped now he was in Peter’s presence.
But then Peter was surprised to see a smaller snowman following him. It was a lot smaller, it had two small branches for arms, one of which was holding something flat, but its face was missing many of the stones that made up its features. But it still had that celeric that made up its disproportionately large nose –
“INDIA!”
The warmth of the chamber had affected India considerably. Peter was sure he had melted far more than the Tall Thin Plastic Snowman.
The shock of the sudden appearance of these new snowmen and Peter’s cry made the Rarrgh Monster unintentionally lose her grip. Peter got free and ran straight to the Plastic Snowman.
The Tall Thin Plastic Snowman, however, tried to keep his calm. “Er, we’re here just to check on the supplies needed to keep operations here running smoothly for Cloudland,” he said. “Can you direct us to the storeroom?”
The Urgh Monster looked at them suspiciously. “URGH. This is highly… unusual. Do you have the necessary paperwork, bossy snowmen?”
India then held out what was a black clipboard in his right branchy hand with several sheets of paper attached to the front of it. Peter was sure it was the same clipboard owned by the Most Important Plastic Snowman.
The Urgh Monster hopped up to it suspiciously. He glared at it, and recognized the Most Important Plastic Snowman’s signature.
He then noticed some extra writing underneath. He tried to read it aloud but found it difficult. Peter thought that it must have been written by the Most Important Plastic Snowman as he had a habit of using very big words. After two minutes, the message was understood as this:
The Council of Cloudland Snowmen hereby request the handing over of the small human infant officially registered by birth as Peter Peddington to ourselves as the human has not received formal permission or possess the necessary formal documentation to enter the vacinity hereby known as Atoz. With the permission of the High Council of Atoz, we kindly request that you send the child back with the representatives of the Cloudland Health and Safety Inspection Unit.
“It means,” said the Plastic Snowman, “that Peter should not be here and he should be returned to Cloudland.”
“RARRGGHH! WHAT?” shouted the Rarrgh Monster. “You can’t take my child! I was going to feed him a chocolate pie!”
“He is a child that has his own mother and father, and he belongs to them,” said the Tall Thin Plastic Snowman.
“NIGEL! Only one mother and father?” said the Nigel Monster. “Dear me, you must feel lonely. I’ve got three mothers, two fathers, six half –”
“URGH! Enough Nigelly, we know all about your family, it’s nothing unusual!” said the Urgh Monster. “But this situation is not what I call normal.”
“No, it isn’t,” said the Tall Thin Plastic Snowman. “That’s why we’re here. Peter shouldn’t be here. We’ve come to collect him.”
Peter could see that the Urgh Monster was trying to make sense of the very unusual situation that had now been presented to him.
After a minute’s uncomfortable silence, he spoke. “URGH. Okay, but what about this business of the storeroom?”
“You can come with us and we’ll all go up there to check your supplies. Then we’ll leave. Quietly.”
“RARRGH! I WANT MY CHILD BACK!” bawled the Rarrgh Monster. “They’re going to take him away from me!”
“URGH. Y, Nigelly, go and get Xylophony and Piggy. Take Rarrgy with you. Get Bleurgy, Eeeeky, and Froogy down here in the furnace.”
“RARRGH! I don’t want to go!”
“NIGEL. Come on Rarrgy, we’ve got a job to do!” The Nigel Monster then grabbed two of the Rarrgh Monster’s tentacles and dragged her away.
The snowmen, Peter, and the Quarg and Urgh Monsters then left the furnace and walked along a long stone passage. It was also going upwards, and it was quite a steep climb.
“Good job you’re with us, Peter,” said the Plastic Snowman. “At least your power of keeping us plastic and the heat down here not melting us has kept us going far longer than I’d have certainly hoped.”
After five minutes, they entered another very large chamber where all manner of items were stored. There was another huge pile of coal along with several shelves that were lined with boxes of all shapes and sizes.
“URGH. Here we are, the storeroom. Quargy, I’d like you to stand by the entrance.”
“QUARG. Why, Urgy?”
“URGH. I have a feeling about this. Quargy, you’re my most trusted sidekick. Could you do this for me?”
“QUARG. Okay Urgy.”
As the Quarg Monster quarged across to the entrance, the Urgh Monster turned to the others. “URGH. Anyway, I know why we’re here. And I feel sure that you are not really representatives from the Cloudland Health and Safety Unit.”
“You’re right,” said the Tall Thin Plastic Snowman. “So why did you let us come here?”
“URGH. Rarrgy means well, but I fear for the human child’s well-being if she looks after him. She’s easily one of the best-looking monsters down here. Many of us wish we could ooze jelly from our skin. It’s a good trick. URGH. But I can see that your little child would have a lot of problems. And as I understand the laws between our states, anything that is not snowman or monster cannot and must not be harmed. I don’t think Rarrgy realizes this.”
Peter looked at the snowmen. “Why are we in here?”
“Because,” said the Tall Thin Plastic Snowman, “we cannot leave Atoz while we are so deep into the monster’s chambers. The storeroom is the closest and quietest place back to the Cloudland. Of course, it’s easy getting here, but not so easy to get back. That is, Urgh Monster, if you will let us go back, of course. You are the big boss. We request your permission to leave and take the child with us.”
“URGH. Permission granted.”
The Tall Thin Plastic Snowman and India looked at each other. They’d done it!
“Come on Peter,” said India kindly, “Hold our hands and we’ll take you home.”
“You can say my name right!” shouted Peter brightly. “But what about him?” He pointed to the Plastic Snowman.
“I can’t go,” the Plastic Snowman said sadly. “The ability for me to leave was taken away from me.”
“URGH. He can’t go,” said the Urgh Monster. “He was sent here to be punished. We cannot go against this decision.”
“Then I’m not going either!” said Peter angrily.
The Urgh Monster’s expression was now one of bewilderment. On the one hand, the agreement between the Atoz High Council and Cloudland was clear. When a snowman is sent to be punished, there was no going back. But the safety of a child…
“URGH. Why did they send you here, snowman?”
The Plastic Snowman looked at the Tall Thin Plastic Snowman. “Why don’t you tell him the story?”