Leo Goes to London

It was a sunny Saturday morning. Leo and Sam went to the park to meet their friends. Lucy, Andy, and Kim were waiting for them on the big blue bench.

“What do you have there, Sam? ”asked Andy.

“It's a postcard from my cousin in London. There's a photo of a castle on the front. It's called the Tower of London.

“Wow, it looks really old, ” said Kim.

“It is old, ” said Lucy. “It was built almost a thousand years ago.”

“Lucy knows her English history, ” said Leo.

“Not really, ” replied Lucy. “It's written right here on the back. ‘Tower of London, built in 1070 by William the Conqueror.' Your cousin also wrote that they saw the Queen's crown and jewels.”

“Wouldn't it be cool to go to London? ”asked Andy, with a smile.

The other kids knew why Andy was smiling. Leo had a robot who could transport the friends anywhere they wanted to go. Leo took RK-5, the little robot, from his pocket.

“Everyone would like to go to London. Can you take us there? ” asked Leo.

“Of course I can take you to the capital city of England. I can take you anywhere. I can even take you to the past or into the future, ” said RK-5.

“We'd like to visit present-day London, ” interrupted Kim. “We always get into trouble when we go to the past.”

“We could go and see the Queen, ” said Sam.

“The Queen won't see us, ” said Kim.“She's much too important.”

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RK-5 told Leo which buttons to press on the little robot's number pad. After Leo pressed the numbers, there was a flash of light and a cloud of blue smoke. When the smoke cleared, there were no children on the big blue bench.

Leo opened his eyes. He saw that he and his friends were sitting on a wall. A big river flowed below them. The river was so wide that large boats were floating by.

“Look at the bridge, ” said Sam. “It's huge.”

RK-5 told them that it was Tower Bridge. “Cars and buses cross the bridge, as well as walkers, ” he said.

“Look! ” said Andy. “The road across the bridge is moving. It's opening up to let that big boat go through.”

The children waved at the people on the boat. When the road went back down, they walked across the bridge to visit the Tower of London.

RK-5 told the children that the Tower was first built as a place for kings to live. He said that over the years, other kings added pieces to the Tower. Huge, thick walls were added to keep out enemies.

“A king called Richard I had a huge ditch dug around the tower walls. It's called a moat. Then it was filled with water from the river we just saw—the River Thames, ” said RK-5.

“Nobody could get into the Tower grounds unless they had permission, ”continued RK-5. “To let people inside, a wooden bridge on chains was lowered over the moat. The people could then walk across the bridge, which was called a drawbridge.”

“Where's the moat now? ” asked Andy.

“The water was smelly and people kept falling in, ” said RK-5. “So they drained the water hundreds of years ago.”

“The moat is just grass now, ” said Lucy.

The children walked across the stone bridge and went into the Tower grounds. A soldier wearing a funny-looking uniform smiled at the children.

“Who's he? ” asked Sam.

“He's a beefeater, ” answered RK-5.“The beefeaters protect the tower.”

“Look at all the big, black birds, ” said Kim.

“They are ravens, ” said a voice from behind them. It was the beefeater.“There's an old legend. It says if the ravens ever leave the Tower, both the Tower and England will crumble and fall, ” added the beefeater. “So the ravens are very important. We treat them well. But don't pet them. They'll peck your fingers.”

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“Can we see the Queen's crown and jewels? ” Leo asked the beefeater.

“Yes. Go to the Jewel House, over there. But you'll have to hurry—it's closing in 10 minutes, ” advised the beefeater.

They hurried to the Jewel House.

They were amazed when they saw the crowns and all the jewels. The diamonds, rubies, and pearls sparkled in the light.

A sign said that the jewels were worth more money than could be counted.

A bell rang, and a beefeater told them it was time to close. They all walked out of the Jewel House. Leo looked for Taffy.

Oops, Taffy's been left behind, he thought. He gave RK-5 to Andy and ran back to the Jewel House.

The beefeater didn't see Leo run past and locked the gates. Leo was locked inside the Jewel House! He looked around for Taffy but couldn't find him. He called, “Taffy! Where are you? ”

The lights went out. Leo realized that he was all alone.

Leo sat down in the corner, and soon he was fast asleep.

A noise above Leo's head awoke him. He didn't know how long he'd been sleeping. But he was now wide awake.

A shaft of light appeared from a hole in the ceiling. Then a rope dropped down from the hole. A pair of legs began sliding down the rope.

Leo watched as two men silently slid down the rope. They had flashlights and large backpacks.

Robbers! Thought Leo.

Leo watched as the robbers broke open the glass display. They began filling their backpacks with jewels.

The robbers moved quickly and silently. Soon their bags were full, and they climbed back through the hole in the ceiling. Leo couldn't let them escape. He followed the robbers up the rope. He saw the robbers on the roof making their way toward a ladder.

Leo untied the rope. He tied one end into a lasso and tied the other tight to a flagpole. When Leo reached the top of the ladder, the robbers were climbing down. When they were about halfway down, Leo threw the lasso around the two men, pulled the rope tight, and knocked over the ladder.

Leo left the robbers dangling on the rope. They shouted but they couldn't escape.

The shouting brought the beefeaters. Everyone soon knew that Leo had caught the jewel thieves.

Within an hour, Leo and his friends were in a different royal house. They were in Buckingham Palace, the home of the Queen.

The Queen wanted to thank Leo for saving the crown jewels. She was so pleased that she gave him a medal for his bravery.

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After they left the Queen, Sam said,“Where shall we go now? ”

“I've had enough excitement for one day, ” said Leo. “I want to go home. Please take us back to the park, RK-5.”