The Rainbows and the Secrets

Plot Plan

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23

Chapter One:

Jamie gets in trouble at school for a pushing boy off a bench in anger, and at home for pulling his stepsister Ellie's hair. Banished to his tiny bedroom with its odd jungle wallpaper, he discovers that a strange new button on his mobile phone opens a 'window' in the wall, through which he sees the Jungle itself. He intervenes to stop two monkeys fighting, and finds himself high up in a mango tree.

Chapter Two

Jamie stops the fight, which was between the leader of the Rainbow Monkeys, Snapper, and a female Rainbow monkey called Tufts. He is astonished to see that these monkeys change colour with their emotions (hence their name). The cause of the fight is a shortage of mangoes; it is the Rainbows' staple food, and it is running out. Jamie has to return home, but he agrees to come back and help them.

Chapter Three

Jamie returns home for his evening meal with the family: his father Ian, his Estonian stepmother, Violetta (Vee), who thinks all English children are spoilt, and the priggish, immaculately-behaved Ellie. They live in an overcrowded flat. Ian and Vee are over-worked and too busy to attend to their children, who hate each other. Jamie returns to the jungle (getting dangerously stuck in mud on the way) and finds Tufts.

Chapter Four

Jamie guesses there are fruit trees across the river, and plans to take the Rainbows there. But they are terrified: their "Story", given to them at the beginning of time by the Golden Monkey, and preserved and passed on by their multicoloured Parrots, apparently forbids them ever to cross the river. In addition, the other side of the river is inhabited by Secret Monkeys, so called because of their shy, stealthy ways, that seem unnatural to the extrovert Rainbows. Despite this, Jamie persuades Snapper and Tufts to raise a foraging party.

Chapter Five

Jamie builds a raft and crosses the river with fifteen Rainbows. They discover coconuts and start to load the raft, but are attacked by Secrets. Jamie falls from a tree and is unconscious. The monkeys think he is dead. They return him home by pushing him back through the "window".

Chapter Six

Though not seriously hurt, Jamie has to go to hospital. Worried about the Rainbows stranded in the Secrets' territory, he begs Ellie to draw a bridge on the wallpaper, hoping it will appear in the Jungle and help them escape. For her own reasons, Ellie does so. She finds the 'window' to the Jungle left open, and enters it.

Chapter Seven

Ellie is kidnapped by Secrets and taken to their leader, Softpad. Meanwhile, the Rainbows retreat onto the bridge, which has materialised.

A brave and resourceful child, Ellie escapes from the Secrets by promising to rescue their coconuts, which are adrift on the Rainbows' raft. Shadow, an avaricious and power-hungry older Secret monkey, who owns most of the coconut trees, thinks Softpad is foolish and weak to let her go. He and his little gang think that he, Shadow, should be leader instead. The two other gang members are Thrasher, a big, stupid, vicious monkey, and One-eye, who is small and weak, and has only one eye. Ellie rescues the coconuts, but in doing so inadvertently starts a battle between the two monkey tribes.

Chapter Eight

Jamie manages to return to the Jungle from his hospital bed and together the two children manage to stop the battle and establish a temporary truce, but not before Softpad is almost drowned and Shadow and company threaten revenge.

Chapter Nine

Ellie is now in trouble at home (for drawing on the wall etc.) She also (mistakenly) thinks her mother is pregnant, which troubles her very much. She isn't used to being in the dog house, and it makes her begin to feel more sympathetic towards Jamie.

Chapter Ten

She visits Jamie in hospital and confides the "bad news" about the "new baby". Jamie realises for the first time that Ellie also is unhappy with the way things are at home. They agree to form an alliance and stand up for each other and get their parents to improve things. They decide to go back to the Jungle together and call a meeting of the two monkey tribes.

Chapter Eleven

At the meeting, they try to get an agreement between the tribes on sharing all the fruit in the Jungle. They almost succeed, but Shadow and his gang oppose it. They claim the Secrets' version of the "Story" (also given by the Golden Monkey, and kept by green parrots), in addition to forbidding crossing the river, doesn't allow sharing.

Chapter Twelve

Ellie has an intuition as to how the two Stories can be reconciled, and the objection to crossing the river removed, and forms a plan. She persuades the two monkey leaders to cooperate.

Chapter Thirteen

Ellie makes her mother angry by objecting to the new baby she thinks is on the way.

The children lead the monkeys on a trek to the source of the river. Ellie realises that this will get over the problem of the monkeys' taboo on crossing the river. They will be able to walk round it. She also believes there is a third part to the Story, that will reconcile the Rainbows' and Secrets' different versions, and so get over the objections to sharing the fruit and the Jungle. She has a hunch they will discover this upriver.

Chapter Fourteen

They find the source of the river, which is at the top of a steep hill, with a sheer drop behind it. The children and most of the monkeys rejoice. They meet some shocking pink parrots who tell them the third part of the Story, which confirms that the Golden Monkey wants them all to share the Jungle. They resolve to do this, but Shadow and his gang object. While everyone is resting, they lure Ellie away from the group by a trick.

Chapter Fifteen

They tie Ellie up and carry her along a cliff ledge. This is the first part of a plot to imprison her, Jamie and the two monkey leaders in a cave, so that Shadow can take over as leader and make sure the sharing plan is abandoned. One-eye, however, has qualms.

Softpad gets a telepathic warning (the Secrets have a Warning Music that no-one else can hear.) He jumps onto the cliff ledge to intercept the kidnappers. Shadow attacks Softpad, and Softpad falls. Snapper tries to save him by grabbing him round the waist, and they plunge down the cliff together, into the darkness below. Ellie is safe, but the parrots say there is no hope for the two monkeys.

Chapter Sixteen

The parrots confirm that Snapper and Softpad are dead, and the children mourn, each in a different way, as do the monkeys. A group of Secrets bring gifts of coconuts to the Rainbows. They announce that Shadow, Thrasher and One-eye are banished from the Jungle, and from the Secret tribe. All the monkeys agree to be friends and share the Jungle, and want the children to help them build a proper bridge and a coconut store.

Chapter Seventeen

Banished from the Jungle, Shadow, Thrasher and One-eye hide in a cave near the river source. One-eye is full of remorse, but Thrasher is proud. Shadow insists they are the "Proper Secrets": they can have their own tribe, they don't need the others. They live by stealing food from the Jungle at night. It is very difficult and they are hungry. Thrasher deserts the others, taking their food supply with him. Shadow gets weak and collapses on a night excursion. One-eye thinks he sees coconuts in the river. He tries to get one for Shadow, enlisting the help of a hippo. Thrasher reappears, jumps on the hippo uninvited, the hippo shifts and One-eye falls in river.

Chapter Eighteen

After some setbacks, the children and monkeys (with the help of hippos) build a new bridge, then attempt a coconut store. They see a monkey floating downstream, clinging to driftwood. In the excitement, the coconut store collapses.

Chapter Nineteen

A hippo arrives, carrying One-eye. The monkey seen floating downstream earlier is identified as Thrasher. It's assumed he's gone over the rapids and perished.

One-eye says he is sorry. He tells how he fell in river and had a 'dream'. He was in the presence of the Golden Monkey, a place full of warmth and light. He saw Snapper and Softpad, who were happy. Shadow arrived. Snapper and Softpad greeted him: they were too happy to be angry. But Shadow hated the warmth and light and the Golden monkey and chose to withdraw into darkness, cold and separation. He disappeared. The hippo rescued One-eye from the river. One-eye found Shadow dead.

One-eye is blamed for his part in Ellie's kidnap, but he says, in mitigation, that he sent the Warning Music to Softpad, and this is confirmed by other Secrets, who also heard it.

Chapter Twenty

One-eye has the idea of building several small coconut stores. He works extremely hard on very little food, and never complains. He is ostracised but (just) tolerated.

Chapter Twenty-one

Jamie returns to school. Some children provoke him, but he rises above it. He's learnt a lot from pacifying temperamental hippos. He intervenes to help a girl who is being teased.

Chapter Twenty-two

Jamie is made an Anti-bullying monitor. His parents are proud of him at last.

The parents announce they are moving to a bigger place and changing their work, so they will have more space, and more time for their children, whether a new baby arrives or not. (The baby is only at the planning stage, and Violetta is not actually pregnant.)The children have mixed feelings, as the move is some distance away. They will have to change schools, and won't be able to visit the Jungle any more.

Chapter Twenty-three

The children make a last visit to the Jungle to attend a big party in celebration of the finishing of the coconut stores. Tufts, who is taking over as leader of the Rainbows, makes a gesture of forgiveness to One-eye by giving him food. Saying goodbye, Tufts, Jamie and Ellie have a brief but glorious vision of Golden Monkey, which the children will remember for the rest of their lives.