Puma Rumour

by Justin D'Ath

  Contents

  WHY READERS LOVE

  NANA AND POP’S FARM

  1 Secret Project

  2 The Nullambine Puma

  3 Puma Rumour

  4 Secret Agents

  5 Chasing Cats

  6 Grrrrrrr!

  7 Killer

  8 The Last One

  9 Legends!

  10 Mama Dingo

  11 Spooky Echo

  12 Code Red

  13 Triple Legends!

  14 Famous

  15 Roarrrr!

  16 What Do You Think, Emily?

  17 Code Bright Red

  WHY READERS LOVE

  ‘Mission Fox books are adventurous, spine-tingling and fun. I have enjoyed reading both Snake Escape and Panda Chase.’

  Aimee (age 8)

  ‘I learn a lot of interesting things about the animals featured in Mission Fox.’

  Jeremy (age 10)

  ‘I liked it when they found the dolphins in danger. I want to read more Mission Fox books.’

  Ivy (age 7)

  ‘Harry & Jordan are really brave and cool. Panda Chase was exciting to read and left me waiting for more.’

  Merrick (age 7)

  ‘Horse Hijack was exciting! I loved the action. I can’t wait to read more Mission Fox.’

  Matisse (age 9)

  ‘I read Mission Fox by myself, Mum reads Extreme Adventures to me. I wish you could write the Mission Fox books faster I can’t wait for the next one.’

  Ethan (age 8)

  puffin.com.au/missionfox

  FOR DEACON, MATISSE AND ARKIE,

  FROM THE 2ND-COOLEST POP IN THE WORLD

  The twins found their Pop washing the floor in the milking shed.

  ‘It’s finished!’ said Harry.

  ‘Come and see!’ said Jordan.

  Pop turned off the hose and followed Harry and Jordan across to the barn. A big cage stood in the middle of the floor. It was surrounded by tools, bits of wire, and sheets of paper with plans scribbled on them. The cage used to be for taking calves to market, but Pop had said the twins could use it for their secret project.

  ‘Ta da!’ they said.

  Pop walked slowly around the cage, looking at all the changes the twins had made.

  ‘What is it, Jordan-and-Harry?’ he asked. He always said their names like that, because he couldn’t tell them apart.

  ‘Guess!’ they said.

  Pop tapped his chin, thinking. ‘I reckon that bone must be a clue.’

  The bone was left over from last night’s roast. It was sitting at the back of the cage.

  ‘Is it a … yabby trap?’ he asked.

  The twins shook their heads.

  ‘Is it a … cage to breed flies in?’

  The twins giggled and shook their heads.

  ‘I’ve got it!’ said Pop. ‘You’re getting a pet vulture!’

  ‘I wish!’ said Harry, who loved creepy things.

  ‘No way!’ said Jordan, who didn’t.

  ‘I give up, then,’ said Pop.

  Harry turned to Jordan. ‘Will we show him how it works?’

  Jordan nodded. ‘I’ll go and get Myrtle,’ he said.

  Harry and Pop waited in the barn while Jordan raced off to get their dog. Nana had been looking after her all morning while the twins worked on their secret project.

  A minute later there was the sound of running feet. A huge, shaggy dog came charging into the barn, dragging Jordan behind it.

  ‘Sit, Myrtle, SIT!’ Jordan cried.

  Myrtle finally sat down. Usually she did what she was told, unless she saw a cat. Luckily, there were no cats at Nana and Pop’s farm.

  ‘What are you waiting for, Jordan?’ asked Harry.

  ‘Nana wants to see, too.’

  Their nana appeared in the doorway behind them. ‘So where’s this top-secret project you boys have been working on?’ she asked.

  They pointed at the cage. ‘Ta da!’

  ‘What does it do?’ asked Nana.

  Jordan unclipped Myrtle’s lead. ‘Watch this.’

  Myrtle sniffed the air and ran straight over to the cage. She could see the bone, but she couldn’t reach it. She ran around the cage, looking for a way in. When she came to the door, Myrtle rushed through and grabbed the bone.

  Big mistake!

  There was fishing line tied to the bone. The other end was tied to a wooden peg that held the door open. When Myrtle tugged on the bone, the fishing line pulled tight, the peg came out, and the door dropped down.

  CLANG!

  It worked! Myrtle was trapped.

  ‘Yaaaay!’ cried the twins, giving each other a Mission Fox high ten (that’s a high five when you count all the fingers).

  ‘I see,’ said Pop. ‘It’s a dog trap.’

  Harry shook his head. ‘Wrong again.’

  ‘Myrtle was just showing you how it works,’ explained Jordan.

  He let Myrtle out. Harry took the bone from her and pulled the fishing line back the other way.

  ‘What is it for?’ asked Nana and Pop.

  ‘Catching pumas!’ said the twins.

  It all started two weeks ago. Jordan and Harry were at home having breakfast with their parents when the dog-door crashed open and Myrtle ran in with the newspaper.

  Fetching the newspaper was Myrtle’s job.

  Cleaning the newspaper was the twins’ job. Today it was Jordan’s turn.

  ‘Eeew!’ he said, wiping dog drool off with a paper towel.

  Then he noticed something interesting.

  ‘Look at this,’ he said.

  PUMA STRIKES AGAIN

  The famous sheep-killer, known as the Nullambine Puma, claimed its sixth victim on Sunday night. Local farmer Peter Nelson found the dead sheep early yesterday morning. ‘It was definitely killed by a big cat,’ he said.

  Mr Nelson’s farm lies next to Mount Nullambine National Park. The park’s thick forest and steep, rocky gorges would be the ideal habitat for a puma.

  Local historians believe the sheep-killer might have come from a pair of pumas said to have escaped from a visiting circus sixty years ago.

  Several sightings of a large ‘lion-like’ animal have been made in the Nullambine area since then.

  Big-cat expert Cathy McGrath from Nullambine Zoo says pumas are shy animals that hunt mostly at night.

  ‘It could live quite well on wallabies and rabbits,’ Ms McGrath said. ‘But a fat sheep would make a nice change of diet.’

  Mr Nelson has lost six sheep in the past four months. ‘The puma is welcome to all the rabbits it can eat,’ he said. ‘But if it kills any more of my sheep, I’ll go after it with my gun.’

  ‘Poor puma!’ said the twins’ mum.

  ‘Poor sheep!’ said their dad.

  ‘Is Mr Nelson that old guy who owns the farm next to Nana and Pop’s?’ Jordan asked.

  Their dad nodded.

  ‘Cool!’ said Harry.

  Their mum looked worried. ‘There’s nothing cool about it,’ she said. ‘You and Jordan are supposed to be staying at Nana and Pop’s farm during the holidays.’

  ‘COOL!’ said both twins.

  ‘There is no Nullambine Puma,’ Pop said.

  He and the twins were loading the puma trap onto the back of his truck.

  ‘What?’ said Jordan. He nearly let go of his end.

  Pop pushed the trap safely into place. ‘It’s just a rumour – a made-up story that’s been told so many times that people think it’s true.’

  Harry laughed. ‘Puma rumour!’

  ‘But people have seen it,’ said Jordan.

  ‘People reckon they’ve seen UFOs, too,’ Pop said. ‘Where’s the proof? Where are the photos?’

  Jordan thought about it. Pop might be right. Nobody had ever t
aken a photo of the Nullambine Puma.

  ‘Then what’s been killing Mr Nelson’s sheep?’ he asked.

  ‘I’ll bet it’s dingoes,’ said Pop, tying a rope over the trap so it wouldn’t fall off the truck when they drove up the big hill to the back of his farm. ‘There used to be quite a few around here in the old days.’

  ‘I thought dingoes only live in the desert,’ Harry said.

  ‘They live in all kinds of country,’ said Pop. ‘But there aren’t many left in areas like this because of the towns and farms.’

  ‘Where’s the proof?’ asked Jordan. ‘If there are dingoes here, why aren’t there any photos of them?’

  Pop laughed. ‘They only come out at night.’

  Like pumas, thought Jordan. But he didn’t say it.

  ‘All aboard!’ Pop said.

  They climbed into the truck. Pop drove through a gate behind the milking shed. They bumped along a muddy track between two fences. There were brown jersey cows on one side, and Nana’s angora goats on the other side.

  Myrtle ran ahead of the truck, looking for rabbits. She loved coming to the farm. So did the twins. But Jordan was feeling disappointed.

  ‘What’s the use of setting the puma trap if there isn’t a puma?’ he asked.

  ‘You might catch a dingo,’ said Pop.

  Jordan sighed. Trapping a dingo wasn’t nearly as cool as trapping a puma. But he and Harry had to catch the sheep killer, whatever it was. They were secret agents for Mission Fox Animal Rescue.

  They had taken a solemn oath to help animals in trouble. And Mr Nelson’s sheep were in deep trouble – they kept getting killed.

  ‘What will we do with the dingo after we catch it?’ asked Harry.

  ‘Let’s not count our chickens before they hatch, Jordan-and-Harry!’ Pop said with a chuckle.

  Jordan felt even more disappointed. Pop didn’t really think they were going to catch anything. Like the twins’ parents, he thought Mission Fox was just a game.

  We’ll show them! thought Jordan.

  Pop drove all the way to the back of the farm. He parked the truck in a corner where two fences met. One fence ran along the edge of the national park. The other fence separated Pop’s farm from Mr Nelson’s farm. There were sheep on the other side. They watched the twins and Pop get out of the truck.

  ‘Is that where the attacks happen?’ Harry asked, pointing at the paddock.

  ‘That’s the place,’ said Pop.

  Jordan peered over the other fence – into the dense, dark forest of Mount Nullambine National Park. A dingo could live there all its life and nobody would ever see it. So could a puma, he thought.

  ‘Where should we set up the trap, Harry-and-Jordan?’ Pop asked.

  Traps weren’t allowed in national parks, so they put it in the corner of Pop’s paddock, close to the national park and close to Mr Nelson’s place. The Mission Fox agents covered it with leafy branches, leaving the door clear. It no longer looked like a trap. It looked like a clump of bushes with a tunnel underneath. At the end of the tunnel was the big juicy bone.

  ‘No dingo could resist!’ said Pop.

  Nor could Myrtle, even though she knew it was a trap! She rushed straight in.

  Down came the door – CLANG!

  Harry and Jordan had to open the door, drag Myrtle out and take the bone from her. Then they put her on her lead. Pop took her over to the truck while the twins set the trap again.

  They made Myrtle ride with them in the truck as Pop drove back down to the farmhouse. It was a bit of a squash. But the trap was for catching killer dingoes, not Mission Fox agents.

  ‘Bad girl, Agent M!’ Jordan said softly.

  But not softly enough.

  ‘What did you call her?’ asked Pop.

  ‘It’s a secret,’ said Jordan.

  Pop steered the truck into its shed. ‘Your secret is safe with me, Agents H-and-J,’ he chuckled. ‘Now, whose turn is it to help bring in the cows?’

  ‘Mine!’ said Agent H.

  ‘Mine!’ said Agent J.

  ‘Let’s all do it,’ said Agent P.

  The twins helped bring in the cows early the next morning, too. Pop had to milk them twice a day. The sun was coming up by the time they got all the cows into the yard next to the milking shed.

  ‘Do you want us to help with the milking, Pop?’ Jordan asked, crossing his fingers. Milking was fun, but today the MF agents had other plans.

  Pop thought about it for a couple of seconds, then gave the twins a wink. ‘I think I can manage on my own this time, Jordan-and-Harry,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you two secret agents go for a walk?’

  ‘Yaay!’ said Agent J and Agent H. He was the coolest pop in the world!

  The twins raced into the farmhouse and changed into their Mission Fox uniforms. Harry grabbed the FoxPack. It had all their rescue equipment in it. Jordan went looking for Agent M. He found her in the kitchen watching Nana make breakfast.

  ‘Good morning, Jordan,’ said Nana. She never got the twins muddled up. ‘See that jug on the table? Take it across to the milking shed, please, and ask Pop for some nice creamy milk to go on our porridge.’

  ‘But we’re going on a mission!’ Harry said from the kitchen doorway.

  ‘Secret agents need to start the day with a nice big breakfast,’ said Nana. ‘See that basket, Harry? Take it out to the chook house and get some eggs, please.’

  Life on the farm was busy.

  But the food was good. After a huge breakfast (orange juice, toast, eggs, sausages, and porridge in fresh creamy milk with brown sugar melting on top) Jordan and Harry finally left for their mission.

  ‘Give my regards to the dingo!’ Nana called after them.

  ‘She doesn’t think we’ll catch one,’ Harry said as they went through the first gate.

  ‘Do you?’ asked Jordan.

  ‘Of course!’ said Harry. ‘If our trap can catch Myrtle, it can totally catch a dingo.’

  Jordan looked around. ‘Where is Myrtle?’

  Harry looked around, too. ‘She was here a second ago.’

  Then they spotted her. She was halfway up the big hill ahead of them, running flat-out.

  ‘MYRTLE!’ the twins yelled, taking off after her.

  It was weird. She only ran away like that when she was chasing cats.

  By the time the twins reached the top of the first hill, Myrtle was nowhere in sight. Jordan stopped to get his breath back. Harry was puffed out, too. They could see all the way to the national park, but there was no sign of Myrtle.

  ‘Let’s try the FoxScope,’ Jordan said.

  Harry turned around so Jordan could get it out of the FoxPack on his back. It was a special telescope with a high-powered digital zoom lens.

  ‘Can you see her, Agent J?’ asked Harry.

  Jordan was looking through the FoxScope. ‘Negative, Agent H.’

  ‘Use Mega Zoom,’ Harry said.

  Jordan pressed the button that made everything much bigger. Now he could see the puma trap with the pile of branches on top. The door was at the other end, but Mega Zoom showed him it was closed.

  ‘I know where Myrtle is,’ Jordan said, handing the FoxScope to Harry.

  Apart from cats, there was one other thing that would make Myrtle run off like that – a big juicy bone.

  Jordan and Harry took their time walking the rest of the way to the trap. Myrtle could stay locked in for a while. It would teach her a lesson for being greedy.

  ‘How do you like being locked up, Agent M?’ Jordan said, walking around the trap to let her out.

  He stopped.

  Myrtle wasn’t in the trap. She was crouched on the ground on the other side, looking in through the wire door.

  ‘Woof!’ she barked, sounding pleased to see Jordan and Harry.

  Then a noise came from inside the trap. It didn’t sound pleased at all.

  ‘GRRRRRRR!’

  The MF agents stared into the trap.

  ‘Pop was right,’ whispered Agent H. �
�The Nullambine Puma is a dingo!’

  ‘He was wrong, too,’ whispered Agent J. ‘He and Nana didn’t think we’d actually catch it.’

  But was this dingo really the famous sheep killer?

  It didn’t look like a killer. It just looked scared.

  ‘One of us had better go and get Pop,’ whispered Jordan.

  Harry nodded. ‘I’ll wait here, Agent J.’

  ‘You’re better at running, Agent H.’

  It was true. Harry had come tenth in the school cross-country. He had beaten all the other Grade Fours by miles. He had even beaten most of the Grade Fives and Sixes. Jordan had come nowhere.

  ‘Okay,’ Harry said. He took off the FoxPack and dropped his Mission Fox hat next to it. ‘You and Agent M stay here and look after the dingo.’

  Jordan watched his twin brother go running off across the paddock. Then he crouched next to Myrtle in front of the trap. The dingo was huddled down the far end, as far away from the door as it could get. It looked terrified.

  Jordan felt bad. Number four on the Mission Fox Official Oath was: Be kind to animals that are scared. But Mission Fox was the reason the dingo was scared. It was a wild animal, and they’d caught it in a trap.

  Jordan closed his eyes. He tried to make his mind go calm and have dingo thoughts.

  His lips started moving, but no sound came out.

  When the twins were little, they had pretended they were superheroes. Jordan was the Pet Whisperer. He could talk to animals in his mind. It was only a game, but sometimes Myrtle and their guinea pigs had seemed to hear him.

  Jordan tried it out on the dingo.

  ‘Don’t be frightened,’ he mind-whispered. ‘We aren’t going to hurt you.’

  The dingo snarled and showed its big, sharp teeth.

  So much for pet whispering.

  Jordan walked around the side of the trap where the dingo couldn’t see him. He called Myrtle away, too. It wouldn’t be so scared if it couldn’t see them.

  While he waited for Harry to bring Pop, Jordan opened a hidden compartment in the bottom of the FoxPack. Inside was the FoxPhone, a secret mobile phone that people called if their pets were lost or an animal needed help. The FoxPhone had a special app called BRAIN (Bird, Reptile, and Animal Identification Network) that had 23 million facts about animals and wildlife.