by Ali Pye
Harry seized his chance and sounded the emergency klaxon.
‘WHEEK, WHEEK, WHEEEK!
WHEEK, WHEEK, WHEEEK!’ he cried into the microphone.
If you were a guinea pig, you’d know that this meant: THERE’S BEEN A MIX-UP, GET ME OUT OF HERE!
But instead of thinking ‘Monty’ was unhappy, Alfie started to giggle.
‘Monty’s excited,’ he said, smiling. ‘He can’t wait to do his tricks on TV.’
‘That guinea pig’s a born performer!’ chuckled the presenter. ‘Aren’t you, Monty?’
‘I’M NOT MONTY, I’M HARRY, AND I WANT TO GO HOME, PLEASE!’ cried Harry – but all the humans heard was, ‘WHEEK, WHEEK, WHEEK!’
To Harry’s dismay, everyone in the audience started to laugh too. Oh dear, thought Harry Stevenson. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!
‘My goodness, he’s keen!’ cried the presenter. ‘I can’t wait to see what Monty’s got in store for us tonight! Nor can our viewers, I bet – and there are millions and millions of them!’
Millions and millions? thought Harry. Things were getting worse!
By now the stage was ready for Alfie and ‘Monty’, and all their props had been laid out. The crowd hushed as Alfie placed Harry on the floor. It was time to begin their routine. Harry could hear his heart thumping like mad. He looked down and saw that his paws were trembling. He was terrified!
‘OK, Monty,’ whispered Alfie. ‘Just do what we practised.’
Harry tried his best, he really did. He managed a wobbly high-five, which brought cheers from the crowd, but spinning wasn’t as easy as it looked – walking in a circle made Harry dizzy and he wobbled off in a zig-zaggy line! After that, everything went wrong. Harry tried to remember what Monty had done for each trick, but he kept getting muddled. He broke the bangle on Alfie’s wrist, knocked over the hurdles and dropped the ball every time he tried to pick it up.
‘You can do it, Monty, I know you can,’ coaxed Alfie desperately. But Harry couldn’t.
A dreadful silence fell across the studio.
‘Come on, Monty!’ called a person kindly, and soon everyone had joined in.
‘MON-TY.’
‘MON-TY.’
‘MON-TY.’
It was no good. In the end, Harry felt so awful that he crept into the tunnel and refused to move! Alfie called and called, but Harry wouldn’t budge. No one can see me in here, he thought. And that’s how I like it. Showbiz and shininess is not for me! Harry could see Alfie’s worried face peering into the end of the tunnel, and he heard the presenter walking over.
‘Never mind, Alfie,’ she said kindly. ‘You’ve done really well to get this far. Come on, it’s time for the judging.’
‘You’re not Monty, are you?’ sighed Alfie as he reached inside the tunnel. ‘You’re just Harry Stevenson.’
CHAPTER 11 Go, go, go, Harry Stevenson!
This is the worst moment of my life, thought Harry Stevenson, as Alfie picked him up, tucked him under his arm and trudged out of the spotlight. The crowd felt so sorry for the pair that everyone clapped. It didn’t make Harry feel any happier, though, and Alfie looked like he was going to cry.
All the other competitors were waiting in a special area at the ringside. Harry could see the Pawfect Pups staring at him scornfully. Madam Poppy was smirking, no doubt thinking that she’d won, and even the goat was looking smug. But as Alfie started the sad walk to join them, there was a faint cry from across the studio.
Harry jerked his head up. Was that who he thought it was?
‘Harry!’ came the cry again.
‘WHEEK, WHEEK, WHEEK!’ called Harry in reply. ‘WHEEK, WHEEK, WHEEK!’
Billy’s here!!!
Harry peered out from the spotlights, looking for the face he loved best. At last! There was Billy, on the far side of the room. Harry wriggled out of Alfie’s hands and jumped on to the floor. He was desperate to see his friend again! Harry raced towards Billy, but his route took him right through the Pawfect Pups’ obstacle course.
As Harry made his way across the course the audience started to notice his progress. Soon they were pointing and shouting and cheering! You see, Harry was so eager to get to Billy that he was doing a perfect round of the obstacle course. He was speeding along in record time, acing every obstacle in front of him!
‘Well, this IS a turn-up for the books,’ gasped the presenter, as the TV cameras zoomed in on Harry Stevenson. ‘Who’d have thought that a plucky little guinea pig could run so fast or jump so high?’
The crowd roared their encouragement to Harry, rising to their feet to get a better view. Spotlights followed as he whizzed through the tunnels, soared over jumps, scampered round the slalom and then dashed up, along and down the seesaw. His longing to see Billy again made him amazingly speedy and agile!
I’ve nearly reached Billy, thought Harry as he flew over the last hurdle in a ginger blur of joy. He was so happy that he did a spectacular series of popcorns that had the crowd raising the roof with their cheers!
BOING,
BOING,
BOING,
went Harry Stevenson.
‘HURRAY!’ yelled the crowd.
‘AMAZING!’ cried the presenter. ‘Can you believe your eyes?! I think we’ve just seen a world record being smashed. Even the speediest dog hasn’t got round that course so fast!’
‘It’s certainly a turn-up for the books,’ said the head judge. ‘It looks like Monty was just waiting for a bigger course to match his talent. That was without a doubt the performance of the evening! Ladies and gentlemen, I think we’ve found our winner!’
The cameras showed a close-up of the Pawfect Pups. They didn’t look quite so smug now. Madam Poppy was scowling horribly.
But Harry didn’t notice – he only had eyes for his best friend, Billy Smith. Billy was cuddling him and kissing his ginger furry nose, and Harry was nuzzling his friend in return.
This is the BEST moment of my life, thought Harry happily. Because as if being cuddled by Billy wasn’t wonderful enough – he also had the prospect of a year’s supply of luxury guinea pig food to consider.
CHAPTER 12 Nice trick, Harry Stevenson
Harry was glad to get back to the Smiths’ flat that evening. It had been quite a day. He and Billy had won Super-Pets – but because no one could tell them apart, Billy said Alfie and Monty could go onstage to collect their award. It was what they’d been training for, after all. In return, Alfie had offered Harry the year’s supply of pet food, so everyone was happy.
Now all the family was in the living room – Harry and the Smiths, as well as Alfie and Monty, Auntie Jen and Uncle Kevin. Billy (who’d cheered up massively since Harry had wowed the crowd) was telling everyone how he’d spotted the mix-up. He’d offered ‘Harry’ a pile of carrots, he said, and ‘Harry’ had refused to eat them. The same thing happened with spinach, beetroot and nuggets.
‘There’s no way Harry would turn down any kind of guinea pig food,’ smiled Billy. ‘So I knew it couldn’t be him!’
After Billy realized what had happened, the Smiths had piled into the van, taking Monty with them, and raced across town. Harry wondered what Monty had made of travelling in the van. A taste of normal life will have done him good, he thought, and Monty was certainly acting less superior after Harry’s record-breaking performance. Mr Smith had hoped to reach the TV centre before the show started, but at least they’d got there before it finished and saved the day! Uncle Kevin was so grateful that he’d stopped teasing Billy about his ‘ginger rat’ and looked at Harry with a new respect.
Alfie and Monty were teaching Billy and Harry how to do tricks. It had taken a few goes, but Harry was starting to get the hang of the ‘spin’. Actually, he’d figured out how to do it fairly quickly, but he was pretending not to know so he’d get more nuggets.
‘Your guinea pig’s pretty cool,’ said Alfie. ‘The way he ran was amazing!’
‘Monty’s OK too,’ smiled Billy.
The two boys g
rinned at each other over Monty, who was performing a flashy handstand of sorts.
Huh, thought Harry Stevenson. Think that’s special? I can do MAGIC! Just watch – I shall make those spinach leaves disappear.
And so he did!
CHAPTER 1 Bonjour, Harry Stevenson
Harry Stevenson was on his way to Paris. Jetsetting travel was unusual for a guinea pig, but Harry Stevenson wasn’t your usual kind of guinea pig. For despite Harry’s best efforts to live a quiet life, his greedy tummy was always getting him into adventures.
This time, though, Harry’s stomach wasn’t to blame. He was travelling to France with his best friend and owner, Billy Smith, and Billy’s mum and dad. The Smiths had won a holiday to Paris – and not just any old holiday either! It was a special Christmas break: three nights in a smart hotel with travel and spending money thrown in. Now the family were whizzing towards the airport in Mr Smith’s van.
Mrs Smith was very excited because she’d always wanted to see Paris and visit a Christmas market. Harry thought that Mr Smith was surprisingly keen too – he normally just wanted to stay at home with the family, busy doing jobs or watching his beloved football team, Sparky FC. As for Billy, he hadn’t liked the idea at all. Harry had heard a lot about it over the last few days: Christmas wouldn’t be the same if they were away from home, fretted Billy. But Harry suspected the real reason was that Billy had never been on an aeroplane before and was feeling nervous.
Billy will be all right with me to look after him, thought Harry Stevenson. Christmas will be just as nice in Paris, and hopefully there’ll be plenty to eat. Harry always enjoyed Christmas. Billy didn’t have to go to school and Mr and Mrs Smith had time off work. That meant all the Smiths were around and Harry got extra attention. Even better, Christmas involved a lot of eating, which was one of Harry’s favourite pastimes. Mr and Mrs Smith chopped up mountains of vegetables for their Christmas meals, and quite a few of them ended up in Harry’s food bowl. Harry daydreamed about his bowl for a while, before turning his attention back to the Smiths.
Mrs Smith was reading from a guidebook about Paris. It described grand buildings, wide tree-lined streets, pretty parks, a famous tower and wonderful food.
‘I know someone who likes good food,’ laughed Mr Smith. ‘Harry Stevenson would be a big fan of France!’
Harry shrank down guiltily in his hiding place.
Oh, hadn’t I mentioned that Harry Stevenson was hiding? Well, he was! Harry was keeping a very low profile in Billy’s bag. That’s because he wasn’t meant to be in the van. As far as Mr and Mrs Smith knew, Harry was tucked up safely in his cage at home! The Smiths’ next-door-neighbour Maya Matthews was going to drop by twice a day to top up Harry’s food, water and hay. It had all been arranged for weeks.
Harry thought back to that morning, when his unexpected trip began. Mr and Mrs Smith had just left the flat, when Billy dashed back to say goodbye – again. Harry knew his friend was worried about flying, so he’d got ready to give Billy a comforting nuzzle. But to his surprise, Billy had opened his rucksack and tipped most of his clothes on to the floor. Then he’d lifted Harry out of the cage and popped him in the bag!
Harry had squeaked in protest, but Billy put his fingers to his lips and Harry understood that he needed to be quiet. So he’d watched silently as his friend grabbed carrots, nuggets and a bowl, stashing them in his roomy coat pockets. Then Billy had hurried out of the flat to catch up with his parents, carrying Harry Stevenson in the bag. Harry wasn’t used to spending the weekend in a rucksack, and he didn’t know what travelling by plane would be like, but as long as he was with Billy then everything would be fine.
And even better, thought Harry happily, we’re off on an adventure together. Hurray!
CHAPTER 2 Red alert, Harry Stevenson!
Harry Stevenson had never been to an airport before so he was very curious when they got there. He peered out from under the top of the rucksack and sniffed the air. There was a feeling of excitement in the building, which was hard not to share. People were rushing around with suitcases, and looking at screens showing long lists of place names. Harry jumped as a loud voice announced a flight to a place he’d never heard of. He looked around, wondering who’d spoken, but the voice seemed to have come from nowhere.
Travelling is very interesting, thought Harry. Billy had shown Harry where Paris was in his book of maps. It didn’t seem that far away on the map – only a few paw lengths. Then he’d pointed to South America, where Harry knew that guinea pigs came from. South America must be furtherer away than Paris, thought Harry. It looked much more than ten paw lengths from the Smiths’ city. Harry wondered about the first guinea pigs to make that long trip. I am following in their paw steps, he thought proudly.
There seemed to be a lot of queueing in airports. First the Smiths had to queue to show their tickets, and then they joined a long line of people waiting to go through ‘Security’. Harry wondered what that was. His little eyes peeped out from the bag, but he couldn’t see anything apart from the other people queueing.
Finally the Smiths reached the front of the line. A woman in uniform beckoned them forward.
‘Everyone, put your bags and coats in a tray and get ready to be scanned,’ she said.
‘Here we go, Billy,’ said Mrs Smith, pointing to a tray. ‘Put your things in there, then stay close to me.’
OOH, thought Harry. From his hiding place in the bag he could see a line of trays moving slowly along a conveyor belt. Am I going on that? It looks fun!
Sure enough, Billy placed the bag in one of the trays.
‘Stay hidden, Harry,’ he whispered.
Harry Stevenson got ready to enjoy the ride. I like airports, thought Harry, as the tray glided along. It was like being on a slow and gentle rollercoaster. Peeping out, he could see that his tray had reached a sort of plastic tunnel. I wonder what that does? thought Harry as the tray neared the tunnel’s entrance.
He soon found out.
CLANG,
CLANG,
CLANG!!!
An awful noise rang out and red lights flashed as Harry’s tray passed under the scanner. Harry’s fur puffed out in panic as he heard shouts and running footsteps. People were saying things like, ‘unexpected item’, ‘security alert’ and ‘CODE RED’. Harry wondered why. The tray passed out from the scanner, slid down a chute and came to a stop. BUMP!
‘It’s that bag,’ said a voice. ‘Be careful, everyone – there could be something dangerous inside.’
Dangerous? thought Harry Stevenson. That doesn’t sound good! He decided to hide from the danger, whatever it was, and burrowed under Billy’s clothes.
As Harry wriggled under a woolly jumper, he heard the sound of a zip opening. Light flooded into Billy’s rucksack. Oh, no, they’re looking for the danger in HERE, trembled Harry. I hope it’s not in the bag with me! He watched as gloved hands rummaged in the bag. One by one, Billy’s clothes were lifted out. Soon there would be no place to hide! Finally, only Harry and the jumper remained. But where is the danger? thought Harry. The gloved hand carefully picked up the jumper, then a torch shone into the bag’s darkest corners. Harry cowered at the back, blinking in the bright light. Beyond it, Harry could see the faces of people in uniform. The faces looked surprised.
‘Well, I never,’ said one of them. ‘It’s a guinea pig!’
‘I’ve seen all sorts here,’ said another of the security guards. ‘But this takes the biscuit.’
The man turned to Mr and Mrs Smith.
‘Sir, madam: do you know this guinea pig?’ he asked sternly.
There were very big sighs from Billy’s parents.
‘I’m afraid we do,’ said Mrs Smith. ‘BILLY, COME HERE!!!!!’
CHAPTER 3 Let’s go, Harry Stevenson
Harry Stevenson watched from Billy’s arms as the Smiths were led out of the airport by a security guard. Everyone stared at Harry. Some people pointed and laughed; a few took photographs. Billy’s cheeks were burning with sha
me and Mr and Mrs Smith looked very, very cross. Harry gulped. True, it wasn’t his fault this time – but he still felt awful. Billy was in trouble, and now the Smiths had lost their trip to Paris. There was no way around it: Harry wasn’t allowed on the plane, so they’d had to miss their flight.
The walk to the car park seemed to take ages. No one spoke. As the Smiths reached the van, a plane passed noisily overhead. It had just taken off and was heading somewhere exciting – Paris, maybe. Mrs Smith sighed, and Billy hung his head.
‘I’m REALLY sorry, Mum and Dad,’ he said.
Harry expected a huge row, but it never came. Instead, Mr Smith shrugged and ruffled Billy’s hair.
‘Billy, I don’t know WHAT you were thinking in bringing Harry, but… what’s done is done. Come on, we can still make this work. Let’s DRIVE to Paris. I feel like a road trip!’
Billy’s eyes widened. ‘Are you sure, Dad?’ he squeaked.
Mrs Smith wasn’t sure, as it was a long way – but Mr Smith kept on. It would be an adventure, he said. A Christmas to always remember: just the four of them, the van, and Paris.
That means I’m going too, thought Harry, and his heart leaped. He WHEEK-WHEEKED with excitement.
Mrs Smith laughed.
‘Oh, all right, then,’ she said. ‘It’s mad but it would be a shame to miss Paris. I haven’t had an adventure for years.’
So it was decided. Mr and Mrs Smith looked at their phones to find the best way to Paris. The trains were all booked, but there were still spaces on the ferry. Guinea pigs were allowed on ferries, it seemed.
‘Right,’ said Mr Smith. ‘Let’s head to the port!’
Harry didn’t have to hide now, so he snuggled up on Billy’s lap as the van sped away. Mr Smith put on his favourite music and he and Mrs Smith sang along. Billy cringed, but Harry tapped his paws cheerfully. He loved it when the Smiths were happy.