by Andrew Cope
Scottie in the next street heard it first and joined in too. Then Patch, who lived on the corner and had the loudest bark in the neighbourhood, added his deep voice to the call. Both of them came running out to help. Within minutes the whole team had assembled in Mrs Perkins’s front garden.
‘This is ridiculous,’ said Ben. ‘Lara, you’re overreacting!’
But Lara took no notice. ‘I need a volunteer,’ she barked. ‘Someone brave and agile, with an excellent head for heights.’
Maggie the black-and-white cat stepped forward straight away. She stood on her hind legs and puffed out her chest like she’d seen Lara do. ‘At your service,’ she saluted.
‘OK, come with me,’ said Lara. Everyone followed as she led Maggie to the back of the house and showed her the window. The cat understood immediately what she had to do.
With one bound Maggie leapt on to the trunk of a nearby tree, digging her claws firmly into the bark. She’d climbed trees before, but never one as tall as this. Higher and higher she went until she was level with Mrs Perkins’s upstairs window. Then she began to make her way cautiously along a branch towards the house. She looked down and immediately wished she hadn’t. She was reassured by remembering that cats have nine lives.
‘Be careful, girl,’ called Felix from below. ‘That branch gets thin towards the end. It might not hold your weight.’
‘Don’t worry! I’ll be OK,’ replied Maggie bravely.
Everyone gasped as Maggie suddenly lost her footing and started to fall. Her claws extended and she scrambled for a hold as she saw one of her lives slipping away. She crashed through some leaves before her claws finally dug into a branch and she hung, back legs kicking, while beneath her the children and animals held their breath. Like a skilful acrobat, Maggie somersaulted round and managed to swing herself back on to a thicker branch. There was a collective sigh of relief from below. The brave cat was soon edging slowly back along the branch towards the window.
Now for the tricky bit, breathed Lara.
As Maggie reached the end of the branch it began to buckle under her weight. She leapt for the open window and just managed to hook her front paws over the edge. Another life gone! In the blink of an eye she had slithered through the gap and was in.
Star punched the air in delight.
Everyone waited. I hope Mrs Perkins likes cats, thought Spud. She might get a shock if she suddenly sees one coming down her stairs!
A minute later Maggie’s face appeared at the window. ‘Call an ambulance!’ she miaowed urgently. ‘Mrs Perkins has fallen and hurt her leg!’
Lara couldn’t speak Cat but she could understand it. She turned to Ben and pointed to the mobile phone in his pocket, but Ben had already got the message.
‘OK, Lara,’ he said. ‘I’m really sorry I doubted you. I’ll ring for help.’
When the ambulance came, the paramedics found Mrs Perkins lying on the kitchen floor with Maggie sitting close beside her. ‘I was in such a hurry to hear the carols I slipped and fell over,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t move. I’m so glad this little one came and found me!’
‘Will she be OK?’ asked Sophie, as Mrs Perkins was carried into the ambulance.
‘Yes, love,’ said the paramedic. ‘It’s not too bad. She’ll be home in time for Christmas. Lucky you raised the alarm, though. She could have been there for some time.’
‘It’s Lara we have to thank for that,’ said Ben, giving Lara a pat. ‘And Maggie, too, of course.’
4. Merry Christmas, Mr Strange
‘Do we need to carry on up to End House?’ asked Sophie once all the excitement was over and the neighbourhood-watch team had scampered home. ‘Is anyone living there now?’
End House was the very last house in the village, down a long, dark drive with tall trees on either side. Its owner lived abroad but rented it out from time to time. No one ever seemed to stay there long.
‘There is someone there – just for a few weeks,’ said Jamie, whose dad ran the village store. ‘He’s called Stanley Strange – and he is strange too! I think he’s some kind of computer geek – he bought all the computer magazines in the shop.’
‘That’s not strange!’ protested Ollie, who loved his computer games. ‘That’s really cool. Come on, guys, we can’t leave him out!’
So the children and Lara made their way down the shadowy drive with Spud and Star running ahead of them. The house was in total darkness except for one room on the ground floor illuminated only by the pale light of a laptop computer. They could see a thin figure hunched over the screen, staring at it intently, his long fingers tapping furiously on the keyboard.
That man looks familiar, thought Lara. Where have I seen him before?
‘I’ll count you in, Lara!’ said Ben, interrupting her thoughts. ‘We’ll do “Silent Night”. One, two, three …’
That’s my favourite! Lara began to blow on the mouth organ and the children joined in, softly at first and then slightly louder, their voices blending perfectly. It sounds beautiful – even though I say it myself, thought Lara.
Unfortunately, Stanley Strange didn’t agree. As soon as the carol began, he started away from his screen and looked quickly from left to right. Then he slammed the laptop closed, leapt to his feet and raced to the window. Stanley saw the smiling faces of the children and Ollie giving him a friendly wave. He opened the window and shouted, ‘Stop that awful noise! Go away! This is private property!’
Lara stopped playing abruptly and the carol singers’ voices faded to silence.
‘We’ve just come to wish you a merry Christmas, Mr Strange,’ said one of the boys politely. ‘We’re collecting for a children’s charity.’
‘Well, you can forget about that for a start!’ hissed Stanley. ‘I’m not giving you any money. I hate Christmas and I hate, hate, HATE children. Understand? Now get out of here before I lose my temper! Go on – scram!’
Spud began to growl and Star looked at Lara questioningly. ‘Is he threatening the children? Shall we bite him?’
‘No. We should take the children home,’ woofed Lara, turning quickly away.
It was then that Spud noticed a black four-wheel drive parked at the side of the house.
‘Hey, look, Mum! Isn’t that the car that nearly ran us over the other night?’
‘So that’s where I’ve seen him before,’ said Lara. ‘That explains a lot. Come on, pups, let’s get out of here.’
As Lara and the children hurried away Spud whispered to his sister. ‘I’ve got an idea! Let’s jump on his car with our muddy paws!’
Before Star could answer, Spud leapt on to the bonnet and marched backwards and forwards leaving dirty paw marks all over the paintwork and the windscreen.
‘Serves him right!’ giggled Star as she bounded up on to the roof to add her own prints – but then she stopped suddenly. ‘Spud! Spud! Look inside the car!’
Star stared in amazement at a pile of clothes lying neatly on the back seat. ‘Look! Red trousers and a red coat, a black belt and big black boots, a hat with a white fur trim – and yes, there it is – a white false beard. Do you know what that is?
‘Of course I do, silly!’ said Spud. ‘It’s a Father Christmas outfit!’
The pups looked at each other in excitement, sensing the beginning of a mystery. ‘The question is,’ said Star, ‘if he hates Christmas and children so much, what’s a Father Christmas outfit doing in Stanley Strange’s car?’
5. Page Forty-three
‘There may be a perfectly innocent explanation,’ said Lara firmly the next day. ‘I agree it’s a bit surprising for a man like Stanley Strange to have a Santa outfit, but it isn’t against the law! And by the way, I don’t approve of you two climbing all over his car like that. Just because he was rude to us doesn’t mean you have to behave badly too.’
Spud and Star hung their heads. ‘Yes, Mum. Sorry, Mum,’ they muttered.
‘Now,
I’m going to London today with the family and you’ll be staying here with Gran, so I want best behaviour from both of you, please. We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon. I hope you can stay out of mischief till then!’
The children’s gran often looked after the pups and her house was a home from home for them. ‘I’m making sausage rolls,’ she said kindly. ‘You can help me if you like. You never know, there might be a few spare ones for you to try!’
That was enough for Spud. He loved his food, and Star always liked staying at Gran’s because she had a great collection of jigsaws. They waved the family off and followed Gran happily into her kitchen.
The Cook family and Lara travelled by train to London and then made their way to the MI6 offices where the professor was having his meeting.
‘Wow, it’s amazing!’ gasped Ben, staring up at the huge green-and-white building with its rows of windows overlooking the river. ‘It looks like a cross between a castle and an ocean liner.’
Right on time Professor Cortex came hurrying out of the main door to greet them. He was looking unusually festive in a red bow tie.
‘So this is where it all happens?’ said Mum. ‘The headquarters of the Secret Service!’
‘It’s not very secret, is it?’ snorted Ollie, who always spoke his mind. ‘Not if everyone knows where it is.’
‘I suppose not,’ answered the professor, smiling, ‘although no one knows what happens inside – and, of course, there could be other places too …’
Just then a car with blacked-out windows stopped beside them, leaving its engine running.
The professor passed Ben a copy of a London guidebook, saying loudly, ‘Well, it was very nice to see you all.’ He added in an undertone, ‘I think you might find page forty-three particularly interesting, Ben’. Then he opened the door, climbed into the back seat and the car disappeared into the traffic.
‘What’s going on?’ said Ollie. ‘I thought we were going to the pantomime!’
Ben turned hastily to page forty-three. A piece of paper had been pasted into the book with a map and some special instructions for him to follow. Ben’s eyes shone with excitement. ‘Spy stuff! This is going to be fun!’ He studied the map for a few seconds. ‘OK, everyone, follow me,’ said Ben as, with Lara beside him, he led Mr and Mrs Cook, Sophie and Ollie away from the river, under a bridge and into a quiet side street where there was a long row of terraced houses. Glancing at the book again, Ben went up to one of the doors and rang the bell.
A plump, middle-aged woman in a pink cardigan opened the door and immediately threw her arms round Ben.
Ben looked at the note in the book once more. ‘Auntie Marion!’ said Ben, his voice a bit smothered in the hug. ‘I’ve brought the family to see you.’
‘You’re very welcome,’ said the woman. ‘Come in, come in, I’ll put the kettle on.’
I recognize ‘Auntie Marion’ from the old days, thought Lara, She’s a brilliant doctor of physics – specializing in laser technology. But Lara knew better than to react in any way. I’m just an ordinary family pet on an ordinary family visit, she said to herself. After all, you never know who might be watching.
They all went into the house. A flight of stairs led up in front of them and a small front room led off to one side. The television was on and a fat tabby cat was snoozing beside a tinsel Christmas tree.
‘Is she our auntie, Dad?’ said Ollie, who was understandably confused. ‘Why haven’t you told us about her?’
‘Never seen her before in my life!’ chuckled Dad. Then he pointed to Ben’s guidebook and gave Ollie a wink. ‘Spy stuff,’ he mouthed.
‘Erm, Auntie …’ said Ben, glancing again at page forty-three. ‘I wonder if Ollie could use your toilet?’
‘But I don’t …’ started Ollie, who was still finding it hard to understand what was going on.
‘Sssh, Ollie,’ hissed Sophie. ‘Yes, you do!’
‘It’s in here,’ said the woman, opening a door under the stairs. ‘I’ve just had it redecorated. Why don’t you all have a look?’
Sophie and Ben couldn’t help giggling as all the family, including Lara, piled into a very tiny downstairs toilet. It was a bit of a squash to say the least, especially when ‘Auntie Marion’ shut the door firmly on them from the outside.
‘What happens now?’ whispered Sophie.
Ben pulled the chain and, as the sound of running water filled their ears, so the whole room started to sink, slowly and smoothly downwards. It stopped gently, the door opened and there was the professor, smiling.
6. A Secret Weapon
‘Hello again!’ laughed the professor. ‘Well done, Ben, you followed my instructions perfectly. Now, I want to show you why I came to London today.’
They were in a huge basement that must have stretched underneath all the houses in the street. Everything was bright white and brilliantly lit. There were laboratories, offices and even, far in the distance, a swimming pool and a gym. It was clear that many people usually worked there, yet the whole area was almost entirely empty. It’s getting late, thought Lara. Everyone’s gone home for the Christmas holidays.
At the far end of the laboratory, a last assistant was hanging up his white coat and putting on his anorak, but in another section nearby, four bright-looking dogs were still working hard at their computers.
‘These are the latest batch of animal agents,’ explained the professor. ‘They’ll all be on duty over Christmas, of course. In fact Agent CV89 is just off now, aren’t you?’
A Welsh springer spaniel with brown ears and freckles on his nose got up, wagged his tail at the family and hurried towards the lift.
‘Good luck!’ called Lara. He’s very young, she thought. This must be his first mission.
‘Thanks, I’m going to need it!’ woofed the spaniel with a smile.
‘Now,’ said the professor. ‘I’m very pleased with my latest invention. In fact, I’ve just been showing it to my bosses at M16 today and I have to say they were impressed.’
He opened his briefcase and took out a small plastic bag containing a single bright blue ball, about the size of a marble. He put the bag carefully into the palm of Sophie’s hand.
‘A gobstopper?’
‘Not exactly, young lady. Think of it more as a baddie stopper. You are now in possession of something the Secret Service has been trying to create for years – a totally non-violent weapon. It can stop baddies in their tracks in an instant without hurting them at all.’
‘But how?’ asked Sophie. She knew the professor was clever but this seemed too good to be true.
‘It’s made from an extremely powerful chemical that affects the human brain,’ replied the professor. ‘At the moment it’s inactive but if this ‘bullet’ is fired from a gun and hits someone at speed, it will explode on impact. One whiff of the gas it gives off and the victim immediately gets the giggles. Then he starts to laugh, and within a fraction of a second he’s entirely helpless. He can’t move, he can’t think. He’s incapacitated! All he can do is laugh. It’s extremely effective.’
‘That’s brilliant,’ said Mum, ‘and are you sure it’s harmless?’
‘No side effects whatsoever,’ said the professor proudly. ‘That’s the beauty of it. This is the prototype. Now it’s been approved by my bosses it can go straight into production. Our agents will be issued with guns loaded with these secret weapons by the end of January.’
He nodded kindly at Sophie. ‘You can keep that one as a souvenir if you like – but don’t go showing it to any enemy agents!’
‘Wow! Thank you.’ Sophie put the bag carefully in her rucksack. ‘This is a little bit of history!’
‘And now,’ said the professor, smiling, ‘I think we’ve got time for a pizza before we go on to the theatre. I don’t know about you but I’m starving!’
Everybody loved the pantomime. The professor had got them a private box, so Lara could sit in th
e shadows and not be noticed. The children enjoyed hanging over the edge and looking sideways at the stage. There was lots of shouting and singing and throwing sweets into the audience but most of all there was lots and lots of laughing.
‘No need for the professor’s secret weapon here tonight!’ said Dad.
That night the Cook family stayed in an ultra-modern flat with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the River Thames. It only had one bedroom so the children slept on sofas in the living room but that was fun too.
Lara sat up late looking at the reflections on the water. She thought of Star and Spud fast asleep at Gran’s. It’s been a lovely day. I wish they could have been here too, she thought. I hope they’re keeping out of trouble while I’m away.
She didn’t know that, at that very minute, the pups were planning an adventure that could get them into very serious trouble indeed.
7. The Pups’ Mission
‘There’s definitely something funny going on up at End House,’ whispered Spud, as the two pups lay in their baskets in Gran’s cosy kitchen, ‘and, as Spy Pups, I think it’s our duty to investigate.’
‘I agree,’ whispered Star. ‘We need more information. Maybe there is an innocent explanation, like Mum said; if so, we’ll find out what it is.’
‘In that case we need a plan,’ said Spud sleepily. ‘Every mission needs a proper plan …’
There was a short silence while both puppies thought hard. Then Star had an idea. ‘Remember that tracking device the professor gave us to practise with? We could go back now and fix it on Strange’s car while he’s asleep.’
Spud yawned. His tummy was full of sausage rolls. It was past his usual bedtime and his blanket was just getting nice and warm. ‘Mmm, or we could go tomorrow morning – really early before anyone is awake.’