“Give yourself up, Cole!” I shouted, trying to make myself heard over the music of the carousel. “The show’s over.”
Caramel Cole grinned wickedly. “Haven’t you heard?” he snarled. “The show’s not over until the fat lady sings – or, in this case, until the werewolf dies!”
Cole aimed the tip of the sword at my chest and then lunged forward. I threw myself out of the way just in time, grabbing at the iron struts that held the wooden roof of the carousel in place. With a scream, Caramel Cole flew past me and tumbled over the edge.
I clung onto my handholds as the carousel finally slowed to a stop. Then I dragged myself to the edge of the roof and peered over. Caramel Cole had landed head-first in his brand-new candy apple machine.
Fangs, the wound on his leg bound by a strip of material from Wanda Howe’s costume, hobbled over. He grabbed Cole’s feet and pulled him out. The circus owner’s head was encased in a huge ball of glistening red toffee. His wide eyes and grin were fixed in place for ever.
Fangs glanced up at me. “Now that’s what I call coming to a sticky end.”
Wednesday 1311 hours: White House Lawn, Washington D.C., USA
“Who wants another hot dog?” President Chuck Starburger, sleeves rolled up to the elbow, plucked a sausage from the roaring barbecue and dropped it into a bun.
Bernie Gobb, the fire-eater, who was dressed in his stage costume of blue serge with red silk flames, took the snack, slathered it with mustard and then took a big bite. “Oww!” he yelped. “That’s hot!”
The entire circus was set up on the lawn of the White House, although the cast and crew were under strict orders to relax for the day and the big top was only there to provide shade from the glaring sun. The company had been invited as a way for the president to thank them for saving his career.
An elephant stomped its way across the grass. On its back was a young werewolf whom the circus family had met as animal trainer Trudy Haslingden, but now knew was really MP1 agent Puppy Brown. They had assured her that her secret was safe with them.
Puppy slid down from the elephant’s back, and led the beast to a bale of hay in the cool shade of the big top. She patted its trunk, eyeing the queue for food at the barbecue.
As she approached the president, a security agent in a dark suit and sunglasses took her paw and led her gently to one side. “Excuse me, miss,” he said politely. “You have a call.” He handed Puppy a mobile phone.
“Hello?”
“Agent Brown!” gurgled the voice at the other end of the line. It was Phlem. “Where are you? I’ve been trying to contact you via your blue tooth.”
Puppy ran her tongue over the deactivated fang protruding from her upper jaw. She could have asked the MP1 technicians here in Washington to repair her broken blue tooth, but she figured she deserved a break.
“We’re, er … we’re experiencing some problems with our teeth at the moment, sir,” she said. “But we’re hoping to be back up again soon. Has Holly Delta arrived in London yet, sir?”
“She certainly has,” Phlem bubbled, “and she’s facing a long time behind bars. Very tightly spaced bars that she can’t shapeshift or squeeze between to escape.”
“Fangs and I were hoping that would be the case, sir.”
“Speaking of Agent Enigma,” Phlem slobbered, “is he all right? My contacts say he was injured in the course of bringing Caramel Cole to justice.”
Puppy glanced across the White House lawn to the sunlounger where her boss was lying with his leg wrapped in bandages. The cut hadn’t been too deep, but he’d need to stay off his feet for a while. Sitting beside him, Wanda Howe spun one of her stage sabres and plucked a rare steak from the president’s barbecue. Fangs began to devour it as the sword-swallower gently stroked his hair. At the foot of the lounger, two of the circus’s showgirls wafted a cool breeze over him with their costume feathers. Fangs spotted Puppy looking in his direction and raised his ice-cold glass of milk and human blood in a toast to their success.
The werewolf smiled. “I think he might just pull through, sir.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TOMMY DONBAVAND was born and brought up in Liverpool and has worked at numerous careers that have included clown, actor, theatre producer, children’s entertainer, drama teacher, storyteller and writer. He is the author of the popular thirteen-book series Scream Street. His other books include Zombie!; Wolf; Uniform; and Doctor Who: Shroud of Sorrow. His non-fiction books for children and their parents, Boredom Busters and Quick Fixes for Bored Kids, have helped him to become a regular guest on radio stations around the UK and he also writes for a number of magazines, including Creative Steps and Scholastic’s Junior Education.
Tommy lives in Lancashire with his family. He is a huge fan of all things Doctor Who, plays blues harmonica and makes a mean balloon poodle. He sees sleep as a waste of good writing time. You can find out more about Tommy and his books at his website: www.tommydonbavand.com
Visit the Fangs website at: www.fangsvampirespy.co.uk
UNLOCK THE SECRET MISSION FILES!
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WWW.FANGSVAMPIRESPY.CO.UK/MISSION2
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OPWUY PRNBP
The Fangs, Vampire Spy, series
1. Operation: Golden Bum
2. Codename: The Tickler
3. Assignment: Royal Rescue
4. Target: Nobody
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. All statements, activities, stunts, descriptions, information and material of any other kind contained herein are included for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied on for accuracy or replicated as they may result in injury.
First published 2013 by Walker Books Ltd
87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ
Text © 2013 Tommy Donbavand
Illustrations © 2013 Cartoon Saloon Ltd
The right of Tommy Donbavand to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4063-5142-2 (ePub)
www.walker.co.uk
www.fangsvampirespy.co.uk
Codename: The Tickler Page 6